Winter Interior and Dash Project Completed on SPF MKII
 

I completed the transformation of the interior and dash details on my Superformance MKII Cobra yesterday.
This included:

1.Changed from a single green dash light for the turn signals to two original green lights.
2.Changed the location of the bright light indicator to its proper place and changed to the original light and jewel.
3.Repunched the dash for the correct alternator warning light and installed the correct housing and light.
4.Relocated and changed the ignition switch to an original switch and bezel and original keys.
5.Replaced the Headlight switch with the proper switch, bezel and knob.
6.Relocated and changed the wiper switch, knob and bezel to match the other switches.
7.Changed the knob and bezel on the heater blower switch to match the other switches.
8.Changed the knob on the heater direction switch to match the other switches.
9.Eliminated the dash light dimmer switch and punched the dash to install a period correct cigar lighter with matching knob (to plug in battery maintainer).
10.Changed the knob on the heat control to match the other knobs and added a period correct bezel that says “choke”.
11.Replaced the SPF clock with an original 289 Cobra clock, had the bezel chromed and had a quartz movement installed in it.
12.Replaced the 15” steering wheel with an original 16” steering wheel.
13.Fabricated a mounting bracket to attach the leather door pull straps to the center door ferrule.
14.Replaced the visors and wind wings with the proper “Cobra” engraved units.
15.Replaced the SPF foot pedals with the proper “AC” pedals.
16.Had a tool fabricated to bend the clutch pedal arm to give more room between the pedals to be able to drive with normal shoes on.
17.Added custom cut period correct protective clear floor mats with non-slip barbs on the underside.
18.Replaced the SPF plain 2-bar knock-offs with proper “AC” knock-offs from the UK.
19. Replaced the SPF shifter handle and knob with correct length shifter.

Pictures to follow.

Before and after dash pictures.

Door pulls.

Clutch pedal bender tool and results. Mickmate made the tool for me in short order and it worked beautifully.

Clock before and after.

Punching the holes to rearrange the indicator lights.

New switches, knobs and bezels used in the process.

Quite a difference between the SPF pedals and the “AC” pedals. These pictures were taken before I opened the space between the pedals so you can see how close together they were before.

SPF 2-bar knock-off vs “AC” knock-off.

I want to thank armrer, Blas, MarkIV and mickmate for all of their invaluable help throughout this project, without whose direction, encouragement and guidance I would not have been able to complete this. This is especially true with armrer, who I know I drove crazy with a million questions at all hours of the day and night. He never complained and was always ready with the information and assistance I needed. He had been there before on all of this with his car and was more than willing to share his experience and knowledge to see me through the process. It was fun to do during the long winter months here in New England and It was rewarding in the results. Thanks guys. You are the best!

Congratulations, and a job well done. Your weather should soon be improving, so enjoy the driving!

Cheers,
Glen

Who did your quartz clock conversion, or did you find a kit?

North Hollywood Speedometer did the restoration and conversion of the clock (https://www.nhspeedometer.com/). No one makes a kit for it. Before sending the clock to them I had the front half of the case chromed, since Cobra clocks had a chrome bezel, the Ford Galaxie version did not. Shelby used the 1962 Ford Galaxie 500XL dash clock in place of the clock that AC originally supplied, because the UK clocks were very unreliable. The Galaxie clocks weren’t much better and that is why most owners have them converted to a quartz movement. North Hollywood Speedometer is used by original Cobra owners on the west coast, so they are very familiar with how to convert them. armrer recommended them to me, since he had used them to convert his clock. They did a great job on it.

I actually sent them two clocks to convert, but the crystal on the other one was too far gone to save. If someone has a good original crystal, I have a clock that already has the case chromed I can part with for what I have in it, if that helps anyone. These original clocks are getting harder and harder to find these days.

The other clock is the one on the left in the picture.

Bravo!

Awesome work! Look forward to seeing it one day as you are not that far.

Great upgrades CAC! What did you use for the bezel nut on the Blower bezel?

Mike

I ended up not using that bezel since it was a different shape to the others. If you look closely at the dash, you will see that I just changed the knob on that one. I decided to do it that way since many original cars had one switch without a bezel too.

Can't tell from the pictures but Cobras had slotted screws holding the shift ring, not Phillips. We have this: https://www.timemachineauto.com/m38-...ainer-kit.html

Also have a nice, "softer" shift boot that doesn't get hard or put pressure on the shifter: https://www.timemachineauto.com/m38-...helby-csx.html

Actually the shifter bezel screws were Phillips head style screws, not the flat blade style.

What Bezel nut was used with the Blower bezel in the photo shown? I was going to use a set of those bezels, but no distributors knew what nut worked with them...! Why sell part A without part B?

MK