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97 Cobra Project

9K views 57 replies 16 participants last post by  akurma 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi everyone, im new to the 4v/SVT section of the forums but have been around the 99-04 section for a while. I recently picked up a 1997 cobra that needs some loving here's the 97 cobra i recently picked up cheap... it's got some issues lol but i don't plan on keeping the car i plan to fix it over the winter, driver it for a bit and sell it come spring/summer time. Ill take better pictures soon, it's always dark when i get home from work, Anyways here is the rundown

the good

- 1997 Pacific Green Cobra
- Clean title
- 138,617 miles
- Seemingly rust free
- BBk intake, Jet MAF, BBK 65mm TB, BBK long tube headers, MSD plug wires, catted midpipe (can't remember if its a H or X), and some sort of cat back
- Found a steering wheel cover, motorcraft oil filter, 4qts motorcraft synthetic blend oil and two jugs of coolant in the trunk! (These could be warnings of possible issues i guess)

The bad

- Needs driver side headlight (lens is cracked)
- Need to remove all the stickers lol
- Needs rear quarter fixed
- Needs clutch
- Needs steering column (will go more into that later on)
- Needs PA state inspection & Emission
- Find & fix exhaust leak
- Front and rear bumpers could use a respray
- Small hole in driver side seat
- Hood latch sticks horribly
- Hood is loose and zip tied on... :shiftyeyes
- Weak, yet new battery













 
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7
#2 ·
Favorite color
 
#4 ·
Yes its a very rare color and very sought after.
 
#8 ·
Thanks! And my family owns a body shop so i have all the tools & knowledge to fix it. It looks like i can repair it without having to cut the quarter out of the car, which would save me a TON of time. if not a used rear quarter is cheap and ill end up cutting it out, but check back and you'll see how i end up doing it ;)
 
#10 ·
Haven't gotten around to messing with the Cobra yet but I did walk out to start it after letting it sit for about two weeks just to see if the battery held a charge (It did!) anyways while letting it idle i left the heat on full blast because i wanted to see if the heat actually worked which it does, however the car died randomly after idling for maybe 10-20 minutes. It started right up immediately, I left the heat setting exactly the same as when it died the first time, idled fine for a about a minute then died again. I did manage to take a video of it shutting off, not sure if it will help. I wonder if i could plug in my SCT X4 that is still married my 99 GT to monitor anything? At this moment im thinking IAC? but i don't understand why it would shut off after its warm and not every time it idles with the heat on?

You can see in the video the RPM's dip slightly, bounces up to around 900 then it shuts off

NOTE - The car idles perfectly fine without the heat on

 
#11 ·
You can datalog the car with the X4, even though they are not married. Just need a proper config (if you want custom) or the generic ford gas config.

Depending what you are diagnosing, may want your own custom config. SHould be able to plug the X4 into the car and livelink, validate parameters and make your config.
 
#13 ·
Havent gotten around to getting started on this project much yet, but I was poking around it the other day trying to narrow down where the exhaust leak is coming from and well.. I found it alright. Not really sure what im going to do about this, the metal looks to brittle to try and weld a patch in along with it being in a bad spot for a patch, these are BBK long tubes i dont know it they were chrome or ceramic coated but either way the finish is looonnnggg gone. My father suggested finding a new collector for it and cutting the rotted section off and welding a new one in, then I'd have to weld a flange on. or worst case scenario which i really don't want to do.. new long tubes :baller: Anyway, the other thing I found odd about this car was there isn't a VIN sticker in the door jam, like at all? either the sticker fell off or someone removed it? there is a sticker up much higher that says something about some sort of Ford calibration? a google search brought up something about a PCM/ECM not sure though. Besides that I have put on a spare from my 1999 GT until i get a chance to plug the nail in the one rear tire, it one ghetto looking cobra at the moment







 
#14 ·
tinkered with the cobra today since it was 70 out in February, i wanted to inspect the air filter to see if it needed a cleaning or replacement, because i have heard these BBK intakes can rust from the inside. It's a good thing i did check it out, filter was pretty much rusted and not worth cleaning. and the inside intake tube has some surface rust that ill clean off. Also discovered what looks to be the production date of the intake of 8/30/06 and the filter looks to be about that old. The best part of this was i discovered that one of the previous owners put one of those "tornado" fuel saver things inside the intake tube right behind the MAF :bowrofl:









