# JL 289 Cobra



## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Working on correcting the 289, one of my favorite cars. Wheel wells/cockpit opening just roughed in. Doing a street 289 first, then some racers.


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*Just destroy the pink ones...lol*

Hey slingshot,

Welcome and glad to see you tearing and ripping cars to get them right. Ain't it fun?!! 

Bob...Pink is Joez favorite color...zilla


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Slingshot,
Looks good so far. Just keep posting pix as you do the rebuild. :thumbsup::thumbsup: rr


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Yes welcome!

We'll gladly help you screw up yer car.


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

Arrghhh! ya killed a PINK Cobra! LOL

Welcome to HT!


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

It's looking good Slingshot ! %100 percent improvement!


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Don't tell me, the pink ones are the really collectible ones! At least I have three more of those and a purple one in the box.

Thanks for the comments guys, I'll keep posting photos as I get farther. I removed the cockpit piece to get the body down as far as possible on the chassis and it makes a huge difference, the clip is just about outside the cockpit now. If it turns out, I might try casting a few in resin, haven't tried that before. Besides a street version, I'd like to do some different race versions, especially some of the racers of Ken Miles. I might also look at a basic interior to make some static ones for around the layout I want to do which will have full scenery.

After this, I want to convert one into a 427.

I have been working on a 100% scratchbuilt 1/8 Chaparral 2J sucker car which I am building mostly out of 3/16 inch thick foam board, this little Cobra is a massive difference in size!


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

Glad to have you Slingshot!!! A pink Cobra, I'd cut it tooo!!! Keep those pictures coming!!! RM


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## win43 (Aug 28, 2006)

Looking better already. Throw some meats on it and run it. AND welcome to our nightmare.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Got a little farther on my 289, just wish I had more time to work on it. Got the front of the cockpit glued in, the original Testors tube glue seems to work great. The shaded area is just roughed in and will need to be removed, still need to add plastic to the sides of the cockpit first.


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## resinmonger (Mar 5, 2008)

Sweet little 289
She runs so fine
The street is mine
In my Little 289

The goats all have to drool
I'm playing them for the fool
Little 289's just too cool
Ultimate goat hearding tool

Sorry Pontac fans, I channeled a past place in time and it just came out. :drunk::hat::freak::dude:


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

resinmonger said:


> Sweet little 289
> She runs so fine
> The street is mine
> In my Little 289
> ...


LOL

Here's a Cobra song


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## zilger (Oct 9, 2005)

I'm watching this mod intently as I started to do the same thing to my pink Cobra a while ago. So far, I've just removed the interior. It'll be great to see how this ends up so I can continue on mine.

Looks good so far.

Brian


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

It's gotta be the color!!! Bye bye pink!!:thumbsup::thumbsup: Dog gone Mark Kay!!!


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## gear buster (Dec 1, 2005)

Glad to see new cutters..I mean faces on here..
Welcome aboard Slingshot... 
Glad to see someone else is cutting up a Pink...I mean cobra to make it look better..

Can't wait to see some of your work. We need some new pictures to look at..
I mean new ideas for chopping up little cars..:woohoo:


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

zilger said:


> I'm watching this mod intently as I started to do the same thing to my pink Cobra a while ago. So far, I've just removed the interior. It'll be great to see how this ends up so I can continue on mine.
> 
> Looks good so far.
> 
> Brian


Thanks! This is a really fun conversions but I just didn't realize how much was completely off with it. Fortunately the plastic is really soft so the fixes are easy to do. If you want, I could try writing up more detail of what I'm doing.

I'm trying to make this one as a master for my first shot at casting them in resin since there are quite a few Cobra's I want to do, some will be slot cars and the others will be static for on my layout, I will (hopefully) get a simplified full cockpit done. I am doing this one as an early street Cobra as I want to do some of the early racing Cobra's, then I will either modify this or probably one of the resin body's to do some of the later racing Cobra's. One of my favorite drivers was Ken Miles, so I would like to have a little stable of his cars.

Here is what I'm using to guide myself. The drawings are of a FIA Cobra and the red one at top is a straight on side shot of a real Cobra. The red one replaced the yellow one which was also a real Cobra, you can just see a little more detail on the red one.


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## zilger (Oct 9, 2005)

Thanks for posting the drawings, they will certainly help.

I'll take all the details of the conversion that you're willing to share and I would be interested in buying a couple of resins when you get to that point.

