94 GT Upgrade / Aftermarket Parts List

I'm selling my 94 GT that has been restored by me over the past 10 years.  Its been appraised for over 20k replacement value.  The list below is only the upgrades and does not include regular maintenance items.

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email:  geargambler@gmail.com

Video

Engine
MCRP built 306
TRW forged pistons, stock crank and rods
FTI custom grind cam (have specs)
Melling oil pump with ARP oil pump driveshaft
Oil filter upgrade to use WIX 51268 (track boss upgrade)
GT40 Iron heads, factory stock prep, with upgraded beehive springs and good retainers.
Scorpion 1.72 rockers
Pioneer SFI balancer
Foxbody valve covers, powdercoated - oil fill moved to drivers side (bung and baffled).
Custom tune with Moates Quarterhorse
Made 300 on the engine dyno, 250 rwhp and 300 torque on the chassis dyno

Air / Fuel
60 lb injectors
Aeromotive gauge on the rails, upgraded -6 fuel lines from the rails to the hard lines
Kirban regulator
Walbro 255lph fuel pump
90mm mass air
94 cobra intake, powdercoated, with BBK 70mm throttle body

T5 Trans
Pro -50 shifter with steeda shift knob
Maximum Motorsports cable, firewall adjuster and UPR quick release quadrant
King Cobra Clutch has 5k miles.

Rear
Straightened and welded tubes
Maximum motorsports urethane housing bushings
Ford 3.31 gears
Stock differential rebuilt and upgraded with 03 Cobra S spring
All new timken bearings, seals, pinion flange and crush sleeve eliminator (ratech)
Ford racing differential cover / brace
Does not leak!

Brakes
04 Mach1 brake swap - painted engine enamel black
All stainless braided brake lines
Earls speed bleeders on each caliper
Hawk HPS pads
03 Cobra Rotors front and back
93 Cobra Master Cylinder

Chassis and Suspension
2003 cobra front lower control arms
Steeda rear upper control arms
Maximum motorsports adjustable height lower control arms.
Cobra R wheels and new tires
Maximum Motorsports Subframe connectors, welded perfectly
Prothane motor mounts
Eibach pro kit springs (vert specific) with maximum motorsports isolators
Tokico shocks and struts

Wheels
Cobra R wheels 17x9 not perfect - 7/10
New tires, front and back

Under Hood
MSD Coil
Moroso Ultra 40 Wires
Autolite 103 plugs
New AC lines, upgraded condenser to 97+ design.  AC blows COLD.
Champion 3 row radiator
Motorcraft reman alternator with 'big 3 upgrade' (4GA to the battery, 4GA ground, upgraded grounds)

Exhaust
BBK ceramic coated shorty headers
BBK x pipe
Gibson flow through mufflers
Stainless tail pipes

Body
Painted, new doors, fender and 1/4 panel.  Paint is 8/10 - car is driven!
Kee convertible top
Shorty antenna
Cowl cover upgraded

Interior
New window motors front and back
New window switches, Dash and heater control LEDs.  License plate LEDs
Visors replaced with newer ones - great shape
Pioneer stereo, with bluetooth and upgraded mic
Sony xplode speakers, front and back
Two Rockford Fosgate 8's in the trunk, Sony XM1s amp, mono at 500w
FR500 steering wheel, black airbag and trim - this was a huge and expensive upgrade
Seats replaced with newer / better condition stock seats.  Also have Corbeau LG1s, for additional price.

Drag Racing and Autocross!

Last year I joined some friends at Island Dragway.  My best friend, a veteran index racer, had his wife there in her new 07 Mustang GT making some passes for the first time in her life.  It was really cool to see her hot lap the car - the look on her face was pure joy after every time she went down the track and collected her time slip.  It brought me back to the days of my 90GT that I tried to make into a street / strip car.  I had a lot of time slips with that car.  That car taught me there's no real way to make a great street car that is also great drag car.  The specs for one are nearly opposite for the other.

I came across my terminator and parted out that 90 GT.  But I tell you, seeing that look of joy on her face, I went home that night and bought a helmet and said "I'll be doing some racing next year!"

And that I did. So far I've tracked both the cars.  We trailered the terminator to Mustang Week in Myrtle beach South Carolina.  I promised myself that as soon as I had the car and a trailer to get it home if it broke, I was going to do all the events.  I took it on the speedway, did the autocross and even took it to the drag strip.  It reminded me how much fun it was, even if I wasn't being competitive.  I had such a good time I can't wait to do it again next year.