 
#15 ·
Decided to tackle the odometer/trip meter issues that plague these SN95 cars, I wasn't sure if it was or wasn't working because i havent driven it more then a few feet. So i figured id spend the $10 and buy the gear replacement kit off of amazon and just replace them. It was a good thing that i did because once i got the cluster out and flipped it around the gear drive was so brittle that that gears had just fallen off and the nubs on each side to hold it in place were broken off. It was pretty straightforward install, i followed the video from LMR and it took me a little less then an hour from start to finish. also figured id write on an inconspicuous spot when and at what mileage it was changed for the next owner who might not know if it was done. I did not replace the worm gear as that gear was perfectly fine, so if anyone needs just a worm gear message me. Now i just need to get it down to the shop, throw it on the lift and get to work on it!











 
#16 ·
Finally got the cobra down to my families shop and on the lift! looked it over to see what it will need for inspection and just general maintenance, the car definitely needs some love. The car drove just fine on the 20 mile drive to the shop however it did throw a check engine light, i quickly scanned it with the SCT X4 and came up with three codes. also turns out the car has a BBK catted X pipe and a flowmaster catback I also think it has 3.55 gears as well

Codes;
P0171 - System too lean bank 1 (passenger side, sensor 1)
P1000 - readiness monitor not ready ( most likely from the dead battery)
P1260 - Theft detected (this relates to my steering column issue that i briefly mentioned earlier, more on that later)

Now its strange that it has a code for the passenger side being lean because that side of the long tube is nowhere near as rotted out as the driver side? (see below)

List of items that need to be replaced;

Front and rear rotors and pads (fronts are horribly warped)
passenger front ball joint (going to replace both)
Passenger front tire has a nail in it
Passenger side fog light bulb is missing... :headscratcher:
Fix the holes in the long tubes, driver side is MUCH worse then the passenger side.
Replace Clutch - most likely ford racing clutch kit, im dreading this with long tubes :(
Oil & filter change
Coolant flush
top off fluids
















Driver side exhaust leak



Passenger side exhaust leak

 
#17 ·
Got some parts in the mail this week, going to try and work on the cobra this weekend, I'll update this when the parts get installed.







Looked over it some more this week, i think everyone is right. As much as i am going to hate doing it, im going to have to replace the long tubes. I might as well do this right for the next owner, after all this is a cobra, plus they were going to have to come off anyway when i go to replace the clutch. If anyone knows someone selling a used of long tubes set PM me.
 
#18 ·
A Tornado fuel saver ha! Wow, never seen one of those things....what a joke.

What are you going to do about the rusted out exhaust? That looks pretty bad...

Good updates man. I'm going to subscribe. I forgot you had this project going on.
 
#19 ·
Worked on the cobra today, installed the headlights which makes me appreciate just how easy it is to change headlights in New edge mustangs lol. I attempted to tackle the rear rotors and pads, which i shouldn't have because i had other things to do today but i figured ehh why not ive done them before how hard can it be. Before i talk about the brakes, i was able to get the ugly exhaust tips off, for some reason I thought they were welded on but it turns out they are actually just screwed in around the tip, took them off and cleaned them up a bit and they polished up nicely. Back to the brakes, the calipers came off fairly easy, when i went to put the new pads on is where i started running into issues. I am using Powerstop Z17 pads, with Powerstop drilled & Slottled rotors. The new pads came with anti-rattle shims, the pads there were on the car didn't have any. As you can see below i can't get the caliper to slide over the new pads, it's almost as if the new pads are to thick, so for shits and giggles i wanted to see if the caliper would fit with the old pads and to my surprise it didn't only the top caliper bolt would line up, the bottom was about a 1/4 inch off no matter what. I think the parking cable is messing it up some how but At this point i was pressed for time and had to leave so i didn't get a chance to pull the parking brake cable off and see if that helps. ill pick up working on it tomorrow.



















