So I'm finally ready to start my project. Its a 1991 gt turned into a cobra. It has the cobra intake on it. First question is if it has the intake from cobra does that mean the heads are off cobra? Anyways it also has a edelbrock 70mm throttle body, moroso air intake not sure on mass air is stock, msd distributor, msd ignition, shorty headers, aluminum racing fan, msd coil, aluminum driveshaft, cat-back exhaust with flows & cut offs, shorty shifter, t-5 aluminum transmission?, 3.73 gears. So I think I'm doing pretty good at a starting point. Let me know what you guys think about this set up. It has a lot of rust on body so that is were my progression starts on this project is getting rust off car and getting a cheap paint job.
Progress Thread Ok So I Finally Got My Stang!
- Thread starter justinb2488
- Start date
No, just because the intake manifold is a Cobra model, doesn't mean the heads are.
There are a lot of unique Cobra parts that never make the transition. Most people just do a manifold and add some Cobras on the fender and call the car a Cobra
There are a lot of unique Cobra parts that never make the transition. Most people just do a manifold and add some Cobras on the fender and call the car a Cobra
65ShelbyClone
Founding Member
1.) Nope. GT40 heads will have three bars cast into each end, GT40Ps will have four, and stock E7s will have nothing.
2.) Eeeww. Noisy and hurts fuel economy.
3,) Again, Eeeww. I suggest getting some GT tailpipes if you want to keep your hearing and have a better exhaust note. Flommasters are going to drone anyway; turndowns under the car make it worse.
Other than that, it sounds like you have something to work with provided the car is as-described by the seller.
Boostedpimp
20+ Year Stangneter 
Your not kidding man.. I seen a ragged out 4 banger fox vert riding around with cobra emblems on it's fenders LOL
about that stuff. And isnt almost every drag car have turn downs anyways? I don't like the normal every mustang sound.Turn downs are the normal every mustang sound. The terrible raspy, droning normal every mustang sound.
Most "drag cars" run open collectors, and you're far from a drag car.
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
Turn downs on a street car are not ideal IMO. You get the lovely smell of exhaust fumes all in your car. That and the drone would drive me crazy.
Boostedpimp
20+ Year Stangneter
Problem with what you said is that no matter what exhaust setup/configuration you go with it'll still sound like the next guy's mustang so trying to be different with a fox is an extremely hard task. Go on youtube and listen to different setups and find one you like and go with it because there are tons to choose from. Me personally don't mind the turn downs on my gt but on my lx i had to have tailpipes because it's not a 9 second car and think they look gay without them... i've gotten the most compliments over the years with the shortie/x pipe, mac setup out of all the other setups i've had fyi
Please loose some attitude. These can be the most helpful folks you will find and it is usually troll free. I would like it to stay that way. If you want noise and to smell funny, go right ahead. Most of these folks know from experience what not to do, so at least consider their advice. I plan on going fast quietly ASAP. I hated the drone of flow masters and no cats. I could not hear the expensive radio or my passengers telling me to slow down.
The nicer you are, the more help you'll get...
You need new passengers... not a quieter exhaust.
You guys put passengers in your Mustangs??
I haven't had anyone come for a ride in my car since 2001. My stang is my personal escape from A-holes
I haven't had anyone come for a ride in my car since 2001. My stang is my personal escape from A-holes
Comparing cutoffs or dumped exhaust after the muffler is no way in the same ball park as open collectors so I don't know where that comparison comes into play.
Also, I love loud A$$ exhausts. Some people don't. I'm going to dump my pipes right after the muffler/ before the axle. I don't sit in traffic or stop and go so it should be fine. When i got my F-150 Screw done with the side exit exhaust before the rear pass. tire the guy told me i'd get fumes coming in the truck and my aluminum rim would go to crap real quick. WRONG on both counts and this is not my first time doing it.
To the OP, get off the rag!
You put your car on here and asked for opinions and now you're getting moody because some people are giving you exactly what you wanted? Here's another opinion, if you go "cheap" on the paint it will be a waste of money and look like crap. You want another crappy looking mustang on the road with YOU behind the wheel of it? Cheap to me defines quality, inexpensive describes cost. Save your money and do it once the right or you'll have a better chance with a rattle can paint job.Post pics please or it doesn't exist
65ShelbyClone
Founding Member
You guys put passengers in your Mustangs??