Speedway run 
Autocross first run 
Autocross second run
NMB Dragway 

Towards the end of the season, I got into a group called the Venom Wolfpack.  The NJ Venom Outlaws is a pretty cool car club.  The Wolf Pack is a smaller group of that club that hits the drag strip.  I took the 94 GT Vert out to do some drag racing on a Friday night at Island and I really had an awesome time.  It also reminded me of how a street car is not that great at the drag strip.  I had a few problems.

Venom Wolfpack
Vs. Frankie 
Vs. Sheryl

Wheels and Tires
On my 94 GT is the original set of wheels from the Cobra.  They are wrapped in Nitto NT555 G2, stock size 275/40/17 for the Cobra.  Turns out that these wheels are absolutely terrible off the line.  They are great street tires, but drag tires they are not.  I could either launch at a low RPM and ride the clutch out a bit in second, or the wheels would just spin and kill my 60ft time.  These tires are definitely not drag tires.

The remedy for this will be some diamond racing steel wheels - 16x10 with a 6 inch back spacing (12.7 offset), and some M&H 26x11.5 (26x10 essentially) bias ply tires -Link Here.  That will allow me to launch this car properly when the tree drops!

Brakes / Lack of a line lock
There's two issues here.  First, when I took the entire brake system from a Mach 1, the pads were unknown.  Couple that with the fact that the rotors did not have much life left in them.  I have upgraded SS braided lines, but the first time I jammed the brakes at the end of the 1/4 mile, I know I boiled the fluid in the brakes.  Chalk it up to excitement.  It also reminded me that the pads and rotors are less than ideal.  Another issues is that when staging the car I needed to foot brake it and do a burnout to clean off the tires.  Thats not going to work with the new drag wheel / tire setup.

The remedy for this is some parts I already have on hand!  I had the stock rotors, front and back, from my cobra.  I had them surfaced and cleaned up (only 30k miles on them before removed for the Eradispeed).  And I picked up some hawk HPS pads and speed bleeders.  I'll be using Motul brake fluid also.  This install is coming soon!

Lastly is the line lock.  I'll also be installing that so that I can do a proper burnout.  Pump the brakes, hold, press the button and it locks the front brakes.  Rev up, drop the clutch and let the smoke fly until I release the button.  I've had it before, works perfectly!

Rear End
The weak link in the 94 drivetrain is definitely the stock axles and differential in the rear.  The housing has already been straightened and the tubes welded.  Upper and lower control arms with good bushings, and the posi was rebuilt with an upgraded S spring and better clutches, new pinion flange, solid pinion spacer and 3:31 gears.  But that stock differential and 28 spline axles are not going to survive with the drag tires.

The remedy for this is a better built 8.8 rear.  I picked up a complete 8.8 housing out of a 95 GT.  I sold off the entire disk brake setup including the brake lines.  I'll be disassembling it, straightening it, welding the tubes and then have it hot tanked and painted (maybe powder coated?).  It will get Strange 31 spine axles and an Eaton Trutrac torsen style differential, along with fresh bearings, races and seals.  I'm debating on keeping the 3.31 gears or going 3.55.  The 3.55 does sound nice.

The built rear, brakes, and the wheels and tires should make for a lot of fun at the drag strip!  Until the new motor gets finished (read my other blog about the big bore 347), we will see what the best this iron headed 306 can do!

The key to making my Solar work!

I have posted a few things related to my standalone solar setup.  Since then I have made a few small upgrades, but they have proven to be the key in making it all work. 

First, I replaced the batteries with two new batteries.  They are 12v batteries in series, and they are for wheelchairs!  FWIW, wheelchair batteries are made to take a beating... Think about it.  They are 35 amp hour batteries that I bought from Amazon.  Link to them here.

The batteries have been working without any problem.  The next upgrade was some wiring and added safety measures (in line fuses).  I won't go into details here because they were mostly cosmetic.

The final upgrade was a purchase of two cigarette lighter receptacles. The cost was about five dollars each but came with the wiring.  I made a mounting bracket for them, and wired them to each of the batteries.  Even though the batteries are hooked up in series for 24v, I can still wire each individual cigarette lighter receptacle to a single battery so it remains 12v.  The last thing I did was purchase two Aukey flush mount car chargers.  These were much cheaper when I bought them, about 5-6 dollars each.  These have dual USB ports and 2.4 amp per port for charging.  This was the key to making my solar solution work. 

The original setup for charging anything was the 24v 600W inverter that changed the DC into AC, then had the extension cord running to a power strip.  I had a bunch of wall chargers plugged into the power strip.  The solar batteries would never last long, and I could only keep the inverter on in great sunlight or for an hour or two after the sun went down.  This was very limiting. 

