and the project begins...

[77M2C2]

Well...I'm off from work this week and the shop that I send all of the company trucks to for service is allowing me to bring in my recently purchased 77 cobra to get her up on the lift for the rest of the week
and hopefully bring her back to life.

The car has been sitting idle for some 16 years and the fuel system is a mess so...new tank, fuel lines, fuel pump, and carb go in first then...new stock ignition...then brakes fore and aft...and finally fluid changes engine, tranny, rear and then...make a list of all the yet to be discovered "items" that need attention!

I'm just looking foward to working on the car for a few days with no distractions,think it will be a great treat for me! or...I'll be throwing stuff totally pissed off wondering what I got myself into! Oh I hope not.

Dale

 

[IICrazy]

congrats Im sure you'll find lots of other little demons lurking under the car.

 

[joeythesaint]

Best of luck. I spent yesterday starting Phase II of my II. First thing was headers. Today, my jaw aches from grinding my teeth for 12 straight hours.

I hope to have it running by March.

---

You know you're a Mustang II owner when you lie awake at night dreaming of finding the previous owner of your car. . . and killing him.

 

[zwhitr]

---

You know you're a Mustang II owner when you lie awake at night dreaming of finding the previous owner of your car. . . and killing him.

That's why I'll never sell ---I like living

 

[COBRAIIW]

WE love PICS !

BTW,IICRAZY,when is that compilation of pics-video gonna be ready?

 

[77M2C2]

Well...I had three days to get some stuff done to the car after having it towed to my friends shop and managed to replace the entire fuel system from the tank thru the carb, replaced the ignition system with newer components and brakes all the way around. I should have brought my own tools cause not knowing where anything was in the shop was half the battle in getting any work done but it was nice to have the lift.

So...the car starts and runs and stops but there is now a clear shopping list of things to do which is going to require investment in both cash and time but still seem well worth it since the car seems to have been well taken care of and has a lot of potential.

Anyway, the ride home was priceless in this machine although I've forgotten just how crude they are in terms of ... well... everything! but it was great fun!

Unfortunately the time off has come to an end and the II will have to sit in the garage again till more time and money can be expended.

I will try to get some pics up but I'm not good at that sort of thing.

Dale

 

[Mustangj]

The crudeness of a Mustang II is all a matter of perspective. When my 1991 Lincoln Mark 7 was my daily driver the transition to the II was a little harder. The Lincoln stopped better the steering felt quicker and it was very confy and quiet. The benifits of the II at the time were that it had 50% more curb appeal and got 50% more attention while cruising. From a driving perspective the 175 more horse power and 1000lbs less weight made for a very spirited drive. Now that I drive the great Canadian winter beater (a 93 Mazda 323) The transiton to the Mustang is way easier!! The Mustang stops sooooooooooo much better and steers soooooooooooooooo much better and the additional 318 extra horse power over the Mazda is also very refreshing! As an added bonus while driving the Mustang you feel like Steve Mcqeen instead of Pee Wee Herman. On a more serious note I feel the additions that I made to my II that improved the driving experiance the most were the poly bushing, frame connectors, roll bar and thicker front sway bar. I assumed when I added all the stiffness to the chasis it would ride even worse than a stock II, but the bennifit would be felt on open-track days and on the auto cross course. To my surprise all the chasis stiffing made the suspension work harder and the car rides and drives much smoother. The ride quality is now up to current Mustang standards (well at least 2004 Mustang). My next round of improvements will include a overdrive transmission, a quick ratio steering rack, bigger brakes and larger modern tires with more stick. With these additions I hope to make the II feel more like a modern performance car. You can not buy a new car with 300 + hp with retro muscle car style. well at least you could not when I started building my II