My "New" Unique 289 FIA hits the street

[mbenoit]

Gents - I have been monitoring Unique forums for quite awhile and have finally gotten my car running. One might think I am the world's slowest builder - I bought the car in Sept 1998. If it hadn't been for two wars, a marriage, a child, a couple of moves and the numerous other challenges of life in general, I might have gotten to this point sooner... Alright - enough of the philosophy already. Here are the pertinent details.

As stated, this is a 289 FIA (with the hard top), and I opted to put a 5.0 from a 1995 Mustang in it. Note to self and others - the '95 motor is a bit of a pain in the keester to work with. It took numerous mods to get something that would work. For future reference, the '86 to '93 year groups are much easier to work with. I paired the motor to a 1989 computer and so far it seems to be working out. I am taking the car to a speed shop here in town tomorrow to have the computer "tweaked" just right. Along the way, I have encountered numerous engineering problems like how to remove the Jag swingarms without removing the body or going through wild acrobatics. I removed them with a puller I made so I could have the rearend narrowed 3 inches. Another was to install an air conditioning unit behind the dash - Why? Florida car with a hardtop. To do that, I sectioned the cowl hoop, lowered the tranny tunnel and built a new dash with a "podded" center section to house the gauges. The list of mods goes on thanks to some of the tips I got off the forum.

I took a couple of pictures from the shakedown run and I will post some of them. After I took the pictures, I noticed something curious - the apex of the front left wheelwell opening sits about 1.25 inches lower than the same on the right side. I verified the same coilover lengths and the body seems to be square on the chassis. This was verified by checking the gap between the framerails/front inner-wheel wells and the bottom line of the cowl in ralation to the lower radiator mount. All appears to be square (insofar as a fiberglass body can be square), yet still I have a noticeable difference. I know peter had a similar problem with the rear of his 289 FIA. Anybody else had the same issue? Please measure and let me know...

Anyway, I love the heavy steering, brakes and clutch. In a sick way, it reminds me of the tractors on the farm but much, much faster - even with a sub-optimal computer setup. This is very much a man's car.

[Brent]

The car looks good!

If you click the search button and look at past posts about ride height, alignment, and shocks/spring, etc. you will find quite a few about wheel well to tire differences from side to side almost always in the front. A "split the differrence" approach to the shock length,ride height, spring adj., should get it close to the same.

Have fun

[Naumoff]

Any pics of the engine and interior?

Car looks good.

1.25" off? Sounds like an original Cobra.

[souzape]

Before you get too far down the road chasing this problem you should realize that some of the "appendages" on these cars may not be symetrical from side to side. This has nothing to do with the Weavers or their product but rather the fact that when the original cars were built much of the bodywork, especially on the race cars was done by eye/hand.... no fancy laser body alignment or expensive body jigs but rather english wheels, mallets and sandbags. I can only assume that the Unique mold was pulled off an original car which readily explains why the front and rear flares are not necessarily mirror images of each other (mine is the same as what you describe). Be much more concerned with frame alignment. The Unique frame is outstanding and should prove to be very square. The body is typical reflection 1950s/60s vintage British hand craftsmanship.

[mbenoit]

Car runs pretty well now. Car dyno'd out at 259 hp estimated at flywheel and 200 hp at rear wheels. It won't send me into orbit but the car is still pretty damn fast. Not too shabby considering it is a bone stock '95 motor with 225 hp stock. Maybe a cam upgrade in the future...I have posted a picture of the engine bay.

When I measured the body I kinda had to laugh - not at the craftsmanship but about the stories you all have mentioned about the old AC bodies. I guess if anybody asks, I'll just say I meant for it to be that way - just like the originals.

Here is what the dash looks like. Its design is part AC Superblower and part Mustang. The purists out there are probably hatin' it but the idea was to get a A/C unit behind the dash. The construction of the dash itself was pretty easy. The controls for the A/C unit were a little more difficult. I made them to match the guages and cast the knobs out of epoxy resin. As can be seen, the interior is sans carpet right now. I am moving to Alabama in June for school so if anybody knows a good upholsterer in the vicinity of Montgomery, I could use the info. I am hoping to see you all at homecoming as well.

[JeepSnake]

Just adjust the spring up till you get them looking even. Take a look at Juan's car - nice gap between the tire & fender lip on both sides. Ours is so close you can't tell unless you walk side to side several times with a finely calibrated eye. When we got the car, you couldn't see the top of the front left tire.

In other words, it can be worked out. And no, it won't screw up the handling - IF you get the front end correctly aligned afterward.

(Now, I just want the adjustable springs/shocks to go on the back!)

Hey - those engine numbers are fine. You should have a dead-reliable setup, and it should be great as far as driveability goes. The factory cam in those motors seems to make plenty of off-idle torque. That makes the difference in a car that you want to drive a lot, and one that you dread getting caught at traffic lights with.

[Aggressor]

Even though I consider myself somewhat a purist, you have produced a rather handsome dash design. You have a fine looking vehicle.

And it has "Air" ....That's Really Cool. When traveling out of state for 2 hours to attend a car show it's fun to ride alfresco in the cool morning air. Returning after 6-7 hours on a hot/sticky show field would be nice with a little air conditioning.

-Geary

[ralphscott]

Nice dash really well thought out. Don't worry about the HP you have plenty, and reliability. Welcome to the South!

Ralph

[will butterworth]

good to me , if you like it, we love it, welcome to Alabama--unemployment is --oh about 3.1percent and in the two,s in some counties, if you don,t have a job we,ll get you one. Air cond.---fine down here on one of those hot muggy summer days. Come. Will-alabama

[mbenoit]

Thanks all for the positive feedback. Will - fortunately I will not be needing a job. Uncle Sam and our nemesis Bin Laden have assured me of a job for some time to come. I am looking forward to getting back to the South. My wife is from Mobile, AL and I was stationed at Hurlburt Field in Fort Walton Beach for 8 years. I'm not exactly looking forward to the sweltering heat again though.

[JeepSnake]

My wife's family is across the bay in Spanish Fort. She grew up near Malbis, and was in the first graduating class at Daphne High School.

Talk about an area that you can't recognize from one trip to the next due to the development!

[Slither]

And it has "Air" ....That's Really Cool.

-Geary

Ya Geary, literally!!

Even though it is not vintage, I think it looks great. Nice job.

[spd4me]

I had same height issue with my FIA. After adjusting right spring all the way down and the left all the way up, it still wasn't enough. I left the 10" high 320 lbs spring on the right and put a 11" high 300 lbs on left. This really helped to even tire to fender distance. I do rember studing spring heights and weights so both springs compressed the same amount with car weight.

[Mike Geddes]

You did a great job on that dash....maybe you'll do mine and put the A/C in also.
I think you will be more than satisfied with the 5.0 engine you have.
I've been running a 5.0 in my 427 model since 1992.....just love it for cruising and city driving.
I have it coupled to a 4 speed AOD transmission....runs 70MPH+ at 1800 RPM.

Gotta love those differences in body shape and clearance.
Yes, I have different clearances on the wheel arches, I also have doors that
are different sizes, the passenger side front fender has more 'bulge' to it than
the driver side and one headlamp is 1 inch lower than the other.
The more you look the more you find, you will probably not find two identicle
curves on the whole body.
But you have a Cobra.......have fun.
Mike