Finished up the rear rotors and pads today, Turns out Rockauto sent me the wrong pads, I assume they are for a GT/V6 because i was able to get the exact same Powerstop Z17 pads at my local parts store the part numbers are exactly the same EXCEPT at the end on the new pads is the letter "A" the pads rockauto sent didn't have "A" anyway once i took them out of the box i noticed the pads were half as thick as the one i was sent from rockauto. (Left pad is new pad, right pad is the rockauto pad.) install was straight forward from there except for the fact that i couldn't get the pads to be installed with the anti-rattle clips installed for whatever reason. While i waited for the pads to get delivered to the shop, I cleaned up the Flowmaster tips a bit better, just used window cleaner and super fine grade steel wool i am surprised how well they shined up, looks much better then the ugly tips that were on it before. Another interesting thing is when i replaced the headlights the driver side headlight, the one that was cracked still had the original factory bulb... from 1996! 21 years later, 138,800 miles and even the light being all smashed up it still works. i have also attached pictures of the interior, yes i know it needs a deep cleaning lol. The pictures show my issue with the steering column. The white box that is hanging is the ignition switch... The reason that is exposed and hanging is because there is a plastic rod in the center of the steering column that engages the ignition switch when you turn the key. In my cobra's case, that plastic rod broke therefore not engaging the ignition switch when the key is turned. In fact when i turn the key it just spins, i can even take the key out when the car is running. I can also start the car without a key HOWEVER it shuts off almost immediately this is why i had a theft detected code thrown. I tried uploading a video of how i start it but it doesnt want to upload, ill try and post it in a few days. Next weekend is front rotors and pads, along with ball joints. then the fun begins with installing the new clutch and long tubes

















I've never seen a Tornado fuel saver either until this car, in fact a lot of things on this car make me question the previous owners thought process! As for the rotted out exhaust, i am going to replace the long tubes, as much as i don't want to do that because 1) they are expensive and 2) are going to be a pain in the ass to do. Either way they would have to come off to do the clutch anyway :dunno I am currently on the hunt for a lightly used pair before i buy a new set
 
#20 ·
Alright its been awhile since my last update, life has gotten crazy busy with me starting a new job and all but i do have a small update for those that have followed this thread. this past weekend i was able to track down a complete steering column from a 97 cobra from a local mustang guy off of craigslist. he had a badass white cobra convertible with a Vortech on it. Anyway i bought the column off of him and installed it the next day. My father gave me a hand and it went in with ease and no issues i was worried that PATS would throw a fit with the ignition cylinder being taken out then put back in but it didn't. So i can now start the cobra with the key just like any other car with. I have ordered a new set of BBK long tubes, but apparently they are on national back order everywhere, ordered from three different companies that said they were in stock online but then got a phone call saying its back ordered so who knows when they'll show up, besides that i have to order the clutch which ill do when i get the long tubes then its go time. until then your stuck with this lousy update, in the mean time im going to detail the hell out of the interior, as you can see the carpet is just awful.

EDIT; added short video (and yes i know im holding the phone the wrong way) of a quick pull in the cobra nothing special in fact i think it sounds pretty terrible with the exhaust leak and at the end you can see how badly the front rotors are warped with all the shaking.

http://www.moddedmustangs.com/forums/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=2

https://vimeo.com/220396152







 
#21 ·
Well i see Photobucket got greedy and is now charging people to post pictures on other websites, guess i'll go back and try and fix the pictures :mad:

Anyway another small update, after having new BBK long tubes ordered for two months and getting pushed back four different times i decided to call it quits with them and found a pair of stock exhaust manifolds on ebay, priced it out with a new catless H pipe and MIL eliminators, it ended up being cheaper then buying the BBK long tubes alone. Plus I won't have to deal with the hassle of installing longtubes. anyway here are the pictures of the new exhaust going on. I ordered a Ford Racing clutch kit that should also be here this week and hopefully installing all this next weekend. Happy 4th everyone!