Although I haven't tried it yet, I was considering plain sheet plastic for the interior with a straight-down photo of an interior from a 1/32 model. I think RaceMasters is using something like this on the new Cobra Daytona and Ford GT with clear glass.

Thanks again and keep us updated on the progress.

Brian


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

gear buster said:


> Glad to see new cutters..I mean faces on here..
> Welcome aboard Slingshot...
> Glad to see someone else is cutting up a Pink...I mean cobra to make it look better..
> 
> ...


Thanks! These little cars are a blast to work on. I also thought of an easy way to convert some of the bodies into static models as I want to use a bunch of them on the inside of my layout (whenever I actually get it built!). I'll post some pictures when I finish it. Doing it to a 59 Chevy convertible.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

zilger said:


> Thanks for posting the drawings, they will certainly help.
> 
> I'll take all the details of the conversion that you're willing to share and I would be interested in buying a couple of resins when you get to that point.
> 
> ...


Give me a little bit of time and I will write up more detail. I believe I removed almost something like 3/16 of an inch from the bottom of the sides.

What an excellent idea for a cockpit, never thought of that! I don't remember how hot a T-jet gets, it wouldn't melt plastic or discolor the ink? It will be very close to the chassis on mine. If I can actually cast in resin, a to see if it can be done so it could leave a thin film of resin over the cockpit, that way a picture could just be cut out and glued on. Do you have a picture of the cockpit?


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## zilger (Oct 9, 2005)

slingshot392 said:


> Give me a little bit of time and I will write up more detail. I believe I removed almost something like 3/16 of an inch from the bottom of the sides.
> 
> What an excellent idea for a cockpit, never thought of that! I don't remember how hot a T-jet gets, it wouldn't melt plastic or discolor the ink? It will be very close to the chassis on mine. If I can actually cast in resin, a to see if it can be done so it could leave a thin film of resin over the cockpit, that way a picture could just be cut out and glued on. Do you have a picture of the cockpit?


I don't have a picture yet as I was planning to paint and detail an interior from the old 1/32 Monogram 427 kit. However, the picture that you posted when opened in IE and printed is almost spot on for the JL Cobra body. Printing and cutting the interior from #146 can give you a rough idea of how it would look.

I can't claim this idea as my own. I saw a link to a web site (across the pond maybe?) some time ago that sells flat interior pictures of the 1/32 Monogram Grand Sport and Cobra Daytona interiors for weight savings. If it works for 1/32, why not for Tjets?

Brian


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

I'll have to try tweaking yet in photo editing software and then try printing it on photo quality paper, it gives much better results.

Here's a link to a site on Cobra's with a lot of great information. I am going through and loving his sections with photos on a lot of specific Cobra's.

http://www.csx427sc.citymax.com/page/page/4461035.htm


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Lower than a snake*

Most of the old timers will remember "White Snake". This pit kit refugee from several years ago. (sorry guys LOL) 

This is one of my pre-goop cars. The body was pretty well kilt so it was just smoothed and the chainsawed wells were rounded off. 










The main problem with the t-jet platform Cobras is the axle heights. You can fuss and fidget the screw posts but the body will never sit low enough. The driven gear crashes into the trunk pretty quickly. In addition it's always been pretty obvious that the original t-jet rims dont really bring much to the table. By upgrading wheels and tires you'll flesh out the wells after you've trimmed some fender lip or added a rear lift shim....but you'll raise the overall ride height and monster up the airgap to stake truck proportions, as seen below on the red stocker with the AFX Cragars. 

Note the difference on the axle height and air gap between the white modified and the yellow stocker.










White Snake sits on a t-jet chassis with a rear drop axle. The front axle is in the truck position which was dumb luck as the previous butcher chainsawed the front wells to the front. The screw posts are shaved, the rear plate rails are beveled, and the driven gear is chamfered to clear the inner trunk. 

One could also dehandle an AFX platform, modify the guide pin area to accept the t-jet screw mount guide pin and acheive the same effect. Or ya could just start with a Dash or RRR 427 SC and work from there....but where's the sport in that? :freak:


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## win43 (Aug 28, 2006)

Love the Cobra. 

Nice Snake Bill....I never saw that one before :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Love the white Cobra! The lowered chassis makes a huge difference. By looking at my chassis (Auto World) I could see there were three holes for the front axle and the top one would lower the front of the chassis. How did you lower the back of the chassis? You said you used a dropped axle? Is it something you can buy or is it a modification to the chassis?