After talking with a good friend of mine over a few beverages, he suggested to keep the charging at DC.  So use a cigarette lighter receptacle, a car charger, and plug our mobile devices into that.  Let me tell you, this solution WORKS!!  Keeping everything at 12 volts is so much more efficient than using the inverter.  Now we are able to charge anything without discharging the solar battery completely, which is much better for those (wheelchair) batteries.  Even better - we can now charge our battery banks, even overnight, without discharging the solar batteries.  We have a few Anker battery banks.  One is 10k another one is 20k.  Bother have IQ which charges our mobile devices FAST!  We have two other battery banks - a 13k and another 15k, but I don't have links for them. 

My original idea when setting forth with this solar experiment was to charge portable battery banks, our mobile devices, and even AA and AAA batteries (I have a USB charger for them) with the power generated from the sun.  Keeping everything DC made that possible. 

At the very least, we can say that our mobile devices and rechargable batteries are running on clean energy from the sun!  Funny that a cigarette lighter receptacle / charger was the solution to making it all work so much better!

Low cost foam cannon

I've had some people reach out to me about a picture I posted of my car covered in foam.  I kept seeing a bunch of people trying it, so I did some research to put together a kit of my own.  You'll need a few things:

1.  A pressure washer.  This can be electric or gas powered.
2.  The foam gun
3.  A car wash soap and a way to measure it.  I like the Chemical Guys Mr. Pink
4.  Recommended but not needed -assorted nozzles and fittings.

The above three items, not including the pressure washer, will cost about 50$.  Keep in mind you can save some money by getting a smaller amount of soap.  The link above is for a gallon.

There's a few process points that are going to be helpful.  I"ll list them out below.

To mix the soap in the bottle for the foam gun:
Add your water first.  Then add the soap.  You'll want about 3-4oz of soap.  Then gently swirl the soap in the water to mix.  You don't want foam in the bottle, so this process will help to mix the soap and water without making foam.

Foaming the car:
There's a few debates about this process.  The one thing that is not argued is to rinse the car as best you can first.  You can do this with a hose nozzle, or with the pressure washer gun. You're trying to get the car wet and remove as much of the contaminants as possible. 

I broke down the processes by how soiled the car is.
For dust only / garage kept cars - rinse, foam, let the foam dwell, rinse then try.
For a regular daily driven car - Rinse, Foam, let the foam dwell, then two bucket wash.  Rinse again.
For a heavily soiled car - Rinse, foam, dwell, rinse again, foam again, two bucket wash then flood rinse with a hose.

351 Windsor Swap by Drew Brisby

I didn't write this, but it is here for reference! 

351 swap by Drew Brisby 

Ok I am going to list all the main parts needed if you plan on running a 351windsor instead of your 302 or a 302 stroker. First off let's address the financial part of this. Yes it wll cost a little money, but the advantage of starting with a 351w versus a 302 or 302stroker are plentiful enough to warrant the extra cost. Also remember, if you want to be real cheap just take a day and go to the junk yard. You can get some od the needed items for a fraction of the cost. Just as an example, the power steering bracket would be 60 dollars or more at Ford, at a junkyard it would be 5-10 bucks max. Keep it in mind. 

    The 351W is a Windsor class engine. It is made on the same factory line as our beloved 5.0. However, the 351 posseses several qualities that make it a desirable block for an engine buildup. The advantages of using a 351W vs a 5.0 (302):

     Obviously, you get an extra 49 cubic inches of displacement. As the saying goes, there is no replacement for displacement. Second, the webbing in the lower half of the block is thicker, making the block stronger. Third, the crank has bigger main and rods journals, making the cranks more durable than their 302 counterparts.

FACTS: What you need to know/consider when you swap a 351W into a Fox3 platform chassis:

     The 351 block is very similar to the 302. That means that almost all parts swap between a 302 and a 351. This includes: Heads, cam, lifters, timing chain, timing chain cover, water pump, engine mounts, and all sorts of other stuff. The bellhousing bolt pattern is the same as a 302, so all trannies that bolt to a 302 will bolt to a 351. However, there are some differences in the 351 that necessitate new parts:

1) The oil pan is different. Motorsports carries one. You can also get an oil pan of of an early eighties LTD Crown Vic. If you go the junkyard route, remember you also need a oil pan pickup tube, and a special main bolt that the pickup attaches to. The FMS pan is a pretty good deal, and if you shop around, you can get one for under $100, which comes with the dipstick, bolt, and pickup tube.

