HG's Dream Car Build - Shelby Cobra Kit

[hgs_notes]

Cut out the new mockup dash and I'm going to mount everything to this and screw it down until the final version is done. Also made the headlight switch bracket and I think I have the brake light switch sorted out. The new hazard switch and small blade terminals will be here tomorrow. Also going to try out the new hinges I got for the glovebox door. The other day I tried making a grab bar for the passenger side but the tubing I chose is a bit too fat. Going to try again with a thinner tube.

The Dakota Digital gauges have a check engine light but I couldn't find any wires from the Ford control pack to indicate that. Called Ford performance today and asked about it. For some odd reason they didn't make that option on the first generation coyote control pack. And he couldn't find anything that would allow for adding it. So I'll just have to get the code reader hooked up occasionally and see if anything comes up. I'm going to check with some tuners and see if anyone knows how to make it work.

[hgs_notes]

Emailed Ron Francis about the flasher not flashing and my guess that it needs a load was accurate. The new hazard switch works good so that's done. So just a couple connections for the radio, make a couple short speaker wires and connect power to the aux ports.

I put the roll bar in. Looks funny without the body.

[hgs_notes]

We finally had a really nice weather day. It got to 60f, light breeze, sun was shining, probably the nicest day we have had since last October. I spent a lot of time out enjoying it and even got some things done on the cobra.

I cut the glovebox door opening and did it with a 30 degree angle. It helps hold the door in place, not falling through and the new hinges have a slight upward motion as it moves so the angle cut prevents it hitting the opening before it clears. Really happy with it. I'll have to make a nicer bracket to hold the hinges but it's basically just a piece of angle. My scrap pieces flex a bit and don't look great.

The final dash is going to be cut using a laser so the gap should be tighter. Then I finished the radio wiring, almost. My aux/USB adapter needs a different connector for the aux port. It works though and doesn't sound too bad with just a pair of mid-range speakers. Just a few wiring things to finish but nothing significant, just lighting and power ports. Once the final dash is built and going in I'll tie up my wires better and clear out what isn't needed.

I will have to move the headlight switch a bit because the tach hits it. A little further back and/or to the side should do it. And I may have to clearance the dash support tube for clearance on the tach. The cup that holds it wasn't part of my initial fitting and I don't want to lower the gauge if I can avoid it.

There's work to do in the footwells before the body goes on and a few other small tasks. I think next weekend I'm going to move the body into my 1 car garage to do some trimming and fitting before I drop it on the car.

[hgs_notes]

Got the body moved. Trimming and sanding to start soon.

[hgs_notes]

Started fitting the hood. It fits into the opening now but still a ways to go to final fit. Gotta take my time and not be too aggressive.

I installed the trunk lip seal, helps for fitting the trunk lid.

My air saw is kinda crappy and I'm not getting far with the wheel opening trimming. It keeps jamming so I might have to use a different tool.

[hgs_notes]

Well I thought I would have dropped the body on it by now but my seats for my crewcab got back from the upholstery shop and I had to get those installed, which included new carpet, which meant I should get that rusty cab support replaced, which lead to pulling out the old carpet and finding more rust holes, which lead to fixing a bunch of the front floor pans, sound deadening and finally the carpet and seats. And I installed new body bushings. Details shown on the farm truck thread.

So today I finally got back to the cobra, working on the list of things that need to be done before the body goes on. Started on securing the tranny tunnel cover but had to stop when my threaded rivet gun failed. Ordered a new, better one. I moved the headlight switch. And started putting the other sheetmetal pieces on the driver side footbox. But that first piece wasn't even close to fitting. It was half an inch off on the inboard side and about 1/8" to long. You can see the green line marking where it should be bent. I ended up cutting the piece in half and rebending it, which seems to have worked out.

Also greased the front suspension parts and mounted the horn. I may end up moving it once the body is on but maybe not. We'll see.

On the body, I have one wheel well trimmed. Need to do the other front wheel opening and where the dash fits then it's ready for the first test fit.

[hgs_notes]

Got my new rivnut tool so tried it out. Works great but heres a tip for anyone wanting to use rivnuts. Don't use the stainless steel ones. They are too hard. That's what damaged my old tool which worked fine for the softer ones. I needed to finish the one that was partially started and it bent the stud in the new tool, first time using it. It still works fine but I am not using anymore of the stainless ones.

