Messages

I will point out that more than just a few "race" Cobras never had their wheel arches modified from the way AC Cars sent them out. A friend has a car that was raced 1963-69 with the narrow stock wire wheels and stock wheel arches.
   
   Conversely more than a few Cobras got all kinds of modified "wings" and never became full time 'race cars', at least not before vintage racing developed in the 1970s and later.  (Yes know that there were cars that were driven daily and raced occasionally on weekends from day one. If you call every Cobra that raced even just once a 'race car' there might be only a few that were what we could call a pure "street car".)
   
   Also note worthy is that certain cars have gone from the way AC produced them to ones with wheel arches highly modified and subsequently changed back to a closer to stock set of shapes. A few cars have been changed several times.  The way any given car is today might not have been the way it was long ago or even months ago.  If the name Cobra was good enough world wide when the cars were new then that is good enough for me. (In the southeastern U.S.A. I most often heard them called "AC Cobra" until the late 1970s.)
   
   The modern slang terms, most all of them, are rather poor ways to pay respect to the cars, the people that built them, and the people that owned and or raced them when they were new cars.

There is nothing even remotely 'slab' like on any thing that I have seen produced by AC in its many decades of production. Specially for day one stock Cobras there is not a flat surface on them anywhere. The shapes of Cobras are complex combinations of adjacent compound curves.
   
   http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/slab
   
   Whoever applied the new descriptor the very first time must have had very poor eye sight including horrible depth perception.

The first I recall it was in the 1990s when the American based replica builders,  owners, and their fans started using the term in their slang.
   
   1962-1965 you will find all kinds of names in print using one word or combinations of words in different orders that picked up on Shelby, AC Cars, Ford, and Cobra.  The name Cobra seemed to be understood universally but as soon as the first specification change in chassis came about anyone requiring parts either from Shelby or AC needed to know the chassis number of what they were working on to get the correct replacement parts.  The need to know your chassis number developed very early but it was still just a Cobra.
   
   The confusion in the U.S.A. seemed to start when the first word on the new car got out in public. The new car, the car people call either a 427 Cobra or Cobra 427 these days hit the early Shelby parts book  (dated January 15, 1965) list as the Cobra II model. That parts book then called all the old cars (leaf spring cars) Cobra I models. Parts for street and race cars were itemized.  Legend says that Mr. Shelby didn't like the Cobra I and II designations so they were eliminated.  (The magnesium racing wheels designed and produced specifically for 427 Cobras are marked "COBRA II".) The December 23, 1966 parts book says, "Model Number = Model 1 in the Cobra series indicates the Cobra 289, produced 1963 to 1965."  A few lines down is says, "Model 2 in the Cobra series indicates the Cobra 427 produced in 1966." Throughout the rest of the book the terms 289 Cobra and Cobra 289 are both used interchangeably.  That is the earliest text that I personally have with the newly coined "289 Cobra" name in it.  The last new Cobra was history before this book was printed, old car with new name.
   
   My point, none really other than that many names exist today that all came after the last new leaf spring car was completed.  Every few years somebody coins a new name for reasons only they know and that just adds to the confusion.
   
   It use to be that if one owned a Cobra that was self explanatory. Once the flood of looks something like AC Cars made and replica* makers and their products exploded into the world more modifiers were required.  Some tried "real Cobra" for a Shelby-AC-Ford product but the replica builders, owners, and fans cried foul. Their cars were just as "real" in the sense that they existed in physical form.  The term "original Cobra" developed to mean a car that was a Shelby-AC-Ford product. That more or less became ineffective because of the entangled connections between all the parties playing in the recreation/continuation/whatever cars in the last two decades plus.  Now I find I have to say that "I have a car made under the co-operative efforts of Shelby American, AC Cars, and Ford Motor Company in the first quarter of 1964.........." for people to understand it is not any one of dozens of other possibilities.  One of the descriptions that gets laughs is one a friend offers for his CSX25XX car. He drives it to many events. Almost no one asks if it is a car 'original'. A few will recognize what it. If someone asks if it is a kit. His answer is yes. If they ask what kind says it was an AC kit assembled by Shelby. He tells me the most common response is something like 'oh' and the clueless questioners walk away.
   
