We're finally to a point that I think it would be good to start a build log for CSX2410 restoration which is being completed by Vintage Motorcar Company in Inwood, WV. I will give fair warning, but I tend to get very heavy into the details so the posts will be long, but hopefully informative. The whereabouts of this car have been unknown by the Cobra community since 1972, during which time it has been owned and stored by my father in law. In July 2021 after quite a bit of discussion with my wife and him, we unearthed the car to determine a path forward to bring it back to it's former glory. In general, the car has been sitting since he pulled the car home on October 3rd, 1973 behind his Mercury Cougar until September 28, 2021 when VMC came to pickup the car to start the restoration.
The plan for the car is to restore it back to original Shelby America specification at a concourse level. We plan to restore as much of the original parts as possible, utilizing NOS or original used parts where possible, and then when needed using or making reproduction parts scrutinizing details and modifying when necessary.
If you have spare original parts which you might be interested to sell with the intent for them to be used in the correct rebuild of a CSX2000 series car, please contact me.
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History
CSX2410 was originally Princess Blue with Red Interior and Class "A" Accessories to include white side wall tires and luggage rack, antifreeze, radio, and antenna
- 1964, September 18 – Invoiced to Universal Motor Co, Richmond, VA
- 1965, June – Universal Motor Co wrote to Shelby America asking for help selling a Cobra which they had in inventory since October and requested tax refund similar to being offered on other Ford vehicles.
- 1965 – An unknown original purchaser, a doctor who only briefly owned the vehicle before realizing a Cobra wasn't the car for him
- 1965 – William Currence Jr traded a 1966 GTO plus cash to the original owner for the car
- 1966 – Car involved in minor fender bender, repainted Guardsman Blue during repair
- 1967, Late – The car was wrecked causing significant damage ruining the body and ultimately being the last time the car was driving
- *unknown events, was potentially sold amongst family and friends of William Currence Jr as noted by William*
- 1971, October 15 – Title reissued back to William Currence Jr
- 1972, August 19 – Purchased by Samuel Peoples Jr for $2600. Condition at time of purchase was non-running, fairly complete with fiberglass body. After owning the car for about a year, and only removing the fiberglass body, engine, and trans, Sam had decided the car was going to be a significant amount of work and didn't have the time amongst other projects.
- 1973, October 3 – Current owner purchased the car from Samuel Peoples Jr from an ad in the Aliquippa newspaper for $3,000. The car was flat towed home behind the new owners Mercury Cougar back home.
- *The car was moved between home garages and then placed in an enclosed trailer in the late 1990s*
- 2021, July 4 – CSX2410 was uncovered from its storage place in an enclosed trailer where it had sat for the last ~23 years. Initial investigation and inventory pictures taken to embark on a restoration.
- 2021, September 28 – After reviewing several shops, the car was picked up by John Bassler and the team at Vintage Motorcar Company to start the restoration
During the time while CSX2410 was roadworthy, some modifications were made to include Shelby America Belanger drag race headers and rear Koni Special D Shocks (March 1965 date code). With these modifications, William Currence Jr regularly auto-crossed the car around WV.
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Initial State
While the body is missing, the car is disassembled, and the panels look rough, CSX2410 has maintained a significant portion of its original components and hardware. Luckily, as parts were removed in the late 60s, whoever disassembled did a fairly good job of reinstalling or tying parts together to keep that hard to find original British hardware with components.
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The engine long block documents as original to the car, including correct 1964 C4OE-B cylinder heads and C5OE-9425-A intake. It still features it's original sheetmetal oil pan with hap-hazard oil temp sensor installed with brazing. Most accessories are still with the car including the 3623S fuel pump with Eelco elbow, distributor, ignition coil, and others.
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November 11th Update
Through early November, Vintage Motorcar Company has fully disassembled the car, inventoried parts, walnut shell blasted the frame, and sprayed a quick primer coat to protect it.
CSX2410 frame sitting next to CSX2125
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Part of the reason for our selection of VMC is their organization and detail. Each part is bagged and tagged to not just include the where the part goes, but important details like thread type and dimensions.
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A few spots have been found and cleaned up with original Princess Blue paint for sample to mix from.
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Wow! What a project! Best of luck.
Thank you for sharing the process !!please keep pictures coming !!
Looks like a great project!
Question - any history on the photo showing the 1968 Cougar XR-7 towing the Cobra chassis? Looking at the cars in the driveways across the street it appears there is a 1969 Pontiac GTO next to a 1975 - ish Pontiac LeMans four door sedan. The Cougar is wearing larger than stock tires and wheels and is sporting 6.5 Litre emblems on the fender, indicating a 390 engine.
