95" wheel base body or kit

[af62cobra]

does any one know of a company that has a 95" wheel base body to go a frame of this WB.

[wizard]

The West Coast kit uses a 96" wheelbase (6" longer). It is also 4" wider. You can go to cobrakit.com, select specifications and see if it meets your needs.

[wizard]

PS I also know here are 1 or 2 other kits that use 96", stretch bodys for tall people but I don't recall which ones.

[Excaliber]

Classic Roadster is 94". I don't know of a SINGLE Cobra offered that is 96". 92, 94 and 96 are all I know of.

West Coast Stallion, isn't that another 96"? JBL is 94 or 96. Excalibur is 94 (like C.R.'s).

Ernie

[Richard Hudgins]

Ernie,

The JBL wheelbase is 2413 mm or 95 inches.

[mr bruce]

I have a Daytona body that will fit a 95" wheelbase, (also have frames)

[mg2166]

Everett Morrison had a 96" wheelbase option. According to their web site, they are planning to reopen this summer. I don't know if they will continue to offer the 96" option.

www.everett-morrison.com

[btsai]

Hunter also offers a 96" version.

[Excaliber]

I stand corrected! A 95" (2413 mm) body has been found! I'll add that bit of info to my "data base". By the way, does JBL sell a body only?

Ernie

[vettestr]

af62cobra,
Cobras N Vettes is marketing the 97 inch wheelbase Cobray-C3 kit built on a Corvette chasssis. The C3 kit is designed to utilize a single donor concept. Any third generation Corvette or a 1963 all the way through the 1982 Vette can be your donor. The complete factory engineered/designed chassis and drivetrain makes building your dream car one of the easiest step by step builds ever. No back orders waiting for special brackets to mate multiple donor parts to a custom frame. Stock Corvette and competition suppliers are so numerious in mild to wild applications and parts within the 3rd generation are interchangable anyway. A 1976 Vette chassis is only worth about $1000 to $1500 dollars for everything needed, engine included. They are easy to find because GM sold over 46,000 units in 1976 alone. NON Collector cars are cheap and easy to find.
This is not for the FORD ONLY or EXACT duplicate of the Legend kind of builder. If you are afraid to be seen in a Chevy, this is not your dream car. The Cobray-C3 is wider and longer than the Original Cobra and has a 97 inch wheelbase not the original 90 inchs. The wider/longer footprint also means a much larger cockpit for comfort and footprint means better handling and traction control. Take Ledgendary Corvette handling remove over 1000 pounds from stock and maybe a little HP increase and then bolt on the awsome looks of a Cobra inspired Body.
My new web site www.cobrasnvettes.com with all details will be completed and released on 07/18/03. Please email with any questions you may have.

[Richard Hudgins]

Ernie,


Yes, but only to owners of a JBL chassis as a replacement/service unit.

[George Snyder]

Cobras N Vettes

Interesting reading. There are a few points that should be mentioned.

#1 C-3 Corvettes are 68-82. I couldn't imagine anyone dismantling a 63 split window, or any other C2 for a kit car. That has to be a typo error.

#2 They are correct that there is a large supply of C3s still available, you still need to consider the condition of the donor parts that you will be using. They cars are 20+ years old.

#3 Yes, you can find replacement parts almost any where, but they are certainly not cheap. If you ever owned a Vette, you can testify to that.

I still have my C3 and it does handle fairly well. Not as well as a C4 or 5 though.
Bud

[vettestr]

George,
You are right a C3 is 68 not 63 through 82 but 68 to 82 and I know that in my sleep just fat fingers and not proffing my text ,sorry. May I speak to your reply point by point.
Item 2 the parts are al 20 something years old but most people want everything they bolt on rebuilt-powder coated -painted and rebuilt anyway so not an issue .When I do a chassis I remove every part and send all nuts plates, clips out to a refinisher. They charge $85.00 for up to 300 pounds of hardware and 95% comes back looking brand new cadium silver finished. The 5% that was pitted or rusted I run through any how and throw into a bucket for those GOTTA HAVE times but replace with new. The frame and all Xmembers etc.. get powder coated for $350.00 total. All brake lines ,fuel etc.. are cheap and easy to bend with a bare frame and so on.
Item 3 = I offer rebuilt for (trade in) assemblies for everything. Or give you the part numbers to do your own and is all very STANDARD or easy to do stuff. Most people can or want to replace bearings ,seals and clean up/paint the easy items5 or there is an east 200 web sites to get these parts/assemblies. There is 2 exceptions to the entire chasis for most people. The rear trailing arms take about $700. worth of special tooling and EXPERIENCE to do right plus parts. I will charge you $800 per side or 2X at 1600.00 but that is everything new,rebuilt,powder coated and blue printed. The IRS or rear end is not Special but many do not want to rebuild themself if it needs more than just seals and freshened up. To be fair I have not described a path that you do not go through with any other donor car and because these are HIGH PRODUCTION parts we are talking about they are NO MORE COSTLY than any other kit build. When done you have a HIGH Performance= 4 wheel disc brake, 4 wheel independant suspension with Highly adjustable low sprung weight race proven performance chassis with the years of engineering and refinements of General Motors. For maybe 15% additional cost over standard rebuilt items you can get a total RACE SETUP from a great company I highly recommend Vette Brake Products www.vettebrakes.com see page 9 for full kit. For $2000. bucks you get a suspesion that can outperform a brand new vette (C5) as a total package consideration. I have a full kit on one of my COBRAY-C3's and invite you to drive my car and tell me if your C5 drives and handles as well. All considered a total Vette rebuilt suspesion in stock form is no slouch in performance is NO more expesive than the typical build. You can spend an unlimited amount as you know, heck I know a guy who spent more than a grand per tire/wheel and bought 5. ya gotta have a spare!!

