Ehansen007 289 Build- 1000 mile report!

[ehansen007]

Yup. Time to return to the classics. First Cobra for me though. Can't wait. This is the target. Let's see how close I can get.

1964-shelby-cobra-289.jpeg

[68GT500MAN]

That will be a great build. Black 289's on each side of the country and both with black wheels!
Doug

[Erik W. Treves]

I thought you hated black wheels Erik

[rtz]

What are you going to put in it for motor/trans/rear?

[ehansen007]

I thought you hated black wheels Erik

. I just don't think they'd look good on your car. . My car yes.

[ehansen007]

OMG. Got my scissor lift today from Habor Freight and it was a scene from dumb and dumber getting it into my garage. This thing weighs at least 900lbs. The freight guy shows up with only a truck and lift gate and the package was loaded in via forklift. The guy only has a pallet jack. It's about 10ft long so we can't get the whole thing out and onto the liftgate. Long story short we bamboozled it enough to get it sideways onto the lift. This was a *****! We got it down to the ground and put it onto a couple of dollies. When we got it into the garage we took out one of the dollies and the other one collapsed! Anywho, we managed to get it into the garage without hurting my back (which is the whole idea of the lift anyway!) Can't wait to use it.





Also, I picked up a rear end yesterday for $275. Can you see it mixed in with the toys? My wife doesn't! Perfect camouflage. LOL. It's an 8.8 with a 3.08. I think I'll change it to a 3.55. All I need to do now is have it narrowed and get some new axles made. I was quoted $350 for the shortening and $479 for the axles by Currie. Does that sound right? Sounds expensive to me.

[68GT500MAN]

Did you get that off of my patio? I just went out to look ans se if my growing parts pile was gone, all is well.
Doug

[ehansen007]

Pin Drive?

Yup.

[Erik W. Treves]

talk to Rich Oben....his axles are WAY less expensive and they are mosers shortened to your specified length..one shot one kill.

[David Hodgkins]

Eric,

Why no IRS?

[ehansen007]

Eric,

Why no IRS?

$$$$- But I'm still looking at it for period correct reasons alone

I just found this on FFR from RE63. Good market research for free. So I think I'll stay with 3 link for cost and familiarity reasons alone. The fact that Mustang only just went to IRS also means that not even Ford saw the ROI for over 40years... even with it's boss track-only models. So I guess I'm not as worried about the comfort factor that IRS gives and the fact that Treves says he feels it rides really well with the large side walls goes a long way with me.

"I prefer 3 link all day and have built 5 cars with it, two with IRS, one with four link. IF you are building a street all three are just fine, as long as you use coilovers on the four link.

IRS is complex, a son of a B*&tch to align ....and expensive.

3 link is bit more expensive than the four link, but is very good for all around use and they ride just fine.

4 link is cheap and effective, a conservative estimate woudl ebt hat there are a million mustangs running around with four link.

You are correct, F5 knows a thing or two about their product."

[ehansen007]

The axle sets are cheap ($250 or so). Sound to me that you are paying to have the axles splined and grooved for the C-clips. $475 doesn't seem out of line for the axles and the machine work.

That's exactly right Frank! They won't cut and respline or add the c clip groove because they say the axles don't have enough material? Not sure what that meant. I'll give Eric's guy a ring. Thanks E for giving me the lowdown for the showdown! (i.e. you and me on a track somewhere, head to head, having a blast and making a ton of noise)

BTW, did I mention I'm thinking of the Dark Blue? That 66 Car above is actually the stock Dark Blue you could order in '66 but it looks black most of the time. I love it.

[68GT500MAN]

Eric, Take a look at RAY's roadster at HB (dark blue with baby moon's), it may be similar to the color you are thinking about.
Doug

[ehansen007]

I just got off the phone with Rich Oben and he loves the IRS idea. Even though there's no money in it for him. Makes me believe him even more. Hmmmmm..

[oldguy668]

To the best of my knowledge, Moser is the only company that makes axles that are constant diameter. They can be cut, resplined and regrooved fairly easily. I had my Moser 8.8 narrowed 5" and the Moser axles shortened. Mitchell driveline (recommended by RE63) did the whole job for $385.

You're getting advice from the right guys (Erik, RE63, Richard O.) so I'm sure you'll come up with the right combination. My 289 is getting ready for initial body fitting. Pics coming soon.

[esff32]

Awesome Erik, can't wait to see the build. Good luck

[ehansen007]

Okay, it's been a while since the last post. Just been gathering parts for the build as well as having things done for me. Tasks thus far.

