A&C questions
 

Hello I've been looking into a cobra for a few years now and have pretty much narrowed it down to A&C, there was also shell valley and B&B but I'm leaning toward A&C. From what I read you guys definitely reccomend them but are there any pieces you would or would not get from a&c. Any experience with upgrading to willwood brakes? I also came accross Fasttimesrods or cobras and spoke with them and they said they also offer their own kit with a different or better suspension package and an a&c body?
Any knowledge of them?
I'm sure I'll think of more questions as this is my first post
thank you for any help,
John

I did not purchase everything from them. No interior parts, gauges, steering and several other things.

Roscoe

You didn't get all that stuff from them beacause of quality or because it would come out cheaper if you buy them separately?

I wanted to use my own stuff. I used Autometer gauges instead of the VDO's. I used a Tilton Racing floor mounted pedal set instead of their setup. I used an Ididit steering column, my own interior carpeting and dash covering, Cobra classic seats. It was more expensive to do it my way but that's the way I wanted to go.

You can check my build site at http://www.priveye.com/cobra.htm. It will explain alot of the parts I used and links to sources.

I basically got the A&C specific stuff like chassis, headers, sidepipes, gas tank, roll bar. I also got some of the generic stuff from them like windshield, mirrors, lights.

Made lots of modifications and changes that are not up on the site.

Roscoe

John:
I went with A & C for a lot of stuff. Parts I did not were, steering column, radiator, driveshaft, motor, trans, tires, wheels, accessories.
I was not aware of this and other threads like this. I basically did not know any better.
I had them do the rolling chassis, disk rotors all around.
Pete of Fasttimesrods did the fab work for A & C then.
Pete did the rolling chassis, I had him paint the frame and picked it up from his original shop.
I have had Pete fab a lot of parts for me after that.
Pete gets the bodies from A & C and everything else he does is his work. He has made changes to the A & C chassis and fabs the chassis in his shop as well as a lot of components.
He also is a distributor for just about all the parts you will need for your build.
I have no regrets going with A & C, Joe was always very helpful in my build.
If it were me doing it again I would have to go with Pete at Fasttimesrods now with what I have learned and know.

This site and the guys on it like Roscoe are a great help and always eager to help out or voice an opinion.

Great choice with the A & C body, the gelcoat has been great.
Seven years on the road and 13k miles, still looks great.

Good luck with your build.

Jim

I built mine from the frame up.

I used A&C's:

gas tank
frame
suspension
brakes
headers
rear axle and diff gears
Body ( really like the body, no seams to sand)
gauges
seats
steering rack
radiator
exhaust
roll bar

I bought:

Ididt steering
Flaming River steering joints and shaft
American Autowire for the electrical ( I recommend their kit)
Denny's Drive shaft (Highly recommend)
bumpers from Finish line
Carpet done by a local auto interior
Locar pedals and e-brake handle
flexlite fan
Most of my own bolts, I used stainless everywhere

Now that I am done, what would I have done different:

- an aluminum radiator
-seats from somewhere else
-headers fit, but I bet I could have found someone local that would have been competitive in price and built better clearance for the bolts
- shocks and springs from somewhere else( I think mine are a bit too stiff, I have a small block)
- different gauges, the Stewart warner gauges are OK, but just OK

I bet you could negotiate an allowance for deleting some items that are included ffrom A & C.

My .02, I heard good things about Fast times, I do not have firsthand knowledge of the Company but I have spoken with some guys who bought their body form A&C and got frames, suspension etc. from Fast times.

Good luck with your build, if you go A & C I think you will find Club cobra and the A & C forum guys very willing to help in any questions you might have. It took me about two years for my build, and any time I had a question, and I mean any time, someone here gave me help. And no one ever passed judgement on my inexperience or lack of knowledge. Somebody has had the same question or problem already that you might encounter, and the solution has been found.


regards,

That reminds me....I also went outside for

radiator, driveshaft, motor, trans, tires, wheels from PS Engineering, Painless Wiring kit, Locar gas pedal, fan.

I got the rolling chassis also but upgraded to Wilwoods on the front.

Roscoe

Thank you guys for all your help so far.
-pnjsnak, I spoke with pete at fast times and he says he sells kits also, but I don't know if I should just go directly through him or go with a&c and maybe get fast times susension?? I also spoke with sonny at a&c, are the two companys ok with eachother?
Thank you all again
John

Sonny is a nice guy but he is the salesman. He'll sweet talk you into anything. The key is research. Check out both sources and make your decision.