2) The internal balance of a 351W is the same as pre-81 302's (28.2 oz). The 5.0 HO has a 50 oz. unbalance, which means you cannot use the flexplate/flywheel or the harmanic balancer off of an HO engine. You have to get the correct pieces from a dealer/junkyard.

3) The deck height is higher, which means you need a different intake, since the 351W intake is wider. A 5.0 Upper will bolt to a 351W lower.

4) Also, a higher deck height means that the accessory bracket will need to be replaced. FMS sells the new bracket for about $50.

5) The higher deck height means the headers sit up higher than in a 302 powered Mustang. A special set is required for a 351.

6) A 351W will in all likelyhood not clear the stock hood. You will need a cowl hood for your car. Or you can use dropped motor mounts. Google for these.

7) The distributor has a fatter shaft. You can obtain one from a 351W powered FI truck (if you are using FI) or any late 70's/early 80's car using the 351W and a Duraspark system if you are going to build a non-efi car.

     Those are the major differences. As you can see, for about $1000 you can put a 351W in your Mustang. This is cheaper than a stroker, plus you wind up with a more reliable engine.

Tips: There are several things to look out for to ensure that your swap to a 351W is easier and more successful. They are as follows:

1) A high volume oil pump WILL NOT clear the FMS pan. If you want to run an HV pump, you must either modify the pan (which is what I did), or buy a Canton or similar pan, for many dollars more. The modifications just include cutting down the front drain bolt, and welding on a corner to the pan to clear the pump housing. It cost me $25 to get my pan welded.

2) Get new motor mounts. If your mounts are questionable already, the additional weight of the 351W will make them fail in a hurry. I recommend the 87-93 convertable mounts, which will work in any 79-93 Mustang. 

Remember to junk yard and ebay some of these items. There are quite a few header companies that have readily available headers you can buy.

1986-1993 Ford Mustang How To?s:

351w Fuel Injection Swap

Nathan Moonen

aka Mighty Mouse

  

INTAKES:   When doing a 351w swap into your late model Mustang it is mandatory that you use a different intake manifold.  The 351w is wider from head to head than its 302 counterpart.  Unlike its low deck brother the 5.0, the choices are pretty limited when it comes to intake manifolds:

   1. F150/250 5.8 (351w) upper and lower - don?t even think about it - they don?t flow and it would be a feat of engineering to get it to work.  NO, the 5.0 upper will not bolt up to the 5.8 lower.

   2. Edelbrock 351w Truck lower and 5.0 Performer/RPM upper - this is pretty common, but you have to purchase the two separately as Edelbrock does not sell it as a kit - expect to pay over $600.00 retail.

   3. Edelbrock Victor EFI - Very Nice Intake, but not for the faint of heart.  Better have a cam and heads to match it, or it would be a pain to drive on the street.  Retails for around $600.00

   4. Trick Flow - they offer 3 different arrangements depending on the seriousness of the 351w - prices range from $550.00 - to near $700.00.

   5. Professional Products - new on the market, more or less a Chinese Edelbrock RPM rip off.  The good thing about them is they come bare or polished and range from 425.00 - 599.00 retail respectively, and flow just as well as the Edelbrock RPM.

    6. GT-40 (aka Lightning and 95 Cobra R) 351w/5.8 Lower and any GT-40 style upper (Explorer, GT-40, Cobra, Cartech, Downs Ford etc).  Ford does not make the 5.8 lower anymore - so you are at the mercy of the swappers for that piece. . .

   

   5.  You can also have a carbed intake such as the Victor JR modified to accept rails, injectors and throttle body.  Reichard Racing does this for a decent price.

   DISTRIBUTOR:       If you are using an 86-93 wiring harness you can use a distributor for a 1987 Ford F150 with a 351w/5.8 liter engine.  If you are using a 94/95 wiring harness - use a distributor for a 94 F150 with a 351w/5.8 liter engine.  If you are running a roller cam, retro-fit or not, you may need to swap the drive gear on the Ford distributor. You can also use an aftermarket distributor such as MSD; but unless you are turning some pretty serious revs - don?t waste the money.  The MSD buzz box doesn?t plug into the distributor in an EFI application - it goes to the coil - which by the way the stocker will work for - but I recommend an aftermarket piece for a 5.0.

