1979 Mustang Cobra restoration

[79cobrasnake]

I have been working on my pride and joy for abouth 8 months now and i figured ive got enough photos to start a restoration thread to show you guys some of the progress ive made. Little background on the car for you guys.. i have been around this car for the past 11 years(since i was 14) and have been dying to have it, but never could make it work out.. My best friend purchased it from the original owner, who is his uncle when we were 14 years old. unfortunately my buddy never got to really drive the car when we turned 16 because insurance was so high, and then he somewhat lost interest in the car, so it sat in the back of his parents shop majority of the time. The car was originally sold in Charlotte NC and has made its way about 40 mins from Charlotte and been there ever since. Long story short on 12/20/2013 my wife surprised me with the car by purchasing it from my bestfriend for my Christmas present. Here are some photos of the car the day the smoke bomb rolled into my garage.

As you can see by the attached pics, the car was covered in dust... dirt dobbers were in the door jambs, and the pony wheels had seen better days. Under the awful cowl hood that was on the car was a very dirty motor.

[79cobrasnake]

So i started cleaning the car up and took the cowl hood off(original hood came with the car), and put these wheels on the car until i could get my hands on a new set of wheels and tires. The pony wheels and tires that came on the car were in rough shape and would not hold air, so atleast these wheels and tires would. drained all the fluids out and added fresh gas and fluids and she was running up and down the road...... stopping the car was another story... i felt like fred flintstone, so i knew that would be next on the list of things to do.

[onetrackrider]

I think your wife & the car are keepers..lol...Congrats on getting it....

[79cobrasnake]

Got a set of Chrome pony wheels from late model resto and added a set of staggered tires to them, they did alot for the looks of this car.. except now the car looked like it had a 2 inch lift kit on it, so i added suspension to my upcoming brake job.

[79cobrasnake]

I think your wife & the car are keepers..lol...Congrats on getting it....

Haha thanks man, i agree

[79cobrasnake]

So i picked up some new suspension and brake goodies and went to work.. I added new KYB shocks and struts, SVE Lowering springs, SVE caster camber kit, new power steering pump, new TRW power steering rack, tie rod ends, SVE rear upper and lower control arms, new rotors and pads up front, new drums in rear, new master cylinder, and bled the lines with some fresh brake fluid.. After all of this the car drives and stops 20 times better... couldnt believe the difference it made. Before the steering had tons of play and every bump in the road felt terrible.

[79cobrasnake]

So here is some pics of the new stance after all the new goodies were installed... Stance is much better now. One of the shots is underneath the car, that exhaust is 8 years old and is holding up great. the car has 52k miles on it, and underneath shows it by how clean it is... no rust anywhere.

[79cobrasnake]

Here are a few pics to show the interior.. interior is in great shape, has the original 8-track still in the car, and it works. all i had to do was take a rag and wipe everything down good and cleaned the vinyl seats with mothers vinyl cleaner and it did the trick.

[79cobrasnake]

i was going to wait until the winter to do my engine bay/motor overhaul, so i started collecting parts for the upcoming project.. i was able to collect them alot quicker than expected so i am actually taking on this project now.. I decided to go with a budget build on my new heads instead of going with alum heads... i picked up a set of ported gt40p heads w all new springs and seals, cam, intake, gaskets, roller rockers, timing chain, oil pump, oil pan, water pump, radiator w dual electric fans, hose kit, all new battery wires and cables, alternator, gas tank, and im sure im missing a few other odd and end parts for this top end project. pictured above are the gt40p heads after i painted them ford blue and set the new ford racing valve covers on them.

[dburdyshaw]

Mercy! That is some kind of sweet. Luv the stance.

[79cobrasnake]

Mercy! That is some kind of sweet. Luv the stance.

thank you, just got word from marti auto yesterday that i should have my elite marti report in the next 7-10 days. will post as soon as it arrives.

[JTurbo]

Awesome car. Congrats!

[TopGear85]

Great looking Cobra, all it's missing is the hood graphic. I love the Dobi rear wing btw...that a very rare spoiler these days. I also really like the argent colored lower TuTone.

[roush235]

Nice car. Good work.

[79cobrasnake]

Great looking Cobra, all it's missing is the hood graphic. I love the Dobi rear wing btw...that a very rare spoiler these days. I also really like the argent colored lower TuTone.

Car is hopefully going into the paint booth by april 2015, at that time the hood graphic is going back on. have one ready to be installed.

[79mustangcobra]

I like your Cobra. If you plan on doing any major engine work, let me buy some of the parts like the alternator, hoses etc.

From the brushed aluminum steering wheel and non ribbed door panel pads, looks to be an earlier built before 1979.

What is the date code on the door tag

Thanks!

David

[79cobrasnake]

I like your Cobra. If you plan on doing any major engine work, let me buy some of the parts like the alternator, hoses etc.

Thanks!

David

let me know what all parts you are interested in and they are all yours... i plan to have the motor out tmrrw and will start disassembling what i am not going to use when the motor is put back in.

[evlgt85]

Folks, a gentle reminder here: please take and keep any talk of buying/selling parts to PM or the Classifieds. Thanks.

[teddy1500]

I like those old school turbine wheels you had on there, what size are they?

[TopGear85]

Car is hopefully going into the paint booth by april 2015, at that time the hood graphic is going back on. have one ready to be installed.

That's awesome. Are you gonna keep the lower TuTone that argent color, or will it be going back to the stock TuTone color?

[79cobrasnake]

I like those old school turbine wheels you had on there, what size are they?

They were 14x7. Tires they were mounted on were way too tall. I loved the wheels though.

[79cobrasnake]

That's awesome. Are you gonna keep the lower TuTone that argent color, or will it be going back to the stock TuTone color?

Going back w the original tutone black... Want to stay as original appearance

[rodster]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing.

[79cobrasnake]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks... Hope to make some progress this weekend and add some new photos Monday

[79cobrasnake]

Marti report finally came in after 6 months of waiting, looks like its 1 of 28 made in 79.