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Old 09-08-2011, 01:50 AM
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PANAVIA PANAVIA is offline
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Jose CA, CA
Cobra Make, Engine: SPF_R_/BRG/FRBoss302/327CI/FordEFI/Under_Car_Exh/
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The suspension pieces were cleaned and painted, and the rivets drilled out of body panels. insulation removed and urethane sliced, chewed and tugged.

We learned several things about the car in the process, empty fuel tanks are in fact flotation devices, and fiberglass is great for boats , or in my case , a submarine.



With all the items we had removed that were damaged and beyond repair , I was wondering -- Have we bitten off more than we can chew>? - we are re-manufacturing the car essentially , can we do this where we do not have wide access to parts.

I put a few calls in, and there were some things that we just couldn't get. Some of the items reconditioning cost was significant. - or alternately we could make them.

but then at a dark hour, I received a call from a friend , Dennis Peck of Dynamic. I had asked him if he knew of any dealers that had stock of Gen 1 Daytona parts that they would let go cheap, as the car was obsolete -- afterall - the CSX9000 car was already on sale !

Dennis had called with something better, - a customer of his, had Built a Daytona , but had personalized it to his tastes and had several key items that were "stock" with 140 Miles on them -

Key items such as wheels and tires, seats, seatbelts, many , many items. -

I contacted the gentleman and we started a discussion, that discussion continues today - more on that later.

Fortunate for me the Fellow Daytona owner was in LA - only 400 miles away, so on a Sunday night, My Toyota Tundra and I tuned the XM radio to the classic rock channel -and we went to Hollywood.

The owner was very fastidious in his caring and keeping of the parts, and this was terrific compared to some of the Mustang Parts buying events we had been on, - a convertible 69 Cougar we went to buy comes to mind -that actually had a tree growing through it, when we got there. -- details ...details.

Wheels & Tires , Seats, Seat-Belts, lenses , light fixtures, brackets, exhaust parts - all aboard Tundra Air Freight , Destination; San Jose.

This was the first boost in mid-project that was getting bigger and its scope widening to a point that we were faced with so much that was unobtainium, that I wondered if we would be able to source and reconstruct it to what I had hoped. this helped a great deal, as we now had seats with rails that worked, wheels that were not ruined by salt and grime ----

Now it was a ballgame.

Once we had the complete frame and chassis cleaned and we began work on core suspension reassembly, it started to look like a car again, and that it s key point in any project like this, you keep going down , down , the depths of deconstruction , - can we make it back from here, can we make this better, -- where the H@*# did this come from>?

Luckily, we had access to Friends and a digital camera , the second is immeasurably helpful in reconstruction of this type, - the first is "Double-That".

Since we had taken all the insulation out of the car, and it was a bare internal shell for a Cabin, - we had a clean slate to work with.

Many People look at the superformance cars, high tech cars, and think of them as a finished product. They are in fact, completed to a point. When you get your Cobra , GT40 or Daytona roller, it is factory built and they are making constant updates to the product, most of which is based on supply chain. - if they can get something and it is of good quality and of reasonable pricing, - it will be included. If something becomes unobtainum , then changes are made. -

I look at them as a clean slate, and my slate was cleaned with Simple Green and Laquer Thinner.

I wanted a coupe that would be able to cruise to Las Vegas and back, to Vintage motoring events, Gumball , Europe - wherever !

There has to be a celebration in Rheims for Bondo's victory in 65. - this coupe was to be built to make the journey. -- Time to get to work.

I had been introduced to many a coupe owner, most over the internet via email. - all of them with Stories about when the Daytona dream zip-tied itself to their brain, and they were helpless in its wake, the Datytona Dream is all encompassing, all enrapturing.

-- it is a different level of auto-intoxication.

-more pictures tomorrow, and into the Differences in the Gen1, vs the Gen2. Coupes!

Steve
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Last edited by PANAVIA; 09-08-2011 at 02:02 AM..
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