Cobra quandary

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by Snake Psychosis

4. Ease of work...from what I've been able to figure, working on a coupe would seem somewhat easier than it would be for a roadster. With its tilt nose, engine access seems quite simple, and the fear of damaging the paint or body due to work on the motor would appear reduced. Maybe I'm wrong on this, but the roadster looks like you'd have to contend with treating the fenders with kid gloves while you try to work on the plant.

Tim, on first blush you are correct. But study the coupe a little harder the next time you pop up the front end...I swear there are at least a few spark plugs that CANNOT be removed without pulling the headers. The foot boxes on a Coupe take up quite a bit of room in the engine bay.

Just throw a lot of soft, 100% cotton bath towels over a Roadster fender and you are good. Getting the Roadster off the ground also makes working under the hood significantly easier with less bending over (see my gallery for pics of my homemade ramps and you will see what I mean). Yes, the engine bays on these little cars are tight at times, but they can be worked on with some care, the right tools and a little patience. The trick (and hard part) is having all three at the same time.

-Dean