Who owns a Contemporary?

[KobraKarl]

Zimmy, one thing i noticed looking at your pics , you are still using that old vw fluid resivoir,it probly feeds your clutch as well. I had the same set-up and when i really started to look at it i realized ,if i blow a clutch slave seal ,IM GONNA BE FRESH OUTTA BRAKES! i replaced mine with three girling cans from Finish line,(front,rear,clutch) Imounted them in a row on the firewall at about the present location. With floor mounted pedals yours can be mounted on the left inner fender like the original .I have the older style jag pedals mounted on top of the foot box so i wont be any help with your pedals.
good luck. Karl

[RACER X #99]

Zimmy,
Sorry I can't help you as I have a Willwood pedal assembly and have altered everthing to make it work. Also I am the non conformist that replaced a SO with a sb. (another thread). Perhaps one of the other guys with the more traditional brake set up can help?I am guessing that reinforcing certainly can't hurt.
BTW nice looking Cobra.

Cranky

[zimmy]

Karl:

Thanks. I am thinking about changing the resevoirs as well. The one I have is the old VW but it is a two part resevoir with one for clutch and the other split for brakes.

Cranky:

If it is at all possible could you send me pictures of what you did to fet the Wilwoods in or tell me here or by phone what you did. I would be very interested as I really don't like my pedals much. I do like the AC pedal pads tho. Thanks for the help and the compliment.

[RACER X #99]

Zimmy, I got the car apart now so I can't take any pictures. I'll try to explain. I opened the footbox hole where the original Contemporary pedels hung down and mounted the Wilwood setup on top of the footbox with the new pedals hanging down. I use the tilton M/C's with remote fillers on the firewall. But this makes for a very crowded firewall. The new M/C's are very close to the underside of the fender and of course are located just above the headers. I have cooked my brakes and clutch a few times until I made a heat shield below the M/C's and just above the side vents. This did the job as far as keeping the heat away from the M/C's. I also had to fabricate a cover over the new pedal assembly to keep the heat and air out of the drivers compartment.
I would not reccomend this setup. Too much work and too hard to replace M/C's.

Do a search for Roscoe's build, he has a nice on the floor Tilton 3 M/C setup and it works real good.

Hope this helps,
Cranky

[bmalone]

Zimmy, if I had seen your post earlier, I would have been able to get some good pics of the slave cylinder setup on my car. I rebuilt it today. It was leaking and I was picking up free-play in the pedal.

Anyway, it is a Girling aluminum unit mounted to an aluminum bracket (two bolts). You can actually find this unit at NAPA (#26 in the pictures in the Brake Catalog, slave cylinder section). They wanted $200, so I went for the rebuild kit instead.

Like Cranky I have had a fire due to boiled brake fluid. My master cylinders are also directly under the fender well. There is a kit for Contemporaries that serves as a heat shield. Kind of fits right in the open space. I will be buying one at some point.

The lines from the MC run close to the header and then down to the slave, which, as I as I said is mounted to a custom aluminum bracket. The slave actually sits on top of the frame rail. The metal line stops 12" short of the slave and a nice flexible steel hose is used to make the connection to the slave.

The other end of the slave is a threaded rod except the part which fits into the cup, which pushes the piston. The threaded rod has a nut, a jam nut, and a nice little bushing that the rod goes through and fits into the throw-out arm. The rod goes through the bushing and comes out on the other side of the throw-out arm. So adjustments are made by locating the nuts at some point on the rod and tightening the jam nut.

HTH

[concobra]

To Zimmy:

I too have the floor mounted brake and clutch pedal assembly. Since I purchased my car used and am not a "Contemporary" expert I cannot say that mine was a factory set up that way. I will state that it was a very poor design with excessive flex, poor pedal positioning, excessive ratio(s), sloppy side to side pedal movement, dangerously small pivots, and many other draw backs.

I completely redesigned the system. Since I have size 12 feet, pedal position was very important to the design.

