"Red & Ready"

Ted Nourse's '93 Cobra

    I am certain that for car guys, we've all hit that point in our lives when it seems wise to let go of the hobby. Whether its for homes, family, debt or any number of circumstances. The car hobby is not only fairly expensive, it's time consuming as well. A year ago, Ted Nourse sold his beloved '67 Pro Touring Fairlane to clean up some debt. Doing the responsible thing was a smart move, and made sense for Ted. After all was said and done he began to get that itch again. You know the itch of which I speak. See, for gear heads cars aren't just transportation, they are a way of life. All through the summer of 2015 Ted was without a hot rod, and it was driving him nuts. He decided a boring garage wasn't going to work, and began the hunt for his next toy. He looked at muscle cars, and some newer Mustangs, but nothing was jumping out at him. In the past Ted had owned an '85 GT, and a '95 Cobra. Remembering when he was younger, and how much he loved his fox body Mustang; the decision became crystal clear. While searching for the right car, he stumbled upon the Vibrant Red '93 you see here. The car had just been listed on eBay, and Ted wasted no time contacting the owner for more details. After a series of emails, and the owner sending a few videos of the car, Ted knew this was the right Cobra. As the ink dried on the check, the snake was loaded up, and made the long journey from Nevada to it's new home in Minnesota. Arriving mid September, Ted didn’t have any time to enjoy the car before the brutal northern winter took hold.

    With barely 28k miles on the clock, pristine doesn't do justice to it's condition. This is #2637 out of 4,993. She's a Vibrant Red car, and has the opal gray leather interior. The interior is stock, and as clean as the day it rolled off the assembly line. The exterior was left alone for the most part, why mess with success? The lone exterior modification is the factory wheels taking three dips in a chrome bath, bling!

    The stock theme comes to an end when you open the hood. Which even on a car this immaculate, is just fine in my book. I mean it's still a foxbody right? The previous owner set out to increase the fun factor, but maintain a level of class and originality. To accomplish that goal, the famed Cobra intake was polished within an inch of its life. Up next was the addition of a show polished Vortech V3 Si Supercharger. Complementing the blower is a turbo XS blow off valve, and an Anderson Ford Motorsport power pipe with a 7” K&N filter. The next mod was to replace the rather anemic Cobra cam with something more robust. A FRPP B303 cam was installed to give the snake a nice lope, and add few extra ponies to the party. The supporting mods include a Lightning 90mm mass air flow meter, green top 42lb injectors, and a 255LPH fuel pump.

    Keeping the home fires burning, Tedd  added a MSD coil, and Ford racing plug wires. The cooling system was also breathed upon with a Champion two row radiator, and Ford Contour dual electric fans. Knowing the stock exhaust system wasn't going to cut it at this point, it needed some upgrading too. The BBK long tube headers, BBK 2.5” off road X pipe, and a Magnaflow Magnapack cat back system took care of this issue in short order. 

     Adding modifications is, as you already know, becomes a chain reaction. One mod requires another and before you know it the whole car is built. To remain conservative on the build, but maintain some balance, a few more upgrades were needed. The first upgrade was a G-Force spec T5 with a .75 overdrive, which is more than capable of handling the boosted 5.0L. A Centerforce clutch was bolted in while the trans was out, and a Steeda Tri-Ax shifter was added to keep the shifts accurate. The rear end received a set of Ford Racing 3.73 gears, a SVO rear girdle helps sturdy things up a bit, and a FRPP aluminum drive shaft saves some weight.

     The suspension started out as all fox body Mustangs should; full length subframe connectors. Next the sloppy bushings were replaced with Prothane units which do wonders for the handling over all. Moving rearward a set of upper and lower control arms positively locate the rear, and aid traction. Ted has a few more upgrades in the works also, which include BMR springs, and Koni adjustable shocks/struts.

    The results of all these tasteful mods are 446 RWHP and 420 RWTQ, after being tuned by Dynojet Research in Las Vegas. In lieu of this power, a set of Nitto drag radials were mounted in place of the original Goodyear Gatorbacks. Ted couldn't be more happy with his decision, and especially being back in a foxbody. Having a Cobra with factory paint, trim, interior, and well over 400 RWHP is a true joy to drive. Ted is anxiously waiting for Spring to make a few upgrades to the car, and go over it with a fine tooth comb. Once all that is out of the way, it's time to get her out and enjoy. Having been without a hot rod for so long, Ted is like a kid waiting for Christmas! Stay strong, cruising weather is almost here!