2003 Mustang Cobra convertible getting e-level setup!

[244Brick]

I can only imagine how aggravating that is rolling too fast in traffic. Well the 3.73 gearing is probably the best for street/race anyways. So once you upgrade you'll fell a lot of that just from the gearing alone. I'm excited to see the updates Phil

-Gene

[Fastphil]

I put the Cobra away for the winter last week. It's time to evaluate what needs to be done in the off-season.

The big news is that I just ordered Accuair's iLevel controller. I'm hoping to have it under the Christmas tree because it's a partial gift from my girlfriend. Every guy dreams that his girlfriend would buy him something really cool for his car, and now I'm one of those guys whose dream will come true. Of course there's no hurry to get my hands on it because the car is stored off-site and I won't be able to install it until the spring anyway. In the meantime I'll get informed about what iPhone I want to buy. Surely an iPhone 5.

Since around the time I took my car to Billet Pro Shop and had it up on the lift, I've been having problems with the ride height on the rear suspension. When set on preset 2, it airs out completely regardless of whether it is at the right height or not. I'm thinking one or both of the sensors may have suffered some damage from being on the lift. I am NOT blaming Billet Pro Shop for this. In the spring I will swap the rear height sensors to the front of the car and the fronts to the rear and see what happens. If the rear still airs out, then I guess the problem is inside the ECU. I tried redoing the automatic ride height programming and setting the height presets manually, but that didn't help. I'm hoping that Accuair will be able to help me out in resolving this problem. I don't care to spend $500 for a new ECU if this one is on the fritz.

I'm also mulling over a couple of other possible projects that will require investing a fair sum of money into the car. Not sure I want to proceed on either one at the moment, but if the mood strikes me, I may pull the trigger.

First is a possible upgrade to either one or two Air Zenith OB2 compressors from my current dual Viair 400C's. This doesn't require a whole lot of preparation, but those OB2's are quite pricey. I may also bump my system up from the current 150 psi to 200 psi when I make the switch.

The next project is not suspension related, but a comprehensive power upgrade which would net me another 40-60 rwhp. I'm looking into supporting modifications at the moment which would be required for a blower upgrade. Not so much a blower upgrade, but having the stock blower ported. Billet Pro Shop is getting their feet wet in the blower porting business, so that's the route I would take. A blower upgrade on these Cobras usually requires a Kenne Bell Boost-a-Pump and a SCT BA2600 Mass Air Flow Meter to be able to cope with the big increase in airflow that the ported blower can provide. Both of these upgrades are not terribly complicated on their own, but when you get into extensive mods like this, the potential for trouble rises exponentially. This would also be my first foray beyond simple bolt-ons. I am trying to evaluate the risk vs. reward aspect, which isn't easy because of the abundance of information about these upgrades on these Cobras. I've got all winter to work on it and collect the required parts. The engine's ECM would also require fairly extensive retuning to get everything working in symphony.

I've also been considering a swap from 3.55:1 to 3.73:1 rear axle gearing. It doesn't sound like a huge change on paper, but I feel it would be enough to make a difference in the car's performance without sacrificing its daily driveability. I drive the car regularly so any shorter gearing (higher numerically) would result in higher RPM's on the highway and I don't want that. Slightly shorter gearing would give me a little more punch off the line, and the added bonus of slower low-speed rolling in first gear for traffic purposes. As it is, idling in first gear is actually too fast for the goddamn slow traffic we get around here. I constantly have to drag the brakes and/or clutch in to keep from catching up to the traffic ahead. Sounds silly, I know, but that's what it is.

So there it is, my winter to-do list.

Phil

[Fastphil]

O wow nice.. you have any photos of the changes or the air out height now?

Nah, it still airs out at the same height. I just wanted to get the exhaust up to keep it from getting destroyed any further. I drive this car regularly in the summer months, and unlike other people on this website I don't think it's cool to leave parts lying on the road because I'm so low. I can't afford to replace shit that I broke for some stupid reason.

[244Brick]

O wow nice.. you have any photos of the changes or the air out height now?

[Fastphil]

This morning I made the trek down to Billet Pro Shop. They're a new name on the scene, mostly for short shifters and Mustang parts, but I've known Sylvain for several years. His street driver is a 10-second GT500, and his track cars are even more awesome. His daily clientele is a long list of 700-1000 hp Mustangs, but for some reason he really likes my Cobra as well.

I went down there thinking I'd be in the shop for several hours. I wanted to have them see if they could work on my exhaust system to get more ground clearance. As it was, the cats would sit on the ground when aired out. On a Mustang, the exhaust is the lowest part, and mine has been getting abused for several years now. The Bassani high-flow cats were flat on the bottom, the mufflers are all bent and scraped, and most of the rear hangers showed signs of having touched the ground. I had purchased a pair of used Bassani cats from another forum to swap onto the car because I thought one of mine was getting clogged.

Once we got the old cats off the car, we immediately noticed that the new ones had a more compact body. They would fit, and being 3/4 inch smaller in diameter than the old ones at their biggest point, we instantly resolved the ground clearance issue as well! We readjusted the fit of the complete exhaust system to get things lined up a little better and keep it tucked up under the car, but it was easier than I thought it would be.