1. I've got the Shortened 8.8 for Pin drive being done at Sutton Engineering in La Habra. New 3.55 gears, axles, bearings etc.
2. I've got Tony at JYD in L.A. building a custom T-5 with all the right trimmings (2.95 1st, Alloy gears, Steel retainer shaft etc) This kid knows his stuff.
3. Hydro clutch kit from Mike Forte being shipped. What more can be said about Mike?
4 Getting the engine parts little by little and short blocked it this weekend.

For this build I'll be doing it all from the ground up including building my own motor. Luckily, my neighbor Bryan owns OC Cars and he does this stuff all the time so it's the perfect learning opportunity.

Here's what we're going with:

1. 302 Roller Block- fully machined bored .040 over
2. Eagle 331 stroker Crank, Rods, with Speed pro Forged Aluminum pistons
3. Ford Racing B303 Cam- Best for Fuel Injection/Computer control
4. Aviad 289 Racing Oil Pan
5. Aluminum Pro-Comp heads (190cc/64cc)
6. Ford Racing lifters
7. Aluminum roller rockers 1.6
8. All ARP main bolts, head bolts, Rocker Studs, valve guides, etc
9. Comp double roller timing chain

Coming soon: Hilborn 8 Stack EFI, with Holly EFI electronics and Weldon fuel pump.

[jayguy]

Nice! I remember those days of building up the motor. Ours (RyanH's) wasn't quite the beast yours will be, but it was fun putting all the pieces together from scratch.

So I'm guessing the 289 won't quite be ready for HB?

[stack]

looking good E.

stack

[David Hodgkins]

Hey E,

With the amount of money you are going to spend on the Hilborn Stacks and Holley EFI electronics, why not get a set of Webbers and call it a day?

[ehansen007]

Because I believe it will run better, burn cleaner, get better MPG, and more efficient HP. Coming over from electric for me meant I had to run a clean car. I hated the carb setup in the hot rod and how it always smelled of fuel in the garage and when running. And, I spoke to Erik Treves and the the 8 stack Weber setup was still not cheap. 8 Stack just looks so good though. I wouldn't run anything else on this car. This will be the cleanest running 289 so help me if I even have to put high flow cats on it!

[68GT500MAN]

The fuel smell in the garage is what keeps me going!
Doug

[ehansen007]

The fuel smell in the garage is what keeps me going!
Doug

That and a bran muffin?.

[ehansen007]

So I managed to get a few things done today including installing the heads and the timing cover. I also worked to geting the pushrod length figured out using the adjustable checker thingy which worked out great. 6.5" exactly for these heads and the aluminum roller rockers. The heads are 190cc/64cc so it should have plenty of top end and the stroker crank should help with the bottom end to give it a good range. I guess we'll see on the dyno.

I also stopped over at Hilborn which, ironically, is right down the street from my house. I've been driving right past it for the better part of 15 years and never knew it was there. Too funny. More on that in a separate post.

[dspellman]

I drove an original 289 (belonged to a friend) in a gorgeous very dark blue. Came from the factory with red seats and chrome wire wheels.

The friend was afraid of it and had me drive whenever we went somewhere together. I *loved* that car (I was driving a TR3A at the time). The color was just stunning. He eventually wrapped it around a tree. His dad, a dermatologist who owned a high performance shop, then handed him a 427. That one was even hairier, and that one was totaled soon after. His dad bought him ANOTHER 427, and he took that one off one of the Mississippi bluffs. He personally accounted for three Cobra serial numbers. He wasn't a bad driver, exactly, and once he got into an ordinary car, he was fine. But Cobras just scared him half to death.

[Tom Veale]

..... But Cobras just scared him half to death........

Sounds like he listened to that Bill Cosby 427 Cobra dialog too many times!!!

[ehansen007]

DSpellman that's crazy! Probably close to 2-3Million in Cobras by today's values. Those 427 were beasts and shoud never have been given to the public! Oh well. Yes, I"m planning on the dark blue and possibly an oxblood interior intead of the bright red. The car I'm emmulating has the black seats though but I think the dark red on the dark blue would be stunning and very unique and classy. I originally thought the motor I was getting was a 302 which was fine because I wanted this to be a very steetable roadster. Turns out it's a stoker. I'm not one to go for more horsepower and I want to keep it under 400. We should be around 350 but again, we'll see.

Take care!

