98 Cobra Family Cruiser

[NXcoupe]

And they did all that for 100 bucks?

[5.0calypso93lx]

And they did all that for 100 bucks?

No, my fault. They have a $100 minimum so I added several other parts as I didn't want to do just a small alt bracket for $100.

[5.0calypso93lx]

Engine is back in and fitting nicely with the Team Z k member and ES mounts:


Did a quick paint job on the brakes:


Brakes are on and ready to bleed:

[redfirepearlgt]

looks nice. What happened to the Cadillac logos? I thought that would have been really neat to have them on there to give it a custom one-off appearance.

[5.0calypso93lx]

looks nice. What happened to the Cadillac logos? I thought that would have been really neat to have them on there to give it a custom one-off appearance.

Thanks! Those are way under that blue somewhere lol

[Walter]

Much better!!!

[NXcoupe]

Looks great. Are those brembo stickers?

[draggin50]

The brakes look good! Any wheel fitment issues with those?

[2Fast4You]

Looking good

[5.0calypso93lx]

Looks great. Are those brembo stickers?

Yea, just had the wife order them off Amazon. I applied them after the paint dried and then cleared everything after that so you can't feel that they're stickers.

The brakes look good! Any wheel fitment issues with those?

Appreciate it. Shouldn't be. There are several guys running 17" Cobra R's, 17" 98 Cobra's, etc with this setup. They won't work with a 15" or anything like that, but I don't plan on ever running a drag setup on this car.

Looking good

Appreciate it!

[Walter]

They make 17x4.5 drag fronts fyi....

[5.0calypso93lx]

We are in the home stretch now. Need to get an alignment and have some exhaust work done.

I ordered up an 03/04 Cobra Cardone 222000 rack as these are supposed to give more feedback. Install was straight forward and lines hooked up like they should, but I'm maxed out on toe alignment on the passenger side. I have the tie rod threaded as far on as it will go and I have a feeling I'm going to need another turn or two to get the car in alignment. If I go the other way with it I just shift my problem to the other side. The steering shaft can only go on one way as it's triangular and the rack has 2.5 full turns from lock to lock. I guess I'll have to see how the alignment ends up once I take it in.

The matching X pipe for these headers also run straight into the oddball crossmember on these 96-98 cars so going to have to take it somewhere to get the headers mated up to the catback. Other than that I'm fluids and radiator fan / coolant tank away from starting the car. Wheels didn't clear the brakes so have some 5mm spacers that should be arriving today.

[draggin50]

Man, making good progress!

I love the wheels! Going to be a fun car when its done.

[5.0calypso93lx]

Man, making good progress!

I love the wheels! Going to be a fun car when its done.

Appreciate it. Every time I feel like I'm making progress something always pops up. It just seems like aftermarket parts for these 04 and older cars don't fit worth a damn anymore. I personally think this Team Z k member is the culprit of several of my issues, but I'm already too far into this to change it up now. I have the engine set in the forward most slots on the k member and Frank at Team Z is telling me this is stock location. The problem is my oil pan is either sitting on or way too close to the main bar. I am running the prothane mounts. I am going to try and slot them 1/2" rearward to see if that gives me the clearance I need. Otherwise I'm going to try and space the motor mounts up and space the k member down at the same time. Ugh...

[redfirepearlgt]

reminds me of theat bellhousing and oil pan interference issue we ran into whenyou were in norwood. just lacks a skoshe of clearing. be worthit when its done. a bfh to the oil pan would make clearance. lol

[draggin50]

I haven't never seen one that close. The forward holes are the stock ones I think too.

I've heard a lot of people having issues with the Team Z stuff lately. Same for the UPR also. Quality control must've went out the window with Covid...

[5.0calypso93lx]

I haven't never seen one that close. The forward holes are the stock ones I think too.

I've heard a lot of people having issues with the Team Z stuff lately. Same for the UPR also. Quality control must've went out the window with Covid...

I confirmed with Frank at Team Z that the forward holes are the stock location holes. I could do the rearward slots, but then I run into header and oil filter clearance problems. It never ends... I'm really disappointed in this Team Z k after having run several in the past. The steering rack is off as well. I have heard several folks lately talk about fitment issues with Team Z. What I ended up doing was slotting the actual motor mounts. I've got them back on the engine. Hopefully get some time today to get the K member back in the car and see how everything fits up. Just maybe I'll get to hear this thing this week.

- - - Updated - - -

reminds me of theat bellhousing and oil pan interference issue we ran into whenyou were in norwood. just lacks a skoshe of clearing. be worthit when its done. a bfh to the oil pan would make clearance. lol

Ha I had forgotten all about that. I've definitely learned after messing with all this stuff over the years that aftermarket parts rarely just bolt on and work.

[draggin50]

Seems like they aren't the only one having quality issues lately. Must be Covid! A couple buddy's have had some issues with the quality of the HO Fibertrends hoods here recently too. They always fit real good in the past.

[NXcoupe]

Can you shim up the trans mount a bit? A lot of times it's the motormounts that cause that oilpan to K clearance issue, at least in my experience.

[5.0calypso93lx]

Ended up slotting the motor mounts where they bolt to the engine. That worked and I now have about 1/4 - 3/8" of space between the pan and K member now. Barring no more issues I hope to have this thing fired up by the weekend.




I've got a pal coming over on Sunday to give me a hand with the 4.10 install: