79 mustang cobra

[79 cobra]

Hi . I wanted to know if a 1979 mustang cobra with 5.0 motor is more rare than cobra 2.3 turbos ? Most of the pics I see , have the turbo emblems on the hood scoop . I thought base cobras came with 2.3 turbo and the 5.0 was a option . Any info on these cars would help . Thanks .

[Hissing Cobra]

Welcome to the boards! Good question. I too, would like to know this. By the way, post some pic's!

[79 cobra]

Sorry I have no way to post pics . I have a 1979 mustang cobra 5.0 . It's been apart for 4 years . Last year I put it together , and drove it for a month . This car has needed alot of work . Some parts are for 79 only . I found it at a small automotive garage. While making a delivery . It was inside , in a corner hidden away . The grille showed a little , and I could see it was a mustang . At the time I never heard of cobra mustang . It had between the taillights a reflective cobra plaque . When you turned on the lights , it lit up with the license plate lamps . It was some aftermarket thing . It looked cheesy . Some holes were cut into the rear bumper cover for the license plate. I could go on and on . The hardest thing to replace were the doors .

[79 cobra]

Hey hissing cobra . I noticed some 79 cobra pics show the door decals on the front , some on the back of the door . Any reason ? Some pics show a color keyed cowl cover . Mine is black . I HAD a rear wiper , but deck lid was shot . I have a black leather interior . It's not mint , but it is 24 y.o. I don't see Hondas or Toyotas that old . ( thank goodness) They don't last that long . I will stomp most of them from a green light . I like this year mustang . No computers and a factory v8 with carb . It's still somewhat simple . From 73 to 82 its the fastest factory mustang put out . I think. .

[FoxChassis]

'79-'81 Cobra Package (non-Ghia hatchbacks only)

Standard Equipment:

• Turbocharged 2.3L
• TRX suspension, wheels, and tires
• Cobra graphics
• color-keyed quarter-window louvers
• forward facing hood scoop('79)
• Pace Car front spoiler with Marchall foglights, rear spoiler, and rear facing hood scoop('80-'81)
• sport-tuned exhaust system
• dual black remote side view mirrors
• exterior blackout treatment('79-'81)
• interior blackout treatment('80-'81)

Optional Equipment:

• 5.0L V-8('79)
• 4.2L V-8('80-'81)
• Cobra hood graphics
• Cobra graphics delete('81)

Did I leave anything out or get anything wrong?

[79 cobra]

Little tiny cobra door and dash emblems . trx suspenion includes heavy duty front and rear stabilizer bars , special shock valving .They also have aluminum rear brake drums .

[FoxChassis]

Do you have a model year breakdown, e.g. '79 only, '80 only, '79-'81, etc., of the interior emblems (also where they were placed each model year) and aluminum drums? I *think* the aluminum drums were '79 only, but I'll have to verify that.

[79 cobra]

Hi fox chassis . I don't know about 80-81 cobras too much . I'm more up on 79 cobras . Its more unique to its self , with door decals and a non-pacecar look . My 79 ford mustang brochure states aluminum rear drum . I don't think mine are . Who knows after 24 years . 79 cobras had ribbed door trim insert . I don't know if 80-81 did . My 79 mustang sales brochure states fuel tanks are 16 gal with 5.0 V8 . My 79 mustang owners guide states under spec. and capacities they are only 12.5 gal for the 5.0 . Oh well . I don't think anyone has a specific breakdown , sorry . I have seen a few around , like at FUN FORD WEEKEND at that the dragstrip . Very few .

[RACECAP97]

Yes it should have aluminum drums. I believe this was 79 only. As for the TRX suspension, if I remember correctly it was a whopping $33 option in 79 and you could get it ordered on any mustang. And as for power, the hp rating for the 2.3T was 1 more hp than the 5.0. Obvously the 5.0 making a lot more torque and without turbo lag was much faster but still a mild 16 second quarter. Blah!!!