After I cut the cockpit out and scraped away the pocket for the windshield, there was a surprising amount of room to lower the body. I put some plastic underneath to support the plastic I added to the front of the cockpit, I will need to use some carbon paper over the chassis to see where everything touches to scrape and file some of that away.

I am going to order some aftermarket wheels and tires, hopefully that will help the look.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Got the cockpit filed out although I need to build the back corners up some more. I filed the plastic I glued in on the sides so thin and there's not much for it to glue to that it keeps wanting to break away. I will need to glue in some supports there. I will also need to file away the underside of some of the plastic I glued in the front of the cockpit to help clear the chassis for lowering it.


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## zilger (Oct 9, 2005)

I remember seeing the white Cobra and knew it was a drop axle version but I didn't know the whole story behind it.

Slingshot, drop axle is a chassis modification that basically redrills the rear axle openings higher on the chassis requiring the rear gears to be reworked. It effectively raises the rear axle reducing both ride height and the amount of Tjet chassis above the rear wheels which allows for lowering the body. At least that's my novice understanding of it.

Bill, I thought about "dehandling an X-traction" for my conversion but I don't really want the standard AFX rims all around. Is there any way to use the RRR Cobra rims or the Vincent Halibrand rims on an X-traction? I seem to remember the RRR rims are not tall enough to get the rear of the chassis off of the ground. 

Brian


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

I did a search for drop axle and your excellent tutorial. Do you have any photos taken during your conversion? That would really help me visualize exactly what you did.

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=207011&highlight=rear+drop+axle


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

First you have to cut out the pinion plate between the frame rails. I scribe it out with a hobby knife. 



















The new axle holes are carefully marked drilled and reamed to size. The correct hole spacing is identical to the distance between the long wheel base position and the truck axle position on the front of any standard t-jet. I use and old chassis modified into a jig. (No pic of that, yet, sorry) 










As you have raised the axle, you have also raised the crown. The gearplate relief window allows just enough room to squeeze the crown under the driven gear. This is also scribed with the knife.

The pinion boss is cut from the underside of the plate. The driverside index cleat on the rear of the gearplate is also cut down by half....so it still indexes but doesnt ride on the spacer/shoulder of the crown gear. Look at the first pic where the crown shoulder exceeds above the cleat pocket. Slice it in half with your blade. 

A pinion gear pocket is relief cut into the gear plate with the dremel. The correct depth is roughly about 1/2 the total thickness of the gearplate. I drop the pinion and shaft in and snap it all together to ensure the crown mesh is correct and that the pinion bore is correctly reamed. Only then is the driven gear pressed on and the excess pinoin shaft cut away.










This chassis was tubbed also. A quick buzz with the dremel is all it takes...just stay away from the gearlamp slot!


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## craftymore (Jan 25, 2005)

Great looking Shelbys that you guys came up with. Say these little slot deals don't require gravity to move? 'Crafty shakes his head in disbelief.'


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

zilger said:


> I remember seeing the white Cobra and knew it was a drop axle version but I didn't know the whole story behind it.
> 
> Slingshot, drop axle is a chassis modification that basically redrills the rear axle openings higher on the chassis requiring the rear gears to be reworked. It effectively raises the rear axle reducing both ride height and the amount of Tjet chassis above the rear wheels which allows for lowering the body. At least that's my novice understanding of it.
> 
> ...


To be honest I dont put a lot thought into the wheels and tires as to what fits what. I generally have an idea of what I want but most times I fly it by my britches.

If you follow my schtick you'll note that I cut, narrow, and rebore wheels.
I also frequently grind tires to fit. It's not uncommon for me to snip a tire widthwise, regrind, roll the edges, and finally true it. I only mic them to keep them identical. I could care less about lap times on custom cars. So long as they fry up the tires , give a little in the turns, and dont snag the rail iIm a happy camper.

I use PVT's almost exclusively save for some of the wierdo stuff I have to fit on occassion. The guys here turned me on to Penn Valley Tires several years ago. They run good clean, they run decent dirty, they cut and grind nicely and I've never found any inclusions , pockets, or bubbles in them. 

Admittedly their t-jet skinny and AFX front are kinda bogus and dont stay on for jack, but I just glue them on the t-jets and also stretch the same t-jet tire onto the AFX front there by bagging their AFX front offering all together.

