Mixed emotions with the #21

[Clois Harlan]

I am getting ready to send my little girl off to finishing school, so to speak. After 8 years of being thrashed on various race tracks (including a few off track excursions), highway and city driving she is going off to get a new makeover. But, this time it is different!

When I built my B&B Cobra in 2000 I put on every nut and bolt. I aligned or mis-aligned in some cases every door, hood and trunk. I sanded every surface and re-sanded and then I sealed her all up with a R&M catalysed primer. More primer surfacer, more sanding and finally a sealer before the top coat. Then I layed her lines out to my specifications and layed down some beautiful Viper blue R&M basecoat clearcoat accented with some GM Bright White lines. Removed all the tape to reveal the stripes and then put on 4 coats of increasing thickness of clearcoat (tack coat, thin coat and 2 medium coats). After allowing the paint to set up for a couple of hours I removed all the masking tape and moved her out into the sun for a natural drying for about 8 or 10 hours. I brought her back in for the night and then back out in the sun on day 2. Back in the garage for days three thru five and then I performed a light block sanding with 2500 grit wet or dry sand paper and dawn dishwashing soap and warm water. Then a light buffing using 3M products. The result has been 8 years of flawless service. No cracking, no pealing, no fading (noticable), no flaws what so ever that were not created by road debris or hot pieces of rubber slapping her nose at a race track.

So, here is the difference. My little Cobra has never been away from home in 8 years except when she was taken to the playground (race track) and we brought her carrier (enclosed trailer). This time she is going to have to get used to sleeping in some unknown place and then she will have someone with unfamiliar hands rubbing all over her. This could be a very traumatic time in her life. I might just go ahead and schedule some counseling for when she returns.

The #21 Cobra should be finished by April 1st and in the meantime I will freshen up her heart and soul (427 that we may have made a few upgrades). In a previous exam we determined her rearend was fine but she might need some new bearings, seals and gaskets and a new pair of shoes for the street...probably some Goodyear Billboards even though they don't last very long. By Shelby Fest in June she will be ready to go and probably have a nice bounce in her step since she will be all dressed up for the first time in 8 years. These kids sure are fun!


Clois