Swapping an 03 Cobra IRS in our 2000 GT

[Chris95SVT]

Ok guys.. You guys are the experts here. What should we do while the rear is out of the car and going into our car. Anything? The car is my Girlfriends 2000 GT equipped with a Saleen Supercharger.

We are swapping the rear out with an 03 Cobra that has less then 10K on the odo. I want the rear for her car mainly for it's better handling purposes and smoother ride. She is not a drag racer, though the car does see the track about once a year. The car is making about 340Rwhp and just under 400Rwtq.

Couple factors:

1. This is an 03 Cobra Coupe and the GT is a Vert.

2. Will everything still bolt right up? I'm almost sure it's pretty much the same.

3. The shocks for the 03 Cobra Vert and the 03 Cobra Coupe have different part numbers, but will the shocks from the coupe still work on the Vert? I assume it will just be a stiffer ride?

4. The GT has lowering springs in it, the Cobra does not. Will the ride hight still be about the same? If not, can I buy just the rear springs?

5. I know there is a U-joint needed in the swap, anybody have a part number for that?

Anything else that will help us with this swap would be greatly appreciated. I would do a Search, but that feature is disabled, and I really don't want to search through the hundreds of thousands of posts.

- Chris

 

[Chris95SVT]

??? Nothing??

 

[blown330]

you should not have any problem, but if i were you i would call kenny brown. they are pretty much the best when it comes to the irs. also you might want to talk to the on how to make the car handle better because the irs is more tuned for comfort than performance.

good luck!

 

[Chris95SVT]

Originally posted by blown330
you should not have any problem, but if i were you i would call kenny brown. they are pretty much the best when it comes to the irs. also you might want to talk to the on how to make the car handle better because the irs is more tuned for comfort than performance.

good luck!

Comfort is our goal with this car. Something that handles better, and has an overall better feel.

Thanks!

 

[blown330]

what i meant to say is that a fixed up straight axle would handle better than a stock irs. but the ride is shit. all in all it would make a killer swap! post back when its done!

 

[Rev]

The ride quality is not that bad, and to most people its neglible. If the power level you are wanting to achieve does not exceed that power range, then I would say everything based on "modular" would be fine for a swap Chris. If you were going for mid level power, I would replace the upper and lower control arms (sp? Cobra to solid), however this is a GT to Cobra so negate the last statement. Rick at Amazon Racing knows exactly what parts are needed, all the way down to the "oops, forgot that one part right at the end of the install" scenario.

I would jump to higher spline if you could although not necessary.

The ride heigt will not be the same, as there are over 11 spring ratios for the "Mustang line". The cobra springs will not put you at the same height given the rear weight of the cobra versus the GT. There have been quite a few discussions on this. Each spring is calibrated with a load ratio for that car. In my opinion after doing the IRS to solid, and another solid to IRS (as per what you are doing), the springs were not quite at the height we had anticipated.

Once again, call Rick at Amazon Racing, guys awesome :rockon:

 

[Chris95SVT]

Originally posted by blown330
what i meant to say is that a fixed up straight axle would handle better than a stock irs. but the ride is shit. all in all it would make a killer swap! post back when its done!

Are you serious? Your telling me a solid rear axle car would handle better then an IRS setup?

I found out that I need a U-joint for the swap, that's about it. We are ordering the IRS bushing kit from Maximum Motorsports, and I think that about covers our end.

THis IRS will see a max of 350rwhp and just under 430rwtq, so I think it can handle what we will throw at it. The car is our cruiser, the Cobra is the bruiser. So we want to set the vert up for long drives, and comfort.

 

[numbaonestunna]

sure...

Originally posted by Chris95SVT
Are you serious? Your telling me a solid rear axle car would handle better then an IRS setup?

I found out that I need a U-joint for the swap, that's about it. We are ordering the IRS bushing kit from Maximum Motorsports, and I think that about covers our end.

THis IRS will see a max of 350rwhp and just under 430rwtq, so I think it can handle what we will throw at it. The car is our cruiser, the Cobra is the bruiser. So we want to set the vert up for long drives, and comfort.

The solid COULD handle better than the IRS if it's modded... you need to put in panhard bar, swap stabilizer bars, etc etc... but then it could handle better than the stock IRS. It won't feel nearly as good though for overall comfort.

 

[Chris95SVT]

Well, we did it!

Here is a link to the post with pics -> 03 Cobra IRS swap