[rmoore45]

Looked at a MKII that I'm interested in buying yesterday. It needs some work to say the least! Build was completed in 2003 and its showing its age. Lots of little issues.

The seller doesn't know much about the car; so I looked at the documentation that comes with it and the wiring harness appears to be from a 1991 Mustang GT donor car. It has been extensively modified (chopped up) to fit the Cobra. Lots of butt splices, electrical tape, and connectors that don't go to anything.

When I looked under the dash, I was shocked to see the back side of an OEM Ford gauge cluster! Has anyone seen or heard of anything like this?

I have a few theories as to why it might be there but looking to see what other forum members think.

- Ranger

 

[narve00]

One of the options was to cut up the original gauges and build them into the dash.

 

[John Baker]

That's how the manual at the time recommended installing the donor gauges. I used the donor gauges and harness but replaced the cluster with terminal blocks. I have some pics here that will give you an idea of what it looks like.

John's FFR Build Site (Assembly Pics interior)

 

[John Shumaker]

With the donor engines if it had PATS (anti theft), one solution (free) was to keep the ignition switch and gauge cluster and tuck them behind the dash.

 

[rmoore45]

Thanks for the replies guys. Apparently I still have a lot to learn about these cars. Was able to look at an assembly manual and sure enough it shows the gauge cluster being mounted behind the dash.

@John Baker Great looking car! Really like the your website detailing the build, very thorough.

After looking at more pictures of this Mk II, the gauges are definitely from a donor car. Something I'll be changing if I end up getting it. Right now the owner thinks its worth way more than it actually is.

 

[CraigS]

My MkI was done that way although the wiring was nicely done. W/ your harness as badly hacked as you describe it may be best to rewire the entire car w/ the harness FFR currently offers. You would also need gauges so it is a significant investment. I recommend the FFR harness because when you have a question such as 'what is the grey wire in the plug for the XYZ', there will be plenty of guys who worked w/ that exact wire.

 

[chris n]

my mk1 was done that way now ive slowy been getting ready to change them out

 

[jperickson2001]

Still have my MK1 donor gauges. Still work great.

 

[BigShooter]

Looked at a MKII that I'm interested in buying yesterday. It needs some work to say the least! Build was completed in 2003 and its showing its age. Lots of little issues.

The seller doesn't know much about the car; so I looked at the documentation that comes with it and the wiring harness appears to be from a 1991 Mustang GT donor car. It has been extensively modified (chopped up) to fit the Cobra. Lots of butt splices, electrical tape, and connectors that don't go to anything.

When I looked under the dash, I was shocked to see the back side of an OEM Ford gauge cluster! Has anyone seen or heard of anything like this?

I have a few theories as to why it might be there but looking to see what other forum members think.

- Ranger

Back in 2001 I build an FFR series 1 cobra with a 1994 Mustang GT donor. It sounds a lot like that one. The gauge pod of the donor car was cut up and re-used. the mustang ignition and key slot stuck down at a weird angle on mine. the wire harness from the mustang had lots of stuff that wasn't used - such as AC, stereo, airbags, etc. So the electrical would look messy and disorganized to anyone who looked at it - basically as you describe. However, my cobra ran great and was amazingly trouble free, so I think the proof is in the pudding - does everything seem to work normally? Test it all out, and be sure to get a copy of the build manual if you buy it - that would be indispensable if you needed to make repairs.

 

[DAVE LITHWAY]

Yup, that's how we built 'em when using the donor route. Ran mine for a year, then took it off the road and re-did the job using all new parts from FFR. I used the harness from American Autowire at the time, but today the FFR supplied harness would be a better bet. It is worth the effort to do the rewire.

 

[CraigS]

There is one other option that will clean up at least the gauge wiring. The printed circuit board has huge prints so they are easy to follow. If you pull the dash loose and rig a way to hold it like you just tilted the top back and down until it is close to horizontal it isn't too hard. You can see a wire from a gauge to the circuit board and follow the print to where that circuit leaves the board connected to another wire. So you snip the two wires and splice them together. You keep using the donor gauges but eventually you no longer have the board in the circuit at all.
OE Style Instrument Cluster Printed Circuit Board for 90-93 5.0L - #M-10K843-8A - National Parts Depot (npdlink.com)