Finally I own a Cobra - a Project to get it back on the road

N/Angel

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engine is coming out soon, hope the damage done by the supercharger is not too bad. However it has been sitting for years without plugs at the previous owners house, who knows what we will find.
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N/Angel

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well, what can I say, engine is out and taken apart and all we found was an almond in the driver side head. Obviously not the reason for the claimed engine damage as it was probably dropped sometime during the long time the car was sitting with no spark plugs.
Otherwise the heads look good, cams look good, pistons all are okay, cylinder walls look very good.

Previous owner said car would not run on all cylinders and had low compression on cylinder 7 and 8.
We can't find anything confirming this issue. So I will be ordering all new gaskets, spark plugs and a few other misc things and then it goes back together and hopefully starts up without issues. Maybe I got lucky and the engine is ok after all.

Some pics attached. What do you think?


Engine 2.jpg
Engine 1.jpg
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sledhead999

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the previous owner had a KB supercharger on it, car ran until he started to take it apart for a first analysis. Low compression on some cylinders. Apparently it kept blowing valve cover gaskets under boost. He had too many projects and let this one go to a good home.

I just want it back up running without supercharger, so if anyone wants a KB, let me know.
I wish I could find a ready to drop in shortblock to get it back up running quickly.

I'm interested in the KB supercharger. Send me a message, thanks!
 

N/Angel

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Any cracks in the heads or cylinder walls?

Maybe it blew a head gasket on the previous owner?

No cracks on the head or cylinder walls, everything looks almost like new. there is a very very light spot on the head gasket that could have been a sign of it being blown, but we are honestly not sure.
 

N/Angel

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Slowly making progress putting the engine back together. Currently cleaning the valve covers, someone added a ton of black sticky stuff between valve cover and valve cover gasket.
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CobraBob

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Coming along, and thanks for the update. What is your projected finish date?
 

N/Angel

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Coming along, and thanks for the update. What is your projected finish date?
if the guys can continue working on it, the engine will be assembled by tonight. Then we need to see if any of our spare stock h-pipes fit the car before installing the engine.
I hope to try to crank it within the next two weeks. And only then will I find out if the engine damage was just the head gasket as suspected or if we have a bigger issue to fix.
 

N/Angel

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engine is back in the car. Waiting for the passenger side PCV valve from Rockauto and the driver side exhaust flange to adapt the 99+ h-pipe before starting it for the first time.

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N/Angel

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Received the correct flange to adapt my 99+ midpipe and to my luck I just found my old Ford Racing catback that was on my 03 GT many years ago.
I hope I can adapt it to fit the Cobra, if yes all my exhaust issues would be solved!
 

04DeadShort

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Received the correct flange to adapt my 99+ midpipe and to my luck I just found my old Ford Racing catback that was on my 03 GT many years ago.
I hope I can adapt it to fit the Cobra, if yes all my exhaust issues would be solved!

Where did you get the adapter flange from?
 

CobraBob

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The motor sounds good. Awesome that you finished enough to get it started. So what remains to be done on the Cobra?
 

N/Angel

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Since it is running I removed the bent front swaybar and replaced it with Eibach front and rear. Looks like it was towed on the swaybar.

Ordered fresh tires for my terminator wheels that I have waiting, need to replace the tie rods, remove the BAP, install my new MGW shifter and my MRT hood struts. Then it needs an alignment and set the proper ride hight of the KW coilovers.

I tried out the stereo that is installed and it actually sound really nice so I'm keeping it.

I can't wait to take it for the first drive!

And hubby gave the okay for me to buy the T1 rear spoiler now that is running, so yay! Just need to save up some cash for it first.
 

CobraBob

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That’s great! It’s moving forward fast. I’m looking forward to seeing it completely finished.
 

N/Angel

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Well, first testdrive confirmed that the engine itself is good, she drives perfectly.

BUT, the valve covers are leaking badly. This explains why there was a ton of rtv gasket maker around the valve covers additional to the stock gasket. Looks like the previous owner already tried to stop the leak without success.

Given that carefully assembling the engine with all new gaskets still causes a leak, the covers must be warped of some sort.
The only available quick and cheap fix for me is to install the blue Ford Racing valve covers that we have sitting on the shelf from a Terrminator engine. I don't want to do a COP conversion so I'm going to get custom coil covers to fit the valve covers with an opening for the wiring. Not perfect but it will work.

I really don't like the wrinkle blue but keeping four cars running made me stop focusing on looks on the details. I originally wanted a whole different color scheme for the Cobra but now I need to stick with the wrinkle blue.
 

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