289 body is a tighter fit than the 427?

[OttawaFFRer]

Gentlemen, this is my second cobra, I built a 427 a decade ago.
The 427 body went on the car with only a little effort.

I find the 289 a real fight, the rear cockpit wall is exceptionally tight. I have all the bulb seals in place but tight...very tight.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Victor

[cnutting]

Haven't built a 427, but did go a couple rounds with the 289. I found it to be tight.

[OttawaFFRer]

Haven't built a 427, but did go a couple rounds with the 289. I found it to be tight.

I find I'm putting plenty of my 250-pound gorilla weight into getting the rear cockpit under the rear cockpit fiberglass. Maybe a bit of damage to the glass.
Did you trim anything?

I can't imagine trying to get the painted body on without damaging it. I'll review the photos of your car to compare to mine.

V

[OttawaFFRer]

I think if I trim the rear wall lip as much as 1/4" in the area indicated by tape the body would settle down another 1/5 inch and I wouldn't have as much interference.
You can see in the photo that the fiberglass is chipped from my attempts to get the body on.

Thoughts?

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Victor

[OttawaFFRer]

I took 1/4 inch off the rear cockpit and now it's a snug fit but manageable.

Did you guys use the bulb seal on the top of the rear cockpit aluminum? I have installed bulb seal across the entire rear cockpit aluminum but see mixed opinions on its install on the 427 body.

Now I need to remove 1/4" of the body from the rear lower rolls at each corner. If I do that the body will go on and off without requiring 95% of my brute force.

[JohnnyB]

Did you guys use the bulb seal on the top of the rear cockpit aluminum? I have installed bulb seal across the entire rear cockpit aluminum but see mixed opinions on its install on the 427 body.

A lot of things have changed since I built mine but my Mark 1 manual specifically says not to use bulb seal on the rear cockpit wall.

[cnutting]

I didn't use the bulb seal on the rear, but i recall trimming aluminum on the trunk sides and had to trim the lower valence on the body. It was about that time that I realized the MKIV radiator angle was too steep for the 289 nose and had to make the oil cooler mount removable.