Engine

Finally, now that the floor panels and footboxes are in (see the chassis page) we can install the engine!

Here's the engine dangling from its hoist, as Nate lowers it into place. Nate has put carboard over the polished aluminum intake manifold so it won't get scratched by the chains.

Here's a view from the rear.

This is an exciting moment, as the engine approaches its rightful place in the chassis!

From the driver's side.

This thing is really starting to look like a car now!

Here's a side view of the chassis with engine installed.

Note the differential at right. This will soon be surrounded by suspension bits (see the IRS page).

The checkered flag was Amos' idea. It's a souvenir of a visit to some Winston Cup racing team shops in Charlotte, and Amos thought it would look good on our Cobra. He was right!

Now we can start hooking things up to the engine. Here's the first thing we hooked up, the driveshaft.

When it was in the Mustang, this thing was about four feet long. Modified for the Cobra, it's only 9 inches long!

And now the engine gets its air cleaner, a nifty-looking unit by K&N.

Also note the small metal tubes running away from the engine and down the front of the footwell. These are the fuel lines. Nate did a great job, making a very tidy installation of these.

An artistic shot of the hard-working car builder, on a glorious summer day in picturesque Vermont, deeply focused upon his work.

Note the four big silver pipes coming out of the engine down by Nate's knees. Those are the headers.

About five minutes after Nate began enthusiastically installing the headers, he remarked in a disgusted tone, "next time remind me not to volunteer to install the headers".

I told him that I think the rule is that whoever installs the headers the first time is forever after responsible for them. He was not amused.

It's a dirty, frustrating, thankless job (because there is very little room in there and each bolt seems to require a different wrench to reach it) but someone's got to do it. Thanks to my brother, the hero, the headers are on!

Here is the coolest view yet!

Really looks like a dragster from this angle, doesn't it, with the headers sticking out and the shiny aluminum intake on top.

Way cool!