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PART II
Who Says the Second Time Around is Easier?
by Shelby Cox
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We all have those stories of restoration wows on our (insert year here) Mustang; well, you have no reason to pout unless life throws a second-generation Mustang into your lap. We never realized how many trials and tribulations people go through until we came across Bob McLaughlin's latest restoration, this striking '76 Cobra II
Bob is no newbie to the restoration world. Last year we ran a story about Bob's '77 Black King Cobra II entitled "II Cool". During that time, Bob was working on this latest acquisition. He had found the II through his local Mustang association. The Mustang Wranglers of Oregon; a man was advertising the car for $800. The II had never been restored and the person selling it - he had traded in his '66 Mustang for the White Pony - was the original owner since 1976. Knowing that the car was not in drivable shape, Bob offered $250 for the Cobra, just enough to cover towing costs, and off he went into the sunset with the neglected Cobra.
Back at the shop, they assessed the damages. The list went a little something like this: thirty door dents on both sides, the engine had two low cylinders with oil leaks galore, the clutch had seen better days, the interior needed to be completely redone, and the beautiful blue stripes were, in Bob's words, "a maze of cracks." Bob did manage to find some good, though: The door stripes and those ubiquitous Cobra logos were still intact, plus all the original engine decals were preserved under all that oil.
Being a true Mustang II lover, Bob was determined to keep everything as original as possible. The engine was overhauled by Leo Hammers Auto Repair and Detailing Shop, then Johnny Trump accomplished the short-block overhaul and the block was cleaned. According to Bob, the biggest task was cleaning the car - twenty-four years of road grime takes a while to remove. Piece by piece, the V6, 2V was placed back into the car with new cam bearings, chrome moly rings, and brand new Federal Mogul rod bearings. The original pistons were cleaned up and still in awesome shape. A new Crane cam, push rods, and lifters topped off the rebuild.
The next daunting task was the interior. The Cobra originally came with the Cobra II package: Sterling Blue seats, rack-and-pinion power steering, front-disk brakes, and a four-speed transmission to run through. Bob decided to give the interior a little punch by adding a Moto Lita wood steering wheel with a late-model Cobra logo center horn button. One thing Bob found frustrating was looking for upholstery and carpeting to match the original made in 1976. but lo and behold, he stumbled across one of the largest distributors of discontinued car fabric companies in the U.S., SMS Auto Fabrics of Portland, Oregon. The had the original fabric to recover the worn seats. While the seats were getting the once-over by Ron Hapham of Scotty's Auto Upholstery, Bob was installing the carpet. He noticed the manufacturer cut the carpet short. Luckily, there was extra carpet sent and a splice was put into place with carpet tape.
Last, but definately not least, was the paint. Having gone through one paint job that was already blistering, Bob put the car in the careful hands of Ron Morfit of Jerry's Custom Paint in Gresham, Oregon. Since the original side stripes were on the II, Roan did an excellent job reworking the paint and recreating the Blue Le Mans racing strips over the top of the car. A lot of sanding and buffing later, the car was ready for the Northwest Mustang Round-Up in Bellevue, Washington. We weren't the only people impressed with this classic, because Bob and wife Vicki were rewarded for their hard work with a First Place in the Daily Driver '74-'78 division. We can't wait to see what your next project is, Bob.
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