[79 cobra]

Most of the h.p. figures I have seen between a 79 5.0 , and a 79 2.3 turbo show the 5.0 with a 140 NET h.p. rating and the 2.3 turbo with a 139 GROSS rating . There is more different than it looks .

[FoxChassis]

For FoMoCo, SAE Net method for HP ratings has been used exclusively since the '71 model year. Since '74 was the first year that the 2.3L engine was ever in the Mustang, that would make ANY 2.3L in ANY Mustang as being rated by the SAE Net method, not Gross. Any place you see Gross as a published HP rating for a 2.3L engine is a misprint, mistake, error, etc.

[RACECAP97]

I have seen the 2.3T's rated anywhere from 131hp up to 141hp in different mustang specific books. I can tell you this though, mine sure the hell doesn't even feel like it has 100hp, lol. My 86 LX coupe was rated somewhere around 88hp and it would probably run circles around my pace car at the moment. :P

[79 cobra]

You are right , but this is the ONLY exception I know of . A ploy by ford to sell more 2.3 turbos . I have in my hand a Car and Driver mag , Sept 79 . It has a 80 cobra article in it . On the bottom of page 36 , it shows mustang motors for 79 . The turbo-4 show a * next to the 132 H.P. figure . When you read the * it states "gross rating" . On page 38 . It shows , 1980 cobra 2.3 turbo specs . It shows next to power (gross rating)and next to torque (gross rating) So that is NOT a misprint , mistake , error .

I also have a Hot Rodding from april 79 . It states on page 48 that a turbo-4 produces an estimated 110 net sae h.p.

I think they are trying to convert gross fig. to a net fig.

[Hissing Cobra]

79 Cobra, in every "factory" picture I have seen, they show the decals on the back of the doors, except for the sales brochure. They also show the cowl vents as body color. I've often wondered if those were prototypes. Because, every picture that I have seen of actual Cobra's, those had the decals on the front of each door and the cowl grill was black. The latter is how my car was built in 1979.

Fox Chassis, your list was complete to the best of my knowledge. However, the aluminum trim that runs up the side pillar in front and then down each side of the roof (drip rail?) is not black. Even though all available literature dictates that all trim was black, I don't believe this to be true. I've seen this particular piece in every picture that I've seen, as aluminum. Mine was aluminum as well. On mine, I had that piece and both sail panels painted black to blend them in a little better (I've always liked the '83-'86 GT's like that).

As for the aluminum rear brake drums, mine had them.

[79 cobra]

I have a sept. 79 Car and Driver . It shows a 1980 cobra 2.3 turbo to have aluminum rear drums also .

[Hissing Cobra]

Here's a picture of mine when I bought it three years ago with the 27,667 miles on it. Note the aluminum trim piece that runs up the windshield post and then down the roof (above each door and sail panel). Also, the sail panels were body color, and cowl was black. By the way, I've also seen pictures where the entire grill was painted body color (with no black at all ). In addition, there was no rear spoiler either . I've since changed that with the addition of an early 1984 GT edition.

[RACECAP97]

To clear up the rear aluminum drum topic I have this, quoted from 'The Official Ford Mustang 5.0 Technical Reference & Performance Handbook'

"Some 1979-83 non-V-8 Mustangs were equipped with aluminum rear brake drums, which improve handling by reducing unsprung weight. (Alloy drums were standard with the 1979 turbo motor and optional on later mustangs equipped with this engine.)" It goes on to say that they used the same pads on both types of drums. Hope this will clear things up a bit.

[FoxChassis]

OK, we've heard from a few '79 Cobra owners and/or aficionados but where are our '80 and '81 Cobra brethren?

I'd like to change and/or update my information (i.e. chromed drip rails and door handles in stead of "blacked out", interior Cobra emblems, machined-turned instrument cluster "bezel", etc) to reflect all three model years.

[79 cobra]

The pics of this 80 cobra I see show everything is black . drip rails , exterior door handles , headlight bezels , exterior door locks . The deck lid lock looks chrome . In the pic of the rear , the right tailight looks very crooked . My 86 was just as crooked . The 80-81 look too much like pace cars . Without any real power out of the 2.3 turbo and no 5.0 , they will be less desirable . Maybe more rare ?

