Unless you are already an experienced fabricator, you will probably spend more by making the frame yourself. Most Cobra bodies are not interchangable with other companies frames and vice-versa. Then if you make the frame, you will probably spend more money altering the glass body to fit the frame for the reason mentioned above. In my opinion, you are already $200 in the hole for the plans. But don't worry, there hasn't been a build yet that doesn't have $200 in wrong spending yet. I myself am selling a toploader that won't work for my application because it seemed like a good idea at the time (more than $200 also
).
As for your $50K idea of funding, you don't have to cut any corners to get a beautiful Cobra anyway. If you really want to do the build, look at Unique on the affordable side and ERA on the top side of your budget. If you want a Cobra quick, there are many great choices in the re-sale market under $50K, and you let someone else take the initial hit on depreciation if you shop right.
Welcome to the crazy world of Cobra options and decisions
P.S. If you search in the "Progress reports" section of the Backdraft Racing site
www.backdraftracing.com you will see a couple of cars that are Black with Bronzemist stripe. Really a sharp color combo.