While we were under the car, I noticed that the rear shocks were working their way off their lower mounting bolts. The inner sleeve of the bushing was still in place but the rubber bushing itself was working its way over the head of the bolt. We removed the bolts, put big fat washers on them and reinstalled them. Problem solved! I figure this was happening because all the weight of the car is sitting on the shocks when it's aired out. Fixing this also eliminated one of the annoying noises I was hearing in the rear suspension.

Sylvain is really passionate about Mustang performance, so we chatted for a bit about what he's up to and what kind of work he does. He has access to a CNC machine, so the sky is the limit when it comes to machining stuff. It turns out that he would be able to port my blower for a reasonable price... He's also got a sweet connection for parts inside Ford Racing, so I asked him to get me a price on a set of 3.73 rear gears installed. Maybe next year I'll undertake one or both of these projects. Time will tell...

Phil

[ryanjblajda]

I'm not sure how far I want to go down that road, if at all. I'm more than happy with the car as it is.

^^ thats all that really matters anyways.

thanks for the quick reply.

[Fastphil]

i just read this entire build. its amazing.

Just curious, but do you have any plans to roll the fenders more and put spacers on the CCWs so they fit flush? (or closer to flush?) I think it could add to the multitude of badassery that this car already has. Either way its awesome.

I've considered it. The problem is that the sheetmetal is pretty heavy gauge and the lip is quite wide, almost half an inch. I've seen a couple of techniques that get rid of almost the whole lip. Another significant roadblock is that the tire actually meets the edge of the bumper. If I manage to make enough room at the fender lip, I'll have to somehow cut or clearance the bumper even more. At some point it will become impossible to not make it look like shit.

I'd have to take some time to sit in the garage with the ass in the air and a handful of washers. Remove wheel, put washers on studs, reinstall wheel, drop car, check clearance. Repeat as necessary. And If I ever do succeed in this, I wouldn't add spacers. I'd disassemble the wheels and put a wider outer barrel on them. They come in half-inch increments. And then, of course, if I put wider wheels I'll probably want wider tires, creating even more clearance issues.

I'm not sure how far I want to go down that road, if at all. I'm more than happy with the car as it is.

[ryanjblajda]

i just read this entire build. its amazing.

Just curious, but do you have any plans to roll the fenders more and put spacers on the CCWs so they fit flush? (or closer to flush?) I think it could add to the multitude of badassery that this car already has. Either way its awesome.

[MrDanguy]

This thread is about to hit 20,000 views. I never thought I would garner so much attention! In addition, I have this same thread posted on several other websites. I estimate that they have received a total of 35,000 to 40,000 views including this one. I don't know how many views my car has accumulated with its various website and printed magazine features, but I can assure you it's far more than I ever expected. I'm just a guy who built a car to my liking and wanted to share it with others. Thanks to all of you who have been following along!

/acceptance speech

ENCORE!!! ENCORE!!!

Love the car.

[Fastphil]

This thread is about to hit 20,000 views. I never thought I would garner so much attention! In addition, I have this same thread posted on several other websites. I estimate that they have received a total of 35,000 to 40,000 views including this one. I don't know how many views my car has accumulated with its various website and printed magazine features, but I can assure you it's far more than I ever expected. I'm just a guy who built a car to my liking and wanted to share it with others. Thanks to all of you who have been following along!

/acceptance speech

[Frescy]

wicked stang!!!

[Fastphil]

I want a Cobra for a daily even more now.

On point, on all levels. Amazing work.

Thanks, I'm glad you like it.

Last night I did a little bit of work on the Cobra. I had several small things to take care of , so I was only in the garage for about an hour.

First up, I installed a new serpentine belt and idler pulleys from Billetflow to resolve a belt slippage issue that I was just beginning to have. The stock idlers tend to eventually self-detonate, so that can be considered preventive maintenance.

Next, I got a "Service Engine Soon" light last week while driving in the rain. I suspect it was caused by the rain, so I just disconnected the battery to clear it. If it comes back, I'll look into it further. Baby steps!

And finally, most relevant to this thread, I removed the air tank to drain the water from it. There was probably between one and two cups of water in there, so I'm glad I did it. In the spring and fall, the nights get below freezing around here and I didn't want my car to be incapacitated again like it was once this spring.

Needless to say, removing the tank to drain the water is not very practical, so Michel and I brainstormed a bit to come up with a plan for a water drain from the tank. The tricky part is accessibility, and the fact that I want the water to drain outside the car and not inside the trunk. We came up with a rough plan but I'll have to go to the local air compressor supply store to see just what options I have on hand. I'm hoping to get this done before I go back to work on Wednesday this week.

In other news, I've been on the hunt for a new (to me) winter car for weeks now, and I may have found an interesting candidate.

That's It for now!

Phil

[Daviticus]

I want a Cobra for a daily even more now.

On point, on all levels. Amazing work.

[Fastphil]

Hey Phil, loved going through the build, I was actually the writer for your feature for you Canibeat feature. Had a blast writing up a bagged Cobra and loved the car. Keep up the good work.

Hey Josh, I'm glad you liked it.

[99sil-teg]

Hey Phil, loved going through the build, I was actually the writer for your feature for you Canibeat feature. Had a blast writing up a bagged Cobra and loved the car. Keep up the good work.