As for wheels I stick with the AFX stuff cuz it's light and true. I have used Vincents on occassion and do like them. Unfortunately some of the narrower designs offered have very little meat on the hub where the bullet (axle) bites the bone (wheel). If anything with what little I have used ....say 15 sets...I find the hub centers to be a bit soft when compared to the AFX rims. I like a rim that can be pressed on and off without worrying about distortion.

I've never had the knack with RRR rims and I'm sure it's all my fault!...snicker.
They are incredibly attractive and reasonably priced, problem is I can never get them to run out properly so I shy away from them. The self queen concept falls on deaf ears here. Just an anal retentive pet peeve....imagine the nerve ....wanting your cars to run out smooth and all!

The PVT's will fit either the Vincent or RRR wheel no problemo as well as stretch onto or around other rims with very little distortion.

I may be able to scrounge up some pix so you can see whats what and how they mount up. Isnt there a tire thread..."Silicone" going on right now? I believe Russ Resinmonger just added like 20 links for tires to that thread!


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## win43 (Aug 28, 2006)

craftymore said:


> Great looking Shelbys that you guys came up with. Say these little slot deals don't require gravity to move? 'Crafty shakes his head in disbelief.'


Zack, you are spending more and more time here on the dark side.:dude:


I think before long........we will........have........another........convert. :freak:


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

craftymore said:


> Great looking Shelbys that you guys came up with. Say these little slot deals don't require gravity to move? 'Crafty shakes his head in disbelief.'


I think they call it "Plug & Play" In most cases, the cars will come back to you while standing in the same spot. Every now and then you may have to chase one down, but I guess you know about that ...RM


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Absolutely terrific Bill! Thanks much! I copied the other information and these pictures and information and put it into a Word doc, tried printing it today but my printer says it's out of ink so as soon as I get some I'm going to print it out and give it a try. I have one of those Auto World T-jet kits, so I will try it on that since it's already a part. I only have one other chassis and that's put together, I have a bunch of bodies though.

The cockpit sides on my Cobra weren't holding very well so I removed them and filed the sides down until they were even with the body and then cut out some .030 plastic rectangles and glued them in from the bottom of the body to past the cockpit opening. I will then build that up in layers for the curves on the front and back on the sides of the cockpit. It has the added benefit of going past the front of the rear wheel well, I need to fill some plastic in there and open up the back of it more.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Bill, would you have one of those T-jets with the lowered chassis that you would like to sell? If you do, how much? You can e-mail me at [email protected]


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

zilger said:


> I'll take all the details of the conversion that you're willing to share
> 
> Brian


Here’s a detailed write up of what I did so far, at least what I can remember. There are numerous accuracy issues, some are easy to fix, some will take quite a bit of work. The accuracy issues are:

Hood outline is too far forward
Trunk outline is to large lengthwise 
Door outlines are too large
Cockpit is too large lengthwise, front needs to be brought back
Rear of cockpit wrong shape
Windshield needs to be moved back
Windshield is too short
Wheel openings are too small
Body sits way too high
Nose slants down noticeably right in front of Cobra badge
Gas filler in wrong location
Body below the trunk needs plastic added
Sides of body too high
Fill in sides of nose

The front grill/bumperetts, rear bumperetts, and the windshield were removed by cutting/scraping the melted plastic used to attach them and then carefully pried away and set aside. I then used some plastic strips and Tamiya putty to fill in the slot for the windshield.

I used the back of a #10 blade (I get better results with this blade than the back of a #11 blade) to scribe alongside the edges of the cockpit on the inside of the body until I was all the way through. It left the rear of the cockpit in the correct spot. Removing the cockpit will allow the body to be lowered significantly because the cockpit was recessed into the body and then there's also the thickness of the plastic taking up room.

I chiseled and scraped on the underside of the body to remove the extra plastic from the windshield slot. After this was removed, the plastic was then thin enough that the thin strip of plastic left between the front of the cockpit and the windshield slot came loose and while filing the plastic I had glued into the windshield slot, it also came loose (I don’t think I got the paint removed very well) which resulted in a lot of plastic needing to be added to the front of the cockpit.

I used a piece of .010 plastic glued under the nose to help support other strips of plastic to build up the front of the cockpit. Originally I glued strips of plastic to the sides of the cockpit and filed them to get the correct shape, but there’s so little gluing area they didn’t want to stay very well, I then filed the sides of the body until they were flush with the inside of the body and then glued in strips of plastic going most of the way down the body so there will be more glue area as they are filed to shape.

The rear of the cockpit was curved, the original was fairly straight across the back so that was filed straight across. 

