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Finished the Cobra IRS swap

T

turbo_fox

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Nov 10, 2005
Messages
939
Location
wales ma
I got it down on its wheels. It's sitting too low, the springs are cut 01 cobra springs (came with the IRS). I put them in just for winter storage. I will be picking out matching springs. As it sits, the complete 5-lug cobra brake swap is in, 03 10th anniversary 13" front brakes, cobra rear discs, 99 cobra wheels.
I just need to roll the lips now, wasn' expecting so wide!

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You always have to have a project?! Jim had mentioned you were installing IRS. On a side note, did your Dad find a Cayman yet? I saw a red one blast by the parents house the other day and got to thinking.
 
Looks good! I'd imagine your swap was virtually identical to mine on the 94, since both cars only have a single rear brake channel, and no vertical bolts for the rear subframe mount, lol.

What are you planning to run for exhaust? Or are you dumping under the car?
I just put a stock 03 Cobra catback on mine, since the engine is still stock.

What springs and shocks are you running on the car?
 
CSVT_2004 said:
Your amp wire run scares me...
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it's not an amp wire, it is the alternator wire. the battery is in the trunk, whats so scary about it anyway?? it is hanging a little loose because I took out some of the clamps to work on the subframe, it usually is screwed right into the frame rail.
 
Rara said:
Looks good! I'd imagine your swap was virtually identical to mine on the 94, since both cars only have a single rear brake channel, and no vertical bolts for the rear subframe mount, lol.

What are you planning to run for exhaust? Or are you dumping under the car?
I just put a stock 03 Cobra catback on mine, since the engine is still stock.

What springs and shocks are you running on the car?
Click to expand...

I havent finished the hydraulic part of the brakes yet, or the parking brake cables. The calipers are GT calipers, so they don't have the right hoses on them. I plan on buying cobra hoses, which mount to the framrail, and tee from my single line to both hoses. I have a complete custom exhaust from my turbos back, and there was a 3-bolt flange at the transmission. I did get some tail pipes with the IRS, so I will just bring it back to the shop that built the exhaust and match the cobra tail pipes with the rest of the exhaust. chances of it coming out my cut-outs in the bumper, slim. oh well, time for a new bumper?
I had a full set of Eibach drag springs in the car, but those went with the solid axle when it was sold. As of now, I am in the market for springs. I have KYB agx struts and shocks. I put the 01 cobra springs in with the irs just for pushing in and out purposes, i am deciding on springs over the winter. what do you have in the 94?
As for the rear subframe bracket, my front quad-shock bolt lined up with the bracket, bu nothing else. I drilled the back bolt all the way through the rail and put a bolt and nut on it, and then I drilled the vertical bolts into the hatch area, and put bolts and nuts through it into the trunk. it was a pretty easy swap. i cant wait to autocross with it. My main goal in the project was rear discs, and elimination of 3.73 gears. 1st and 2nd were useless, and the one time i did go to the dragsrtip, the shift light was on in 4th as i crossed the trap. I wanted 3.27, which is what this IRS had, plus it came with calipers and rotors.
 
turbo_fox said:
I havent finished the hydraulic part of the brakes yet, or the parking brake cables. The calipers are GT calipers, so they don't have the right hoses on them. I plan on buying cobra hoses, which mount to the framrail, and tee from my single line to both hoses.
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make sure you buy Cobra pads from now on, the thickness is different because the thicker rotors.

I had a full set of Eibach drag springs in the car, but those went with the solid axle when it was sold. As of now, I am in the market for springs. I have KYB agx struts and shocks. I put the 01 cobra springs in with the irs just for pushing in and out purposes, i am deciding on springs over the winter. what do you have in the 94?
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I went for a balance of good handling but still having a decent ride on the crappy detroit roads. I have 03 Cobra coupe rear springs and shocks, and bullitt springs and struts up front. The overall balance is very good, and works very well on both the street and for open tracking. I could have gone with something a little more aggressive, like koni's, or something like that, but it would have cost a lot, and not given much benefit handling wise over what I have now. besides, I'll save my money for some real shocks/struts like Motons or Dynamics (use both of those on our race cars). But, you're obviously more into drag racing, so I can't help you too much unless you see the light ;)

As for the rear subframe bracket, my front quad-shock bolt lined up with the bracket, bu nothing else. I drilled the back bolt all the way through the rail and put a bolt and nut on it, and then I drilled the vertical bolts into the hatch area, and put bolts and nuts through it into the trunk. it was a pretty easy swap. i cant wait to autocross with it.
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Be careful on that bolt all the way through the rail, you may end up crushing/deforming the rail, and loosen the bolt up from cornering loads. You may want to make a sleeve through the rail to keep the two sides from compressing together.
 
Rara said:
make sure you buy Cobra pads from now on, the thickness is different because the thicker rotors.