Very exciting!
An actual car thread on the forum. Its a Christmas miracle.
Look forward to following your progress
Quote from: Royce Peterson on December 22, 2021, 11:33:31 AM
Looks like a great project!
Question - any history on the photo showing the 1968 Cougar XR-7 towing the Cobra chassis? Looking at the cars in the driveways across the street it appears there is a 1969 Pontiac GTO next to a 1975 - ish Pontiac LeMans four door sedan. The Cougar is wearing larger than stock tires and wheels and is sporting 6.5 Litre emblems on the fender, indicating a 390 engine.
The picture is from Oct 3rd 1973 when my FiL purchased the car. The picture was taken and provided to us by Sam Peoples who he had purchased the car from. It's at Sams house at the time in Aliquippa, PA so the cars across are his neighbors who he mentioned were into cars as well. He believes he has video of the car being pulled away and is still on the hunt for it.
I will have to ask my FiL on the Cougar, but from our past discussion he honestly doesn't remember too much about the car. He has a very sharp memory, but the Cougar at the time for him was his "regular" car. He purchased the Cougar to be able to stop putting the miles on his 1968 GT500 which he was the original owner on and still owns today (will start a complete different thread on that car at some point, but it needs full restoration).
Willing to provide any technical information I can on the GT500 restoration.
www.thecoralsnake.com
I very much enjoyed talking with you and your family about the car before you had it sent to the restoration shop. And meeting the both of you at the Shelby Cars & Coffee! I hope any advice I gave will help.
I too will eagerly watch this restoration!
Dan Reiter
Lehigh Valley PA Region
December 22nd Update
One thing that will probably never stop is the continuous searching and sourcing of original correct parts. Quite a few key pieces that were missing have been sourced, with the most critical being the body which was ordered through David Kirkham and is currently en-route across the Atlantic.
A few other parts so far include a spare Motorola 324-TC which will be used along with a Cobra radio purchased from Dave Wagner to ensure we have a working original accessory. While the radio is basically useless, it does offer and interesting talking point and was originally optioned to the car.
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We were lucky to locate a spare C3OF-12127-D distributor with matching date code 3MB to our original which had been found by someone who purchased a storage unit at auction. This particular distributor looks to have seen very little use and still had its original FoMoCo cap installed.
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While the bigger work of frame and body repair is being completed, we're working concurrently to start the restoration of some of the smaller accessories to have them ready during reassembly. One of the first items is the gauges. 2410 was missing its speedometer and had an incorrect oil pressure gauge installed, but all other gauges remained. A NOS Stewart Warner D-353-Z oil pressure sender and a spare Stewart Warner D-362-N temp sender were sourced to complete the full package. As you can see in the picture a comparison of the original 362-Y versus the replacement 362-N temp sender. The steel nut 362-Y are near impossible to find and while we have both originals from oil and coolant temp for 2410, the oil temp sender has been damaged and while we navigate its repair we wanted to ensure we have a backup plan. The 362-N sender with slight modification can be made to appear and operate the same as original.
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Quote from: Coralsnake on December 22, 2021, 11:51:23 AM
Willing to provide any technical information I can on the GT500 restoration.
www.thecoralsnake.com
The GT500 is going to have to wait at least a year. The positives on its side is that it's 1 owner, fully complete, and ran when parked in the mid-70s with 34k miles on it. The downside is that it wasn't stored well during that time and will require at least the front floor pans replaced based on very initial assessment at the body condition level. In the end, we would like to complete a concourse restoration with it as it has the completeness and condition to properly do so but taking it on concurrently with the Cobra just isn't feasible.
Quote from: Cobrask8 on December 22, 2021, 11:52:36 AM
I very much enjoyed talking with you and your family about the car before you had it sent to the restoration shop. And meeting the both of you at the Shelby Cars & Coffee! I hope any advice I gave will help.
I too will eagerly watch this restoration!
Dan Reiter
Lehigh Valley PA Region
Dan, unfortunately missed you when we stopped through at the Lehigh Valley show in September, but I know he enjoyed catching up at the Cars and Coffee. We will definitely keep in touch, and if you remember keep him in the loop on local events and gatherings and I'm sure he'd enjoy getting more active in the club.
Much appreciated. The timeline would make it more likely to be a brand new 1974 Pontiac LeMans four door (photo from the web attached). I was guessing Aliquippa based on your earlier post.