Anyway, the tunnel cover is on. And I got the top of the driver side footbox on. Just a few more things left and I can set the body on and fit panels.

[hgs_notes]

Not much of an update but another inch towards the finish. The little bit of seat time I've had my right foot gets caught between the floor edge where it drops down under the pedals and the pedals themselves. So I built a little ramp to transition the drop.

[hgs_notes]

Finishing up the footwell. Tied up some wires. Started to put in the sound deadener. Got it started again for the first time since February. It wouldn't start the other day for me. Double checked my wiring because I couldn't remember undoing anything but I had power to everything and no codes. It took someone as skilled as a master technician to solve the issue. It was out of gas. IDK how but it was.

I built a dead pedal to rest my left foot on since there's not much room for my feet. I wear a size 13ish which I suppose is a bit higher than average but I don't think I have big feet. Anyway if my foot goes past the clutch pedal on the side it's a little tricky pulling it back out. And there's barely room between the brake pedal and the inner wall for my shoe to get to the gas pedal. I might have to get some slimmer shoes to drive it.

I still need to do some trimming on the body but then it's time to try and fit it on.

It's Miller time.

[CG]

Must be hard taking a break, getting so close dunno how you can sleep haha!

[fatbass]

I wear size 13 shoes too. I used to have a '64 Austin Healy Sprite and could only drive it with my Chuck Taylors on. Boots would overlap the pedals and cause all kinds of problems.
Keep on chuggin'. It's looking really nice.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by CG

Must be hard taking a break, getting so close dunno how you can sleep haha!

After working on this and so many others over the years I rarely lose sleep.

Originally Posted by fatbass

I wear size 13 shoes too. I used to have a '64 Austin Healy Sprite and could only drive it with my Chuck Taylors on. Boots would overlap the pedals and cause all kinds of problems.
Keep on chuggin'. It's looking really nice.

I have a pair of tennis shoes that are fairly small profile Ill try.

[hgs_notes]

After trying every type of power saw tool I have and not liking how any of them worked I decided to try my die grinder with a cutoff wheel. It worked great! Buzzed through the fiberglass nice and only took a few minutes. Then I used a couple different sanders to clean up some stuff on the inside of the tub. A lot of people spray the inside of the tub with bed liner or some kind of undercoating. I don't know if it's necessary but figured why not. I sprayed 2-1/2 of the big cans of rustoleum bed liner on it.

Body should be on the car in the next couple days!

[hgs_notes]

The wife, my daughter and her fiance helped drop the body on. I need to move a few bolts for the rear bumper for the rear of the body to drop down the rest of the way.

[hgs_notes]

Panels in place.

[hgs_notes]

Been longer than I thought since I worked on the cobra. I got sidetracked with other things. Check my farm truck thread and I have a thread on my new to me boattail riviera too. But I've been getting the itch to get back on this so I started fitting up the trunk lid. For the time being I'm going to keep tight gaps, around 1/8", until I start doing the real bodywork. The hood is fairly close to that and I'm at least 75% there on the trunk. The driver door actually fits in the opening but will need some trimming. The passenger door is out of wack quite a bit. Saving that for last lol.

As soon as these panels are set the body comes off so I can put in the seals/weatherstripping then set it back on. Hopefully all on the same day.

[hgs_notes]

Started fitting the doors. PITA

Too much body movement and I'm not sure the body is positioned correctly. Driver door was going OK. Passenger door is a mess. Didn't remove any material around the edges but there was a gap that isn't too bad. Now you would think that's awesome but no. Because the height on top where it meets the front fender is way too high and yet still rubbed on the overlap area. Then I go to the back of the car and lift the body almost an inch which changes the door opening.

So I stopped before I messed up. I pulled the body off and started putting the seals on. Then when I drop the body back down I need to position it correctly and screw it down.

I did sit in it and fire it up just to hear that straight out the header roar.

