Well,...that Wasn't Fun.

95BlueStallion said:

There is a big difference between owning a newer car, and an older one for me. I love my current car, but all I am doing to it is bolt on parts, with the exception of my hood (shut up Mike). With an older car, I didnt care nearly as much to go crazy and try something off the wall such as cutting up my dash in my '95 to complete the deleted console look. It seems pretty damn apparent to me that Mike is the older car type, the one who wants to do s hit rather than buy s hit and bolt it on (pull the engine to clean it "while he is in there replacing the clutch" for example). I am sure you could learn to admire the fun factor of the Cobra's power train, but never really have that "fulfilled" feeling. I think you are wise to sell it and try another option. It was a great score to net you a profit, but hurry up and get it done so we can see what you next.

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Well,.....It takes me a little while to learn things. I knew that as you said that I prefer to "do" things rather than just go out and buy them.
and having something that I'm not concerned about modifying is really what I prefer.(either for power, or cosmetic/ergonomically)
But............
The other side of the coin (and the reason I justified the Cobra to the wife in the first place) is I don't have the time anymore like I did w/ the red car. It has taken me almost two months to do what really amounts to about 40 hours of work, and the Cobra (once done) will not require anymore of my time than is required to wash and wax it.

I'd have to find a really nice fox to be able to say that,.....one that could be bought for 5500-6500.00.

Wishful thinking?

Pie in the sky.

I appreciate the input, and believe me,...4-5 years ago when the business I owned was self sufficient, I had just that:

05 GTO as a reliable DD fun car, 03 Dodge Van as work truck, 02 Victory cruiser, 1953 Studebaker street rod project.

Then the housing mkt. crashed.

Sold The GTO, bought the 89 notch. Sold the 53 Stude to finance the 89 notch. Drove the van as a daily, let the Victory rot. Finished the 89,...sold the van, bought the Ranger. Sold the notch, sold the Victory,...Bought the Cobra.
If I keep the Cobra,..the Ranger goes. ((2 payments) then down to relying on it as sole mode of transportation)

If I sell the Cobra,...there will be 6500 possible to throw at a fox, while still having the Ranger as a daily. ( 1 payment)

See the logic?

S&B said:

I stopped caring at notch...

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You mean the first time it was mentioned,...or the last time?

95BlueStallion said:

So maybe I was right above, but I guess it seems the timing is bad. Sounds like you might want to hang on to that Cobra for a bit, if nothing else but to keep the peace with the wife while still having a fun car. Maybe when you get caught back up in a couple years, then entertain us with another cool build. Anyway, looks like you will have the Cobra in tip top shape shortly, and I am sure that little pulley you have laying around will start biting at your ankles soon enough.

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You know Iowa, too bad we don't live closer. I could use having another level head to keep me on track. Because as sure as you were writing that I was thinking that.

I didn't get started on the car today until about 11:00 today, and spent the first 3 hours of the day working on the wifes' junky assed, mobile home wanna be, above ground 24' pool. Seems that every year, that piece of junk needs some major overhaul before it can be used,......but alas,...it keeps her happy.....AND most importantly,...gives me license to dick around w/ this car.

Anyway, I start the day out the same everytime,...get up, get coffee, sit for an hour and ck the forums, make a smart assed comment,..reply to those that ask me something,..then I set about the plan for the day. While I'm knee deep in the first project, I get to thinking.....( between the three trips to home depot for pvc plumbing for the J.A.P. ( junky-assed-pool))

I got this car now. While it don't really push my buttons,..It is cool. It is fast, and it has everything I need to be happy w/ a project car that just so happens to be a DD.
Why in the world would I want to half kill myself for what will amount to 15k, andat least a couple years labor just to be able to drive a thing that I don't even own yet.
I must be crazy.

BTW has anybody seen the Rousch version of these cars?

A little progress,...and another thing for me to agonize over.

I decided to put the EGR tube back in. A task easier said than done. It took the better part of an hour, and a combination of raising the rear of the engine, and twisting that tube back and forth until I got it back where it was supposed to be. The problem is,..I added what is called a 7/8 cooling mod to that part of the engine, and it forced the wiring harness back towards the firewall..........right to the point of actually touching that newly re-installed EGR tube. Now that thing is double heat insulated, and I have no I dea how hot it'll get against the main wire harness,....but you can call me more than a little bit concerned.