[aumoore]

Randy Hunter offers a 96" WB as standard as mentioned above. He has built a one off 94" WB and I believe he could build a 95" WB Body if you asked nicely.

[vettestr]

George,
Have you checked out VBP and what are your thoughts on the suspension posibilities and costs?

[George Snyder]

Vettester,
I did not realize that the Cobras N Vettes was your business venture. I wrongly assumed that you were posting info from a manufacturer you found or knew.

You information does seem pretty accurate. I would say that if you stay in the 74 to 77 years that the donor cost will definitely be lower. 68 thru 73s are starting to see substandial increases in value.

Vette Brakes, Great company! I have a set of calibers cores to send to them today. They offer top shelf items. A C3 frame outfitted with their Performance Plus Suspension Kit would offer a great handling, and exceptional performance. It is surely a far cry from a standard old C3 suspension. A wise choice to say the least!

A question? What do you do with the u joints in the rear? I assume that they are still used? As you are aware they are the weakest part of the drive train. Even using Brute Force Joints will limit the HP & Torque they can with stand.

If you notice a large number of Corbra owners like their big number engines. (hp & torque). I am certainly not an expert on this topic, but I would say that once you reach 325 RHP you may run into problems.

If you use your donor's engine & trans, that seems to be a plus.
A standard T-10 or Munce will take a lot of abuse and still hold up. The 350 or 400 can certainly be rebuilt and upgraded to match about anything the SBC will subject it too. I suspect that most of your donors will be L48s, maybe an a few L82s. This will limit your performance pontential, being only a two bolt main block, but still will fulfill all the power this car should ever require.

Would I like to drive one? You know I would!!
Take care and good luck,
Bud

[Excaliber]

I ws under the impression a "light wieght" car could get away with more horse power utilizing "weaker" parts than a "heavy car" with the same horse power and the same parts.

So 500 hp in a Cobra is not as hard on parts as 500 hp in a Vette?

You think?

Ernie

[vettestr]

Hello again,
I do see some of the BUMPER cars (68 to 73) for C3's or more of the collector cars being used but only when value was DESTROYED from a body fire causing VIN loss or a salvage title or missing # matching items ,etc..
We rebuild calipers using all VBP's parts but only sell them with Jet-Hot coating. They look much better or always brand new and also break us out of the herd of a zillion sources not to mention not competing with my main supplier.
We install SPICER brand solid U-joints in everything. The blue car has a 542 inch Comp Motor with Dyno'd flywheel HP of 876. I have never broken a U-joint on that car but do have retention hoops on 1/2 shafts and drive shaft from fear of breaking. The only reason I have not broken any is instant loss of traction if playing hard. I have VBP traction bar and sticky 245/45ZR17 Goodyear tires but with car weight and torque multiplication of an automatic it will cross that line if not ready for it.
The small block cars with the 350 or 383's are much more forgiving and the Independant 4 wheel suspension is a BIG help on all but these cars only weigh 2480 LBS. and that is a great weight to HP ratio. Weight jacking is 49F to 51% rear with a low instant center of gravity. I also have the front Mono spring conversion replacing the lower C-arms and eliminating the coil springs while moving the Upper ball joint 2 degrees. This is all in that kit for 2K we spoke about... It does bring 1960's technology SCREAMING into todays standards!

[vettestr]

Ernie,
I do think a lighter car will break fewer parts than a car with the same HP and an extra 1000 pounds
Factory curb weight on a 76 vette is 3530 and I think a set of slicks on that stock 76 would trash 1 part after the other and I could send of list of the order I broke them in
I think instant HP will kind of jump over the OPPS factor but moving a light car is easier on parts. The 1967 with the 435 horse 427 vette did break a few parts as did the Big Block Shelby Cobras that were doing battle back then but still pretty reliable.

[George Snyder]

Ernie,
I would say you are correct in your assumption.

Vettester,
As you stated! Loss of traction is your salvation! I sometimes sit and wonder, what some of these Guys on this Forum would do, if they ever did get all that power to hook up! Scarry ugh?

If we are talking about the u joints on a C3 Vette, then we can safely say this. They were never really designed to substain 500+ horse power from any engine that GM installed in the C3s.
I would guess that even a L89 only produced 475 or so at the crank. A ZL1 surely did, but only 2 Vettes ever left the factory outfitted with that engine, so who knows.

I would say that flat shifting with a 500 hp engine a the Drag Strip equipted with slicks should pretty much get you a ride home in the front of a flat bed. Maybe not right away, but have the truck on stand by. I have seen quite a few broken yoke assemblies.

Racing on an Oval Track may be more forgiving, assuming that the rear gear ratio would be higher to reach higher top end speed needed.

Bud