   Side Note: If you built your Windsor, chances are you used either a Ford Racing or ARP Oil Pump Drive Shaft with a high volume oil pump.  If so, you will need to remove approximately ?" of the bottom of the stock EFI replacement distributor shaft in order for it to seat in the block.  When Ford revised the 351w for EFI they added ?" to the distributor for unknown reasons.  If you are using a standard oil pump driveshaft - you will not need this step.  You can see the line on the stock EFI distributor where Ford changed the casting process.  I used a sawzall to make the cut - then cleaned it up with a grinder and wire brush.  Slid right in!

  CAMSHAFT:       Any cam for a 302 H.O. will work for your 351w.  All pre 1994 351w?s came with a hydraulic flat tappet style cam, and you can not run a roller cam unless you make some changes.  You can use an off the shelf 302 h.o. cam if you run Crane/Ford Racing hydraulic link bar lifters FMS - M-6500-S58.  You can also get a custom grind ?reduced base circle? camshaft and get your block machined to accept the stock 5.0 style lifters, spider and lifter retainers.  I recommend ponying up cash for the link bar lifters - even if you are getting your engine overhauled.

   FUEL RAILS:    Whatever intake you choose you will need to replace/modify some fuel rails.  Some swapers purchase aftermarket rails and braided line.  Some (if not most) of us are on a budget, and budgets usually declare that we must reuse existing parts if at all possible to do so.

   The stock fuel rails on the 86-95 Ford Mustang 5.0 cars are capable of supporting over 500 horsepower - and up till the 2005 season there was a certain NMRA racer who ran 9.70's with stock rails.  In order to adapt these rails to the wider 351 you will need to lengthen the hose that connects the two in the front and the rear.

You will need:

   1. 2' of 5/16" EFI (not standard) fuel line

   2. 4 small EFI  fuel line clamps

   3. Razorblade (exacto knife, box cutter etc)

   

   This is a pretty simple process.  Start by removing the rails and injectors from the 5.0 lower intake.  If you are changing injectors, remove them at this step - they simply pop out of their chrome retainer.  Don?t even try using a plyers to twist the old flex line from the barbed metal line ends.  The stock setup is a dual inlay hose setup that is really tight to the barbs.  Use a razor blade to cut down the line and then twist it off.  The rear line is longer - 11" was perfect for my Edelbrock intake - the front only used 8" of line - to be safe measure your own distance (remember, measure twice and cut once).  Slip two clamps over one end and slip the rubber line onto the barbed metal line tighten the clamps on both ends - repeat at the front or back and your done.

   INJECTORS: Your 5.0 came from the factory with orange top 19# injectors. While this size injector is fine for stock power levels on the 5.0 - a mere cam swap can bring you past the 19# threshold.  Virtually any 351w will need a bigger injector (regardless if the EFI truck 351's came with 19# or not).  In order to determine your proper injector size a simple formula can be used (and you thought your high school math classes were useless):

  Horsepower (HP) ? number of injectors x BSFC ? Duty cycle = proper injector size

   1.    HP - When using this formula be realistic when determining your horsepower - two big of an injector can make you car run rich and boggy.

   2.    BSFC - non-assisted cars (no NOS or super/turbo-chargers etc) BSFC is usually .50.  Power adder cars BSFC is usually .65.

   3.   Duty Cycle - injectors work there best at no more than 85% of their capacity.

Eg. My old 351w is non assisted and was ?estimated? at 417 bhp so here is what I did:

417 ? 8 (= 52.125) x .50 (= 26.0625) ? .85 = 30.6

   -so for my engine 30# injectors was pretty close to ideal.  Holley says 30# injectors are good to 450hp (citing up to 90% is ok), Accel says 400 hp is the limit - you be the judge.

   MASS AIR METER: If you are running speed density see my other article on how to convert to Mass Air.  If you don?t know the difference, take a step back from your car and do more research!  If you have Mass Air already, you are on the fast track to Windsor power, or you can run a Speed Density tuner or chip - do not try to run a 351w on the stock Speed Density system. 

   In Mass Air Meters you have the benefit of the 5.0 parts bin - as they are interchangeable.  Once again - the size of the meter all depends on how serious your Windsor is.  A good rule of thumb is buy the biggest meter your budget and your intake piping allows.  C&L states that their 73mm mass air meters are good down to 10 second / 600 horsepower Mustangs and the 76mm units will support 9 second / 800 horsepower Mustangs - and both will fit the stock intake or common aftermarket cold air tubes.  I have no reason to disagree with this as they are going to have a much better idea than me about that.    Just make sure your meter is calibrated for your injectors.

