HG's Dream Car Build - Shelby Cobra Kit

[hgs_notes]

The front of the fender is the Bikini Bottom one and in the lead right now for preference. The middle section was Cosmic Teal and over the white paint was too green. Over the grey primer I liked the color but not sure I want the multi-color flake. It was also more difficult to spray and coverage wasn't good.

But I had more of each color left over so today I mixed them in equal parts and gave that a try on the rear section of the fender. It sprayed well, covered in 2 coats. The color is good over the grey and over the white, similar to the Bikini Bottom on it's own. But it seems just a little more green to me in the light which made it look like the 98 mustang I used as a donor.

I'm going to see if a local HOK dealer might have samples to compare. Tropical Glitz is also a HOK dealer.

I took pics inside and outside. It's as close as I can get it to how it really looks. It doesn't come over well with the camera unfortunately. The last pic is the inspiration. It's a rendering. I've got bronze wheels and dark grey pipes.

[fatbass]

I like all the colors on that fender and would be happy with any.
It's going to look sharp regardless of what you pick.

[CG]

Must be hard taking a break, getting so close dunno how you can sleep haha!

[fatbass]

I wear size 13 shoes too. I used to have a '64 Austin Healy Sprite and could only drive it with my Chuck Taylors on. Boots would overlap the pedals and cause all kinds of problems.
Keep on chuggin'. It's looking really nice.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by CG

Must be hard taking a break, getting so close dunno how you can sleep haha!

After working on this and so many others over the years I rarely lose sleep.

Originally Posted by fatbass

I wear size 13 shoes too. I used to have a '64 Austin Healy Sprite and could only drive it with my Chuck Taylors on. Boots would overlap the pedals and cause all kinds of problems.
Keep on chuggin'. It's looking really nice.

I have a pair of tennis shoes that are fairly small profile Ill try.

[hgs_notes]

After trying every type of power saw tool I have and not liking how any of them worked I decided to try my die grinder with a cutoff wheel. It worked great! Buzzed through the fiberglass nice and only took a few minutes. Then I used a couple different sanders to clean up some stuff on the inside of the tub. A lot of people spray the inside of the tub with bed liner or some kind of undercoating. I don't know if it's necessary but figured why not. I sprayed 2-1/2 of the big cans of rustoleum bed liner on it.

Body should be on the car in the next couple days!

[hgs_notes]

The wife, my daughter and her fiance helped drop the body on. I need to move a few bolts for the rear bumper for the rear of the body to drop down the rest of the way.

[LS short box]

MN is tuff when registering non-stock cars. Keep every receipt so you can prove what you have in the car so if the state comes back with a higher value you can contest it with paper work.

[hgs_notes]

Didn't get it out on the road. The lights are on but not wired. Sidepipes are on and loud as hell. I took it off the jack stands and the rear tires hit the wheel openings. The front is a bit high. This is the first time the car is on the ground with the body on it. Oh well, I'll get to drive it soon enough.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7d2WnqEG...3YpPxd3P2oDuNr

[hgs_notes]

Today was the day!

Yesterday almost was. I worked on raising the rear up and got it high enough to stop the tire rubbing the body. Drove around the yard a bit and headed down the driveway. And it died right at the end of the driveway. My driveway is 1/4 mile long BTW. I thought I ran out of gas. Put some gas in and nothing. I couldn't hear the fuel pump running.

Well wtf, it's a new pump. So I got towed back to the garage and started troubleshooting. Fuses were all good. Tried putting power directly to the pump at the plug and nothing.

This morning I pulled the pump out and the power lead soldered connector was separated. Easy fix and away I went. I got about 6 miles on it on the county roads around here. The ride was really good. Not harsh at all. It was so strange to drive though. Your ass is about 8" off the ground. It was like driving my racecar. It's not even like a convertible.

Anyway, the brakes need more bleeding. It stalls when coming to a stop, which the Ford tech line said I shouldn't have to worry about. I think I have a fix for that though from Dakota digital. I should get the windshield on, lol. And finish wiring. Still lots to do but I finally drove it down the road!

Sorry about the sideways pics. And I was not driving over 100 mph. The speedometer isn't calibrated yet. Only went 55 and only hit 5th gear once for about 15 seconds. Remember, no windshield and soft brake pedal.

[Rickysnickers]

Flipped

[hgs_notes]

Thanks Ricky.

Today I did more suspension adjustment, bled the rear brakes and got all the blinkers and brake lights connected. The left rear brake had a bunch of air in it. The only lights left are the headlights which I can't reach the pigtail easily and will need to pull the whole assembly to get to, and the license plate light, which I need to figure out where to route the harness to.

I ordered some LED headlights for it. A more modern design that my kid tried on his monte carlo. They look alright and way brighter than the halogens. The yellow halo will get wired to the blinkers too. It's a small low car and I want it to be seen, like a motorcycle.

I took another stepson for a ride. He's about my weight and with both of us heavyweights in it I only heard a tire rub once for a split second. I'll put coilovers on eventually but can't afford to this year. I better start getting the windshield mounted, lol. I can't wait to get some more miles on it, get used to the transmission and the feel of it. It rides nice, not harsh at all.

