1995 Mustang SVT Cobra

[fiveoh2go]

Any suggestions?

Everyone I know has always ran the old school Mr. Gasket Ultra Seal header gaskets. That's what I'm running. They're thinner than the soft aluminum thick ones you've got (they're made of asbestos!! :wink: ) so stock or stock type ARP hardware works perfectly. I just coat each side of the Ultra Seals with high-temp copper gasket sealant, slap them on, and then tighten down the header bolts in the proper sequence.

I dunno about other cars...but if you've got headers on a small block Ford...routine tightening of the header bolts is just the cost of admission to a more free flowing/sick sounding exhaust system. I've never ran locking header bolts, but friends that have didn't have them on their car for long. :dunno:

[95SVTCobra]

I dunno about other cars...but if you've got headers on a small block Ford...routine tightening of the header bolts is just the cost of admission to a more free flowing/sick sounding exhaust system. I've never ran locking header bolts, but friends that have didn't have them on their car for long. :dunno:

My mechanic said they would be fine. I don't know, maybe I'll look into getting some new gaskets. These are really thick lol :lol:. Or I could look into longer header bolts, I know Stage 8 makes 1" long bolts instead of 3/4" like the ones I have. I would of course have to look at dimensions, but that could be an option as well.

[95SVTCobra]

So she is fixed. Way too expensive. I hate shops Anyone in town want to cruise Friday?

[Senor_Taylor]

As long as its before or after my cookout, you'll have my blessing.

[95SVTCobra]

As long as its before or after my cookout, you'll have my blessing.

I might roll by and do a massive burnout, with Born in the USA blasting in the background

[Schaidhammer]

So she is fixed. Way too expensive. I hate shops Anyone in town want to cruise Friday?

I'd go along if you have an extra seat!

[Lucy]

So she is fixed. Way too expensive. I hate shops Anyone in town want to cruise Friday?

I'd go along if you have an extra seat!

^^^

[Senor_Taylor]

"And with our powers combined, we are... the MM Freshmen! "

[95SVTCobra]

Hey guys! I'm here for the car show, where is everyone?


LOL :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Thank you to everyone who helped me out on Friday night before the car show to try to get her running, and thanks to Joaquin and Taylor for the rides to Ford to drop her off and get her :thumbup:.

I picked her up last Friday, and cruised around to check everything out, she ran fantastic! Went to the cookout, split a few eardrums :roll:, and decided to roll up to the mountain to try some corners out. I loved it, absolutely amazing what an upgraded suspension will do on a twisty road . Second gear was used for most of the mountain, and let me just say those longtubes echo just a little bit :bow:.

I then took the trek up to Summit with Joaquin to see what goes on at the track, and let me just say that was a TON of fun. It was great to see you aluMMni (Sean, DJ, Jake, Joey, Kaan) and learn some things about the track. There were also some really cool cars there (McLaren 650s Spyder and brand new Z06 C7 Corvette :thumbup: pic below) and even talked to some really friendly people about their rides. I also had to get the picture of the two cars that didn't make the show together (it was great to meet you Joey! Car looked great :thumbup Sorry about the zoom blur lol.



Anyway, she made the trip to Summit and back and then to the RVA all on one tank! I averaged 22 mpg, which I will take all day. Thanks everyone who helped me out along the way and it was great to meet a TON of new people and aluMMni in the club!

[D_Eclipse9916]

Second gear was used for most of the mountain, and let me just say those longtubes echo just a little bit :bow:.

Dat V8 longtube :bites lip:

Sorry I couldn't actually get to know you guys. I was frustrated with shaking down my new race car and ended up spending most my day dealing with that and family/friends that was rolling through. My future father in law was there hyperdriving his Mini, one of my best friends was hyperdriving his Audi, and my half-brother and I trying to reconnect who was there TTing his C7 Z06 (the red one in your pictures). Splitting that with my worker duties and the race car meant I was exhausted.

