Cobra and GT40

Authentic components for a period-correct replica ...or a 100-point restoration.

Over the years, I've restored countless Weber carburetion systems, many of which were on original Cobras and race cars. In the old days, I even tweaked the Webers on two of the original Cobra Daytona Coupes.

Rebuilding so many of those original carburetion units gave me an opportunity to see how they really came from Shelby's race shop. The funny thing was that at the time, I never thought too much about it. Being around those cars and tuning their carburetion was simply "what I did". It proved to be a valuable history lesson because now, authenticity is important to many customers.

The Weber-carbureted Cobras, Daytona Coupes, and GT40's used a lot of special components, some of which were handmade as needed. Today, with the advent of the replica car business, there is a renewed demand for some of these parts, which I now manufacture ...thanks to water jet cutting and other modern technologies that allow us to duplicate them without making them all by hand each time.

I'm very proud to be the only supplier of exact reproductions of the original parts and components that these Weber-carbureted cars used, just as they were, the way the factory and Ford parts departments offered them. We specialize in Cobra and GT40 carburetion and fuel injection systems with the details and authenticity of the originals. Our GT40 assemblies can also be ordered with the distinct "turkey pan" that sets them apart.

Shown below are some of the special components that will make your restoration or period-correct replica more accurate.

Weber carburetion system for 289 Cobra

COBRA-lettered intake manifold with center shaft linkage, separate front waterneck, and early style fuel harness identify this as a replica unit for a 60's-era Cobra. Remote thermostat housing is also included. Height as shown: 10-3/4"; add 1/2" if using individual velocity stack filters. This unit can be lowered to 9-5/8" for Daytona Coupes,with an extra charge for the specially made velocity stacks and custom machining of the booster venturies to shorten them to match the shorter velocity stacks.

The replica COBRA units are available in 2 styles: opposed or non-opposed carburetor layout. Many of the Cobra factory race cars had "opposed" carburetors (arranged back-to-back). Others were equipped with non-opposed manifolds, so either is correct. Non-opposed manifolds appeared on the following Cobra race cars: CSX2385; Ken Miles' CSX2431 #98; factory team car CSX 2121; and the 1964 Willment Daytona Coupe, SC2131. Waternecks can be ordered with right or left exit (left exit shown). Early-style clamps are included. Billet aluminum inline thermostat housing is supplied in natural aluminum, can be painted black, and accepts a GM thermostat. The one-piece, machine-crimped fuel harness with special brass fittings is just like the one supplied in the 60's before the advent of braided stainless hose and -AN fittings.

The photo below shows our 289 FIA Cobra induction unit with competition fuel lines and throttle linkage on Blake Olsen's Cobra. We also sell the valve covers and breathers you see here.

Cobra Linkage Center Linkage

Linkage system on the original 289 Cobra roadsters operated off a center-shaft, and is faithfully reproduced. A 5/16" stainless steel shaft rotates in spherical rod ends screwed into in the intake. Note in photo at right that the activation point for this system is at the back, not via a side-mounted bellcrank. As with all systems built here, a return spring and an extra stop lever are also included on each assembly for safety. This is the only type of intake manifold linkage that will work on a 289 Cobra with factory-style interconnecting linkage as shown below.

Factory-style linkage kit from carburetion to gas pedal

This throttle connecting linkage is reproduced from an original Weber-carbureted 289 Cobra, except the bell crank tower is now made from (thicker) 16-gauge stainless steel, and the linkage rods are also stainless. This 289 Cobra roadster throttle linkage kit will connect a 289 Cobra Weber unit to the mechanism at the foot box...if you have the accelerator assembly shown. Your car must have an original-style 289 Cobra foot box gas pedal assembly (note the gray housing at the lower right) mounted to the top of the foot box. A heavier-duty arm is also provided for the foot box, and is made in stainless as well. See the photos below, which show all the components in the kit.

Connecting linkage kit

The stainless bellcrank tower mounts to the back of the smallblock Ford cylinder head. Kit price is $325. Stainless hardware (not shown) is also included to mount the tower to the back of the cylinder head. The two linkage rods are also stainless. Tower will clear scattershields and has a strurdy brace on the back to avoid flexing.

This new 12-gauge stainless arm comes in the kit, and slips onto the 1/2-inch shaft on your accelerator pedal unit. It's much thicker than the original arm, to deal with the extra resistance of the 4 carburetors and the auxilliary return spring.

