Need some more mod advice for my 93 Cobra

Tasandmnm

New Member
Jun 1, 2007
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Well you guys have been really helpful so far so I am going to ask for your help again.

I am going to have around 5K to play around with total for my Cobra, that is after I replace my trans with a 450hp rated T5 from Astro Performance, fix my coolant leak, and do a few other mainteneace related odds and ends.

I was leaning towards getting the Starter Box from Maximum Motorsports based on someone's advice here along with some as of yet undetermined engine mods (maybe one of the head/intake/cam packages from Trick Flow). Well now I am thinking of going with the Maximum grip box from MM along with a 5 lug conversion and new wheels/tires. Yes I know that is closer to 6k than 5k hehe.

I am just not sure what I want to do here. My car has 100,000 miles on it but runs beautifully. It is a daily driver but I don't drive it every single day, I have a junker winter car and sometimes I drive it when I don't feel like hearing my loud ass exhasut :D The engine is just as strong as it ever was. The only mods it has are a Moroso cold air kit, a few MSD ignition parts, Steeda Shifter, and a King Cobra Clutch. The current suspension is definitely showing its age but is by no means in bad shape, it could be made to ride much better that it currently does without a $4500 kit, but man that kit has so many cool things in it.

I think my end goal will be to get a Kenne Bell supercharger, that means I definitely should not upgrade my intake to a Trickflow since I have to use a stock or GT40 lower intake for the KB blowers. That still leaves a lot of options engine wise if I were ot not go with the Ultimate Grip Box, like Cylinder Heads, Cam, etc. I don't think I will need to ever worry about my throttle body or mass sir sensor since they are 65mm and 70mm respectively.

I guess my question is along these lines: should I just go with the Maximum grip box? Should I get a lesser grip box from MM and do some engine mods? (if so what else should I do specifically) Or should I just try to get a Kenne Bell now and screw everything else? Any ideas?
 
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if you want to keep it as close to stock as possible. just pull the heads and have them stage 3 ported and upgrade the spring. have the lower intake ported before the kb. and throw in a bigger cam. if you throw that s/c on there. you will probably need a bigger throttlebody/mass air. as well as injectors, fmu, fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator.....oh and you will need to get your ecu recalibrated for the bigger injectors and mass air.
 
I am not really concerned with keeping it close to stock, I am talking about completely redoing the suspension and slapping a supercharger on there after all :D

I don't know if I like the idea of buying a used transmission, you just never know. I would go for a Tremec but it is more than double what I need to spend on a transmission plus I have heard very good things about Astro, in fact I saw an article in 5.0 MFF that showed the difference in the size of the gears and some other stuff that makes their T5's look extremely strong.

So any more advice on where to drop most of my money? I think the best way to put the choices I am struggling with are:

1) Kenne Bell blower (this will include any modsw I need to make to make it work like injectors, TB, fuel pump, etc).

2) Maximum Grip Box from MM.

3) A Starter Box from MM along with some minor engine tweaks (cam, heads,??).

Thanks for the input so far :nice:
 
I would look into what you are going to need with the super charger. Start collecting the stuff you are going to need to upgrade for it, that way when you can afford the supercharger you are ready to go without having to redo the whole car. With the extra power it's always a good idea to get the suspension figured out so that power isn't a waste.
 
When you say a T5 from Astro Performance, are you talking about a plain ole rebuilt T5, 'cause they also carry those. What's the torque rating on the tranny you're looking at?
 
I was the guy that suggested the MM grip box and some other supporting mods. IMO - I prefer to do suspension work first. This will improve your handling and show you exactly where you're at, since with a better suspension you can use more power and go faster in the turns than before. Second, do the brakes b/c w/ the new suspension you should be able to stop much better. If you do brakes before suspension then you either nose dive or lock up sooner than with the upgraded suspension. Last, after all the suspension and brakes are done, now go to the engine and do the work (if you even need to now). You'll be much happier with your car once you have some suspension and brakes on there. It will make you feel as if you are driving a much better performing vehicle than before.

In summary, my suggestion is:
1) do the suspension I suggested before and get the PHB
2) do better brakes, whether they are 5 lug or 4 lug. If you get rid of your real 93 cobra wheels then let me know.
3) Now go do the KB or whatever else as you will actally be able to get it to the ground and also stop when you want.
 
Sorry tuned there is no way I would ever even consider getting rid of those wheels. They are in mediocre shape right now since the previous owner let a rear caliper explode flaming hot brake dust all over them and apparently let it sink in for a couple of days. I have tried everything I know of to clean them and taken them to a few different detailers and it will just not come off. I believe they will have to be refinished, I just haven't found a shop in Columbus Ohio to do it yet. I did manage to get a lot of the mess of of them and from 7 feet+ that wheel looks just fine, the rest of them still look really good with only slight signs of fading.

I do have an odd situation here though with wheels; hear me out. I would like to get my Cobra wheels refinished and just bolt them on every now and then in order to keep them in good shape. Problem is I have no idea where to find wheels that will fit this car :shrug: The Cobra has a different wheel offset than the other 4 lug Mustangs and I believe all the aftermarket 4 lug wheels cater to them.

