I have been meaning for the longest time to make a build thread for my 2004 Mustang GT. I've been compiling dozens and dozens of photos over the last couple of years. For now, Im just going to scratch out this bare thread with a couple of teaser photos. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll tell my Mustang story and will start to compile my photos and try to document the progress of this car and future plans and additions.
I do love my dohc, gear ratio means a lot on these. My 3.27's are too tall really. Next time I rebuild the lsd I am swapping for 3.55's at least. It really doesn't do too much under 3k rpm, but that motor might have traded a smidge of top end for more bottom end vs the cobra cams/intake (I can't remember). Not necessarily a bad thing.
Btw, if you want shorty headers. Donut now while the motor is out!
Apexcarver said:
I do love my dohc, gear ratio means a lot on these. My 3.27's are too tall really. Next time I rebuild the lsd I am swapping for 3.55's at least. It really doesn't do too much under 3k rpm, but that motor might have traded a smidge of top end for more bottom end vs the cobra cams/intake (I can't remember). Not necessarily a bad thing.
Lol. I have 3.55's in the pumpkin turning on a Torsen T4R. This thing is set up for the road course (except for the atrocious A/S tires and puny brakes - albeit Cobra fronts). I will get to the differential build later in this thread.
Apexcarver said:
Btw, if you want shorty headers. Donut now while the motor is out!
Definitely. This engine will need Cobra manifolds - either OEM or after market headers. The Lincoln manifolds will not fit.
IF for some reason you need to know how something was put together on a 97 Cobra, PM me. My car only has 60k and is parked on the lift in my shop (space reasons only) so undercar shots are stupid easy right now.
Apexcarver said:
IF for some reason you need to know how something was put together on a 97 Cobra, PM me. My car only has 60k and is parked on the lift in my shop (space reasons only) so undercar shots are stupid easy right now.
Perfect. Thank you.
You dont happen to have or have a line on a reasonably priced Cobra intake manifold, do you?
I have a complete charcoal new edge Cobra interior for cheap if you're interested...
In reply to FatMongo :
Nah, pretty much all the parts I have are on the car. Havent needed to accumulate spares for it in 18 years of ownership and years and years of autocrossing.
So....
My Mustang journey started in July of 2002, when I was a freshly minted Corporal in the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton. Having grown up in Southern California in the 90's and spending many a night at the street races in the San Fernando valley as a teenager, I had seen the advent of the modular Mustang and I looked at them as girl's car. When the LT1 and its prettier sister the LS1 were putting down 250-300 rwhp from the factory, the Ford 2V 4.6L was wheezing out 180-190 rwhp. Still, I loved the simplicity, aesthetic, and feel of the SN95 modular cars. For moths, I looked for a 6 spd Z28 Camaro, but I couldnt find a decently taken care of one within my budget. The 4V Cobras, were also above my budget, so one day I ran into a 2V Mustang GT at a used car lot in San Diego. It was the same color and model year as the Mustang a cousing of my high school friend's had and it instantly engendered a wave of nostalgia. So my first Mustang ever came to be a 1996 Mustang GT which eventually looked like this:
This car eventually got a PI swap from a 2000 Mustang GT and some basic bolt ons. As far as N/A 2V 4.6L go, this was a relatively respectable car:
I had many many fun nights and adventures in this car.
Beauty! Bet I saw you at a few street races.....
My next Mustang was acquired in August of 2006 and it was this 1999 Mustang GT:
After the 1999, I ventured into the Coyote world in July of 2012:
Then back to the 2V, a 1997:
A brief foray into the New Edge again - this one is an interesting story - but I owned it for about half hour:
Then finally back to another New edge in March of 2018:
And I thought I had a Mustang problem (I've owned 3). Looking forward to the build!
dj06482 said:
And I thought I had a Mustang problem (I've owned 3). Looking forward to the build!
I lost count. I agree, this will be fun to watch.
So as you can see, I've always been an SN95/New Edge guy. In 2017, we moved from Virginia to the KC area and I had to pare down the cars - so the 1997 project Mustang GT got sold off. For the rest of 2017 and into the early part of 2018, I spent alot of time scouring various car sites and CL for a reasonably priced, nearby New Edge. I had a false start in September of 2017 - which I will detail in the photo of the post above regarding the 2002 GT I owned for less than an hour, but finally stumbled on my current 2004 GT at local Cadillac dealer:
This build started off slow and conservative. The intent of this car was to be a well sorted road car - a car that could handle a spirited drive very well, double as a daily driver, and maintain a base for a track car if I ever decided to go that route. The very first mods that this car got was a Pypes off road 'H-box' mid pipe and a Pypes 'Pype-Bomb' cat back.
As you can see in the photo of the interior above, I briefly flirted with a 'Cobra style' shifter knob from LMR, which turned out to be trash, so I went back and replaced the worn OEM knob with another OEM knob sourced form eBay:
FatMongo said:
In 2017, we moved from Virginia to the KC area
Where are you in KC? I work in south Kansas City.