Hi-Tech question for TJD
 

Tom, I have a question for you about the front track on my Hi-Tech 427. Ever since I bought it a few months ago the look of the front end has bugged me; something about it just didn’t look right to my eyes. At first I thought it was down to the 255-section fronts the previous owner had installed. I replaced them with 235s, which helped a little but didn’t cure the problem. Then I lowered the car thinking it was the ride height, but it still looked odd.

Today it occurred to me to measure the front track, which is 65” from the outside edge of one front tire to the other. I Googled “427 Cobra front track” and was kind of stunned to see it listed as 55.5” on two different sites.

Can my car’s front track really be 10” wider than what was correct on the original 427 cars? The front tires fit inside the fenders with at least an inch of fender lip showing. The front wheels to the best of my knowledge are 8” wide Halibrand repros. I’m wondering about the front wheel offset but if the wheels were moved in by even a couple of inches they would be WAY inside the front fenders; I don’t want the thing looking like a Pro Stock drag car and even if the offset were changed by 2” per wheel the track would still be about 8” too wide.

I’m stumped here...any thoughts or comments? Do you have any data on what the Hi-Tech factory track was on the 427 cars? As best I can tell the car has the stock front spindles from Hi-Tech.

Thanks,
Bob

Here’s a shot of the front end.

Bobby, welcome back to the cobra world, everybody got a different definition of track, some go by the center to center of the tire tread, some use where the wheel bolts onto the hub, real ones are sposda be 53" center of tire to center of tire, or wheel hub face to wheel hub face, aw shoot who the, heck knows, my hubs are 53" apart but depending on the width of the tire it could be more or less, kinda like " what is, is"

Bob, if you see a published figure for "track", it is always the distance from the centreline of one tyre/wheel to the centreline of the other tyre/wheel.

Cheers,
Glen

Thanks, guys. I’ve always just assumed that it was tire outside edge to tire outside edge but you know what they say about assumptions. That makes more sense—guess I’ll have to go on pondering why the front end of my car looks “off”, LOL.

Thanks, Bruce. I’m glad to see you’ve been busy as hell in my absence. One of these days when I’m rich and famous I still want to commission you to build me a Flip Top body.

Bob
I see your have the answer already. correct way to measure track center to center line of wheels/tires the picture you shown looks perfectly fine to me unless I’m not seeing something and I hope you’re enjoying your car any questions feel free to ask
Tom

Tom, I don’t want to give the wrong impression—I LOVE the car. It reminds me of my old ERA in the sense that the ride quality is so nice. It’s unexpectedly comfortable to drive. At the same time the steering is very lively, which I like, and it’s rather quick with the Shaver-built 420 Windsor under the hood. The rest of the car looks so “right” to me—the rear 3/4 view is about as good as it gets in the Cobra world, IMHO—that it bugs the living hell out of me that something looks a little off from the front. But I’ll manage, LOL!

Thanks, all.



Bob

Hi Tom, is this your car? https://www.cobracountry.com/cars-fo...cobra-goddard/

If so, it looks to me like the front wheel offsets and width look to be wider and have more dish on the outside than normal. I believe that is what is making it look out of the norm? Best of Luck!

Mike

Beautiful Cobra Bob. Hey by any chance you still have pictures of your JCF? Or anyone else out there that has JCF pictures. I just found out Mine has been accepted to the 'Forest Grove Concourse' I guess one step below Pebble Beach ;) It was there in 2009, and won it's class (Z-34) with the org. owner. We hope to have 25-30 Cobras (PNW & Oregon Member's) there to support my efforts. John of JCF, said he would drive up from Coos Bay Ore. to help too :) Bob, you can PM me, or I think you have my Email. Cheers TommyRot.

Mike, thanks for your input. I’ve wondered about the front wheel offset too. I switched to narrower front tires, which helped some, but you may be right about the offset contributing to it.

Tom, I have a bunch of pics of my JCF in my gallery if you click on the camera icon by my username and scroll through the gallery, but I probably have some better-quality ones if you need them. Let me know—

Bob,

Your tyre is 235 (9.25 inches).

65 - 9.25 = 55.75 inches.

Outside of one to inside of the other, therefore equals centre of tread to centre of tread.

Gary

Gary, so you’re saying I’m completely nuts and need to stop staring at the front end of my car? :3DSMILE::JEKYLHYDE

Bob,

I'd like another shot from the front standing back a bit.

I have to say that 3/4 rear shot is one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL looking Cobras I have seen.

Gary

Gary, thank you for that. There are a lot of beautiful Cobras, real and replica, out there and that means a lot. I guess that’s why this “issue” with the front has me perplexed. I’ve looked at dozens of pictures and cannot put my finger on why mine looks odd. Here’s another shot although I don’t know if it will help.

http://<img src="http://www.clubcobr...292E5.jpeg" />

Gary, thank you for that. There are a lot of beautiful Cobras, real and replica, out there and that means a lot. I guess that’s why this “issue” with the front has me perplexed. I’ve looked at dozens of pictures and cannot put my finger on why mine looks odd. Here’s another shot although I don’t know if it will help.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...55B8292E5.jpeg

And a front 3/4 shot.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...1C5A95EAD.jpeg

I may just not be Cobra-astute enough to quite see what is bothering you but it is a beautiful Cobra. If comparing your car's stance to original Cobras back in the day, they were typically running narrower section tires than what's commonly installed now. It may be possible to have the front wheels inner hub machined to remove some of the off set and position them a little more in-board. That is if you think maybe 1/4 to 3/8" on both sides might improve the stance.

Revised.

I have not, but I will later today and will post the dimensions.

Bob
I see you have the correct answer for your question about your front wheels have too Little backspace. Looks like your hub has enough meat on it to put the correct backspacing and offset wheels on it. I would give vintage wheels a call.
does look strange are those two piece wheels
Tom