 
#23 ·
Big update, i'm going to apologize for the quality of some of the pictures up front

Finally got around to the heavy lifting on this project. Since it's labor day weekend i decided to do some labor intensive work lol. Put the car in the air with plans on dropping the trans to change the clutch out. Then quickly realized i can't drop the trans with these stupid long tubes in the way, fought for a good two hours trying to squeeze a ratchet/wrench/swivel extension you name it up between the K member and motor and couldn't get all the header bolts out. However on the bright side whoever installed these long tubes were smart enough to put antiseize on the bolts so luckily none of the bolts snapped, but still a simple clutch job turned into dropping the entire front end :drink Now i know i could have taken the motor out a different way, like taking the intake manifold out, and threading a bolt in where the alternator is and the bellhousing but i was honestly worried about the weight put on those two points and trying to finagle the engine and transmission out together as one without damaging or getting stuck on the underbody/firewall. Anyways it took me and the help of a few hands 16 hours to get it all out, could had gotten done faster but this was my first time pulling a motor and honestly not nearly as bad as i thought, although two of the K member bolts did snap simply because they were so rusted, one of the bolts was actually much thinner than the others. after the front was dropped i ended up cutting the headers off, one of the headers was so brittle it actually bent when i went to pick it up.Only mistake i made was i forgot to drain the transmission fluid, thought a glove taped to the output shaft would be enough.. boy was i wrong!

Now i do have a question regarding the clutch, the pressure plate has a "Valeo" stamping on it and if i remember correctly Valeo is the OEM manufacturer for Ford, and if i remember correctly again the factory pressure plate is silver in color not red? so is this an "upgraded" clutch kit ? i can't find any Valeo clutch kits with a red pressure plate for a cobra? if it was the factory unit, the pedal was ridiculously stiff and grabbed really high up.









































 
#24 ·
got around to installing new studs and the "new" headers. for those wondering what header/manifold studs I used, I attached a picture below. They are Dorman brand part number 03411, they worked really well. installing the studs were super easy, applied some loc-tite to the threads that go into the head and antiseize on the threads that stick out hopefully making it a tad easier on the next guy. also found the production date of the motor on the side of valve cover, looks like its a early 1997. Also yes i have replacement motor mounts for those that caught how bad the current ones are lol











 
#25 ·
I like the color of this Cobra didn't know that it was so rare. Those old headers looked like they had seen better days. My Mach One has longtubes and when I had to change the clutch out we were able to take the transmission out without dropping the k member. The collectors on the headers could be removed which allowed us to remove the transmission.
 
#26 ·
Awesome car and colour! And good progress.

I just picked up a 97 cobra myself in the same colour but it?s been in a minor accident with a wall. I plan on saving the car.

Also that?s valeo clutch you mention I believe is the king cobra clutch. I?ll be putting that same one in mine since the engine and trans is out.
 

Attachments

#27 ·
Got around to installing the resurfaced flywheel, clutch and pressure plate. super easy to do and yes i torqued everything to spec. Ended up going with a Ford Racing clutch kit, i didn't see the need to "over clutch" the car for the horsepower it's currently making. Anyways its a really nice clutch kit, comes with everything needed, including new pressure plate bolts, throw out bearing (ford OEM) and a pilot bearing. next up is installing the passenger side header, bolting the trans up and then putting the K-member back in the car and connecting everything back together which will hopefully be this weekend if not next. As always i'll keep this updated.
















I think i saw your thread on SVTperformance earlier today, i have this same thread over there since it's a tad more active, small world lol! nice to see someone else saving a car that most would just part out. Back to the clutch, I no longer think that clutch was a "valeo" clutch, after I researched some more it seems to be a RAM powergrip HD clutch which is a stage 3 clutch so that explains why it was so ridiculously stiff. Notice the center of the disk in the picture below they are identical. I guess RAM had Valeo produce the pressure plate for the kit? who knows all i know is that that clutch was wayyyyyy to much for the car.





I like the color of this Cobra didn't know that it was so rare. Those old headers looked like they had seen better days. My Mach One has longtubes and when I had to change the clutch out we were able to take the transmission out without dropping the k member. The collectors on the headers could be removed which allowed us to remove the transmission.
Yeah the longtubes on this cobra had to be 10+ years old as i found all the other BBK stuff on this car has stampings from 2006, im actually surprised how rotted they were. Sounds like the long tubes on your Mach1 are higher quality lol
 
#28 · (Edited)
Big update for this old cobra!

