Dirkpitt289 Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 History of the 68 Ford mustang 428 (KR-8) Cobra jet's Ask any knowledgeable Blue Oval enthusiast to name the quickest pure-production Mustang of the muscle car era, and most will say the 1968 Ford Mustang 428 Cobra Jet. Big-block Camaros and Firebirds, and even 340-cid Darts and Barracudas, were kicking Mustang's tail on the street. Ford countered by making its 427-cid V-8 a Mustang option in early '68 models. It was a detuned 390-horsepower version of the legendary near race-ready 427, however, and its slim availability and $755 cost were downers. Enter the 1968 Cobra Jet Mustang. It's introduction was essentially the reason for the 1968 Drag Team's existence. In 1967 and early 1968, aside from the pricey GT 500, the top Mustang one could purchase was the 320-horse 390 GT. The Mustang was redesigned for the 1967 model year to accommodate the big FE engine, previously the top engine was the 289 Hipo. The first big block pony car was indeed a great machine, but compared to the competition, it was relatively underpowered. This fact was becoming more and more evident on the street, the 390 just couldn't quite hang with it's rivals. Ford's brass didn't seem to be too concerned with addressing this problem until they were presented a solution: the Mustang KR-8. KR meant "King of the Road", and the 8 referred to the 428 engine. Amazingly, the KR-8 wasn't dreamed up in Ford's engineering department, but in a Ford dealership's service department. This wasn't just any dealer, this was Tasca Ford, the legendary Ford store in Rhode Island owned by Bob Tasca. Tasca was at the forefront of Ford racing in the 1960's, operating a top-running drag team of their own. Tasca competed with Galaxies, Thunderbolts, A/FX Mustangs, and early Funny Cars, all piloted by the late great Bill Lawton. The KR-8 can be considered the very first Cobra Jet Mustang, even though the actual CJ name came along later. Tasca's shop took a Mustang with an exploded 390 and replaced it with a 428 PI short block equipped with 427 Low Riser heads and a 735 Holley carb. Even after reviewing Tasca's creation, Ford still wasn't totally convinced they should produce the car. Bob Tasca was the firecracker, but Hot Rod magazine readers lit the fuse. Surprisingly, it took an article published in the November 1967 issue of Hot Rod to finally seal the deal. The article prompted readers to mail their opinions to Henry Ford II himself, which they did. The onslaught of letters asking him to build the car was enough for the Deuce. He gave his blessing, and approved Tasca'a creation for production. The KR-8 name was dropped, replaced with the new "Cobra Jet" moniker. Thanks to the basically off-the-shelf content of the engine package, the Cobra Jet program was fast tracked in late 1967. The next step for the Cobra Jets would a surprise visit to Pomona. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 ....Whew, with that outta the way its time to move on to the kit. The build will start shortly. I just have a couple loose ends on my bench I need to finish up. thanks for taking the time to look at my work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 And we're off and running. I decided to start with the 428 motor. Here you can see the low rise intake with the distributor in place. After a little saw work the intake was ready for the new distributor Here is the new distributor and wires I had in my stash. I may go get a different set so that the wires don't get lost against the blue of the motor. We'll have to see what happens Dry fit the distributor and wire set. Motor assembled and painted Ford blue Transmission painted steel, bell-housing is aluminum and of course the Ford blue engine. More painting, this is the master cylinder and the brake booster. I'm trying to get hold of a friend of mine who's been drag racing since the 70s with his Demon to help with some questions. I believe his car is in the same class that these KR-8s raced. My questions are, would they keep the brake booster and the power steering pump? Something tells me they do. If not I will have to remove the item in the picture with the red arrow. The green arrow is pointing out the Alternator Dry fit the belts and components. I also sprayed the motor with a dull cote to tone it down a little Thanks for looking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 The last week I've been spending time working on this but have had very little to show for all the time spent. I think I have some progress to show now. To start off I needed to chop off the smog and power steering pumps from the belt assembly. These along with the power break booster were omitted from these cars. Of course some sanding and painting was required after the surgery. :rofl: Next I moved on to the air cleaner assembly. This was also modified as you can see here. This also shows that I'll have to repaint the intake as it was aluminum I started by removing the center bits from the stock air cleaner Next I had to lop off the snorkel. It was kinda sad as this was a nice piece. Next I had to build a new center peice. For this I used some Evergreen stock plastic card Drew some circles and cut Glued the new section in place and then painted. More to follow on this piece Thanks for looking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Pugh Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Nice work so far. I like the subject matter. This is going to be sharp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigphoto Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Very cool keep posting! and building too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony T Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Looks good so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4bangen Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 me likes I love where this is headed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted December 18, 2011 Author Share Posted December 18, 2011 Thanks for the kind words guys. Next I decided to attack the rear valance panel. Even though we are using the 68 Mustang GT kit this car was not a GT and so the GT components will need to be removed or altered