Don't hate me. Cut up a Cobra body for a project

[john chesnut]

I wanted to do combine a 50's inspired body and use Miata parts to make a cool little car. I had ordered a body from a company in England that I thought looked good. I waited a long time for it and when it arrived I was disappointed in it's quality. So, I scrapped it and having a lightweight 427 body on hand decided to see what it would look like.

I unbolted all of the body parts that I could from the Miata. Then cut off the windshield, rear deck, and fenders. If I think the project has merit I will fab a tubular frame that will tie the rear shock towers into the roll bar support, and side impact bars.

The Miata has an 89.2 inch wheelbase and is 65.9 inches wide. But, it is a cab forward design where as the Cobra has a long hood and short cockpit. The idea is not to create a Cobra replica. Just a fun, inexpensive little car that looks cool.

The pictures show the results so far. I have used a lot of cardboard and duct tape in mocking this up. I used black primer to try and blend the materials for pictures. If I think it has merit I will use foam and bondo to do the final shaping. I would then have to make a plug, then a mold. Then lay up the body.

The result would be a little roadster that is around 1800lbs. I have a Cobra tribute that I scratch built that I really enjoy. And I like driving my Miata too. This Miata was a spare, non runner that I had.

Here is what I have done to the body.
- The Miata cockpit is wider than the Cobra. I cut the body in the valleys and widened it by 1.5 inches per side.
- The rear of the Cobra cockpit lands in the correct location for the Miata but the cockpit is to short. I lengthened it by cutting out about 8 inches in the front.
- The Miata windshield mounts pretty far forward. I cut that out and will use a Porche 356 Speedster windshield. It will be mounted about 6 inches rearward from the Miata's location.
- The Cobra rear fenders rotate in at the rear, towards the cars centerline. I rotated them so that they are straight.
- I cut the rear deck and fenders at the axle center line and shortened the length by 4 inches. (I think that I might put an inch or two back into the length.) Looks a little short?
- I cut off the big fender flares and tightened up the wheel arches.
- I rotated the rear deck and fenders rearward for a more sweeping look.
- I cut the front fenders at the wheel centerline. I shortened the front fenders by 1.5 inches and rotated them down towards the front slightly.
- I cut out the oil cooler inlet.
- I lengthened the hood scoop by 10 inches.

I think that I would make the front end 1 piece and have it tilt forward. I would have the cut line at the middle of the belt line. I would have half doors, the bottom seam would be in line with the hood line.

I am having fun and liking the look. I think that I will keep working on it over the winter.

[LMH]

Interesting idea John! What did the other body from England look like? If it's the old thread I'm thinking about, I liked the look you had going with that one.
Not saying I don't like this one mind you. Just that as I remember, it had a real vintage look to it that I really like.
Larry

[mrmustang]

John,

You need to start a thread over on Miata net. That is going to look really cool.


Bill S.

[RICK LAKE]

john chesnut John the cops are on the way!!! It's a different look. When you have the lines of the fenders done this will bring it all together. Hope to see you at the next Run&Gun in 2013 if gas is not $4.00 per gallon. It was $1,500.00 to drive to Tulsa round trip and about the same in mileage of 1488 miles one way going out 80 and stopping at Summit for parts. No power , on day 5. Hoping for the basics by Sunday. Generators are being stolen from homes around here. Good thing, gas is $3.00 per gallon for a trip to township garage. Max gallons is 5. Long Island is crushed. Got to go. Good luck with new project. Rick Ps are you driving the car with a Sears ratchet and extension?? Thats alot more seat area than I thought.

[mr bruce]

| Catfish - Classic Design

[Tommy]

This is just one guy's opinion. The body shape has that generic late 50's British sports car look (e.g., big Austin Healy) until you get to the classic Cobra air intake at the front. I suggest you alter that too to make your car look like a one-of-a-kind based on a classic theme, rather than the latest attempt by someone to make a Cobra body fit on the wrong size chassis. .... Great thread and project. Keep it coming.