Had a nice long weekend off from work for thanksgiving and decided what better time then this to put the motor back in! It wasn't to bad as i got to look at a 1967 mustang GT fastback that is being turned into a Shelby GT500 clone with original Shelby GT500 parts all weekend while i worked on the cobra. the owner bought it back in the 1970's for $200... i'd kill for a rotted shell of a 67' fastback let alone a running and driving one! for $200 bucks! Anyways I started early friday morning and "finished" Sunday afternoon. By "finished" i mean the motor, K member & trans are all bolted in place but i still have work to do before it's running again. Friday morning i started with bolting up the T45 to the engine. The trans is a lot lighter than i expected it to be, install was a breeze since the engine was out of the car. before i installed it i cleaned out the inside of the bellhousing, it's hard to tell i cleaned the inside but i did lol. Also replaced the throwout bearing with a Ford one, I couldn't really find anything wrong with the TOB that came out of the trans besides it being rusty, but i figured i already have it out might was well replace it.















After that i installed the studs for the driver side exhaust manifold, doesn't sound like a big deal but finding these damn things proved more difficult than i think, as ford discontinued them about 10 years ago. However i was able to purchase some from a ford dealership in Connecticut that had some new old stock, ill update the part number to hopefully help someone else out in the future. Anyway I bought 8 studs, thinking two for each side and i'll use the other 4 for my 1999 GT P1SC build right? wrong. Fun fact, the studs for the driver side are completely different than the passenger side! so i am now stuck with 4 extra driver side studs. the passenger side is M12X1.75 for those who may need the correct stud



So next i wheeled it all over to the lift and positioned it under the cobra, and then the tedious job of lining everything as i lowered the car back onto the front end began. once it was all squared up i bolted the K-member into place. I had to source new K member bolts as the one that came out of the car either snapped because they were so rusty or were so brittle looking that i didn't feel comfortable putting them back in the car, again this was another part i have a hell of a time trying to find as, you guessed it ford discontinued them over 10 years ago. i wasn't sure if i could use hardware for an aftermarket lightweight K-member so i ended up getting a nice set used ones. below is a picture of how rusty and weak one of the bolts that came out of the car was compared to the set i put in. after that i put the drive shaft back in, installed new trans mount and motor mounts, and began fitting the new H-pipe. I don't know why i waited until the motor was back in the car to install the motor mounts, my father told me it would be easier to do once its back in but it took me a good 3 or 4 hours to install them because i was fighting for space. However i'm glad i changed them because the passenger side mount was completely destroyed as seen below. Since i installed a new H-pipe the old BBK catted X-pipe for long tubes is for sale as i have no use for it any more if anyone is interested. its old & rusty looking but has no leaks, worked perfectly fine and the cats are not clogged.











After the motor was back in i started connecting all the wires, plugs, hoses and so on, however i am a little confused as to one particular hose that come from what i think is PCV? right next to the throttle body is a hose that does not reach the hose coming from the driver side valve cover, i don't remember taking the hose off nor do i have the hose anywhere in my basket or nuts and bolts that i took off when the motor came out. i have what i'm talking about pictured below(it's the very last picture) maybe someone can help me and post a picture of what their cobra looks like. (EDIT, i figured out the hoses go into the intake tube) By this time it was 4 o'clock sunday afternoon and i was beat, so i threw in the towel and went home going to work on it after work during the week and hopefully have it moving under its own power this weekend, fingers crossed!





 
#29 ·
another day, another update.

after getting the motor/trans bolted back in i started working on the other things that needed attention. i started with the front lower control arms. i was originally going to replace just the ball joints. however since these are press in style ball joints i would have had to take the control arms off anyway and then take them to get the new ones pressed in. So I bit the bullet and got Moog lower control arms. seemed like an easy job, as its only two bolts that hold them in place, however I didn't realize I would have to drop the steering rack, for the third time to get the front bolt out of place, not a horrible job but a little annoying.