   
   * The vast majority on non-Cobras/427 Cobras are not actually replicas of anything. Facsimile or characturization might be more accurate descriptive modifiers. There are some cars that could accurately be called replicas. I have seen a very small number that the builders took great care in mimicking original parts, materials, and methods with. The majority tens of thousands are just something that looks generally like 1960s car.  The typical modern creation is done by people that do not like or do not want an original 1960s car.  The common things they want different are usually (but not limited to)chassis design, suspensions, engines, transmissions, wider track,  longer wheel base, different brakes,  tougher body, body that super wide wheels and tires will go under, cooler cockpits, easy to find parts, and cheap parts. Hmmm, they like the general look of the old cars and the fame attached to them but they really don't like the original cars. It's like the person you wish to date saying 'sure, I like you but before I go out with you, you must dye your hair, change the cut, get different clothes, loose 20 pounds, get those teeth straighter/whiter/whatever, AND go get a better job so you can spend more on me first'. They just said they didn't like you. Before you get real excited, I have met modern car owners and or builders that love the old cars they just can't afford them. To me they seem to be the very small minority of modern car builders and owners. The market serves the majority. I know a person that owns a CSX24XX car AND a more modern looks something like a 427 Cobra car. He likes both for different reasons.

quote:Originally posted by rsk289
   
Don't know if it helps, but this style of Otter switch was also used on sixties MGs and Series Landrovers and, no doubt, several other British vehicles.  Not aware of any current availability new.
   

   
   Yes but beware of operating temperatures they might have. I have several that some dealer or another sold me as being stamped "M70" that turned out to be different a little to a lot. The common ones I find are for some type electric carburetor choke set up stamped with a number in the 30s. I have pictures of parts stamped M80 and M75.
   
   Somewhere along dates were added and I have seen them between Feb.68 through July 85.
   
   
   Search ebay® USA for Otter switch. There are two black plastic center versions up currently but the sellers don't include any stamped number information.

Your welcome. The early one shown was borrowed so I could reverse engineer the steel housing it was in and make photos. The later one is from my red car. Several companies make thermal switches in various temperature ranges that can be adapted by machining an aluminum plate to take the place of the O.E. switch flange.
   
   
   I just use a toggle switch hidding under the dash. I have heard of people adding a relay to reduce the load passing through the switch if they find a new one.

I don't know of a source but if you find  a stock of them I know several owners that would be interested.
   
   I personally only found one new old stock exact match to the original in my car since I started looking in the mid 1980s.  I have found several ones made in different years, with different color plastic over-moldings, and many with a different temperature actuation points.  Most service parts have a black plastic molding. I have found some with a natural uncolored plastic molding.  During the Cobra production time period there was at least two versions.
   
   
   
   Most owners of original cars do without (adapt to manual control with a toggle switch somewhere convenient) or adapt a modern switch of their favorite type and temperature trip point.
   
   I visited a shop in November that has been servicing original Cobras the past few years for owners and they have yet to find a source of exact match new old stock switches either.

That's funny. I can relate. A supplier or shop only gets to make me mad once. Thanks Barrie.

quote:Originally posted by A-Snake
   
Thanks Dan, I had forgotten that they actually threaded into the magnesium.
   

   
   Your welcome. Easier to show than describe.

quote:Originally posted by MkIV Lux
   
Many thanks for the clarification. Snakes are a forever interesting subject.
   

   
   Your welcome.

Legend has it Ken Miles had at least two sets of six pin drive made for CSX2431. Pictures are shown of the car using Halibrand Engineering made six pin racing wheels like other SA works cars sometimes and his custom American Racing wheels at other times. They were interchangable.

quote]Originally posted by A-Snake
   American Mags were first produced with pins to attach the spline adapters. These began to fail at the starting line of the drags. I wonder why? ;-) Bolts were then used to attach the adapters. (Bolts do not hold the wheels on) The factory Dragonsnakes used these first, no sense having the competition use the new stuff.
    So now you will see both a bolted and 'unbolted' variety.
   [/quote]
   
   
   Here's some images.
   
