Mk IV Build #8469

[jloehlein]

Hi Guys,

I've been lurking on the Forum for a while now, searching and finding lots of useful information. I thought I'd take the time to say 'hi' and create a build thread. My father and I are building the car together to replace his 1995 Mustang Cobra. We got it in late 2014. I've been working on it a couple weekends a month except the last 6 months - I had to repair one of my cars after hitting a deer. I'm getting close to the go kart stage and have yet to touch the body.

Anyways...pictures! Here is my Dad's '95 Cobra. It had a 331 and Kenne Bell in it.



He pulled the heads to replace the head gaskets and found this...two pistons that had been beaten up from detonation, I suspect. That's the top ring you're seeing at two o'clock on the left-most piston. The piston on the right is deformed in the same general area.



We were talking about options and I know he's always wanted a Cobra. It seemed like a good time to make the leap. He ordered it and it was delivered to my house the day before Thanksgiving in 2014.



The original plan was to rebuild the 331 as a NA motor with higher compression and a different cam. I think my father went crazy though and ordered a 408 from Gordon.



Here it is in the car



In the mean time, I was building a bigger shop. We moved the car down there last summer. It's nice having all the room. My wife is happy she gets to park in the attached garage for the first time in the 9 years we've been together!



Anyways, I just picked up working on the car again a couple of weeks ago. Right now I'm wrapping up all the plumbing and will soon move to wiring. Looking forward to posting more details and getting feedback/ideas here as I progress.

[jloehlein]

Well, between fixing a coolant leak on my truck and putting a set of gears in a friend's car, I didn't make a ton of progress on the Cobra. I did manage to button up the brake plumbing and get the coolant reservoir mounted. I need to get a couple more NPT fittings and clamps and the cooling system should be ready to go.




I'm starting to move onto wiring and have some questions. We have the Ron Francis wiring kit. The kit has these 4 wires to be mounted on the starter solenoid.



Our starter has a solenoid on it, but the terminal doesn't have enough room to fit all of the wiring. I am contemplating running the battery to the starter, and then a 4 or 8awg wire to a distribution block, maybe mounted on the firewall? I could then mount the 3 power wires in the harness to the block and just run the signal wire to the starter. I'm thinking somewhere like this. It would be covered:




Thoughts/suggestions? Also - where are you all sourcing your battery cables? I am planning on buying some 2awg. I know some folks use welding cable, not sure if there is a better option.