'76 Cobra II 4 cyl??

[69stang351]

Hey, i dont own this one yet, but i have the chance to pick it up. Just wondering what the specs were on one of these bad boys.. maybe the int. and ext. got changed over the years or maybe they transplanted the 4 banger in later cuz the orig. engine kicked the bucket... what is the breakdown of the VIN and how do I tell if it is an orig. cobraII or a 4 cyl.?? please help

 

[IICrazy]

To tell if its an original Cobra there should be a tag on that radiator, that will tell you.

 

[77sleeper]

believe it or not it could be a 4cyl and a Cobra

the buck tag should have CB on it

 

[69stang351]

To tell if its an original Cobra there should be a tag on that radiator, that will tell you.

Well, like I said, the 4banger could have been transplanted in there, so therefore the radiator could have been changed out also to better accomodate the 4cyl. instead of a big V8 or 6..

believe it or not it could be a 4cyl and a Cobra

the buck tag should have CB on it

The buck tag is where? and CB is what??

 

[Turbo II]

Things to look for:

Check the fifth digit (letter) of the VIN located on the dash panel and on the door tag, if it is an original 4 banger it will be a "Y", a 302 car has a "F"

If the VINs on the door tag and the dash panel don't match (I've seen a few times) there are steel tags welded on the upper rails under the fenders (you have to pull a fender off to see it. It will be stamped with the last 6 digits of the correct VIN.

The buck tag is a small rectangular piece of sheetmetal that is screwed to the radiator support (usually on the front/top on the drivers side). In addition to the last 6 digits of the vin it will be stamped with random numbers and letters signifying options/trim on the car. If you see the letters "CB" or "CBR" on the tag it's an original Cobra.

 

[69stang351]

OK, well that determines that it is in fact a four-banger.. the fifth digit is indeed a 'Y' now, this buck tag... well the radiator support is a peice of rubber/plastic... that is just kinda hanging over from the grill to the rad. but maybe it is on a diff. part of the support?? I won't be able to tell anything about it until i see it again tomorrow, but I just dont want to spend an hour or so looking for this buck tag... it is at a used car dealership, was a trade in about a week ago so they have done nothing to the car... i.e. it is not raped so everything is the same from the P.O. hopefully if it is a four-banger cobra II maybe it is rare?? if so I will definetely be picking it up...!!

 

[Blue coyote]

this buck tag... well the radiator support is a peice of rubber/plastic... that is just kinda hanging over from the grill to the rad. but maybe it is on a diff. part of the support?? I won't be able to tell anything about it until i see it again tomorrow, but I just dont want to spend an hour or so looking for this buck tag..

It should be screwed to the front of the metal rad support, between the support and the grille, usually just to the outside edge of the grille near the top. Its one (or sometimes two) tin plates about 2"x4"...

 

[69stang351]

Alright, I will look for the buck tag today when I go look at the car. But, like I said earlier it could just be a P.O. wanting it to look like a Cobra II, so it easily could be just mods to the interior and added scoup and spoiler?? But I will check the buck tag to make sure it is or isn't a cobra II indeed. Now, let's say this is a cobra II just how many came with the 2.3L four-banger?? was it rare or are they more common than the 3.8L V6 or 302?? It's not an auto, but a 4 speed so I'm happy about that part... any thoughts?

 

[dmoody]

As for production numbers, I wouldn't say that a Cobra II w/ 4 cylinder was rare. In fact I'd be apt to say that a Cobra II w/ 302 was more rare than the other powertrains. There was a gas crisis going on so if you have could have some flash (Cobra II package) without the drain on your pocket, why not? Now when you look at the Cobra II's which are left and/or restored ...the Cobra II w/ anything except a V8 is pretty rare. Most everybody wants the V8 if they are going to go through the trouble of restoring it. Just my opinions, I don't have any actual numbers to back it up.

d

 

[69stang351]

Thanks for the info, just got out of class here at the JC so I'm gonna go check it out in a few min after i have some lunch. Anything else you guys have would be great, but I'll have the final verdict on whether it is a Cobra II or not later on tonight... thanks alot guys, you have been a great help!

