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Thanks for the warm welcome and all the advice. I've been somewhat consumed with thinking all this stuff through (even when I should have been working...). Rick, thanks for that thorough list - I've actually thought a number of those things through and a lot of my decisions were influenced by Peter at ERA. I'll list some of it here and then you can laugh at me later when I post completely different decisions (at least give me credit for knowing that). The color will be a deep red - haven't picked a specific color yet but will start looking around and getting a couple of paint codes. Waffling between white or silver stripes...white says "in your face" with stark contrast, whereas depending on the shade of silver/gray, the stripes can be classy or even understated. Engine - I tend to keep stuff for a long time (even my wife) so I'm thinking a 390 stroked to 431...maybe 445 won't be too radical, will talk to a few engine builders. Either way will give me plenty of torque. TKO600 5-speed tranny. I prefer acceleration rather than smoking the tires and will be driving twisties and some highway so will be looking for gearing accordingly. I've waffled back and forth about FI or carb, but will probably go old school there. Peter suggested the standard Jag rear end will be just fine and I'll go with 15" 5-pin wheels. Tires aren't as hard to find as a few posts have indicated. Side pipe ceramic coated exhaust unless I cave and spring for the stainless steel. Maybe some of you can help there - I've been told by a couple of guys that the stainless steel pipes don't sound nearly as good - "tinny". Peter insists that the sound has improved dramatically on the more recent stainless exhaust.
And Rick, I ride a Harley so know about getting caught in the rain so, yes, a soft top will be in the trunk for just those occasions. I can't tell you how many times there was a 40 - 50% chance of rain so I didn't ride and it never rained, leaving me to say "damn" at the end of the day. Have any of you tackled fitting the ERA softtop yourself? Looks doable but a bit painful. I think I could fit the top and get an upholstery shop to do the boot around the roll bar. Bad idea?
Anyway, thanks and I look forward to getting started...the car won't be ready until June/July so I have some time to make decisions and change them several times.
Kevin
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