Hope you make it down for hyperfest, it is a NOT to miss event.

[SlimKlim]

It was nice to meet you in person as well Chip!

Figures I'm under the hood of the car I just fixed. :lol: I got home from work the other night and somehow ended up in the garage, then realized the project was over and went back inside.

[Kaan]

that mustang needed door numbers on it this weekend!

[Senor_Taylor]

that mustang needed door numbers on it this weekend!

Oh boy. This again.

[95SVTCobra]

Second gear was used for most of the mountain, and let me just say those longtubes echo just a little bit :bow:.

Dat V8 longtube :bites lip:

Sorry I couldn't actually get to know you guys. I was frustrated with shaking down my new race car and ended up spending most my day dealing with that and family/friends that was rolling through.

Hope you make it down for hyperfest, it is a NOT to miss event.

It's all good man! I tried to help you when you were fixing the overflow tank, I could see it was giving you some issues, but I got distracted by your dogs :lol:. Unfortunately, I actually have an exam on that Saturday from 3:30-5:00, and wont be able to make Hyperfest .

Figures I'm under the hood of the car I just fixed. :lol: I got home from work the other night and somehow ended up in the garage, then realized the project was over and went back inside.

Haha I was up in the tower and had the thought to get that picture, its perfect :lol:. But you now have a solid foundation to build your car up even more! :thumbup:

that mustang needed door numbers on it this weekend!

I didn't know you needed numbers for a show car....:wink:

[95SVTCobra]

So it has been a busy summer (don't worry, I've been lurking a lot on the forums lol). Let me just start this post off with this :mrgreen:


Yes, those are the Saleen 5 spokes. And they look baaaawwwwwlin'. I actually went with 275/35/18 up front (they fit!) and 285/35/18 in the back, both front and back wrapped in Nitto NT555 tires. It hugs the road better, and from what I could tell on a back road, they put the power down well.

So since I went home for the summer, I have been super busy with my job (I work for Ford as a detailer :thumbup, but have been even busier with the car. New wheels, plug wires, header bolts, radiator, oil changes, repainted front brakes, brake pads, etc.

I decided I wanted to change the radiator because the temp. gauge was creeping a little high, and also I was about to embark on a trip down to Myrtle Beach for Mustang Week, so I wanted the engine to be plenty cool, especially in traffic. Bought a 3 row aluminum radiator from SVE, and put it right in. I am very happy with this product, it keeps the car cooler, and assures me that the stock gauge runs a little high (we put a temp. reader on the thermostat housing, car was performing just fine, and when the thermostat does open, it does go down). I also purchased the red plug wires from Ford Racing, just for the extra horsepower (I wish, was done for looks).

I also decided to take off the brakes and repaint them. I had to do pads all around anyway, so figured it would be a good time to do the calipers too since they were going to be off the car. Yeah, let me just say I didn't realize how good paint stripper was until AFTER I had bought a Dremel and tried to sand it all off, but on the bright side, my calipers are very smooth now that I have sanded them :lol:. I also only did the fronts, because of how much trouble I was having. As far as the brake pads went, I went with Hawk HPS fronts, and the Advance Auto parts special in the rear. I love the Hawk pads, they have great bite (again on a backroad, on a track would be a different story) and stop the car way better than before.

So now I went and tackled the issue of my header bolts and the headers leaking still, even after my debacle during the car show.

I dunno about other cars...but if you've got headers on a small block Ford...routine tightening of the header bolts is just the cost of admission to a more free flowing/sick sounding exhaust system.

^Matt nailed it.

