Alloy Hi-Tech Build

[cobrakiwi]

Floor supports/out riggers needed to be leveled then new supports fitted.
Lots of old rivet holes filled and cleaned up.
I ended up replacing a lot of the rear box section that supports the bird cage.

[redmt]

Originally Posted by cobrakiwi

redmt, fair question,
a lot more work will go into these diff mounts, I will fill weld clean off then tig over.
As said above this is a tricky spot to get into to weld, waiting to put the frame into my rotisserie before I will finish these mounts.
Kevin or I will up date pictures when complete.
Thanks for all the comments.

Hey, I don't want to stir any crap or dis anybodies work. I've been welding both professionally and as a hobby for over 50 years since I was a teenager and have been known to be over critical. A point I might make is though that a weld-over unless the old weld is gone is only as good as the original. With thin section tubing you will find that multiple pass MIG will harden the steel and even a wash out with a TIG overlay could cause stress cracks any place the weld changes direction. You might want to add a little runout bead to redirect stress to a stronger area. Sorry, didn't mean to jack your thread.

[Three Peaks]

I'm starting to believe this was possibly a used frame at one time after seeing all the rivet holes and modifications to the frame. Was there and interior tub and/or footboxes installed at one time? I didn't notice it in the first few pics.

Okay, went back and saw it was more complete than I had originally thought. Was any of the original pieces- fender liners, tub, footboxes, trunk pieces, etc... reusable? At least the roll bars? Or is this pretty much starting from scratch.

This is starting to look an awful lot like my project. When I received my chassis, it was missing most of the birdcage, the square tubing, motor mounts, roll bar mounts, fuel tank supports, and a lot of the existing tubing had to be replaced or relocated. I can definitely appreciate all the work that is going into this project and the quality of the work and the difficulty of the locating process.
Do you have all of the control arms, uprights, shocks, and other items needed for the suspension set up? How about hood and trunk hinges?

Bob

[cobrakiwi]

(Hey, I don't want to stir any crap or dis anybodies work. I've been welding both professionally and as a hobby for over 50 years since I was a teenager and have been known to be over critical.)

No problem, thanks for the tip!

[cobrakiwi]

Originally Posted by Three Peaks

I'm starting to believe this was possibly a used frame at one time after seeing all the rivet holes and modifications to the frame. Was there and interior tub and/or footboxes installed at one time? I didn't notice it in the first few pics.

Okay, went back and saw it was more complete than I had originally thought. Was any of the original pieces- fender liners, tub, footboxes, trunk pieces, etc... reusable? At least the roll bars? Or is this pretty much starting from scratch.

This is starting to look an awful lot like my project. When I received my chassis, it was missing most of the birdcage, the square tubing, motor mounts, roll bar mounts, fuel tank supports, and a lot of the existing tubing had to be replaced or relocated. I can definitely appreciate all the work that is going into this project and the quality of the work and the difficulty of the locating process.
Do you have all of the control arms, uprights, shocks, and other items needed for the suspension set up? How about hood and trunk hinges?

Bob

Hi Bob
Kevin may know more on the cars history than I, but to the best of my knowledge this project had never been completed .
The only pieces to be reused will be the fiberglass foot boxes, they need a little work but will be just fine.
All the aluminum panels that were in the car are scrap, new panels will be made.
We do have all the suspension, how ever we are yet to tackle that job, I did see some issues when I disassembled the car, so these will need to be addressed.
New trunk hinges and frame will be made, I have not checked the hood yet, Kevin made the ally hood for the fiberglass body and I must say it looks great and we intend on using it in the build.
Roll bar setup is new, thanks to a good friend with an original 3k car and his generosity of allowing us to take some key measurements, the roll bar is made close to original spec.

[cobrakiwi]

The pedal box had to be moved, (mounted incorrectly) I made the pedal box removable as this helps down the road with mounting the ally body and foot box install.

[Three Peaks]

Looking good. I think the hardest part of my project was making the birdcage for the rear of the body over the trunk and the frames for the doors, trunk lid, and hood. I think I lost a bit of hair during that process.
I also made up a jig to make up original style hood and trunk hinges I was able to copy from a 4000 hinge a buddy had. I sold about a dozen of them and still have the jig if you need some made up. Also made up some reclining seat mounting pads for the seats. I think I have one left if you need it.
The removable pedal box is a great idea. I ended up doing the same thing for the same reasons- much easier to deal with the footboxes, body mounting, and access the foot pedals and adjustments if necessary. I installed a removable bottom plate so I could access and adjust the rods in the box without contorting myself in the footbox to reach them, not to mention pulling up the carpet and other items to get to the top cover. I've used it a couple times already to adjust my clutch rod and brake bias adjustment rods and it was easy as pie.

Keep it coming, I'm reliving my build through your project.....

Bob

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by cobrakiwi

Kevin made the ally hood for the fiberglass body and I must say it looks great and we intend on using it in the build.

So, you're keeping the hood and building a new body around it?

[1985 CCX]

Nice progress.

[rodneym]

You guys in Craig's area are fortunate to have such a resource around.
Great work as always!

[Three Peaks]

Originally Posted by cycleguy55

So, you're keeping the hood and building a new body around it?

Hilarious!

[Bill D]

This is such a cool build. Definitely car porn

[cobrakiwi]

Originally Posted by cycleguy55

So, you're keeping the hood and building a new body around it?

Sure am,
I also intend to use the ally trunk skin he made as well.

[Mongoose930]

I did make the alloy hood to fit the Hi-Tech hood opening which will not be changing. Should drop right since the aluminum body will be rolled over the same hood opening. If it becomes a problem, I am willing to give it up but I hope I don't have to...

Made An Aluminum Hood For My Hi-Tech Cobra

[ScratchBuilder]

Originally Posted by rodneym

You guys in Craig's area are fortunate to have such a resource around.
Great work as always!

West coast too. Craig will get it done n ship quality parts. I had to replace junk control arms from the same fabricator Kevin pulled his car from. Craig built up a set, powder coated, and sent them to me quickly.

[cobrakiwi]

On the front frame section I had to redo the sway bar mounts, twin pusher fan mounts and oil cooler mount.
Filled all the old rivet holes and squared up the radiator opening.

[Three Peaks]

Just noticed your I-beam support and the tacked in angle iron leveling table. Ingenious idea and makes it easy to get to almost all the little places you need to weld, cut, and measure. I bet it isn't easy to move around though....

Bob

[cobrakiwi]

Just No chance of using these door hinge brackets.

[cobrakiwi]

or the door latch brackets
Off with them

[Bernica]

Who the hell welded this in the first place? All I'm sayin'