The past almost year has been a wild fun roller coaster ride. I know I am late to start a build log but I figured I'd throw what I have out there anyway.
My Cobra story starts here with the machine below. I saw this car for sale for a deal that I just couldn’t pass up. It needed quite a bit of work It was limping along on 5 cylinders. I purchased the car and fixed it up and was “bitten”. This car had two issues… Not enough power and it had terrible manual brakes. I thought about stroking it but then decided to start over from scratch on a platform that could better handle the power. I sold this ride turning a little profit and ordered a FFR roadster shortly after.
Three months later (Nov 5 2010) this is what was sitting in my garage
The starting point
Front suspension complete
Rear suspension complete
I wanted power brakes on this ride after my passion for hating my last brake setup. I went with a Whitby booster setup. I then modified the willwood pedal to be able to connect to the booster.
I don’t know why but I love switches. I decided I wanted to have a toggle switch to turn the fuel pump on and off. The fuel line routing and filter placement was a challenge due to space issues. I ended up using the ffmetal battery box and using it as a mount for the fuel pump thanks to others on the forum. If I were to do it again I would have gone with a manual fuel pump setup.
I modified a generic summit heater to fit behind the dash thanks to the forum again. I hope to extend my driving season. I hid my MSD behind the dash, not sure if I am going to have heat issues due to this. My relays for the fuel pump and a Russ Thompson turn indicator are to the left of the MSD. I welded in some dash support bars to make it a little more old school.
Bumped out the drivers side footbox. There is not much room in there with a big block but I could have probably gone up another 2 inches with it.
Engine after a new oil pan, windage tray and all the goodies.
I made mounts for the dash so I could mount it blind without the screws that go into the dash hoop showing on the front side. This is a Glen dash with autometer gauges. The important signatures are on the back of the dash.
TKO600 tied to the 428 just minutes before install
Engine installed
Swapped out willwood brake pedal pads to AC pads
I decided to go with a custom roll bar and chop out the rear bulkhead to expose my roll bar.
How I have spent 2 months of this summer. Lots and lots of sanding fun!
Here are some images and details on how I adapted the summit heater to work for my application. The most difficult part of this install was determining how to route the drivers side vent.
I didn't like the way the hoses came directly out of the firewall so I added copper and brass fittings to re-route the lines to run below the engine.
The switch did not fit the theme of the dash so I mounted the controls under the dash.
I added a vintage air shut off valve so that the coolant flow could be shut off during hot months when you want to keep the added heat out of the cabin. I mounted the shut off valve to the frame side of the motor mounts using two pieces of angle iron.
To run the cut off switch I ran a choke cable up behind my dash just above the key... again so I don't have to look at the pull switch. As a side note. I wanted to use a push button start but I also wanted the security of having a key, so I installed my ignition switch behind the dash to give me initial power then I use a button on the dash to start the car.
After several attempts I ended up placing the driver side heater vent just to the left of the steering column next to the fuse panel.
I placed the passenger vent in the obvious position just to the right of the heater core.
Note: I found out that the coolant flow is from the intake manifold to the heater core back to the water pump.
Its been a long time since I have updated this log. Since I have just reached another major milestone, I thought I would post some updated pics. I hope to have it all torn down and ready to shoot some slick sand this weekend. I also have to give a big thanks to Jeff, Scott and Greg M. for their excellent bodywork how to threads.
Thanks Shawn. They are finishline lenses (Finish Line Accessories). I then cut the light housings out of the 4 round lights provided with the kit and made an aluminum housing for the lights themselves. Here is a thread that describes the process.
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FFR4398. Powder coated chassis, pin drive IRS, custom side pipes, custom 289 FIA features, all aluminum 4.6L DOHC with Twin Turbos, Tremec TKOII, and lots of other goodies.
I was able to push hard and get the car torn down starting Wednesday and was able to shoot Slick sand yesterday. Man... it feels good to see the car one color again.
Last shot of the camo cobra prior to primer.
Before:
Nice build Brent! You will fool a lot of people who have FFR's.
__________________ -Don
FFR6966 - MK3.1, IRS, AFR 205 headed 408w, depleted bank account, pissed off wife, friends think I'm a hermit, dreaming of driving the Cobr@ someday. My Build Site PS Footbox Mod .pdf.dwg Tire Stencils .pdf.dwg
ALL RIGHT! I didn't see this thread until today. It looks awesome. I love the colors! I can't wait to see you on the road. When do you think you'll have it registered?
D
ALL RIGHT! I didn't see this thread until today. It looks awesome. I love the colors! I can't wait to see you on the road. When do you think you'll have it registered?
D
Thanks! I hope to have it registered in about 2 weeks. But I have never been right on a timeline during this build so why start now. I just did a cam swap and ordered the wrong push rods so that is going to set me back a bit.
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MK4 delivery 12/17/11
Build thread: HERE
Epic First start video HERE
427w ford racing, stainless headers, 3link, tko600, 3.55 gears, Jim Inglese weber intake system and a custom paint job from Jeff Miller!
Type 65 Coupe Ordered 01/17/13
Build thread: HERE
347 w. stack injection, IRS, Levy arms, Levy front and rear brakes
__________________ -Don
FFR6966 - MK3.1, IRS, AFR 205 headed 408w, depleted bank account, pissed off wife, friends think I'm a hermit, dreaming of driving the Cobr@ someday. My Build Site PS Footbox Mod .pdf.dwg Tire Stencils .pdf.dwg
Well..... not so much. My painter hates me right now. I was supposes to pick the body up on Monday, but I wasn't happy with some quality issues. I refused payment until it was corrected. Now I'm back to a... whenever he has time to fix it timeline. I felt like I was so close, now I'm going nuts. I guess its my turn to take some setbacks.
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My painter hates me right now. I was supposes to pick the body up on Monday, but I wasn't happy with some quality issues. I refused payment until it was corrected. Now I'm back to a... whenever he has time to fix it timeline. I felt like I was so close, now I'm going nuts. I guess its my turn to take some setbacks.
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