Help me get my II running

[Jezebel]

I've had my II sitting in a garage for the past year and I'd really like to get her running again. The main reason for putting it in semi storage in the first place was 1. major over heating 2. could not pass safety inspection.

So first question is, did the 78 Cobra II's come factory with a fan shroud? I've found an aftermarket one that I'd like to try. It seems a bit less labor intensive than trying to figure out the current electrical fan setup I have. I kept the clutch fan just in case. If they did, where does the back of the shroud bolt up to?

2nd question, how do I get my interior turn signal working? The only reason I did not pass the safety inspection was the interior turn signal (exterior works fine) would only work intermitently. One day it would work, the next it wouldn't. The day I tried to pass inspection it did not and has not worked since. I had the shop I tried to get the inspection at and my normal mechanic take a look at it since I know nothing about electrical work. First place told me told me in order to pull the actual light out of the dash might cause them to break it. I told them don't touch it and give me my car back. 2nd told me they couldn't locate the reason it wasn't working. They are decent mechanics and did not charge me for this work. That still leaves me with a car unable to pass inspection. Any ideas? I was thinking I might redo the entire wiring harness but if I can get it on the road with less work, say, just doing some adjustments in the dash board, I'd rather try that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really miss driving my II...

 

[pntbllchaos8]

i can answer the first question, yes they did, atleast mine came from the factory with one.

 

[THE COBRAMAN]

All IIs came with a fan shroud. None were equipped with a clutch fan. 2.3 and 2.8 shrouds are pretty readily available used, and I see there is now a fibreglas repro (quality unknown) of the second design 302 shroud. I suspect some engine swapping has been done? The OEM 302 flex fan works pretty well, although a shroud is pretty much a requirement in hot climates/AC operating conditions.

As for the signal indicator, could be as simple as the bulb in the socket in the cluster, a bad cluster socket , or poor condition printed circuit on back of the cluster.

The cluster isn't too hard to remove, but a word of warning...the white plastic used to fabricate the cluster shells has been known to be very fragile/chalky/crumbly. This is especially true in warmer/hot climates.

 

[Jezebel]

Okay I might be using the wrong terminology.

This is the exact fan I have that was attached to the water pump. As you can tell this fan without a shroud does not do much to pull air through the radiator, especially in traffic. Living in Houston makes it near impossible to drive anywhere without hitting traffic.

This is what I'm wanting to get: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290016942833

Was also wondering where the shroud bolts on...

 

[THE COBRAMAN]

Appears to be the correct fan.

The shroud attaches to tabs near the bottom of the correct II-specific radiator, and 2 holes near the top on the flanges at the sides. The lower slots are provided so you can start the bolts and slide the shroud into them, and then attach the uppers. Uses 4 fender type bolts (with captured washer) and 4 "U" nuts to thread into. Some have been found with short sheetmetal screws and smaller "J" nuts.

Don't have a pic, and my car currently has a modified 2.3 shroud on it (NOS 302 shroud stockpiled "just in case")

You also need to make sure the radiator is up to the job (if it's still the original, it isn't), and use the 16 lb cap as specified by Ford. Most parts stores will try to sell you a 13 pound cap, which is not correct.

You may also be the victim of a desmogger. The II in it's original design includes a thermostatically controlled ported vacuum switch (on tstat housing) that will raise engine idle speed (by pulling more distributor advance) to draw more air across the radiator when temp starts to climb. Most people removed this, believeing it was an emission control device.

Last piece of info to toss out is that I have found the temp sending units being sold to be incorrect. The OEM sender apparently uses different values than the commony available generic aftermarket senders. It is my experience that the aftermarket sender reads too high on the II gauge. This was verified with 3 different senders from 2 different sources. As a footnote this information was verified through the use of an infrared thermometer. I switched from the new aftermarket sender that always ran at the hot end of the gauge to an original pulled from a parts car, and it now runs at the mark to the left of center on the gauge.

After almost 27 years of ownership, I have come to understand that nothing is to be taken for granted when buying parts for a II from sources other than Ford, even if it is listed as being the correct part.

 

[Jezebel]

I have a 3 core radiator. I don't know what came stock. I've had the radiator cleaned before and the cores are in good condition. I would think a 3 core would be sufficient. I've replaced the thermostat twice, the water pump, and the radiator cap 3 times. Nothing has really made any difference in the long run.

I've heard from a friend locally that it's possible to accidentally put the head gasket on incorrectly, which covers up one of the coolant holes. Have you ever heard of this? My head gaskets are not problem that I know of but if I try this fan shroud and the other items you listed and it still is having problems, I may consider giving that a try.

What does the vacuum switch look like? I'm a bit new to mechanic endeavors so I'm kind of slow.

Here's a pic of my stang btw:

 

[dmoody]

Nice looking Cobra, I don't think I've ever seen rims like those. I had overheating problems on my Cobra as well. I would get really nervous when I had to sit at a light too long in the summer. The fan shroud makes a huge difference and you might also check your thermostat. Sometimes they rust and can hang open or closed.

d

 

[Jezebel]

Those are actually Shelby rims. I haven't the faintest idea how they ended up on my car. I really want to get rid of the tiny wheels but that's on the back burner for now.

I know exactly what you're talking about. This car was my daily driver for a year. The overheating was huge problem except in December and January. Then there was the time I went without a speedometer cable for a couple months and got to guess how fast I was driving. Or the time one of my transmission lines rubbed a hole in itself and I could tell where I'd been by following the trail of transmission fluid.

I ordered the fan shroud so if I can get that installed, the electrical issue worked out, and the car to pass inspection, I could be driving her again in 3 or 4 weeks.

 

[78CobraII]

Great-looking car! The wheels are really good looking, but I can understand wanting larger rims.

The interior turn signal failure is likely to be caused by either a burned-out bulb or the damaged gauge cluster plastic referred to previously. The bulb sits in a screw-in cap that twists into the plastic of the gauge cluster and presses against the mylar gauge circuit. If the gauge cluster plastic is crumbly, the bulb will not make good contact with the mylar circuit.

If the gauge cluster plastic is damaged, I would contact one of the MII used parts sellers and see if they have a good used or NOS replacement. Another possibility would be to solder wires between the bulb and the mylar circuit, or create your own gauge wiring harness that plugs into the factory under-dash wiring harness.

My '76 gauge cluster was having problems as early as '83. I pulled it out back then and built up around the sockets for the bulbs with model cement. That worked great for a couple of extra years of driving. Unfortunately when stripping the car recently, I attempted to remove the guage cluster and the plastic literally crumbled to dust in my hands. The one on my '78 CBII is also bad, but the one on my '78 Ghia is good. Go figure...

The reversed head gasket is a possibility if the heads were removed or the engine rebuilt at any point in the car's past. The thermostat is required for proper cooling of the engine and should not be removed as mine was. Too large of an over-bore when rebuilding a 302 will also cause overheating as will a lean fuel mixture, although this would usually be accompanied by quite a lot of "pinging".

Good luck!