289 Plans Build

[120mm]

I bit the bullet this morning and ordered a set of chassis plans from Chuck Lindquist.

It's been 42 years coming, but I am finally in one place with sufficient funds to build the Cobra race car I first saw back in 1976 at the Clay County Fair in Spencer, Iowa.

I plan to build it light, with leafs, IRS and it will be blue. Will probably go with a 5.0 roller block. Am seriously considering making it E85 powered, with roughly 13:1 compression.

The goal will be to capture the driving experience and outward appearance of a 1960s racing car. I'm not remotely interested in 100% authenticity.

I'll update this thread as progress happens.

[120mm]

Cleaning out the garage today. Decided to get rid of the 1938 Dodge sedan as it isn't, and never will be worth the money I'd have to put in it to make it "right".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtT8MuymU3U

Will be a little sad to see it go, as it was my Grandpa Herman's.

I also did a basic inventory of what I need to move forward.

Project two, after garage is cleaned out, is to build a welding jig. Any suggestion of a design would be appreciated.

I will also need to decide on what IRS I want to go with; the placement of the ladder frame final cross-member is dependent on which IRS you plan on installing. AFAIK, the choices are: Reproduction Salisbury, XJ6, early 90s Ford T-Bird/Lincoln and 2015+ Mustang.

List of things to buy:
110V MIG welder, gas, wire, stand, helmet, gloves & apron
Metal cut off saw
Tube notcher
Something to cut shapes out of sheet metal
Welding "square" magnets

Tubing for welding jig
Tubing for car frame

Any other suggestions are welcome

[120mm]

According to the plans, it is necessary to choose a differential prior to building the basic ladder frame, as the type of differential could influence the placement of the rearmost cross member.

After a spirited discussion of my options on this thread Which differential for a scratchbuild? I've decided to go with a 8.8 inch IRS from a 2006-2010 Ford Explorer.









I'm wondering how difficult it would be just to find some Ford Explorer uprights/knuckles/spindles and adapt them to my car, so I can use readily available parts.

[mr bruce]

go to your local U-Pullit junk yard, save a buncha dough, 1/2 price or less than evilbay,plus you see exactly what your getting and no shipping charges, the explorer has a goofy trailing arm arrangement , ain't gonna fit into a cobra, use the xploder bearings , , cvs, brakes, etc. you'll hafta get new short axles made. See if you can find out if Premire Cobra is still around, they made an uprite that used the Explorer stuff, buy 'em from them , or make yourself a set

[mr bruce]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_sot_KX5ro

[120mm]

Originally Posted by mr bruce

go to your local U-Pullit junk yard, save a buncha dough, 1/2 price or less than evilbay,plus you see exactly what your getting and no shipping charges, the explorer has a goofy trailing arm arrangement , ain't gonna fit into a cobra, use the xploder bearings , , cvs, brakes, etc. you'll hafta get new short axles made. See if you can find out if Premire Cobra is still around, they made an uprite that used the Explorer stuff, buy 'em from them , or make yourself a set

Are you saying the uprights (knuckles/spindles) won't work, or are you saying the rear diff won't work?

I'd love to make my own uprights, if I had an idea of how.

We don't have U-Pull-Its in my area, and I am not taking the time off of a work day to visit a normal junkyard, and put my life on the line to pull a diff off an Exploder there. I bought the $200 one (shipping included) and am happy with it.

[120mm]

I've been convinced to stage my build around my wheels/tires/uprights/diff combination.

My plan is to either find a 289 FIA body in fiberglass, or adapt a 427 body in fiberglass to FIA shape and then build a buck and ultimately an aluminum body.

I'm looking toward somewhat of an original "look", but am not going to be a slave to original parts. I am not finding good source of FIA 6.5 front and 8.5 rear rims, so I am looking at going with some more affordable Trigo wheels in the 7.5 x 3.350 back space on front and 9.5 x 3.325 back space on rear, and will then go with a skinnier tire; namely Goodyear G7s with a 600 x 15 on front and 700 x 15 on rear. Anyone see anything horribly wrong with this plan? Roger Kraus Racing seems to think the skinnier tires would fit the wider rims, and I want the basic "look" to be right.

