Progress Thread 1993 LX-Cobra Conversion Project

91TwighlightGT · Jan 4, 2016

Thanks guys!

With regard to the exhaust... It won't change until I swap the engine, as the whole system will be dumped when that happens. I'll probably drive it around in n/a trim for a while until I get the motor built and acquire all the parts to do the swap.

At that point I will have a decision to make. I really want to do a side exit in front of the passenger side tire, but I don't know how loud it will be, and I'm not sure if I will have an acceptable amount of ground clearance. I think it could look good with a rectangular tip positioned correctly.

Also, I may want to run the steeds 5-link, and then I couldn't run tails anyway.

Or maybe I'll do the svo setup with duals. It's just been too far off to decide yet.

A5literMan · Jan 4, 2016

Personally I'd rather run duals. They look awesome with the cobra rear valance. The side exit will be to loud and goofy sounding(just my .02). I wish my dad could/would work on my car with me. I bought a 93 vibrant red GT new, back in the day. I really liked that color.

hoopty5.0 · Jan 5, 2016

I have yet to see a fox with a decent looking side-exit setup.

91TwighlightGT · Jan 5, 2016

I think it just depends on a few things. There are certainly some bad example out there! Round pipes on side exit don't fly with me (with one exception I will get to in a moment)...

Bad example: (Sorry if I offend anyone)
Big ass round pipe. Not what I am looking for.

Mediocre:
Could be okay if it fit tighter to the body, but it hangs down too low which makes it look strange. This could be an issue for me since I have subframe connectors.

Good Example:
Fits nigce and snug to the body, square tip.

Race Car:

I won't be routing mine through the interior, though, so this style is out.

My biggest problem is that dual exhaust on a 2.3L car offers zero performance benefit. It is purely for aesthetics, and adds weight on top of it. Add in the potential packaging issue down the road if I run tails...

But then again, this does look awesome...

A5literMan · Jan 5, 2016

The square exits look the best on a side exit. Still not a fan though
And like your last example...I just really like the dual exhaust tails. It's just an aesthetically pleasing part of the conversion. It's the only way I'd go but lol..not my car

Oh and btw that first 4eye is sexy(minus the stupid ass side exhaust)

95BlueStallion · Jan 5, 2016

Had you kept it an LX body car, then the side exhaust with the square tip would be sweet. But unless you cut out the side skirt I think you will find it hanging pretty low now. The other thing to consider is the smell. It will find its way into the car when you are sitting still, unless you plumb it all the way out the back. I ran dumps, and then a side exhaust on a V8 ranger that I had, and the smell always had me stinking until I ran it all the way out the back again. I try not to knock people for being different though, except @madmike1157 , but thats a different story we dont have time for. So do what you do man, you are doing a great job considering your starting point.

CarMichael Angelo · Jan 5, 2016

To me, ( let me say that again)... To me, an exhaust tip hanging out in front of a tire regardless of tip shape screams red neck. It looks hastily done regardless of how its hung, so you may as well use bailing wire, and stay true to the impression.

Fox Mustangs are already notorious for having smelly exhaust fumes that the driver gets exposed to, and typically that is with full tails. Exit the exhaust in front of the tire, and you may as well just route it directly into the interior, and just wear a respirator.

The added weight and restriction are negligible when it comes to power loss,...certainly not worth risking messing up the appearance the car.

Run the tails, or dump the exhaust ( another Bo and Luke Duke solution), but way better than a JC Whitney side exit exhaust.

Course, that's just me,.......I'm very conventional when it comes to modifying a car.

MY 85 GT · Jan 6, 2016

The Thunderbird turbo coupes had dual exhaust and that didnt seem to hurt performance so did the SVOs....it might not have been true duals but it still had the tail pipes....to make it look symmetrical IMO you have the rear bumper already there to take advantage of. If you werent going to use it you should have stuck to a GT bumper...to hide the ugly One tip....

91TwighlightGT · Jan 6, 2016

MY 85 GT said:
The Thunderbird turbo coupes had dual exhaust and that didnt seem to hurt performance so did the SVOs....it might not have been true duals but it still had the tail pipes....to make it look symmetrical IMO you have the rear bumper already there to take advantage of. If you werent going to use it you should have stuck to a GT bumper...to hide the ugly One tip....

To be clear, I didn't say that a dual setup hurt performance, it simply isn't necessary and doesn't HELP it in any way, and it does add weight. In general, I don't typically like to add parts that are purely cosmetic, but I may make an exception here. My only two options were to do a SVO style dual setup, or a single side exit, I never had any intention on running a single pipe to the rear of the car, with the exception of the period of time where it remains N/A.

With regard to a GT bumper, I never had one originally. I don't mind them, exactly, and I do have the stock one on my GT, but it just doesn't fit my vision for this car or what I am trying to accomplish.

There have been some good points brought up in this thread, though. I'll admit that I haven't had a car with a side exit setup, so it is new territory for me. I know that I don't want it to be annoyingly loud (or buzzy with the 2.3L) or to stink up the car with exhaust fumes, but I figured that with a passenger side exit that it may not be an issue. On top of that, there are some packaging considerations that I have to take into account, including ground clearance with the subframe connectors, and what rear suspension setup I decide to go with.

