#9815 graduation party!

[alexmak]

The time has come!

I can finally say the kit #9815 is done (but as always, it’s never finished).

Our Quarantine Cobra was purchased as MKIV complete kit with some additional options:
- Powder-coated chassis
- IRS parts
- 351 SS headers
- Body cut outs
- Vinyl seats
- Power steering components
- Vintage gauges
- 15 in halibrand style wheels with MT tires
- Vinyl dash with glovebox
- Passenger side roll bars
- Assembled louvers
- Center dash support (didn’t use it)
- IRS 11.65” brake kit
- IRS center section

I placed the order at the end of January 2020, and #9815 was shipped the day Massachusetts started its Covid lockdown - on March 25th, 2020. Other notable milestones:
- The first start happened on June 25th, 2020
- Filed for registration on July 22nd, 2020
- Received title and registration on August 28th, 2020
- Painted and completed final assembly on July 17th, 2021. (made about 1600 miles in gelcoat)
The assembly (except the final one) was done by my son Alex Jr and I (Alex Sr) during Covid lockdown. Our guesstimate is that we spent approximately 600-700 man hours assembling our Cobra. Granted, the car has been done for some time, but I feel like it’s now a proper time to graduate it.

Drivetrain:
- Ford 347 c.i. Carbureted engine from BluePrint Engines
- with installed TKO600 5-Speed Transmission
- and installed Polished 1-wire 100 amp Alternator and Power Steering

These were the major components that we expected to build the car with. It never goes as planned, so other options and mods were added to the build as things progressed (thank you, forum, for providing ways to spend even more money!).

Exterior
- Body paint: Viking Blue, painted by a shop in Middletown, PA. Code that was used: PPG 12494, although I believe it came out a bit lighter than original Viking Blue. Body trimming and final body assembly was done by Mark the Traveling Builder.
- Bumper overriders (were required for initial inspection)
- LED headlights (from Breeze)
- LED bulbs for turn signals (Amazon)
- Rubber grommets for jack stand things (Finish Line (FL))
- Lower radiator mount (by Breeze)
- Brake duct grills (by Breeze)
- Wind wings (Finish Line first, then self-fabricated)
- Sun visors
- Cobra logos, “Powered by Ford”
- As part of the final assembly, a soft top from Whitby was added

Engine compartment
- Oil radiator (by Breeze)
- Nomex radiator protector screen (Summit)
- Coolant fill-it kit (by Breeze)
- Radiator shroud (by Breeze)
- Engine compartment battery mounting kit (by Breeze)
- Duralast Battery (Autozone)
- Power steering hose and fitting kit (by Breeze)
- Cobra air filter cover (Summit)
- Fuel filter (Summit)
- Oil cooler (from Breeze)
- Mechanical throttle linkage kit (Forte’s)
- Master brake cylinder (when we discovered the transmission now has hydraulic clutch master cylinder)
- Additional brake fluid reservoirs (to split between front and back)
- Then instead we had a booster and a new master cylinder installed for powered brakes (Whitby’s kit)

Interior
- Acoustic and thermal insulation (Summit, eBay)
- Dashboard support panel (from Mike Everson)
- Cobra center cap (Finish Line)
- Battery cut off switch (Summit)
- Cup holders (Summit)
- USB plug sockets (Summit)
- Car power plug socket (Summit)
- Self-cancelling turn signals relay (Amazon)
- Momentary turn signal switch (Summit)
- Fan switch (Summit)
- Turn signal buttons (PepBoys)
- Floor mats (FL)
- Door panels (FL)
- Seat sliders (Summit)
- Fire extinguishers (small between seats and large in the trunk) (Summit)
- Interior fire extinguisher mount (Summit)
- Seat belt bezel (FL)
- Roll bar bezel (from Mike Everson)
- Seat heaters (cobraheat)
- Headrests (junkyard, DIY from Audi A4)

Other stuff:
- Tire stickers (tirestickers.com)
- Driveshaft safety loop
- Coal filter for fuel ventilation (DIY)
- Trunk gas struts (FFR)
- Additional carpet for dropped trunk (FFR)
- LED lights for plate light (amazon)
- Aluminum panels for extending the trunk (Summit)
- Inspection by Mark The Traveling Builder to give us a piece of mind that we did everything correctly (spoiler alert: we did!)

Multiple other modifications as we went along, including widening driver footbox, trunk extension, etc, etc — I’m sure everyone has gazillion of these. Our build thread wasn’t as thorough as some people do it here, but I think it’s clear from the dates above our schedule was pretty aggressive. But this forum has been a tremendous help and we learnt a lot from it. So thank you, guys!

in any case, it was nothing short of amazing, and I’m still at awe of the fact that two of us built a car that actually drives on the road. It wouldn't also be possible without support from my loving partner and significant other (the same person!). Oh, and also the car looks amazing! Time for some photos!

First day


Exterior