HG's Dream Car Build - Shelby Cobra Kit

[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.

[MP&C]

Nice progress!!

[hgs_notes]

Rear axle clean up started. Pressure washers are awesome. It's got like new brake pads, and a limited slip differential. 3.27 gears look decent and taller gears would be better but these will work for now. New rear shocks are ordered. Some fresh paint and reseal the cover will do for now.

I've been dreading ordering the engine management system for months. The high cost and unknowns on tuning, etc. But the cost has already jumped recently and I expect it will continue to do so. I bit the bullet and put my order in on the Ford control pack today. I did it through jegs using their price match option, hoping they accept that.

[hgs_notes]

Hey, got my new engine management system delivered earlier than expected! Too bad the PCM is missing! FML

Another one is being sent.

[hgs_notes]

The replacement control pack was delivered today and looks complete! Also the radiator and steering rack I bought at the back to the 50s car show last weekend were delivered. I'm still working on my engine/tranny swap on my truck though so no progress beyond parts delivery to report.

[hgs_notes]

Engine/tranny swap are mostly done on the C10, although it has some tuning issues that need to be sorted out. I need a break from it though so I worked on getting the rear axle on this ready to go in. It's just cleaning and painting, but needs to be done. I'm using por 15, including their caliper paint. To save money I'm sticking with the stock brakes which seem to be almost new all around. And red calipers mean awesome braking ability! Hoping to get it mounted this week. Just need to powder coat the rear spring mount brackets and paint the other calipers and reassemble them.

I need to bring a couple wheels in to get the beads cleaned out and remounted. When I bought it a couple of them were flat and stuck in the mud. So some mud is in the beads causing slow leaks. They are just for rollers until I get what I actually want on it.

[hgs_notes]

Took the day off for my birthday. Spent part of it working on the cobra. The rear axle control arms are assembled and mounted to the axle. The rear coil brackets are on the frame only to mark for a couple holes that need to be drilled in the frame. Then I'll powder coat them and remount and the axle can be installed.

[hgs_notes]

Rear axle is in! Need to install the shocks, finish painting the calipers and install. Two of the mustang tires had bead leaks and are at the local shop to get fixed. Then it's a roller!

[hgs_notes]

Rear shocks are in. Wasn't as easy as it should have been. The upper mount of the vertical shocks have cups that fit under and above the rubber bushings. The upper cup had to be ground down on one side so it would fit against the frame rails. Then I had to make spacers for the rear end of the quad shocks to have a little bit of clearance between the vertical and quad shocks. They are very close. The OEM quad shocks don't have a cover cylinder over the exposed shaft. I bought the KYB version so it's close. If they rub I'll do some trimming on the quad shocks.

Then I get to the end of the instructions for the axle install and it tells me how to install the limit straps. The lower end goes on the lower shock bolt. FFS really? Getting those bolts in the first time was a struggle. Having to hold the shock against it's internal pressure while fitting washers for spacers produced an extreme amount of sweat. I seriously considered drilling another hole in the brackets instead of redoing that.

Instead I got a ratchet strap to hold the shock and put it on the right way but damn the instructions could have addressed that earlier. BTW, I can still lift the rear of the car after the axle install. Not easily but I can. I doubt I'll be able to once the engine and transmission are in but I think 4 people would be able to lift the finished car.

I got 4 tires that hold air now. This weekend it'll be a roller. Not tomorrow though. Tomorrow I'm going to the street machine nationals in St Paul.

[mongocanfly]

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

[MP&C]

Help prevent axle wrap?

[mongocanfly]

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

[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.
------------
"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.

[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?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by 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?

No issues at all. Same thing with back to the 50s. No worries. There was 1 cobra there Friday. I talked to the owner. He bought it as a finished car for $40k and drove it for a couple years as is until the engine blew. Then he spent another $80k on it. Nuts. He told me he should have just bought a new continuation cobra for what he spent. Nice car though.

[hgs_notes]

Mounted the pedal box today. I'll have to take it back out for paint. I sat in the car for the first time in years to see how the pedal position was. The gas pedal isn't in yet, it uses the one from the Ford control pack. Regardless, my right shoe doesn't fit between the brake and right side plate so I'll have to bend it over to the left a bit. And get smaller feet.

My wife ordered the master cylinder for my birthday. It was the right part number, correct number on the box, but wrong part in the manufacturers box. No idea how that happened but not the first time I've had parts problems the past few months. Time to order another one.

[hgs_notes]

Used the torch and heated up the pedal arms for adjustment. Should have decent room now.

[hgs_notes]

Today's progress, painted and installed the firewall and the front panel of the pedal box. The pedals are installed. Started setting up the steering. Had to order an adapter coupling for the steering shaft to the rack. I should have all the parts needed to complete the steering by next weekend.

I'll probably just be working on sheet metal installation until the parts get here. And I need to see if the push rod from the mustang will work with the master cylinder without the hydroboost on it. May need some modification.

[hgs_notes]

Today I put the steering wheel on because I needed to use some washers as spacers under the upper shaft bearing so it didn't hit the square tubing near where it's mounted. I figured I would see where it put the wheel while sitting in it. Felt good so I'll leave it as is.

