What cobra kit car have I just bought?

[Shadetree]

I’ve been visiting the forum off and on as I’m in the process of completing a Factory Five Mk II kit (which gives you a clue as to how long I’ve been at it). I’m just at the go cart stage with the Factory Five and it presently has a newly built 347 in it although I have a 408 Cleveland I took out a Pantera I have and may install it depending on how the 347 goes.

Last week I purchased a completed Cobra already titled in California for a good deal but I have no idea who made it. It was first registered sometime before 1995 so it’s an older kit. It has round main frame members like the Arntz and a Mustang II front suspension with an IRS rear end of some sort.

I’ve included a few pictures of the suspension, engine bay, trunk, and cockpit in hopes one of you recognizes it and can give me some background on it. The VIN is CSX65289SCXXXXX if that helps. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Three Peaks]

Pictures? Could you check to see if there are any other numbers, possibly manufacturer numbers on the car?

[Shadetree]

Three Peaks,

Thanks for the response. I edited the post to include the pictures. It's my first time posting to the forum and the picture attachments didn't come through the first time. The only identifier is the VIN number that is welded to the large tube frame on the drivers side in the engine bay. The guy I bought it from didn't know anything about it and had it in storage for the past 15 years. He had no paperwork other than the title.

Even though it's titled for the street, I think it was raced as the exhausts are 2 3 inch straight tubes under the car. I googled the serial number and suspension type in hope of narrowing it down to certain makes but couldn't find anything on it. It needs some work and I'd like to be able to identify the manufacturer when ordering parts.

[767Jockey]

The hub / rotor / caliper assembly in the picture looks like Jaguar to me...

[Aussie Mike]

It's got a McPherson strut setup in to front of it by the looks. Interesting

Most Cobras run double wishbone front ends. I think BDR run a strut front end but that's all BMW gear and a bit more modern looking than this one.

Cheers

[Rick Parker]

What did the the Title say??

[767Jockey]

Originally Posted by Aussie Mike

It's got a McPherson strut setup in to front of it by the looks. Interesting

I didn't even notice that. What has a strut and a solid rotor? Beats me...

[Shadetree]

The title just said 1965 Cobra and the Vin number. The thing has me stumped as it has the early McPherson struts rather than the older Mustang II or MGB suspension. It also has a Tokico dual master cylinder out of an early Datsun Z.

[Aussie Mike]

I was going to say they might be some early Japanese (Datsun or the like) front struts. Some pics of the rear end might give us some more clues. The Datsun IRS systems are quite distinctive looking.

Cheers

[rustyBob]

The vin number is only to obvious the csx (wishing it was a Shelby) the 65(wishing it is a 65 model year)the 289 (does it have a small block?)and the sc( street/comp.)that was only to easy to figure that out but the strut front thats the big ? the front rotor has been redrilled ,what you might do is pull the wheel bearings and head for your local bearing supply and have them check the numbers they should be able to tell what they fit. good luck and include pictures of the body to some times that helps also.

[Got the Bug]

Originally Posted by Shadetree

Three Peaks,

Thanks for the response. I edited the post to include the pictures. It's my first time posting to the forum and the picture attachments didn't come through the first time. The only identifier is the VIN number that is welded to the large tube frame on the drivers side in the engine bay. The guy I bought it from didn't know anything about it and had it in storage for the past 15 years. He had no paperwork other than the title.

Even though it's titled for the street, I think it was raced as the exhausts are 2 3 inch straight tubes under the car. I googled the serial number and suspension type in hope of narrowing it down to certain makes but couldn't find anything on it. It needs some work and I'd like to be able to identify the manufacturer when ordering parts.

Interesting that the VIN plate would be welded to the frame and that is would start with CSX. I'm wondering if someone took a Cobra plate that you can buy anywhere and engraved a VIN number on it. Does the VIN on plate match the registration?

Also, be careful about the way the car is registered/titled in CA. There were some cars that were registered illegally in the 1990's through a number of shell companies that sold bogus titles.

[CHANMADD]

That looks like a Mustang front end! That car could be an L.A.exotics. or similar.
How about some Pics of the rear end??
John

[Aussie Mike]

I'm pretty certain that front end is 1970's Datsun. Probably 260Z or similar. Maybe one of the sedans like a 240K. It's had an adjustable coil kit fitted to the struts but if you compare it to the pic below it's almost spot on.




Cheers

[Aussie Mike]

Did a bit more of a search and It's actually 280Z front struts.

Check out the pics on this site and compare for yourself: http://www.project280z.com/brakephase.html

Cheers

[Shadetree]

Mike,

Nice work. That's it alright. It's a 280Z front strut. That ties into the Datsun master cylinder as well. Now the question is what manufacturer of kits used Datsun components. I never heard of one.

[Aussie Mike]

Possibly a scratch built car? A lack of any identifying marks would point to this. You would think any kit manufacturer would put their makers mark on there somewhere.

Nothing wrong with that Datsun running gear. Lots of aftermarket parts support and a ton of track development been done for those cars.

Cheers

[Shadetree]

That's true. The cobra is probably even lighter than the Z as well. It does handle well although I haven't driven it too hard yet as the brakes need work. There were some folks here in California that dropped small block Chevy's in the early Z' with great results. I think they were called Scarabs of something similar.

Thanks again for figuring out the suspension. You're right it may be a scratch built car but the frame is almost identical to a real Cobra and the suspension attachment points were definitely made for the Datsun suspension. Who ever did it did good work. I guess I may have a one off rig.

[Aussie Mike]

I'd be looking at changing those hubs if it was mine. Re drilling from 4 bolt to 5 bolt is a little dangerous. If you have a look at some of the wheel studs the holes are overlapping slightly with the 4 bolt holes. This really weakens the hub.

If you upgrade the brakes buy some new blank hubs and get them drilled properly. There may even be an off the shelf kit available.

Have fun with it.

[mr bruce]

Tomahawk Cobra