My Progress Thread.

1987stangman said:

Great thread. I was looking at getting a S197 type shift knob like that but was not sure how it would look. They are a nice piece but would be more suited to a shorter handle shifter. I have a Mac short throw on my 00' that came with a short handle but I reused the handle off the stock shifter because the Mac was too short for my taste. Guess I will stick to the stock knob for now. Also, I'm glad to see you ditch those Euro tails, hopefully you threw them in the trash so no one else gets the opportunity to to them.

Also you did some great work on the radio trim bezel, however if you ever decide a new one is in order I have a couple in the shop.

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Thanks first off. Secondly the shift know fit the stock threads and snugs tightly. And it feels great as it did in my 06 Stang. Yeah I ws glad to get rid of those boy toy tail lights and headlights. I prefer function over looks. And even saying that, those were ugly to start with. And yes thry did go into the trash.

Well got some new parts in tonite. Looks like I will be busy in the morning. Got the Mach 1 grille delete and chin spoiler in from AM. Just in time for next weekends mustang run here on the island. Still waiting on my windshield lettering to come in that will say GRUMPY in yellow 5" lettering.
I was shocked to see the chin spoiler come with bolts/nuts/washers instead of plastic push pins. I even went out today to Home Depot and purchased a 20 set of bolts/nuts/washers thinking it would not come with them.

Well I got the chin spoiler on, and the mach 1 grille delete on with the Snake in the center.

The chin spoiler went on pretty quickly and no problems with alignment. I just marked center of bumper, ad then that point around on each side and then drilled my holes. It came out perfect for being the first try.

The grille delete was a different story. The original grille had 4 screws that faced upside down and were a PITA to get to, especially with my fat fingers. Then the grille came out and I installed the grille blank for fitment first. What I found out while I first fit placed it to make sure there were no fitment issues I found that there were some design flaws.

First flaw I saw that did not look right to me was after you installed the flat base, and then the radiator support cover went on after that. Once I placed the support cover on, I noticed that the tabs that have the front two screw tabs over hung the grille delete by at least 3/4", which looked stupid ugly. Also, the push pins that secure the grille delete in place were too short to allow the plastic screw to go down all the way, the grille delete was too thick. Then there is the body color that is under the radiator support that is exposed once all is in place.

So, to fix the support screw issue, I used 2 of the original grilles slider nuts and slide them on the core support tab, then used the 2 screws of the grille to fasten the whole assembly down. That thing is not moving now. Way stronger than the original setup.


Then there was the core support yellow paint showing through and made the install look ugly. I taped off the area above the grille delete and where the plastic core support cover goes, and painted it all black so everything blended instead of the yellow standing out inbetween the core support plastic cover and the grille delete.



Then there was the core support plastic cover that had the forward two tabs that overhung the grille opening where the old grille would of been. Which made for a eye sore of sorts. So I trimmed about 1/2-3/4" off the tabs and rounded them and smoothed it to look like it was like that from factory and then I used the push pins to secure it.



Then the horse emblem and mount that came with the kit I put aside for a snake. I fabricated 2 screws that I cut the head off, then tapped 2 seperate holes in the back of the snake at top and bottom, drilled two holes into the center piece of the core support and pushed the upper and lower screw through each hole and then installed a nut on the inside, then a lock washer and nut on the backside so to tighten against the front nut. Came out like it was supposed to be that way from factory I think.No other way I could think of to mount it since it is not an OEM snake for the cobra front, but a larger 5" snake.



Then there is the finished front grille. I did more fabrication then I ever imagined to make this look halfway sharp. It actually with the hood down, and the blacked out painting I did, made the whole thing look awesome.

Here is what it looks like from after a good washing. Even my little nephew threw in some sweat and helped with washing it.

Then finally I got to tidy up the interior too.

Got my windshield banner in with my nickname that my wife gave me 20 yrs ago. She has never let it go either, I just can not figure that woman out for the life of me. And I have no idea why she insists on calling me GRUMPY either.

1987stangman said:

I should be going to the bone yard tomorrow provided it doesn't Monsoon again. I pretty much have to go because I have to find a front bumper header panel for a customers car I painted an aftermarket Cobra front bumper cover for. One of the mounting tabs was cracked on the factory.

So if there are any other odds and ends you might be looking for I'm sure we can work something out.

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That would be great if you can locate a nice charcoal center radio bezel with the a/c vents attached and shifter bezel. The only other thing I can think of is a lens for the roof entry light. Mine has the 2 tabs broken off and I have it held in place with double sided tape.

The chin spoiler did not give me problems, just design flaws that I had to address like the radiator support front tabs overhanging too far forward, and the 2 plastic screws and sleeves that were not lng enough to go down far enough to secure the 2 top mounting points for the grille delete. But the way I fixed it made it 100 times stronger and secure than if I were able to use the plastic screws.


I appreciate the effort to hit the JY for me, I do not feel so bad now knowing you have to go anyway. Thanks again for your help in getting those pieces for me, lets just hope they have some that are in good condition.

Never thought of doing what? I am going to take the Cobras off. I do agree that it is a Fobra wantabe. I have a new set of GT badges coming in for the front fenders. I was not trying to be something it was not, just a different look vs the boring running horse and the god ugly 35th anniversary badges. But found OEM new GT badges that I think will look good.

newedgejay said:

never thought of doing that, thanks for the suggestion! @snowman23

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Newedgejay, someone on another forum I belong to had posted your front grille on the forum wondering where that insert came from. Can you tell me where you got the GT emblem grille from? thanks

Well this afternoon I was driving around and had stopped off at the Home Depot. When I came back to my car I got in and started it up. It failed to start and it backfired. So I tried again to start and the same thing happened again. The third time it did start and the CEL came on instantly. I carry my scanner in my glovebox at all times and I scanned the CEL and a PO340 came up. Faulty cam position sensor failure.

Now I am very familiar with this code as I have plenty of pals that have had it too in the past. Everytime they call me and ask about it the first thing that comes to mind is the alternator, and that usually cures the PO340 CEL. So I went over to PEPBOYS and purchased a new lifetime warrantied alt and took it home and installed it right away. Sure enough, no more CEL. I hooked the meter up to the alt while under load and it was reading only 12.22, should be up around 13-14.

Maybe this will help someone else in the future.

superstang01 said:

isn't your car a gt? why advertise it as a cobra? it doesn't even have any cobra body panels..

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It is a 35th anniversary edition and I totally disliked the badging, so I put on snakes as I like those better than what was on there. But, a couple of weeks ago I received my running pony for the grille delete and I installed GT badging on the front fenders and rear truck. Now it is back to a GT look without all that 35th crap.