My Harrison build

[Merv and Sharon]

Well done Ryder. I am sure you will be happy with the Harrison. Warwick is honest and good to deal with.

In terms of general experience with his car, and reflected in the experience of others, there are a few areas where you can improve on the original design. Make sure the body is perfectly aligned with the chassis, particularly at the rear. There could be some variations, making wheel clearance variable between sides. Also, the standard AVO shocks have been a constant source of disappointment for me and a number of others. They can be re-built under warranty (but that is a pain in itself) but then the problems can often return. Another choice of shock is advised, but that is up to you. There are threads on this.

The standard rear suspension only allows limited adjustment and can be modified at your stage to establish an adaptable upper mount, which then allows for various coil-over combinations, angles and so on. This can also be done later also.

The Nissan diff ratio of 4.1 or 4.3 is too short, even with a 6-speed 'box, in my experience. There are Nissan diffs that have a between 3.5 and 3.7 that suit either the Ford or Holden motors. The prices are not great on these. If you want to use this for cruising and daily purposes, the short diff ratio would drive you crazy. Also previous threads on these.

The standard brake master cylinder always did not do enough for the rear brakes and many builders have had problems with these at registration or engineering. Warwick has some practical solutions, and previous threads on the Forum show these and other useful ideas.

I think that you may have the extended body (seems so in the pic). If so that is good as the distance between the (taller) driver, the steering wheel and the dashboard lip (when padded) can be pretty limited in the (or any) standard chassis.

Overall, these issues may all have been addressed in subsequent versions of the chassis but there may still be things that you can do. The Harrison fuel tank, radiator and so on are great and the car needs little insulation and seems to be quite cool in the footwells.

Warwick recommends a local engineer in northern NSW. He is excellent and very helpful. That is a long way from you, however, and you will need some one more local. There are enough Cobras in your region to help you with advice.

Keep in touch, as there are many here willing to help.