Fixing up the Cobra

[landman]

I have this Cobra which I built years ago. It is a bit beyond gluing back together. The windshield and its frame are shot. it is missing the following, 1 spinner, 2 bumperettes, one hood lock handle, one tailight and one parking light. I can make a racer which doesn't need any of the missing parts or take it as far as I can to be completed as the parts are found.

The body was just clearcoated. It'll be stripped and painted.

The interior is pretty good. A few touch ups here and there.

The chassis isn't bad either. Some more extensive touching up.

The motor will be disassembled and redone.

Edited December 16, 2020 by landman

[Jhedir6]

Cool Pat. I like you taking pictures in the shop. Gives it that "we're gonna fix this up" feel.

Looking forward to more.

David

[landman]

The body is out of the bath. Now if I could only decide what color to paint it.

Touching up the firewall

Grimied up the seats with wash and gave them a coat of pearl clear. I'm not sold on the results yet.

The bottom of the frame had lost a lot of paint to the Saran wrap. that'll have to be fixed.What is the little box with the two lines? Where would those two lines go? Is that the oil reservoir?

Edited December 16, 2020 by landman

[dw1603]

 

 

The bottom of the frame had lost a lot of paint to the Saran wrap. that'll have to be fixed.What is the little box with the two lines? Where would those two lines go? Is that the oil reservoir?

That is the pedal box, it should be black. The brake and clutch master cylinders are mounted to the front of this assembly and should be silver. There would be copper coloured lines leading off to the clutch slave cylinder from the left m/cyl and to a brass coloured brake distribution block from the other.

[mustang1989]

I absolutely love restos Pat and you're doing a great job with this one. I view it like I'm restoring a 1:1 scale car when I'm building like this to try to add creativity along with the upgrades. . Awesome work buddy!

Edited February 3, 2017 by mustang1989

[landman]

That is the pedal box, it should be black. The brake and clutch master cylinders are mounted to the front of this assembly and should be silver. There would be copper coloured lines leading off to the clutch slave cylinder from the left m/cyl and to a brass coloured brake distribution block from the other.

Thanks David. Do you see that brake distribution block on the firewall or on the frame anywhere?

[espo]

Thanks David. Do you see that brake distribution block on the firewall or on the frame anywhere?

You might want to double check what type of hydraulic lines are used on the 1:1. Copper it's self is a rather weak metal and doesn't like high hydraulic pressures. Copper will often be used in fittings, but the line it's self is usually a stronger steel component. This would include the clutch line also since there is also a great deal of line pressure there also.    

[cobraman]

I will be looking in.

[dw1603]

Thanks David. Do you see that brake distribution block on the firewall or on the frame anywhere?

The only reasonably clear image I could find of an original 427 shows that the brake lines go to the chassis. There appears to be a metal heat shield above the cylinders to protect them from the heat of the headers. There are two remote reservoirs mounted quite high up on the front face of the driver side footwell with rubber hoses going straight down to the cylinders. Both the reservoirs and the hoses were black on the example I saw. 

I was imagining cupro-nickel for the brake lines rather than pure copper, but I reckon that Espo is probably right about them being steel. More research needed!

[landman]

The only reasonably clear image I could find of an original 427 shows that the brake lines go to the chassis. There appears to be a metal heat shield above the cylinders to protect them from the heat of the headers. There are two remote reservoirs mounted quite high up on the front face of the driver side footwell with rubber hoses going straight down to the cylinders. Both the reservoirs and the hoses were black on the example I saw. 

I was imagining cupro-nickel for the brake lines rather than pure copper, but I reckon that Espo is probably right about them being steel. More research needed!

David, I'm sure anything I put in there will be able to withstand the pressures involved.

[Snake45]

I LOVE rebuild/restoration projects! Nice work so far and Drive On!

[landman]

Sanded the seams and made a new hood hinge.

There is both a fuel pump and an oil filter in this sprue.

Detailed the dash and repainted the steering wheel. Interior is done.

