The making of a 427 Narrow Hip Cobra starts now!!

[Metal-morphous]

Like Eddie said, we basically bottomed out the rear suspension before locking up the glass work. The ERA engineering of the independent rear really made this work. The travel of the suspension is in a slight ark and not just vertical, so in short once the wheel clears the outer opening the rest of the movement actually move the wheel away from the inner fender just like the original. The real problem was that the original cobra as we all know was made of very thin aluminum which made it somewhat easier to keep the tire clearance very tight but hand laid fiberglass needs to be a minimum of 1/4 inch to keep it strong. With this in mind I still kept the distance very tight as like the original buy tapering the fiberglass around the wheel opening.

I also think Eddie did a custom back spacing on his sunburst rims but Im not sure what dimensions he used

[decooney]

Originally Posted by Metal-morphous

I also think Eddie did a custom back spacing on his sunburst rims but Im not sure what dimensions he used

MM/Eddie,
I see, thx for the explanation. Good to know. This extra backspacing on the rear wheels is the extra we gap we had to do as well, but it came later by machining some off the rear wheels hubs. This all came about on my buddy's car after doing the whole group stand-in-trunk and jump-up-and-down exercise process too. That would make a good youtube video for standard Cobra builders / tires and rear body fitment chapter 3, step9 - hahaha. It seems a lot of us do that secretly one night with our friends in the garage during the early build process.

I suspect the profile will look pretty cool with those 70s tucked up in the wheel well once the rest of the weight is on the car and the suspension settles in. Good fun, Car looks great!

[NOS-EDDIE]

The back spacing on the sunburst wheels was to original Shelby specs. Bob Putnam measured them and said to take an additional .250" off but I have access to a buddy's 20" lathe so I only took .1875 to allow as much room as possible for clearance of exhaust pipe. This was enough to catch a full nut which is what I was after. I have a spare wheel so if you need that dimention I would be happy to provide it.

[P-51 Cobra]

Originally Posted by Metal-morphous

... templates which will come in handy for my next narrow hip project that we will be starting soon.

Ron,

You are having way too much fun!

P-51

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by NOS-EDDIE

The back spacing on the sunburst wheels was to original Shelby specs. Bob Putnam measured them and said to take an additional .250" off but I have access to a buddy's 20" lathe so I only took .1875 to allow as much room as possible for clearance of exhaust pipe. This was enough to catch a full nut which is what I was after. I have a spare wheel so if you need that dimention I would be happy to provide it.

Eddie - beautiful car.

What size tailpipes are you planning? I snaked 2-1/2 inch in on mine using 255/60 tires with the ERA Jag rear end - but it was pretty snug. Doing it over I might have gone with 2-1/4 which probably would have looked closer to originals (which may have been 2 inch).

Getting the tailpipes to look like the originals takes some effort. The rear fender roll under on an ERA is a little more than originals so the tailpipes sit in towards the center a bit more. And then there is the rake of the pipe - slightly up or level - never completely sure what was stock so just tried to go with what looked best to me.



Best of luck completing that beautiful car.

[NOS-EDDIE]

Such a beautiful car Dan. It's a feel good thing for me every time I see a well executed street roadster. My original plan was 2.5" and going over the axel with oval tubing then switch back to round,but the headers were like everything else on a era which is uncompromising quality control. The fit was so good I had Peter order a set for me and they can only bend 2.250". Peter said I would have to play with them but that's ok.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by NOS-EDDIE

Such a beautiful car Dan. It's a feel good thing for me every time I see a well executed street roadster. My original plan was 2.5" and going over the axel with oval tubing then switch back to round,but the headers were like everything else on a era which is uncompromising quality control. The fit was so good I had Peter order a set for me and they can only bend 2.250". Peter said I would have to play with them but that's ok.

Thanks Eddie,

That would probably be a good deal if they can bend some 2.25 inch tailpipes. I tried to get Peter to make 2.25 inch tailpipes for mine but they wouldn't. You might wait until you get headers and tailpipes together before getting mufflers. The 2-1/2 inch collectors they provided me were just a couple of inches short of hitting my Spintech mufflers I used so I just cut the reducer off the end of the collector and had short pieces of 2-1/2 inch pipe welded on to extend them for a slip fit with the mufflers. I used band clamps on mine and the splices are actually under the bands. My point in mentioning this is that you can probably use a 2-1/2 in and 2-1/4 out muffler which should provide a pretty free flowing system. With the 7 inch wheels and 245 tires I would expect you will have plenty of room in the wheelwells.

If you decide to do your own tailpipes, the layout of the ERA simplifies it quite a bit. Using a center outlet muffler, it's a straight line through the wheelwell and out the rear. In other words you only need to be concerned about 2 dimensions - up/down and length. You won't need any lateral bends or sweeps. Although it probably would have been fine I didn't want to trust my car in the hands of the local custom muffler shop - so I mocked up my tailpipes in 2 inch PVC pipe and took that to them to fabricate tailpipes from. I rigged up my hangers and strapped them in place to the PVC and had them transfer them exactly to the tailpipes. It may seem hard to believe but it all worked out fine.

Looking forward to seeing your car progress. Have you worked out your engine details yet?

Dan

[NOS-EDDIE]

Thanks Dan When Tubular Automotive made my headers they welded2" reducers on the end so I'll be chopping the ends off anyway. I used those headers to dyno my engine to see how bad they choked it. Even with 2" ends it still made over 600lb' at just 3500rpm,so tire discussions are nil,because they will fry at will. Plan is to get tailpipes on and fill in gap between them and headers then have everything treated with black high heat coating.

[Metal-morphous]

Eddies photo

[NOS-EDDIE]

Once again ERA helping to get things correct. I told Peter that I didn't want to use the hood latch escutcheons that look like the ones on my overhead garage doors! I also told him that I didn't like the latches with keys. The correct escutcheons came out of his private stock and Doug took two latches apart, removed the locks and new buttons appeared from from peters private stock. Always fun to go there!!!!!!!!

[Metal-morphous]

Double post

[Metal-morphous]

Update!!

Eddie has been very busy working on the details
Here's a few photos of his progress

[ersatzknarf]

Oh, my !

Just WOW ! WOW ! WOW !

Thank you for the update.

Have been checking this thread, every weekday.

Patience has paid off.

It's looking great.

Please, keep the photos coming !

[ersatzknarf]

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !

Thank you, MM and Eddie, for this thread

[NOS-EDDIE]

I came across this site the other day and thought I would post it as it shows exactly what I had in mind for the ERA that we have modified, and the outcome we are striving towards.CSX3130 | Weaver Garage

[Scott427]

Wow is right,
what a great build, and a beautiful result!
Congrats on a job well done, I have looked at the ERA for myself but cannot get past the square box frame.
The street big block car is such an elegant looking car.
Thanks for sharing.

[ersatzknarf]

Hi Eddie,

Thank you for posting the link.
That is quite a reference and the history was very interesting.

There were fewer narrow hip cars than I thought...

Sure hope you drive the car a lot, when you're done

[mickmate]

It was good to see you guys. I'll see that car soon enough next time I get out of the shop.
Details details, they're over rated (by us anyways) ;-)
Hood Bonnet Handle Bases Round [427 289 CSX CCX KMP ACE HT SPF] - $79.00 : Acton Custom Enterprises, Custom Metal for Cobras

[ersatzknarf]

any updates, please ?

[jjh]

Just want to thank Ed Clarke for being so helpful on the phone the other day with my questions about obtaining Sunburst wheels. I just joined the forum. I purchased my ERA street cobra #677 in Illinois about a year and a half ago and really love the car. I look forward to using this forum

John Hoffman