Horror Stories of the COBRA Kind

[HYM810ANCE]

In honor of Halloween here is a thread for those who can tell some pretty hair raising or high blood pressure inducing stories about theirs and other peoples Cobras. ~G

[blykins]

I was in the go-cart stage with my Cobra about 5 years ago. I was taking a buddy a quick ride and quickly got it up to about 55 mph after I pulled out of my driveway. I heard this horrible thump then a rough sliding sound.

It was my trunk lid. It had fallen off (forgot I didn't have it bolted on) and was sliding down the road behind me.

[Ron61]

The local cobra builder known to several of the people on here used to have his shop just across the freeway from my house. I spent a lot of time helping him with small stuff or signing for deliveries when he wasn't there. One day he had a running chassis and it had no seats or body but he decided he was going to try it out. About 3/4ths of a mile from his shop the road had a couple of small S turns in it and is flat as it can be. He was going to fast when he got to them and when he stepped on the brakes only one wheel worked. It locked up and of course with no seat belt and sitting on a box he had placed there to sit on, the chassis took off into the brush. He came back driving about 5 MPH and shaking so bad he left the car outside for fear he may hit the door trying to get it in. So we went and pushed it inside and the box was quickly removed but I noticed it has some strange stains on it. This is a true story.

Ron

[Argess]

Not really "horror" stories, but:

1/ My garage got broken into a few weeks after getting the car painted. A window had been smashed and the glass flew all over the car damaging the paint. Very upsetting after 2 years of hard work building the car. The individual was caught, admitted to the break-in, but charges were dropped,, along with many others as they had enough with over 27 break-ins in the previous few months.

2/ While removing the enigne with a hoist, I tried out my new load leveller. The extra distance between the engine and the tip of the hoist boom caused a problem when I tried to pull the hoist back. A flourescent light fixture on the ceiling got in the way, and I couldn't drop the engine as it wouldn't clear the Cobra nose. There I was with 700 lbs of engine hanging over the fibreglass with only hydraulics holding it up there.

3/ Coming home via a secondary road, I went to pass a very slow car. Forgetting what I was driving (for a moment), I downshifted into 2nd and gave it some gas. Almost lost the rear end, and I was even with the car I was passing (me in the other lane) at the time. Wasn't bad, but being unexpected, it was nerve rattling.

4/ Doing an illegal high speed run on a major highway (I took advantage of no traffic early that morning), I was approaching a hill with a slight dip at the base. For some reason, the rear suspension "stuck" as the car sank down after the dip. Un-nerving. Never happened again, and to this day I have no idea what actually happened.

5/ After a major power take-off, engine was pouring smoke out of one side. Piston broke due to detoantion. The horror story lasted a few days as I did tests, and then dismantled the engine to find out what was wrong.

6/ Not long after the re-build, a giant "bang" from inside the engine during hard acceleration. And repeats. Turned out to be crossfire. All fixed now, and no engine damage, but it took a while to get my confidence in the engine back.

7/ A nightmare where I go to the garage to find my car with no engine....someone stole the engine!

[Buzz]

After I first rebuilt my Cobra, including installation of a brand new front suspension and rack, there was a very small bit of play in the steering. Apparently the threads on the steering shaft at the steering wheel end were damaged and didn't allow the nut to tighten all the way down on the splined adapter. I always meant to address this but I saw it as more of an annoyance, and fixing it it was a little way down on the priority list. I used to tighten it up every once in a while and at times it seemed like it may have been getting a bit worse but complacency set in and I began to get accustomed to it.

Briefly, one day, I noticed a "squirrely" sensation in the front end while driving slowly. Afterwards, I checked all the fasteners in the front and rear suspension plus the shock mounts, control arms, steering shaft u-joints, wheel nuts and tire pressures. Nothing was out of spec so, against my better judgement, I concluded that it might have been either my imagination or something to do with the road conditions at the time.

Next day, heading out to dinner with my wife, some friends of my lil' brother pulled up behind us in a Supra that they used to give me a bunch of trash talk about . We were on a good, quiet, open stretch of road, so I decided to learn them a bit of discipline . The Cobra bellowed and smoked the tires as I pulled away hard and held a good lead before it was time for both of us to start slowing down as we approached an intersection marking entry into a busier traffic area. They loved the rare display of the Cobra's fury and honked, hooted and waved as they exited and carried on.

Immediately after we turned left and accelerated slightly, the steering felt really strange, but went back to normal as we picked up a bit of speed. I slowed again and this time the steering was gone completely at idle speed - TURNING THE WHEEL HAD ALMOST NO EFFECT ON THE CAR'S DIRECTION!! I was barely able to guide the car to the shoulder. At a dead stop, the steering wheel turned freely on the shaft 90 degrees in either direction. The splines in the aluminum steering wheel adapter were almost completely worn flat from the constant vibration and back and forth movement allowed by the loose fit. As the last of the splines gave way, there was just enough grip left to turn the wheel at speed, but as the steering got heavy when I slowed, they went completely. If I had hit a pothole or made a sudden correction at higher speed earlier on...

