Question: Is this a truely a real 2003 Cobra?

[somethingclever]

.What is the general opinion of the 8.8 vs a 9"? I would suspect the 8.8 is not as desireable, but that most 8.8's are left in place for ease of installation and fitment.

The general opinion is it's not needed to upgrade unless it a serious dedicated drag car.

WIth aftermarket axles the 8.8's are well into the 9's, and since you said in another post you'd be happy with low 12's high 11's out of this street car, I don't think you need to worry about upgrading to the 9".

Plenty of people are in the 10's with stock 03/04 cobra axles/diffs so the factory 31 spline limited slip is also working at that level.

Before you start buying any parts you may want to pull the diff and an axle and see what you actually have. You may already be good to go.

I dunno what type of 8.8" you have in there, but it will hold more than enough power for your car.... 8.8" = GM 12bolt... I had a Moser 12-bolt in my car with 33 spline axels, and i think it was rated for something like 1200hp... I had a Detroit True-Trac diff in the car... I was running the hp in my sig, and the new owner now has it in the Mid 900's rwhp/rwtq, and the rear is still holding up wonderfully last time i heard.....

a 9" is obviously stronger, but I think an 8.8 would be fine and dandy for you.. probably other places you could put that money....

imho

But you also only ran your car on the street which is an apples and oranges comparison when testing the strength of parts under high loads.

[biminiLX]

That 8.8 will handle anything you can throw at it if built right.
It needs C-clip elminators to be legal and bracing to handle repeated launches.
If you want to dead hook it at your power and weight, I would have the axles tubes welded (or weld on 9" axles tubes and avoid the need for C-clip eliminators), go to 31-splines at least, and maybe order a brace, diff cover and run 3" studs.
They make up to 33-spline limited slips, or 31-spline gear diffs (Detroit or Tru-trac).
Lots of options either way, but yes, the 8.8 can handle BIG power.

Bish---cool the new owner lets you know about the car. The guy that bought my Cobra used to do the same. Does the new owner still have the 6-speed? he take it to the track?

-J

[03SnakePlissken]

I need to get into it this winter. I know it has an aluminum cover, and its a ladder bar style setup.

It could be that it has Mosser/Strange axles and C-clip ellim kit already.

This is the rear end:

[03SnakePlissken]

And ya know, would it be too much to ask for these companies to place a stamp with the part number, brand and the size of the pulley on the dang thing!

What the heck size is this thing? Who makes it? I know it pegs the dash boost gauge when you hit it.... no clue what the total boost is.

[03 OW SVT]

Looks to be a 2.76. Probably putting 12 to 14 lbs of boost. Don't know the brand

[Shadowstealth]

I took the car to my pal who has something that even I don't have.... a LIFT!

While tweaking the exhaust, changing the brakes, and installing and tightening a shit-ton of loose/missing bolts... I was telling him that the 03/04 Cobra was an IRS.

He then looked at the floor around the solid axle 8.8 (That I was told was swapped in) and said that this was never a independant suspension car. He said that this was a standard Mustang that was dressed in Cobra clothes and a Cobra engine/trans/interior, but it is not a natural born SVT car. He went on to further make me cry harder (JK) by saying it was a Chevelle SS "Clone".

He based all of this off of the fact that there are mounts to install the upper control arms into the chassis... but he followed up saying that an independant rear would have been bolted straight up and that there are no mounts for an IRS type of installation, yet there are mounts for a solid rear axle type of installation.

So to those of ya that know a ton more than me (I know little to nothing!).... in your expert opinion...... IS THIS A NATURAL BORN COBRA.... or a combination of crashed cars assembled to appear as a SVT born car?

Pictures follow:

First, here is all the pictures taken of our 2003 Terminator Vert, in case you want to wade through them all.....
http://s409.photobucket.com/albums/p...20Convertable/

Here are the pictures that I say are related to this conversation.

..
Well someone sure as hell cant blend paint haha thats funny def. had some front end issues im sure with a land shark esp near the front of the driver side doors

[Wolfpack Speed]

And ya know, would it be too much to ask for these companies to place a stamp with the part number, brand and the size of the pulley on the dang thing!

What the heck size is this thing? Who makes it? I know it pegs the dash boost gauge when you hit it.... no clue what the total boost is.

Analog1 is the boost...