The front of the hood, between the badge and the front of the nose has a very noticeable slant to it. The top of the opening of the nose is pretty close to where it should be, so I filed that area down so it’s smooth from the nose opening to the cockpit opening. Some of the early race cars had louvers on the hood, but I don’t remember seeing a picture of any car having that many louvers. Probably just the outer row or two would suffice.

I cut out the side picture of the real Cobra and taped it to the side of the body (filing the flares first helps) and scribed the outline of the wheel wells (doublecheck the fit over the chassis before finally, I didn’t and need to do some filling). I filed the wheel wells earlier in the build and it would’ve been better to wait until later, the area between the wheel well and the rear of the cockpit gets to be pretty small and can be a little fragile.

After measuring the side shot of the real 289, I found that I needed to remove approximately 3/16 of an inch from the bottom of the sides of the body. It is scale, but I will have to see how much if any of the chassis shows after I finish lowering it, it does make the car look more sleek. Adding side exhausts will help cover any chassis that might be below the body and make the car looked a little lower.

Lowering the chassis like Bill does will help make the car looked more scale like and will also get the wheels up farther into the wheel wells which will also help. That’s something that’s not necessary, but I’m definitely going to give it a try.

That’s all that I can remember right now. It would be easier with the paint removed and I didn’t read the thread on how to remove paint from the Johnny Lightning’s until I was well it into this conversion. Hope this helps.


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## zilger (Oct 9, 2005)

Thanks much for the info.

Sounds like you have done a lot of work on this. Looking forward to seeing the finished product. Should be much improved over the original.

Still willing to buy some resin castings when you get to that point.

Brian


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Holy guacamole!!! Is there going to be any original pink left when you're done??


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## LDThomas (Nov 30, 1999)

*Depends on what one is talking about...*

The JL Snake Eyes body is a copy of the first 'Cobra' Shelby put together. The first prototype unit had a 260 engine and the stock wheelwells from the AC Ace. By the time production of the 289 Cobra came along, the wheelwells had been radiused to clear the bigger racing tires along with many other body changes. My point being that even thought the JL Snake Eyes is a far cry from being accurate for a production 289 Cobra, it is actually a reasonably close facsimile to the first Cobra ever built.

One of Carroll Shelby's favorite stories is of that first car. In order to make it appear that he had several prototypes up and running, Carroll would repaint the car before going to a different show. There are pictures of blue, white, red, and yellow prototype Cobras out there and they are all the same car! Hehehe... Sneaky. :dude:


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## resinmonger (Mar 5, 2008)

*Mystery Solved*

This may explain the resemblance between the JL "Snake Eyes" Cobra and the original Aurora "AC Cobra". As the name suggests, Aurora was shooting for the original AC Ace based Cobra roadster as well. It was left up to Tyco and later Road Racing Replicas and Dash to produce the 289 and 427 versions of Shelby's roadster that most people identify as "Cobras".

:drunk::hat::freak::dude:


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

LDThomas said:


> The JL Snake Eyes body is a copy of the first 'Cobra' Shelby put together. The first prototype unit had a 260 engine and the stock wheelwells from the AC Ace. By the time production of the 289 Cobra came along, the wheelwells had been radiused to clear the bigger racing tires along with many other body changes. My point being that even thought the JL Snake Eyes is a far cry from being accurate for a production 289 Cobra, it is actually a reasonably close facsimile to the first Cobra ever built.
> 
> One of Carroll Shelby's favorite stories is of that first car. In order to make it appear that he had several prototypes up and running, Carroll would repaint the car before going to a different show. There are pictures of blue, white, red, and yellow prototype Cobras out there and they are all the same car! Hehehe... Sneaky. :dude:


I’ll have to respectfully disagree here. I think the wheel wells are down farther because the sides of the body are deeper than stock, probably to help cover the chassis. The AC Ace’s wheel wells weren’t of that different from the Cobra’s, they didn’t have any flares though. Here are some pictures of the Ace.

http://www.csx427sc.citymax.com/page/page/4857461.htm

Here’s a nice article on the first Cobra, down a little way as are a couple pictures of it when it first came over here. The picture of them working on it is in Moons shop and you can see the wheel well flares and how high they are. The prototype and I believe at least one or two others started out with the 221 engine which quickly went up to the 260 of which 75 were made and then Ford came out with the 289, pretty much all the same engine block. Quite a number of the earlier cars had their engines replaced with the 289 when it became available because of the extra power and it could be dropped in with no modifications.

http://www.csx427sc.citymax.com/page/page/5471486.htm

Here are some more pictures of the prototype, this would make a great looking slot car using some bare metal foil on the body.

http://www.csx427sc.citymax.com/page/page/5366435.htm

Here’s a picture of the prototype on a magazine cover.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sedanman/2813285224/

That was always interesting and amusing how they kept painting the first Cobra over and over for the different magazine shoots.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

slotcarman12078 said:


> Holy guacamole!!! Is there going to be any original pink left when you're done??


