HG's Dream Car Build - Shelby Cobra Kit

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

That Monte is pretty neat. I like the stance and side pipes. Pretty cool. Are you going to drop the van and use it for swap meets?

The kid has a friend that's going to use the Monte for prom, LOL.

The van I want to convert to 4x4. It's not easy and the one kit I found for brackets, tec. is no bargain at $2500 just for the brackets. Might be something I can reverse engineer or I go with the body swap option and set the van on a truck chassis. Lots of inquiries online for people asking if they could do it but so far I haven't found a completed one done that way. Looking underneath the van the only real problem area I see is connecting the steering and maybe the engine position, but I think that issue goes away with the van body sitting on top of the chassis, effectively being a large body lift. The van body is wider but measurements I took of my old Jimmy axles are not that much narrower, an inch or 2, which can be made up for in wheel offset and width for what would be much larger tires compared to stock.

As for the cobra, I FINALLY have the head bolts. A story all it's own. Going to get back to reassembling the engine soon!

[hgs_notes]

Got the body separated from the chassis and on the body buck. Hopefully I can get it stored how I want. It's really light, my wife helped me move it. I'd be surprised if it weighs 100 lbs. I'll be moving the chassis into the 3 car garage for assembly. I've been sitting in a lawn chair for the last 30 minutes just looking at it and letting my thoughts wander.

[hgs_notes]

It worked! Up up and away! The wife is worried, I'm not but a couple boards may get used to support it. Like jack stands, lol.

[hgs_notes]

Got back to work on the engine today. Spent all afternoon on it and it barely looks like I touched it. Oh well, progress was made none the less. Heads torqued on with new bolts, new oil pump on, new rear main seal installed. If I haven't mentioned it yet, working on the coyote is a PITA. I had to take it off the engine stand and replace the rear seal with it hanging from the hoist because you have no access otherwise. And it has to be done before putting the oil pan on because it's the rear wall of the block gasket surface for the pan.

Spent a lot of the time cleaning gasket surfaces with scuff pads. Went through a handful of those haha. It's not like a cast iron block you can scrape and get rough with. Also trying out the Goodson aluminum paint, you can see where I sprayed the side of the block and it looks like fresh aluminum.

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work. I like your body storage method. The engine is looking great as well.

[hgs_notes]

Had the afternoon free to play in the garage. I took my time with the next steps and only ran into 1 potential minor problem. Thank you to whoever posts online tech manuals! For instance, check out the torque sequence for the oil pump...

[hgs_notes]

Anyway, good progress was made. The cams are installed, hopefully the correct cams are in the correct location! The new timing chains are installed and everything lined up as it should have. Oil pan and timing chain cover installed, which is where there's a minor potential issue. Some of the bolts have an extra stud on the head for clamping other things onto, like the wire harness, etc. The manual didn't identify which 3 positions were supposed to be that style. It did for the oil pan bolts, but not this. I found one for sure from a pic I took before tear down but I didn't have good pics showing the others. I should be able to swap a couple bolts if needed later without issue.

The great news is no leftover parts and no missing parts! For never having any experience with this engine family I call that a huge success.

[hgs_notes]

Couple more pics. I already told the wife I might run the valve covers through the dishwasher, LOL.

I think I need to get a few more parts. Like a water pump and a few other bits. I'm still debating what intake manifold to use. The 1st gen F150 intake I have is by far the best for power up to up 5500 rpm, which is where the others catch up and then pull ahead. Below that though it's an astonishing gain. I don't intend to race it so the high end power trade off seems like the way to go. The 2018 intake has been the most common upgrade for the older engines. It beats are matches pretty much every other intake available for stock engines, which this is. It's not very expensive either. And a fairly easy swap any time I want.

[hgs_notes]

Slow progress, cleaning and painting bits and pieces. I didn't ask permission to use the dishwasher but did warn her. Lol, I don't think I'll do it again. It did leave a scent of something petroleum in it. Ran an extra wash cycle after and the smell is lingering. So this morning I sprayed it with 409, which should break it down better than dishwasher soap.

The valve covers were pre cleaned in the parts washer and dried before coming into the house but all those little nooks and crannies were a ***** to clean. They look decent now. As long as the smell disappears I'll be safe lol.

[mongocanfly]

After the dishwasher ordeal, your lucky you didnt have to move out..!!..haha

[hgs_notes]

Water pump and alternator kit were delivered. And 6 of 8 spark plugs, WTH rockauto? Second time in a row I've received a box with missing quantities.

The main thing left for the engine is the control pack to make it run. There's a few little bits I need to get but it's pretty much together.

Getting ready to start on the chassis. Going to pick up some paint for some of the aluminum panels tomorrow and start pulling parts from the mustang.

[hgs_notes]

Today I opened the first box of parts from the kit. First time since I did the inventory after getting the kit home. I didn't start on the chassis today but did remove one of the aluminum panels to see if it would fit in the oven to powder coat. It sort of fits but since there's so many panels that won't I decided to use paint instead on those. I'm going with a hammered texture paint, in silver. That way scratches or chips won't be so noticable.