from the finished car. One of the visible differences on a 68 Mustang GT was that there was cut outs in the rear valance panel for the exhaust. These notches will need to be filled. GT Valance Panel Non-GT Valance Panel. You can see the exhaust goes beneath the panel not through it. Here is the kit part Once again I turned to the Evergreen stock. I started by placing a very thin piece of Evergreen over the back of the holes Next I cheated a bit. Instead of filling the hole with more plastic card I just filled them with Squadron's Green putty and sanded smooth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 An interest project, Dirk! I like what you have accomplished so far and it is a good start! Looking forward to more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Moving on to the body I spent about an hour or so just cleaning up the flash and hard edges. Then I came to this. Why they did this I have no clue but it needed to be addressed. Using some left over Evergreen strips I filled the gaps the best I could. A little more attention with some Mr Surfacer and some sandpaper and this should be good to go. Another point of interest I've found with this style Mustang is a seam that runs the red line in the photo below. When I did my 65 2 Plus 2 I found this to be a huge pain in the back end. With the body (I hope) all finished I shot some primer. After it cures completely I'll start sanding Hood scoop has been put in place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Getting back to the 428 Power plant. Assembled and painted the headers Installed the new distributor Painting the aftermarket coil Next I drilled out the heads to accept the spark plug wires Next it was time to look at assembling the frame and suspension. You can't tell from these photos but extension blocks were placed between the frame and the leaf springs to allow clearance for the drag tires. Now you guys being as versed at building cars will see a problem right away. Me on the otherhand didn't figure it out till I tried to dry fit the motor. I believe I read somewhere this kit was cast from a metal kit so that might explain the notches in the hood I showed earlier and this. This hole in the fuel tank is so that the frame can be secured to the body with screws. I find this odd for a model kit but it is what it is. That said this is going to bother. Painted the radiator. The radiator itself was painted semi gloss black. The shroud flat black and then the fins on the radiator were dry brushed aluminum. My goal is to brake up all the black and add a little dimension to the engine bay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maindrian Pace Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Hopefully it won't be a big deal to reverse that front suspension. -MJS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 No it was pretty straight forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haubenschild Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 That looks absolutley amazing , the qaulity of the pictures and the detailed descriptions make the WIP so much more enjoyable to follow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted December 24, 2011 Author Share Posted December 24, 2011 Thanks everyone. As you may have experienced yourselves bench time has been kinda limited this last week. I did however make some small advancements. Another modification was relocating the battery to the trunk for better weight distribution. The crumb like things directly above the shock tower is whats left of the kit battery. Using some Evergreen stock I re-skinned the battery compartment Now for a little sanding and we'll be ready for some paint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmike Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Looking good Dirk! So far you have pointed out some of the things I'll need to address when I get around to building my kit. I'm still watching! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DumpyDan Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Looking good, nice detailing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheels Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Looks good so far! I'm watching! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whale392 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Looking good, Dirk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted December 29, 2011 Author Share Posted December 29, 2011 (edited) Time to move onto the interior. With this being an all black interior I decided to try something different. Rather then just paint everything semi-gloss black like the directions called for I gathered all my black paint (Flat, semi, and gloss) together and went to work. I painted the carpet flat black, the rear panels and metal of the doors semi-gloss. The seats and door skins were all done in gloss. My hope was that this would add some depth rather then just being a black hole. More to follow. Thanks for looking Edited December 29, 2011 by Dirkpitt289 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nova-ss Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Gooding really good I like it,good job.Thanks,Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 The interior has been completed The seats and roll bar in place Here is the dash pannel. The first thing I did was remove the radio and put on a face plate as these cars came without a radio After that the painting started Here the cross brace was installed along with the master cylinder. If you look you can see that the boost pump was removed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 The first cote of white has been applied to the body and after 20 hours it still seems tacky. I think I'm going to let it sit for the weekend before I touch it. In the mean time I think its time to start a new project. here are the kits I aquired over the Christmas holiday. There has to be something in here I can start. Hummm.... Decisions decisions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Here is the body, hood and rims with the first cote of white paint Thanks for looking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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