Hi, I've owned a few Mustangs over the years. Currently I live in Japan. My girlfriend saw a red '95 GT convertible many years ago and we bought it. I didn't realize at the time how difficult it was to find support for Mustangs in Japan. One of the problems with her car was at some point in the car's history the drivers side window was replaced and whoever did it didn't do a good job. There was about an 1/8" space at the back mounting point so the window would hit the A pillar every time she'd roll it up and this would cause the back to kick out. Anyway, one day we were driving down some random street and I see a 94 - 98 hardtop with a love seat sitting on top of it. I figure the guy who owned it my sell some parts off of it. We pulled over and she spoke to the owner in Japanese. I told her to ask him how much for the window and some other small pieces, the guy came back and said $200. I thought it was kind of expensive, but I didn't know how I was going to get another window out here because there's no Ford dealer in Okinawa. I expressed my dismay to her and she asked why? She said it's $200 for the whole car..... After closer inspection, I realized it was a '96 Cobra. It had been in an accident, but the engine compartment looked fairly undamaged. I ended up getting the car towed home the same day. The next weekend I change all the fluids and put the battery from her car in it. It cranked over about 7 times then came alive. I knew then I had my project car. I searched the island for a donor car and I really liked the 99 - 04 body style. I finally found one that was in good shape. It had a few issues, but I wasn't concerned because I would be changing most of it anyway. The brakes didn't work and the A/C didn't work. I bought it from a used car dealer and he said the price of the car would be $7,000 if I wanted him to fix everything or $4,000 as is. Of course I bought it as is. Had it towed to my house and looked at it the next weekend. Found out that the A/C worked, but only had two settings, OFF or the fan speed set to MAX. I searched the forums and read that this is a common issue with a resistor under the glove compartment. Took the one off the Cobra and A/C worked. Lifted it up in my driveway, and tried to spin the tires. Passenger front didn't spin easily, removed it and found that the caliper pistons were seized up. Bought a used one off eBay for $20 and all was well. I drove it as a V6/Auto for about a year, then one day I pull into my driveway and it died. Tried to start it with no success. It was a Friday and I was tired, so I coasted it into my garage and went to bed. Then next day there was transmission fluid running out of my garage and it originated from my Stang. It was time to start the swap. I've been working on it for years now. It's been an excellent learning experience and I have done everything on my own. I really didn't know that I had it in me, but now I feel really confident about the modular Mustangs. I've tried to keep it clean and only do Ford parts on it. I had to deviate when I got the hood. The '96 Cobra intake wouldn't fit with the stock V6 hood, so I bought a fiberglass 2000 Cobra R hood. Got an 03 Cobra rear bumper for the dual exhaust, got lucky and found authentic Ford FR500 wheels, updated the center console to 01 - 04 style and ordered a bunch of parts from LMR and RockAuto. The hardest part was moving the entire electrical system, fuel system and brake system over. Also the transmission cross member supports didn't bolt up directly, so I fashioned new ones from steel and brawn. I can't wait to get it on the street and show these rice grinders what American muscle sounds like. Glad to be here.

 

Great story.

 

My nephew, in the Marine Corps, arrived in Okinawa several weeks ago. He left his Cobra, a '93 which I had given him, in the States. This past summer, in school at Ft. Wood, he installed a brand-new '95 5.0 HO in a '65 Galaxie. I walked him through the rigors of getting it to run. He had been in Okinawa before, 2003, so it's not totally new. This time he has a wife there.


I think he would enjoy reading your post. May I send it to him? imp

 

Please thank him for his service for me, and yes please feel free to share the post with him. I was an active duty Marine many years ago, now I am contractor providing computer support for the Marines. Ooh Rah! Semper Fi!