I will still be doing some powder coating. I've already found brackets that need to be done. I got the oven in the garage but need to change the pigtail to fit my outlet. I'll pick up the HF powder coating gun this week.

Still felt good to unpack a box and get a plan in place, even though I didn't really accomplish anything on the car. Oh I did start changing the shifter to the mid position on the transmission. That was WAY more involved than I expected. And then got stuck on reassembly because the o rings were damaged on the shift rods and I didn't have a good match in my kits. So another run into town to try and find a good match. I'm not sure why I decided to do that this afternoon. I was looking at it taking up a ton of workbench space. I guess I just wanted to get it done and ready to install, the parts were sitting right there, except for the dang o rings, lol.

[hgs_notes]

Found o rings today so I put the transmission back together.

And got the first of many aluminum panels on.

[hgs_notes]

I got the other F panel on the front. And pulled the front lower control arms and spindles off the mustang. Ball joints are shot, bushings not much better, and the stamped control arms are not good looking, in general. They are in good shape, just ugly. But tubular replacements are at least $260 and after the serious outlay of cash the past few months it's a bitter pill. It will probably only cost about $75. Plus paint or powder coat.

And then there's the rear suspension. Use the mustang stuff or upgrade to coilovers? Mo money mo money mo money! Anyway, stuff is happening. Parts need to be bought. The usual.

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work and I've used that trick on the plugs as well. Congrats on the youngest graduating. You're not far off from being an empty nester now are ya?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice work and I've used that trick on the plugs as well. Congrats on the youngest graduating. You're not far off from being an empty nester now are ya?

About 6 weeks if the kid finds a place to rent! The wife will be inconsolable.

[hgs_notes]

Graduation is done, work is done for the week. Today I tried out the powder coating system. It went well, I did some brackets for the front spindles. I started removing the rear axle from the mustang, might get that out yet today. That car is pretty much rust free, should be able to sell what's left for a decent price. The bolts are coming out alright, not having to fight them too much.

Going to get my 383 for the C10 this weekend, transmission might be ready soon also. Doing that swap will be a priority over this project but I still expect this to be a roller in June. I stopped by a shop yesterday in Lewiston, MN that does a lot of coyote swaps to ask about engine management. They pretty much use the Ford control pack system so I think that's the way I'll be going.

[hgs_notes]

Even though I should be focused on the truck right now I've been dicking around with this front suspension stuff so long I had to see some progress. The right front suspension is in. The only real mistake I made was position of the cotter key hole in the upper ball joint. Made it difficult to get the pin in the hole. The directions are short on details about what bolts to use where. It's a mix of stuff from the kit and the donor but I figured it out. The other side should be easier.

Rear tubular control arms are bought and being shipped. Cheaper ebay set. I have a lot of work ahead with the rear axle yet.

[hgs_notes]

Got the left side assembled.

[mongocanfly]

Interesting setup on the shocks, what's the horizontal shock do?

[MP&C]

Help prevent axle wrap?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Interesting setup on the shocks, what's the horizontal shock do?

It's unusual for sure. Standard rear suspension from the mustang. You can get coilovers as an option from factory five and I think you remove the horizontal quad shocks if you use them.

Since I wrote the previous I did some googling and found this info. A short quote about it here and I'll copy the link below if you want to learn more but what it comes down to is axle wrap and wheel hop.
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"They are there to damp the axle housing rotation that is allowed by bushing compliance and which leads to wheelhop. Lots of people say, incorrectly, that changing LCA's and/or UCA's will unequivocally eliminate the need for quads. Some people get that lucky, but there are a lot of other factors involved and as long as you're dealing with the factory 4-link design, and as long as you have some bushing compliance somewhere (as you MUST, if you want the suspension to articulate properly), then you have the opportunity for wheelhop.

Many, many things contribute to wheel hop. Let's first understand what wheel hop is caused by.

When you torque the axle, it wants to rotate backwards. With the amount of compliance built into the entire system, it can, to a point. When it hits that point it shocks the system and unloads the tire, which unloads the axle housing, causing it to unwind, reload the tire, and the cycle starts over again. Quad shocks are designed to damp the oscillations of the housing that lead to wheel hop, and contrary to internet gang-bang knuckledragger opinion, THEY WORK, to a point, and only when they're good. The people who say they took off their quads and noticed no difference took off bad quads."

https://www.corral.net/threads/what-...urpose.317796/

[hgs_notes]

Brakes are on.

[mongocanfly]

I wouldnt think there would be any axle wrap with a 4link..

[LS short box]

I thought you were going to have it ready for Street Machine Nationals this past weekend?
Just kidding! Looks great.
We didn't make to St.Paul this year. First time since 1995. We were more than worried about security outside the venue. Did you have any or hear of any issues?