They say that people with loud vehicles are overcompensating — Because they have extensive knowledge about cars but no one cares.
My car sounds like a Tesla (when it’s not running) so I can discuss these things fairly and meaningfully.
The best place to start is with an initial project car, which is awkward because I have already discussed mine in detail. While trying to avoid repeating myself, here are some bullet points to get you up to speed.
I wanted to learn about cars and found ChrisFix on YouTube. He had a 1998 Ford Mustang GT; mine was a base model of the same year. This meant that I could watch him replace and maintain things, and easily replicate his actions because of the similarities between our cars.
This renewed my interest in watching Top Gear, which led me to find Donut Media and Craig Lieberman on YouTube as well. I acquired knowledge and experience throughout the years, but when I changed something my wife would say, “That’s my car” and “You’re ruining it”. For different reasons, I kept dumping money and time into the project.
This would have been stupid except for A- my wife and I wanted Blue to be our kid’s first car since it was her first car, B- it was paid for so I didn’t have loan payments, C- Learning experience, obviously, and D- I planned to do an engine swap — Eventually.
Don’t let the subtlety fool you, this swap was to be years down the road, because I needed time to save money for it. Of course, this is not what happened, and this is where the story of Blue ends. I finally achieved the status of strangers complimenting my build, and engine problems occurred. The solution was to tear apart and rebuild the engine, but I had no desire to do that for a base model V6 with over 275,000 miles.
An engine swap was my plan, but I couldn’t afford the engine (Gen 2 Coyote) that I wanted. By this time, I had put about 8,000 dollars into a $1,200 car. For context, the Coyote swap that I wanted was quoted at $22-26K, using all brand-new parts. If sourcing from eBay and junkyards, this could be done for about $12-15K, but then you’re gambling with previous abuse and neglect.
Ultimately, whether using new or used parts, this would still be considered a car from 1998. Why not spend the money on a new car? Because I’m attached to this car, which has witnessed my blood, sweat, and tears. I went from being unable to change spark plugs to having the interior completely disassembled and in various rooms in my house. This is essentially the thrill and headache of a project car, and most people do not appreciate it. (But I’m going to act like you do.)
I spent six years modifying this car with the end goal of swapping a 32-valve DOHC V8 and a manual transmission. As previously mentioned, a Coyote was possible, but I didn’t have money for that and I needed an engine now. To minimize complexity and fitment issues, the engine, transmission, and rear end would come from a Mustang between 94 and 04. However, for DOHC characteristics, it had to be a Cobra, and 96 was the oldest it could be. Supply and demand drove New Edge prices to the level of a new Mustang, so the selection was restricted to Cobras between 96 and 98.
Perhaps a moment of weakness but mainly irritation of hoping without success, I met a stranger from Facebook. This was the second Cobra I tested, and I did notice some issues. However, the problems were the reason I could afford it, and these were things I had already fixed on Blue so they weren’t a deal breaker. I told Christian my plans, and she was not — excited. Yeah, I’ll just say she was not excited about it. However, I finally found a Cobra that I could afford.
I planned to swap the drive train into Blue, but then other things happened. I wanted to have my own car instead of a hand-me-down, because I was a car guy, trying to have a cool car, and I couldn’t do anything to Blue without hearing judgment from the previous driver. Also, I had to be somewhat financially responsible because Christian became a stay-at-home mom in 2020.
There was a lot of frustration for a variety of reasons, but I could agree to a compromise. Rather than swapping and wishing things worked, l decided to restore the Cobra instead. This became my second project car, and Blue was put to the side for my son and I to work on – Eventually.
I replaced the headlights, the fog lights, all of the speakers, added a subwoofer, changed the gear shifter, replaced all of the rotors and brake pads, replaced the brake lines, replaced caliper parts, had the calipers painted, and had the rear diff fluid changed. I upgraded the gauge lights and interior lights to LED bulbs, replaced the hood latch, the hood latch cable, the parking brake cable, and the battery tray, replaced various missing bolts, and sealed water leaks in the trunk. I swapped the wheels and tires from Blue as a reminder of my previous accomplishments.
I bought the car in May of 2023, was daily driving it in December, and then I wrecked it in January of 2024.
Motherjksdfkjhsdlfjkwedfn!
That guardrail changed my life, and I see it every day on my way to work. I halted for the stop light and was the first to turn left when the light turned green. I may have fishtailed a little in first gear but thought nothing of it because I successfully did this many times. Shifting into second gear is when I realized that I was indeed fishtailing despite the road being straight. I overcorrected and the tires suddenly gained traction while I was facing the guardrail. The impact spun me around and I was surrounded by smoke from the airbags being deployed. I didn’t get out to examine the damage, I just cranked the car frantically to go home.
The wreck occurred about halfway between my house and work, so I was driving home to change vehicles and restart my commute. While almost there, I was in a 45 zone, but the Cobra didn’t seem capable of that speed anymore. Yet, it was going fast enough for air to grab my hood and slam it into the windshield. In response to this, I had to get out to separate the hood from the windshield, but I did not analyze the extent of the damage because I was still desperately trying to get home. By God’s grace, there was barely any traffic that morning.
Despite all of the destruction, I did successfully arrive at home and Christian was surprisingly supportive. I should be grateful that the Cobra still runs, but the situation is mostly aggravating. I spent seven years actively trying to have a respectable car, and now … I’m just the stereotypical Mustang driver.
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