Too Race OR NOT to Race a COBRA ?

[boss rods]

Please be so kind as to cut a "newbie" a little slack . In short , I'm looking to do some amateur scca racing ( 2-3 times a year ). But would like to drive the car to car club events the rest of the time, so I'm limited to ( pre-smog rules in my state ) 1995 and OLDER . So my question is , ( since I'm going to UP GRADE : the engine and suspension to more race car then daily driver. As well as sub frame stiffeners and a 6 point roll bar ) is it worth the time & money to buy a "GT" OR "COBRA" as a base car ? AND .... should I be looking at particular year(s) ( fox ) mustang ? As much as I love the look of a vintage ( 64 1/2- 70 ) mustang , Cost and racing a 50yr. old car is a BIG , big concern. I keep reading their is a ton of after market support to fox bodied mustangs . And the starting base car for racing is still reason able .
If you can't recommend a given year mustang , ( PRE- 96" ) can you tell me year(s) NOT to consider . Some say , NOT to buy a GT or Cobra due to the fact that those models run a greater risk of having body / sub frame issues . Due to the fact that 20-30 yrs of rust AND there owners LEAD FOOTING them for years.
Have them not as solid as one would like to go racing with .
Any AND all advise is very much appreciated .

 

[Noobz347]

@MFE92 does that very thing in a Fox Mustang. He's probably got a pretty good idea idea of what would be necessary to modify on most Mustangs.

I would personally start with either a Fox or SN95 with an independent rear. Either route requires modification for improvement.

 

[MFE92]

I honestly don't think Cobra vs GT matters too much. You're going to ditch the GT brakes anyway, and either use Cobra parts, or if you have the money/inclination, some of the newer brembo parts.

As for foxbody vs newer, if I were starting a new build, I wouldn't build a foxbody. I love mine and I slap the out of it on track, but that's only because I've replaced practically every suspension piece, and it now has SN95 track width, a torque arm and PHB, etc. There's a guy I sometimes run with locally and we run very similar times, and his 99 GT is very close to stock. He's a fantastic driver, but still...stick axle, stock K-member, stock engine...makes you think.

 

[boss rods]

I honestly don't think Cobra vs GT matters too much. You're going to ditch the GT brakes anyway, and either use Cobra parts, or if you have the money/inclination, some of the newer brembo parts.

As for foxbody vs newer, if I were starting a new build, I wouldn't build a foxbody. I love mine and I slap the out of it on track, but that's only because I've replaced practically every suspension piece, and it now has SN95 track width, a torque arm and PHB, etc. There's a guy I sometimes run with locally and we run very similar times, and his 99 GT is very close to stock. He's a fantastic driver, but still...stick axle, stock K-member, stock engine...makes you think.

I'm not a GREAT Fox Fan. It's just that ( till I read about your buds 99GT abilities ) they were looking sooo much cheaper to race . But , I'm sure to re-crunch the numbers . With an eye out for the ( time saving at the very least ) post 98" mustangs . And I like there looks a whole lot more. Could be an easy sell ( if the price is fair ) . Many thanks !!!

 

[General karthief]

I'm gonna jump in here, I'm a bit of a purist so building a cobra for the track would not be high on my list mostly because they are getting hard to find in any condition for a reasonable cost, find a sn95 gt, they are more plentiful and already have some of the 'good' stuff

 

[boss rods]

I'm gonna jump in here, I'm a bit of a purist so building a cobra for the track would not be high on my list mostly because they are getting hard to find in any condition for a reasonable cost, find a sn95 gt, they are more plentiful and already have some of the 'good' stuff

I don't know about your part of the country , but if C list is any indicator ( NJ ), has plenty to pick from. From "beaters" ( $1500.00 ) to Cobras ($6000.00 ) . A Lot of GT's @ 2500 - $4000.00 . So I don't feel to bad about "cutting up " a 85-95" . But I bet there were guys saying that about pre- 1970 mustangs . And we can see what that did for us. Ha , ha .

 

[General karthief]

I was talking about modifying cobras, the are a bunch of gts out there, cobras, like the cobra jet cars where produced in limited numbers, while some will still modify and race these cars I personally would not. For example, between 93 and 04 there were less than 80k cobras made, that may seem like a lot but not compared to just short of 1 million coupes and hatchbacks between 87 and 93.