Luckily, I was able to limp home steering with a pair of visegrips clamped to the column after I removed the steering wheel. Even more luckily, the steering hadn't chosen to let go at a time and place and speed that would have had some serious consequences. I'm also lucky that my wife is made of strong stuff - she took it in stride and still loves riding around in the little monster.

[bermblaster41]

Taking a friend for a drive early evening was pulling hard exceleration in third. I didn't notice a small strip of water accross the road. (landscape sprinklers) My cobra went sideways and scared the hell out of me and my buddy. Lucky for me the dry pavement helped me get it straight and under control. Berm

[trularin]

Now I know why I do not win in the lottery, I hang with unluck people.

[Excaliber]

I was on the roard race track with my old Excalibur and after many laps quite suddenly I had no brakes. JUST as I was approaching a hair pin curve with a tire wall! Talk about panic. I pulled the gear shift HARD into second (T5) and let the clutch out quickly. That threw the car sideways as the rear tires locked up and the engine screamed for mercy. I counter steered and scrubbed off enough speed to where I entered the corner in almost perfect form! I went through it looking like a true professional, yeah, I'm cool, worlds greatest driver. Feeling like a complete idiot inside...

[CCX 33239]

This is not a "Cobra" story, but very similar. For several months back in 1969, my daily driver was my best friend Jim's 1961 bugeye Sprite which was powered by a hi-po 289. Coming home one day, I wrang it out in 1st; grapped 2nd; and found myself holding on to a steering wheel unattached to the rack. It turned out that a set screw on a steering shaft u-joint picked an unopportune moment to let go. I managed to get it braked to a stop without hitting anything. Other than sitting a bit higher in the seat, no harm was done.
To this day, whenever I think my CCX can get squirrely, all I have to do is remember the Sprite. There's something about 300+ hp; sub 2,000 lbs; and an 80" wheelbase that can get your attention in a hurry.

Bob

[Buzz]

Originally Posted by trularin

Now I know why I do not win in the lottery, I hang with unluck people.

Not sure about the other guys, but I think I was lucky as hell!

[Gunner]

Originally Posted by blykins

I was in the go-cart stage with my Cobra about 5 years ago. I was taking a buddy a quick ride and quickly got it up to about 55 mph after I pulled out of my driveway. I heard this horrible thump then a rough sliding sound.

It was my trunk lid. It had fallen off (forgot I didn't have it bolted on) and was sliding down the road behind me.

There's an old saying about sports cars, especially British iron, that you have to learn to swagger and smile as you saunter back to pick up fallen-off bits.

[Wes Tausend]

...

Yeah, I think, too, Tru is wrong about this group being unlucky. We are not unlucky, not a one of us. But we have burned a considerable sum up and there may not be much left for lottery winnings, especially the Powerball.

I picked my replica up in January right after a huge midwest blizzard. We drove about 36 hours straight through. I had an old home-made 10X6 foot flatbed trailer with worn and pitted mystery wheel bearings. I greased them before I left, but it was a couple of years before I figured out they were from a 1941 Buick and replaced them. Old tires on the trailer and 2 spares.

My brother and I had just picked up the assembly. Factory Five bolts the aluminum and body to the frame and it loads in one piece. When we loaded it, I inquired whether it would be better to set it on the trailer backwards but was assured that it would be fine facing forward. Factory Five added extra duct tape to the trunk and hood. It was racing duct tape, the strongest kind, of course.

Like I said, my brother and I had just picked up the assembly. We headed west on a divided four lane. My brother watched the load closely. Only 1800 miles to go. What could go wrong?

The snout on the front of these cars apparently does scoop a lot of air. The hood violently popped off not more than 5 miles from pick-up. It went straight up about 20 feet and sailed north with the wind. This was good because the heavily traveled opposing 2 lane was right south of us. We had to either back ¼ mile with a trailer ...or go about 3 agonizing miles ahead to get to an off-ramp. Three miles up and back it was. No wonder the hood on the Daytona Coupe has a large slot to let air out.

The hood landed in a slough and didn't even crush the cattails down to the point to touch mud. Not a scratch. Nary. Nadda. This was when I realised I had Powerballs.

We found room for the hood behind the extra cab truck seat. Ran rope over the trunk area. Never had a bit of trouble thereafter.

We hit glare ice, ugly wind, fresh snow and -15° F, but I had superb studded grips all way around the truck. We passed ordinary drivers on icy roads while pulling a trailer. We watched the Super Bowl on a 12 inch TV on the dash. Made about 15.5 mpg overall. What could go wrong?

Wes

...

[Art Burtt]

My first ride was down my street to a a shopping mall that was being built the whole parking lot was paved and empty,I tested the brakes and steering and drove slowly to make sure nothing fell off. I was going to take her in for a front end alignment but had forgotten the paper I had printed the specs on. So when i pulled out on the street to go back home I nailed it in first gear then all I saw was trees grass,trees grass,trees grass three times. I went home and changed my shorts and vowed to never do that again!