New to me 98 Cobra

[bird_dog0347]

Last week I bought this 98 Cobra from a guy in Florida off the SVTPerformance.com forum. Below are the details of the car and some pics that he took for his ad. I know of only two issues with it so far, first the clutch cable was incorrectly installed into the firewall adjuster so I need to remove the rubber piece off the cable and fix that issue, and it seems to have a power steering fluid leak that I think is coming from the rack but I haven't had a chance to locate it for certain just yet and I need to power wash the undercarriage. Other than that so far it's just a really clean Cobra with most of the mods being on the suspension side. I plan to take it to some local Auto X events and just use it as a fun car until my 1992 Coupe build is finished.

Laser red paint with peanut butter interior. PPF on front bumper, whole hood, front fenders, side skirts, and behind rear wheels.
Current mileage-69,672
Mods are mostly handling related.
Griggs Racing torque arm/panhard bar, lower control arms, subframe connectors, k member, a-arms, solid aluminum rack bushings, bumpsteer kit, Griggs adjustable coil overs/Koni adjustable shocks/struts.
Under hood is Maximum Motorsports adjustable caster/camber plates and strut tower brace.
Braided stainless brake lines on front brakes.
Aluminum drive shaft
TA aluminum rear differential cover/girdle
Steeda TriAx short throw shifter
Adjustable clutch quadrant/firewall adjuster/cable
Exhaust consists of oem manifolds with Bassani mid pipe and Flowmaster catback.
Wheels are 17x9 95 Cobra R’s
Tires are Continental ExtremeContact 275/40r17 from 2013/2014.
Battery dated 11/21
Pads/Rotors fairly new
Lloyds front/trunk mat
Car is a lot of fun to drive and handles quite well for what it is. The ride is nice without being harsh.

 

[Warhorse Racing]

That is a nice Cobra! You're going to have a lot of fun autocrossing that car!

 

[Mustang5L5]

nice. I have a soft spot for 96-98 Cobras. I wanted one badly in High school.

 

[bird_dog0347]

nice. I have a soft spot for 96-98 Cobras. I wanted one badly in High school.

I put 30 miles on it today trying to make sure I knew if it needs anything before I change out the fluids and stuff, I love the way this car rides and handles!

 

[bird_dog0347]

I changed the oil today as I wasn't sure when the last time it was changed, by the looks of the oil it was due. Took the wife out for a ride to grab a snack and chill. Next up I will fix the clutch cable issue, and I did confirm today there is a leak on the PS rack so I'll order a new one of those as well. I need to give it a good buff before I ceramic coat it. I also plan to put the Corbeau seats I have in the garage in it for a while as the stock ones are in great shape but won't hold me as well for Auto X. Now I need to get a storage unit though to put the 92 coupe interior in it until it is ready as my garage is super hard to use with all the crap in it.

 

[My Unicorn]

I put 30 miles on it today trying to make sure I knew if it needs anything before I change out the fluids and stuff, I love the way this car rides and handles!

Of course you do I have a 98 v6 convertible (so no where near as nice as your hard top) and she's got stock everything almost 130 thousand on her I'm the 3rd owner and if it didn't have puppy poop brown interior and top it would be perfect lucky for me the top needs to be replaced I'm thinking white is right plus I miss my hard top and it was white with boss decals on it the best thing I never should have sold I hate myself for it still it's been 4 years now

 

[bird_dog0347]

Of course you do I have a 98 v6 convertible (so no where near as nice as your hard top) and she's got stock everything almost 130 thousand on her I'm the 3rd owner and if it didn't have puppy poop brown interior and top it would be perfect lucky for me the top needs to be replaced I'm thinking white is right plus I miss my hard top and it was white with boss decals on it the best thing I never should have sold I hate myself for it still it's been 4 years now

Thanks for the reminder...

I have a new rack here to install, just been too crazy with the kids and their sports weekends and Easter last weekend. In fact I took the boy to soccer practice in it tonight! I have now put about 160 miles on it since I got it, also did a full paint correction on it (wash/clay/wash/cut/buff/wash/clay/polish/wash/ceramic coat) and it looks as good as it can with the PPF that was already on it and has some defects, but I wasn't gonna peel that and cost a few extra thousand so it's fine. The car is awesome and I will swap out the rack and the seats in the next couple of weeks as time allows, get an alignment and enjoy the thing!

