1995 Mustang SVT Cobra

[fiveoh2go]

Pro M meters were the first commercially available performance MAF meter for 5.0's back in the day (early 90's).They were developed by Bob Atwood, a former Ford engineer. His meters use re-calibrated Ford electronics to measure the air flowing through the larger meter. Pro-M meters are believed to be of high quality but that does come with a larger price tag.

C&L meters use interchangeable sampling tubes which is basically a small chamber that surrounds the hot wire in the meter. This method kinda tricks the stock Ford electronics. Using a larger sampling tube allows more air to flow over the hot wire inside the meter..requiring more voltage to keep that wire at its required temperature level. Since the C&L meters use unaltered Ford electronics they are cheaper.

As for the cold air kit, I dunno. Most all of the cold air intakes are made of aluminum or steel (some chromed) which will become heat soaked once the car is at operating temp...so how much is that really helping you? The factory stuff is made of plastic/rubber for a reason. If you can find one of the old school JLT True Cold air intakes (ebay or the forums maybe?) that would be a worthwhile investment as those were made out of high quality plastic with a straight shot design. If it were my car I'd just swap the meters, ditch the factory air silencer as you've already done, and drop in a stock replacement K&N untill you can come across a JLT kit (pictured below).

[95SVTCobra]

Pro M meters were the first commercially available performance MAF meter for 5.0's back in the day (early 90's).They were developed by Bob Atwood, a former Ford engineer. His meters use re-calibrated Ford electronics to measure the air flowing through the larger meter. Pro-M meters are believed to be of high quality but that does come with a larger price tag.

C&L meters use interchangeable sampling tubes which is basically a small chamber that surrounds the hot wire in the meter. This method kinda tricks the stock Ford electronics. Using a larger sampling tube allows more air to flow over the hot wire inside the meter..requiring more voltage to keep that wire at its required temperature level. Since the C&L meters use unaltered Ford electronics they are cheaper.

As for the cold air kit, I dunno. Most all of the cold air intakes are made of aluminum or steel (some chromed) which will become heat soaked once the car is at operating temp...so how much is that really helping you? The factory stuff is made of plastic/rubber for a reason. If you can find one of the old school JLT True Cold air intakes (ebay or the forums maybe?) that would be a worthwhile investment as those were made out of high quality plastic with a straight shot design. If it were my car I'd just swap the meters, ditch the factory air silencer as you've already done, and drop in a stock replacement K&N untill you can come across a JLT kit (pictured below).

It all makes sense now! Awesome info, thanks a ton. I decided that I am going to switch the MAF for an aftermarket unit and drop in a K&N (funny how we both reached that conclusion). I was thinking it over an hour ago and if I am going to add boost, it essentially will get rid of a CAI anyway, so why do it when you can spend the money on a good MAF and a filter that will do the same thing? I ordered the steering rack bushings, I have heard that before and your comment kicked me into gear lol. You should see the parts piling up in my room at home :lol:

[fiveoh2go]

Can't go wrong with just buying a new MAF meter now as you'll still use that down the road one day when you do bolt on a blower. :thumbup:

[95SVTCobra]

Okay I figured I would give a quick update. So I finally got around to taking 33 on the cruise the other day. And goooooood lord nice road. Totally changes a few things on the build. Sounds like the summer plans are for suspension and brakes :thumbup:

So here is what I am thinking, in the order I am thinking as well:

First thing is first, I am getting new wheels and tires . Chrome Saleens, staggered set up. 18x9 up front 18x10 in the back. I think I'm going for Nitto NT555 265/35/18 front and 285/35/18 rear (stock measurments: 255/45/17 all around on obviously 17" wheels)

Then:

Brakes:
1) Stainless Brake Lines
2) Slotted/Drilled Rotors (more for looks than performance)
3) Performance Brake Pads (Hawk?)
4) Good Brake Fluid/ Get brakes bleed

Suspension:
1) Eibach Roll bars
2) Maximum Motorsport Lower Control Arms (height adjustable)****
3) ***Balljoints/Bumpsteer
***If necessary
****After reading on this more, I found that the upper control arms can be left alone unless bushings are worn out (they aren't). I also am excited because these have essentially a coilover style capability, and if the rear isn't low enough after removing ISOs, I can get two birds with one stone, and lower the rear independently and improve my traction to the ground.****

I really want to try to eliminate that lovely wheel hop that the Mustang's live rear axle is known for. Hopefully the lower control arms and roll bars should help with that tremendously.

