03 Cobra purchase.

[mrrob96fs]

Alright guys, I am new to this forum but looking to be a resident here soon. I am shopping 03 cobras and finding most of the cars with about 30k miles on them. Anyone have suggestions as to what to look for? Little things I might glance over if I wasn't an SVT owner already? On a totally separate topic... blower pulleys... I know the obvious upside to putting a smaller pulley on the Eaton, but what about long term? Anyone know if the Eatons don't like spinning that fast or if it messes with the car badly? All help is appreciated.

Rob

 

[Uncle Meat]

First question... have you read the 03/04 Cobra FAQ located here yet? It will answer 99% of your common questions.

Most popular problem items to look for:

1. Drivers side head "tick".
2. Car pulls to the right.
3. Car vibrates at 80+MPH.

Adding a pulley will spin the blower harder, which will create more boost quicker. This creates more heat, more heat wears parts faster. However, there are guys who've been spinning the piss out of their Eatons for 50+K and they are still running strong. Suggest you don't run anything smaller than a 2.93 upper unless you invest in some blower porting and additional cooling mods.

U.M.

 

[GT390]

Additional cooling mods is where it's at IMO.
I run a 2.8 pulley, right now, but the first mods I did ( a year ago when I got my '03) were:
- LDC head cooling mod
- LFP upgraded (larger) radiator
- LFP upgraded (larger dual pass) intercooler heat exchanger
- drilled (3) 1/8" holes in the thermastat
May be ovekill in some people's minds, but once I laid down that base work, I felt much more comfortable with the mods. I did a LOT of research over the winter when the car was up.

 

[key]

Hey U.M., can you expand on the "pulls to the right" problem?

Is it just alignment or something else?

 

[Uncle Meat]

Hey U.M., can you expand on the "pulls to the right" problem?

Is it just alignment or something else?

Some Cobra's had a pronounced pull to the right. Some dealerships went as far as re-drilling the shock towers and re-mounting the upper control plates in an effort to correct the problem. It was definately an alignment problem of some sort. I believe the SSM from Ford which covers this was:

03-3-6
SUSPENSION - DRIFT OR PULL TO RIGHT OR LEFT - MUSTANG COBRA MODELS ONLY

U.M.

 

[BadMoFo]

Im running a 2.76 with no cooling mods, have 83,xxx miles on her. the 03 is one stout mofo.

 

[Beabout]

If its been modified to any extent other than exhaust and open filter system walk away from it...

 

[mrrob96fs]

Well I bought her. Torchfire red coupe with 5,500 miles on it. Only mods were suspension upgrades, steeda cai, and a catted h-pipe plus magnaflow exhaust.

I have a lot of parts on order, goodies and the one thing is a 2.76 upper pulley... This seems pretty damn small and 7 pounds extra boost is a bit crazy considering she gets little to no traction as is in 1st and 2nd. I have been looking for a 2.9 but only find sean hyland to make this in a package deal with a 3.1 pulley for way too much. Anyone know where I can pick up a 2.9 upper?

Thanks for all the input everyone, that site really helped UM.

 

[Uncle Meat]

Well I bought her. Torchfire red coupe with 5,500 miles on it. Only mods were suspension upgrades, steeda cai, and a catted h-pipe plus magnaflow exhaust.

I have a lot of parts on order, goodies and the one thing is a 2.76 upper pulley... This seems pretty damn small and 7 pounds extra boost is a bit crazy considering she gets little to no traction as is in 1st and 2nd. I have been looking for a 2.9 but only find sean hyland to make this in a package deal with a 3.1 pulley for way too much. Anyone know where I can pick up a 2.9 upper?

Thanks for all the input everyone, that site really helped UM.

Congratulations! You're going to lover her I'm sure! Post some pics when you get the chance too!

If you're searching for a 2.9 you may have some difficulty. Try searching for a 2.93 instead. Almost all the pulley manufacturers out there offer this size. You'll find that BilletFlow offers a wide variety of pulley types and sizes and are highly recommended by the Terminator community.

U.M.