So my girlfriend bought a 1997 Cobra with 25k miles yesterday.....bought it from a small dealer in Michigan for $7,900 plus a 1998 Eclpise RS.

I do have to first say that I come from, what you guys probably consider the *dark side*....(GM). I recently graduated from college and work for a local Chevrolet/GMC/Isuzu dealership as a technition. This is the first Ford I have ever driven or known someone to own...other than my roomate's old Probe GT...which really was a Mazda anyways.

As far as the car....well....here....






The rest are here.

Not quite sure what to do with the paint on the hood. The guy who did it did a great job of doing it, but it seems sorta out of place. Most likely this is going to be painted back to black....unless of course someone wants it.

The car does have a few problems....

#1 Paint. It has a couple scratches that need paint and needs to be buffed....don't forget the hood.

#2 ABS Light. It comes on when after the car moves a few feet. So the EBCM (or whatever Ford calls the Brake module) most likely not getting a signal from a wheel speed sensor.

#3 CEL on. Came on after about 200 miles last night going down an off ramp. Need to get the code out of it......to bad the Tech 2 (GM scan tool) isn't universal.

#4 Seat belt light won't go off.

#5 Speedometer calibration. The speedometer reads higher than it should, like 9-10% higher. I think someone has switched the FDR.

#6 Noisy transmission....not quite sure how much of that is normal....kinda reminds me of driving a grain truck.

This car isn't stock....so far I have found the following modifcations....

-K&N cone filter with modded airbox.
-Headers...at least I don't think Ford would put ceramic coated tublar manifolds on it. Not sure what kind.
-Exhaust....the mufflers look like a Dynomax Ultraflo welded muffler....but if I remember correctly, I think they say Race Magnum on them or something. This runs from the X pipe back and actually sounds pretty good.
-BBK djustable fuel pressure regullator and gauge. A bit of a worthless mod in my mind.
-Welded in steel members underneath....not quite sure in the point of these.
-Home built driveshaft safety loop. Ghetto.

Other than that.....the clutch seems strong, I think it might be an aftermarket unit. The suspension is stock.A couple of holes in the A pillar, I assume from a gauge....and a 1/2" hole in the gauge bezel. I don't think this thing had nitrous, at least not for long....its not filling the crankcase with blow by gases anyways.

I don't like how the gauges don't move activily.....GM's oil pressure gauges actually move when you nail the throttle.....what gives?

I'd like to remove the Ford badge from the back...seems sorta out of place and added on......I see its bolted to the car.....be a good time to remove it and fill and paint the holes while the other stuff is getting done.

The wheels have been abused.....scuff marks and curb rash galore.....I think one wheel's outter rim is bent slightly...doesn't vibrate though.

The dealership slapped on a new set of tires.....Hankook Ventus V4ES 245/45/17s.....not a bad tire so far.....I was wanting to put a set of Kuhmo MXs on it. At least they come with a Z speed rating.

So far we have been burning 93 octane fuel from BP in it. What do you guys reccomend?

The car is pretty fun to drive.....I am now He-Man because of the shifter. Whats with the vent near the fog light switch under the cup holder? Does the clutch pedal normally sit higher (2-3") than the brake pedal?

 

welcome to the forums.

I don;t have time to address all of your questions right now but I'm sure you will get alot of input.

The car is nice. It sounds like some one has done some mods to that thing and it sounds like they put 3.73's in the rear end. The noisy transmission is a fairly typical Mustang trait LOL.....to a certain extent. Check the shifter (under the boot) and see if it's billet aluminum or has poly bushings. The stock one will be plain round metal with the rubber bushings....the aftermarket won't have any rubber at all and will be made of aluminum, probably. They are noisy.

 

Welcome. I got to say that design on the hood is awesome.


Matt

 

as for the spedo i belive they put 3.73 gears in your car to check, going about 30 shift into 4th and u should be around 2000 rpms, if its stock ull be at about 900 rpms, you will need some one with a correct spedo to follow, if its 3.73 go to steeda.com and search spedometer gears, order the one for 3.73 gears and youll be back within 2%, the transmission typically has a little noise, it could be a bad flywheel or something not sure where that noise is coming from, yes the clutch some times is higher then the break pedal, the vent near the foglight switch is uhh..something aftermarket, i run 87 octane in my gt with timing at 14*, the abs light is nothing to worry about, mine has been on for a month i just manually brake but its prolly not too hard to fix, hope this helps

 

Good to know about the speedo gears.

Some of the noise I think is coming from a grumpy bearing on the input shaft......plus, there seems to be a fair bit of backlash in the rear end. Whoever built the rear end I don't think really knew what they were doing....both the pinion seal and rear cover have a slight leak. Oh well....

Found out why the A/C doesn't work......the accumlator is gone. Not sure why.

 

Got ahold of my roomate's GPS reciever tonight.....

It has the factory 3.27 gearset.....and, near as we can tell.....has a 2.73 pin. Not exactly sure whats going on there.....I could see this causing an issue with the ABS system, maybe not the direct problem, but not right.

 

maybe your spedo cable is twisted if its factory gears then your spedo shouldnt be off..could be ur cable going bad, good luck