I seriously doubt it! Before I started this conversion, I was thinking it would just take a couple simple little mods and that would be at time of the more I got into it, the more I saw it needed to be changed and my wanting to get the body so close to the chassis brought on some other modifications. This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time working on a model, I’m just a little ham handed and keep breaking off some parts I glue on.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Thanks to the post by LDThomas, I started looking farther into the shape of the Cobra. I had taken the side picture of a real 289 and reduced it until the wheelbase was 1 ½” and then drew an outline in red, I then took a side shot of the Johnny Lightning body on a chassis and reduced that so the wheelbase was 1 ½” and drew an outline around that in blue and then superimposed the drawings over one another using the rear of the cockpit as my alignment point since a new the body lined up with my other drawing at that point.

I attached the drawing and I can see one thing I did wrong. I measured the height of the side of the body at the rear of the door and I removed the difference from the bottom of the body when in fact I should have removed it from the sides of the cockpit. I’m going to do a lot more measuring, but it looks like the body might need to be lengthened in the nose. There wasn’t as much difference in the placement of the windshield as I thought, the added length to the nose would give the nose the longer sleek appearance.

So much for the quick project I originally envisioned! This is still pretty fun and is sure turning out to be a learning experience.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Fer giggles can ya super impose a t-jet chassis under all that?

If you are intent on lengthening the nose perhaps the new Mega G chassis will provide the needed advantages? From what I can see the front axle position shouldnt be too hard to alter.


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## zilger (Oct 9, 2005)

Bill Hall said:


> Fer giggles can ya super impose a t-jet chassis under all that?
> 
> If you are intent on lengthening the nose perhaps the new Mega G chassis will provide the needed advantages? From what I can see the front axle position shouldnt be too hard to alter.


Been wondering about that myself.

Isn't there supposed to be a Mega G with a shorter wheelbase coming in early '09? Might not need to alter the wheelbase.

Brian


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Bill Hall said:


> Fer giggles can ya super impose a t-jet chassis under all that?
> 
> If you are intent on lengthening the nose perhaps the new Mega G chassis will provide the needed advantages? From what I can see the front axle position shouldnt be too hard to alter.


I think I have a side photo of a T-jet chassis, if I do, I will superimpose it and post the picture.

I noticed the wheels didn’t fit exactly in the wells on the JL body. I reduced to the side picture of the real 289 so the wheelbase would be 1 ½” which is the wheelbase of the chassis I am using. Hopefully tomorrow I will have some time to check out the body a lot more closely with the drawings to see exactly what I will need to do. I didn’t even think that if I lengthen the body, that would move the mounting post, if I have to lengthen the body, I will just have to build up the mounting bracket so it fits over the stock hole on the chassis.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

zilger said:


> Been wondering about that myself.
> 
> Isn't there supposed to be a Mega G with a shorter wheelbase coming in early '09? Might not need to alter the wheelbase.
> 
> Brian


YEAH! Aint it great?


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Here is a picture of the drawing of the real car over a T-jet chassis (red drawing) and the drawing of the JL body over the chassis (blue drawing).


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Just out of curiosity is the actual car pictured chassis a JL, and are the screw posts lined up correctly?? That does look a tad off...


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*Candy Red with White stripes or Yellow & Blue...*

Slingshot,

Mopar cars got the left over colors because, everyone else took the real ones early on. hahahahhaah Just kidding Wes but, be glad that they figured out that big Semi Gloss Black hoods could even make Pink or Sub Lime look good.

:lol:   :lol:

I was supposed to go to bed a while ago but, this thread just sucked me in again. Nice Cobra build. A true classic race car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bills how to lower a chassis is great and their is another way to do it also that was posted some place on Hobby Talk. Pretty sure it was on a Batman car thread.

Bob...This Winter may be the time for me to try to lower a chassis...zilla

P.S. If I can do it anyone can but, don't get your hopes up. LOL


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

slotcarman12078 said:


> Just out of curiosity is the actual car pictured chassis a JL, and are the screw posts lined up correctly?? That does look a tad off...