[hgs_notes]

Trying to lock the body down to the chassis today. It's close, as close as I can get it because the chassis isn't quite where it should be. I need the body to be about 1/8-3/16" more to the passenger side in front but the lip on the hood opening hits the tube, it's as far over as I can go. I'm not sure yet how that will effect the windshield mounting.

Oh and I got license plates. I'm not going to be surprised if the state kicks it back though and asks for more tax money. The woman at DMV had never registered a kit car before and just winged it. Her boss was there and had a little input. They only charged taxes based on what I paid for the kit, and I paid MA sales tax on that which was .25% less than MN so just paid the difference. She didn't add the engine and tranny costs to it so it might come back for that. Although there is no place on the documents asking for the value on those. It's not a huge amount since I bought them used and I expected to have to pay it.

I am going to try and get it together enough this weekend to take it for a drive. The windshield is optional in MN so we'll see if I get that far. I think I'm going to put the seat belts/harnesses in next, then lights, then exhaust. Break time is over...

[LS short box]

MN is tuff when registering non-stock cars. Keep every receipt so you can prove what you have in the car so if the state comes back with a higher value you can contest it with paper work.

[hgs_notes]

Didn't get it out on the road. The lights are on but not wired. Sidepipes are on and loud as hell. I took it off the jack stands and the rear tires hit the wheel openings. The front is a bit high. This is the first time the car is on the ground with the body on it. Oh well, I'll get to drive it soon enough.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7d2WnqEG...3YpPxd3P2oDuNr

[hgs_notes]

Today was the day!

Yesterday almost was. I worked on raising the rear up and got it high enough to stop the tire rubbing the body. Drove around the yard a bit and headed down the driveway. And it died right at the end of the driveway. My driveway is 1/4 mile long BTW. I thought I ran out of gas. Put some gas in and nothing. I couldn't hear the fuel pump running.

Well wtf, it's a new pump. So I got towed back to the garage and started troubleshooting. Fuses were all good. Tried putting power directly to the pump at the plug and nothing.

This morning I pulled the pump out and the power lead soldered connector was separated. Easy fix and away I went. I got about 6 miles on it on the county roads around here. The ride was really good. Not harsh at all. It was so strange to drive though. Your ass is about 8" off the ground. It was like driving my racecar. It's not even like a convertible.

Anyway, the brakes need more bleeding. It stalls when coming to a stop, which the Ford tech line said I shouldn't have to worry about. I think I have a fix for that though from Dakota digital. I should get the windshield on, lol. And finish wiring. Still lots to do but I finally drove it down the road!

Sorry about the sideways pics. And I was not driving over 100 mph. The speedometer isn't calibrated yet. Only went 55 and only hit 5th gear once for about 15 seconds. Remember, no windshield and soft brake pedal.

[Rickysnickers]

Flipped

[hgs_notes]

Thanks Ricky.

Today I did more suspension adjustment, bled the rear brakes and got all the blinkers and brake lights connected. The left rear brake had a bunch of air in it. The only lights left are the headlights which I can't reach the pigtail easily and will need to pull the whole assembly to get to, and the license plate light, which I need to figure out where to route the harness to.

I ordered some LED headlights for it. A more modern design that my kid tried on his monte carlo. They look alright and way brighter than the halogens. The yellow halo will get wired to the blinkers too. It's a small low car and I want it to be seen, like a motorcycle.

I took another stepson for a ride. He's about my weight and with both of us heavyweights in it I only heard a tire rub once for a split second. I'll put coilovers on eventually but can't afford to this year. I better start getting the windshield mounted, lol. I can't wait to get some more miles on it, get used to the transmission and the feel of it. It rides nice, not harsh at all.

Still haven't heard back from the state about the title yet. Don't know if that's good or bad.

[hgs_notes]

Put the windshield on and did a little more driving around. I missed a couple wires for the Dakota Digital gauges to allow the setup buttons to work and calibrate the speedometer and gas gauge. So I got that taken care of. During the drive I got the speedometer setup and compared it with a satellite speed app on my phone. It was on the money. Even with the windshield it's windy driving it. I think it'll get better with the wind wings and doors on.

[fatbass]

It's looking badass. Love this build.
Are you planning on any competition racing? If nothing else I'd love to see a 1/8 or 1/4 mile time slip when you get it dialed in.