Quote from: fastpace on December 22, 2021, 11:42:03 AM
Quote from: Royce Peterson on December 22, 2021, 11:33:31 AM
Looks like a great project!
Question - any history on the photo showing the 1968 Cougar XR-7 towing the Cobra chassis? Looking at the cars in the driveways across the street it appears there is a 1969 Pontiac GTO next to a 1975 - ish Pontiac LeMans four door sedan. The Cougar is wearing larger than stock tires and wheels and is sporting 6.5 Litre emblems on the fender, indicating a 390 engine.
The picture is from Oct 3rd 1973 when my FiL purchased the car. The picture was taken and provided to us by Sam Peoples who he had purchased the car from. It's at Sams house at the time in Aliquippa, PA so the cars across are his neighbors who he mentioned were into cars as well. He believes he has video of the car being pulled away and is still on the hunt for it.
I will have to ask my FiL on the Cougar, but from our past discussion he honestly doesn't remember too much about the car. He has a very sharp memory, but the Cougar at the time for him was his "regular" car. He purchased the Cougar to be able to stop putting the miles on his 1968 GT500 which he was the original owner on and still owns today (will start a complete different thread on that car at some point, but it needs full restoration).
Quote from: Coralsnake on December 22, 2021, 11:33:42 AM
Very exciting!
An actual car thread on the forum. Its a Christmas miracle.
Look forward to following your progress
Let's hold hands and sing!
Very very cool.
Question: The car was heavily damaged in an accident and wound up with a fiberglass body.
Any details on who the manfacturer was and how was it fitted to the existing structure?
the 1965 trade by Willian Currence jr for the cobra, i assume the GTO was a pontiac and not a ferrari!?
Quote from: 68countrysedan on December 22, 2021, 01:33:17 PM
Very very cool.
Question: The car was heavily damaged in an accident and wound up with a fiberglass body.
Any details on who the manfacturer was and how was it fitted to the existing structure?
We believe the body is likely made by Allied. The body was purchased in the late 60s/early 70s and so far they're the only ones I have heard had made fiberglass bodies at the time. I had someone reach out who had been in contact with the person who originally made them, and only 3 were made and they had located 2 of them. This would line up as well since Allied was in Pennsylvania which is in the couple hundred mile radius of where the car has spent its whole life.
The body was never fully fitted, just rested on top of the structure. We still have the body and its in very good shape considering its age. The fiberglass is much thinner and more pliable than the bodies made today. At some point, we will get around to it and will plan to list the body for sale or otherwise it will be turned to garage art to go with the story of the car.
Quote from: EdwardGT350 on December 22, 2021, 02:00:35 PM
the 1965 trade by Willian Currence jr for the cobra, i assume the GTO was a pontiac and not a ferrari!?
Yes, Pontiac GTO. Bill was active military at the time and also owned a Semi-comp and a 427 street during the late 60s/early 70s. He no longer owns any of the cars, but have been discussing with him to collect any information on any of the cars to be able assemble history for 2410 along with any current owners of the other cars.
I can understand why you would want to return it to "stock". I'd be SO tempted to put an FIA body on it.
I see the engine even has the Autolite carb on it!
I would need serious counseling. Maybe med's to stop me.
Like I said, "best of luck" on this one. ;)
Quote from: shelbydoug on December 22, 2021, 03:23:00 PM
I can understand why you would want to return it to "stock". I'd be SO tempted to put an FIA body on it.
I see the engine even has the Autolite carb on it!
I would need serious counseling. Maybe med's to stop me.
Like I said, "best of luck" on this one. ;)
If it was 20 years ago, there would have been a strong chance it would get an FIA body on it. However, today with the values it's really tough to make a major deviation from original. I also find it to be quite interesting and unique going to Princess Blue, red interior, silver wire wheels, street body, luggage rack, radio, and white side walls. It's how a lot of the cars were built and sold, but most know them for what they were quickly turned into as the track performers.
CSX2410 is not much different from the others during the time. You can see the picture from Bill Currence in 1968 which he had repainted to a darker Guardsman Blue (he commented he didn't like the light blue and a small fender bender turned into full repaint), removed the antenna, removed the luggage rack, removed the white walls, and installed drag race headers with cutouts out the side.
Congratulations and best wishes on your rebuild
Quote from: shelbydoug on December 22, 2021, 03:23:00 PM
I can understand why you would want to return it to "stock". I'd be SO tempted to put an FIA body on it.