Finally:

Power:
1) K&N Filter
2) Pro-M MAF

That is looking like the rest of the year and the summer plans for the Cobra. After this, I have done essentially all the bolt-ons that are possible to the car without touching the motor. Might have to get it tuned just to see the power on the dyno it is putting down. I'll have to remember to take some pictures when I am home over spring break of the suspension as it sits :mrgreen: . Can't wait for the show and the cruise!

[davej]

I know I'll never be an NBA star, no matter how many times I watch Space Jam and rock Air Jordan's. You have a car that was made to go fast in a straight line straight. Embrace it!! :cheers:

Your plans sound great and should give you a much better feel in the mountains.

[95SVTCobra]

I know I'll never be an NBA star, no matter how many times I watch Space Jam and rock Air Jordan's. You have a car that was made to go fast in a straight line straight. Embrace it!! :cheers:

Your plans sound great and should give you a much better feel in the mountains.

Hahahaha exactly right! I just want it to feel just a bit better around turns, and not show its weight so much. But on the straights :bow: let the longtubes roar lol :thumbup:

[rherold9]

You are welcome. I didn't want to scare you too much your first cruise haha :thumbup:

You'll have to take a ride back in it when I have my summer's on and new brakes

[95SVTCobra]

You are welcome. I didn't want to scare you too much your first cruise haha :thumbup:

You'll have to take a ride back in it when I have my summer's on and new brakes

Scared?! More like thrilled :thumbup:. And absolutely, down to do that again anytime lol. Can't wait to see what that does with stickier tires and better brakes. I'm used to rwd, so riding in a fwd is a different experience, glad I could experience it.

[rherold9]

Scared?! More like thrilled :thumbup:.

I guess you haven't seen my understeer and oversteer videos :lol:

[95SVTCobra]

Scared?! More like thrilled :thumbup:.

I guess you haven't seen my understeer and oversteer videos :lol:

Haha. Well, once again, thanks for the ride, and making me want my car even more . 2 months (maybe) but who is counting?

[Jake]

Sounds like a good plan! I always like seeing some "let's make it turn" added to the "more powarrrr" list

If you want any recommendations (or confirmation) for parts and them working as you think they should, give the guys at Performance Auto Sport a call. They are out of Richmond and almost exclusively work on Mustangs, doing a lot of prep/maintenance/tuning work for our NASA racers.

Oh, and once you get all of your power mods added on, go there to get the car tuned/dyno'd. FlimFlam is a cool guy

[95SVTCobra]

Sounds like a good plan! I always like seeing some "let's make it turn" added to the "more powarrrr" list

If you want any recommendations (or confirmation) for parts and them working as you think they should, give the guys at Performance Auto Sport a call. They are out of Richmond and almost exclusively work on Mustangs, doing a lot of prep/maintenance/tuning work for our NASA racers.

Oh, and once you get all of your power mods added on, go there to get the car tuned/dyno'd. FlimFlam is a cool guy

Love those guys. I call them every once in a while to ask some questions, and I'm sure FlimFlam is tired of all my email questions haha. My dad took my car by there one time for some heating issues, and the guys literally said nothing needed to be done and didn't charge us a dime. Really good people :thumbup:. That was exactly where I was going to go to get it tuned/dyno'd. Have a quote from about 8 months ago, and have been looking forward to it ever since :mrgreen:.

[Jake]

Well, tell 'em I say hi then

[95SVTCobra]

Well ladies and gentlemen,



The snowball effect has hit me hard. So remember how it was only a few parts for spring break? Yeah about that.....I'm a different type of college student broke now :lol: :lol: :lol:.






^That would be me saying I am painting the underside of the car this summer :roll:

Looks like a fun spring break, and an even better summer for the car :thumbup:

[fiveoh2go]

Why are you painting the underside of your car?

[95SVTCobra]

Why are you painting the underside of your car?