It's a AW, body's a JL and I'm sure it was lined up, not screwed on though.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

bobhch said:


> Slingshot,
> 
> Mopar cars got the left over colors because, everyone else took the real ones early on. hahahahhaah Just kidding Wes but, be glad that they figured out that big Semi Gloss Black hoods could even make Pink or Sub Lime look good.
> 
> ...


That would be Mark Olwang's technique. Very trick!

Where I cheat and raise the axle heights and strategically shave some chassis; Mark actually lowers the whole shebang from top to bottom.

Not for the chicken hearted though...ya dont just wave a blade around and come up with an Olwang retroft!


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

bobhch said:


> Slingshot,
> 
> Mopar cars got the left over colors because, everyone else took the real ones early on. hahahahhaah Just kidding Wes but, be glad that they figured out that big Semi Gloss Black hoods could even make Pink or Sub Lime look good.
> 
> ...


Thanks! The 289 Cobra along with the 1967 Shelby Mustang and the Sunbeam Tiger have long been my favorite cars, so I want to do this one right. I always seem to make as many mistakes as I get things right!

I will have to add back on to the lower part of the body sides what I removed as I now realize my error in measuring, I will need to remove some at the top of the door. I probably won’t lengthen the body, it’s such a small amount for the work involved. It would need to get moved at most 2 mm and the body is around 63 mm, still deciding.

I have one of those Auto World T-jet kits, I’m going to try lowering one of those sometime this winter. I like Bill’s approach, much easier than the other way.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

I'll have one in the works shortly. If you'd like I can make the guys suffer through it one more time....hahahahaha......and post it in some greater detail.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Bill Hall said:


> I'll have one in the works shortly. If you'd like I can make the guys suffer through it one more time....hahahahaha......and post it in some greater detail.


That would be great, thanks!


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## zilger (Oct 9, 2005)

slingshot392 said:


> That would be great, thanks!


Ditto!


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

I got a little more work done on the Cobra, although it probably doesn’t look like much. I built up the plastic on the bottom of the sides I had cut off when I measured incorrectly. It’s trimmed close to size, I am waiting for it to fully harden a little more before filing it to shape. Trimmed down the tops of the doors some and will work on building the tops of the doors up next. I am definitely doing this one the hard way!

The white Cobra has had the paint stripped and the black marks shows some of the major work that needs to be done to it. I will definitely be going at this one a different way from the lessons I learned on the other one.

The balsa one is a plug I am making for a one off Ferrari Breadvan using a modified technique from my radio controlled airplane days. I need to finish gluing down the bumps on the fenders and then on to shaping it.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

I filed the sides of the body down to the general shape of the real body and then built up the sides of the cockpit with layers of plastic. I need to build up the front of the rear fenders and possibly add a little bit to the end of the front fenders, then I can shape those and the sides of the cockpit, then lay my cockpit template over it to cut it to shape. The underside is going to need some major scraping and sanding to lighten this lead sled up! I’ve added a lot of plastic. I’ve made a lot of mistakes with this one that hopefully I won’t do with the next one!

I also opened up the nose, still need to file it a little more to follow the shape above and below the opening which will help make the skin look a little more thin.


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*Nice work so far...keep on keeping on!*

Looking good slingshot. Don't forget to get some good snacks and beverages for this long haul build. You gotta eat to keep up your strength.

I suggest Pork Rinds & Burnt Peanuts along with a Coke Zer"0".

Bob...don't do Cheetos as they leave an orangy residue...zilla


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*We're still with ya Sling...*

I like the fact that you're willing to build what you have pictured in your mind and using the 1:1 pics as tools. So I'll be here watching to see what ya end up. Keep up the good work. :thumbsup::thumbsup: nd


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Little by little the pink is disappearing!! Your determination will pay off at the end!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup: I'm rootin' for ya!!


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Thanks for the encouragement guys! I probably could have finished another one in the time it took me to fix my screw-ups on this one, but I’m too stubborn to throw away a slot car that could possibly be fixed.

I am planning to paint this one like the attached picture, the car was driven by Ken Miles. He was leading the race easily, so he pulled into the pits to have a glass of water and he watched the entire field go by, he then pulled out and easily went past all of the Corvettes coming in second place behind his teammate, Dave McDonald. The car is white with red wheels.