   FUEL PUMP: The formula for this is really pretty complex - and using a larger than necessary fuel pump will not hurt anything since the 5.0 uses a return style fuel system.  I love my 255lph Walbro - you can?t see the name brand of the pump in the tank - and Walbro makes them for Ford, Holley, Edelbrock and others.  Minor bolt on 351w?s could get away with 110 lph (stock 94-98 Mustang GT pump), but anything that has better heads and cam will require at least the 155lph pump - use your best guess.

   BOLTING THE WINDSOR IN: Everything else is pretty straightforward.  You can reuse your front cover, water pump, thermostat housing, engine mounts, clutch, accessories and alternator bracket.  You must use a 351w specific:

   1.    A/C and/or power steering pump bracket (Trick Flow, March and Ford Racing);

   2.   Oil pan (Canton, Moroso and Ford Racing);

   3.   28 oz Balancer/flywheel; and

   4.   Headers - there are a multitude of 351w swap headers out there.  I personally use the big tube/3" collector MAC header and I love the fit and finish for the price.  BBK, Hooker, Kooks, Ford Racing all make headers in shorty and long tube depending on the seriousness of your combo. 

Not that this should be a concern, but the 351w uses a different oil pump, pump driveshaft and pickup. 

Good price on assembled 351:  https://spprecision.com/products/351-windsor-short-block-engine-sale.html#/425-vehicle_year-1994

Business address 320 for shipping one way.  

Core deposit - 135 to 270(94-97).  

2003 Cobra - Head Cooling Mod

There is a lot of debate around the 03 and 04 head cooling mod.  Is it really necessary?  Will it cause a problem?  Is it just piece of mind?  I'm ok with all of these statements.  I wanted the piece of mind so I made the decision to get it done on my 03 Cobra with only about 31k miles on it.

What is the head cooling mod and why is it necessary?  The head cooling mod is a way to increase coolant flow for the drivers side cylinder head.  The passenger side cylinder head has the coolant flow from the front of the cylinder head and out the back, where it is routed to the heater core.  the drivers side cylinder head has no escape for the coolant.  It essential dead-ends at the number 8 cylinder.  Under extreme driving, people have reported a 'head tick' which is due to the number 8 cylinder exhaust valve overheating / getting burnt out.  There are two types of head cooling mods.  One punches out the freeze plug at the back of the cylinder head and routes the coolant to a Y on the passenger side, then returns it all back to the heater core.  To install it, the transmission needs to be removed.  This is typically done when there is an issue with the throwout bearing, or the bearing retainer, or the clutch.  The other type knocks out the freeze plug at the top of the cylinder head.  For this one, the supercharger needs to be removed.  This is typically done when the supercharger is removed for upgrading.   

I chose to do the cobra engineering head cooling mod.  I like the idea of routing the coolant through the back of the cylinder head, just like Ford designed for the passenger side cylinder head.  I also found a crazy deal on the cobra engineering HCM from someone that was parting out a cobra motor that had this installed.  I got it for 160$ shipped to my door.  I also emailed the guys at cobra engineering and they sent me two new O rings, for free!  Great guys over there!  Cobra Engineering HCM

 The installation process was pretty straight forward.  I had the added opportunity of my best friend having a lift!  That made this entire installation take about 6 hours start to finish.  I did have to pull the mid pipe again and replace the header flange gasket on the passenger side - apparently they are a 1 use gasket.  I ordered a new one from FelPro.  Here's a pic of the car up on the lift.

Here's a rough run-down of the install.  Remove the shifter bezel and handle.  Unplug the oxygen sensors and drop the mid pipe.  Remove the driveshaft.  Note, while the mid pipe was out, we welded in a bung for a wideband.  unplug everything from the transmission and remove the shifter cable.  Remove the bolts from the trans to the bell housing and pull out / lower the transmission.  Then remove the bell housing.  Drain the coolant using the plug in the block.  To knock out the freeze plug on the drivers cylinder head, I used a big common screw driver and a hammer.  it came right out.  Then I disconnected the coolant line from the heater core and removed the fitting from the cylinder head.  The EGR tube needs to be 'modified' so that the HCM fitting will fit.  We bent this out of the way and away from the engine without disconnecting it.  Then the HCM can be assembled and installed.  The little retaining bolts are tough to install, but after some words of encouragement, we were able to get them installed.  It doesn't call for it, but we used some RTV to help seal the fittings with the new O rings.  Added security.  Everything gets put back the way it came off.  The coolant needs to be topped off after this process.  Mine took about 3 gallons.  It was filled up through the plug on the crossover tube (as per ford instructions).  We modified a small funnel and 'screwed' it into that plug hole.  After the thermostat opens a few times and the bubbles go away, its done and full.  Put the plug back in, gently.  Its an O ring so it doesn't need to be super tight.  I also found that my stock clutch quadrant adjusted itself when the cable was disconnected from the transmission.  I held the pedal down to the floor with my hand and adjusted the quadrant to be about where it was.  In hindsight, I should have marked it.  Or installed an aftermarket quadrant and firewall adjuster.  Below you will find some pics I took of the HCM while the trans was out!

