Monday, November 24, 2008

Welcome back Its been a while!




So much has happened since my last update, the great depression of 2008, a new president, cobra body work... (in order of increasing importance of course).

Since I haven't updated in a VERY long time this is going to be a long post with alot of pictures and info so stick with me it will be worth it!!

Let me take you back in time a bit. The day before I departed for Ohio State we mounted the body on the chassis with a couple bolts mainly just for transport purposes and boy did it look incredible, even in its bare fiberglass form. (!Cation! GearHead content ahead)- The lines on this body are truly something you have to experience in person, but the photos will have to suffice for those of you who couldn't be with us. We all agreed that the stance and the fenders hugging around those tires is just pure beauty.



So, the cobra took a ride down to a body shop in Kentucky that has experience in fiberglass and was confident they could deliver a quality paint job. Frankly, we aren't looking for a show quality finish because from the moment you step in this beast you known that this car wants to be ravaged, but we want it to "look 10 from 10".


Now, a bit of a story. A few weeks before she went off to paint, Just when we thought 99% if the mechanical work was over we were contacted by ford racing, who informed us that a bad batch of crate engines had been discovered and that they were failing after less than 4000 miles due to vibration of the crankshaft. They had us send the oil filter on our engine so they could examine it for metal particles. After a couple of teeth grinding weeks we were contacted through series if emails and phone calls and the final call we made was the engine needed to be replaced. The engine was still under warranty of course and ford offered to replace it with a fully working one for no cost (But not pay for any labor to actually install it). Well, after some more contact with ford they weren't feeling too confident giving us an identical engine that could still be prone to issues, so they offered to upgrade us to a stronger, slightly more powerful Boss 302 racing engine for no extra cost. Duh, needless to say, we took the offer.

Fast forward a couple months. Currently, we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new engine as there is already a depressing cavity that a defective heart once called home in the cobra. One good thing about this is my conscience is finally cleared, I don't feel as bad about slamming the throttle in first gear on "light test runs" and for dropping that bolt into the carburetor ( just kidding).

The bodywork is progressing, well, as fast as body work usually progresses. Good preparation is a car-painting-must, it can turn otherwise OK paint job to show quality with just a few more hours spent on detail. Unfortunately, bodywork isn't the most instantly satisfying or jaw dropping thing in the world to see but it has to be done ( thankfully not by inexperienced busy 18 year olds).



We eagerly await the cobra's instinctive return to its birthplace (Cincinnati) (Ok thats the end of the snake analogy's I swear). As soon as its back in our hands we plan to tackle the interior, button up the wiring, exterior trim and finally the "fun" test and fix session that will follow.

The end, Wasn't that worth it? I told you...
-Andrew

1 comment:

Cyndi said...

Andrew,

You are too expressive in your writing....you make the Cobra almost come alive.....thanks for the entertaining read.

Aunt Cyndi

By the way, Happy Belated Birthday!!!!!