[pavieSD]

Erik, looking forward to watching your build thread and seeing how the stacks work out. It was good talking some shop at Dave's shop a few months ago. Looking forward to catching up at Huntington Beach. Good luck with the build!

Mark

[ehansen007]

Thanks guys. I'm trying to disguise it as best I can. Looks like I'll have to put some boring valve covers on it too although I do like this look.

[jayguy]

Lexan valve covers would show off those rockers!

[ehansen007]

Yeah, but they did it in Grease. LOL.

The show weekend was a Chinese fire alarm for sure. Had about 3 hours of sleep before heading down to meet the Stewart driver with the Truck with my kit inside. I've had a car at the show for the last five years and I'll be damned if I'd miss this year. So we parked it on the pier and hung it off the end for a while just for fun. The rest was setup and parking and helping out here and there (separated by a few beers at lunch with Stack and friends) .





After the show Steve brought the kit over to my house where we unloaded and put the car on the lift.



Stack and I went to work and unpacked. Man, they use a lot of paper. This is only half of it! Stack has done a ton of work in my garage and is a great friend.

[ehansen007]

Jason and I went to work on the car getting the footboxes drilled and ready for powdercoating. I'm going with New Ford Grey to match the car I'm doing. It's really great that he's old enough now to lift the drill and help out. He loves drilling and cutting. Here he is taking out the sheet metal screws.




This Lift is already so awesome. The rails are a bit narrow and I'm not using the pads and arms yet since I need to get to some of the sheet metal so I used a 4x4 to rest it on.


The parts table. All full of stuff. Those pin drive knock offs are sexy aren't they? Picking up the wheels today.

[David Hodgkins]

Right on buddy! So, based on past performance; you'll have a go-cart in what, about a month?

[ehansen007]

Nah, both of the last cars took a year each but there was quite a bit of fabrication involved and the body on the 33 was much more intricate. I'm guessing 6 months. Trying for SEMA again. Funny thing is that they forgot to ship the LCA's so it looks like I'll pick up the rear end today and get that painted and installed.

[ehansen007]

More done in the last few weeks as I get parts in. Powdercoated the footboxes with New Ford Grey, installed and then masked them up. Also made up a set of 289 FIA valvecovers (should call them PIA), got the brake lines in, rear end in, front end almost done (thanks to the various erroneous parts I've received). Also put the rack in last night and tried out the wheels. Pretty fun stuff.













P.S. I know the headers are on backwards. Just looks better this way.

[David Hodgkins]

That motor looks killer. How did you fab up the valve covers? And what are you using for a diff? If you are using a torsen or similar, you might want to invest in one of the thicker aluminum covers that have the pre-tension rods in them. I hear they keep the rear from "klunking". Only, if you are using a battery box, it will not clear the thicker diff. Ask me how I know...

PS the oil pan looks cool. Where did you get that?



EDIT: let's see how you ran those brake lines...

[ehansen007]

That motor looks killer. How did you fab up the valve covers? And what are you using for a diff? If you are using a torsen or similar, you might want to invest in one of the thicker aluminum covers that have the pre-tension rods in them. I hear they keep the rear from "klunking". Only, if you are using a battery box, it will not clear the thicker diff. Ask me how I know...

PS the oil pan looks cool. Where did you get that?

EDIT: let's see how you ran those brake lines...

Thanks! I did the valve covers by ordering the stock 289 covers from Scott drake. unfortunately I couldn't find the same gauge tubing that was used on the filler/breather tube so I had to get something thicker. Welding the different thicknesses made it a chore. But I finished it up, threw some paint on it and then put the $25 in stickers on the them to make them look real. In my defense, I was going for the "night before the race" fabrication look and man did I nail it! For the diff I've got the TracLoc in there with new 3.55 gears, bearings, and axles from North Race cars. I've thought about the rear cover but I'll see how it goes as is. The oil pan is period correct from Aviad in TX. I'll post some pics of the lines when I get a chance. Fighting a nasty header issue now... Just poor quality. I need to get a new set.

[ehansen007]

Wheels and tires mounted. Always a fun time at Tucker Tire!





Then a little work on the lettering and bam! We have a roller.

[edwardb]

Build is looking great. I'm following closely also thinking about a 289 build. Exactly what tires are those? Front and rear brand and sizes please. I see the Goodyear Eagle marking now, but did I see a Hoosier marking flash by in one of your vids while mounting? Thanks.

[ehansen007]

I call them "Goosiers".