[79 cobra]

Hissing cobra your old paint looks much better than mine was . Mine was silver with orange door decals .

[Hissing Cobra]

FoxChassis, besides the aluminum "drip rail" and chrome door handles on the 1979's, the antenna was stainless steel with a stainless cover, and the key locks were also stainless steel. On the interior, there were three Cobra emblems. One on each door panel and the other on the "engine turned" dash bezel on the passenger side of the dash (far right corner). To the best of my knowledge, the 5.0 emblems weren't available for the Cobra model in 1979. I've never seen a picture with them. So, I posed this question to another 1979 Cobra owner who bought his brand new back then (he was lucky enough to even order it, and he still owns it). His response was that his did not come with them, he never saw one with them, and he could only tell the V-8's apart from the Turbo's by the TURBO emblem on each side of the hoodscoop. He also was working at a FORD dealer at the time and worked there for a few years, so I believe him to be truthful.

'79 Cobra, the Silver/Black with Orange decals combo sounds cool. In the factory sales brochure there is a picture of one in Silver/Black with Blue decals.

As you could probably tell, mine was Red/Black with the Yellow decals. However, I've corresponded with another Cobra owner (he's actually a registered member here, but I can't remember his screen name), and his is also Red/Black, but with Orange decals. I'm wondering if different color decals could be specified if you ordered one when they were new?

[79 cobra]

Hissing cobra I have a Motor Trend from march 1979 . It shows pics of the 5.0 cobra with 5.0 emblems .

I also have a Popular Hot Rodding from april 1979 . It also shows pics of the 79 5.0 cobra with the 5.0 emblems .

So they should have .

[79 cobra]

Hissing cobra My 79 5.0 cobra did not have them when I bought it . I think someone repainted it . When I repaint it , I'll keep them off too . Its whats under the hood that counts . So let people guess .

I like your black sail panels . A good accent . I was thinking of that too .

[Sellis1012]

Hi . I wanted to know if a 1979 mustang cobra with 5.0 motor is more rare than cobra 2.3 turbos ? Most of the pics I see , have the turbo emblems on the hood scoop . I thought base cobras came with 2.3 turbo and the 5.0 was a option . Any info on these cars would help . Thanks .

Hi,

Yes, there were more turbo Cobras manufactured than 5.0s. Ford's big push for the new fox Mustangs was pressurized performance, though it never caught on. They tried unsuccessfully numerous times until calling it quites after theydropped the SVO after the 1986 model year. Production figures have been lost as far as I know for the number of turbo 79 Cobras built. So how many more turbos than 5.0s were built is difficult to know. Very few of either survive today, much less in original condition.

[Sellis1012]

Until somebody breaks into the 79 Cobra files at Ford, we who own the originals may be the only source of knowledge on the subject. I bought my first Turbo Cobra(red) back in 1988 (traded my 78 Lincoln Mark V for it), then sold it not running for $200 to my college roomate a couple years later. Regretted it for 14 years until I bought another(white) with 35,000 miles on it from California I am in the process of restoring. Here are the notable differences: White one has lots more emissions under the hood i.e. vaccume lines, sensors, an additional contol box. It has no rear speakers, yes and no holes for them either. It has fancier looking seats(red one had ribbed seats). It has a rear wiper. It doesn't have a sunroof, but it has A/C. The hub in the steering wheel has a different, more classic looking emblem. It doesn't have a center console. It has the "turbocharged" emblem on the dash. Decals are red. I have no idea if the drums are aluminum. And the big question for all of you is: Could a Cobra have come without the TRX rims? This one has the 13 inch rims with the little black center caps with matching red pinstriping as seen in the 79 Mustang brochure on regular Mustangs. I already have trx rims to put on it, and I think it has the heavy duty front and rear sway bars. The lady I bought this car off of who bought it from the original owner's neighbor says these are the original rims, and the tires on it sure look like they sat for 19 years. I'm perplexed. Maybe a dealer swap in the shadows?