Progress Thread 95 2-Top Cobra Build Thread- Never ending

Cheapskate207 · Aug 6, 2022

For sure, power pipe is the only way to go. I too was worried about my clutch, but so far it’s been holding fine. Ofcourse I have no idea what’s in it. I wouldn’t worry about your trans.

Either way, I think your goal is realistic. I would just be careful with high boost, especially with no head studs/bolts and hyper pistons.

Essn95 · Aug 6, 2022

Cheapskate207 said:
For sure, power pipe is the only way to go. I too was worried about my clutch, but so far it’s been holding fine. Ofcourse I have no idea what’s in it. I wouldn’t worry about your trans.

Either way, I think your goal is realistic. I would just be careful with high boost, especially with no head studs/bolts and hyper pistons.

Will do, I am hoping around the 10lb mark with a conservative tune the engine will hold up without needing studding and gaskets. Because if I have to do head gaskets I think some aluminum heads will have to follow them up

WhiteCobra95 · Aug 7, 2022

One additional thought for your parts list: upgraded cooling system.

I would have to read back in your thread because I don't remember if you've already tackled that subject. But if not, you should consider upgrading the radiator at a minimum. With the added heat rejection of the new power level with the blower, the stock radiator probably isn't going to be up to the task.

Here's what I've been told by colleagues that worked at Ford (I'm not 100% on the info, but it came from reliable sources and I can throw in some personal experience as well): The '94/'95 V8s and V6s share the same radiator. It's on the big side for the V6 and acceptable for street-duty 5.0s, but borderline with built motors and no good at all for road racing or built motors in hot climates / hot summer days. I can confirm the road racing issue. I have to watch my temp gauge closely on track days hotter than mid 60s with a stock Cobra long-block. Also, '96 Cobras had a TSB of some sort where owners could get an improved cooling system (I think it was a just larger radiator) if they came in to dealers under warranty with cooling system complaints. I believe '97+ Cobras had the improved systems from the factory.

Great project and nice planning! I'm anxious to keep following this build and watch your progress.

Essn95 · Aug 7, 2022

WhiteCobra95 said:
One additional thought for your parts list: upgraded cooling system.

I would have to read back in your thread because I don't remember if you've already tackled that subject. But if not, you should consider upgrading the radiator at a minimum. With the added heat rejection of the new power level with the blower, the stock radiator probably isn't going to be up to the task.

Here's what I've been told by colleagues that worked at Ford (I'm not 100% on the info, but it came from reliable sources and I can throw in some personal experience as well): The '94/'95 V8s and V6s share the same radiator. It's on the big side for the V6 and acceptable for street-duty 5.0s, but borderline with built motors and no good at all for road racing or built motors in hot climates / hot summer days. I can confirm the road racing issue. I have to watch my temp gauge closely on track days hotter than mid 60s with a stock Cobra long-block. Also, '96 Cobras had a TSB of some sort where owners could get an improved cooling system (I think it was a just larger radiator) if they came in to dealers under warranty with cooling system complaints. I believe '97+ Cobras had the improved systems from the factory.

Great project and nice planning! I'm anxious to keep following this build and watch your progress.

You're definitely in the right direction with that thinking. I have been looking at a 2 or 3 core aluminum radiator as both preventative maintenance and as a caution with boost. My only worry holding me back is spacing with the larger crank pulley that I will be running. I know this is a little bit backwards but I think I will go through with the install, measure what type of space I have, and then order a radiator that I know will fit with the space constraints if cooling becomes an issue. Right now the only modification to the cooling system is a 180deg thermostat.

Essn95 · Aug 7, 2022

More pics from tonight, she’s filthy right now but the gas station lighting always does wonders. Tomorrow morning she goes under the knife for 3.73 gears, new bearings, and axle seals/bearings

General karthief · Aug 8, 2022

Ahhhhh, the obligatory 'pony at the petrol stop' photo
always looks good.

Essn95 · Aug 8, 2022

Everything is out, need to bring the pinion to a shop tomorrow to get the old bearing off to grab that shim and press on the new one. Took about 5 hours in dissassembly and installing axle seals and bearings. I did break both rear speed sensors in the process, they seemed to have fused to the caliper bracket so if I am not able to hammer it out, I will need to replace the bracket and the sensors. Not ideal, but to be expected with 27 year old plastic.