Still haven't heard back from the state about the title yet. Don't know if that's good or bad.

[hgs_notes]

Put the windshield on and did a little more driving around. I missed a couple wires for the Dakota Digital gauges to allow the setup buttons to work and calibrate the speedometer and gas gauge. So I got that taken care of. During the drive I got the speedometer setup and compared it with a satellite speed app on my phone. It was on the money. Even with the windshield it's windy driving it. I think it'll get better with the wind wings and doors on.

[fatbass]

It's looking badass. Love this build.
Are you planning on any competition racing? If nothing else I'd love to see a 1/8 or 1/4 mile time slip when you get it dialed in.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by fatbass

It's looking badass. Love this build.
Are you planning on any competition racing? If nothing else I'd love to see a 1/8 or 1/4 mile time slip when you get it dialed in.

No plans to, but who knows.

I removed the headlight assemblies so I could get them wired up. Also using the LED headlights with halos. I wired the halos to so the white was one like a DRL and it still flashed yellow with the blinkers but it's washed out when the halo DRL is on so I disconnected the DRL option and only use the halos with the blinkers. I know some people don't care for them, I do and I'm not building this to copy the original as much as possible.

I'm building it for me.

[hgs_notes]

I have a title! And the best part is that the state of MN says I have a 1965 shelby cobra! That's how I filled in the forms, but I didn't expect them to accept it lol.

[fatbass]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

I have a title! And the best part is that the state of MN says I have a 1965 shelby cobra! That's how I filled in the forms, but I didn't expect them to accept it lol.

That's one wild card out of the way. How crazy is your insurance (if I may)?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by fatbass

That's one wild card out of the way. How crazy is your insurance (if I may)?

Not bad actually. I have like 5 or 6 cars on a collector car policy. They figure you can only drive 1 at a time so the odds of loosing it all is slim. The cobra has the highest claimed value so the premium is based mainly on that. Less than $50/mo to cover all of them. Once the cobra is painted and done I'll have to raise the value and it'll go up. I have it set at $40k now. Probably bump up to 55-65k later which is what most people are paying to get their cars built using all new stuff. Some quite a bit more if they put turbos and custom professional work done. Mine is really a budget build believe it or not. I have about half the money into the drivetrain than most have using a coyote. Cheaper wheels than the halibrand reproductions, and I'm doing body and paint myself which most people can't do. Realistically I'll spend half or less than what most people spend.

I get a discount from work on the daily driver car insurance for the other 4 vehicles.

[fatbass]

That doesn't seem bad at all. New 3/4T pickups can be nearly $100K and cost a bunch to insure. Not to mention 'vettes and the like.

[hgs_notes]

Had a nice afternoon so I went for a drive. The gas gauge wasn't working so I fixed that first. I think a wire was pinched. Anyway I went to town, put some gas in it, visited the brother in laws shop, drove over the truck scale, ripped around for a while, visited another friend to show off and will scavenge parts off his camper that will work on my van, drove around some more and finally went back home.

Probably the best time I've had in it so far.

It weighs about 2250 lbs with a mostly full tank. It has around 425 HP. It doesn't take long to get to 60.

[Rickysnickers]

Just be careful and don't wind up in one of those corn fields

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Just be careful and don't wind up in one of those corn fields

Funny, someone did just that the other night in the field near my house. An F150 resting on its top. I'm taking it pretty easy. Just cruising and enjoying it as much as I can before the weather forces me to park it. So far the only issue was a coolant leak from a fitting that has an o-ring and really shouldn't have leaked. I pulled it and it seemed OK, put it back on and it didn't leak. Weird. Probably will regear it though. 90 mph at 2500 rpm. Driving at 60 in 5th is well below 2000, it's hard to keep the speed down.

Driving on windy days isn't great. I don't know if having the doors on would help but probably wouldn't be worse. A cross wind almost blew my glasses off my face! It was blowing like 30 mph. I have over 200 miles on it so far. That doesn't sound like much but it's a lot of short trips. It's fun. Seriously fun. I don't miss my motorcycles at all.

I could drive it like this forever, unpainted, unfinished, don't care, it's awesome.

I could, but I won't. It's going to look great finished up. I'm looking forward to it. Not the sanding, I hate sanding.

[Dieselwrencher]

I hate sanding too! Your cobra is looking awesome! Keep enjoying that thing!

[fatbass]

I'll bet you feel 25 years younger behind the wheel. I got a feeling you'll get the finishing touches done a lot quicker than you planned due to the need to drive it. That rush is a great motivator.
Has your wife driven it yet or will she be allowed to?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by fatbass

I'll bet you feel 25 years younger behind the wheel. I got a feeling you'll get the finishing touches done a lot quicker than you planned due to the need to drive it. That rush is a great motivator.
Has your wife driven it yet or will she be allowed to?

I would let my wife drive whatever she wants. Frankly, this one scares her lol. She has no interest in driving it. Even if it had an automatic. She knows how to drive stick but doesn't like it. She won't even drive my C10. I can't get her to do a burnout in the camaro. She's afraid she'll lose control and wreck something. She leaves all of the tire abuse to me.