78 Miles

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by DAVID GAGNARD

My point and I think Buzz's also is the fact that Tin-Man paid quite a bit of money for his dream car. I'm not going to look back 7 pages worth to find the numbers, but I remember it was "top dollar" to me anyway......
now to the issues:
loose screw in the distributor/will not start
pinched wire for the trans/rough shifting

seems like someone didn't do a quality install to me.........

problems with the computer controlled engine: Roush didn't do their homework on this,didn't do the needed testing before putting out a product, for the $$$$ spent on the engine alone, one would resonably expect it to run properly, at least I would......

I'm glad the vendors are taking care of the problems.But the question below was asked, and I answered and stand by my answer.....when spending top dollar on top shelf parts from top people in the business, one should/would expect the parts and pieces to perform as designed and advertised to do.....



Over the years I've done a full blown/ground up restoration on 4 cars, 2 being 65 Mustangs,one being a road racer car and didn't have the problems this car has had and I'm just a weekend guy working in my backyard shop....
After doing a total restoration on one 65 Fastback,including a transmission swap (from a toploader to a Tremec)( I had to fabricate my own bellhousing spacer and trans crossmember as there were no aftermarket items out there at that time) and building the engine and disc brake rear end, I put all of 50 miles on it before leaving on a 500 mile trip, that was in the mid 90's and I have had less trouble with that car (to date) since then, than Tin Man did in 78 miles......
Just saying.........

David

David, I agree, my expectation was the car would run. I can see how there would or could be some issues with donor build cars due just to the complexity of getting all things aligned, matched, machined, welded, assembled and all the necessary items that need sorting accomplished. Understand please, I am not taking anything away from the guys who put their heart and soul into their build, but merely putting things into perspective since these Cobra enthusiasts who have decided to build their own dream, generally, and I think I am correct when I say this, do not have the resources or access to applicable R&D or top of the line machining and assembly equipment to assist them with their project as the main suppliers of engines and transmission have that are currently on offer. They do their research and do their very best with what they have to get what they want and in the end its their own creation and thus they are proud as hell for what they have achieved.

I envy their tenacity, passion and automotive engineering achievements.

How many people on this planet can say hey, I built my own car and its a masterpiece and proudly point to their Cobra?

But when you buy a turnkey car as I did and did not skimp on the expenses since this represents a lifetime dream and a retirement present for myself, yeah, I expected it to run. Why should I not expect it to run, I invested in all the best name brand components that were available at the time that this industry had to offer. And, not to put a fine point on it, the likes of Ford and and Shelby spent big bucks in getting the Cobra to where its was when it cleaned the clock of the Ferrari brand in the sixties. So I was buying a legend albeit a replica of a legend from reliable folks. So why did it crap out after 78 miles? The notion of, well chit happens does not quite do it for me, if these facilities are ISO 9001 compliant they should know how to do it right the first time, and get it right the first time. This is my opinion..

In many respects maybe my expectations were built too high based on previous experience with my 89 Turbo R that sat in storage for ten years when I first went to China, after all that time when I had to start it up, it started on the second crank: luck, amazing or the result of world class design and engineering, you be the judge.

I have heard the expression bullet proof so can somebody tell me just exactly what that means because to me that translates into trouble free and I expected a bullet proof turnkey car that represented the value for the money I had paid for it.

There is no doubt in my mind after these folks have had a chance to get things sorted the car will be all that I expecetd.

tin-man