Kevin's 95 Willow Green Mark progress thread

[keVIIIn]

I finally decided to make a progress thread for my car, I've had it 2 and a half years now and figured I've done enough to it to make it "progress thread" worthy. More so doing this to get a tally going on what all I have done and get a ballpark on what I've spent on this thing (I'm sure it'll be depressing lol).

Here's a list on what all I have done and replaced/fixed.

mechanical stuff:
- new serpentine belt
- new idler and tensioner pulley
- rebuilt ford alternator
- new radiator (needs to be replaced again)
- new battery
- Autolite 764 plugs, new motorcraft plug wires
- smoothed intake tube
- W3Z2 ECU
- Tokico 1.25" lowering springs with Tokico blue shocks front and rear w/DLF's perches in rear
- old set of 18"x9" Cobra Rs w/ 245/45/18 dunlop tires (sold)
- hub swapped to 5x4.5" mustang hubs up front and redrilled rear hubs
- cobra front brakes w/ drilled and slotted rotors
- 17"x8" 1997 mustang cobra wheels w/ 255/50/17 Nitto nt555 tires
- new rear shock mounts (not installed yet)
- SCT chip burned by BOC (not installed yet, waiting on dual exhaust)

appearance stuff:
- new used eyebrow trim
- new grille
- new used corner lenses
- one new used tailight (old one warped from heat of bulb)
- HID lenses w/ vvme after market HIDs and 4300K bulbs
- removed pin stripe
- paintless dent repair done to remove a bunch of door dings
- LSC bumpers and trim painted to match
- repaired front edge of hood that was cracked and repainted same time as bumpers were done
- painted trunk lock cover to match
- new Ford back window with seal (freebie thanks to insurance)
- tinted windows 35% sides, 20% rear window
- new used door panels
- new used center console lid
- LSC floor mats in saddle tan

day 1 before cleaning

day 2 cleaned, buffed and waxed whole car

front end with cracked hood and messed up grille and eyebrow trim as well as broken corner lenses on both sides

pin stripe removed

new eyebrow trim (I replaced parts here and there as I found them)

got ahold of some LSC lenses with working bulbs, sold the bulbs and bought some VVME aftermarket HIDs (4300 K bulbs)

painted trunk lock cover

PDR done to remove all door dings
(before)

(after)

LSC bumpers, painted, fixed hood and repainted hood

new grill installed on bumper before reinstallation

used 18"x9" Cobra Rs bought with junk tires, replaced tires with dunlop fierce instinct 245/45/18s immediately

first time my air shocks decided to let loose over night

parts gathered for spring conversion

bye bye

spring conversion finished, tinted the windows the same day

old center console lid replaced with new (used)

one of the many photoshoots

old back window replaced and re tinted (thank you state farm)

one of the many middle of winter car washes at work

this blows

old door panels were all warped and cracked, replaced with used perfect condition panels and threw in some new door jamb switches

new corner lenses on both sides

hood fixed (again) after body work started showing through and bubbling the paint, repainted rear bumper again also after a mishap with a tree that came out of nowhere while backing up

trunk hinge wires broke and completly fried the keyless entry module, replaced it with a junkyard one with subsequently a new keyless entry pass code

yet another grille bought and installed (this one in perfect shape) to replace one with faded chrome

pulled old intake tube off and had a friend do some plastic welding to it and filled and painted it, cleaned engine bay and installed new Autolite 764s and motorcraft wires

polished the trim..makin it nice n purdy (before and after)

97 cobra rims, had a friend strip the clear and polish them

rear hubs being redrilled

finished drilling new holes, knocked out old studs and installed new studs, re assembled and cleaned up and painted calipers and new pads

front hubs removed and replaced with new SN95 mustang hubs, cobra front calipers installed with drilled and slotted rotors

all back together (after having brake issue, replaced passenger rear caliper) wheels and tires mounted

and thats where the car stands now..future mods are to follow.

coming this spring will be new radiator (again) with trans cooler, new upper control arms and end links. Also some form of dual exhaust, and SCT chip installed back in my old DZA1 ecu.

in the future I'd like to do a JMOD, gears and possibly a stall converter..but for now I'm being realistic.

 

[Lownslowlsc]

Very tastefully done, Kevin. Good job.

 

[chargerxr]

Keviiin, I've said it before, you've got a nice clean Mark VIII, but I liked your old wheels much better.

 

[ford nut]

Real nice gen 1.

I agree on the wheels...... love the 20 spokes too! for a stock wheel on a gen1

Car needs gears also

 

[Svets96]

Beautiful car you have. How many miles are on it? It is very clean, do you store it for the winter?

 

[keVIIIn]

Thanks dudes, the wheels are either love or hate..I was getting tired of the "flashy" big wheel look, I kinda bought the cobra Rs on a whim when I saw a guy on craigslist selling his car with them on it..I asked if he'd sell the wheels and he agreed so I bought em. They weren't really my first choice for wheels but couldn't pass them up. I think if I can tweak the ride height in the rear by taking out 1/2 of a coil and bring it down even with the front it'll make it look better..either that or just get some different springs for it. Always liked these older cobra wheels..and they match the "era" of the mark viii..so I'm happy with it.

 

[keVIIIn]

The mileage is at 88k now, had 70k when I got it. I drove it the first two winters but washed it immedistely everytime it saw salt. I stopped daily driving it in May when I bought a truck and have it parked in the garage now..only will come out when its nice.

