New Owner

[exukpaul]

Hey Guys.
Just introducing myself. Picked up my first factory five cobra yesterday. It's engine and trannyless at moment. It has been on the road before. I have sourced myself a 351w which I'll be getting from the engine shop soon. Just got to find myself a 5 speed tranny now. Originally from England in which i had a bunch of corvettes, trans ams, camaros etc.
I must admit, i feel a little overwhelmed at moment with all the electrics and stuff thats been disconnected under hood that i have no clue about lol.
Bought the car from 427 garage in TN and brought it back here to Atlanta last night. Looking forward to spending some time with all you gurus on here.
All the best, Paul

[KDubU]

Welcome Paul and congrats on a beauty! You will get all your questioned answered here so don’t worry too much. She looks like she may be riding a bit high in one pic but I am looking on my phone so it is hard to tell.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Congrats, it's a nice looking car. Photos indicate that it is a Mk2 that appears to have originally been set up for a Mustang donor type EEC IV fuel injected engine. Looking forward too seeing you get it back up and running!

Jeff

[exukpaul]

Thanks guys. Yea, I'm thinking I'll be spending a lot of time on here lol.
It may be looking a bit high Kyle as it has no engine or transmission in at moment. Could that be what you mean ? If not, its easily rectified i think, it has brand new adjustable koni's all round.
Jeff, what are the signs of what it was originally set up for ? Like i say, complete newbie to this world. Also, garage said it was a mk3, is it definitely a mk2 ? Learning all the time haha

[Jeff Kleiner]

Jeff, what are the signs of what it was originally set up for ? Like i say, complete newbie to this world. Also, garage said it was a mk3, is it definitely a mk2 ? Learning all the time haha

Most definitely a Mk2, not a Mk3. Some of the easy to spot giveaways which are visible in the under hood photo are the location of the steering rack, the steering shaft configuration, the upper control arm mounts and the welded on hood pin plates. Visible in some of the other photos are the tubing for the transmission tunnel backbone which tells us that it is a Mk2 and not a Mk1. Also in the under hood shots we can see the vestiges of a Mustang/OEM Ford wiring harness and electrical connectors associated with an EFI 5.0 engine.

Jeff

[exukpaul]

Thats brilliant Jeff. Glad thats cleared a little up. Is it good or bad being a mk2 ? Or doesn't really matter ? I guess when i put this 351 in, i won't be using some of this wiring then. I'm just going to go with msd ready to run distributor and a holley carb. I did notice the panel fit isn't the best. Never having had one i didn't know if that was normal or not. Just a few places like when you shut the trunk and tge hood, it has been so close that it has chipped the paint a little.

[weendoggy]

Thats brilliant Jeff. Glad thats cleared a little up. Is it good or bad being a mk2 ? Or doesn't really matter ? I guess when i put this 351 in, i won't be using some of this wiring then. I'm just going to go with msd ready to run distributor and a holley carb. I did notice the panel fit isn't the best. Never having had one i didn't know if that was normal or not. Just a few places like when you shut the trunk and tge hood, it has been so close that it has chipped the paint a little.

Not a bad choice at all. You won't be using a LOT of the wiring harness for the engine, so if it has the ECU, I'd rip that out and associated harness/wiring and just keep necessary wires for gauges and power. You can diet a lot of that. If EFI powered before, you'll need to do some fuel pump fixing, you can't use the in-tank high pressure pump for a carb, and I'm not a big fan of trying to reduce that pressure with a regulator to 7#'s. jmo Body fitment is your discression, and can be fixed, but be prepared. Good luck on the progress and again, welcome.

[exukpaul]

Thanks a lot weendoggy. Not sure what part to rip out at this stage but I'll find out one way or another lol. I'll check to see if it has an in-tank pump and deal with that. Thanks

[Jeff Kleiner]

Thats brilliant Jeff. Glad thats cleared a little up. Is it good or bad being a mk2 ? Or doesn't really matter ? I guess when i put this 351 in, i won't be using some of this wiring then. I'm just going to go with msd ready to run distributor and a holley carb. I did notice the panel fit isn't the best. Never having had one i didn't know if that was normal or not. Just a few places like when you shut the trunk and tge hood, it has been so close that it has chipped the paint a little.

Nothing "bad" about a Mk2! Mk3 had some upgrades to the front suspension which improved geometry and at the rear the chassis and body were revised so that they could accommodate wider rear tires without modification. Basically running changes to further refine and improve the project. Panel fit issues are all on the person who did the body & paint...not "normal" when done properly.

Jeff

[exukpaul]

Gotcha. Thanks for the heads up.
Learning all the time !

[rickyracer]

Welcome to the madness Paul. Looks you got a very nice ride. This forum will be a wealth of information for you and will be a very valuable tool. I am always amazed at the knowledge of guys like Jeff Kleiner. He knows alot about these cars. Just remember that there is never a dumb question as there is is alot to learn about these cars. Good luck with your project. You will have fun.

[RogerDM]

Sweet car! Welcome to the community

[exukpaul]

Thanks guys. I do have a couple of wiring questions.Do I just ask here or make a seperate thread in a different category ?
Thanks

[egchewy79]

welcome paul. the SS pipes you bought will look good w/ the chrome roll bar. I'm partial to the single roll bar too.
what happened to the original powerplant? just curious why the previous owner pulled the engine/trans since it'd typically be easier to sell with everything included.

[exukpaul]

welcome paul. the SS pipes you bought will look good w/ the chrome roll bar. I'm partial to the single roll bar too.
what happened to the original powerplant? just curious why the previous owner pulled the engine/trans since it'd typically be easier to sell with everything included.

Thanks. Well, I got it from a place in TN that deal with cobras and gt40's. They apparently had it in from a customer in GA that wanted them to put a 427 in it. While it was there, he changed his mind and bought a brand new superformance with a 427 in it off them. So basically, he just instructed the garage to sell it and put the money towards the new one. I was first one there and struck the deal.

[exukpaul]

welcome paul. the SS pipes you bought will look good w/ the chrome roll bar. I'm partial to the single roll bar too.
what happened to the original powerplant? just curious why the previous owner pulled the engine/trans since it'd typically be easier to sell with everything included.

Sorry egchewy79. Just dawned on me it was you i bought the pipes off lol. Yea, i think they gonna look great. Thanks

[egchewy79]

Thanks guys. I do have a couple of wiring questions.Do I just ask here or make a seperate thread in a different category ?
Thanks

I'd recommend starting a new thread for new questions. Sometimes you'll get more hits based on the subject of the thread vs posing a question on your build thread.

[exukpaul]

Will do