Turkey pans

All Ford inductions can be ordered with a turkey pan. Below is our GT40 pan that looks just like an original 1965 GT40 race car setup. These are available for GT40's and Daytona Coupes with any induction unit.

Just in case you missed it on the EFI 8-stack page, our GT40 turkey pan is shown here. The top plate can be added as an option. This one is fitted to our EFI that looks just like Weber carburetors. GT40 8-stack induction systems are our specialty here.

Fuel System Options: Competition and Street

The 289 Cobra FIA competition cars had a very unique waterneck that was hand-fabricated entirely from steel tubing with a fuel log mounted on top. This waterneck was exclusive to the competition cars, which all ran Weber carburetion. The fuel lines went to all 4 carburetors individually from the fuel log, rather than in a wrap-around harness, as seen on the street cars. This is sometimes referred to as the "octopus" fuel line setup. I now offer a 100% accurate reproduction of this unique waterneck, and the cost is $595. This is a 100-point, historically-correct item made from an original part (special thanks to Cobra Automotive, Wallingford, CT). Drawings for this piece are now stored in AutoCad to ensure a perfect reproduction each time. To the best of my knowledge, there is no other source on the planet for this part.

Special banjo fittings are required on each carburetor for 3/8" I.D. hose (see photo below left). These fittings are not available anywhere, so I now have them fabricated and yellow cad plated; cost is $28 each. The parts for a real FIA fuel system are labor-intensive to make, and are a work of art. The FIA fuel line option isn't for everyone, but it's a must-have for anyone wanting a perfect FIA reproduction, and these parts are dead-on correct.

Jeff Martin's ERA replica...a very faithful FIA reproduction.

FIA waterneck

Fuel line details

Here's a closer view of the special banjo fitting used on the FIA fuel systems. These are made by hand, and are the only fuel fittings for Weber carburetors that accept a 3/8" fuel line. A set of four of these fittings, plated in "yellow cad" are available for $112 ($28 each).

Here's a close-up of what the fuel harnesses on the 289 Cobra street cars looked like during the 60's. I used to cut these off when doing restorations and replace them with this same setup. They were standard fare in those days, and today, I offer them again. You may choose between this style harness or the modern braided stainless harness with -AN fittings (although not period correct). The brass fittings are long-obsolete and I now have them custom made. There's no additional charge.

Here's a testimonial sent to me by customer John Andrews. He included a short video to let me hear the engine in his Mustang. It sounds just the soundtrack from the chase scene in Bullit.

https://youtu.be/CdwP4IlI2vs

Jim,
I wanted to share a video of the car running. The system you sent me works great! I am so happy with it. My buddy shot this quick 8 second video of a normal drive around town. Once we finish the side window install on the car I’ll send you pictures of the car with your system installed. My wife loves it!

--John Andrews

Here's one of our Weber-style EFI's on Charlie Fisher's FE-powered 427 Cobra. His engine was built by our friends at Southern Automotive in McDonough, GA which specializes in Ford FE engines for Cobras.

http://southernautomotiveengines.com/

"Thought you would like to see a few photos of your 8 stack EFI system installed in my Unique Motorcars Cobra. Only about 150 miles so far but all seems to be working well. Don’t know if I previously told you dyno run was 549 hp at 5200 rpm and 580 torque at 4700 rpm."

--Charlie Fisher

Nick Hopler's Cobra is outfitted with one of our smallblock Ford Weber-style EFI's. Even when you look closely, It's practically impossible to tell this is an EFI system, not Weber carburetors.

Karl Schuetz' GT40 with one of our Weber-style EFI systems. We take great pains to make everything look period correct, whether it's Weber carburetion or one of these EFI units. Click on the photo to blow it up and see how hard it is to tell the difference between this EFI and actual Weber carburetors.

Chris Butkiewicz

Good morning Jim,
Attached is a picture (although not very good) of the induction unit you put together for me a while back. Thought you might like to see your work on the finished motor. It runs really well and is a lot of fun to drive. Have had several offers from people interested in purchasing the motor but I think I'm just going to have some fun with it for a while.

Thanks again.
Chris Butkiewicz

Brad Knoll

All is well. 700 hp and huge torque at 6000 rpm...We did not spin it up any higher during our pull. We did not have to change any jets or extra parts in the kit. Thank you very much for a Weber build that was well done.

Brad Knoll