Cobra Progress Report

Topic: Cobra Progress Report (Read 5751 times) previous topic - next topic

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #15 – June 13, 2006, 12:14:36 AM

I remember seeing a kit that used a LOT of parts off of a fox mustang. It wasn't a traditional Cobra kit, but it was still very neat.

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #16 – June 13, 2006, 12:22:20 AM

Quote

I noticed in the first picture the car is sitting on the right side of the driveway. does that mean you've sent the body off for paint?

I wish! No it's not painted yet, but I did drive the chassis up and down the street a couple of times.
Glad to hear she's doing Ok, I already miss that car..

The Cobra is a Factory Five replica. The kit is designed to use a 87 to 93 Mustang as a donor. I'm not doing that since I didn't have one. I'm using all new parts, except the gas tank, and the 89 TBird S/C rear center section, and that was rebuilt with new bearings, gears and clutck packs. There is no requirement to use a used chassis or anything like that. I applied for and received a smog exemption because it is a reproduction of a '65 model car, and only has to meet '65 smog requirements. Only 500 exemptions are allowed per year. This is for California, other states have their own unique rules. When you receive your chassis, you will also receive paperwork certifing where the kit came from. That paperwork is used to generate a title. I've had the car about a year and a half. I think I've made some good progress, even with being gone for two to three weeks at a time with my job. John

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #17 – June 13, 2006, 12:03:25 PM

i like the factory five kits..

that will be one sweet ride.

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #18 – June 16, 2006, 09:55:28 PM

gonna be a killer looking car!

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #19 – June 17, 2006, 08:26:05 AM

What made you decide to use the MN12 IRS and not the Cobra IRS?

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #20 – June 17, 2006, 11:50:52 AM

Quote from: Tbird232ci

What made you decide to use the MN12 IRS and not the Cobra IRS?

The chassis is set up for the TBird outer bearing carriers, The Factory Five lower A arms and the upper camber links will bolt directly to the TBird bearing carrier. There is no real world advantage to using the Mustang Cobra parts, the Cobra center section is aluminum and will bolt in, but is not quite as strong as the TBird iron unit, and requires special tools to change gears. The complete TBird IRS only cost me $300.00 plus the 3.55 gear set and about $150 to get rebuilt. Here's a photo of the fabricated A Aam and upper camber link. I'm also using the FMS Cobra R brakes.

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #21 – June 18, 2006, 12:01:14 PM

Another alternative to the aluminum carrier, if youre interested, is the Mark VIII, but im pretty sure you already knew that, since it seems youve done your homework for quite some time.

Everything looks great, you get a thumbs up from me, and thats rare i give a thumbs up.

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #22 – August 15, 2006, 06:01:01 PM

hows the progress on this? i was thinking about it the other day. im thinking about going down to factory five and tour the shop as they are in massachusettes. im trying to get my dad to buy one

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #23 – August 15, 2006, 06:49:59 PM

Quote from: shame302

hows the progress on this? i was thinking about it the other day. im thinking about going down to factory five and tour the shop as they are in massachusettes. im trying to get my dad to buy one

Haven't done much lately, been bogged down with work. I did fab up some pusher fans and a rock guard for the front of the rad, finished up the wiring, and ordered new seats. The seats that come with the car leave alot to be desired. I hope to get the suspension aligned this week. Here's a photo of the pusher fans I built. They are available as a kit from a couple of different vendors- for a price. I built my own for about 1/3 what the fan kit costs.

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #24 – August 15, 2006, 07:54:15 PM

realy awesome man. id gut my stang for one in a heartbeat if i already owned a factory five kit....okay, i wouldnt go that far but i would so love to be lucky enough to be able to build one...

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #25 – September 12, 2006, 11:28:01 PM

Took the Cobra to the dyno last Monday, here are the results. The amazing thing about these numbers is that they were made on 87 octane California pump gas. Right out of the box with no tune, the 331 produced 356 HP @ 5955 RPM, and 328 ft lbs Tq. @ 5517 RPM. Went up from 73's on the secondary to 76's and it produced 372.8 HP @ 6156, and 340.5 ft lbs torque @ 5262 RPM. These are rear wheel HP numbers, corrected with a standard correction factor. This is a low compression, 9.25 to 1 motor, Holley 650 DP, Stock Edelbrock Victor Jr manifold, Edelbrock Performer RPM heads with 2.02 intake valves, and a CompCams 280 dur, .560 lift cam. The only changes made to the Holley other than the secondary jet changes was to go to a slightly larger pump shooter on the primary side. here's the chart from run #3. This thing is gonna be crazy! 372 HP and a curb weight of 2300 lbs! John

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #26 – September 13, 2006, 12:55:37 AM

372! nice! Looking good, keep the updates coming John :) I can't wait to see some video of this badboy in action! Very nice lots of luck with her

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #27 – September 13, 2006, 08:56:55 AM

Those are some nice numbers. That torque curve is nice and flat, gotta love that Comp cam! That thing is a beast! Got that body out for paint yet?

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #28 – September 13, 2006, 09:42:30 AM

Quote from: Dogcharmer;103763

Those are some nice numbers. That torque curve is nice and flat, gotta love that Comp cam! That thing is a beast! Got that body out for paint yet?

Hay! how's my old 'TBird doing?
The dyno operator couldn't believe the torque curve, said it was more of a "torque line" and not a curve. He said it's common to see that on a larger motor, at a lower RPM, but usually small blocks producing this much power tend to be peaky. This thing is unbeliveably loud at 6000, he said it was starting to hurt his ears. This engine shows that you don't need high compressiion and race gas to get good numbers.
I've been completing some of the things I needed to do before I send the body out. Finished up the electrical stuff, insulating the pen 15pit, installing sound deadner (Dynamat) and getting it aligned. I'm shooting for sometime next month for getting the body out for the body work and paint.
John

Cobra Progress Report

Reply #29 – September 13, 2006, 10:15:26 AM

Your old bird is doin fine. It’s a great car. I’ve got all the gages under the cowl hooked up and lighted. I swapped out the oil temp gage for a vacuum gage. I’ve gotta get a side exit exhaust welded up so I can register it. TX doesn’t like turn downs (I do). I’ll probably do that next month now that the day time temps are coming down to reasonable levels. All the little stuff is pretty much done on the car. The only thing’s I’ve had to replace have been the steering rack (blew a seal) and the fuse block on the battery box (melted). After I get the exhaust done and the car registered I might dig into the engine and probably replace the cam with a Comp xe258 or 266. Not sure which one yet.

I get compliments on the car all the time. The other day a guy walked right past a new C6 vette at the gas station to check out the Bird. That was cool, heheh…

Btw, I talked to a body man friend of mine about the rear window trim. He told me to use etching primer before I painting it. so I removed all the old paint, masked it off and primed and painted it on the car and it turned out great. It's lasted all summer with no signs of blistering or peeling. I guess the etching primer made the difference.