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II for the Road
story by Teresa T. Vickery
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When the Mustang II hit the market, the motoring public seemed ready to accept a smaller more economical version of a popular Ford product. The scare over gasoline shortages, rising insurance rates, and growing saftey concerns mad Ford's timing of the 1974 pony seemingly perfect. Sales for that first year were excellent. But it didn't take long for the intial attraction to wear off for many consumers. Even though the cars were becoming more refined in many areas, they were generally underpowered and didn't always deliver the savings per mile as advertised. By 1976, sales had dropped dramatically.
However, the Mustang II did continue to appeal to a number of new-car buyers, including Bob McLaughlin of Aloha, Oregon. Bob was driving a 1969 Cougar at the time he noticed television ads for the Cobra II. Having never owned a new car before, he decided that a 1976 Cobra II should have the honor.
Black and gold was the color combination of choice since it reminded Bob of the Shelby GT 350H. The Cobra II side stripes, snake fender decals and hood scoop presented a respectable performance appearance. To go along with that image Bob opted for the 320 four-speed combo.
This was a new breed of 302, which was not bad for the time but was nothing like its ancestors. Plus, after a few thousand miles, Bob discovered a very annoying problem with the engine - it began to ping. "I had the vehicle in the shop 11 times the first year I owned the car trying to solve this problem. All Ford did was issue a field change to change the timing from 8 degrees TDC to 4 degrees TDC. All this did was make the car idle a little rougher. When I complained to the dealer I purchased it from they told me 'that's just the way they run.'"
It wasn't until 1983 when a solution presented itself by way of friend Gary Devoll who had read an article in Popular Mechanics on how to solve the pinging dilemma. This article indicated that the "fix" would also increase performance by 30 to 40 horespower. Bob was more than willing to give it a try.
"Gary installed a new Crane cam, lifters, a new all-steel timing gear, Blackjack headers, Holley Street Dominator 4V intake manifold and Holley four-barrel carburetor which was later changed to a Carter 8005 modified to a model 4150. He set the Carter up the following way - on the primary side main jet 632, power valve 6.5, pump cam, orange #1, pump shooter .031, pump-spring 1/2 inche, float bowl 3/16 inch. On the secondaries he used main jet 68, float bowl 7/32 inch, secondary idle 1/4 turn, diaphragm sping plain. This greatly increased the engine power and increased highway mileage from 21 mpg to 22 mpg. I've been very happy with the way the car runs now for the past 17 years with no pinging!"
An odd series of events, such as the removal of a hood stripe by the dealership in 1977 without the owner's permission, eventually led to a repaint in 1981 when coworker Jon Donner, who restores sports cars and had shot only lacquer at that point, wanted to try his hand at enamel. Dupont Centurian Black was chosen for this particular application. Bob assisted by wet sanding the primer and topcoat. Two weeks and 40 man-hours later, a freshened Cobra was ready for the road.
Through the years additional changes have been made to the sloped-roof Mustang but not to the extent of drastically changing its personality. (Bob is quick to point out that the original Cobra II package remains intact)> Creature comfort has been enhanced with the addition of a factory console and AM/FM cassette stereo while additional performance upgrades include replacing the original 3/4-inch front anti-way bar with a one-inch version and adding a one-inch rear anti-sway bar from Quickor Suspensions, dual exhaust with a new catalytic converter and twin turbo mufflers and pipes, and new valve guide seals and stronger valve springs.
Starting with a very basic mid '70s-style performance package, Bob has carefully and methodically recreated the Cobra II to suit his tastes and needs. In fact, he so admires the misunderstood second generation Mustangs that he has restored a white and blue Cobra II equipped with the 2.8 V6 engine.
Perhaps the best compliment possible for this striking black beauty, however, is when Bob told us, "I'm enjoying it more and more as the years go by."
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