I haven't had anyone come for a ride in my car since 2001. My stang is my personal escape from A-holes
IMO, it's nice being able to hear the stereo once in a while, though.
I had Flows on my '89 GT and they would give me a headache. I have side exits on my '68 now and they don't drone, but they still get tiresome after a 30mi drive.
The nicer you are, the more help you'll get...
You need new passengers... not a quieter exhaust.
It is important that I can hear the difference between "WHEE, DO IT AGAIN!" or "I went WEE WEE AGAIN!"
Back on track, you have a lot of good starting parts, now what is the plan? There is a plan list jrichker has posted up that really let me know where I was on parts VS. where I wanted the project to go. It is his list and I am giving him full credit for it. I hope it helps. from //www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/got-myself-a-gt-need-advice.868984/#post-8733251
"Far too many people put a dab of this and a dollop of that, and then wonder why the car doesn't run worth beans. Then they think off the shelf computer chips will fix their mismatched parts problem. It won't You have to have a plan for what kind of performance you want: Hot street. Street/Strip, Pure strip, Autocross or Road course. Each one requires a different strategy and a different set of components.. Mismatch the components and you’ll have a car that falls flat on its face when you demand performance.
Everyone thinks HP! HP! HP! and thinks that peak HP is what they need. Peak HP is great for a drag strip car when it has the proper gears and tires to get the car up into the high RPM range where it develops that high peak HP near the finish line. On a street car, that strategy will have Honda Accords outrunning you, because you will never get the engine RPMs high enough without running over everything in your path.
Here’ the strategy: Always remember that there are some tradeoffs in any engine combination. Most of us don’t have enough money to “have it all” as if it was possible by some masterful combination of parts and tuning.
The following recommendations are for 5 Speed Manual transmission cars without NO2 or pressurized induction, stock short block.
1.) Hot street: Broad flat torque curve, high velocity airflow in the intake and heads for best throttle response. Gears suitable for reasonable gas mileage and long road trips without excessive engine RPMs. Stand on the gas pedal from a rolling start to squeeze into that gap in traffic in front of you, and it jumps quick and hard to get you there. Max RPM’s are 5200-5500 RPM for best power. Lopey cams may sound cool, but run poorly in a low RPM street environment.
Use stock cam, stock, GT40 or mildly ported stock heads, Cobra or Explorer/GT40 intake, advanced timing, stock 19 lb injectors, stock fuel pump. Use some good 1.6 or 1.7 ratio roller rockers for extra punch. Use a King Cobra clutch, with stock iron or steel billet flywheel. MAF cars can use a 65 MM TB from the Explorer intake manifold and a 70MM MAF from a 94-95 Mustang. Drive train: 3:55 gears with soft tread compound tires. Use some Ford Racing unequal length headers, stock 2 1/4” cat pipe and some mufflers that don’t drone or get too much attention from the law enforcement or neighbors. The stock computer will handle all this with no problems and doesn’t need any help in 90% of the cases. No skinny or grossly undersize tires for the front: remember you still have to stop quickly in traffic. Make sure all the rubber bushings in the front and rear suspensions are in first class shape. Leave the emissions equipment intact and working. Removing or disabling it won’t get you any more HP or performance. Do not convert to carb or remove A/C: either one will reduce the resale value. Carb conversions cannot be titled for street use or get tags in some places. They definitely won’t pass smog inspections.
Street/strip: A little more slope to the torque curve with a gently sloping peak. Use slightly larger port volumes on intake and heads for more peak HP. Uses 3.55 or 3.73 gears to get the RPM’s up into a higher range quicker. Be prepared to sacrifice some low RPM throttle response in exchange for high RPM power. This by necessity will be a Mass Air or Mass Air conversion on 86-88 5.0 Mustangs, since stock speed density will not run well with the changes in engine airflow. Don’t get too crazy on any one engine part since you still have to drive the car on the street, and a mismatch can make street driving miserable.
