Project COBRA'33

This project starts with a all steel original 1933 Ford 2-door Sedan. We have owned this car for several years, somewhere around 40 to be exact. Since the summer of 1970 the car has been sitting in the side stable of our barn, on a dirt floor just waiting for someone to show it some attention.

My father bought the car just shortly after I came along, he traded in his working '34 Dodge Coupe for this non-working '33 Sedan. According to my father, the reason behind the trade was to get a car big enough for all of us to ride in together. Well the intentions were good, but life caught up with them and the bills of rearing children prevented anything being done to the car with the exception of keeping it covered and safe. Long ago my father passed the car along to me, knowing he would never be able to restore it to the condition he once dreamed about it being in.

This leads us to where we are today. Times have changed and hard work has allowed us to begin the restoration of the '33. It all started with the building of our new shop, it allowed us the space to begin such a project. The whole undertaking was done with the car in mind, and we pretty much built the new shop to accommodate the car, and possibly a few future cars as well.

The car now resides in our new shop. We removed it from the barn on October, 1 2006, a very special day. After some much needed clean-up we removed the front and rear fenders, engine, seats, running boards and anything else that was attached to the car and looked like it needed replacement. The plan is to remove the car from it's frame, and sell the original frame and the running gear, along with the flat head V8 engine. The running gear is in good condition, but the engine has a crack in the block, something that is rather common I'm told. I will list the frame with all it's supporting hardware on E-bay the first weekend on the new year, 2007.

This picture shows the car up on the 2-post lift being torn apart. The rear fenders and running boards are still on, but I believe the rest is all ready taken off. The car is in surprisingly good shape, the frame doesn't have one bad spot on it, and could easily be used to build another street rod. I like the fact that they double framed the front section, from the center of the X-member forward, it really add some strength. The car has it's original 4-speed transmission and rear end, both in very good shape.

This is the way the inside looks. Not great but very complete, the dash is in very good condition and the ash tray is even there.

I took this shot before I removed all the stuff attached to the fire wall. Notice what is left of the original wooden floor board. The dash will be an easy fix, I'm going to use Dokota Digital's 33-34 full dash kit, which will fit right into the original dash inset (on the left where the spedo is), there will also be a insert for the glove box door and where the ash tray is. It will be all polished aluminum and will really brighten up the inside. Dokota

You can see from the insert, the panels are made to custom fit the '33 dash.

This is the rear section of the inside of the car, the rear seat has been removed and only the arm rest remain. The car will get an all new floor, so in the new one the access hole over the rear end will not be there. There is obviously a lot of work to do, but it is in good shape to start with.

Your looking right down the middle of the Ford. This shot shows where someone before us converted the car over to hydraulic brakes, as they were purely mechanical stock. I have since removed the twin master cylinders, throttle pedal, electrical solenoid and assorted brake and gas lines shown in the picture.

Here it is the BIG news for the 1933 Ford, the famous FLAT HEAD V8. It's a very compact engine as you can see, even with the Bell housing still attached! We have all the pieces for the motor, as well as the manifold and carburetor, they will be listed on E-bay as well come the new year.

Some Pictures of Other '33's I Have Collected.....

A Collection Of Interior Shots.....