Cobra IRS Rear-End Swap
2004-03-30 -- by: J Dye

Car#1 - '99 Cobra Conv. 5-spd (Black), wants to drag race on the weekends.
Car#2 - '00 GT Conv. Auto. (White), wanted a better handling car for touring cross country.

Task: Swap the IRS rear that's in the Cobra with the solid axle rear that's in the GT Mustang.

The first thing was to check the differences in the driveshafts, the IRS Cobra's shaft is 1" shorter and the front yoke on the Auto. is different than that on the T-45 5-spd's. We just switched the front yokes on the two driveshafts. Note: See the two different driveshafts on the floor. Both cars had the stock 327 gears (for now), so there was no need to add a speed control device at this point. The rear lower seat was removed and the ABS brake wires (that run to the rear brake sensors) was disconnected and pushed out the large hole on both side of the cars floor next to the front mounting bolt of the lower control arms. Next we removed the brake lines at the rear caliber's. This will allow you to lower both the IRS and solid axle rears as a complete unit.

The complete IRS rear out and on the floor. Note: it's best to keep the IRS rear on the trans jack (its very heavy for two guys to try and lift back on to the trans jack).

The 99 Cobra without the IRS. Note: the welded in Kenny Brown sub-frame connectors and stock h-pipe.

Ready to install the IRS into the 2000 GT.

The IRS rear installed into the 2000 GT. Note: the owner of the GT had the Bassani X-Pipe and Cat-Back Exhaust System. The X-Pipe stayed but the Bassani Cat-Back System was moved over to the Cobra and the New MAC 3" was installed into the GT. We also removed the stock control arms from the GT's rear assembly and installed the METCO adjustable upper and lower control arms into the Cobra.

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