I went for a balance of good handling but still having a decent ride on the crappy detroit roads. I have 03 Cobra coupe rear springs and shocks, and bullitt springs and struts up front. The overall balance is very good, and works very well on both the street and for open tracking. I could have gone with something a little more aggressive, like koni's, or something like that, but it would have cost a lot, and not given much benefit handling wise over what I have now. besides, I'll save my money for some real shocks/struts like Motons or Dynamics (use both of those on our race cars). But, you're obviously more into drag racing, so I can't help you too much unless you see the light ;)



Be careful on that bolt all the way through the rail, you may end up crushing/deforming the rail, and loosen the bolt up from cornering loads. You may want to make a sleeve through the rail to keep the two sides from compressing together.
Click to expand...

I used to be into drag racing, not anymore. I autocross much more than drag race. I had QA1 drag struts, swapped em out for the AGX's. My 8.8 was a eaton posi with 3.73 gears, now I really wanted 3.27 gears, and am not so much worried about the dif. I would say my tremec 3550 is the weak link in my driveline.
Last time i went to the drag strip i had a 2.6 60ft. it was at that point i decided it was stupid to spend time and money trying to get a car with that much power to hook up perfect. I have more fun ripping around the 1.6 mile autocross track.
As for the through bolts, I had considered that, but I was rushing to get it down off the lift, and figured i wouldnt even drive it until the spring anyways. I havent even put the vertical bolts in yet, as I determining what i wanted to do about exactly what you said. I was planning on welding some plate to the floor in the hatch area and still using the through bolt, but I hadnt decided yet. I did use some big fender washers too for what its worth.

anyways, i cant wait to drive it with these gears and with the irs. I did go with the complete maximum motorsport poly bushing kit, i want to avoid wheel hop as much as possible. Plus i got the billetflow diff brace. I also havent tried putting my driveshaft it, did yours still work?
 
Livinsvt said:
Really, are you using stock control arms or tubular? Any spacers needed?
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stock control arms. no spacers. i have 94 mustang spindles and hubs, 13" cobra brakes. I get very little rub at the front of the wheels, which i think i can eliminate with 91-93 fenders, since it is very little
 
turbo_fox said:
I used to be into drag racing, not anymore. I autocross much more than drag race. I had QA1 drag struts, swapped em out for the AGX's. My 8.8 was a eaton posi with 3.73 gears, now I really wanted 3.27 gears, and am not so much worried about the dif. I would say my tremec 3550 is the weak link in my driveline.
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The 3.27 should help load up the turbo a lot more off the line too; you should see boost come on quicker . . . though w/ your traction issues, that might not be a good thing ;)

Last time i went to the drag strip i had a 2.6 60ft. it was at that point i decided it was stupid to spend time and money trying to get a car with that much power to hook up perfect. I have more fun ripping around the 1.6 mile autocross track.
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Yeah, i noticed the times in your signature compared to your mph, lol. if you had traction, you should easily be able to hit mid 11's

As for the through bolts, I had considered that, but I was rushing to get it down off the lift, and figured i wouldnt even drive it until the spring anyways. I havent even put the vertical bolts in yet, as I determining what i wanted to do about exactly what you said. I was planning on welding some plate to the floor in the hatch area and still using the through bolt, but I hadnt decided yet. I did use some big fender washers too for what its worth.
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For my car, I cut an access hole through the sheet above the rail for the vertical bolts, and dropped the nuts down inside the rail (used flag nuts to prevent rotation) and covered the holes back over. one side of the rail should be sufficient to hold the loads you are putting in, but w/ a bolt all the way through, if you get any deflection between the two sides of the rail, the bolt will loosen up, and it could lead to bad things . . . Another thing to consider, is an additional brace on those rear mounts. make a plate that welds to the protruding part of the bracket, so that goes vertical and sits flush w/ the inner fender, and then bolt it to the inner fender wall. This works best if you back it up w/ a plate on the other side of the inner fender. I believe steeda even makes a little kit if you don't feel like making your own plates.


anyways, i cant wait to drive it with these gears and with the irs. I did go with the complete maximum motorsport poly bushing kit, i want to avoid wheel hop as much as possible. Plus i got the billetflow diff brace. I also havent tried putting my driveshaft it, did yours still work?
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I hope you didn't put the bushings in the control arms . . . you need the recession in the arms to maintain geometry in cornering. Your bump steer gets even worse w/ the control arm poly bushings. The subframe bushings are excellent though. The rear bumpsteer kit is a good thing to have as well, as long as you aren't trying to stay legal for a racing series. the bumpsteer kit is illegal for our Grand Am Cup cars, so we had to go to great lengths to improve the bumpsteer in a legal manner. but I'm not telling how, lol.

For the driveshaft, your existing one won't work, you need the shorter IRS driveshaft length. if your 3550 DS is the same length as the T5 one, you can just use an 01 Cobra driveshaft, and swap in the 3550 yoke. My IRS is from an 03 Cobra, so i have the larger pinion flange, so I had to do an 01 DS, w/ a T5 yoke, and a hybrid U-joint at the rear w/ the larger 03 rear flange. it was kind of a hassle to figure out, and actually ruined a pinion bearing by using the wrong length DS originally. Thankfully it didn't hurt the T5 output shaft.
 
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