As you can see in the pictures above, the bottom spring isolator was stuck to the factory control arm, so I ended up getting new BBK spring isolators for it to avoid a metal on metal sound



After the control arms were back in place I installed a new set of Sensen brand factory replacement struts, really nice quality struts for the price. not a big brand for Domestic vehicles but a lot of people run them on mazdaspeed3's (my second car) and love them so i figured i'd give them a shot. As anything has to be better than what was left of the original ones lol









Got the front end all buttoned up and decided to put the new BBK Catless H-pipe in place, and accidently broke the driver side front o2 sensor :banghead so had to order a new one. after that was installed, I filled the trans with some new Pennzoil synchromesh fluid. I changed my 1999 GT with the same fluid and it was night and day difference so hopefully this will be the same.





After that, I put the rest of the cooling system back in place, connected the hoses and some wires, reinstalled the air intake and then put the front wheels back on it for the first time in a few months and rolled it out of the shop. Hopefully this weekend or next i'll finish connecting the rest of the wiring, add the rest of the fluids, give the engine bay a nice detail and start it up.



 
#30 ·
had a free weekend and decided to work on the car, as usual it fought me along the way. :swordfight: I started with finishing up the exhaust, installed the new o2 sensor, took the old o2 sensors out of the old BBK X, and hooked up the MIL eliminators, topped off brake, power steering and coolant fluids. That was about all that went in without a fight. After i had buttoned that all up I wanted to finally start the car for the first time since I pulled the motor out, just to make sure it would start.

So i put the battery back in, jump inside and crank the key. it fires right up, initially have a grin on my face for about .2 seconds before my father yells "shut it off" repeatedly. i get out and see a massive oil pool on the ground. Turns out the O-ring on the oil filter gave way and shot about 3 qts of fresh clean oil out. I've changed the oil in my 99 GT a dozen times, it's pretty hard to mess up, its possible i didn't tighten it or over tightened the filter. all i know is the O-ring/gasket looks out of round? I should have noticed that when i put it on. Oh well, bought a new filter and topped off the oil.

Fired it up again, no leaks this time! However I noticed it vibrating terribly, not a drivetrain vibration, it felt more like an exhaust issue. At this point the car shut itself off, and would keep turning off after about 5 seconds of idling. tracked it down to two different broken vacuum lines. I slipped some rubber hose over the leak to fix it.












Now with the vacuum leak fixed, I put the car back in the air looking for what part of the exhaust it hitting causing the vibration. Turns out its hitting all over the damn place :facepalm: the first place i notice was the passenger side muffler is hitting the frame rail, okay no big deal just unbolt it from the H-pipe twist it so it isn't and bolt it up right? nope. I can't twist it because it is ALSO hitting on the passenger side rear upper control arm. at this point i realize the entire passenger side cat back is crooked for whatever reason, even though it fit before with the long tubes and BBK X-pipe. But wait there's more! the driver side H-pipe is hitting the trans crossmember. I tried unbolting it from the header moving it and bolting it back up, which did help a bit but not enough. it seems the crossmember is angled? and its hitting where it turns down. Driver side cat back also hits the frame rail where is hoops over the rear axle. I'm thinking someone modified the cat back to work with the long tubes and shorty X-pipe and now that it has a normal midpipe it doesn't fit properly. Not exactly sure what im going to do about this. i really don't want to have to buy a new catback. The catback is a Flowmaster american thunder for those wondering. I would just put dumps on the back of the mufflers and run it like that but i can't because it wont pass PA state inspection.









At this point i'm beyond frustrated, when I notice a small pool of the fresh coolant i had just poured into the system forming on the floor. its leaking from somewhere against the passenger side firewall and cylinder head. I lower the car and find one of the heater core hoses has a small hole in it. Must have gotten snagged on something when the motor went back in.



The only joy i got out of working on the car was seeing the 1967 fastback that came in for paint get picked up by its owner. Some of you might remember the car from a few posts back. the car came out beautifully! pictures don't do it justice.



 
#32 ·
if you want 4.10's I have the set out of my GT. $30. lol cobra looks awesome though, love the color. where in PA are you
 
#34 ·
also have a bassani SS catback for a 99-04 car... not sure how they fit on a 96-98 though
If they were 3.73's id be all over them but i want 3.73's for my 99GT for when i finally put my built motor and P1SC on. i'll shoot you a PM about the catback. I already ordered a Pypes pipe-bomb catback for it. im from the Perkasie PA area, but if you got a good deal i don't mind driving to Jersey lol :naughty:
 
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