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  1. #1
    FEP Member dk5_cobra's Avatar
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    Talking my 79 cobra build thread

    To start, I made this thread with the intention of making information on restoring/modifying these cars more available. Over the last 5 years I spent countless hours searching the internet, and scratching my head over how to complete certain tasks. This thread serves as a testament to all of that time figuring things out and learning certain processes. So I wanted to share that with the community. I started this thread when I was 16 and am now 21, with a long future of enjoying this car ahead. I hope you enjoy the read. I know I enjoyed the journey.

    This was my build log tracing progress on my 1979 mustang cobra restomod project. My dad purchased it in 1985 as a running, driving car (though it had a blown head gasket). He drove it for a few years during which he installed an 8.8 rear axle with 3.73 gears and built the motor somewhat until he tore it down to restore around 1990 but ran out of money/time to continue and it was put in a storage unit as a shell in epoxy primer until 2011 when I originally started this thread.

    My original goal was to get the car running, paint it, and drive it (remember..I was 16) but that spiraled out of control once I started to learn more about what I wanted the car to be in the end. In 2013 I realized that I wanted a car that would feel just as home on curvy mountain roads as it would cruising through town on a friday night. I still consider this a "budget" build because I had to piecemeal everything. I learned to become excruciatingly resourceful in my use of classifieds pages, facebook groups, ebay, and craigslist in my continuous search for parts, finding deals here and there, and driving hours through the night because there were things that I just couldn't pass up.

    Nothing was left untouched on this car and that's the only way I'd have it.

    So basically here's there nuts and bolts of this car:

    Front end:
    Mm K-member
    MM reverse offset control arms (poly bushings)
    Koni/MM coilovers 375in/lbs
    MM caster/camber plates
    2001 spindles
    MM sway bar

    Rear:
    99 Cobra IRS cradle (no mods except mathis brace welded to rear mounting bracket)
    31 spline center section W/ Torsen T2R diff/3.73 gears/Ford Racing Cover
    03 Cobra half shafts
    Delrin control arm bushings and poly diff/cradle bushings
    MM cross axis joints
    Bilstein/MM coilovers 475in/lbs

    Drivetrain:
    308 W/ 69 302 milled/ported heads
    Edelbrock Vic Jr. intake
    Holley 650DP carb
    Comp 292h cam/lifters/valve springs/push rods
    comp roller rocker arms
    hedman ceramic coated long tubes (which mate up to a 2.5" H-pipe, then to an SLP lm2 IRS catback)
    sn95 t5 transmision/hurst shifter

    Brakes:
    complete setup removed from a 2001 cobra
    Hawk HPS pads
    Front lines are modified stainless lines originally meant for fox calipers
    Rear lines are MM stainless lines for IRS
    M-2809-A Parking brake cables designed for 93 cobra rear disks

    Exterior:
    Shaved and wire tucked engine bay
    Rolled fenders
    oem rear window louvers
    Fully restored body molding
    NOS tail lights

    Interior:
    Hurst shift boot/plate
    Recaro seats
    Kenwood head unit
    Fully restored/dyed interior panels/dash/console

    Wheels/Tires:
    03/04 SVT Cobra Wheels W/ 4mm milled off of the back pad
    255/40/17 BFGoodrich Rivals

    The car is on the road now but I'm working on ironing out the last 5% of the build...But let's flash back to 2011 when I didn't know how to link pictures and my dad was teaching me about working on cars....
    Last edited by dk5_cobra; 07-06-2016 at 02:21 PM.

  2. #2
    FEP Member dk5_cobra's Avatar
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    the engine was left with coolant in it for the almost 20 years it sat. this wreaked havoc on some internal parts. specifically the timing cover and cylinder head bolts which were corroded/rusted through. which meant that a handful of head bolts had to be extracted from the block. for the time being we left the engine in the car so we could get it running properly before we stripped it down
    Attached Images Attached Images   
    Last edited by dk5_cobra; 03-23-2015 at 03:20 PM.

  3. #3
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    Try photo bucket.

    This link should show you how.

    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthread.php?t=72875
    85 GT vert

  4. #4
    FEP Member dk5_cobra's Avatar
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    thanks! ill get on my computer tomorrow and put on more pics

  5. #5
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    Welcome to the board. I'm looking forward to the pic's! Use the Photobucket website to upload pictures from your computer. This will become your "Hosting" site. From there, you can copy/paste the URL's from your pictures to your posts here and they'll show up. Good luck!
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  6. #6
    FEP Member dk5_cobra's Avatar
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    place holder
    Last edited by dk5_cobra; 03-23-2015 at 03:22 PM.

