Exhaust questions and others(newbie)
 

Hi all. Just bought my first Cobra and I have no idea who's kit it is. It is titled in Florida as a 1965 AC Cobra and that is all I know about the chassis and body. How do I go about Id'ing this car? I have spent a week pulling every number I can off every part that is stamped or tagged. So far I have come up with 1970 Boss 302, toploader 433 code from a 428,429 mustang,tail shaft from 1965 Cyclone and a 1977 9 inch rear end from a Lincoln Versilse. It has mustang II front suspension and a Flaming River rack. Front calipers are 1985 Corvette and the rears are from the stock Lincoln.

So,now the questions.does anyone make a header set that will work for under car exhaust? I have 3 BIG burns on my left leg from hot side pipes. Duh...the car is supposed to be for my wife to drive also but she refuses untill I do something about the hot pipes....Next question is what type of shifter should I use with the Toploader? There is a speed shop down the street from where I live and he ordered me a early Mustang Hurst Comp plus but I'm not sure you can turn the shift lever around so I won't be banging my arm on the roll bar that goes into the foot well on the passenger side. And lastly how do I I'd the mfg of the kit? Any help I can get would be awesome. BTW, I live near Bradenton Fl. And if anyone lives in this area I can meet up and maybe get some pointers.

Thanks in advance
Brad Mac

Hi Brad:
Welcome to the madness . I am in Bradenton also. Maybe I can be of some help.Give me a call. 941-730-2020.
Ted Radtke

Thanks Ted. I'm actually in Parrish just off 301 and old Tampa rd. If the weather holds out maybe you can take a look at what I have gotten myself into over the weekend if you are free.

Post up some pictures of eng bay cowl section, front, rear suspension and overall. There are some knowledgeable folks on this sight for Id'n.....

Will do.

Hi Brad,

If you like the look of the sidepipes, you may consider putting heat shields on them rather than change to under car exhaust. Just a thought. Another idea - I didn't want to put heat shields on my side pipes, so made some roll-out heat shields out of welder's blanket material. They roll up and stash between the seat and door sill. They work great but, of course, you have to remember to use them. So far, I haven't forgotten.

Kevin

There are aftermarket Ford-appearance shifters you can buy that bolt up to the Hurst Shifter and have the forward placement. Most of the Cobra accessory places carry them. You will need to look at where the shifter mount places the hurst unit on the transmission. If a short tail housing it may place it forward enough that a stock Hurst handle or a 289 Cobra shift handle would work best. The 427 car shifters were placed a little further rearward and needed the forward leaning shifter.

Undercar headers may take some searching because most of them gather together and run down at the rear. You will need some headers that gather a little forward of the engine mounts or just behind them to miss the foot boxes and turn down and back. You might try posting in the Small Block Talk forum or on the Factory Five Racing forum and asking about a source for headers that will work. It will definately help if you can identify the make of replica first.

x2 on getting some sidepipe shields to try first.

I really doubt you will find any off the shelf headers to do what you want.

You might try Stainless Headers. They can send you a mock up kit, then fabricate a set to fit exactly.

You may also be able to use a stock exhaust manifold and have your local muffler shop fabricate the u/c exhaust off of that.

Hi Brad,
I wrapped my sidepipes with fiberglass exhaust manifold tape, then mounted shields over the tape. It looks great and just warm to the touch after a hard run. The "Boss" appreciated what i did.......

If all else fails, you can have a set of under car headers made for your ride & engine. If you don't have a good custom shop locally, drop me a line. I'll forward a couple of good shops that can help. Good luck &

Brad, or is it Mac ?
I sent you a PM

It's Brad, and I sent a pm back. See you somewhere on Saturday morning.

pm sent

Id like to thank Motorhead for taking time out of his Saturday to meet up with me and give me some pointers on my car. I am now a little closer to knowing exactly what I have.

Brad: my pleasure, always enjoy looking at interesting cars, and yours certainly meets that criteria ! If you don't mind, I'll post the basic findings here to hopefully facilitate the identity :
1. car is a 289 FIA replica with 2 anomalies
a: sidepipes
b: larger than normal side vents
2. Definiatly not ERA, possibly early Unique
3. Vin plate possibly on foot box, but covered with alum cladding on same.
4. Vin stamped on plate welded to drivers side top frame rail, but not readily readable.
Brad will clean up that area and get number.
5. mustang front suspension with added tubular cross member added above mustang
cross member just above frame rail
6. Shortened ford 9" rear w upper and lower chromed radius rods. Could not see
method of lateral control.
Brad will be posting pics at his earliest opportunity.
Hope this helps.

Ted