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Old 01-13-2017, 04:37 PM
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Tom Wells Tom Wells is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: St. Augustine, FL
Cobra Make, Engine: E-M / Power Performance / 521 stroker / Holley HP EFI
Posts: 1,912
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Thor,

Same car I've had since about 2002: originally an Everett-Morrison, now with a Power Performance (of Iowa) body due to an on-track "learning experience," i.e., a snap spin at around 105mph on turn 3 at Summit Point during a driving lesson followed by an encounter with a berm which flipped the car.

It was built and rebuilt by Fred Gimbel of Autovision in Fawn Grove, PA and painted by Joe the painter in Baltimore using Ford Laser Red and a really white white.

Gory details aside, here are the mechanics: Mustang II front suspension with 1993 Mustang power steering rack and 2004 Cobra 13" brakes using EBC pads. The PS pump has an extended filler neck as copied from Bondurant's to prevent PS fluid overflow, a most undesirable condition as it can be quite flammable.

In the rear there's a Jag suspension from a 3.8S which is slightly wider than an E-type but much narrower than an XJ6 or XJ12, equipped with vented rotors and a 2.88 PowerLok. Aldan Eagle coilover shocks all around - 2 in front, 4 in rear.

The engine is by Leggett Engine Research in MD and is a 385-series block bored and stroked to 521 cubic inches. It has just under 10:1 compression, uses a Crane hydraulic roller cam setup and a Holley HP EFI port injection. When this engine was built we had to put our own bungs in the manifold, but now Edelbrock makes a version of the Torker II with bungs already installed. It also has an MSD 6AL ignition setup. The heads are Ford Racing aluminum.

The trans is a C6 built by Carl Rossler in OH with an FTI mud truck converter with about a 1600rpm stall speed. The trans and converter were built to have free oil flow (no restrictions) plus a rather large trans cooler to allow 30-minute sessions at road race venues including Sebring, Daytona and others without the firetruck following me into the pits at the end of a run. It took four transmissions to get the overheating and smoking to stop... It's OK to note the shifter is from a 1966 Mustang which duplicates those in the SuperSnakes which also had C6s.

The engine has a Canton road race pan which proved incapable of maintaining oil pressure on sweeping turns such as turn 15 at Sebring, so an Accusump helps keep the pressure up.

It has leather sats, 5-point harnesses, dual stainless roll bars which were successfully tested (see above), original style Smiths instruments and plenty of foot room owing to there only being two pedals.

It weighs around 3100lbs, scales 46/54 front to back and can spin any 200 wear rating tire at 100mph if the right foot insists, having north of 400hp and 500ft-lbs at those tires over a pretty wide range of rpms. Tire sizes are 275/40/17 and 315/35/17 on 9-1/2" and 11" Compomotives.

Oh, and it has more than 36K miles including the road race excursions as it is mostly a street car. It has gone more than 450 miles in a day and was driven 250 miles round trip from the house to Orlando.

Now you're sorry you asked

Tom
__________________
Wells's law of engine size: If it matters what gear you're in, the engine's too small!

Last edited by Tom Wells; 01-13-2017 at 05:42 PM..
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