With all that being said, I've still got a ways to go just to get this thing back on the road, so there is plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons.

Mr. Snrub · Jan 10, 2016

Part of the reason anyone runs a 93 cobra bumper on something that isn't a 93 cobra is for the dual tailpipe look. I think it would look silly with the 2 spots for tailpipes coming out the back and no tailpipes. Side exit also screams bad taste in my books.

Great job on all the work you've done so far though. You're a better person than I am haha, I just hire all my body work out.

FoxMustangLvr · Jan 11, 2016

Car is looking great! Looking forward to seeing it finished here on Stangnet.

91TwighlightGT · Mar 6, 2016

I've been extremely busy at work lately, but we finally got a chance to work on the car today.

The biggest hold up right now is to get the interior pieces ready to install, and today we made good progress on that front.

Before and after shots ahead...

The black parts still need to be painted, and a few odds and ends need to be dealt with, but otherwise the interior will be ready to go!

stykthyn · Mar 6, 2016

Functional ash tray door. This thread wins.

91TwighlightGT · Mar 6, 2016

stykthyn said:
Functional ash tray door. This thread wins.

It didn't start out that way!

91TwighlightGT · Mar 13, 2016

Not a lot to show, but work has begun on the wheels. Hopefully these are finished within the next three weeks or so, because I'm really excited to swap this thing to 5 lug and get the nasty old turbines off to the crusher.

For anyone who has polished aluminum, hats off to you! Color sanding paint is more nerve wracking because of the consequences of cutting through, but sanding aluminum tops the tedious scale.

The pictures show the wheel lip up to 220, but it's a long way to go to a mirror finish. Removing the factory silver is not a fun job, and I've still got one more to go.

Here's a few pics of what we have so far...

This picture was taken with the flash on and makes the whole wheel look shiny, but it's not. The center will be painted black when it is done.

Last one is a comparison shot of the bare aluminum lip and the last untouched wheel.

Davedacarpainter · Mar 13, 2016

91TwighlightGT said:
Not a lot to show, but work has begun on the wheels. Hopefully these are finished within the next three weeks or so, because I'm really excited to swap this thing to 5 lug and get the nasty old turbines off to the crusher.

For anyone who has polished aluminum, hats off to you! Color sanding paint is more nerve wracking because of the consequences of cutting through, but sanding aluminum tops the tedious scale.

The pictures show the wheel lip up to 220, but it's a long way to go to a mirror finish. Removing the factory silver is not a fun job, and I've still got one more to go.

Here's a few pics of what we have so far...

This picture was taken with the flash on and makes the whole wheel look shiny, but it's not. The center will be painted black when it is done.

Last one is a comparison shot of the bare aluminum lip and the last untouched wheel.

Tedious, tedious, tedious work man. My hats off to you for your patience to do this.
Can't wait to see a picture when it's done though. Should look really sweet.

Black1987 · Mar 15, 2016

Little late to the party, but if you wanted to do side exhaust look at abc exclusives side pipe covers https://www.abcexclusive.com/misc_main.htm#fm700gt .
Not the cheapest route but looks cleaner than the pipe hanging down.

91TwighlightGT · Mar 15, 2016

Interesting, but I'd have to ditch the '93 Cobra side skirts to run them, which I'm not interested in doing. The jury is still out for the exhaust setup at the moment, there is just a lot to consider between suspension, cosmetics, and performance that will dictate what route I go.

stykthyn · Mar 15, 2016

Black1987 said:
Little late to the party, but if you wanted to do side exhaust look at abc exclusives side pipe covers https://www.abcexclusive.com/misc_main.htm#fm700gt .
Not the cheapest route but looks cleaner than the pipe hanging down.

Now those look slick.

smokin joe · Mar 16, 2016

91TwighlightGT said:
Not a lot to show, but work has begun on the wheels. Hopefully these are finished within the next three weeks or so, because I'm really excited to swap this thing to 5 lug and get the nasty old turbines off to the crusher.

For anyone who has polished aluminum, hats off to you! Color sanding paint is more nerve wracking because of the consequences of cutting through, but sanding aluminum tops the tedious scale.

The pictures show the wheel lip up to 220, but it's a long way to go to a mirror finish. Removing the factory silver is not a fun job, and I've still got one more to go. The center will be painted black when it is done.

I did the same thing to my pony wheels 15 years ago. It was a long process but worth it.

Progress Thread 1993 LX-Cobra Conversion Project

91TwighlightGT

A5literMan

At least it is lumpy...

hoopty5.0

mechanicus terribilis

91TwighlightGT

A5literMan

At least it is lumpy...

95BlueStallion

My assy trans to myself

CarMichael Angelo

my rearend will smell so minty fresh,

MY 85 GT

91TwighlightGT

Mr. Snrub

Active Member

FoxMustangLvr

I love my Pimp

91TwighlightGT

stykthyn

I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

91TwighlightGT

91TwighlightGT

Davedacarpainter

Chicks can make things hard if they’re inspired...

Black1987

my wife Bedazzled my input shaft

91TwighlightGT

stykthyn

I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

smokin joe

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