Here's the two major "money pit" blunders on my Cobra build:
1) I bought a $3800 "racing" transmission from a shop who had a good reputation. Transmission had a one year warranty, but it was more than a year from when I bought it to when I had the car drivable. Transmission lasted 1 (yes ONE) mile before it lost reverse. Shop charged me $1500 for the rebuild, then it lasted another 5000 miles before it blew up again. Replaced it with a $300 used transmission that worked great and I never had trouble with
. Lesson learned - don't buy ANYTHING from Lentech!
2) "Saved" some money by having a local engine builder build my 408W. Engine had lots of power and ran well until I took it to the drag strip on a hot day. Blew up several pistons on the second run down the strip. On the tear down I discovered the pistons he installed gave me a 12.5:1 CR. I asked for 10:1. How I got 1500 miles on the engine using pump gas, I don't know. Engine builder was out of business by the time this happened.
Pete