  7. #7

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    No Longer a 4I Owner
    But Have way too much 4I stuff Collecting Dust.

  8. #8

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    to post the pics up, paste the links with [img] at the beginning and end
    No Longer a 4I Owner
    But Have way too much 4I stuff Collecting Dust.

  9. #9
    FEP Member dk5_cobra's Avatar
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    ahh ok thanks!

  10. #10
    FEP Power Member Syco Stang's Avatar
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    Coming along nicely I see. Hearing that exhaust rumble again is probably the best motivator to get the rest of the car finished. Keep posting up the progress!
    SS
    1986 GT T-Top 5.0, waiting on trans and IRS swap.
    1988 GT Ragtop, 5.0, T5, 3.73, 03 Cobras with Nittos
    1989 LX Ragtop, 5.0, AOD, shift kit, Pony wheels, baby cam, X pipe and Flowbasterds.
    1984 SVO needs TLC

  11. #11
    FEP Member dk5_cobra's Avatar
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    place holder
    Last edited by dk5_cobra; 03-23-2015 at 03:24 PM.

  12. #12

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    voltage regulator

  13. #13
    FEP Power Member Syco Stang's Avatar
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    #00 fine steel wool should take care of the overspray on most of the interior stuff. Also works great on overspray on windows and any metal with light corrosion. I am redoing the engine bay on one of my verts and I swear I've gone through a pound of steel wool polishing everything from the IAC motor to the brake lines. Buy a variety of different grades and it will take care of a lot, it just makes a bit of a mess once it starts falling apart. I just keep my Shop Vac handy.
    1986 GT T-Top 5.0, waiting on trans and IRS swap.
    1988 GT Ragtop, 5.0, T5, 3.73, 03 Cobras with Nittos
    1989 LX Ragtop, 5.0, AOD, shift kit, Pony wheels, baby cam, X pipe and Flowbasterds.
    1984 SVO needs TLC

  14. #14
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    What you're shooting for is superb! I can't wait to see it in finished form!
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  15. #15
    FEP Member dk5_cobra's Avatar
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    just a quick update. Sadly we weren't able to do any work on the car this weekend due to other obligations. just got some more pictures from last weekend that I didn't upload. sometimes I just want to drop everything to devote my time to the project but that's not going to happen any time soon..


    the old crusty sway bar

    ....after a little time cleaning and paint (pretty huh?


    random box of goodies!


    not sure if you all can see it too well but the shifter looks 100x better after cleaning/paint (and for all the silver trim on the interior (ex: shifter bezel/dash), what would you recommend to touch it up with?)

    that's all for now!

  16. #16

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    Being stored for 20 years thats amazing.. It looks like alot of work but you will be very happy in the end.

  17. #17
    FEP Power Member magnum517's Avatar
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    Lookin good so far!! Glad to hear it is on its way back to the road!!
    --86 GT vert.306,Powerdyne blown 7 psi, E303, ported E7s,MAF conv, BBK shorties n OR H, 3" Mac Pro Dumps, WC T5, 5 lug'd, 17" Bullitts, 3" cowlhood, SN95 Gt front brakes, 4.11s.
    --Bill

  18. #18
    FEP Member dk5_cobra's Avatar
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    at this point we had a major setback, I dropped the air cleaner stud into the intake which took out a piston, intake valve, and cracked the block. it wasn't long before I had pulled the motor to prepare for a full rebuild.
    Last edited by dk5_cobra; 03-23-2015 at 03:27 PM.

  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by dk5_cobra View Post
    no pictures but a MAJOR setback on the project. As you all know the motor was running fine except for a little fine tuning. we recently got a hood for the car and had it sitting over the engine but it didn't clear the air cleaner so we had taken it off and placed a towel over the carb.

    Anyways, I went to start it up last week so i took off the hood, put the filter back on the carb but didn't screw it in (I figured it wouldn't be there for long so why should I). well somehow the screw came off the wing-nut, went through the carb, intake, and valves and into the cylinder. Don't think i need to describe the damage it did though idling for less than 30 seconds after I heard a BAD noise.

    so after taking off the heads, (we didnt know what it was at the time-maybe a bad bearing) we found the screw and the broken piston along with a crack in the block. now we're stripping everything to take out the engine and repair/replace the block.

    here's my question...my dad's a machinist so we were thinking we could sleeve the cylinder and do all the work ourselves. or do you think we should just replace the entire block? i'll post pics as soon as I get a chance to
    It would probably be a good idea just to replace the entire block. You should be able to find a decent shortblock for not much on CL

    Build is looking great so far, cant wait for more progress pics.
    Triple white 5.0l GLX convertible.
    -lots of little stuff done to it, just working on making it a nice fun DD for now.