I mean I could always just do the 5 lug conversion and get a set of replicas, but I am still confused by the whole 4 to 5 lug swap for my car. I read the stuff on sn95brakes but I am still lost on how to do it for my car and exactly what parts I would need. I am also not sure what the largest size wheels/tires I could use would be if I did do the conversion. I do know if I do the conversion and brakes I definitely do not want to spend a ton of money on it, don't get me wrong I want some good brakes but I just can't justify it with myself to spend the kind of money a Baer kit costs.

Tuned, if I did do the MM starter kit and the 5 lug conversion/brakes chances are strong that I would still have around $2k left to spend. I would rather not get things like a larger throttle body, Mass Air, etc in preparation for the supercharger because for the many months I will be waiting to get the supercharger they are just not doing me much good. In that situation I would rather just spend the $2k on something else and buy the supercharger + everything else i need for it at a later date all in one big bank emptying orgasmic shot.

So I guess I could invest said $2k into maybe some heads/PMS/?? Arg I just dunno....maybe that is why I started settling on just bolting the KB supercharger in...it is such a relatively easy upgrade that gives me a clear line of sight at the other necessary mods i need to make it work. I think part of my problem is also actually having some $$$ to spend instead of jsut drooling on my mags and my keyboard :p
 
As for Cobra wheels, I got mine powdercoated by http://www.northeastcoatings.net/. Ask for Al - he did a great job on mine.

Cobrapowder2.jpg

Cobrapowder1.jpg


You are correct, the offset of the factory wheels does make it rather challenging to find a wheel that will work. I don't know of any that work on the stock 4 lug cobra rotors other than the original ones. If you want to run the replica Cobra rims or other 4 lugs then all you have to do is put the GT rotors on the front of your Cobra. The rear axles will be fine as long as you stay under a 275 tire in the rear.
 
ok just so I have this right, can I use up to a 275 or does it have to be less than 275? 275 just so happens to be the width I want to run.

And wow, they did a very nice job on those wheels. How much did that run you and how much did it run to ship them your wheels?
 
Elaborate? I thought it looked pretty inexpensive? Is there a cheaper way to do it? I looked all over the sn95 site and all I got was confused :(


I'm pretty confused ....... what is your goal? Do you want to stay w/ the original cobra wheels, swap to 5 lug, get better braking, etc? If you are swapping to 5 lug what wheels will you be using b/c not all the 5 lug wheels will work with that setup. The kit you linked to does nothing but give you 5 lugs that aren't usuable with all wheels and does not give you any better braking. :shrug: Furthermore, it gives you drums in the rear ...... I hope you were not going to take the discs off the rear of your cobra and install drums! The cobras come with axles which are .75" longer than the axles included in the kit. As a result, you cannot simply swap axles w/o bringing your rear calipers in as well. This is accomplished with the North Racing brackets which run about $150 for the set. If you just want to swap axles in the rear then you need to get sn95 length 5 lug axles. Also, the axles in the kit are 31 spline so are you planning on doing some work to the rear b/c the cobra have a 28 spline stock.
 
I dont know what I am doing!! :bang: :bang: :bang:

This whole swap to 5 lug confuses me badly. I was thinking with that kit I would use everything except the rear drums but apparently that is a bad idea. Just to be 100% clear I want to spend as little money as humanly possible on switching to 5 lugs and would like to upgrade my braking power but I just don't need anything super fancy (read expensive). I am in the process of trying to educate myself by looking at past posts here and on Corral. I just wish someone sold a halfway decent kit that had everything in it I needed to get the job done :notnice:

Oh and I am not sure what wheels I want yet...the Konig Villains look really sweet and there area few others I saw while glancing through a mag, I am sure they were all 5x4.5 bolt pattern.

Man thanks for being patient...I swear I am even frustrating myself here. :(
 
If I were you .... do the suspension first. You will then have time to educate yourself as to the brake options especiallly since you have a cobra (which creates all different issues). Certain wheels will not fit that kit b/c the snout of the rotor will not allow the wheel to seat properly. To be able to run any type of wheel you should fo the SN95 spindles up front. The 5 lug swap done correctly is a complicated and time consuming issue. It sounds like you have money burning a hole in your pocket right now ....... make sure you take the time to research it. I spent about 6 months researching before I did my 5 lug swap. It's frustrating but at the same time it is a right of passage. This is a write up I did and it may be helpful with the 5 lug swap:

http://www.mustangupgrades.net/ford...BAER_install/baer_brakekit_tech_article.shtml


Best of luck.
 
NIce, thanks for the link. You are right...I need to calm down and take my time. Suspension is a go...but it will be a bit before I actually swap the parts in so in the mean time I will learn about the SN95 swap and probably accumulate all the parts and do it all at once. I am going to do it that way because my dad has a very nice garage a couple states away from me that I will ship all the parts to and then visit him for a couple weeks and get a little dirty :nice: