My Parts Car Dilemma...I'm getting the "Feels"

[Cool Beans]

The idea of what my finished '68 coupe is going to be keeps growing and evolving as I find inspiration and just drive the car more. What started out as just wanting a cheap 302 roller that didn't leak or smoke turned into wanting to convert to efi since I hate my carb which turned into a planned 5 sped swap as well which led to looking for a fox body wrecks which led to me falling in love with a MOD motor swap and then to the 32v...

AJE Colt 65 front k-member, cut the towers, 4.6l 32v and a 5 speed and EFI. My car rides like a wooden plank so a suspension upgrade was in the works anyways...

...which led to me watching for a wrecked SVT Cobra...but I found something better...

...a neglected but complete and drivable 1998 SVT Cobra convertible. It sat for a year, expired tags, spun rod bearing but runs and drives and doesn't make much noise, some extra parts, tuner, S.S. exhaust (no cats though). Jump started on a dead battery, ran a bit rough but it's currently on a trailer in my buddies backyard waiting for me to do something with it.

$1700. Never really checked it out outside of the engine but I started having second thoughts about stripping it for my car as soon as I drove it. And my family and friends are like "I thought you were getting a wrecked POS...why are you cutting this up?!" This hasn't helped me in making a decision, lol.

Step 1 is to buy a new battery and get it off the trailer. Engine needs work. Then I need to see what I have to work with for the planned swap...but if the top goes down, all bets are off :/ I've really wanted a convertible, even to the point of pricing out converting my '68 coupe. But I also don't really need 3 cars and another project...but it's a sweet looking car. I figure y'all might be able to provide some insight. I can't be the only car nut to go through this

 

[rbohm]

you are falling into the same trap many of us have, a lack of direction with your project. best to sit down and outline what you want from your project car, thn develop a plan to make the car what you want, then stick to the plan.

 

[rustaddict]

Fix the Cobra. You don't see those everyday.

 

[Cool Beans]

you are falling into the same trap many of us have, a lack of direction with your project. best to sit down and outline what you want from your project car, than develop a plan to make the car what you want, then stick to the plan.

Man, you called it pretty good. I went into this because I wanted a cool old car to drive around and make people say "wow"! The vaguest of plans, yes! I've mostly just been fixing things these last couple years back to stock. But as I've been driving it more, I do have things I want to change now...upgraded suspension, EFI, manual transmission conversion, nicer seats, better steering, etc...the "Mustang in Black" was inspiring in that it gave a vision to my loose collection of changes. I probably wouldn't be having this little dilemma if the car I found was wrecked/irreparable, lol.

Fix the Cobra. You don't see those everyday.

True. I'm going to get a new battery for it this weekend and see exactly what I bought. I really don't need another project car though. My car buddies are pushing me to stick to my original plan of merging the 2 cars. I tend to have a history of unfinished projects...I might be able to finish my '68 lol

 

[rbohm]

Man, you called it pretty good. I went into this because I wanted a cool old car to drive around and make people say "wow"! The vaguest of plans, yes! I've mostly just been fixing things these last couple years back to stock. But as I've been driving it more, I do have things I want to change now...upgraded suspension, EFI, manual transmission conversion, nicer seats, better steering, etc...the "Mustang in Black" was inspiring in that it gave a vision to my loose collection of changes. I probably wouldn't be having this little dilemma if the car I found was wrecked/irreparable, lol.

ok so the first thing is decide what you want the vintage car to be. do you want a daily driver, a toy, or what ever. once you decide exactly what you want, then start outlining the modifications you need to make to reach the goal. for instance, IRS is a nice thing to have, but not necessary unless you are building an all out auto crosser. that said i do recognize that the best handling will come from modifying the rear suspension.

another thing to consider, you might want to find out how much you will get from selling the cobra as is, or running, compared to how much you will get from parting it out. be sure to include the the hassle of selling the parts from the cobra, and the length of time ti will take to get rid of all the parts.

now make a list of things you need to do to the vintage car, and a second list of things you want to do to the vintage car. then assess your skill level as well as you money level. how much will it cost you to get the vintage car where you want it, and then triple the amount you come up with, and that should put you in the ball park.

 

[Cool Beans]

Thanks for the advice, it really helps! I'm thinking about this now, based on my initial plan of 2 months ago when I started looking for the 302 roller to rebuild. 302 rollers and t-5's around here are gold plated...after talking with the machine shop, depending on how in depth a rebuild went...I couldn't build a 305 hp 302 for less than this entire car cost me. I start stripping it tomorrow With the suspension update that the AJE k-member will net me, and the amount of parts I can reuse into my build, I think the cobra parts car is the way to go. Still guilty for stripping a good car, lol. But my 68 will be sweet 8)

 

[rbohm]

here is a bare block from summit racing that is fully machined and ready to build;

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/dms-lvl20302030/overview/make/ford

a bit pricey at $1200, but it is a DSS prepped block.

 

[Cool Beans]

Appreciate the block suggestion, but the plan is in action! I have a written plan in several phases and my end goal. Writing it all down did help me figure out what I want. Engine and tranny are out of the car. I'm going to list it soon to part out the body panels and cobra hood/trunk. Now that I've started, I have no guilt

I also went over the car with my friend. The car had been sloppily painted, it was worn interior, rough under carriage...it was a real project. I could buy a nice mustang for less than restoring this one. It really is a nice parts/doner car.