 

[THE COBRAMAN]

As for production numbers, I wouldn't say that a Cobra II w/ 4 cylinder was rare. In fact I'd be apt to say that a Cobra II w/ 302 was more rare than the other powertrains. There was a gas crisis going on so if you have could have some flash (Cobra II package) without the drain on your pocket, why not? Now when you look at the Cobra II's which are left and/or restored ...the Cobra II w/ anything except a V8 is pretty rare. Most everybody wants the V8 if they are going to go through the trouble of restoring it. Just my opinions, I don't have any actual numbers to back it up.

d

I'll disagree there, the Cobra II was a "youth/performance" market car, so I'd bet the 2.3 was relatively uncommon, as opposed to the rest of the II lineup. The registry numbers over at .net tend to bear this out with 20 2.3 CBs, 71 2.8, and 506 5.0 cars.

Personally, I've never seen nor even heard of anybody (face to face) that had/has seen a 2.3 Cobra II.


I would agree, however that the 302 cars are more likely to be collected, or others converted to V8, at the least.

 

[dmoody]

The entire registry on the .net site is less than 2500 cars. That is hardly an accurate sampling of the hundreds of thousands that were actually produced. As an owner of a II, I'm doubtful I would have been pulled into restoring the car, registering it, participating in the forums, etc had it not been a V8. Therefore I feel non-V8 cars would be less likely to be registered on the .net site and more likely to be junked, crushed, used as donor cars, etc. Again I have no numbers but I feel using the .net site's registry information generates a skewed result.

d

 

[69stang351]

Bad news, and Good news...

First the Bad News...

I couldn't find a buck tag on the car because a P.O. had replaced the rad. support with some fabbed up plastic peice of garbage... the sides are still there and I found some tiny little tag on the rad. but nothing significant was stamped on it...

Now the Good News...

I went up to my local Ford dealership and am having them check out the VIN and Body Code numbers to see if it is in fact a Cobra II, updates to follow, I'm off to the dealer again...

 

[69stang351]

OK here is what i found out...

Basically jackcrap about the car!! The dealership coulnd't find out anything about it being a cobra or not so I don't know what to do!! I want to say it is because of the stripes are original and the scoop and fin on the car along with the interior door panels...

But then i cant find the buck tag on the rad. support that says it is and the dealership guys cant find anything from the body code that tells me anything... so i'm at a loss....

Please help...

 

[THE COBRAMAN]

dmoody:
I realize the sample is small, but I just don't think that many 4 cyl Cobra IIs were sold. If that were the case, many of us "older" folks would be saying "oh yeah, 4 cyls were everywhere".

That's just not my experience, although I may be an isolated case.

69stang351:
IF the buck tag is gone, get in touch with the customer assistance center at Ford. They can send you a "history 999" report that will tell you how the car was originally equipped, though there have been some discrepancies from time to time. I believe the reports are generated from IBM punchcards codes, so there is some room for error.

 

[69stang351]

Well, I just found some important news online doing research of my own. By the Doortag, this mustang II was built in San Jose, and in San Jose they apparently do things a bit differently than in Dearborn. In Cali they put the bucktag on the bottom of the rad. support, not the top like in Dearborn, and the code for cobra in san jose is CBR, in dearborn it is CB. Well, I'm off to the dealer to take a look around for this bucktag and find out all info, if any that i can. I will be back in about an hour to post the info I have found out.

 

[Blue coyote]

Ya know, it seems to me that you should buy this II. You obviously like it, and it really doesn't matter if its a "true" Cobra unless you intend on restoring it to factory original for car show purposes.

Even with the little 4-banger these cars are cool. And there's always the option of an engine/tranny swap

 

[69stang351]

OK OK ill admit, i have grown a liking to them over the few years i have had experience with them... they are cool little cars... ill give you that.

Here is the Great News!!

I just got back from the dealership and I agreed to trade my '88 honda accord (ps) thats the Peice of Shat edition... lol for the '76 COBRA II... yes thats right, i said '76 COBRA II with a four cyl (2.3L) original from factory, nothting changed, never raped all original car!! I seal the deal on wed. after i get my stereo out of the honda and diff. tires on cuz they are still studs...

Anyway, thanks everyone for all your help and knowledge in trying to find out if this is a genuine cobra II... I guess we all learned a little something about them today... well i have to head up to Newport, WA to pick up my title so I can trade her in... signing off for now...

 

[Blue coyote]

Congrats man. Even a 4-banger II is a giant step up from a Honda! I still can't wait to find the parts I need to get my beast back on the road (been stored for over ten years now)

 

[77sleeper]

cool, if the car is in good shape the 2.3 is a good base and was produce in large numbers for aftermarket support

Hey Darryl, you still got that 350hp 2.3?