Has your Cobra ever left you stranded?

[xlr8or]

only once and it was ugly....

[CowtownCobra]

Saturday before last. The old Mallory dist went to the great parts bin in the sky (my garbage can)

I always carry a cell phone with a local towing service programmed in. This wasn't the first time I've used it...

Already have it running again though

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by xlr8or

only once and it was ugly....

You mean a little Z-Max would not fix that up for you?

[nealgs]

Originally Posted by SKINNEDR

A cobra in the UK has to be lots of fun... Something like a UFO.. Am I correct?
Dex...

Hi Dex,

sorry about long delay in replying

Actually i think you'd be quite surprised as to how many Cobras there are in the UK. Plenty from DAX, AK, RAM, SR/Madgwick, Pilgrim, Kirkham, GD, Hawk, Crendon and quite a few other manufactures too.

As to lots of fun - weather is our main problem, along with the multitude of speeding cameras we are being infected with over here - but yes I/We do enjoy the days when we can get out .

Also, as we're relatively close to France/Belgium etc - we get the chances to drive over to the Le Mans Classic, SPA Classis events, as well as having Silvertone and Goodwood revival events each year

regards
Gary

[mdross1]

Never! After first getting it on the road had a couple of panic situations.One was while figuring out the antifreeze level had it overflow out onto exhaust headers,the smoke made me nervous.Then the balance bar adjustment for dual masters was off a little not letting front brakes release.Still got home both times.

[trularin]

Not entirely.

I had a master cylinder go goofy on me on the London to Berlin run. Turned out to be bolts coming loose.

[PatBuckley]

Second drive in my Kirkham the voltage regulator stopped working - no big deal.

I used to carry a repair kit for when one of the moderators around here used up the bronze distributor gear. Only had to replace his gear twice (on the road).

[Jamo]

Not a bad thread to resurface...

Once, sorta...my Cobra left Turk stranded. Back in 2004 or so, Turk and I were up at Buckley's place, which is up the hill a piece from Sacramento...but I also had to attend the California All-State Honors Choir concert near the Capitol. Something rare actually...I had two daughters in the Choir...so attendance was an absolute requirement if I wanted to stay on this particular planet. So I'm heading down Hwy 50 and the motor slowly comes to a halt. I call Turk and Pat...and they come out with Pat's daily driver Suburu and Turk's Cobra. They have a plan...I'll take the Subie to the concert and they'll figure out the rest.

Before I leave, we quickly discover it's the @##$%&!!! bronze distributor gear I was forced to use with my solid roller cam...the first of several such situations (this particular stoppage resulted in the Buckley Bronze Gear Travel Set...an new, pre-drilled gear with a Chevy-sized pin, some lube, and a small gear puller, all of which came in handy several months later on a high Sierra pass...switched to a flat tappet soon thereafter). Pat had a new gear back at his place (never a problem for him with his dry sump and electric oil pump), so he takes Turk's cobra back to his place with my distributor to get it all matched up...leaving Turk at the side of the Hwy 50 with my Cobra.

After Pat leaves, Turk, a professional-grade smoker, quickly uses up the few matches he has for his cigarettes. Becoming a bit desperate, he started trying to find broken glass to use for an old Turkish Boy Scout Trick (they have to know this stuff early...they can earn a badge for smoking when they are 10 or so) of starting a fire with the sun's rays. He soon gives up and begins flagging down cars on the heavily-traveled freeway to use their lighters. {I know, sounds like BS...unless you know Turk.}

I make it to the concert, Pat fixes the distributor setup, and we're all having a steak at Pat's, laughing our asses off as Turk talks about all of the nice people he met when he flagged the cars down for a light. I assplain to him that I had some Nicorettes gum in the map pocket (I had quit the year before) and that he should've tried them.

Turk's response: "I found them and tried them, but no matter how many times I rubbed the gum together, I still couldn't start a fire."

[jdean]

One morning while out of town at the annual TCC Cobra meet it would not start. No fire. After some diagnosing it turned out to be a bad magnetic coil pickup in the distributor. I was stranded on the hotel parking lot and missed the cruise! But I was not technically stranded since I was still staying at the hotel...and fixed it on the parking lot in about an hour. So it came home intact and working.

Another time I was almost stranded recently, getting ready at the meeting point for another cruise, when I had an alternator (new) that would charge intermittently. I first suspected and replaced the voltage regulator and by coincidence the alternator had cooled off and started charging again. Made me think I had found the problem. Then after driving 5 miles or so it warmed up and stopped charging, but the battery had enough juice for me to turn around and get me the 15 miles back home. New alternator and problem fixed.

[PANAVIA]

Election Night 2008. We were trying the "Painless" EFI system on my Cobra, and whilst stopping for gas, the car would not start. -- no spark and it flooded the cylinders with gas.

this was the 3rd time that the "painless" EFI system had quit for some reason. so I missed Election Night & the Obama win on TV.

I then called Painless and had a go at their techs, with the issues encountered. they were of no help.

I called Summit Racing and let them know the issues I had, they took it back without question , and I put in a Ford Racing harness with a tuned X3U' which i should have done in the first place.

--sometimes new and improved, --isnt.

8000 miles on the ford system, with 0 issues.

--oh yeah , my MSD crapped out too and left me stuck,.

[PatBuckley]

Fun times....

[Jamo]

Yup! Da Best.

[STL Mark]

Has my Cobra ever left me stranded?
Does the Pope wear a funny hat?

I have my favorite tow guys on speed dial on my cell phone.
They know me by name.
They know where I live, and where I like to get my car repaired.
They wave at me when I'm cruising.
Sometimes I think they are following me.

The shop owner where I get the beasty towed to has given me his cell number, so he can open the shop 24/7 to roll the car inside.

[Bill Bess]

Not yet !
12000 miles on it and it has not quit, although a couple of times I forgot to flip the under dash kill switch back to the run mode when attempting to start the car.
I carry my local tow guys card (Steve's Flatbed) in my wallet just to be safe.

[TimG427]

I took my Cobra to a local Mustang/Ford show last August and it ran fine on the way there. When I went to fire it up, the fuel pump made noise, but didn't pump. I was only one mile from my house, so I figured I'd tow it home. Don't ever tow an aluminum Cobra with a front braced roll bar by the roll bar. A slight tug hurt the aluminum around one of the roll bar holes. We pushed it home and got it in the garage. Gary at Austin Corvette did a wonderful repair of the slight damage.

[cobradvm]

Blew a head gasket at 100mph when giving a ride to a friend - white smoke was pouring out the driver side exhaust. Tow truck driver was very diligent about making sure it wasn't scratched when he was pulling it up the flat bed.

[Brian F.]

Close, but not quite. Blew the sidewall out on a rear tire about 1/2 mile from my house. It was completely flat about 3 blocks from my house and I was able to limp it home. Knew the tire was a complete loss, so wasn't worried about further damage.

[PatBuckley]

.....not so simple. User (me) error resulted in a hunk of aluminum finding its way into #7 combustion chamber. Right after a good looking woman (Hoppy's wife, Josette) asked if she could ride with me.

Very embarrassing.

Pic 1 - the counseler looking into matters - I was so disgusted I didn't want to even look.
Pic 2 - loading the damned thing on the flatbed
Pic 3 - Jeff and the Hopster (Jamo in the background) watching us leave.

[4pipes]

I'll bite, what was the error?

[PatBuckley]

I didn't quite get the dimensions for an EGR plug right when I made it on the lathe.....I thought that if it required tapping into place with a hammer it would stay in place, it didn't.