 

[bird_dog0347]

Needed some milk the other night, had to take the grocery getter.

 

[bird_dog0347]

So this weekend I started the process to replace the leaking PS rack. In some ways it is easier with the aftermarket K member but in other ways whomever replaced the clutch cable last can kiss my whole ass. First off, they didn't pull the firewall grommet off the cable when they put it on the firewall adjuster, so I knew that needed to be fixed. A consequence of that choice was that they were only able to get the cable over the first hook on the quadrant which means I now need to remove the seat to get to it.

You might be asking yourself what does this have to do with a steering rack replacement? Good question, if the cable were properly routed it wouldn't be in the way of me getting the PS low and high pressure hoses reattached. So, while I have the car up in the air to fix that I might as well fix the cable too right? Exactly, except the battery is low as I didn't have it on a tender and the driver's seat is a power seat and is stuck so I can't remove it... thus I'm stuck where I'm at until I get the batter enough charge to move the seat to unfork the poor cable work.

balls.....

 

[Noobz347]

Auto X

Hey... I bet you can guess what I'm gonna say next.




Can ya?




Huh?

+ 100/100 @ 7psi

 

[bird_dog0347]

Hey... I bet you can guess what I'm gonna say next.




Can ya?




Huh?

+ 100/100 @ 7psi

Yeah..... no. The notch is getting a boosted 4.6 and the lower end has weak rods/pistons if you add boost and I'm not gonna build both engines. If anything I'll sell/trade this Cobra in the spring on a C6 Vette, maybe.

 

[Noobz347]

Yeah..... no. The notch is getting a boosted 4.6 and the lower end has weak rods/pistons if you add boost and I'm not gonna build both engines. If anything I'll sell/trade this Cobra in the spring on a C6 Vette, maybe.

Still no takers. What's wrong with these people?

 

[Willybill32]

Yeah..... no. The notch is getting a boosted 4.6 and the lower end has weak rods/pistons if you add boost and I'm not gonna build both engines. If anything I'll sell/trade this Cobra in the spring on a C6 Vette, maybe.

So what’s the status on the notch? Did you select the blue you want? Has it got any new paint on it?

 

[FastDriver]

So, basically Cobras are what I've modded Black Jack to be. Lower, more power, T56 (from an '03 Cobra), Cobra brakes... My heart is with foxes, but I totally get it with SN-95 Cobras. I think the smoother shape of the 94-98 is better looking than anything afterwards. Love what you're doing with this thing, and bring your auto-x A-game. Let's see what ya got!

 

[bird_dog0347]

I finally got around to getting the few issues the car had resolved I think. When I got it the seller told me it had a small power steering leak, which I guess could be true depending on your definition of small. Just sitting in the garage about half the reservoir would end up on the floor every 1-2 weeks. The clutch cable was incorrectly installed as the rubber part that goes into the firewall should be removed when using an aftermarket clutch quadrant. And the windshield cowl is cracked and needs to be replaced but I need @95steedamustang to sell me a carbon unit.

I got the power steering rack replaced and fixed the clutch cable, still working on that adjustment though as it still engages a little high for my liking. I got it aligned this morning, and I also swapped in my Corbeau seats that I've had sitting around that used to be in my notch, the stock seats are in great condition and will go to storage. I also did a full paint correction on it and while the PPF on the entire front end does have some flaws I don't mind as it has saved those flaws from being on the paint. It will still need a set of tires as the ones on it are 10 years old, but other than that it's good to drive now. Cold AC, hot heat, clean as can be for an almost 30 year old car.

 

[bird_dog0347]

So, how is the car with the new steering rack you ask? Well, it leaks WORSE than the last one after alignment and driving it and now I get to do it all over again.


This is all I can think of.

 

[95steedamustang]

So, how is the car with the new steering rack you ask? Well, it leaks WORSE than the last one after alignment and driving it and now I get to do it all over again.

Ah, the joys of working on cars

 

[bird_dog0347]

Ah, the joys of working on cars

It was so defeating...

 

[bird_dog0347]

Well, I got a new rack ordered and should be here tomorrow, I'm gonna try to bang this replacement out much faster than the last one, I want to be able to enjoy the damn thing.

 

[squeak93]

Replacing racks is one of my least favorite jobs on these cars. Threading the lines into them while dripping fluid down into your arm pit is such a good time.