Update Finally! V6 to Cobra Conversion Progress (lots of pics)

Chythar

Recently finished repairing my rear
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
Aug 26, 2004
2,370
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Foothill Ranch, CA
The wire hiding has been taking forever, and life has been getting in the way. But finally, a major update. The wire hiding is now complete. I've also swapped the pedal assembly so I now have a clutch pedal. Nice that Ford used the same wiring harness for all models, I already had the two electrical plugs for the sensor behind the clutch pedal. :nice: I also pulled the Cobra's brakes off so I can clean and paint them.

Bit of bad news, the Cobra's right axle is bent, gonna need to replace 'em. Nice thing is, the axles are the same on all the 94-95 models, so I'll steal them from the V6.

And for future reference, here's a link to the original thread. Now, on to the pictures. First up is a shot right below the fuse box, all cleaned up. The rubber grommet I added around the metal worked out well and looks like a factory part IMO.

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Next up is a photo of the driver's headlight. The battery tray will eventually go back in, but it looks nice and clean for now. Not sure about the two-tone paint, it looks all one shade normally. I took these at night with a lot of lights, so maybe it's an odd reflection. The wire cutting across is actually the hood release cable, it fits in the fender without losing any reach. The one reaching up is one of the grounds for that side.

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Close-up of the headlight connector. You can see some of the wiring here. The wiring does not interfere with removing the headlight bulb, I made sure of that.

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Close-up of the wiring harness by the headlight. Another rubber grommet here.

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One brake booster, taken from the Cobra; the V6's old one had a bit of a leak. And besides, this one says "COBRA". :D The Cobra's master cylinder had a leaky seal, I'll be replacing it.
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Here's a shot of the passenger side, with the TFI module already in place. I extended the SPOUT connector's wiring, so it was easier to reach. Note the wiring harness coming out of the hole where the air silencer usually is.

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Here's where the two harnesses cross. The harness from the right is the harness that has the A/C and fan hookups on it. The one from the left is from the other side, across the radiator. Having the wire harness come out the air silencer hole and cutting across gains me some extra length, it should be easier to move the CCRM and its bracket FAR out of the way when I want to get into the engine later. The wiring there should be covered by the air filter cover I have. Note the rubber grommet yet again. :rolleyes:

This mess o' wiring is not visible from the front, you have to stick your head in the bay right near the antenna and look across. Or stick your camera in right in the middle of it. :D

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Here's the snarled mess behind the passenger headlight. This is where the harness from the computer meets the harness from the fuse box. A bit messy, but it all fits and no one will see it. Well, no one besides you guys. Once again, easy access to the headlight bulb. The big connector in the pic is one of the two connecting the two harnesses together.

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Now to the wiring in the passenger fender. I'm sure you can visualize where this is, since the top of the shock is visible. The wrapped connector is the ABS plug, no ABS for me.

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Almost done for this post. Here's the wiring running to the TFI (left) and the A/C & fan (right).

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Last one. Here's the other connector hooking up the two harnesses. This connector is held in place with a bayonet plug through the metal, so it won't rub on the bracket right below it. I had to move the airbag plug to the other side of the panel, it's the curved wire at the bottom of the pic.

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*whew* A lot of work, but this phase is done! :nice:
 

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Have you test fit the inner fenders? I thought I had somethings up and out of the way during my nitrous line and battery relocation. Then I had to do some of it all over again, as the inner fenders mounted a lot higher and tighter than it appeared they did.

Just giving you a heads up just in case. Looks great though!
 
looks awsome. Are you putting emissions equipment on this car? It would be awsome to use 96 and up electric smog pump. the hoses and valves and pump could all be out of sight. i saw a red 94-95 with one of those double cowl w/ a scoop hoods on mustangworld.com and there was basicly nothing but the engine under the hood. the inner fenders had smooth sheet metal fabbed up so everything was smooth with no open holes, wiring, or anything visible. Clean!!!
 
Have you test fit the inner fenders? I thought I had somethings up and out of the way during my nitrous line and battery relocation. Then I had to do some of it all over again, as the inner fenders mounted a lot higher and tighter than it appeared they did.

Just giving you a heads up just in case. Looks great though!

I haven't test-fit the fender liners yet, thanks for the warning. :nice:
 
Ive considered doing this but not only do I not have the space, I was always a bit hesitant to hide wires after all the electrical work Ive done over the years. Like to keep em out in the open for easy access. It does look badass though. I saw a car at a show last year where it looked like the only wires on the thing were the spark plug wires
 
Wire hiding causes more problems and makes problems harder to fix. So unless its a show car trailer queen its worthless (IMO)....Does look nice tho:nice:



Depends how insane you get with the wire hiding. I like to hide mine as much as possible to make it look "clean" but I'll leave necessary wires in the bay, just make them look good.


Also depends on how much you care. Some people never pop their hood.
 
Depends how insane you get with the wire hiding. I like to hide mine as much as possible to make it look "clean" but I'll leave necessary wires in the bay, just make them look good.


Also depends on how much you care. Some people never pop their hood.

Excellent point. This whole project can be summed up in one statement: when I'm done, I want to say "Yeah, I did that". I think wire hiding is pretty cool, so while I had the chance I decided to give it a try. Would I do it again? Probably not, depends on how nice the engine bay looks when I get the engine back in.

I've also learned a lot about where all the wires go and how the overall engine electrical system works. I know the base concepts, but never how to troubleshoot wiring issues. Now, I'm more willing to dive in and give it a try.

This "two-cylinder conversion" has been a big PITA. If I just wanted a Cobra, I would have bought one. However, I knew I would learn so much about how Mustangs are put together and how they work. This made the project worth the time and money invested. Besides, I love taking things apart and figuring out how they work. :D

I swapped the engine and tranny last year in my '95 GT, and I can't tell you how much more fun it is to drive now. Not just 'cause it's a GT, or because it's more powerful, but because *I* swapped the engine and tranny. Every time I roar up a freeway on-ramp, every time I turn the wheel and the car goes where I want it to go (because of my suspension upgrades), I just can't stop grinning. Because I made the Stang better with my own two hands.

If you don't get that kind of thrill from working on your Mustang, I have no way of explaining it to you. It's such an addiction. :jester:
 
I swear, I've been doing work, just no pics. Difficult to be a photographer when I'm busy pulling the Cobra's engine.... :D

I'll try to get some current pics of the Cobra and the engine later today. But for now, you get a minor update. I've been painting the Cobra calipers & brackets to look like the 20th Anniversary calipers, all with VHT Caliper paint. Take a look:

calipers1.jpg



Here's a closeup of the "COBRA" letters. I painted the area between the letters with VHT Satin Black, and left the faces of the letters stock. Turned out pretty sweet.

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Finally, I decided to put the Hawk brake pads in the calipers. Two Cobra calipers, locked and loaded! :nice:

calipers3.jpg
 
those brake calipers look really nice like that. did you hand paint around the lettering or tape and spray?

I hand-painted around the lettering. Taped over the red paint and ran a small brush around the letters. I used some rubbing alcohol to rub off any paint that got on the letters or bled through the tape. I'm REALLY happy with how they turned out. :D