King Cobra Build in Oregon

It is amazing to me what appears to be surface damage totals cars now days. I know they are designed to crumple to protect passengers. That just does not look totaled. Back when I was young that is a doghouse, maybe yank the left frame rail back into shape. Spray out the interior to get rid of the blood. Replace the windshield to get rid of the hair imbedded in the cracks. Then sell it to a new owner as the previous one didn't make it. Back then the car survived. You may or may not. Now days I have seen some crashes where you are certain they are severely injured if they survived at all. Yet they walk away with minor scratches.

Good to hear another t top may be resurrected! The cowl shake sucks but the holes in the roof are awesome!

I think one can request a copy of the insurance estimate to see the numbers they came up with to determine it was totaled.

? What

I am sure it is totaled. I was just comparing back then to now days. They fold on purpose now. Air bags are ridiculously expensive as well. If they deploy the cost sky rockets. Back then you could straighten a frame. Now days they are all unibody and even a front left hit can damage the right rear of the cars structure. Resulting in rigidity lost. Then if there is another wreck after repairs you can rest assured it will not crumple predictably. thus insurance says totaled on a lot of things that could have been fixed in years gone by.

From my understanding all t top cars came with the strut bars and the torque boxes. I know for sure the v6 did as well as the v8. Check for torque boxes. If it does not have either I suspect the t tops were added later. If your installing a v8, or even a souped up 4 cylinder you need to get or make the torque boxes and strut bars. I have them as well as frame ties on mine and the cowl still shakes a lot more then even the convertible '85 I used to drive.

As an aside check the metal trim around the t top. It is basically aluminum L shaped metal around the opening. It is what you see with the t tops in place. The 78 v6 I have they are one piece and the tops lign up pretty flush with the roof line. On Christine they are 3 pieces and the drivers side t top sticks up more then I would like. I think the difference is made in house or made by the aftermarket place. Yours being a 77 I suspect they will be 3 pieces but am curious.

I love those hurricane wheels. Wish we could still get 225/60/13's. They fit the rear of my old II in the 80's and looked great.

I have seen a few with the core support cut and just cannot see why. I can drop a 302 and trans with headers and belts installed into and out of there without any issues. Just have to remove the fan. Plug the trans output. I usually use a rubber glove and duct tape but they make plugs for it. The glove and tape method protects the tunnel a little as it tends to rub there. Leave the headers loose so they can move around. Jack the assend up so the nose tilts down. Installing, I jack the front end up as the trans clears the tunnel. Removal I drop it down as the trans clears the tunnel. Last couple times I used a tilt thingy on the engine hoist which makes it sooooo much easier than standing on the output housing of the trans. They fit like a glove. A kids glove being stretched onto a giants hand but still. One brand of headers is a pain ( hedmans, I lay the passenger header in the bay first) but the other two brands (blackjack and hookers) fit fine going in as an assembly. Just leave them loose until the engine is in place.

That engine bay is barren. Looks like it's actually in really good shape though. The battery tray is gone but looks like it is solid underneath the tray. Christine was rotted all the way through there. Down to the seam at the frame rail. Only place on it that rusted through. The battery probably leaked some acid on her. I had to cut about 12 x 8 area of metal out it was so swiss cheesed. One reason the battery is in the spare tire well now.

Hopefully the t top parts are there. If not they will be easy to make. I can get you detailed pics and measurements if you cannot find them.

Check behind the front wheels for the torque boxes. The pics below are what the torque boxes look like. I have seen 1 car where they were only welded. May have been added later on that car. Christine has them welded to the subframe and bolted to the wheel well/floor board. The weld was very poor from the factory and broke or just didn't stick on the passenger side at the rail. I had to re-weld it there. So double check their welds.

Anywhere the brackets or boxes penetrate the body have another strip of metal as a backer to samich the sheet metal between the steel.

Ignore the rust. These were taken before I treated and painted the chassis.

KPH has 220... at least mine.

If I was a better fabricator that would happen to the orange t top car I have and the Mach I. Mach I roof is all mangled. The car flew dukes of hazard style and cracked all the factory welds on the pillars. Roof itself is buckled and warped. The TTop car is a basic v6. The floor rotted away and the right subframe is rotted through causing the car to sag at the fender/door seam. I may tackle it at some point but I don't think I could do them justice. Maybe when that rich uncle gets out of the poorhouse I can afford to pay someone to do it.

The factory welded the roof on so it is doable. One of the posts here had t tops added. Iirc he bought it with t tops but it did not have any of the reinforcements and he stated the car had been hit pretty hard in its previous life. I think he said they cut the car almost in half repairing the damage. I posted about the torque boxes and monte carlo bar in his thread so it should be easy to find. Not that it helps you but it would be proof it is doable.

Here is his thread. https://stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/1976-cobra-build.914621/