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## krazcustoms (Nov 20, 2003)

They're not mistakes - they're learning experiences.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Not much of an update but I only had a few minutes this weekend to work on my Cobra, and it might be more than a week before I can get back at it. Roughly opened up the top of the cockpit, need to do final filing to shape and also file down the sides of the doors and then clean up any excess plastic underneath, then build up the front of the rear fenders.

I also put the stock body on a AW chassis and then put the body I’m working on on an original chassis from the sixties for comparison. Still need to do a bunch of tweaking to get it to sit just right. I also need to make exhaust pipes that are visible underneath the sides of the car.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

While I’m still working on my butchered Cobra, I have started working more on the Cobra I stripped the paint from. I have the doors filed down following the line of the front fenders, I still need to do a little bit of work there. I built up the front of the rear fenders with plastic goop and filed that to shape and then covered it with a coat of silver Rub N Buff, I still need to shape them a little bit more. Going slowly on this one if trying to get it right the first time and I’m hoping to use this one as a master.


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

hey slingshot!ya stickin a tjet chassis in that NC01 enterprise?lol!just joshin the cobra's coming along nicely!:thumbsup:


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

The Cobra is looking good slingshot. Keep at it...

Bob...When you get the master all your hard work will have been worth your effort...zilla


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

slotnewbie69 said:


> hey slingshot!ya stickin a tjet chassis in that NC01 enterprise?lol!just joshin the cobra's coming along nicely!:thumbsup:


Now that would be really cool to make a small Enterprise where the engineering hull would fit over the chassis. That would look so neat going around. Imagine the look on the faces of kids at a show!


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

slingshot392 said:


> Now that would be really cool to make a small Enterprise where the engineering hull would fit over the chassis. That would look so neat going around. Imagine the look on the faces of kids at a show!


i was joking,but why the heck not?that would be cool...now if we can just make a little bird of prey to chase it around,we may be on to something!


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## mmheyho (Jan 3, 2008)

*Ok now*

Ok now I am starting to see the differences. Maybe I just was not paying attention. I love the new door line. the way it dips before to back of the seats. 
Looks real good. I hope to see it in a mold in the near future.
Mike


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

mmheyho said:


> Ok now I am starting to see the differences. Maybe I just was not paying attention. I love the new door line. the way it dips before to back of the seats.
> Looks real good. I hope to see it in a mold in the near future.
> Mike


yeah it's way more accurate alright,i am looking at my 1/25 cobramodel on top of my monitor,and i am surprised at how far out the pink one is...


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

mmheyho said:


> Ok now I am starting to see the differences. Maybe I just was not paying attention. I love the new door line. the way it dips before to back of the seats.
> Looks real good. I hope to see it in a mold in the near future.
> Mike


Thanks! Lowering it is the toughest part, I will need to remove the stock cockpit as it takes up a lot of room, I will probably just replace it with a thin sheet of plastic and then a picture of the cockpit could be glued in.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

slotnewbie69 said:


> i was joking,but why the heck not?that would be cool...now if we can just make a little bird of prey to chase it around,we may be on to something!


The Romulin Bird Of Prey probably wouldn’t be that hard to do, a Klingon D7 would be really tough to do, it would need some kind of support built in and painted to hide it. That could be a blast chasing each other, especially if there was some way to rake up one of those red laser beam pointers in it.


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

hee hee!lol...look what i started....


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

mmheyho said:


> I love the new door line. the way it dips before to back of the seats.
> Looks real good. I hope to see it in a mold in the near future.
> Mike


 
Would have to agree with Mike. This thing is really starting to come together. Definitely more realistic to the 1:1 versions. Thanks and keep posting your progress. It's all down hill from here.  


:thumbsup::thumbsup: rr


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*That's the ticket SS392...*



slingshot392 said:


> I will probably just replace it with a thin sheet of plastic


Maybe a tonneau cover can help you find that extra little bit of depth you're looking for too. I've used them in the recent past on a couple of tiny custom bods. MEV utilizes them with his ragtop racer bods. Good job so far... Keep'a butcherin this beast till ya end up with a nice filet!!! :thumbsup: nd


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

roadrner said:


> Would have to agree with Mike. This thing is really starting to come together. Definitely more realistic to the 1:1 versions. Thanks and keep posting your progress. It's all down hill from here.
> 
> 
> :thumbsup::thumbsup: rr


Thanks! This one is shaping up a lot better than the other one, I might just start a different thread for this car since I’m doing it so different than the other one.


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