   As far as I can tell this is design #1.  The splined adapter BOLTED INTO the magnesium wheel center. Used hard the holes in the magnesium enlarged. Enlarged holes means constantly working loose wheels.
   
   Used wheel.
   
   
   
   
   The second SA works drag Cobra used  design #2 with longer bolts passing THROUGH the magnesium and captured by lug nuts and load bearing thick hardened washers on the facing side.
   
   NOS front wheel.
   
   
   
   
   I have found very little in print about these wheels when new. I have seen 15X6.0 to 15X8.5 sizes of both designs. I am about 90% sure that the 15X6.0 widths and the offsets of those wheels had were just made for street Cobras with stock fender arches....yes they fit.
   
   The common situation now is 6.0 or 6.5 inches wide up front and 7.0 inches wide in the rear with stock fenders. Unless rear tires are low profile and narrow in section and tread widths that usually leads to blistered paint on the rear arches. The SA solution for drag racers and 7.0 or 7.5 wide wheels was cut away portions of the rear arches.
   
   
   I have seen some made in low quantities aluminum modern reproductions of these wheels outfitted for Cobras.

quote:Originally posted by B.P.Bird
   
Dan,
   Is there a possibility that we could rescue the situation by some sort of lapping in procedure to seat the valve correctly ?
   

   
   Great question. The answer is I don't know. I have studied a "bad one" quite a while as I wonder how I could get it apart and back together. I have not tried one but it has been said that Gene Berg (spelling?) manufactures some really nice valves.

quote:Originally posted by B.P.Bird
   
Gus,
   ... For what it's worth I find that the needle valve on the 48 IDA is the culprit in most flooding problems. ......
   

   
   For your amusement.
   
   I had had the occasion to bench tested used 1960s, new old stock 1960s, and 1970s and newer genuine O.E. IDA needle valves. Simple test, invert the assembly (gravity only working on parts), and do a leak down test.  The results were interesting.
   
   Modern (late 1970s to circa 2006 made selection) valves.  So far I have not found a modern one that seals. I tested about six four carburetor systems worth.  I haven't found one that will hold even a couple of inches of water column pressure. I took some to a real nice microscope for examination and found the internal surfaces rough (rough tool marks) and the passage bores exhibited clear evidence that the boring tool chattered and in most cases left the bore slightly oblong.  On the worst one I had to apply approximately 8 pounds in dead weight to make the rubber needle tip conform to the oblong hole. Once I did that it subsequently stuck there. See sketch below.
   
   
   
   1960s parts, even used valves once used on a race Cobra long ago.  Sealed tight every time. In my last test session I applied 20 psig compressed air and let the air pressure 'lift' the needle.  I shut off the air supply and checked leak down. My gage (uncalibrated I am afraid but instructive none the less) showed the pressure bleeding off until a point the needle would not lift any longer. The valves tested stopped bleeding off between roughly 8 and 14 psig. I repeated the test several times dry and several times wet with a light lubricant. Adding a wetting agent didn't significantly change the bleed down results. I examined some of these used and new old stock valves under the microscope also. The bores in the 1960s valves were very smooth walled and the needle contact interfaces appeared very true to the needle tips.
   
   
   My conclusion was that a lot of modern troubles with the IDA series in fuel control is due to the apparent low amount of care taken in the manufacture of the modern needle valves. (Note: I have run up against a few problems like this on needle valves and power valves for modern made Holley brand replacement parts for Ford applications that I have worked on. The issues are frequent enough that every valve gets bench tested prior to final reassembly. I do cull out and discard brand new service parts from time to time.)

Here's the web addresses of the home movies of CSX2001 when new.
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf9u4kBoYws&feature=related
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj_WH-Y3puA&feature=related
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8IhwInXjpM&feature=related

CSX2001, a little better images.
   
   
   
   
   A person that I find very reliable tells me that Hugas (spelling?) did the first few Cobras his shop completed this way. He tells me that at least two cars got the unusual roll bar seen in the first owner's new CSX2001 home movies. Can't prove it but interesting.