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My Baby...........
My Pride and Joy........
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When I first came over here from Germany in'83, I fall in love with
the older american Cars - "Hot Rods"/"Musclecars".
To me they were just too cool! I guess having lived in
Germany all my life and never having needed a car, because
you really didn't need one with the subways/bus transportation
you had to everywhere, I never really paid that much
attention to cars anyways!
My first car was a 1976 Cadillac El Dorado Biarritz!
Now........don't get me wrong! I loved that car and kept
it for quite a few years. It had a 425 Engine in it, that
had just been rebuild and it had some power!! I took my younger
sister-in-law many times around the loop in Mason City with it
and one time even "smoked" an older camaro with it at the
stoplight!! (Guess, who had the last laugh that time??)
But I still loved those old Musclecars.
We were stationed in Ft.Leonard Wood,MO, when the time
came to retire the rusted out Caddy. I bought me a 1976 Nova with a 350 in it.
It was nice and I liked it, but.........it just wasn't quite
what I wanted to keep forever! I traded it in one day for a
1974 Blazer! Unfortunately I didn't have it for long, because
I saw this white "immaculate" looking 1977 Cadillac, that looked
just like my old one! And the dealer traded me straight up,Truck
for Caddy!! (Hehehe........he saw me coming!!) It needed
many repairs!! One day a guy approached me and wanted to
buy the Caddy "to look cool"!!..............I sold it to him
with a smile on my face. By that time, I had told myself
that the next car, I was gonna own, was gonna be something
special or different or unique............something older
that I wouldn't see at every street corner!
I started looking for older cars in the paper and this time
I was gonna take my time. This was in 1992...........
When I found the ad in the paper, I had no clue what kind
of a car I was gonna go look at. I had never heard of a Cobra II before!
It was way out in the boonies and by time I got there, it was like 9 p.m. at night.
The guy showed it to me in his backyard, which was lid up only by a
spotlight. As soon as I saw it, I knew, that that was gonna
be the car, I would grow old with.........no matter what anybody
would say! I had no clue what kind of a car it was, but
I loved that body style and when he fired her up and I heard
that 302 humming under the hood, I had to have her! He was
asking $650 for the Cobra and I happily paid that!
This is what she looked like, when I first brought her home..........
302 V8.....68,ooo original Miles on it.
C4 Automatic Transmission w/shiftkit
The next morning is when I got my first *real* look at
her. She needed a new Paintjob, but other than that all I
had to do to her right there and then was give her a good
tune-up. She only had 68,000 and some miles on the motor.
I drove my Cobra II to work and within an hour we had a guy
ask, whos car that was out there, meaning my Cobra, because
he was interested in buying it! That was when I found out
a little about my car! As a matter of fact, he had gone to
look at her that same night, I bought her, but wanted to check out
one other car. He ended up offering me twice what I had paid
for the Cobra II, but I told him, he couldn't offer me enough
because that was *THE* car for me!
The only major thing, I had to do a couple months later, was
the transmission. Apparently no one had ever changed the oil
in the transmission, because it locked up on me one day
because of all the dirt and gunk, that had accumalated in there.
The only other thing, I had to fix on her, was her looks!!
I knew exactly how I wanted her to look, but couldn't afford
a Paintjob right away. So, I sanded the body down to the metal,
took care of the little bit of Surface Rust there was and primered
the body well. I had measured the stripes (width and space between
them) and copied the "Cobra II" on the sides. I then painted her
Black with Goldstripes. That Paintjob lasted for three years
(I had never painted a car before....)!!!
It got a little dull, but I never found Rust on her.
In 1993 we got stationed at Ft.Campbell,KY..........
I saved every penny I could from my Job and when I finally could afford
THE Paintjob, in the shop, she went and.................
This is what she looks like now..........!!!
I know this color is not for everybody, but this is
what I wanted my Cobra II to look like!
Everything on it is original, except the color!! Oh..and the rims!
Since those pictures I have bought a nice set of Aluminum Wheels
with Spinners in the Center of them, which look much
better than these wheels, you see here!
This is what she looks like with the new wheels now.
It ain't a very good pic, but.............
That picture, I took at our new home, where me and my boys had moved to in 1994!
I have taken it to Car-shows and have gotten quite a few compliments
on how well it does look in Pink, which does make my day........
This is the Plaque, I got from the last Car-Show I took her to in 1996. Mine was the only older Cobra II and they stuck me in the "Modified"Category with 4-1995 and 1996 Cobra II's!
Unfortunately shortly after this last Car-Show, I let my "then" Boyfriend drive her since his car had broken down and he couldn't resist Hotrodding her and "neutral-dropped" her one too many times and the Motor locked up. When I took the motor apart, I found pieces of the Oil-Pump Shaft and the Bearings on the Pushrods(?) right next to the Oilpump were melted to the Crankshaft. He had done it well............