The end design is now a modular unit made from 1/4" thick steel. It that can be removed from the bottom of the car without removing the pedals or master cylinders. ( Of course to totally remove from the car the lines must be disconnected but there is enough line length to allow other service to be done) The pedals are bell crank in design and allow initial adjustment to suit your shoe size and leg length. Pivot points are suspended in pillowblock bearings with 1/2" shafts. Final pedal ratio is 6:1. ( I am 5'11" with long legs and have no interference with the steering wheel)

Very strong without any flex.

I also have a lakewood scattersheild and a slave cylinder with clutch fork. To properly clear the frame and trans. tunnel I had to shorten the clutch arm and fabricate a special mount for the slave cylinder.

I would be glad to share with you how with pictures if you wish to discuss further. Probably best to speak person to person. My phone # is 541-447-1398.

[zimmy]

Concobra:

Thanks for the response. I would love to see any pictures of the pedal assembly that you described. It sounds very impressive. Any pictures of your slave assembly also would be appreciated. I will try to call soon to discuss. Is the number home or business and what would be good times to call?

Thanks.

Zimmy

[concobra]

Good Day Zimmer

The phone number listed is my home phone. I work out of my home so a call anytime during, PST, day time is fine. I 'm sure we can work up some pictures but you will need to give me some time.

[zimmy]

No Problem on time. Thanks. I'll try to call soon.

Zimmy

[Al Zack]

I didn't have much luck with the slave cylinder when I was building mine. Space was a problem as well as flex of the bracket. I went with a McLeod hydraulic throwout bearing. Been working fine now for 7 years and 24k miles,.

[Denny S.]

I bought this one last Spring. It's a 428,Toploader. No stripes,No Scoop. THe car originally belonged to a Dentist from Florida who practiced his dentistry in Russia. Car went from shop to shop for more goodies and never got driven. Story I've been told is that he couldn't pay his bill at a shop in Georgia so they took his 427 & Richmond for the bill and sold the car minus Engine & Tranny to the guy I bought it from. I spent most of last year
ironing out the bugs. Amp Billett rear,Penske's Up front,correct gauges,real Halibrands Etc. Etc. After new headgaskets,McCleod Clutch,Flywheel & Plate it's now dead on reliable. Now I'm bored and may sell it.
I'd like to find a gangster sedan with a modern running gear. It's a beautiful car with stainless side pipes, front braced real bar and lots of other custom aluminum work under the hood
which is aluminum also. Who knows I may keep it or if I find the gangster sedan I have in my mind it might go.

[Dominik]

just responding to see if Iet any notification (mail) of new replies.
buttons work more often these days, but now notification mails lag behind.

friday I took a closer look at the mold that came off my car. just the outer shell for now.

forget what I said about the buttons, had to refresh more than once until the reply button was activateable... :-(

dom
--

[westchester]

I know this is an old thread, but no harm keeping it alive with new owner details......

I just purchased CCX-3-3411 , manufactured in '89. I'm the second owner with just 3,500 miles from new. Blue street version, no sidepipes, no roll-bar, 16" pin-drive Halibrands etc.

I'm having a pair of Aluminum rear wheel spats made. If anyone else wants could use a pair, shoot me an email or PM - we'll all get a better deal than a one-off build, and share the cost of having the buck made.

See the thread "Wheelarch spats / fender guards - HELP" for a great pic of an FFR with them.

Scott (westchester)

[MIKE SCHULZ]

Gentlemen;I`m glad to read about so many Contemporary owners out there!.I Purchased # 3-3627 Earlier this year out of San Jose California and it came as a Frame+Suspension.I am Seeking a Body for my project.I have found out that Singer Racing out of Palm Springs can manufacture one for me,but I am asking for all fellow Contemporary owners help in trying to locate a Body for me.Someone out there may know of one sitting in someones garage or hanging from a ceiling.Can anyone help me??. Thankyou in advance...Mike Schulz

[westchester]

Mike the thread 'Contemporary Body Wanted' started by 'super_cobra427' may help.

