Forty-one years after finding a '66 Shelby GT-350 Mustang in a field and learning about the Shelby lineage, I finally have the car I really wanted. The GT-350's bigger, badder brother, a 427 Cobra! For many years I've lusted after one but the circumstances were never right for me to own one. Until now...
Perusing Facebook one day in September 2018, I found a listing for a 2008 MkIII kit in Connecticut that had never been finished. I'll share the details with you over a beer someday, but, to make the story short -- I obsessed over this listing so much that my wife asked a car-builder friend of mine to track the car down, make sure it was legit and that the seller wasn't a Nigerian Prince who wanted cash back! Without my knowledge, they found the car, verified the authenticity and then my wife bought it for me as a surprise for my birthday! (Yes, I'm keeping her!)
Two weeks later, I went to Groton, CT to check out the car and bring it home. It turned out to be FF# 6602, a kit sold in 2008 to a gentleman in Rhode Island. He had meticulously researched the car and the parts that he installed (2 binders full of research and receipts) and got it to the go-kart stage but never finished it. Fast forward to February 2017 when the second owner, a pilot from Connecticut, bought the car and took it to a sports car racing / restoration shop for completion. Several upgrades and, I suspect, many dollars later, owner #2 lost interest and I bought the car from him.
I'm now starting the process of checking all previous work done (found 10 loose lug nuts and 6 loose upper control arm pivot bolts so far) by going through the build manual page by page. If I didn't install that piece, I'm checking the torque on the bolts, the fit on the panels, etc. etc.
I will try to keep this thread updated weekly -- still gotta work and weekends are saved for "Cobra time". I welcome questions, comments, suggestions and, when deserved, an insult or two. I have read many other threads and am so impressed with the friendliness and willingness to share ideas, along with the amazing craftsmanship on so many Roadsters.
Now, I have some unfinished business to attend to!
Craig
MkIII go-kart stage in black gel-coat
347 Stroker w/ Holley 650 carb, all new internals, roller cam
1993 Mustang GT donor 5-speed and rear diff (stock 2.73 gears for now)
Bullitt wheels - 17x9 front, 17x10.5 rear
Sumitomo tires -- P275/40x17 front, P315/35x17 rear
Nisonger Smith gauges with GPS speedo