Wha1's up TMS fam! I'm in the market for a termi and I've found a couple good ones. My question is what do you guys think on buying a non stock cobra. The one I'm most interested is built / stroked by AED in nor cal and the others I have found have the common bolt ons. Opinions!?!?!

 

I bought mine built. Wouldn't have done it any other way. The price on upgrades for these cars is ridiculous. The price to buy these cars is usually what and what for stock and modded. If you plan on a modded Cobra, there are a few factors to look at. I bought mine full modded with low miles. If I did it again, I probably would have went with higher mileage and full mod just because I would have saved thousands and had the same car I could terrorize with. Mileage is really the only factor that dictates the price of these cars and they are truly built well enough to hold up to mileage. If you do buy one modded, know what mods you want and know the difference. Bigger blower with lower boost pressures is the way to go. Safer and more hp. 2.9L blower, no less. Built motor is really not necessary unless you plan on pushing over 700hp.

I would check the classifieds at SVTP. Probably the best place to find what you want. Most of the Cobras being sold there also have the full history of what the owners did to there cars. It's also where most of the SVT people hang out. You can learn everything you need to know about these cars on that site.

Don't be afraid to buy any of these cars in any condition. They are still desirable and easy to resell. Anything under 100k miles should be reasonably safe to buy. Any motor or drivetrain issues should be easy to identify with a simple test drive and listening closely to the engine running.
Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Good stuff Al
Shop around for sure, modded doesn't always mean molested.

 

It's an 03 with 51k original miles but was fully rebuilt by what he tells me and has only put about 200 miles since rebuilt. Not tracked either

 

Meh. I would need more details and I never trust a rebuild. Most rebuilds are just repairs. These SVT motors are all forged and hand built in one facility. I would feel a lot better if the motor was replaced over rebuilt. Cobra motors don't break at 50k unless they caught some serious hell. Sounds kinda fishy unless the price is fantastic. I would shop around a bit.

 

AED is *the* shop for mod motors though. In the OP he says it's built and stroked - big difference from "rebuilt to factory specs."

Shaun and Drew know what they're doing. How much is the seller asking?

 

Sorry I missed that tidbit. Would need a whole lot of info on the build though. And why it was built and to be sold within 200 miles. Would feel a lot better if the motor was just swapped with a Ford Racing aluminator long block.

 

I agree there. The 200 miles post build would worry me. A lot of times though, people get in over their heads, drop $$$$ on their build and realize they can't afford to pay off their CC's they just maxed out

 

I have heard good things about AED and bad. I have done many alignments and wheels and tires for AED and i will tell you they dont skimp on anything but the tuning part is where people have had problems. I dont want to bad mouth them based on someone elses experience but thats what ive heard. If you want to be more comfortable about it call them and ask about it

 

I do remember hearing of tuning issues in the past - I had my car tuned there last week. To be honest, I can't say 100% that this is the case every time, but a lot of those tuning issues were due to people's cars having problems prior to them bringing them in for tuning. Maybe not apparent when being driven normally, but they became apparent after being beat on the dyno. Like I said, I can't say that is the case every time, but I'd bet the majority of the cases were like that. Do you know anyone with direct experience with them? You have to take what people say online with a grain of salt...

 

He recently had a child and had to buy a bigger family car that's why he is looking into selling it. He gave me more details but I lost them when I deleted the texts fully built irs and all as well. Asking for 20