[john chesnut]

Thanks for the comments. I am finally having some fun and have time to work on a project. It's been an insane past 3 years.

Rick, Great to hear from you. I hope to make it back to Run n Gun. Maybe I can pick you up and we can drive together next year. If it's in Oct I have a chance of making it. I am selling my Big Belly Banks at a huge fair in Sept. its 14 hours a day for 17 days!
Also, My youngest, Johnny races an ACT Late Model race car. I am the crew chief, builder, over the road driver, spotter, and cheer leader. Most of my weekends are tied up with him. (He started college this fall. Where does the time go?)
My thoughts and prayers are with Sandy's casualties. I hope that you get back to normal soon Rick.

Larry, I really liked the look of the Sammio. But, after dealing with the owner and receiving a body that was a total disaster I decided that I didn't want to build anything that would promote any sales for them. I could have fixed it but didn't want the association. To be fair the company is under new ownership. They have just shut down production for 12 weeks to retool and solve quality issues.

Mr Mustang, Thanks for the comments and suggestion to go to Miata.net

Tommy, I agree that I will need to change the air intake so that people don't think that I am doing a bad attempt at cloning a Cobra. Too bad. I really like the Cobra front end! I am going in the shop today to try and come up with a good look. MORE CARDBOARD AND TAPE!

I have had this body sitting around for a long time. I purchased it from an individual. Because of the "Perky" butt it's obvious that it was pulled from a FF Car. I like the Perky butt on this car.

[FWB]

what happened to the kellison?

[john chesnut]

Spent some time in the shop this morning working on a little different look for the front fenders and grill opening. A couple of pics showing the changes. Now, I need to look at them and see if I like it.

I have the Kellison but haven't gotten much done on it. It's a much more ambitious and EXPENSIVE project as I need o build the frame and pretty much everything else from scratch. I want to use C5 suspension and drivetrain. I'll get it done someday.

This project is much simpler and cheaper. i already had 2 NA Miata's. I non runner and a nice driving one with a bad body. I plan to but the new body on the runner. Pretty easy as nothing mechanical is involved. Plus, I think that I can keep the Miata registration. Simplifies things a lot. Having fun.

[*13*]

The snout look very "Speed Racer". Will be interesting to see the finished product. Now for the burning question...Why are there garage doors inside your garage?

[john chesnut]

As part of going into semi retirement my wife and I have moved into our mountain top log cabin. I had a nice big shop at my old house but don't even have a garage at the cabin. I was fortunate to find a shop building in the middle of a meadow 4 miles from the cabin. A gentleman had set it up to do antique car restorations. It has 1 very large room with a 12 ft door and ceiling height which I am using for the work area. Inside, directly in line with the main door is an 8 ft garage door which gives access to a good sized paint room. That room has another garage door that gives access outside. Inside the main room is 2 more garage doors. These are the doors in the picture. These open up to a cold storage area that is large enough to park 2 cars. In this area is ample storage space, including a good sized loft, and a separate office. The building already had a good heating system, lights, commercial air compressor with plumbing, and commercial wiring. I even have 3 phase power. This space is about 2200 sqft. Attached to the building is covered storage which is about the size of a 4 bay garage. And, I have parking for pretty much anything I want, including my race trailer. All this and the rent is $400 per month! My taxes will go up by more than that if I built a garage on the mountain top.

[*13*]

Yeah, no kidding! Nice find!

[LMH]

Reminds me a little of a pontoon fender Ferrari in the front. Neat shape.
Larry

[john chesnut]

I worked on the roll bar, side bars, and chassis reinforcement today. Having fun.

[tkb289]

John,

Nice project!

I like the changes in this latest revision, has a nicer flow to the body. Hope you are considering a grille, something like the 289 grille or a bit larger more open grille as was used in early Ferraris. Any thoughts as to no hood scoop?

Your shop sounds ideal, a great place for you to create some cool cars. Keep up the good work!

[Thor maine]

Looks like the "Flip Top Cobra" or as Ken Miles called it the "Turd".