When I was 16 a friend of mine buried his dad’s 70’s - 80’s Chevy truck in the middle of a stream at night after many hours of drinking. The next day he went back and the water was running through the cab of the truck at seat level. Somehow he managed to get it started and drove it about ¼ mile to a paved road where it died.
Anyone who says
oil and water doesn’t mix has never seen water run in an internal combustion engine. When I got there I pulled the dipstick and it looked like it had mud on it, but it was actually
oil mixed with water, now a brownish color.
We took the drain plug out and nothing came out other than a small drop that resembled baby poop. We had it towed home and thought about what to do with it since he still didn’t tell his dad what happened. We decided to try to flush the engine with kerosene, which we did, running 5+ gallons it of through it. We just kept pouring it in the top with the drain plug out and allowing it to flush through the engine. After the 5 gallons we then put fresh
oil and a new filter in it and started the engine up and let it run for a few minutes. Then we drained the oil and it didn’t look much better in color than the original oil but at least it came out. I think we then ran another 3 or 4 sets of oil through it (20+ quarts in total) and we finally got the oil to come out looking semi-clean. He then drove the truck for several days and changed the oil once again. Fortunately this kid’s dad was out of town and he had a few days to allow it to dry out. To this day I don’t think his dad ever found out about it.
As for this Cobra I would imagine that the engine, trans, and diff will need to come out and be completely disassembled. The engine will most likely need new bearings, the cylinder walls honed or bored and either new rings or pistons and rings. I’m sure the heads will need completely redone but most of the parts will be salvageable. The brake system can probably be saved but will need completely emptied/flushed, calipers rebuilt and filled with new fluid (probably wouldn’t hurt to replace the flex lines. I’m sure it will need new rotors and pads due to surface rust/aesthetics (if it was a passenger car they could be reused easily)
I would replace the starter, alt, fans, distributor electronics (pick up in the dist and also the MSD box if equipped). The wiring harness will need to come out and be completely dried out, inspected for rusty pins and either replaced or repaired. Naturally the carb will need to be replaced the fuel system completely flushed out. Depending on rust in the tank it may need replaced along with the fuel pump.
As already mentioned the seats, carpet and other upholstery will need replaced. Depending on the original condition of the paint and how much clear was on the car it might even be possible to scuff the paint with some 1000/1500 grit and then buff it out.
Although it sounds like a ton of work it really shouldn’t be much more than building one from scratch, at least you have everything there in one place to start with.