 

[mark0101]

Same here, liked your chrome wheels better but nice Mark VIII still. Why are you waiting to put the chip on after dual exhaust? It really doesn't matter if you put it on now or after.

 

[keVIIIn]

Same here, liked your chrome wheels better but nice Mark VIII still. Why are you waiting to put the chip on after dual exhaust? It really doesn't matter if you put it on now or after.

The chip I bought used from another member with a 95..he had it burned by lonnie for use with true duals and silencer delete, firmed shifts and overall performance..so I figured I'd wait till I put exhaust on it to match what the other guy had..I'm sure it wouldn't really make a difference between stock exhaust and duals..but I haven't really driven it much since buying another daily driver so just haven't gotten around to diving under that dash to pull out the ecu.

 

[My Great 8]

Great job Kevin. I have to disagree with the others. I like the new wheels. I never liked them before I saw them on your car. Keep up the good work!

 

[slowmkviii]

1. great car
2. Just put that dam chip in
3. I like the new wheels but IMO you need less side wall just to say a 45 series or so.
4. Update your SIG now

 

[keVIIIn]

1. great car
2. Just put that dam chip in
3. I like the new wheels but IMO you need less side wall just to say a 45 series or so.
4. Update your SIG now

Thanks! I probably will just put the chip in next time I get a chance to..I went with the 50 series because the 45s were shorter than stock..and I hate shorter tires with a big fender gap. As for the SIG picture..I've tried changing it a few times before and every new picture I upload to photobucket and link to my signature doesn't show up for some reason or turns it into a tiny thumbnail, I don't get it...so I've just left this picture.

 

[Wcoach]

Kevin, I have two questions. 1. Did you remove the small dents yourself, and if so what is needed to do that. 2. Your polished trim looks awesome (as does the whole car) What did you use on the trim to buff it out so nice. I really enjoyed this post thanks for letting us see your work.

 

[keVIIIn]

Kevin, I have two questions. 1. Did you remove the small dents yourself, and if so what is needed to do that. 2. Your polished trim looks awesome (as does the whole car) What did you use on the trim to buff it out so nice. I really enjoyed this post thanks for letting us see your work.

No, I didn't remove the dents myself..I wouldn't try to do it myself. I brought it to a body shop where they have a paintless dent repair guy that comes by every Monday. I paid him to do it, it wasn't cheap but its way cheaper than body work and paint..the guy found over 100 dings between the 1/4s, doors, fenders and trunk lid..some of which I didn't even notice were there. Theres deffinetly an art to painless dent repair, you gotta know what you're doing otherwise you run the risk of making the dent worse and cracking the paint.

With the trim I just used mothers aluminium polish and did it by hand..looks pretty good, not perfect, but if I use a drill I'm confident I could make it near flawless.

 

[LSC CE 82]

Good job on the restore. Makes me want to take my CE to that level. Nice looking car.

 

[keVIIIn]

Good job on the restore. Makes me want to take my CE to that level. Nice looking car.

Thanks man! Youre car looks pretty damn good in your sig, doesn't look like it needs much restoring.

 

[LSC CE 82]

My car is nice considering it has 154k miles and has always been a driver. Some small quarter sized rust on the lower rocker, a crease on the rt quarter. Door dings. It still has a great finish, however I've applied several coats of Wizard's "Shine Master" to the paint. It shines like glass...

I like your chrome Cobra R's Would those be a direct bolt on to my car w/ no mods to the lugs???

 

[keVIIIn]

My car is nice considering it has 154k miles and has always been a driver. Some small quarter sized rust on the lower rocker, a crease on the rt quarter. Door dings. It still has a great finish, however I've applied several coats of Wizard's "Shine Master" to the paint. It shines like glass...

I like your chrome Cobra R's Would those be a direct bolt on to my car w/ no mods to the lugs???

yep the cobra Rs, saleens, and bullitt rims are made in the Mark VIII 5x4.25 pattern as well as a couple other designs..they can be found at thecustomwheelshop or super coupe performance. Some of them are always sold out though due to popular demand, gotta wait for a shipment..usually it's well knows on the forums when they get another shipment in.

 

[UltimateSVT]

Kevin I had not seen the detailed pictures. Dude, that's awesome. I love the way it looks. I miss your Cobra R's but these wheels look great & it must feel great to know you can install any Mustang wheel now! You can alternate as much as you want. Congrats man!

 

[keVIIIn]

Kevin I had not seen the detailed pictures. Dude, that's awesome. I love the way it looks. I miss your Cobra R's but these wheels look great & it must feel great to know you can install any Mustang wheel now! You can alternate as much as you want. Congrats man!

Thanks Alex! Man I have so many pictures of this car its sick, pretty much everytime I do anything to it or drive it anywhere i get the urge to grab a picture lol. And yea im glad that now I have nearly an infinite number of wheel choices if I really want to switch it up.

 

[95mark8newyork]

Nice progress man. Love the 97 cobra wheels on there. Haven't been on here in a minute lol

 

[keVIIIn]

Nice progress man. Love the 97 cobra wheels on there. Haven't been on here in a minute lol

Thanks man, yea i was gonna say i havent seen your name here on the forum in a while..your stang is lookin good! I can only see half of the car in your sig but what you got on there now? Bullitts?

 

[FrankAZ]

Love the Cobra R's - wish I could find a cheap used set!

 

[Silver06S281]

car looks real good. Did you wet sand that pinstripe off? The last owner had a shop spray clear over the damn pinstripe on mine and i absolutely hate it.

 

[CoryDavis]

same here I like the old wheels better but clean car. keep up the good work