My First Cobra - Dallas, TX

[austin.minter15]

Today I purchased the car of my dreams, a Shell Valley 1967 427 Cobra kit with a 390 Ford big block and a 4-speed toploader. The car didn't come without its issues, but the ability for me to fix, fiddle, and finish it the way that I want is what drew me to the car in the first place.

I have restored and worked on several classics over the years, but this Cobra is a complete mystery to me and I look forward to learning about this car in the near future as I make it mine. My goal with the car is for it be visually as original as possible and to have a screamin' performance car underneath.

There are a few questions that I was hoping to get some help with. I do not know if this is the right section of the site as this is my first post so please let me know if I am posting in the wrong place.

First, the car has some paint issues that I will be looking to get fixed. Does anyone have a recommended place in the Dallas area that does good work on Cobra's?

Another thing that needs to get attention soon is the dash, only a couple of the gauges work and I would like to replace them all with Smiths units as they are currently hot rod style gauges that just don't look right in a Cobra. For this and any other parts that I will be needing that are as true to original as possible, does anyone have a recommended supplier?

The carpet in my car seems to have just been laid in the car and not attached at any point and definitely not trimmed around the edges, are there any interior shops in the Dallas area that have experience with Cobra's?

And lastly, for the mechanical things that I am not able to figure out, does anyone know a mechanic or shop that has experience with Cobra's in the Dallas area.

I will try to post some pictures of my "new" Cobra in the coming days and I look forward to any help that I can get. Thanks guys, I am so excited I'm about to just pop!!! I never imagined that I would own a Cobra, how cool is that?!?