Here Are some things to remember when tearing down the Donor

- If you are planning to build your cobra according to the manual then your donor selection is critical. The manual says that $3,000 is a reasonable price, but I think a logical price is about half-that.  My donor cost $1500 delivered from Connecticut Mustang Ltd and it seems perfect. Some things needed replacement but for the most part it is a clean and nearly rust free car. Don't get frustrated that you can't find a reasonable donor. Check autotrader.com and look in your local classifieds under a rebuildables section. The more time you spend finding a good donor, the less trouble and time wasted in your build. Ask yourself this. Do you really want to be dealing with your donor parts when you are building your cobra? 

 - Plan on getting very dirty. I did my teardown in the middle of winter in an unheated barn so I ruined a lot of layers of clothing. Get some good hand cleaner and nail brushes to get the grease out of your fingernails. 

- Before you start  the teardown get some good penetrating oil. I used the cheap stuff from wal-mart and it was invaluable. Before you start on any bolt spray it down. I actually sprayed every visible bolt on the car before I started so the oil had a long time to seep into the threads. When it comes time to removing the bolt it will be a little easier. 

- Make sure you have a socket set with small and large size metric, inch, and torx bits.  I used two cheap sets from wal-mart and  I only broke two sockets during the entire teardown. The one thing you will want to spend money on is a long socket breaker bar. I suppose you could use a pole attached to a normal socket but either way I think the teardown is impossible without one (at least the suspension teardown). The physics behind this one is that torque equals the amount of force times the length of the lever arm (socket wrench). So with a long bar you use less force to free the bolt. I'm a strong guy, but without the bar, I would have never freed some of the stuck suspension and body bolts. 

- Make sure you take a break whenever you get frustrated. When you come back you will be more relaxed and do a better job. 

- don't destroy pieces just because they get in the way. Your trash is valuable to other people, and they are willing to pay lots of money for your pieces. I made  $302.21 on pieces that I don't need. If you have an un-stripped car with body panels, a hatch, and interior, and a hood,  you can make a lot more. That just about covers the cobra valve covers and intake plaque I'm going to buy!