By Tommy Parry
For what is arguably one of the more ambitious builds we’ve witnessed over the last few years Alexandros picked a car that’s got its fair share of detractors, but every detractor who hates it is matched by a racer who loves its simplicity and will gladly vet for this bang-for-the-buck prospect. A convertible Foxbody has its potential and most of its potential-related reasons are easy for anyone to understand. For one, it’s not hard to get started with. That allows a builder to get very choosy with the parts used.
It originally belonged to a friend who wanted to get into road course racing. Alexandros, more a drag racer himself, ended up buying the Mustang for a reasonable price and continuing on with his friend’s aim. In addition to Cobra wheels and a 11-speaker sound system, this cherry soft top came with the following go-fast goodies: UPR front suspension, Bullit/Baer Brakes, and a 5 lug conversion.
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Redder than his Irish Setter, the car was planned to be good enough to look at from fifteen feet, but mainly a track toy. For that reason, he started planning out a suspension setup which would make it a little more agile but not break the bank. Not hard to do with this platform, and the Maximum Motorsports SN95 suspension looked like it would do the trick.
After he collected all the parts, he had another thought which derailed the progress train he was riding. ‘Why not try the IRS from the ‘99-’04 Cobra?’ And so he sold his new parts, sourced a complete rear end from said Cobra, and started charting a new course.
Installation is a fairly simple bolt-in procedure that requires the drilling of only one hole. So easy, in fact, that he installed it just for fitment knowing he’d remove it soon after. After all, there was no way he’d keep it factory. A few days later, he said something not many Foxbody owners can say:
“Look at all the negative camber out back.”
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Turning back to the company he started this project off with, he grabbed Maximum Motorsports forward offset control arms and then fitted a set of shoes with an NBA footprint. The 17 x 9.5" Stern Face II wheels with 275/40R17 tires gave Alexandros the athletic stance he sought. Getting them in place required a baseball batting Al Capone-style.
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Then a few interior pieces to spruce up the aged interior. A Tonneau cover, white gauges, brown leather seats from a Porsche, and a few black additions from a ‘93 car did the trick.
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The real suspension work was still ahead. The rear end, just getting comfortable in its new home, was removed and sent to Kenny Brown and Rich Cotrell for hard mounts and general optimization.
Prior to sending the rear out, Alexandros had installed a Detroit Locker, Eibach sway bar, and a complete set of urethane bushings. He also added a FTBR rear differential with a FTBR delrin differential bushing. The IRS came back from Brown and Cotrell with Delrin lower subframe bushings from Drop Engineering as well as a rear differential lowering bushing that is clearanced for an IRS cooler. Along with this, front FTBR aluminum differential bushings were installed and the subframe was clearanced for the 2003 Cobra front differential brace.
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He liked the 13" Wilwoods he had up front, so he opted for the Maximum Motorsport Wilwood 13" 4-piston rears to complement the 6-piston fronts. ABS sensors were purchased and installed before ABS sensor lines were fabricated. Factory 2003 Cobra ABS module, hard brake lines, Wilwood stainless steel brake lines, and Steeda front wheel hubs with longer wheel studs came next.
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Then Alexandros went for a few cosmetic touches: a Saleen spoiler and rear valence. The aim was to try and blend the ‘93 Saleen Spyder’s shape with a decade-younger Cobra’s IRS and powertrain.
Before those monumental retrofits took place however, he had to set the stage with the bars and bracing needed for a real road course machine. The focus then went to stiffening the floppy Foxbody with chassis stiffeners, a roll bar, matrix bracing, and cage bars.
And stiffening it would help make good use of the monumental power provided by the new motor: a 2000 5.4-liter Aluminator force-fed by a Vortech YSI blower. With the addition of Maximum Motorsports Modular swap K Member and drop motor mounts, it went in snugly. The stock 2000 Cobra R Shorty headers were eventually replaced with a custom pair as no manufacturer makes anything for this engine-chassis combination. The final touches: 8-rib pulleys and twin methanol injection.
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An estimated 800 horsepower at the rears required a little more meat adorning each end of the rear axle, and that meant contacting a shop to widen his wheels as well as a little fender flaring to give the broadened rollers more room. Now 10” wide up front and 12.5” in the rear, these wheels were the right size for the job. All Alexandros needed to do was order a set of 335-section Toyo R888Rs to complete the footprint.
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With months of head-scratching getting the Holley EFI and various cooling elements to work nicely, he had plenty of chances to gaze at his creation and remind himself what his real aim was. With the rear suspension being the focal point with this car, he figured it would only make sense to modernize the front in the name of balance. A Griggs GR40 front suspension followed, as well as billet aluminum spindles, a Wilwood Aero6 14” brake kit, as well as brackets for the brake calipers and the 3” cooling ducts.
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This monumental build is coming to a close, though he still needs to splash the car in a coat of ‘93 Vibrant Red and fit a 12-point cage. There may even be a new motor on the way. To see the final stages of this exciting Mustang’s evolution and its performance on track, you can follow his build thread here.
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