Short answer: Rust prevention. It has none, and would very much like to keep it that way. I already don't drive it during the winter, however, next year that may not be a viable option. With what I have seen this year, we get more than salt than snow on the roads. If I cannot bring up my RAV4 next year, painting would prevent the floor from being too dirty and salt sticking into cracks in the underside, thus potential opportunities for rust to occur. Necessary? Not really. I know you could just spray off the underside every time (which I still would do), but the paint would be an extra layer of prevention. Easy? With my friends lift, should be a day or two job (jackstands wouldn't be horrible either). I was also planning on doing it when I was going to put in an aluminum driveshaft and swap to either 3.73 or 3.55 gears in the back, so the underside would be totally exposed. One of those "while you are in there mods".

I know you have heard of 95riosnake's OCD build over on the SN95 forums. I was inspired by that build to do the underside, especially with my friend (hopefully :lol giving me the okay to use his lift. If you haven't, I highly encourage just a couple pages of reading. Truly amazing build. Link: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.sn95source.com/topic/2191-the-chronicles-of-95riosnakes-ocd-machine/">http://www.sn95source.com/topic/2191-th ... d-machine/</a><!-- m --> (yes I am a loser and have read all 75 pages, but the build is amazing, and the detail is unbelievable)

[Goodspeed]

Will the paint hold up though? If you're tearing stuff out for other jobs and exposing most of the underside, what about a full rubberized undercoating job? I was just reading another build thread from a shop that does full tear down/re-build jobs of classic Toyotas and they swear by this stuff:

http://www.amazon.com/Dynatron-544-P.../dp/B005RNFBDG

Applied with something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/TCP-Pneumatic-Unde...+pneumatic



I dunno if there is a place in VA that does it but I know in the midwest/NE/Canada there are those Krown places and others that apply seasonal undercoating sprays for rustproofing as well.

[fiveoh2go]

I'd pull a James Robertson if it was my car. F road salt and the rust it causes.

[95SVTCobra]

Will the paint hold up though?

I will be cleaning it thoroughly, priming it, laying down 4-5 coats of Rustoleum paint, and then laying down 2-3 layers of engine enamel clear coat on it. I don't really want to have to pull the gas tank, and those coatings are $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. DIY it is something that can be done on the budget, and I don't plan on driving it in the winter anyway. All that I want to get done is the floor pan, and maybe above the rear diff. The wheel wells in the back are already have a rubberized coating on them, so they are good to go. I just want to give the bottom a little more protection.

I'd pull a James Robertson if it was my car. F road salt and the rust it causes.

It's horrible up here too, today was a prime example. I woke up and thought that was snow on the road, but nope, all salt :vomit:. I really am planning to leave the Cobra in the garage from November to March.

[95SVTCobra]

Well went home over the weekend, and boy oh boy did I get some stuff done. Pics to come soon :thumbup:

Went home Thursday night, and ended up taking off one of the mirrors, which was an interesting process because you had to remove the tweeter and the whole door panel to remove 2 out of the 3 bolts lol. I also touched up a small imperfection in my dash with my handy can of saddle tan paint, looks factory and even my OCD is fine with it.

Friday was the big day. After dropping the mirrors and gas cap (for paint match goodness) got back home to get cracking on the exhaust and suspension. My friend and I fiddled with the exhaust first. Needless to say the environment will thank me for a couple days while I get it inspected :mrgreen: . Then moved on to the suspension. Got down to the springs, and man oh man were the bottom isolators crushed and deformed in the front. After ghetto wrapping the springs in some electrical tape, back in they went with the top isolator left in.. Also put dust boots on the struts while I was in there. At the rear, I removed top and bottom ISOs (both were ruined anyway) and buttoned everything back up. OH LAWD DOES 1/4" MAKE A DIFFERENCE. It looks 10x meaner. Oh and I threw a foglight bulb in and a TPS sensor .

BUT

as is the nature of the beast without ISOs, the dreaded front suspension squeaks like no other haha. The back is totally fine, and no way in heck am I putting the ISOs back in the rear. The way I see it, when I go back home next weekend, I have 4 options. They are as follows:

1) Grease the hell out of the spring perches and man up and deal with the squeak
2) Try to put the stock ISO back on the bottom (issue with this is I might lose that little bit of rake that makes the stang look mean as hell)
3) Shave both the bottom ISO and sand down the perches to try to get a little extra room to not lose the drop
4) Create my own bottom ISO out of 5/8" heater hose

Any suggestions?