The next step is sheet metal, starting around the passenger side foot well. Mark for rivet holes, drill holes, reinstall and drill rivet holes in tubing, remove, clean and paint the sheet metal, put on silicone, reinstall with a couple screws then finally rivet in place. Then move on to the next piece. Very tedious and time consuming but it's coming along.

I need to get some under coating for the floor pan pieces. And I also need to decide on what to use for heat and sound control before I get to far and access gets difficult.

Oh and the brand new bushings in the rear lower control arms are falling apart before they are even used. I think they are delrin which are supposed to be decent. A balance between the stiff polyurethane and soft rubber. This is really a kick in the nads. Putting the bushings in the control arms wasn't so bad. Putting the control arms in the car was kind of a b1tCH. Chinesium delrin apparently.

[hgs_notes]

I was gone most of the week so didn't get progress until today after I got my paperwork done. Parts were delivered while I was gone. The only problem was the tie rod ends which I ordered for a 98 mustang, the donor, but didn't fit the threads on the mustang 2 rack. Metric vs standard I guess.

The steering shaft to rack adapter that came with the kit is for power steering. The instructions say the other styles of adapter are available from FFR, but the one I need isn't. Probably back ordered. The other one was priced at $85 though and I wouldn't pay that anyway. Turns out nobody else makes the correct adapter, 9/16 26 spline to 3/4" DD. The only option is one for 3/4" round, so I got one off eBay for $18. I drilled a hole through it to match the inset hole on the steering shaft knuckle. Then I drilled through that also and used one of the extra 1/4" bolts to lock it all together. Turned out great!

Next was installing the rack. The offset bushings came and that should have been enough to get the rack in, but nothing seems to go as it should. The driver side bracket was misaligned. I had to grind out the hole about 1/4" so the bolt would go in through the bushing. Everything is working well. Four turns lock to lock and smooth. Can't wait for the correct tie rod ends so I can see how it feels.

The correct master cylinder came along with the new brake hoses. Not sure what all I'm still going to need to build the rest of the brake system. But I'm sure rockauto and others will help me along.

[hgs_notes]

Undercoating in a can sucks. I'll start with that. I had a partial can and sprayed the bottom side of the foot box panel. It wasn't drying. Look at the can and it says it takes a day to dry. Wow. Turns out it wasn't quite a full day but it wasn't getting installed that day for sure. And it was dark brown, not black. At least it's paintable. I got one piece in.

Ok, try a different can. It says it dries in an hour. Not even close. I think it's slower than the other one. I'll check it tonight before I go to bed. I've got other panels I intended to undercoat but now I'm debating what to spray on them. I'm waiting to do the rest of the floor until I get the fuel and brake lines run.

Made a little progress on the brake system. Master cylinder is on. Front hoses are on. I got the proportioning valve off the mustang and made a simple bracket to mount it. I ordered a brake push rod that is adjustable. I might end up taking the pedal box out again to modify the brake pedal to get more leverage for the manual brakes. I'll need to get another couple short brake lines to replace the ones from the master cylinder. Rebending the originals isn't a good option.

Hoping to finish the brake lines next week. The gas tank should be mounted also. I need to review the coyote install instructions for the fuel system. I don't know if what they supplied in the kit is adequate. They're kinda small.

[hgs_notes]

Haven't been putting much time on this lately. Mostly working on my C10 which is coming along pretty well. I had to order different brake hoses for the rear, which came yesterday. Then realized that all the brake lines supplied with the kit were the older style inverted flare rather than the bubble flare all of the brake components use. So I'll have to redo most of the flares.

The steering is becoming a real hassle. The kit assumes you will use a power steering rack from a mustang. Even if you are doing manual steering, which is odd. The instructions tell you to remove the hydraulic lines from the power rack. They supply rack extenders to fit that rack to help eliminate bump steer. I thought that getting an actual manual rack would be better. Manual steering was available for the fox body mustang but not the newer style. Turns out those manual racks are like hens teeth. But mustang 2 racks are available everywhere. The problem there is I can't find extensions that fit it. It has 5/8"-18 threads and I will probably have to make my own. The next problem is that the inner tie rods are shorter than mustang ones, which are also difficult to find replacements that are longer because nobody made inner tie rods with those 5/8-18 threads. Which means finding longer outer tie rods or making an extension for the inners.

My point to all of this is that this is why projects stall. Parts don't fit or are not available to make work. Or I would have to buy another rack that would be easier to work with but much more expensive and probably will have a harder steering feel. Anyway, enough griping, time to get some work done.

[hgs_notes]

Post #100!

After griping about the challenges on the previous post I figured out some stuff and just got back to work. I got the left front brake line made last night and the right front line done tonight. I'm not great at bending lines but I'm satisfied with how these turned out.

I was wrong about the thread size on my rack. Turns out that 5/8-18 and M16-1.50 are REALLY close to the same size. Also it's not easy to find either of those on hand anywhere. I even tried Fastenal and only found jam nuts and one 60mm long bolt.

My new plan is to use the 98 mustang tie rods, the extensions that came with the kit and make threaded bushings that adapt the extensions to fit my rack. I've got a slug of 1" steel to make it but will need some help or tools. I've got a neighbor that has a lathe and mill so I'll see if he can help me out.