A few Contemporary questions.

[Jepe]

Hello.

Because I don't know that much about the Contemporary Cobra, a few "beginner" questions here.

The radiator on the car, is this a standard item like on a ERA or Superformance, or did each builder supply his own?

About the Jag rear end; is the original subframe used on the car, like ERA, or only the parts without the subframe.

I saw on this particular car that the threaded spindles on the rear wheels stuck out of the wheels like an inch or so, is this normal? All cars I saw with knock-off wheels were more or less flush.

And the last one, from what year would serial number 3073 be?

Thanks in advance, regards, John.

[767Jockey]

Originally Posted by Jepe

Hello.

Because I don't know that much about the Contemporary Cobra, a few "beginner" questions here.

The radiator on the car, is this a standard item like on a ERA or Superformance, or did each builder supply his own?

About the Jag rear end; is the original subframe used on the car, like ERA, or only the parts without the subframe.

I saw on this particular car that the threaded spindles on the rear wheels stuck out of the wheels like an inch or so, is this normal? All cars I saw with knock-off wheels were more or less flush.

And the last one, from what year would serial number 3073 be?

Thanks in advance, regards, John.

John,
I can't answer all your questions, but I can answer a couple. The radiator was supplied by Contemporary. If it needs replacement, any number of custom radiator houses can make one up, or some stock items from places like Summit can be used. Don't let a bad radiator scare you away of that's the case, that's easily overcome. The Jag rear doesn't use the subframe. The center section bolts directly to the mounting pad on the frame, and the lower control arm pivot points mount to the rear crossmember. Not sure about your wheel and serial number question. Hope this helps just a bit.
Doug

[azfordman]

My car is 3624 and the date on the CO is Nov. 1990. My hubs do stick out beyond the wheel, the car is set up with pins through the hubs as safety locks. Hope this helps.

[John McMahon]

Contemporary used a basic Griffin or Howe aluminum radiator. I've seen both used. Don't have the part number, but what is imprtant are the dimensions. So just get those from a current car and call one of these companies.

3073 is an earlier car, probably with torsion bar front end suspension. None of the Contemporary records exist anymore, because Burtis did not see the importance of keeping them! So I would be hard pressed to determine the actual year.

[avanti-176]

Mine is #3041 and was built in 1982, registered in '83, so I would think 3073 would be somewhere in that same time frame, '82-'84 , maybe.

[Jepe]

Hello.

Thanks for the answers so far. Last week I went to see the Cobra that is discussed in this topic:

Looking for information

which also has some nice pictures (thanks to BelgiumBarry) to give you an idea what car I'm talking about. Have to go back in a while to test-drive it, and to look some more. If anyone has some tips or hints (as a result of the pictures) to pay special attention to when trying this car, I would be happy to read them. Thanks in advance.

Regards, John.

[Jepe]

Hello again.

This question crossed my mind just after sending my former post, and maybe a stupid one, but these Ford FE's (I assume that is what is in this car), do they have hydraulic lifters?

Regards, John.

[Danr55]

Jepe, I depends. There are some versions with hydraulics and others with solid lifters. I believe that is a 428, but didn't read closely. That's what I have in my car. I am using hydraulic lifters and roller rockers. It works great.