Club Cobra - Fe Cobra Restoration?

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Fe Cobra Restoration?

I have had my Everett Morrison, with original cast iron 427 Side Oiler, with webers, in storage for 16 years. Only 900 miles with ford 9" 4 link rear, coil over shocks all around, and 4 spd. top loader, steel hayes flywheel. I am now planning on bringing it out of moth balls. The car ran fine with the webers. My questions are:
1. Do I use my brand new aluminum edlebrock heads
2. Do I convert the webers to the new efi or rebuild the existing
3. New tire advise
4. Flywheel: aluminum or steel
All with consideration of what I will get in return for performance, looks, and $$, in return.

Thanks,
Tom

That is a great looking car and I think if it was me I would try to keep it looking as near to what it does now as I could. The aluminum heads would get rid of some weight and transfer heat faster and the aluminum flywheel would let it wind up a little quicker but if you aren't racing I don't think it is worth the work and money. As for the Webers they give it a more original look and if they worked well before I think I would rebuild them as a new fuel injection system is going to cost quite a bit. And as for tires you will get a lot of opinions about them, but what it would mainly boil down to is how are you going to drive the car and how long do you want them to last. The softer compounds stick better and are better from a racing or occasional track day but they also wear out a lot faster than some of the others, especially if you have streets like ours that are full of pot holes and the rest of the street is like sandpaper. As for performance gains you would need to make sure the heads and ports matched and maybe have some pocket porting done. It just comes down to your choice and what you want to spend really.

Ron

I don't even think I'll put 200 miles on it a year.
Thanks ron for your for your opinion.

What Ron said, +
Assuming you have 15" wheels, Cooper Cobras work for me. If money is no object, Avons.
My weber set-up is off the engine at the moment, due to a manifold problem. Am running a 4150 at the moment, and with some tuning, the best mpg I'm getting is 8 mpg city.
The EFI should get you better fuel economy, but will set you back thousands of $.
I installed an Eight Stack on a SBF some years ago and was impressed with it, was planning on doing my FE, but now don't have the extra $ laying around.
Where are you located ?

I'm located in clearwater florida. The only thing I see with going to an efi (eight stack, borla, kinsler, etc.) is definitely the $$. I have seen quotes to get a complete efi 8 stack setup ranging from $7,500-$12,000. Back in the day when I ran rear engine dragsters, I got a complete Mechanical 2.9" Crower, big block Chevy setup for around $2,000. Am I going to get my value up in the car over the webers? I will hardly ever us the car so gas mileage is not a factor. My wheels are 15". I will check into your tire recommendations.
Thanks for your input,
Tom

You have obviously owned the car for a long time so I think it wouldn't be wise to invest money in it in hopes of increasing it's value. Plus, I'm not sure the webers might not be more desirable anyway. I would just concentrate on getting it back to 100% as it sits - it is a great looking car. With a stock 427 SO there isn't much use in wringing the last ounce of power out of it you can - it's never going to compete with 527 aluminum block, worked over aluminum head monster of 650 HP in terms of max performance pecking order. So unless you are wanting to make a $30,000 investment in an entirely new engine - fix and maintain that classic beauty you have in it now. My 1-1/2 cents worth.

I second (or third) the Cooper Cobras or Mickey Thompsons S/T (same tire)

Tom: sorry for the double post, thought I had edited it out.
I thought you might be in Fl. having a EM. I'm in Bradenton.
If your webers were jetted in the ballpark, all they should need is a cleaning & gaskets. Do you do your own mech. work ? Simple job x4.
Yea, the EFI's are in the ballpark you stated.
Not sure if the alum heads would be worth the effort for as little as you drive it.
Same with the alum FW.

Ted

Tom,

I am going to try and post a short video of the first start of my engine in the Coupe as I am running the Mega Squirt fuel injection system and it cost almost as much as the engine. After this video they took it to Rebello Racing and they did the final tune on a chassis dyno. Mine is just a 410 stroker but it runs great. My 69 NASCAR Cobra has a big block and I thought about going to fuel injection on it but decided that since there were only 29 built exactly like it I would leave it the way it came from the factory.

Ron

Great food for me to digest, from all of you.

Tom

Geez Ron it idles rough:D

SHWEET!!!

Talos

Without fail, replace ALL the fuel hoses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by talos (Post 1325692)

Nice ride, I like it.

Based on the criteria outlined, and bang for buck IMHO:

1. HEADS: Tricky one -ONLY if you have the cash...
Are they built ready to install?
How much extra do they flow than whats there?
If they flow significantly more then will this then trigger a cam change to match squeezing more ponies out? The costs here may grow quickly. If we are talking 200km a year possibly not worth it.

2. For 200km a year DON'T, I repeat "DO NOT" go chasing EFI.
EFI is great for a daily driver, but for a car seldom used, the expense will NOT yield any real performance gain. Even if handed an EFI system for free, the cost of tuning would out weigh any benefits, and those self tuning ones won't learn anything in 200km per year. There's no bang for your buck here... Consider this a friendly warning - I'll save the: TOLD YOU SO for later if you go down this path :o

If I was counting all my pennies, I'd swap the webers out for a single carb, on selling the webers for the money. BUT if it were MY car, I'd leave the webers in there, the COOL factor is just impossible to beat. :)

3. The best investment you can make for performance. +4 on the MT S/T for a budget performance option. Else Avons for top of the heap street going tire. ;)

4. FWIW: I believe the majority would suggest getting a superlight Alu fly wheel.
As the general thought is the more you reduce the weight, the more the perceived in seat performance.

But at the risk of being contrare, the material, Alu vs Steel, is probably not as important as the "weight relative to the vehicle".

If it were me, I'd go for something on the slightly heavier side (22-28lbs?) it should require less clutch slippage to get you going from a dead stop. Plus should be less likely to lock up the rear wheels on a down shift, when driving aggressively. In all this, should give you more confidence in driving the car, which for mine is a major plus for performance.

Either way enjoy the rebuild, best of luck, and let us know how you are getting along with it

No one has mentioned yet that it's recommended to replace tires every 6 years or so because the rubber declines. 200 miles driven per year that's only 1200 miles total. You won't be wearing out any tires at that rate. You will be changing tires with almost full tread.

John

Dimis:
Looks like you nailed it.
1.The new aluminum heads are all ready to go. I do not have the flow numbers but they are ready to install. My main concern was original cast iron heads over edlebrock heads. I was going to change the cam anyways from a solid lifter to a hydraulic roller.

2. No one has mentioned the Goodyear Billboard or any other Goodyear tire (why)?