1979 Turbo Cobra

[AjentX]

thanks AgentX, as soon as I get mine in a drive-able state we could totally cruise! at least a couple months for me I'm guessing. with school and work and flight lessons, and a couple film projects life gets hectic

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: I have too many fricken hobbies!!!

Yeah I'm totally in the same boat lol.. school, film.. girlfriend.. lol takes a lot of time.. lol and i fear it will be longer for me than a couple months.. :/

[Lacky01]

Well, I got some work done on the cobra. I put the engine on TDC, checked that the timing mark on the cam lined up and it was right on. I pulled the cap off of the distributor and it appeared it wasn't quite lined up with numero uno. So I pulled it out and re-stabbed it on the next tooth over. It's much better now. The next free afternoon I get I'll try re-adjusting the choke and see if I can't get a decent idle. I found out that I'm not getting any power to the 12V wire going to the choke spring. which explains why I can never get it to warm up. That will have to be dealt with as it seems I have a bunch of little electrical gremlins here and there. I also don't have the choke spring holding tension on the choke lever which explains why it would die after a few seconds. the choke plates aren't being held open enough and essentially flooding the carb.

[WHTLTHR79RS]

To make sure that the spring in the choke cap is engaged correctly on the choke lever, loosen the retaining ring and rotate the cap 90 degrees in one direction, you should feel tension on the choke plate, do the same in the other direction and you will feel the choke plate have tension in the other direction..

[Lacky01]

Well I've gotten it to idle and I think my choke is working how I want. theres some stuff I need to do to it before I can try making it run better. for now it idles pretty smooth at about 900.

Today I degreased the drivetrain!! I think the motor was rebuilt because it blew a main seal and was never cleaned up afterward. it was BAD. I tried Engine-Brite for the first time. it sucked. the most effective thing was a scratch pad and some purple degreaser. I didn't know the whole block was blue
pictures in a couple days

[Lacky01]

some progress!!!

this was a few weeks ago, after I got the engine cleaned up a bit.











I got done with that and it was still smoking. so I pulled off the exhaust to get that really clean. once that was off I had easy access to the dirty belly, so i decided Id clean all of that. I started with the wheel wells and it was difficult and slow due to the suspension components. and as I scrubbed it took a little of the paint. and near the rear there is a lot of surface rust. SO, I'm currently dropping the suspension components, and the whole underside will get degreased and cleaned, then treated with Naval Jelly and Undercoating.







I'm not sure when this process will get done, but it should be well worth the effort my girlfriend is coming over tomorrow to help me clean and degrease. after that, its clean and paint the suspension


I would really like to freshen up some of the components. I will get new tie-rod ends. POSSIBLY new control arms, simply for the new ball joints. replace rag joint(s) in steering shaft. maybe new poly bushings all around.

[WHTLTHR79RS]

Rag joint is a must !!

[Lacky01]

Rag joint is a must !!

okie dokie! It looks like its gonna be a PAIN to get at

[WHTLTHR79RS]

If your rag joint is a rubber type mataerial, like the sidewall of a tire that has been cut, and it does not show cracks, ect. then you can keep a watch on it. If it is a dark, plastic type of material with the outside edges slightly rounded, and it looks to be dry and cracked, or you can actually see that it is failing, then replace it. It might be easier to pull the rack foward to removed the joint.

[BradButlerNC]

Looks like you bought the wrong car out of the yard, still looks like an interesting project though.

[Lacky01]

Looks like you bought the wrong car out of the yard, still looks like an interesting project though.

It was my grandpas car, and its been sitting for 12 years in Oregon. I'm just reversing 12 years of neglect

[Lacky01]

some more pics of where I'm at:













this is the paint I'll be using on all the parts and underneath the whole car

[82stangracer]

Looks like your off to a good start by having a complete solid car. Look foward to seeing the progress!!!

[Terry Trusdell]

Hi Lacky... I have been following your thread since your first post of the neglected Cobra. WoW... You have certainly been busy ! This looks GREAT ! Keep the Revs UP !

My project is no where near as deep as yours. I picked mine up where others quit. Sometimes that can be more difficult since you really don't know what they did but most of the hard work was already done.

Keep it going friend ! Even though I am in Atlanta, I hope to meet up with you someday.
Oh yeah... Keep the girlfriend happy. Sounds like she is helping you finish your dream !

TT

[WHTLTHR79RS]

GOOD GORD, you did not have to do all of THAT to replace the rag joint !!! I agree with Terry, keep your head down and your a** up working on it.

[Lacky01]

GOOD GORD, you did not have to do all of THAT to replace the rag joint !!! I agree with Terry, keep your head down and your a** up working on it.

I couldn't find the rag joint at first so I just kept pulling pieces off >:^D
needless to say, I found it

thanks for the kind words Terry! If you asked me a month ago when the suspension was getting freshened up I would've told you two years. I just wanted to clean it up a little so It would stop smoking, but by the time I got as far as I did I just had to go all the way

[Lacky01]

just about ready for cleaning. the front control arms are soaking in penetrating oil, and I'm still debating whether I want to take the transmission out or not. Thats gonna be a big hurdle that I don't think I have time for

[Lacky01]

turns out I made time for it. the transmission is out, and its time to start the cleaning.

[Lacky01]

here she is, cleaned up and ready for rust inhibitor and paint:

[WHTLTHR79RS]

Lacky, hows about sending me your full name and mailing address, and I will send you somthing so you know where you are going at the end of August ??
Neil

[SVO]

Great Work Alec, that should make you feel really good about the progress you have been making.



Jeff

[neald]

Nice work, keep up the great pace!

[Lacky01]

thanks for the kind words guys!

as of this evening, I have the whole underside painted black. and almost all of the suspension parts painted. tomorrow the rearend, gas tank, driveshaft, and rear swaybar are getting paint and the car MAY go on its rear wheels tomorrow night. I hope to have it on all four by wednesday night

I'm super stoked with the current pace :^)

[jvaughan]

hey great progress!

i have a ? i have a 79 cobra but my bucktag says CBR to stand for cobra, this is how i thought all of them were. i've never seen one that spells out cobra before

[86-5_OH]

nice work bro. cant wait to see the car finished.

[Lacky01]

hey great progress!

i have a ? i have a 79 cobra but my bucktag says CBR to stand for cobra, this is how i thought all of them were. i've never seen one that spells out cobra before

I dunno. maybe a moderator from the Cobra Corner will know more about it. I didn't know where the buck tag was until I pulled the nose clip off