Fasterpatricks Custom Cobra Replica

[fasterpatrick]

Well we have power in the shop, Mod power. One lincoln mark VIII twin cam 4.6L. I have a big mess to cleanup in the shop and then I can start to mount this cool engine.


Patrick

[fasterpatrick]

Well we have engine mounted in frame. Position looks good, thanks to some new friends on the ffr site. They got me the dimension for the mounts for the 4.6L from front axle centerline, and then I moved them 1" forward, for maybe a little more space in the footbox. The Lincoln mounts made for an easy fab, they are parallel with the frame so only had to adjust for offset on one plane.

Some things got a little tight, like the starter and the oil filter


Yes I smashed the oil filter during positioning, it will come off don't worry.
Patrick

[fasterpatrick]

The last of the wooden supports came out of the body today. Meaning that I have finished the Major body support system of the bird cage. What fun it is to work in a fiber glass cave fitting tubing to the underside of a body that has been twisted by time and temp. But enough whining and here are some shots of the progress of the last couple of weeks. A few more tubes to fit and the door sills to do(those will be oh so fun, not) and we should be good for more parts to mount.
Patrick

[fasterpatrick]

Well,
I said previously that I had some complaining to do so here. Went though FFR to provide my exhaust parts because of the Mod 4.6 and their development. figured that it should work with little modification (hey come on this isn't a stock build), I was ready for that. But what I got was aggravation and a whole lot of rework,and I hate rework! some parts came right away some took two phone calls and a few e-mails to even get an answer when they would ship. One side pipe was crooked, had to cut it apart and re-weld it strait, not only person thats happened to. J-pipes, well lets just say these I knew I would be modifying but not to this extent. But after two weeks and lot of work we have side pipes mounted on the car and they look as good as I could get them. There are lots of new pics in the gallery take a look.
Patrick

[fasterpatrick]

Well, this step was refreshing. After the PITA of the exhaust we went on to mounting the fuelcell in the car. This was a piece of cake and went together without any problems. It fit right where I wanted it to go and did exactly what is supose to. Tied the upper suspention mounts together nicely. Too bad I can only carry about 12 gallons, but my clubs will still fit in the trunk (or chairs and cooler). Now we are moving on to the seats they are not going in so quietly.
Patrick

[fasterpatrick]

Now I didn't spend big money, for seats that may need to be modified to fit, but these weren't all that bad. Now finding room in this car for them, well thats a whole other thing. after figuring what angle and how far back they needed to be we set out to fab up brackets to do so. decided not to use the adjusters they only raised the seats up higher and they felt high enough just bolted to the floor. Have come up with a solution for different heights of drivers, I'm going to make the pedals adjustable. Now that should make for some serious headscratching when the time comes.
Now second, I know that a lot of people are following this build. Well I'm not just posting this for enjoyment. I want feed back So please try to interject some of your thoughts. I have incredibly thick skin so don't be afraid. Oh and Mick sorry still no vroom-vroom shot but my spouse caught me sitting in the car, Yes she gave me a hard time.
Patrick

[fasterpatrick]

Well let's start with a casualty report. Thurs. angle grinder died bought new cheap one (with the abuse they get from me good ones don't last much longer). Fri. belt sander blew a bearing, fixed it with parts from broken angle grinder. Sun. melted hole in air hose will fix at work.

With everything going wrong I was still able to get my removable backbone finished and in the car. 12 bolts, tight fit, told ya I could it. I don't think I need to worry about another cross member with that cage bolted to the frame. Kind of ties the rear suspension together also should cut down on twist as well.
Patrick

[fasterpatrick]

Well I've made another installment in the saga I'm going to refer to as breaking the laws of physics, or making something larger on the inside than it is on the outside. We have steering and it works. It was a tight fit with the huge engine in the way but we got it all in there. Can any one guess what the column is out of? I'll give you ford but you have to be more specific. oh and it's been modified quite a bit. Thanks to everyone for the Intel on what everyone else is using. now I have to start thinking about pedals, Oh Boy oh boy.
Patrick

[fasterpatrick]

Hey just a quickie bent this up for my roll bar hope you can bear it. I just never liked the double hoop look, just to busy for me. But with this one it is one piece and can be removed without taking the legs off. You will either love it or hate it, I don't care It's my car.
Patrick

[awr68]

Welcome to the site! What a cool build! I love that you are doing all the fab yourself! How long have you been at it? Yeah it can be frusterating at times (understatement!) but doing it yourself adds a lot to it!!