2003 Mustang Cobra convertible getting e-level setup!

[Fastphil]

I was skeptical, but this looks sick. Plus, I absolutely love the fact that you don't seem to care about scraping and rubbing even with a Cobra

Thans man. Yeah, the car has been scraping and straight-out hitting the ground since I put in the chopped springs 3+ years ago. Why would I start caring now? I'll try to take a pic of the underside of the K-member brace next time I'm under the car. I noticed some yellow paint flakes on there last time, probably from a speed bump. The cats are also flat on the bottom, and the mufflers have been bashed in a bit, but if I didn't tell you, you'd never know.

[FunfGang]

Thans man. Yeah, the car has been scraping and straight-out hitting the ground since I put in the chopped springs 3+ years ago. Why would I start caring now? I'll try to take a pic of the underside of the K-member brace next time I'm under the car. I noticed some yellow paint flakes on there last time, probably from a speed bump. The cats are also flat on the bottom, and the mufflers have been bashed in a bit, but if I dodn't tell you, you'd never know.

Awesome! I wonna see some video of this thing throwing sparks, but awesome job on the build.

[Ratfink]

By the way, this was done with very basic tools.

Nothing fancy, lots of planning a bit of contortions, I didnt know my body could fit in some of the nooks and crannies and even a bit of blood was drawn. LOL

This was a fun project.

[Fastphil]

Awesome! I wonna see some video of this thing throwing sparks, but awesome job on the build.

I don't know if I have the balls to do that... yet. It is my daily driver after all. I've thought about investigating those metal pads that the mini-truckers use as spark generators.

By the way, this was done with very basic tools.

Nothing fancy, lots of planning a bit of contortions, I didnt know my body could fit in some of the nooks and crannies and even a bit of blood was drawn. LOL

This was a fun project.

Michel spent some time curled up in the trunk of the car when he was working on something or other. Not sure if I got a pic of that... He also has a propensity for self-injury that I somehow managed to avoid throughout the whole project. The only thing I suffered was strangely numb index fingers, and even now they haven't fully recovered.

As far as the tools go, I dunno if what we had would be considered "very" basic, but there really wasn't anything out of the ordinary that we used. We could have been more productive if we had had certain tools, but we got by with what we had available to us.

I'm also looking for some quick-connect terminals for the compressors, so that they can be easily removed from the car if necessary. I was thinking along the lines of what R/C cars have for the batteries, but they have to be able to handle a 35 amp load with a pair of 10awg wires. Can anybody point me in the right direction for this?

[525iT_Feen]

Fuckin bad ass

[Rocknthehawk]

for the connectors, anderson power products has some nice options.

a quick google search will pull them up. We use them year round as a quick disconnect on the 12v battery for our robots.

[Khalil]

fucking siiiiiick

[Fastphil]

for the connectors, anderson power products has some nice options.

a quick google search will pull them up. We use them year round as a quick disconnect on the 12v battery for our robots.

Cool, I'll check that out thanks.

I picked up my new tires yesterday.

AccuMike sent me a care package including a XXL Accuair T-shirt, three pairs of Accuair decals in different color combinations, and some booklets to hand out to potential customers. I'm not a huge fan of decals, but I may put one on now and again for a show or whatever. Afterwards, it will come off again.

A local website (www.montrealracing.com) wants to feature my car as Car of the Month, and they will even do a photoshoot. Rig shots and/or rolling shots may be in the cards. The photographer lives nearby, so meeting up should be simple. I still plan to get the car detailed beforehand though, and that is tentatively scheduled for Saturday morning, weather dependent. The forecast calls for thunder-showers all weekend. www.juststance.com is also standing by for me to send them pics so they can feature the car on their site too. Maybe www.stanceiseverything.com is interested as well? Hmm? Dave?

Once again, thanks for all the comments on my car and the work we did. I really can't thank everyone involved enough, it's been great!

[Fastphil]

for the connectors, anderson power products has some nice options.

a quick google search will pull them up. We use them year round as a quick disconnect on the 12v battery for our robots.

I'm looking at the APP website, and I didn't really find anything appropriate for my application. They do have some neat stuff, though, just not what I need. Anybody else have a suggestion?

[ImAwesome]

awesome project, read the whole thing. Cant wait to see the results of the shoot

[DeeAOne]

Love it! What do the Mustang forums think though? lol

[stance4sissies]

Awesome car. I love the whole package.. convertible, supercharger, fat tires and good stance.

Maybe go with a little wider tires in the rear?

[Fastphil]

Love it! What do the Mustang forums think though? lol

Mixed reviews on the Mustang forums.

Awesome car. I love the whole package.. convertible, supercharger, fat tires and good stance.

Maybe go with a little wider tires in the rear?

The rear tires already rub where the bumper meets the fender. Wider would just cause more damage.

Quick update (teaser-style): My friend Malcolm came over today and we got the car shined up like I've never seen it before. I'll post up a pic in the morning. I'm trying to get in touch with the photographer so we can do the photoshoot before it rains. I also reassigned the #2 height preset on the touchpad to a lower height. It's now roughly the same height I had it before I went to air.

Later.

[JasonB]

You sir, are my hero. I want an 03 or 04 cobra still pretty bad. Great work man

[Fastphil]

Alright, here it is: Progress!

Yesterday's weather forecast was calling for thunder-showers in the afternoon, and hot temperatures before the rain. Not ideal for detailing a car outdoors, but we took the chance because it wasn't looking any better for the rest of the long weekend. So my friend Malcolm, who does car detailing as a sideline job, met me at my parents' place (it's halfway between us) to do the job. Here's some "before" pics. The car had been sitting for two weeks while I was at work, so that accounts for the dust, but the paint was far from perfect.





After a quick wash in the driveway and an engine hose-down, we moved the car to the shade in the yard. Malcolm got busy with a thorough paint cleaning while I polished the wheels by hand. Just a side note: I bought these wheels because they look great. The previous owner sold the wheels because they're a bitch to keep clean. Now I understand.



After Malcolm got the paint cleaning step completed, there was already a very noticeable difference in the reflectiveness of the paint. I'm not too familiar with the whole car detailing process, but I figured even if we stopped there I'd be happy! :P




Here's a wheel covered in aluminum polish, ready for 30 minutes' worth of hand-rubbing. You gotta get into every hole, and there's only room for two fingers.


Meanwhile, Malcolm started the first coat of wax.



Then the second coat went on.


No pics of this, but after I finished the wheels, I cleaned up the exhaust tips, then wiped down the interior from top to bottom, cleaned the windows, and vacuumed the carpets. Finally, as Malcolm was making the final round checking for residue and touching up some spots, I put on some tire shine. I didn't take any pics of the finished, product (I know, how stupid of me), but I did snap this pic once I got back home.


Malcolm took a bunch of pics when it was complete, I'll have to get my hands on those. Overall, it took us about 5-6 hours of work, but we weren't in too much of a hurry. Malcolm's work came at a high price, however: A six-pack of beer (of which he only got three), and a mention of his detailing business, so here it is.

If you're in Montreal or in the South Shore area and want your car detailed, get in touch with this guy!
Malcolm McKeever Auto Detailing
514-830-8016
Beloeil, QC

Tell him Phil sent you!

Later.