WHY Unfinished Builds
 

How many of you guys know about someone's un finished build? If so, what would be some reasons why these build have not been completed?

Lack of time, lack of money are the two biggest reasons.
Lack of talent is the third.



Bill S.

Understandable the first 2 reasons, are there any particular manufactures that make it more difficult to build for the 3rd reason?

Bill pretty much covered it. I know of two in this area that were eventually sold for parts to other people because the build wasn't a weekend thing like the people thought it would be. And now with the economy being the way it is, lack of money is the biggest thing around here I think.

Ron

I know a couple that were sold during the divorce.

Overwelmed by complexity, lack of facilities & tools, Cash. The raw "KIT" is often the least expensive part of the build. Then they find the accuracy of the build becomes daunting. Just saying

Another contributing factor could be the various parts suppliers. Parts for these cars are not a one size fits all. Unless you are willing to modify, change or build some parts yourself, it can be very frustrating to get it all to come together. Be prepared to go round in circles with vendors.

I know two guys that bought different cars and both had to drive to the business and demand their parts owed. They were lucky to get most of their parts. One guy is a top end custom building and he told me it was the most stressful time in his life. He made a lot of changes to the car so no one would know the brand because he hated the company so much. A lot of guys would have given up.

Some people get to the point in the build where they cannot bring themselves to drill holes into the body for fear of making a mistake.

The partially assembled kit I picked up looked that way.

The assumption here is the kits in question aren't turnkey like Superformance or ERA's where you just add motor, tranny and liquids - more like Backdraft, FFR, Hurricane, etc. I suspect.

As mentioned before, the least expensive part of a Cobra build is the kit itself.

The lack of talent dawns upon people when you come to the realization, you must become the plumber, mechanic, electrician, fabricator and sometimes welder, all in short order. Some builders then rely upon outside help in each of these areas, depending upon where the lack of talent exists.

Having never built a car before, but having modified cars most of my adult life, I was pretty concerned about the "fabrication and welding" because I've never welded before. This led me to FFR back in 2002-2003. But I found out through the process I had the fortitude to learn all of the sub-trades, with plumbing being the most enjoyable to learn. Electronics I knew, and I have 4 torque wrenches and pneumatic tools and pretty good knowledge on how to put an engine together. Fabrication turned out to be pretty fun as well. Never had to weld until the very end and a neighbor was kind enough (brave enough) to let me weld a lower radiator bracket.

I think the 'lack of talent' part is really just something that's never reviewed by the purchaser before receiving the full kit. At least that's what I think. I find it ironic that something as analog as a 65' replica Cobra, requires a lot of digital research on the internet. It helped me solidify the idea that I CAN build one.

One more thing about "why" kits go incomplete... medical reasons have been cited in the past. Someone that thinks they'll build one when they retire and a year or two later, some ailment occurs. It's one of the reasons I told my wife I wanted to BUILD one before 50, citing those types of reasons. I got my FFR at 46.

I know in my case, I was close to a drivable car but I was building it in a carport. I stopped the car to build a garage.

After I build my WCC (which I've had to pretty much discard a lot of the "Kit" ingredients and replace, fabricate, modify pretty much everything) I'll be able to put anything together. Initially, I was afraid to do any welding or start anything difficult or different. You learn that you just dive into it. The wondering "If it's going to be expensive" is gone, It's just going to be expensive. Budget for it and do it when you get the funds. I was hoping to get to the stage to drive it about 4 years ago. I'm almost there now. Life does tend to get in the way of less essential things like hobbies.

After starting my build and about half done when downsized out of career job,almost gave up.Luckily for me finding work was not an issue it did slow the build down some because of the work fear.
A friend bought a kit thinking it was a bolt together easy road,then hiring out more of the build than he could afford sold the car.
Obviously not all kits are created equal as are the people who purchase them as is having the space to take on such a project.
It is easy to see why some would not get finished.

I think you are confused.

Either way, it's a decent point and most of us understand what you are saying. There is a lot of work that goes in to kits offered from companies like FFR (and even ERA) where talent can be and often is required (or forcefully learned....such as body work). Many of the kits are basically scratch build requiring fitting of parts, body work, paint, wiring, and customization along the way, not simply inserting the engine/trans and driving away.

I have seen a few people get what is sold as a kit and it almost looks like a car with a chassis and body. The reality is there are an awful lot of parts to making a whole car. Chasing and sourcing correct parts that will work becomes an obsession or a part/full time job. It takes a lot of time, patience, skill, money and space. A car in pieces takes 3 bays if the chassis is in 1 the body in another and you have some space to work on the car.

Kit?
 

it took me 28 months to build mine in my friend's garage. During that time I worked out of town for six months on two different occasions. If my friend had not called me on Friday to come over and work on my car on Saturday it would have taken a lot longer.
So many parts did not work together. I had to research a lot to find replacement parts. Mismatched pulleys, suspension parts, etc. I build my own motor which took a couple of months. A kit car is not a bunch of boxes with all the parts you need to bolt together with the help of a great manual to build a car.
I have worked on eight different brands and 16 different Cobras. None just bolt together and drive.

I laugh when someone ask if it's a Kit. I know what I thought years ago and what I know now. There are more like custom build cars.

Dwight

Many people do not understand the time and effort to go from a "kit" pile of parts to a "real, finished car". In their mind it is a simple step with a couple of wrench turns. The reality is sobering.

Why are SO many kit cars advertised as "90 percent completed"???? Because the last 10 percent is the hard part! In the heyday of the industry people bought a Fiberfab and then had to figure out some way to hinge the door, make a window work, get some panels to come CLOSE to fitting, etc., etc. Every builder was a pre-beta tester.

LOL, sorry, I meant to say "rollers". ;). The hardest thing that I knew I could not do was body; I built models before and made more mistakes with body filler and the rattle can than I care to admit, so I had that sourced to a professional but boy do you pay out the ass for that, but it didn't deter me (just made me work more overtime to pay for it.)

My biggest delay has been due to all the engineering changes I've made. I think I'm finally on track to build the darn thing. I hope I enjoy driving it half as much as I have enjoyed designing and building it.

The era can (could?) be bought in kit or roller or turnkey configuration. The superformance and backdraft can not be bought as a kit. Sorry, I should have stated that in my first reply to avoid more confusion.