New Buyer help
 

Hello all, I could use some sage advice from those on the board. Come this spring I plan on ordering a car from Dana at Shell Valley and I have just a few questions before I make that order. First off let me explain what I am going to be ordering, keeping in mind this is going to be a California car.

Complete Cobra kit for 351W (blueprint 408W/Tremec transmission)
Hydraulic clutch upgrade kit
Wilwood 12 inch brakes
Upholstered door panels
Driver side seat track
Heater/defroster kit
Weatherstripping kit
Vinyl dash upgrade
Team III 17 inch wheel/tire combo

Now for the questions.

1. Any issues with the quality of the fiberglass body or frame ?

2. What was the time frame from placement of order to delivery ? Also any issues when your car arrived?

3. Any problems or issues during the build of the car ?

4. I plan on putting the body on a body buck during the build. Has anyone else done this and if so....do you have the dimensions (or are they same as the FF cars) ?

5. Lastly, if you could go back and order your car again, what extras would you add or delete ?

This is going to be a 12 month build (I hope) and it’s going to parallel my rebuilding of my wife’s 67 mustang she drove in HS that we recently found abandoned in a side yard of a house for sale.

Any advise, help, prayers or counseling would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
JW

JW-

When I used to have my FFR Mk3, there were a few things I wanted after having it a while (mine was built).

1. Independent rear suspension. The live axle is simple, strong, and cheap. But it rides ROUGH, and you're basically sitting on top of it.

2. a 427 small block or 408- Or conversely, a high HP small block that's set up to REV. Mine had an FMS 351W. Nothing wrong with it, but it was a bit plain vanilla after a while.


Also, if possible, ABS would be very nice to have. And skip power steering. Mine had hydroboost brakes/PS, just more garbage to deal with. Vacuum brakes are fine.

JW, you should get lot's of info. here about Shell Valley (Big following here). I just want to give you a "Atta-boy" for restoring your wife's old Mustang. Smart guy here ;). Nice to have the whole family on board. Good luck on both projects, we're here for you, I too would at least think about a high-revving SBF. Granted I have a BBF, but my next one will be a SBF, sitting next to my BB. We just installed a 347 in a friends FFR, it will now spin the tires at 4000RPM in 4th gear (TKO-500) at 70MPH. with 295-50-15. Enough HP for now :) Cheers Tom.

The 408 will take a beating and offer up same hp as the 427 .Good choice IMO

I also would not knock the live axle they will also take a lot of abuse,and can be set up to handle reasonably well.

hauss- depends where you live. Around L.A. the roads are brutal :D

Didn't help that my FFR had 17's. 15's would at least dampen the hit a bit.

I knew which lane to avoid in every road by my house! haha

The handling was great after I added swaybars. Like an oversize go kart :)

Thank you all for the advice and support. I have been quietly stalking this board for a year reading each post, taking in all information and following every build log.

I have gotten advice from neighbors and friends about my build, but I don’t put much stock in that.....”when are WE going to start your build”, “when WE are done building it, you’re going to let me drive it, right?”, “WE have to put a BB 427 in it, because real cobras have them”........ugh !

Needless to say, it’s your options and advice that I value.

I plan on keeping the car comfortable to drive, that’s the reason behind the sb 408, although I’m still iffy on whether to go with 15 or 17 inch tires. I don’t want a trailer queen....I’ve waited 30 years to do this and now that I’m retired, I want to drive it with pride....and a big freakin smile. LOL

Thank you again
JW

Perhaps I should have gone into more detail . 1st I have IRS and have had expensive issues with it. 2nd Not as strong as live axle. 3rd Easy to get parts local . %/

Hauss, which make is your Cobra?

I was so envious of the IRS guys on cruises ��
But yeah, virtually no way you'll break an 8.8 3 link on a car so light.

Definitely consider the IRS over the live axle, much better for road racing/ handling. The BMW units are very strong. Ditto on the sbf, save the big blocks for the museum, you can get a Roush crate motor with a 2 yr warranty. Wilwood big brakes for sure, the standard single pot bmw on my BDR sucked. 17” rims will give you a lot more tire choices going forward, lower profile better handling, looks cool too!

Imo.
 

I have a 2012 backdraft . snapped the cv bolts twice.first time breaking the mount on the rear of the dif.2nd time just the bolts. my fix was retaping holes on the diff flange purchasing 1/8 longer bolts and used red loctite .Have not had any more issues after the fix.My opinion on the live axles vs IRS you should be more concerned with spring rates and dampening . Trust me when you have 600hp you want a strong rear end. Yes the car is light but the tires are big and sticky.I also have the bmw brakes and they do not suck! They just do not have the bmw anti-lock system witch if they did they would be better than any system on the market. Big blocks are cool these are cobras and the sound they make can not be duplicated.:MECOOL:

Maybe suck is too strong a description of the std BMW brakes on the Backdraft. That was literally the first word out of my mouth when I really drove the car the first time. My opinion is skewed from driving Porsches for years, I expect that hand of God stopping power in a sports car, by that standard the brakes fall far short. After driving the car for a week, my first upgrade is the big Wilwoods.
Can’t argue about the sound of a big block, but I’m a small block guy from way back, so I gots to go with the brand new Roush small block��

Having owned a FFR which had a set of Cobra R mustang brakes in it, the wilwood SPF brakes feel...awesome :D I did a couple hard braking tests yesterday and it feels like any other (pre ABS) sports car.

The FFR setup I had was far too strong up front- the fronts would lock and the rears would keep rolling. NOT confidence inspiring. Some owners took to installing the proportioning valve in the front circuit- apparently that worked out pretty well.

John;
When you get your headers and side pipes get them uncoated; that will let you clean up any welding slag and smooth them out internally before you coat them. Get the coating done locally; shipping is very unkind to coated pipes.
I built a wheeled body buck with plans from Unique for their cars. I also made a lifting frame shaped like an "I" with arms that drop down and hook under the flares. An eye-bolt in the middle lets me use my cherry picker to hoist the body by myself. If you go that route make sure it's tall enough to clear the legs on your hoist. Good luck.
Bill

I used to work at a performance shop and I can tell you wilwood master cylinders are not the best. Some of the Baer systems were better IMO. I have a stroker 427 witch I love that said I love the big blocks too.;)

I bet I could use a Baer oe Brembo master cylinder, I’ll check it out!��

Sllib

Thanks for the info. I had planned on getting the headers and side pipes unfinished. We have a place here in town that does chrome plating, anodizing and ceramic coating. I plan on going with the ceramic to keep the heat down.

As for the body buck, I will have to research it more. I like the eye bolt idea, I may steal it.

Thank you again

Before you drill for the eye bolt make a rope sling to get your balance center so the body will raise evenly. Also, I coated every part that might contact the body with carpet scraps to avoid future repairs.

Do not use a slip fit joint between the headers and side pipes. They will leak and the fumes end up in the passenger compartment some how. You will smell it on your clothes after a ride. Weld flanges onto both pieces. Make sure everything is perfectly correct, before coating.

If you do go with a straight axle, make sure the link arms have an adjustment that will allow you to adjust the pinion angle. If not you could end up with a bad pinion angle that will cause wheel hop, and beat u-joints and pinion bearings to oblivion. Also limit the travel of the axle to prevent it from moving so far that is locks the u-joints. That can explode a trany, and the shrapnel will go into you legs. When you see how little the axle can move before locking the u-joints on a short drive shaft, you may start thinking the IRS is a better idea.