98 GT - Budget build of sorts

v8stang289

15 Year Member
Apr 22, 2008
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Back in February, a buddy of mine told me he was selling his 98 GT. A mutual friend of ours had the car back in high school, then it sat for a while before my buddy bought it several years ago. He told me he was trying to get 1k for it, and it didn't take me long to decide to buy it. It needed tires, a battery, and the paint on the roof/hood was shot. But otherwise it was in good shape and I drove it home.
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Looking it over, It had more modifications than I remembered. BBK throttle body/plenum, K&N intake, Tri-Ax shifter, MSD coils/wires, aluminum quadrant, firewall adjuster, and Flowmaster cat back.

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I washed and hand polished it that afternoon, and it cleaned up well. The roof and hood still had dead paint, but the rest looked ok.

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Over the next couple of weeks I got new tires, added cobra headlights, painted the roof and hood center, and added a chin spoiler and the front plate that I had on my 66 Mustang in high school.

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I'd been toying with the idea of selling my 86GT, and after driving the 98 for a week, I decided to go through with it. Don't know if I'm just getting old. But I enjoyed driving the SN95 more than the Fox, though it is nowhere near as quick.
 
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I sold the Corbeau seats the PO had installed, and found a set of front and rear leather seats from a 98 cobra
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Then I threw in a set of 3.73 gears and new clutches in the trak lok.

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Since then I've just been driving and enjoying it.
I did put Cerwin Vega 4x6's and a JL10w1 in to improve the sound system, but that's about it.

I've sourced a set of PI cams, and a PI intake that I plan to install in the next month or so, to help wake this thing up.
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But so far I've really been enjoying this car. Much more than I thought I would, coming from a Foxbody.

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Great deal. I like your wheels, I put those on my '95, hated those funky 6 spokers. I had 3 Fox's and loved them but the '95 was stiffer, better brakes, quieter etc. And then my '98 Cobra sealed the deal. Still. if I could afford a collection a Fox would be in it. That last picture says it all, quite a transformation.
 
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That is a nice transformation. Your progression is probably exactly what I would do.

I'm a fox guy, but I owned a 2003 GT i bought new. The SN95's are underappreciated.
 
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Car looks Great! Where did you get the headlights? Also, when setting up the rear and using FORD gears you use a .030 shim on the pinion gear and that should be good. I remember reading that somewhere in the past as it makes it much easier to set the rears up but you have to use FORD gears as other brands tolerance may not be as tight during the manufacturing process?
 
Car looks Great! Where did you get the headlights? Also, when setting up the rear and using FORD gears you use a .030 shim on the pinion gear and that should be good. I remember reading that somewhere in the past as it makes it much easier to set the rears up but you have to use FORD gears as other brands tolerance may not be as tight during the manufacturing process?
Thanks.
Got the headlights from Rock Auto, ordered them for a 98 Cobra, $21 each.

I don't remember what size shim I used on the pinion. I did use Ford Racing 3.73's and reused the shim off the factory 2.73 pinion gear. Had to shim the carrier a bit to set backlash, and I did use a stackable shim/spacer instead of a crush sleeve this time. Had to take it in and out a few times to get the pre-load right, but still easier than the crush sleeve in my opinion. Got a little over 1000 miles on the gears now and everything seems good.
 
Over Memorial Day weekend I swapped in a set of PI cams, and a PI intake. Went ahead and replaced the timing components since I had it all apart. Seemed to make a noticeable difference in power. One of these days I'll take it to the track and see what it runs.

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