kirks5oh

yeah, i'm guessing he doesn't have health insurance with bright ideas like that, which means he'd be a patient of mine--don't bring him to mt. carmel when he wipes out.

i had my mind set on the craftsman professional box that's 56" wide, and 30" deep. the drawer layout is similar to the upper matco box. total storage is almost 40,000 cubic inches!!!!!! cost $3600 but i wouldn't be opposed to buying a MATCO or snapon box of similar size even if it cost $5000. i just like the idea of how deep the craftsman drawers are--30". my 36" wide craftsman professional box only has drawers that are about 19" deep, and my SAMS club box drawers are only 16" deep. this is a box i wouldn't buy right away, since i'm going to be moving twice in the next 2yrs.

how much would that top box go for??

where to, on the west side??? hooter's, advanced auto?? culvers?? there's a large empty lot next to lowes on fishinger?? meijer's parking lot??

if you look in MM&FF ads, i think its DSS that sells stock blocks that are prepped to handle more power. they have level 10 and level 20 blocks, but i forget what's done to each.

+1 aftermarket parts are cheap for the cobra. i have a GTO and cobra--my catback for the cobra was $500, for the GTO was $800 (and considered a cheaper one). shifter for the cobra was $150, $300 for the GTO. intake was $150 for the cobra, $250 for the GTO. i don't know what dodge aftermarket parts would cost, but i'm SURE they would be more expensive than the cobra's. 450rwhp can be had so easily with these cars, and retain FULL driveability with stock idle. the aftermarket is ENDLESS. i lurk svtperformance.com constantly, and cannot believe all the shit people have done to these cars, all easily supplied by an endless aftermarket. if you can think of a combination of parts, its been done.

sucks. i haven't been out the past 2 weekends, and been really busy, but i'd be down for meeting on the west side of town when i can break away from the wife/kids

+1 my set-up is pretty mild, but i've been reading 5.0 and MM&FF for over 10 years religiously, and they tend to advocate no more than 500 for the stock block. the main girdle will help prevent crankwalk, but not strengthen the block a ton. i'm not sure what the b-50 block is, but it might be referring to the 'sportsman' block. i've seen those bare for $750, and they can supposedly handle a bit more power. i would think you'd be pushing it with a h/c/i 347 making around 500 at the crank, and then adding anything more than a 75-100 shot--you'll be pushing it with that alone, unless you go with a 4 bolt block. just a hunch, i have no personal experience with this, just from what i've read. kirk

nice collection. i'd love to get a snap-on box some day, but it might be overkill for me--

fair enough, good luck with everything, keep us updated---its definately an interesting project-- kirk

i hope you're thinking this project through, it sounds like you're completely gutting the car--hope its not your daily driver--sounds like it is not. honestly, you'd be completely safe with a centrifugal at 9-12psi and a good tune, with 93+ octane. with a little head work, and the correct blower cam, you'd be at or around 500rwhp. minus all the interior stuff you're selling, and the price wouldn't be too bad--and the car can be light as hell. 500rwhp with a 3100lb car=very fast. you'll spend at least that much if not more, to go with a carb'd motor, starting from scratch. just making you think about it a little more.

that's fine. i used to shift mine around 5200 when i was stock/near stock. any more rpm and you're past the power peak. i shift mine a bit higher now, when i actually drive the car. you'd be surprised that the stock rpm guage is off sometimes by a fair amount. mine is off by at least 250 rpms

my car has a fresh stock short block, fox lake ported explorer heads, e-303 cam, roller rockers, throttle body, GT40 tubular intake (port-matched lower), long tubes, off road h, and flowmasters with a tremec 5 speed, and 3.73's---its a nice combo. the 'e' cam is a nice street piece, great idle, decent upper rpm response, and full driveability at low rpms. for a mild street car, like mine, its great.

to some extent that is normal. its referred to as the drivetrain clunk. if it is with EVERY shift than that is abnormal, and i think a new driveshaft fixes this. there is also a possible noise that is a 'pop' from the rear when going up a curb, like pulling into a driveway. this is caused by the wrong sized bolts used to attach the rear lower control arms--cured by adding the larger bolts--nobody has documented a failure of the 'improper' bolts that were used--its just an annoying noise. i've fixed that problem on my car. that car sounds like a good deal. oddly enough, the coupes are more sought after these days than the verts. just be sure the car was never modded--mainly, ask them to pull the pulley cover and make sure there's no scoring/marks on the end of the blower snout--indicating that a pulley swap had been made. i would have no problems buying a lightly modded '03/04 as long as its been documented that it has been maintained/dyno tuned. i WOULD have a problem buying a modded car that was returned to stock. honestly join svtperformance.com, and check the 'for sale' forum---tons of terminator cobras for sale over there, and between modularfords.com, and the svt site, you can get every question you ever thought of answered. the favorite colors seem to be competition orange, and sonic blue, followed by yellow and dark metallic gray. as hal stated, black ones are the most common colors kirk