Roscoe

John:
Price them both out.
Pete did all my frame fabrication and Roscoe's too while at A & C. Then he left to go out on his own.
He orders the bodies from A & C and he supplies all the rest.
Good luck!
Jim

I spoke to pete again today and now I'm leaning more towards fast times
His starter kit comes to the same money with his upgraded suspension but do you know anyone with his cars. Ive done a search on this site and nothing comes up except for this forum and maybe some similar ones.
Basiacally the only thing I'm thinking about is that they'll be around till I finish my car and long after that.
Would there be any difference titling and registering his car over A&C?
John

The kit manufacturer will not affect how your car will be titled in New York. It still will need an inspection and have the required safety components regardless of who made the kit parts.

In regards to your choice of kit, Once you have the frame and body, which are the two most critical parts that must match, almost everything else can be purchased from another source.

Good luck with your choice, take your time and do your research, ask good questions.

Regards,

I finally made my decision and put a deposit in to A&C so I can start out with the frame package.
I will probably go with the rolling chassis parts also but reading through the posts, I've read that many members have upgraded brakes or master cylinders...
I would rather spend a little more money in the beginning than having to do it over again so with your experience would it be better to get the 12" wilwoods or stick with the 11" from A&C. I priced out the wilwoods from hotrodusa for about 1600 with the rear parking brake and cable and all the stainless brake lines included as a package. The only thing is that it changes the spacing by adding about 1". Any other suggestions as far as options go?

John

In terms of brakes I would think that how you will drive your car will determine the set-up. I do not race mine. I have power brakes with 11" rotors up front and drums in the rear. I run errands, go to cruise nights, and occasional day trips.

If you plan on more aggressive driving you may want to go with the wilwoods.

Have fun

Regards,

I replaced the front GM calipers with Wilwoods but kept the 11" Granada rotors. I also kept the 11" Explorer setup on the rear. Hey? The car only weighs about 2300 lbs.

Roscoe

2,360 with a full tank of gas

John:
Curious on why you decided to go the way you went?
Just wondering, if you are getting the rolling chassis and the body, everything else can be gotten from other sources.

Anyway back to your question.
I went with the Granada 11" front disc and Explorer 11" rears from A & C.
I have never tracked my car and I have no intentions to do so.
I started out with power brakes and cable operated clutch.
After 3 years got rid of the cable operated clutch and power brakes and went with a brake pedal set up from Pete and manual brakes.
Best upgrade I ever made. Pete's setup was so easy to put in, it even covered the hole I made in my footbox area.
It was a bit of getting use to manual vs power but it is great now.
Do you really think stainless brake lines are needed? Costly and much harder to do. Mine look like the day I picked up the rolling chassis from Pete.

Anyway, good luck and keep asking questions.

What gel coat color are you going with?
What motor?
What Tranny?

Don't forget, there is not much room in the footbox, if you got real wide feet you may want to think about (sorry for this in advance) Automatic tranny. It get's real tough getting gas, clutch and brake pedals and wide feet in that footbox. Have you sat in anybody's car to check out pedal locations?

Anyway we are here for you! Ask away!

Jim

I decided to go with A&C mostly because I felt a little more comfortable with them. I'm sure fast times is a good car but as many searches that I did I could not find any other info on them.
I already started looking at other sources for parts I will need down the line, I've found many of the parts cheaper.
I don't know if the stainless brake lines are needed but if I were to go with the wilwoods they include all the hardware. I've never driven one. I definitely want to go to the show in carlisle 5/16-5/18. Do you guys go to that.
The color I like is blue with white stripes, I don't know the exact code but I really like the blue cobra with the wihite stripes in fasttimesrods.com gallery section at the bottom.
Motor i'm thinking 351w from engine factory with a tko600rr ...any suggestions?
John

John,
My old build site has lots of links to suppliers. I got many of my parts from outside and not from A&C.
http://www.priveye.com/cobra.htm
Roscoe

I'm trying to price out the total brake package and they also have brake/clutch pedals
Do you guys know if any one of these setups will work.....http://www.hotrodsusa.com/store/wilwoodpedals.html
Also these pedals have master cylinders on them, do you still need a seperate master cylinder? sorry don't know too much about this.
The brake pedal box from fasttimes is just the brake pedal?
what did you use for a clutch pedal, gas pedal?

The rear brake setup that they reccomend is (big ford, new style with a 2.50" offset) does this sound right? The front kit adds about 1" to the total track, but i'm assuming that this can be corrected by ordering the rims accordingly?

They also have this rack and pinion...http://www.hotrodsusa.com/store/product401.html
would that work for these cars or do they use a different size
It seems like a good deal if it is a good product?

John