Motor is coming together. You can see the scratchbuilt fuel pump, oil filter and the beginning of a clutch cylinder.

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by landman

[landman]

The shop called, motor is ready.

Edited December 16, 2020 by landman

[landman]

Added a little line to the differential.

Started on the bodywork.

Had a huge battle trying to put fittings on the pedal box, ending up in breaking one of the little cylinders. Took the box off the car, installed new fittings and put it back on. We'll see tomorrow.

Edited December 16, 2020 by landman

[espo]

Your rebuild is coming along and looks great. I don't know if you are even worried about the Master Brake Cylinder or the Clutch Master Cylinder any longer. You didn't mention if you still had the kits instruction sheet, but I have an unbuilt Cobra kit and in looking at the instruction sheet it makes no mention of either of these cylinders. 

[landman]

Your rebuild is coming along and looks great. I don't know if you are even worried about the Master Brake Cylinder or the Clutch Master Cylinder any longer. You didn't mention if you still had the kits instruction sheet, but I have an unbuilt Cobra kit and in looking at the instruction sheet it makes no mention of either of these cylinders. 

Check dw1603's post of Friday @ 8:39. I looked up some details on the internet and decided to build a clutch slave cylinder (visible on the engine photo) and a brake line junction block. It was trying to install a line from the pedal box to this block that I ran into grief. I got instructions off the net.

[espo]

That should look better than having nothing at all on the firewall. I mentioned before about the steel lines. The line pressure for a brake line can exceed 1000 PSI and in a racing application it could even be higher. The steel or "hard lines" would go from the reservoir to each wheel and the rear would have a flex line from the frame too the differential or from the frame in the general location of the wheels. Between the frame and the brake calipers there would be a flexible line going to the Calipers. On a normal passenger car this is usually a rubber line that is wrapped for strength. In an application such as the Cobra they would use a Steel Braded flex line since they will not expand under extreme pressures. The Clutch line would be the same thing with a flex line from the solidly mounted steel line to the Clutch Slave and this would also be steel braded. I know I'm a rivet counter but you do seem as though you're going for accuracy.    

[landman]

That should look better than having nothing at all on the firewall. I mentioned before about the steel lines. The line pressure for a brake line can exceed 1000 PSI and in a racing application it could even be higher. The steel or "hard lines" would go from the reservoir to each wheel and the rear would have a flex line from the frame too the differential or from the frame in the general location of the wheels. Between the frame and the brake calipers there would be a flexible line going to the Calipers. On a normal passenger car this is usually a rubber line that is wrapped for strength. In an application such as the Cobra they would use a Steel Braded flex line since they will not expand under extreme pressures. The Clutch line would be the same thing with a flex line from the solidly mounted steel line to the Clutch Slave and this would also be steel braded. I know I'm a rivet counter but you do seem as though you're going for accuracy.    

I put the block under the frame. Probably in the wrong location. I may just run the brake lines to a point near the wheels with no attachment to the wheels themselves.

[landman]

On 2/5/2017 at 9:50 PM, espo said:

. I know I'm a rivet counter but you do seem as though you're going for accuracy.    

David, I think in my case plausible is more to the point than accuracy. In any case here is my brake line job. Hope you won't be disappointed.

Edited December 16, 2020 by landman

[landman]

I went with pearl red over silver. tried paint over foil on the little 427 emblems. Didn't work.

Edited December 16, 2020 by landman

[landman]

The completed chassis and the painted body are sitting in the shop waiting for the paint to cure and for me to find the missing pieces. 

Edited December 16, 2020 by landman

[mod3l Lover]

      Pat,

  Sorry for the delay on the parts, I have not been

able to get anywhere for a while.

  David S.

 

[espo]

The color looks great as does the chassis. I like how you got the dash and gauges to look.

[landman]

The color looks great as does the chassis. I like how you got the dash and gauges to look.

I used decals from an instrument face decal sheet and highlighted the rims with a silver marker.

[cobraman]

Paint looks great, good color for the Cobra. Carry on !