Now I have my piece of mind!

2003 Cobra Eibach Pro Kit, Maximum Motorsports Caster Camber Plates and Urethane isolators

As with any modification to a car - you do one thing and it leads to a handful of other aftermarket parts to install.  That is what happened when I installed the Rovos Pretoria wheel and tire package from LMR.  The Pretorias are 18x9 up front and 18x10.5 in the back wrapped in Nitto NT555 G2 tires.  See my other post about the wheel and tire install for some interesting tips!  Once the wheels were on the car, it was very obvious that the car wanted to be lowered.  There was about 4 inches or so of a gap between the wheel and fender.  It looked intentionally raised up.  That lead to the springs, which lead to isolators and caster camber plates.  Its a vicious cycle!  I also added some links to my instagram account @geargambler so you can see some pics.

Springs
The kit from Eibach for the 03/04 cobra is part number 3594.140 and retails for 285.  If you find a site wide 10% off coupon (black friday or some other sale) that will be your best bet.  You wont find them used anywhere and they likely drop ship from Eibach, so the prices are the same everywhere.  I bought mine 11/20/17 from LMR.

Isolators
The front spring isolators are the same for 84-04.  Part number is MM-U-5.  The rear spring isolators are for IRS.  The MM kit was the only one that had the upper and lower isolator for the rear.  Part number is MM-U-3.  I bought the isolators from Lethal Performance.  

Spring and Isolator install
The stock springs are NOT coming out without a coil spring compressor.  Don't waste any time - either buy it or rent it.  I rented it from Autozone.  The one to use is made by OEMTOOLS and the part number is 27035.  Here is a LINK to it on Amazon.  It works even better if you remove the snap ring and insert 3 weld wheel lug washers in between the hardened washers.  It just gives a little more adjustment.  With that tool we were able to remove the springs and isolators just fine.  When the stock springs were removed and the Eibach Pro Kit springs were installed, that tool was worth its weight in gold.  I re-used the stock spring isolators.  Read below about the ride height difference between stock and MM spring isolators.  With the Eibach springs installed and the stock isolators, I took the car for an alignment and they really couldn't get it close.  That let me know I needed the caster camber plates.  When I installed the caster camber plates I also removed each of the springs again and installed the MM spring isolators.  Each time we used some 3m electrical tape to hold the isolator to the spring so it wouldn't move.  The urethane MM isolators are much nicer than the stock rubber ones.  There is always something magical that happens when you do the same job twice.  The second time is much quicker! 

Caster Camber Plates on IG

Maximum Motorsports Caster Camber Plates
The part number for the plates is MMCC0304.  This is specific to the Billstein struts that are stock on the 03/04 Cobra.  The kit includes a dust boot specific for the Billstein.  The installation of the CC plates went EXACTLY like the instructions.  I made sure, and this is IMPORTANT, to take measurements from the fender to the strut shaft and from the firewall to the strut shaft BEFORE removing the caster camber plates.  After the install, these measurements will get me close to where they were before.  At least close enough to drive it to the alignment shop 30 miles away.  The only exception in the instructions was the strut shaft spacers (more on that below).  And I can honestly say it was a little weird drilling the 4th hole in the shock tower, but the method the install doc outlines is spot on perfect and very easy to follow.  You can find the install doc on the Maximum Motorsports site here.  Click the tab for instructions.

Strut spacers
The CC kit comes with 2 short and 2 long spacers per side.  The install doc recommends 1 short up top, 1 short and 2 long below for stock ride height.  For lowered cars the install doc recommends 2 long and 1 short up top and 1 short below the CC plate.  The lowered car configuration leaves a lot of the strut shaft above the caster camber plate.  I split the difference and used 1 short and 1 long above and the same 1 short and 1 long below.  From the context of the install doc I gathered that lowered meant 2 inches or more.  The Eibach pro kit states 1.4 inches lower.  I think with the MM spring isolators it was even less than that.  So I think that the setting for my application should be in between the lowered configuration and the stock ride height configuration.  I made sure the strut shaft didn't hit the hood (thank you SVT team for engineering reliefs in the hood for the strut shaft!), there is plenty of room. 

