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Daytona Coupe, 289 and 427 Cobras
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Daytona Coupe Cobra -
Chassis
The chassis itself is a ladder style with 3 inch diameter main rails and fabricated plate spring towers front and rear. The chassis is identical to the original except that the main rails are a made of a heavier gauge (.125 inch wall thickness) and a better grade of mild steel (DOM) material. The stiffening triangulation tubes are also authentic in size and placement. The following photo show early stages in the construction of the chassis.
As the chassis construction continued, a spare 289 motor and T10 transmission were installed to ensure that all the pieces fit. Although the basic chassis design is based on the ladder style design of the roadsters, there are three major distinguishing differences in the coupe chassis. First is that the motor and transmission were lowered approximately 1 inch in the chassis to improve handling. This required the 3 inch main chassis rails to be notched for pan and starter motor clearance. Second, the front and rear A arm mount on the chassis were completely boxed with additional reinforcing plates for improved strength. Third, the chassis was strengthened with the addition of numerous triangulation tubes running above the main chassis rails from the front spring mount tower to the rear spring tower. The next two photos show the beginnings of the triangulation tubing and the chassis notching required to lower the motor in the chassis.
The Daytona used a suspension setup identical to the 289 roadsters. The basic layout was a transverse leaf spring forming the upper suspension locating link and fabricated steel tube lower control arms for the lower links. Close inspection of the A arm mounts to the chassis shows that the reinforcing of the rear hanger is completed, while the front hanger has not yet been boxed. Wheels were mag style pin drive Halibrands, 6-1/2" x 15" fronts and 8-1/2" x 15" rears . The following photos show the basic layout of the front and rear assemblies.
