I know, I could have any number of dealers build up the car for me. But I like to do it myself. This will be my third cobra, and I have some specific desires.
Roller: Red. Gotta be red. Ruby Red looks great, but I'm liking the Rossa Bia Red a bit more. But I'm not keen on white stripes. Maybe black or dark silver/pewter/titanium strips. But we're leaning towards no stripes, and then doing a flame job.
Interior: I would like to have the dark tan. That just looks killer with a red body. But I can't find any matching seats, and it's cost prohibitive to have them recovered. So black it will be. I don't like the diamond stitching; to me it looks like a packing blanket.
Dash: the basic dash for now. But later I'd like to change it to an electronic dash, like Racepak or AiM.
Wheels: I'll start with the standard wheels. But I might have them powder coated a specific color, like dark gray. Or maybe do a red pin stripe. The chrome wheels look nice, and sorta "pop". But I think they lose some detail definition. I might even remove the adaptor and use a 5 lug custom wheel from Centerline.
Brakes: standard power brakes should be perfectly fine for the street. Adding giant Wilwoods to a power booster can make them difficult to modulate when traction is at a premium. But I will add a line lock; not only fun, but very handy on hills.
Manual steering
Exhaust: Satin black ceramic coating. I can get that done locally for about 1/2 of what BDR wants.
Seats: Not sure which one, but needs to be high back. I do like the Cobra Clubman. Inexpensive and very comfortable. Should be an easy fit, too.
Roll bar: need one for the passenger, too. Fits with the high back seats, and I'm all about safety. I'll have that powder coated a satin black to match the side pipes.
Seat belts: We've been using the latch link type for years. The new race car has the new style, but for the Cobra we'll stick with the latch link. Although I am considering using a simple stock type 3 point belt. I can easily weld an attachment point to the roll bar. We'll see how that fits with the seats.
Drivetrain: This is the fun part. My last car had a but tload of power; over 500hp on the chassis dyno, with a very flat torque curve. So this car needs a But tload and a 1/2 of power.
Coyote 5.0: Used, 2011-2014. I'll pop the heads off and do some maintenance and mild upgrades, but stick with stock cams. Change the
oil pan, etc. I'll probably paint and PC a lot of the parts to make it look nice.
6R80 automatic transmission: Yes, an auto! 4.17 first gear, and a torque converter - talk about a hole shot! It can shift a lot faster than I can. Should be able to handle up to 800hp. Shouldn't be much trouble in a light weight car like this. Frank at BDR says they've never done an auto yet, so this will be one of the first.
Control pack from Power by the Hour Performance. They have one using the stock ECU, and will control engine and transmission together. Unfortunately, they don't have one for the 2015+ Coyote, or I'd use that.
That will get me around 340hp at the rear wheels (I live at 6,200' ASL). Not even close. So, I'll add a Roush stage 2 supercharger, and get it up around 550'ish at the rear wheels. That will make me happy.
I love donuts and long smokey burn outs.
So, how does that sound? Anything I'm missing? Or confused about? I'm kind of excited about it; it's going to be a fun build.
Build Plan
Linear Mode
