"cobra" etched on wing windows...original?
 

hello,

working on a '63 289 Cobra that has "COBRA" etched into one wing/vent window, but not the other. can anyone tell me if this was original or not?

I am guessing no.

new to the site, thanjks in advance.

Tony

I think one of the 60's movies with a Cobra in it (perhaps "The Killers") has an etched side curtain.

You might do better asking your question at www.saacforum.com

thanks, I'll check out the SAAC forum you mentioned...

Wind wings and sun visors were manufactured by AMCO and were "COBRA" lettered. The lettering was applied with a "hot stamp" process. The lettering has a slight gold tint. Vigorous rubbing or polishing will wear the lettering off most parts.

Dan

Wind wings
 

I have COBRA stamped on both windwings and both sunvisors the stamping is silver without a hint of gold but this is a 427 car. I took a photo for you but picture quality is poor.

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...cture_0045.jpg

Hmm... I was not thinking of the word cobra etched on the wind wing, but the Cobra head logo. I don't have the movie, I think I rented it.

Hot Stamp Foil = HSF

Construction HSF
Layer #1 = release coat
Layer #2 = Top coat
Layer #3 = vacuum metalized metal (in 60's could have been white gold)
Layer #4 = Sizing

Sometimes between layer 2/3 and 3/4 there is a tie layer. The gold tint is yellowing from 60's top coat chemistry. In the day nitrocellulose/acrylic chemistry was used where as today incorporation of urethane and sometimes radiation cured resins are common. Light stable chemistries for HSF are still rather crude. Yes, made HSF for 10 years...... Thought I would add a factoid....:p

Would this be correct for the 427 cars also?

Interesting factiod.

Thanks for all the input everyone, looks like I won't have to go to the SAAC website after all.

I don't have the stamps on the sun visors, and as I said, only one window so...
Now for the critical issue... can the Hot Stamp Foil be reproduced, or is there someone out there still doing this process?

All you need is a heated stamp and a roll of HSF. Done even today as it is a 100mm business/market.

sounds simple enough... where can I find more info?

If you have a company near you that does injection molding of plastic parts you may find somebody that can help. Plastic parts are often decorated with hot stamps.

You might ask whoever is making reproduction wind wings and sun visors, some reproductions are COBRA stamped.



Dan

Parts on original cars and NOS parts still in AMCO packages indicate like most everything related to Shelby cars there were lots of variations including at least two different colors of Plexiglas® plastic and at least two different sizes of "COBRA" letters. Yes, tint on the lettering varied too but that was probably due to the variances in production of the hot stamp tape. Our plant has been molding and stamping our own parts since 1975. One of the problems back decades ago was getting exact color match between lots of tape. At our plant I was an inspector in the late 1970s and judging color lot to lot was one of my tasks, I rejected a lot to tape and returned it to the supplier. As suppliers moved from simple color measurement machines in production to computerized color measurement systems the lot to lot consistency improved tremendously.

AMCO (the original company and then owned by another outfit) made these parts for quite a while so just about anything is possible variation wise. I bought the last pair of NOS parts from the man that owned the company when it folded. He saved a set for a Cobra he owned but never used them, sold the car first. The set is pristine but there is one problem. The two sun visors were produced at different times and while the plastic color is the same the size of the font for the lettering is different; which didn’t seem to be an issue back when they were being produced.

Hello -

Long term lurker, first time poster - :)

The sun visors are made from a dark plastic, mine seem almost purple in bright sun. They are also pretty thin, to the point that they bow slightly.

My wind wings, on the the other hand, are clear and much thicker.

Were the visors originally much thinner than the wind wings? Can I get a recommendation to a good supplier of sun visors?

Thanks.

Scott

i have a brand new set........if you interested i'll post some pics, they still have the paper on them......



oops old thread.....well i guess it's timeless......

Yes, visor plastic thickness is much less than that of the wind wings.

logo wings...............................

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/P4070096.JPG

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/d...0/P4070098.JPG