Cobrastang

rusty428cj

Rusty Gillis
69MustangRacecars007.jpg



I bought Ken McLellan's Cobrastang 1969 SS/G factory backed Mustang in 1973 on the way home from the Winternationals in Pomona. Ken got out of Drag Racing when he lost his Ford sponsorship. Ken set the SS/G record many times, the record was 11.09 when I got it. In 1971 Ken won Super Stock at the World Finals in Texas. In 1973 I took the car to the Gatornationals because I broke a converter in my car. I had not driven a 4 speed car in 4 years. With no practice the first time run was 11.11. Broke an axle during qualifying. I raced it only a few times because it was breaking a lot of parts; axles, wheel studs, clutch, etc. I used the engine as a spare for my SS/GA and set the record in 1974 with parts from it. In the early 80's we backed halfed the car, put a roll cage in and stripped it to race brackets (what a mistake). It has been in storage for over 20 years. Only has 21 miles on it.

McLellan1.jpg


mustang_100_cars_1969.jpg


This is how it looked in 2005

DSCF2299.jpg


It is finally time to get the Cobrastang out of storage and start the restoration. It has been in storage a long time. I plan on restoring as close as I can as raced by Ken McLellan back in the day. It will be a long term project.

54_zpspilzcdvj.jpg


53_zpsgs65ulbu.jpg


57_zps3senucf3.jpg


60_zpsn63k0b6n.jpg


69_zps3bvqco1q.jpg


The windshield and back glass was removed.

73_zpsbhhrgkwl.jpg


75_zpssqax048u.jpg


I removed the rear bumper, end caps and deck lid. The deck lid was sanded to bare metal and the back side still has the original black paint.

78_zps0nv5q5gh.jpg


81_zps4we0nfxy.jpg


86_zpsbruhcf8q.jpg


This is the Cobrastang before it was painted.

01_zpsv5k6xlbd.jpeg


After it was painted candy blue, magenta, green, and red.

Quarter_Mile_09_03_zpshmapwohc.gif


I wasn't sure what color the base was under the candy. I thought it was white and when I sanded the fiberglass end cap you can see magenta, white and black.

90_zpsv8kpc3ru.jpg


I sprayed three coats of SPI black epoxy on the deck lid.

87_zpso6uxxnvc.jpg


88_zpsflep07pw.jpg
 
Brian removed the upper cowl and I epoxy primed the new one after it was sanded to bare metal. Tyler has been working with Brian on the Cobrastang and stripped the lower cowl down to bare metal and I epoxy primed. Brian showed Tyler how to plug weld and Tyler welded the new upper cowl in place.
180.jpg
178.jpg
179.jpg
182.jpg
186.jpg
193.jpg
199.jpg
204.jpg
 
Are you MIG welding those spots? Just curious as they look much better than mine.
Ya, mine too:(

Some Migs make much better plug welds than others. Best plugs I ever did was on a Snap-On Muscle Mig 140. With that machine I could consistently do them so they were flush or slightly less than flush. I found Miller's to be extremely difficult to plug weld with and have them look nice. Took a lot of time to get a setting that worked. Lincoln's are somewhere in between. I have a little Lincoln that I can do nice ones with now but still not as nice as the Snap-On MM's. That said someone else's experiences may be entirely different.
Also you need to have your electrode inside the nozzle to make nice plug weld. Much more difficult if your electrode is outside your nozzle like it would be for doing other types of welds. They make special spot(plug) weld nozzles. Turn up the heat and speed and stop sooner than you think. (if that makes sense) Bigger the hole/ thinner the sheet, the harder it gets to do nice flush plug welds. Especially when doing only 2 layers. 3/8" holes (like I-car talks about) are only neccesary when doing structural areas like rails. Best to make your hole the same as the size of the spot weld you are removing. Most spot welds are usually around 1/4-6.5mm to 5/16-8mm. Plug a 1/4 panel I never use larger than a 1/4" hole. Smaller hole it's much easier to lay down nice plugs.
 
Last edited:
Not to hijack the thread but I have the spot weld nozzle and my welder has spot weld capability where I can set a timer and just pull the trigger.
The hole size does have something to do with it as I was using a Blair cutting tool which goes around the weld rather than removing it.
I am going to try some spot weld drill bits next time to keep the holes as small as possible.
For plug welds are you using .030" diameter wire? I use .024" for patch work.
 
I'm comfortable using either for plug welding or butt welds. .030 for me seems to make slightly nicer plugs, but we used .023-.025 in the Snap-On MM and that machine gave me the best plug welds of any that I've used.
I've never used the spot feature but it could work well if you take the time beforehand to do some test welds and look at the results. Easier to get comfortable doing it manually for me. Slight variations in panel thicknesses means you would need to readjust each time you encounter that.
 
The Cobrastang has been sitting beside the paint booth too long it was time to move it to the fab shop. Brian cut out and added a few braces before fitting it on a jig we built a long time ago. Now I need to order a new floor pan.
 

Attachments

  • 227.jpg
    227.jpg
    179.7 KB · Views: 172
  • 229.jpg
    229.jpg
    268.3 KB · Views: 174
  • 230.jpg
    230.jpg
    224.8 KB · Views: 182
  • 231.jpg
    231.jpg
    195.2 KB · Views: 181
  • 234.jpg
    234.jpg
    247.7 KB · Views: 164
  • 237.jpg
    237.jpg
    212.6 KB · Views: 182
  • 239.jpg
    239.jpg
    223.4 KB · Views: 173
  • 244.jpg
    244.jpg
    244.3 KB · Views: 185
  • 249.jpg
    249.jpg
    229.4 KB · Views: 167
  • 254.jpg
    254.jpg
    227.7 KB · Views: 177
Not to hijack the thread but I have the spot weld nozzle and my welder has spot weld capability where I can set a timer and just pull the trigger.
The hole size does have something to do with it as I was using a Blair cutting tool which goes around the weld rather than removing it.
I am going to try some spot weld drill bits next time to keep the holes as small as possible.
For plug welds are you using .030" diameter wire? I use .024" for patch work.
Sorry I missed this. Brian uses .023 wire
 
Back
Top