Use stock or mild aftermarket cam, Ported GT 40, or 165-180 CC port volume aftermarket aluminum heads. Use a Trick Flow, Edelbrock Performer or equal intake manifold. Take a 73 MM aftermarket MAF calibrated for 24 lb injectors, and 24 lb injectors, 155 LPH fuel pump, Kirban adjustable fuel pressure regulator. Be prepared to shell out some $$$ for a custom burned chip using data gathered from a dyno run. Mass market chips will not get the job done. Use some Ford Racing unequal length headers, aftermarket 2 1/2” cat pipe and some mufflers that don’t drone or get too much attention from the law enforcement or neighbors. Drivetrain: expect the stock T5 to fail, so save your money for a super duty 5 speed trans. Tremec 3550, TKO 500 & TKO 600 are the best choices. Different gears in a stock T5 case work for some, but there is only so much power you can pass through a T5 in race mode before it breaks, even with stronger gears. Next are the Chassis mods: full length subframe connectors, different springs, different shocks, aftermarket lower and upper control arms with rubber or urethane bushings. Buy all the parts from someplace like Maximum Motorsports, Griggs or Steeda as a kit so that you know that all the parts fit and don’t argue with each other. Carry spare tires and wheels for the drag strip: skinnys for the front and drag radials for the rear. No skinnys for street driving! Over 85% of the breaking power is generated by the front tires, so skinnys won’t do the job in a panic stop situation. Disconnect the front anti-roll bar at the strip; reconnect it before you drive home. Leave the emissions equipment intact and working. Removing or disabling it won’t get you any more HP or performance. Do not convert to carb or remove A/C: either one will reduce the resale value. Carb conversions cannot be titled for street use or get tags in some places. They definitely won’t pass smog inspections.
Strip only: High RPM, High flow heads (185-215 CC port volume), wild cam, high flow intake manifold, 70 MM or larger TB, 80 MM or lager MAF, strip everything out of the car that doesn’t make it go faster. Carbs are OK if that’s what you want, but remember that as the temp/humidity/ barometric pressure/altitude changes, you have to re-jet and readjust the carb. EFI eliminates most of that with its built in compensation or you can tune of the fly with a high end Motes or Tweecer system combined with a wide band air/fuel ratio meter. Use custom headers, dumps and minimal mufflers. How fast you can go on 5 liters is a function of the skill level of the driver/mechanic and the size of your wallet.
TRAILER the car to the race track since it won’t be legal to drive it on the street. Drag slicks in the rear, skinnys up front, use 3.73 or bigger gears (4.xx) in the rear axle. Since you won’t be driving on long trips, the big gears with work with the high RPM power curve to get the best results. Drivetrain: TKO 500 & TKO 600 are the best choices. Different gears in a stock T5 case work for some, but there is only so much power you can pass through a T5 in race mode before it breaks, even with stronger gears. Next are the Chassis mods: full length subframe connectors, different springs, different shocks, aftermarket lower and upper control arms with rubber or urethane bushings. Buy all the parts from someplace like Maximum Motorsports, Griggs or Steeda as a kit so that you know that all the parts fit and don’t argue with each other. Remove the front sway bar, put an airbag in the rear spring of the side that spins the tire the most. Plan on a roll cage if you are truly serious about going fast: most strips will require it once you get to a certain ET range.
Autocross is a combination of Hot street engine and street strip chassis prep. The engine must accelerate quickly from low RPM and needs a broad, flat torque curve. Next are the Chassis mods: full length subframe connectors, different springs, different shocks, aftermarket lower and upper control arms with rubber or urethane bushings. Buy all the parts from someplace like Maximum Motorsports, Griggs or Steeda as a kit so that you know that all the parts fit and don’t argue with each other. Most of the time you’ll never hit third gear, so some 3.73 or bigger gears (4.xx) may help a lot. You’ll have to spend some more money on brakes since it kills brakes quickly. Rear disks, larger rotors up front, stainless steel brake lines, different brake pads. A 87-88 T Bird Turbo Coupe or SN 95 rear axle will be your best bet. Autocross will severely strain 1st & 2nd gears, so your T5 may take a premature dump. Save your money for a super duty 5 speed trans. Tremec 3550, TKO 500 & TKO 600 are the best choices.