Wayyyy down under that, is the -10 hose end that is threaded on a o ringed insert that now takes up the space that used to be a freeze plug facing up at the back of the intake. It comes around and gets fed by this sort of hokey splice that is provided in the kit:



The engine is going together,....It should be start-able this weekend. The COP covers turned out decent,..I will paint everything that is grey in this picture that color when ( and if) I pull it back apart to port the blower and port match the plenum......but that is a "we'll see" right now. It works with the yellow I think.

bird_dog0347 said:

Nice and clean man!

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Thanks,....I hate the wires and hoses every where,....but on this engine, looks like I gotta live w/ it.

Again, Thank you sir for the help. I am gonna wrap the harness in some of the left over turbo blanket I have from an earlier project. (If I can remember where to look for it). The shiny coated outside of the blanket material will be a perfect surface for me to do your crayon test, so I can see how hot the contact point is.

RacEoHolic330 said:

If you can't find the blanket, DEI makes a number of different high-temp wiring sleeves/jackets. Most of their stuff is available on Amazon.

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Thanks, Scott but I did find it. I bought that stuff when I had the twin turbo set up for the Stude on the 2v that ended up going in the red Mustang. I was worried I gave it to the guy that bought the Stude three years ago,..............but there it was,.........still sitting on top of one of my wall cabinets.

It runs!! Yea!

The only thing I had to do before turning the key this morning, was to insulate the wiring harness that was making contact w/ the EGR tube, connect the driver side exhaust pipe coming off the manifold,....and change out the crusty battery connections.

8 hours later,...I finally turn the key.

You gotta be asking yourself how comes it took 8 HOURS to do what looks like it should've taken 2?

That's cause I'm the one doing the work.

First thing was the EGR tube. To qualify, it just wasn't touching the wire harness,...it was crammed up against it. I decided to cut and section the tube in an attempt to get it off the harness. So I look around the garage for some material to use to section the tube with,...and the only thing I can find is some galvanized metal conduit the same diameter as the EGR tube. Does that stop me from using it? Nope,......galvanized or not,...it was still mild steel, and if it was made of steel I'm welding it.

To add to the complexity,....I decide to cut the sleeve down the middle, so I can spread it and slide it over the EGR tube so I can clamp it in place using hose clamps,...which I do. I added 1" to the length of the tube at the top connection,..and that was enough to get it off the wire harness. While it was out I still double wrapped the harness w/ the turbo blanket,....so I should have no problem with this area getting hot.

The problem came w/ the other end.

I cut it first thing this morning so I could get the damn thing out in the first place. I knew as hard as it was to get that thing in there w/ the engine in place,..trying to remove it would age me. So I got my little air saw,....and hacked the tube as best I could given the limited access to it. Now I had to decide if I wanted to tack it in place and try wiggle it out again,..and after I got it completely welded,...have to go through the ordeal involved to get it back down behind the engine again.

I chose not to do it. Instead I created another sleeve and welded it up so I could slide the two pieces together,...using some RTV goop as extra insurance to seal the slip coupling.

I don't think you can see it,....but it's up there:


The hose clamp probably ain't doing s hit,..I just thought I'd add it in an attempt to try and crush the sleeve tighter, but it makes me feel better.
The whole EGR thing including taking all of the vacuum and elec connections off, and putting them back on took about 4 hours.

I ended up having to go to the "zone" again after that,.....(I always prefer to go AFTER I start to smell) Turns out I needed a 12" piece of vacuum tubing that I swore I had laying around, but didn't. I needed the break anyway,...so I cussed at myself while I drove, while simultaneously losing another 45 minutes as a result of having to go to the auto parts store...........again.

I came back w/ another gal of antifreeze (that I forgot to add back to the I/C reservoir), and the new battery ends that I needed

I completed the exhaust pipe,...tightened all of the connections down there,...and drug my broken ass off the ground for the last time,.....w/ only the battery connections to do. That takes another 45 minutes. (getting those old crimped on connections off of the cables is a b itch)

When it came time to crank it,...it dawns on me I have no Idea where the key is,......and it's been two months since it was last started.

More Cussing followed,...as I tore through all of the usual landing places for my keys......Turns out my Mother in law thought they were her Taurus keys,...so she had them in her purse.

Once found, I get in, depress the clutch,...and I turn the key

Va fckin' Room!!

I ran it for about 5 minutes trying to get it hot enough to to burp the cooling system,,,,but the wife and kid were yelling at me to come in and get cleaned up so we could go see the Man of Steel.
So I had to stop and get cleaned up.

Now that I'm back,.......... I Should've stayed home.
That movie went easily 30-45 minutes Too long.

So all in all a good day,......with this one weird thing:

2.5 hours later I open the hood to take the pic below,....Blower is still warm to the touch.















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