Fred's 289 FIA build

[FRM]

Put ~100 miles on it with various trips and continuing with engine break in. Went to the bank and HomeDepot and parked next to large SUVs. Got a lot of interest.......and others who ignored me. Getting used to the various noises and a sense that they are normal, part of the car, and not of concern. So far only vibration type noises. The side pipes do vibrate a lot. I used a toggle for the turn signals and I have forgotten and been one of those kooks who leave their turn signal going once and a while. I'm trying to do better on that. It is so noisy the clicking sound is overwhelmed. Is very enjoyable and I'm pleased with it so far. Family comes for Thanksgiving and rides for everyone are in order. No touching the windshield and watch those side pipes will be the mantra. Oh.....and I pulled out of my street on one of the trips and as I came to the first stop light a black Cobra was 3 cars ahead. It looked very nice. They went straight and I turned right. Hopefully I'll find out who and will run across them again.

[FRM]

500 mile update........well 499 as of today. It has been a cold January and February here in the DC area with snow and road salt much of the time so logging miles has been catch as catch can. I'm really enjoying driving and getting to know the car. Fantastic cobra group here in DC and I participated in their annual New Year's Day cruise into our nations capital. The weather cooperated, sunny, windy and low 40s. Approximately 25 cars including 2 beautiful Daytona coupes and a very cool GT40. Mine was the only 289. First class folks that I have gotten to know over the recent weeks. Not having done paint made me a little self conscious, but they were all great and supportive. I've been tweaking the front end alignment, fiddling with the driver door latch that seems sticky compared to the pax side, tracking down various vibrations and applying solutions and other details to be ready for a proper warm weather period of driving. Tomorrow I'll drive a bit more then change the break in oil for regular and then onward and upward. There is someone around here who has a beautiful dark green (I think it's dark green) cobra that I have seen twice now since the first time and I'm hoping to one day meet the owner and have a chat. So having a blast and looking forward to that continuing......well that's a wrap.

[MPTech]

Historic tags and it's registered as a 1965 Shelby Cobra 289 roadster.
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FYI, just be aware, not sure how DC DMV works, but I know 2 guys in our club that received HUGE Personal Property Tax increases because the DMV / Dept of Revenue reclassified their cars as Shelby and SIGNIFICANTLY re-assessed their value (ie: their taxes jumped +10x!) And this is after they had their cars for 10 years! They were able to mitigate the error, but required proving it to DMV, you can imagine how fun that was.
A lot of our guys register them as a '65 Ford Tudor or similar.

[FRM]

do not want that to happen........thanks for the info. I'll be on the lookout and prepared to address if needed. Again, thanks MPTech.

[thegoodenough]

Got Maryland tags this morning. Historic tags and it's registered as a 1965 Shelby Cobra 289 roadster. I wasn't going to argue that it's really a FFR, and I just finished building it, so I went with it. Don't undo the sale. All it took was money and several trips to the MVA. Now starts the test/shake down to get it up to snuff........and the 500 mile break in for the engine.

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I love the way the 289 looks at this stage of the build. I'm a fan of cars that are drivers, and this looks like a real driver. I dig it! Also, seriously impressed with the speed with which you built the car.

Can I ask about your engine and trans? I'm considering a 289 kit, and so any suggestions on sourcing the driveline are welcome.

[FRM]

thegoodenough..........just seeing this now. Sorry for the slow reply. Thanks for the compliments and I do drive it a lot. I have over 1,100 miles and it is my daily driver. I'm retired so that has a different meaning to me than to most, but I either run errands in it, or just go for a drive most days. FWIW it drives best with a full tank of gas. Seems the suspension is hard enough that the extra weight smooths the ride. I didn't go with power steering so the steering is somewhat heavy and no power for the brakes, but once the pads are bedded in it stops with only moderate pedal effort.

So I bought the basic blueprint carbureted 302 with a T5 transmission. They send specs along with the delivery and hp is 268 and I don't remember torque (would have to go dig out the sheet of paper somewhere). Plenty for starters and some day if I want I can add goodies to get more hp. I didn't go with the S10 tailhousing swap (moves the shift lever forward) which would be nice and probably some day I'll do that, but not for now.

I'm sure there are other cheaper solutions than the blueprint process, but for ease of installation and a company that backs it up I think they are great. Also kept me informed of delivery and it came early too. The build went faster than I thought as well. Most everything just bolts together. A really great kit in my opinion. There are a few things one has to decide as in brake master cylinder location and coolant overflow and routing brake and fuel lines, but most of the rest just bolts up. At least that's the case for me. I hope that info helps