1993 Ford Mustang Cobra - Cyber Warrior

Looking for and bidding on the parts we needed on eBay provided us with a number of lessons as well. After spending countless hours navigating around the site, we finally realized that searches made with the make, model, and description of the part we wanted helped us zero in quicker than just browsing by year and model. Searching every night for new listings allowed us to jump on the "Buy It Now" before anyone else had a chance at the items we wanted. We also found that adding items to our Watch List in the My eBay section and not bidding until the last possible moment can sometimes keep the price down because you avoid all-out bidding wars early on. We also found that checking a seller's credibility by reviewing their feedback is important for determining the risk factor in a potential purchase.

Building a car in this manner was certainly different from dropping it off somewhere and flashing a credit card. It took time, patience, research, and effort, but when it was all finally said and done, the result was just as satisfying as the process.

FoundationsWhen building a house, you start with the foundation first. Same goes for a car-in this case, that's with a subframe system that stiffens the body structure. Unibody cars are like beer cans that can be easily twisted. We didn't want a difficult-to-control flexi-flyer, so we started with Kenny Brown's Matrix subframe system, strut tower, lower chassis, and rear shock-tower braces. From there, it depends on what direction the builder wants to take the car in terms of performance. The Kenny Brown Track Kit Plus takes care of high-performance street driving, dragstrip use, and open track racing in one package.

A good spring and shock setup came next. Ride quality is a function of matching a good shock absorber with the right spring rate. We've used Bilstein and Koni shocks with great success. These follow the European strategy of less aggressive shock valving. Mustangs do not start with sufficient caster from the factory for performance driving, so caster/camber plates are important, especially if you lower the car. The plates provide a lot more camber adjustability to accommodate new ride heights.