I have officially started on my '94 Cobra project... DUW

[Killercanary]

I recently picked up a 100% stock '94 Cobra. I got this car with the intent of making it a "nice day" driver/autocross car. I took it out last weekend and was VERY disappointed in its performance. The car would not pull above ~4000rpms and I couldn't figure out why at that time. It didn't break up or anything, it would just stop pulling, as it if it was either sucking through a straw or the exhaust was plugged. I yanked the air silencer, bumped the timing to 14* and took it back out for a ride. The problem was still there. I got to thinking that with the miles and the fact that it still had the stock 4 cat H pipe on it that the cats may have been plugged so I decided to yank the H pipe to see what, if anything was wrong and here's what I found.

Driver's side pre-cat, looks normal:

Passenger side pre-cat, ummm, this is NOT normal:

Well, I hope this was the problem, but I'm not taking any chances and I'm putting on my FMS shorty headers too (on the left in the pic). I wonder is they'll flow more than the stockers on the right in the pic?

I'm not sure if I'm going to run a MAC catted H pipe, or my offroad Bassani X pipe as I have both. I don't want this car to be loud and I think the catted H is the way to go to keep it quiet. I also picked up a set of Anniversary Cobra wheels wrapped in 275 series Kuhmo V710 race tires from my buddy Steve for autocross only duty. Here's a pic during the tear down... excuse the mess!

Here's a few pics I took of it while I had it out the other day too after I spent hours claying, glazing, polishing, and waxing it.

 

[ThePumpkin]

I think your "nice day" car is better than my main project car.
jjjeeeaaalllooouuusssssyyyyyyy....
haha
Looks good.

 

[SublimeRT]

Niceeee. Looking at all those pics makes me excited about spring time when I can start working on my car again. Where'd you get those Saleen tail light bezels? I keep an eye out for some but never see any.

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

And so the mods begin...

 

[Venom351R]

Paul we all knew it would not be long before it ended up on jack stands

 

[94-302-vert]

Looks great Paul...

So how does it perform after chanigng out the mid pipe? I am sure by NOW you have put one on and taken it for another drive.

 

[ProKiller]

look good Paul! I'm not surprised you couldn't wait. Has the wife grown on the car at all?

 

[YEAHLOH95]

i stopped by last night and i was trying to talk him into the x pipe , this car is super clean and just needs the performance to keep up with the good looks.

 

[blksn955.o]

I just did the reverse-ish...I dumped my Mac O/R H for a catted BBK X. I LOVE the sound of the X with cats. It is nice and semi quit and when you step on it/get into it over 2,500 it sounds great. It kind of took some of the lope out of the cam as well.

I would say stay with some cats if your wanting a "quite" sound. Call me old but the drone/always loud O/R left me wanting to scream.

What a collection...I see both being top notch examples of each direction. 1/4 mile monster and road course/autoX monster. Might want to call your collection Mustang Monsters on that note.

 

[MotiV8ed_95GT]

Have you cleaned the MAF wires yet? I bought my 95GT in October and it had been poorly maintained and had been sitting for a while. It had the same problem after I tuned it up(ran smooth but no pull) I cleaned the MAF wires and now it runs like a champ!

Car looks great btw.

Ross

 

[donkey_punch]

looks clean, and the fact that it has cloth interior i think is a plus. i hate the saddle leather in my cobra.

 

[94-302-vert]

I would vote O/R X... My catted H drones more than my O/R H... I hate Kitties...

 

[Killercanary]

Thanks everyone for the compliments! This car is photogenic, but in person its at best a 30 footer. The paint is decent, but there are a TON of door dings on it. The biggest one is above the driver rear side scoop and it can be seen in the pic above of the car. I'm going to try to get a paintless dent removal person in here to work their magic on it to see if it can be made better.

SublimeRT- I bought them years ago on ebay. They were not listed correctly and no one bid on them. I want to sand them and paint them body color and put them on my '95 'vert eventually. I put them on the cobra for now because the stock ones were faded pretty bad.

94-302-vert- Actually the garage and car look the same now as they did in the pic as I haven't touched it since saturday as I haven't had time. I hope to work on it tonight.

Ryan- She doesn't love it, but she said she wants to drive it to school when the weather gets nicer. that to me is a HUGE step. She is already fed up with me spending money on it as I have another $1500 in parts I hope to buy in the next month or so.

blksn955.o- LOL! We have the same mindset. i really don't want a stinky, loud car anymore. I hate the fact that my wife can hear me coming minutes before she even sees me. I don't want the attention honestly. The big reason is that my 2.5yr old daughter about broke my heart recently when she told me that she likes my cobra but doesn't like my "boom boom car" (my 'vert) as its too loud for her. She doesn't even want to ride in it anymore. I want her to enjoy this car and not be afraid of it.

Ross- it was the first thing I did when I got it home, and surprisingly it was extremely clean. This car has had paper air filters its entire life which I suspect it a reason it was so clean instead of an oily K&N.

donkey_punch- No offense to those with the saddle leather, but I hate it too. I have no idea why ford put it into so many mustangs. I had a hard time finding a black interior 94-95. I too like the cloth as it helps keep you planted in the seat better and prevents your from sliding around like a leather seat does.

94-302-vertSaturday- if the cat pipe does drone, its history. I will probably try the offroad first to make absolutely sure that the cats were the problem and then swap the cat'd H pipe back on to see if I like the noise reduction.

 

[ProKiller]

good to hear she's not mad about it still. you still going to take the boom boom car to carlisle?

 

[rj95svt]

My 95 cobra seemed flat in the upper rpm's as well. I done all the tricks including O/R pipes and cleaning the maf but I really didn't notice any real difference till installed a cam and done some minor (self) porting on the lower intake and heads. Now my pulls cleanly to 6,000 but it's still not real powerful it just doesn't feel flat like it did.

The car looks real good in the pics! I also am not a big fan of the saddle interior but it has grown on me some over time.

 

[MysteryMachine]

Paul I love that first pic. Car looks great in the photos for sure. Like everyone else I knew it wouldn't be long till you started modding this one. Just remember if you go with the o/r you will have to swap it for emissions every year. That would def make me think twice about going that route

 

[Killercanary]

Ryan- Yes, I'll have the 95 at Carlisle, although other than the roll bar I don't think anything will be different on it than last year. Well, the AFR 185 comps are new, but aesthetically nothing looks to be changed as this point.

Just remember if you go with the o/r you will have to swap it for emissions every year. That would def make me think twice about going that route

That isn't a problem for me as I doubt I'll drive it over 5K/yr (emissions exempt)and even if I do, all I need to pass is the gas cap test. That's it.

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

rj95SVT- If it would even make it to 5000rpm's I'd be happy right now. Honestly, this car would not rev on its own that high as it was. I'll find out soon though if I have fixed this or not.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Hope its simple and turns out to be the cats. Those pics look nice Paul. Congrats on owning another nice mustang!

P.S. Your wife sounds a lot like mine. But dont they look so nice sitting in the passenger seat?

 

[95opal]

Looking good!

 

[NotQuik]

my 97 sonoma had a similar problem and started out not reving past 4k then 3k then 2k and then it would not even start....sure enough it was the cat! Good luck and the car looks great.