i usually like to buy the nicest stuff, but since i don't do a TON of wrenching, the craftsman stuff suits me fine. i would like to eventually get a set of snap-on sockets and wrenches, but the majority of my things are craftsman

rofl any way i can get the snap-on truck to stop at my house? j/k

i know what you mean hal, craftsman seems to be some of the cheapest lifetime guaranteed tools.

craftsman ftw. i don't work in a shop, but whatever you break, they take back no matter what. i've taken several ratchets back that belonged to my dad and were probably 30 yrs old. i've pounded plastic screwdrivers with a hammer, broken the handle, and had them replaced without question. specialty tools might be a different story, but within reason, a wrench is a wrench-- oddly enough we use some snap-on stuff in surgery, and it breaks just like anything else. i love my 40" craftsman professional roll cart--it makes the sam's club one i have next to it look like shit.

with reimbursement rates going down, surgeons, and doctors in general are more aggressive with their treatment plans--operating on patients they would not have in the past. we do total knee and hip replacements on morbidly obese patients that we would have told to take a hike in the past.

in all honesty the WV crisis was/is a sign of things to come. the OB/GYN's there could simply not afford to pay their malpractice insurance, and come out on top. simple solution--move to another state. that is one of the reasons why i will end up in wisconsin--great malpractice situation there, and still excellent reimbursement.

yeah, the insurance companies will never do you any favors. you have to argue with them about EVERYTHING. its amazing what they WILL pay for once you start arguing.

there is some truth to this, but if you want around 500-550rwhp, even 600rwhp, this can be had easily and be dead reliable, as long as you don't severely beat on the car. i drive my car pretty hard, but avoid stupid things, and i've been just fine

good post.

you need to get an aftermarket cable. i've had the BBK unit on my car for 8 years, and have not had a problem. while the stock clutch cable itself is not adjustable, the stock clutch quadrant allows you to take slack out of the cable because it has the quadrant with teeth. you pull up on the clutch pedal with your foot, hear a few clicks and now the clutch releases higher up from the floor. after the stock cable stretches out too much, you can no longer do this. the aftermarket clutch cables allow adjustability from under the car down by the clutch fork at the bellhousing. buy one of those, and your problem will be solved

come join the cobra family. like Hal said, you should lurk around svtperformance.com---you will find tons of stock/lightly/heavily modified cobras on sale there. most of these cars are being sold by owners who are established on the site, and their history is documented. not too long ago, one owner tried to sell one that had been in a big accident, and he didn't disclose that---he got called on it, and owned bigtime. google "leowned". these cars make great power very easily, and the blower whine is contagious. i've been a bit lucky and haven't broken a thing yet, but have well over 500rwhp on the stock clutch, rear end, etc. i even have the stock headers and cats on my car. 450rwhp is literally an intake, catback, pulley and tune. the only thing that kills these cars is the shitty piston to cylinder wall clearance--its very tight, and there's no coolant outlet at the rear of the driver's side (pistons #7,#8) cylinder head, unless you do a cooling modification. this does not become a problem unless 1) you are running BIG boost, or 2) you do bonzai 140+ mph freeway runs back-to-back. on modularfords.com they have a thread titled "who's blown a motor, under what circumstances", the biggest things that lead to death of the stock shortblock are people running 20+lbs of boost, people running 'canned' or 'mail in' tunes without dyno tuning to check a/f ratios, and last, but not least, people doing several back-to-back highway rolls up to and beyond 140mph. these blowers make tons of heat, and doing back-to-back high speed runs will expand pistons #7 and/or #8 due to the poor cooling there, and your motor is fried. my car has the $150 cooling mod, that removes a freeze plug from the rear of the driver's side head, and routes that coolant back to the radiator to help cool that head. unfortunately, its pretty much necessary to remove the blower to do this mod. if going 140+mph routinely is your goal, than pull the motor, go 20 thousandths over, and get aftermarket pistons. the stock manley connecting rods, block, and stock crank are proven beyond 800rwhp. many people have done this before going aggressive with boost, and have had NO problems with big boost/turbos to make a long story short, go with the cobra, easy, big power, with a HUGE aftermarket. kirk