[mr bruce]

the stock explorer uprites ain't gonna work, but the cartridge style rear bearing can be used in a fabricated uprite, as for the FiA body, you can get one here-http://www.clubcobra.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=6153&cat=500

[Three Peaks]

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-conte...-STD-rev-K.pdf
Bottom of Page 5 shows the diff, axles, and the correct style uprights you need.
The Explorer uprights won't work. You need uprights from Late 80's to early 90's Tbird or Lincoln Mark VIII IRS.
They should look like this once they are cleaned up and drilled- forgot to mention they come metric- 5 x 4.25 bolt centers and you'll need 5 x 4.50 bolt center and new lug bolts installed, which lots of machine shops can do for short money. I'm pretty sure the best guy I ever found - Stu Spencer- isn't doing them any more.

Once you get to that point, let us know and I'm pretty sure we can get you past this part. Once this is done, you only have about 5 million things left to do...

Bob

[Three Peaks]

While you're trying to get other things done, you can rebuild the rear end with new clutches and once you get the uprights you can pull the hubs to be drilled and replace the hub bearings before replacing the hubs. Or have a shop do it. There are videos on youtube for the differential. It is pretty easy and you will be able to do it in a couple hours if you're handy.

[Three Peaks]

I have some pictures of my uprights with control arms in my gallery pics and also a couple pics of the front mount for the differential, but without the differential in place. The trailing link on the driver's side is shown in one pic, along with the diff mount. I have more pics in my computer, so if you need more send me an email and I can send them to you. my email- bsfx@aol dot com

[120mm]

Originally Posted by Three Peaks

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-conte...-STD-rev-K.pdf
Bottom of Page 5 shows the diff, axles, and the correct style uprights you need.
The Explorer uprights won't work. You need uprights from Late 80's to early 90's Tbird or Lincoln Mark VIII IRS.
They should look like this once they are cleaned up and drilled- forgot to mention they come metric- 5 x 4.25 bolt centers and you'll need 5 x 4.50 bolt center and new lug bolts installed, which lots of machine shops can do for short money. I'm pretty sure the best guy I ever found - Stu Spencer- isn't doing them any more.

Once you get to that point, let us know and I'm pretty sure we can get you past this part. Once this is done, you only have about 5 million things left to do...

Bob

That is great info.

Based on multiple points of feedback, I am seriously considering abandoning my plans to do a leaf spring 289 Cobra.

Since I am in it for a set of Chuck's plans, any suggestions on where I can find some drawings that would allow me to convert the leaf set up to coils? Or should I bite the bullet and get another set of plans?

[Three Peaks]

I'm pretty sure the 289 USRRC is a coil over chassis with 289 dimensions, but not positive on that. Might want to check with Chuck to see if he has those plans, otherwise you may need to go with the Cobra Restorers plans for a 427 (or an updated set by somebody without all the mistakes) and adapt to the wide hip 289 body.

Parts will be easier to find and adapt than the leaf spring suspension, which are rare as frog hair. Or, you could consider building one of the Factory Five 289 cars, which are pretty nice and reasonably close to the original USRRC shape and style. Kind of goes against the old scratch build idea, I know, but saves an awful lot of head aches.

Bob

[120mm]

I'm going to price out the leaf spring parts which are unique to the 289 and think about it for awhile.

Basically, doing a half-butt copy of a 289 car doesn't get me where I want to be.

This thread has been very educational for me.

What I need is reliable source(s) for the leaf spring uprights for the rear and spindles for the fronts, so I can evaluate costs and whether it is worth going forward.

Thanks!

[LMH]

I got my suspension parts from Gerry Hawkridge at Hawk Cars. High quality, forged parts!
Larry

[120mm]

Originally Posted by LMH

I got my suspension parts from Gerry Hawkridge at Hawk Cars. High quality, forged parts!
Larry

Are those cast Aluminum?

Thanks,

Drew

[LMH]

Originally Posted by 120mm

Are those cast Aluminum?

Thanks,

Drew

Forged steel. Here's the front uprights. Rears are still in transit.



Larry

[Three Peaks]

I've wondered for a long time where you could source those parts. Does he also have the leaf springs with the special ends for the ball joints?

I don't think I want to know what all those parts cost.... _

Bob

[LMH]

Special ends for ball joints?
Gerry does sell springs but I'll have those made locally. Shipping from Englnad was enough as it was!
Larry

[Three Peaks]

A cool picture of a 289 leaf spring chassis on Hawk Cars facebook site.

https://www.facebook.com/HawkCars/ph...type=3&theater

I could be wrong, but I thought the leaf springs connect directly to the top of the uprights with ball joints (at least in front), which connect to the leaf springs with a purpose made bracket. It's been a while, so I can't remember exactly what they look like.

Bob