  20. #20
    FEP Power Member Syco Stang's Avatar
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    Sleeve the block, so long as it's just one cylinder. If the motor had previously been machined, you would have to do all that machine work to the next block you get. Just deglaze the other cylinders and put it back together with new rings and reuse the bearings if they're still good and make sure you mark which main cap/rod they came from.
    1986 GT T-Top 5.0, waiting on trans and IRS swap.
    1988 GT Ragtop, 5.0, T5, 3.73, 03 Cobras with Nittos
    1989 LX Ragtop, 5.0, AOD, shift kit, Pony wheels, baby cam, X pipe and Flowbasterds.
    1984 SVO needs TLC

  21. #21
    FEP Member dk5_cobra's Avatar
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    place holder
    Last edited by dk5_cobra; 03-23-2015 at 03:27 PM.

  22. #22
    FEP Power Member Syco Stang's Avatar
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    Best resource to get part numbers would be the Federal Mogul online catalog:
    http://www.fme-cat.com/Default.aspx
    Just check for the appropriate Chevy engine those size valves came in, might be a good idea to call them and ask which part number you need to get +.100" valve stems. I don't remember if you can just add it to the end of the std part number.
    1986 GT T-Top 5.0, waiting on trans and IRS swap.
    1988 GT Ragtop, 5.0, T5, 3.73, 03 Cobras with Nittos
    1989 LX Ragtop, 5.0, AOD, shift kit, Pony wheels, baby cam, X pipe and Flowbasterds.
    1984 SVO needs TLC

  23. #23
    FEP Member dk5_cobra's Avatar
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    motor back from the machine shop, reassembled, and running again
    Last edited by dk5_cobra; 03-23-2015 at 03:28 PM.

  24. #24
    FEP Member dk5_cobra's Avatar
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    almost 3 years have passed since my last update to this thread. some major events took place that were higher on my priorities list than the car. a lot has changed and I am finally in a place where major work can be done to the car again. since my last post the car has gotten turbo coupe rear disks, a hood, rear hatch, weld drag lites, windshield, dash, some recaro seats, original ford dealer louvers, and a bunch of other things.

    my current project is an 87-93 front spindle/brake conversion with 11" disks, stock 87 calipers, mm solid caliper sleeves, a town car mc/ and an adj. prop valve. we considered going 5 lug and to different brakes but from what I've read, this will be a great setup for the street and let us keep our current wheels/tires. the car also needs inner/outer tie rods or a steering rack (it depends how the seals on the inside look) does anybody know anything about steering rack bushings? I'd like to put some poly in there to help steering feel.

    the next item on the list is to drop the car off at a shop in town to get mm full length subframe connectors welded, torque box reinforcements (upper and lower), and a patch re-done in the floor pan where the rear seat cushon would go (it was badly done many years ago and left pinholes in the floor.)

    the seats were a craigslist find with brand new upholstery/foam and I got a good deal on them so I couldn't pass them up.





    once the drivetrain is solid and ready to drive, then we will paint the body, have the interior dyed, and reassembled. at least that's the plan for now. A mild street car It's still a long way off but we are making progres. after reading 69clark's build thread I started dreaming. so I had my friend edit a picture (hope hissing cobra doesn't mind) though my car will be silver/black with blue decals



    that's all for now, I will try to post more and keep this updated. if anyone has input on where this car is going please chime in. Since this thread was started I've learned a lot about cars and learned as much as I could about fox's but that will never add up to the collective knowledge on this forum.

    Devin

  25. #25
    FEP Senior Member danco86's Avatar
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    Welcome back.
    Glad to see you're still on it!
    Go for the MM solid aluminum rack bushings. As long as you don't mind a little increased NVH. Maybe one if their solid steering shafts if your budget allows..
    Dan

    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...ng-GT-restomod


    1986 Mustang GT Cobra
    Lotsa stuff, lotsa work. Check my thread above.

    Daily drivers
    2002 F-350 7.3 Powerstroke crew 4X4
    2012 F-150 Ecoboost Screw FX4

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