And needless to say........he was long gone out of Dodge and I was stuck with the Bill.....
March of 1999 I finally had the money to put a new motor in. I kept the original one since it is fixable. I'm planning on rebuilding it little by little and blueprint it as I go. That is after I learn how and what to do, haha....
While in the shop, they had to replace the Motor Mounts(one was completely busted, the other one cracked),Fly-wheel, Starter, Powersteering-Pump, Battery and Carburator, which the last three probably went bad from sitting all that time.
But the motor wasn't all he had damaged with his "fun". When I got her back from the shop, on my way home, the Transmission went and I had to have it rebuilt again. At the Transmission-Shop they told me, someone must have put a hell of alot torque on the transmission by the damage they had found. No kidding..... :-)
Many $$$ and, all together, 4 weeks later, I had her back on the road! :-)
Unfortunately the problems didn't stop there!! From sitting for so long, the Rack'nPinion, that I had just bought 3 years prior, started to leak around the boots. Not bad at first and for the longest time, I couldn't figure out where I was loosing fluids, but did finally find the leak.
My last big project for now is the Rear-End. It needs a new gasket and a good cleaning on the inside. Hopefully that is all why I hear a slight howling, since these rear-end are pretty tough from what everyone tells me..........but with my luck.........!!!
We won't even finish that thought!! :-)
BUT.............
Despite the REALLY HARD and EXPENSIVE LESSON, I had to learn for being kind-hearted...............
*I* still have *THE* car, I had always dreamed of..........
Unique.......different...................
AND I definitely don't see a MustangII CobraII at every street corner!!
Whether in Pink or White or Blue or Black............................. :-)
It is a shame though, that still so many people think and talk negative
about the Mustang II's. I haven't met many people that own a Mustang II,
actually only a couple since I own mine and haven't even seen any others
at the few Car Shows, I have been to, but it is great to see, that there
are many more people out there, that love their Mustang II as much as I love
mine!
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Well, it is now 2004 and she has been parked in the garage since last year. I now live in Wisconsin, way up north and winters here are pretty tough, so every fall she goes in the garage until spring comes around and I bring her back out, hoping to get some more work done on her.
The last few years she started to run warmer and then overheat. Changing the Thermostat didn't help, so I parked her. Funds werent there for me to do anything else, so "home maintenance" was all she got. Haven driven her the first year I moved up here, for about 2 weeks in the winter time, has taken a bit of a toll on her body as well. The Rust is not major, but still there. Most of it underneath and in the fenderwells.
Every year I'm hoping that it will be the year to get her body fixed and painted, but so far.........maybe next year!:-(
As many would say, there is always something to be fixed.
But......last week I finally took the radiator in and found out the poor thing was beyond help. Old age had taken its toll on it and it was time to have it recored. Now that it is brandnew, she shouldn't run hot anymore. Never thought it could've been the radiator, being that is was old. Dahhh.....
Well, you learn something new all the time! :-)
Now if only I can get those darn vaccuum hoses hooked back up the way they need to be, I'd be on a roll.
Last year a friend of mine thought he'd do me this great favor by taking off all vacuum hoses and telling me, she only needed three. Well, she ran like crap and his reasoning was the carburator. So....I had the carburator rebuild.
I know he meant well, but I again should've known better than to let someone touch her.
I have tried shop after shop around here and nothing but bad experiences. So, this shop, that services and works on our company vehicles, offered to get her running again. Well, this is the shop that works for our company, they wouldn't mess anything up on her.........hahhhh!!! When I drove her home, she didn't want to stay running, backfired through the carburator and I barely got her home.
I checked the firing order first, because she ran so......rough.....raw......best way to describe it. Well, another lesson learned......
They had hooked up #5 Plugwire to # 2 Plug and viceversa!!! And I had the distributor cap marked with the numbers! So now that the firing order is back in order ;-), she at least runs on her own. All I have to do now is figure out where the vaccuum hoses do go! Three are hooked up........again.......but I know there are some missing and the three I have are not correct. At least thats what I think. She runs, but idles fast, then slow, fast and slow again. The timing is correct on it, so......it has to be the vaccuum.
Thanks to all the hints and suggestions from MustangII.Org Members, I should be able to get that going soon!
We shall see........... :-)
I have also taken out one of the front seats and decided to try myself at reupholstering. Doesn't look THAT hard to do! Well, I have a whole week of vacation to try myself at it. In the meantime I have replaced it with a Escort Seat for now. Looks kind of stupid with a seat missing! haha......
Well.........more later...........
Sooooooo................................
If you share the passion with me for the MustangII's & CobraII's
and have one yourself............
E-Mail me here:
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My ICQ# is 29568195 or michi_berlin@hotmail.com
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Email: michi_berlin@hotmail.com
Click Here!! :-)