Essn95 · Aug 17, 2022

Took a little while to update because I was a little disappointed in my work. Got the car on the ground for its first test drive. Picked up drive nice and smooth with no noises and was very proud. Get into third gear and let off to coast to a stop and I get a good amount of gear whine/whirring. Felt a little defeated so she sat for a week while I debated starting over or taking it to a shop. Decided on the latter. Drove it about 20 miles to my local mustang shop to get the install done. On the bright side, she drives flawless and the 3.73s felt perfect. They gave the car a good amount of pep and around town under 55mph she stays under 2k rpm. It even seemed like the decel noise got a little less apparent or I started to get used to it. Most would probably leave it, but I really want to have this car perfect. This will be her first time at a shop under my possession but she’s in good company at Lamotta Performance

Essn95 · Aug 17, 2022

This morning I also replaced the side view mirrors that would rattle a little while driving. Dorman units went in and look good. Will need to exchange driver side as the up/down wire was slightly damaged upon arrival.

Also installed my Speedo recalibration module. Pulled switched power from the orange/black wire by ecu that is for auto trans temp. Ran a ground to a clean bolt down there as well. Soldered in the module signal wires in line to the gray/black VSS wire. Won’t know if it works until I get the car back as I am having them throw in my new abs speed sensors while the car is all apart.

General karthief · Aug 17, 2022

Oh yeah, Lamotta rocks

bird_dog0347 · Aug 17, 2022

Yeah, gears are an art... it's not something that is easy to get right the first try.

Essn95 · Aug 18, 2022

Picked up my car from Lamotta this evening. Nice and smooth drive and no noises. They said they needed a thinner pinion shim than the OEM piece which usually isn’t the case with Ford Racing gears. Started the break in process today and very happy with the 3.73s around town

Essn95 · Aug 18, 2022

However, my speedometer and odometer are still inoperable. I was advised it could likely be the gear on the VSS sensor could have become dislodged. Are there any other common things to look for? Problem arose after the gear install but just a coincidence as nothing with the rear end should've affected the speedo/odo

Edit: odometer not tach

Essn95 · Aug 18, 2022

Cruise is also inoperable for what it’s worth

General karthief · Aug 18, 2022

Check out the gear as that would effect the cruise also, not sure about the tach but I think there is a connection at the coil for that

WhiteCobra95 · Aug 19, 2022

You could try removing the Speedcal and just run it on the sensor and original wiring to see if you get anything to the speedometer. That might help root out a cluster issue vs. wiring or sensor.

Essn95 · Aug 19, 2022

The issue came up before I wired in the speedcal, I might still end up doing this but it’s soldered in so I would like to avoid this if possible.

WhiteCobra95 · Aug 19, 2022

Okay, then it's probably something else. Hopefully its not in the cluster. I haven't priced one out, but it might be worth picking up a new VSS. They're not too-bad to swap out and probably the easiest thing to try before checking the wiring. I don't remember if the VSS is an inductive or hall-effect sensor, so I'll have to check the pin-out to see if has a 5V sensor supply.

Did the speedo ever work after installing the speedcal? Could the speedcal be defective? If you think that could be the case and want to simplify things, you could swap the drive gear in the trans to an 7-tooth gear. I did that on mine in 2010. If I could do it again I would pull the trans and do it on a bench, but it is possible to do it under the car. I think the seven tooth drive gear supports from 3.08 to 3.73 in the z-spec T5 with the correct driven gear on the VSS.

Essn95 · Aug 19, 2022

WhiteCobra95 said:
Okay, then it's probably something else. Hopefully its not in the cluster. I haven't priced one out, but it might be worth picking up a new VSS. They're not too-bad to swap out and probably the easiest thing to try before checking the wiring. I don't remember if the VSS is an inductive or hall-effect sensor, so I'll have to check the pin-out to see if has a 5V sensor supply.

Did the speedo ever work after installing the speedcal? Could the speedcal be defective? If you think that could be the case and want to simplify things, you could swap the drive gear in the trans to an 7-tooth gear. I did that on mine in 2010. If I could do it again I would pull the trans and do it on a bench, but it is possible to do it under the car. I think the seven tooth drive gear supports from 3.08 to 3.73 in the z-spec T5 with the correct driven gear on the VSS.

I bought a new sensor because it would be the cheapest fix, about $25. The gear inside the trans and on the sensor looked perfect. New sensor didn’t fix the issue.
The speedo and odo stopped working about a week before the speedcal was installed. I installed it before dropping it off at Lamotta because I was previously under the impression that the abs sensors in the rear that were broken were the cause for the speedo stopped working, I now realize those sensors have no affect on the speedo.

General karthief · Aug 19, 2022

I'm not up on sn95s so I must ask: is the speedometer cable driven or electronic?

Progress Thread 95 2-Top Cobra Build Thread- Never ending

Cheapskate207

The left one hangs a little lower

Essn95

WhiteCobra95

Essn95

Essn95

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Essn95

Essn95

Essn95

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

bird_dog0347

still married haven't seen testicles in years

Essn95

Essn95

Essn95

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

WhiteCobra95

Essn95

WhiteCobra95

Essn95

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

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Progress Thread 95 2-Top Cobra Build Thread- Never ending

The left one hangs a little lower

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

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