[timsullivan]

I purchased my Contemporary CCX-3-3408 in April of this year from the second owner who lives nearby in Irvine, California. He said and I believe its true, that the car was professionally built by some shop in Arizona as the car has an Assigned Identification Number, issue by Arizona affixed to the front frame. The car is currently registered as a "1965 Ford" with the California DMV. Appears to have a built 350 Chevy (angled plug heads, aluminum Bowtie intake, Edlebrock 4 bbl, headers with sidepipes) which runs extremely strong. Dual remote oil filters mounted behind the front cross member. The rear gears are extremely steep at about 4:11, Jag XKE series 1 front and rear suspension, Muncie 4 speed with the correct reverse angled mustang shifter, white body with the twin darker blue racing stripes.

When I purchased it, it was in serious need of complete maintenance with numerous water, fuel and oil leaks. After replacing all the hoses and fabricating the copper intermediate pipe, lower water hose connection, tightening up the front timing cover and oil pan bolts and replacing a fuel line I was all set. Also had a serious front end shimmy that I ultimately traced down to two slightly bent front wheels (of course only after replacing all tires and rebuilding the front suspension!).

My daily driver is a 2001 Z06 and I have owned numerous other high performance cars ranging from a 1967 427 Vette that I did a complete frame off restoration on to a 911 Porsche, Miata, Firebird Formula, BMW M3, MGB, '67 Nova Super Sport among many others and to be truthful this just might be the one car I keep for the rest of my life as I truly enjoy it that much. This is the best compromise yet for a true, traditional open sports car with muscle car performance. Finally after vacilating all my life between sports cars and muscle cars I found the best compromise!

Next steps I'm considering include converting to a street 427 Cobra version with under car exhaust, getting rid of the racing stripes and sidepipes. I was originally going for an ERA kit and had accumulated all the parts to make a nasty, original 428 Cobra Jet motor, with a low riser and dual Holleys but this damn small block Chevy runs so sweet and strong the 428 and parts are collecting dust in my garage! Contemporary truly makes (made?) an exceptional, original cobra replica. When those Superformance guys give me trouble I tell them "Let's compare convertible tops". Contemporary's convertible top and sliding windows is much more closer to the original Cobra far and away and frankly is not an embarrassment to be seen in like the Superformance version. Maybe that's why they never put the top up on them?

[badrich]

What's a top?

[HSSS427]

Hi all,
I'm looking at joining the Contemporary group with a purchase in the near future. Was wondering what people's experience has been with the higher mile / older Contemporaries? Any notable issues or concerns with the frame, body, electrical, or suspension? Basically trying to determine how concerned I should be about higher mileage cars and what I might be in for as far as repair and upgrades as the car gets older. Also, has anyone run into issues with parts availability since Contemporary is no longer around?
Thanks!
Scott

[timsullivan]

My Contemporary appers to have been built in '89 or '90 and has about 62k miles on it. Eveything appears to have held up extremely well with the exception of the brake master cylinder which was leaking and was replaced. My pedal assembly hangs down from the top pf the footwell and the brake master cylinder, which is combined with the clutch master cylinder, turned out to be from an early '60's Chevy or International pick up truck. I have also rebuilt the front suspension which is based upon an early Jag Series one XKE. Other then these couple of areas everything else has been great. The body shows no stress cracks, doors work fine, etc. A truly first grade, high quality reproduction that has stood the test of time very well. I would buy another one in a New York minute.

[Mosrite]

I bought mine 9 years ago from Dayan House of Cobras. It's a Contemp body on a L.A. Exotics frame. Ever hear of that? Had the double roll bar, but I lopped that off when I had it repainted. 351c, 4 speed toploader, 9 in rear....
Just won my first 1st place yesterday!!!!