Cobras (even Shelbys) have entered that realm where "day 2" is frowned upon in the clique of collectors where us great unwashed need not apply. To spend all the money making it personal would be a waste. It will cost the same or a little less to return it to Day 1 and it will bring more money. I'd even be sending the leather off those seats back to England. I've seen a guy on English restoration shows that works magic at saving old leather seats.
I have to agree though I too like the FIA body and have been tempted by the Factory 5 one which is as close as my wallet will get me.
I wonder how that body would fit on a FFR chassis.
Quote from: Cobrask8 on December 22, 2021, 08:46:05 PM
I wonder how that body would fit on a FFR chassis.
Early Allied, not very well, if at all. ;)
Bill
CSX2177 gained flares decades ago and then by the 80's cut back doors. The only thing they removed was the 4" Sebring side pipes which I will be putting back! I love the look of the USRRC/FIA body in a CSX2000 chassis and as you say the cost to remove those and return it to Day 1 would be a pretty penny, besides it had the Day 1 body for the first maybe 2 years of it's life before they started modifying it anyway The way I look at it is that it's been like this way longer then it was ever like Day 1 - that's why it's staying that way while I own and drive it!
Can you listen closely to that Motorola radio when you first hook it up and turn it on? I have always wondered if it would logically still have songs in it from when it was last used, or whether it would automatically revert to today's crap. :P
Quote from: Cobra Ned on December 23, 2021, 08:33:03 AM
Can you listen closely to that Motorola radio when you first hook it up and turn it on? I have always wondered if it would logically still have songs in it from when it was last used, or whether it would automatically revert to today's crap. :P
Ned,
In his local, religious, country, talk radio, and of course sports talk will be the dominant coming out of that speaker ;D
If still in PA, talk radio, religion, local college station sports, and lots of static in the greater "Water Gap" area. :o
Bill
As I am sure you are aware, a certain amount of the tubing on the front of that chassis does not belong.
Quote from: Cobra Ned on December 23, 2021, 08:44:15 AM
As I am sure you are aware, a certain amount of the tubing on the front of that chassis does not belong.
Yes, unfortunately at some point someone attempted to do some of their own repair work in preparation for mounting the fiberglass body and getting the car back on the road, which included some questionable welding and repairs.
Quote from: Cobra Ned on December 23, 2021, 08:33:03 AM
Can you listen closely to that Motorola radio when you first hook it up and turn it on? I have always wondered if it would logically still have songs in it from when it was last used, or whether it would automatically revert to today's crap. :P
Use of a radio makes some sense in that at least at a light you can listen to it but what does a luggage rack have to do with this car even remotely? I NEVER understood that unless it was like a Bill Kolb thing where you had to get his special package along with undercoating?
So far, I am enjoying the come-back story. I"'ll be watching.
Fascinating story and interesting that this Cobra sold new at Universal Ford here in Richmond.
My uncle, who was an aeronautical engineer at NASA (Langley Research Center, Hampton VA) from '57 until '88 was a big British sports car fan and drove to Richmond and test drove a new 289 Cobra.
He felt it was a bit "hairy" for him and settled on an MG, which he still had at the time of his passing in 2012.
Wonder how many 289 Cobras were sold new in Richmond?
- Phillip
Quote from: shelbydoug on December 23, 2021, 10:20:45 AM
Use of a radio makes some sense in that at least at a light you can listen to it but what does a luggage rack have to do with this car even remotely? I NEVER understood that unless it was like a Bill Kolb thing where you had to get his special package along with undercoating?
Surely you aren't suggesting that the Shelby organization would add options that weren't requested to raise the price of the cars, right? Those luggage racks had be specifically be deleted on the order form, otherwise they were included.
Quote from: Cobra Ned on December 23, 2021, 12:12:32 PM
Quote from: shelbydoug on December 23, 2021, 10:20:45 AM
Use of a radio makes some sense in that at least at a light you can listen to it but what does a luggage rack have to do with this car even remotely? I NEVER understood that unless it was like a Bill Kolb thing where you had to get his special package along with undercoating?
Surely you aren't suggesting that the Shelby organization would add options that weren't requested to raise the price of the cars, right? Those luggage racks had be specifically be deleted on the order form, otherwise they were included.
OF COURSE NOT! They would NEVER do that. They weren't hard up to make another $15 on the car!
STOP mentioning Shelby. It makes me automatically genuflect. My knees hurt.
What a cool project!Im jealous.....Enjoy! :D
Following!
What a story!!!
WV guy here from down in Charleston, great story and i will def be keeping this page open to stay up to date on it