Anyone build a 'replica' Cobra?

[skeets]

A matinance foreman I knew at one mine I inspected, built a Factory 5 Cobra, he and his brother stroked a 351, and a 4 way rebuilt to take it. It took them the better part of 2 weeks to put the kit together and then of course the drive line. Don said it was not hard to put the kit together, just be slow and methodical, and follow the instructions and you too can have a roller!
Looks nice , he said it drives like a slot car, I dont know I never drove it. The kid is hauling the HD home to Ca when they visit at Xmas, so I will have room in the garage and I would love to build a Factory 5 pick up, but I dont think I could get my fat old crippled arse in it, and if I did need the jaws of life to get me out. Enjoy the build, and enjoy the kids even more, OH and Don said, you will never be done with it always find something else you want!

 

[ctfjr]

I looked for years, to either build one, or buy one, already done. I ended up going a bit different route, kinda achieving the same kind of result. Way back in 2001,my nephew and I put a balanced 347 ford stroker motor, a T5Z 5 speed mustang tranny, and a T-bird IRS into a 1990 miata.

Awesome! My son races a Miata for NASA in the Mid-Atlantic region. He is faster than me on the track with his 120hp Miata than I am with my 400+hp STI
There is a company (in CA I think) that you can have your brand new Miata delivered to and they will drop in a V8 package. I had some passing interest in it but not enough.

 

[skeets]

I never heard about a Miata swap, but an ol I boy I knew back in the day, had a Fiero him and his Dad dropped a I think 350 small block in it. Didnt last too long , but it was fun

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I remember a Pinto with a 390, mostly in it.. that was mighty quick.sigh, I miss the good ol' days.....

 

[lugbolt]

I remember a Pinto with a 390, mostly in it.. that was mighty quick.sigh, I miss the good ol' days.....

one of my friends has one on a tube chassis, 552" BBF, roughly 900hp.

 

[mikester]

I was thinking about that, but it's too small to fit a reasonable sized battery. The range would be very limited.

 

[lugbolt]

Cobra kit would be a fun electric car project...

possibly but the end product would be as soulless as a tesla

 

[Orangeglow]

CTFJR, I believe the company you are thinking of is called Flyin Miata, in Colorado. They just quit doing these swaps, but they used to put high powered Corvette motors and all the extra bits into different miata. Awesome build quality, but of course that came at a very expensive price. There is a company in San Diego called Monster Miata that does the conversions, and also sells different kits for do it yourselfers. A lady ran a car that started off similar to mine engine and tranny wise, but then had extensive mods done for it to run on the bonneville salt flats, and if my memory serves me correctly, she got it up to around 175 mph. Scary ride, no doubt.

 

[skeets]

lugbolt, yeah it might not be a "COBRA" in the true sense that it was built by Shelby's team. But he builds it, so yeah it is HIS cobra. No different than building a 32 Coupe out of off the shelf parts, it is still a 32! The main thing is it is his car, his family building it, his dream, and inthe end thats all that counts,, it is HIS .