Ride Height
Here is the fender height with the stock spring isolators and the Eibach Pro Kit (this measurement was taken after a 60 mile round trip to the alignment shop and back):  Front measured 25 15/16 inches from the fender edge in the wheel well to the ground.  Rear was 26 11/16 for the Right and 26 13/16 for the left.

After the MM spring isolators, the same measurements were 26 5/16 from the fender to the floor in the front, both sides.  That's a difference of +3/8 inch.  Rear measured 27 for the Right and 27 1/8 for the left.  That is a total difference of +5/16 inch.  I have to say I like how the car sits with the MM isolators installed.  It gives a little more clearance for the tires to prevent from rubbing and a little more ground clearance for the exhaust.  I'm very pleased!

Ride Height and Alignment Specs

Alignment, part 2.
The shop I took my car to is Mavis Discount Tire in Mount Pocono.  This was the only shop I could find in the area with an alignment lift that can accommodate a lowered car.  The lift is embedded into the floor, so the top of the lift is floor height.  Drive the car on the lift and it comes out of the floor and raises up the car.  NO RAMPS needed.  The manager of the shop is named Clint, who is actually a mustang enthusiast himself.  With his permission, I was able to work with the tech who did the alignment.  I can honestly say, it was a great experience and I couldn't be happier with being a part of the alignment work being done.

The actual alignment was an interesting story.  I probably did too much research on this, which landed me with a handful of different specs.  Eventually I fell back to the Alignment Recommendations that are in the install doc for the CC plates.  Here are the cliffs notes.  More details are in the install doc.

For Camber, Ford Prefers 0.6 Negative and Ford will allow 1.35 Negative to 1.5 Positive.  The install doc recommends 0.5 Negative for street cars.  Camber is now set to 0.5 negative on both sides after the alignment adjustment.

For Caster Ford prefers 3.6 Positive and Ford allows 2.85 Positive to 4.35 Positive.  The install doc recommends 4.5 Positive for street cars, with attention to bumpsteer.  We set the caster to 4.3 on the drivers side and 4.5 on the passenger side. This is the max adjustment.

For Toe, Ford prefers 0.25 toe in and ford allows 0 to 0.5 toe in.  The install doc recommends 0.5 toe in for street cars.  When I showed this to the tech and the manager, they were taken back by it and didn't like it at all.  We eventually set toe in the front at 0.13 and 0.14 in, which is practically straight.  They were pretty convinced that 0.5 toe in would not have the car track straight.  I took their advice, and the car goes straight down the road.  It is just fine.

One interesting thing about the adjustment for caster is that the plates are all the way forward.  The caster adjustment meant that the passenger side inboard nut on the caster plate needed to be removed because the camber plate was hitting it.  Once we did that we achieved 4.5 positive caster (maxed out on the plate), with the 0.5 negative camber setting.  I still need to think about this a little bit more.  For now, we left the nut off the caster plate - there's still three holding it in place (for reference, stock was also three bolts).

Caster Camber plates and stock parts

I'm extremely happy with how the car sits right now with the new Rovos wheels and Nitto NT555 G2 tires, the Eibach Pro Kit and the Maximum motorsports CC plates and spring isolators.  Its a great combination.  The ride quality is excellent and I don't expect any rubbing either. 

2003 Cobra Terminator Wheel and Tire Upgrade

I had a set of American Muscle GT500 replica wheels and tires on my 94 GT.  A friend of mine asked if he could buy them off of me.  He was in need of tires and I made him a pretty good deal.  I then took the OEM wheels and tires off of my 2003 Cobra and put them on the 94 GT.  This freed up the Cobra for a very nice set of wheels! 

I did some shopping and eventually landed on Rovos Pretorias.  I was shopping during black Friday 2017 and the deals were VERY good at LMR.  I bought the satin Rovos Pretorias with Nitto NT555 G2 tires mounted.  The Pretorias are staggered, 18x9 in the front and 18x10.5 in the back.  This means I could finally get rid of the spacer in the rear! 

The tire sizes are 265/35/18 up front and 285/35/18 out back.  They look AWESOME on the car.  I had to do a little bit of grinding on the rear halfshaft stud to get the center cap of the rear wheel to fit, but that wasn't too bad of a task. 

One problem now - with the bigger wheels and tires, the Cobra stock ride height needs to be lowered.  There's a HUGE gap between the fender and the wheels now.  Next up will be the Eibach Pro Kit!