Again, going to South Carolina, I wanted to make sure that the header bolts were tight. Ford in Harrisonburg originally complained that my header bolts weren't long enough and they wanted to put the stock ones back on, so I began to wonder why that was. Walk my happy butt on out to my garage to find out that the stock header bolts are 1" long, and the ones I have been running are 3/4". SMH. Order the right set of locking header bolts, and put them on with my buddy, and lo and behold, no leaking and moar loud out the tailpipe. Winning. Did an oil change, threw my wheels on, cleaned my MAF, tossed an AirRaid intake filter in the housing, and took it on a little drive. This is with 2 days to go till Mustang Week. Car ran like a top, and even was breathing better (stock air filter looked like it hadn't been changed since 1995 :dunno.

And now, I'm ready for Mustang Week 2k15!

That was an amazing week. The wheels really helped the car shine, especially at the car show, and had an absolute blast getting the Ford guys to rev up the GT350 for us in the booth. Also got to meet Vaughn Gittin Jr, and my buddy even got his car signed. It just gets bigger every year, and more amazing. I have some things to do again to the car before next year, but am already planning to go back, hopefully with a bit more go and a bit more show :twisted:. Here are a few pictures from Mustang Week (lots of pics, sorry only had my iphone)

Vaughn Gittin's Personal RTR and 15 Drift Concept Demo Car


2015 GT350 Track (not R) Version (no radio or A/C)

2015 Roush Stage 2

2015 Shelby Super Snake :bow:

Vaughn Gittin (really cool dude btw)

My buddy and I

Whole lotta 'Murica in this pic

Same here

Photoshoot time!

So now it is almost time to come back to JMU, and I have one more mod up my sleeve. I will be getting 3.73 gears installed hopefully next week by one of our technicians at Ford (half price labor and something I really want someone who knows what they are doing to do it). So it will for sure get those 285s spinning just a bit faster and hopefully help the car N/A seem quicker. I have to break these in, so 500 miles of waiting might be tough, but I think I'll manage lol.

Oh, and I got my toolkit together for my garage! Very nice to have a toolkit of my own, even if it is on a bit of a Harbor Freight budget :lol: .

Overall, I think I accomplished what I wanted to do this summer. I addressed the brakes, cooling system, and wheels/tires. And even at the end have a little left over to start the performance mods next week. Very productive summer, and for sure looking forward to having it up in Harrisonburg this year to wrench on, clean/detail, and cruise around!

[Senor_Taylor]

Great update, Chip! Can't wait to see/hear this thing more often since you'll have it up here! Can't wait for the shenanigans we'll all have. I saw the pictures of your car and I thought the wheels were different but I wasn't sure. They look great!

Just a word on the tools. If you bought cheap ratchets and sockets or wrenches, please don't use them on anything important. Nice sockets/wrenches will keep you from rounding and breaking bolts so often. I, as well as tons of people use Harbor Freight for lots of things, but really only for odd tools. You're always welcome to my craftsmen set. My toolbox just happens to have a Tacoma under it.

[*insertusernamehere*]

Lol you couldn't sound anymore tool elitist, Taylor. "You're always welcome to my craftmen set *scoff*scoff*" :lol: :lol:

The 2 latest gens of Mustang are so sexy I'm definitely getting one later in life. So hawt.

Yay for new diff! :thumbup:

[Senor_Taylor]

Nah, Craftsmen are kind of bottom rung when it comes to "nice" tools. I'm just saying if he doesn't feel like dropping $100 on a Craftsmen set, he can borrow mine instead of rounding off 20 year old bolts with a HF set. Trust me, I've been there.

[95SVTCobra]

Just a word on the tools. If you bought cheap ratchets and sockets or wrenches, please don't use them on anything important. Nice sockets/wrenches will keep you from rounding and breaking bolts so often. I, as well as tons of people use Harbor Freight for lots of things, but really only for odd tools. You're always welcome to my craftsmen set. My toolbox just happens to have a Tacoma under it.

I bought some nice tools as well, as you said the important things I will use a lot. Some things are worth the extra money :thumbup: thanks for the advice and offering some tools!

[CaptainHenreh]

Vaughn Gittin (really cool dude btw)

JR is a pretty cool dude. I was expecting him to be a total douche, but he really wasn't.