All out road race is the most difficult of all: an engine that will run at high rpm hour after hour and never fail, yet pull hard out of the hairpin turns that will require a lot of torque at lower RPMs. In my opinion, guys that can successfully build a winning road race engine are the cream of the crop. Top this off with a chassis built for strip only duty, but with changes to the settings of springs, tires, roll bars brakes and shocks. It’s a whole other world of racing.
You’ll have to spend lots more money on brakes since it kills brakes quickly. Rear disks, larger rotors up front, stainless steel brake lines, different brake pads. Air ducting to cool the brake rotors will be a must. The brake rotors of cars on a high speed road course glow red after several hard laps of racing. Drivetrain: TKO 500 & TKO 600, and T56 close ratio are the best transmission choices.
On a budget? do the junkyard upgrade...
Gears - 87-88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe rear axle - disc brakes and 3.55 or 3.73 gears in one package for $125-$300. Add another $100-$200 or so to complete the brake upgrade.
94-95 Mustang GT MAF - $40-$100. It is 70 MM instead of the stock 55 MM on regular stangs built prior to 94. It uses a slip on duct on the side that goes to the throttle body and a 4 bolt flange on the other. You need a flange adapter to fit the stock slip on air ducting that goes to the air box. Wiring plugs right in with no changes. *1 *2
95-97 Ford Explorer intake manifold & throttle body $150-$300. The intake manifold flows 220 CFM +, much better than stock. Throttle body is 65 MM, bigger than the 60 MM on stock stangs. I got a 96 with EGR passages that match the stock setup, so my smog gear works just like factory. You’ll need a 65 MM EGR spacer & new gaskets for $65-$90 so you have a place to mount the EGR & throttle linkage.
3G alternator from 94-95 Mustangs or other Ford. $20-$120. A must have to make the electrical system work like it should or if you have an electric fan. You’ll need a 4 gauge power wire and a 125-135 amp fuse to go with it about $15- $30.
Lincoln MK VIII electric fan -$40-$160. Free up some HP by not having to drive the stock fan. The 3G alternator upgrade is a must have prerequisite before you do the MK VIII fan. You won’t have enough electrical power if you don’t do the 3G upgrade.
Aluminum driveshaft: (courtesy of shawn13) It needs to be from a 92-93-94 Aerostar AWD. It measures 45 ½” center of the front U-joint to center of the rear U-joint. You will need the U-joint, part #PUJ353 from NAPA. The Canadian NAPA pat number is 1-0134BF. It should bolt right up after the U-joint swap.
Note: This driveshaft is not an exact duplicate of the Ford Racing part. It is 3” in diameter while the Ford Racing part is 3.5” in diameter. There is no guarantee that the balance will be any better than the stock part.
Use a piece of string and wrap it around the driveshaft. Make a mark on the string where the ends overlap. Measure the length of the string:
On the 3" AeroStar driveshaft the string will be 9.42" or about 9 7/16" long.
On the Ford Racing 3.5" driveshaft the string will be 10.99" or about 11" long
*1.) Metal flange adapter http://www.kustomz.com/components.html Buy the TR70 for $40. Or spend some time on eBay looking for one that may fit.
*2.) MAF & sensor interchange
The 94-95 Mustang 5.0 MAF & sensor is also found on:
1995-94 Mustang 3.8L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1994-92 Crown Victoria 4.6L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1995-94 Mustang, Mustang Cobra 5.0L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1994-92 Town Car 4.6L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
1994-92 Grand Marquis 4.6L F2VF-12B579-A2A,
Evidently the –A1A, -A2A, AA, etc. on the end of the part number is a minor variant that did not change the operating specs. You should be able to ignore it and have everything work good.
http://bellsouthpwp.net/l/r/lrichker/index.htm
See my website for:
R134a conversion doc
Door lock actuator fix
89 LX 5.0 with a Tremec 3550 5 speed, King Cobra clutch, Aluminum driveshaft, Cervini Stalker hood & flowmasters.
More neat stuff sitting under my garage workbench waiting for some extra $$$ to bring it up to 1st class shape and install it...
"Before you build a house build a good foundation"
jrichker, Jun 3, 2013 Report "
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