Absolute Pace Cobra up and running ?

[hewey]

I spent a lot of time looking at the Absolute Pace roller at the Nationals late last year, and find myself thinking about the next project......
The Absolute Pace Cobra kit impressed the hell out of me to be honest, and it's clear that kit Cobra build quality has come a long way since we started our classic revival 10 years ago.

I'd be keen to hear from someone other than Craig who has one, has completed it, and has driven it.
I am not so concerned about Rego at this point but I'd be keen to speak to someone with a finished product that has been driven....

Is there anyone out there who has one going ?
Care to comment ?

[guye]

Answer

[Tonus72]

Hurry up Brad !!

[damage]

Lol the answer button is hilarious

And has anyone removed the timber from the bulk head to the the dash board yet.

[Cobra01]

Hi Hewey

I am in the advanced process of finishing my Pace 427 Cobra which i started around mid April/ May 2013.

This the start of my build process
New Build

The wood has been removed from the body and it was only there to keep the right shape of the body when the body was being fitted to the Chassis.

After all 1 person can lift the 50 kg body so it needs to be kept rigid so you get a perfect fit onto the chassis.

I expect to be finished the build in the next 2 to 3 months then it will depend on QLD Transport for the final inspection and signing of paperwork .

I haven't posted on the New Build Thread lately because there has been nothing really exciting to talk about or Photograph.

There have been some significant improvements from when my chassis was made to now but I will let Craig explain them to you.

Cheere
Brad

[damage]

Originally Posted by Cobra01

Hi Hewey

I am in the advanced process of finishing my Pace 427 Cobra which i started around mid April/ May 2013.

This the start of my build process
New Build

The wood has been removed from the body and it was only there to keep the right shape of the body when the body was being fitted to the Chassis.

After all 1 person can lift the 50 kg body so it needs to be kept rigid so you get a perfect fit onto the chassis.

I expect to be finished the build in the next 2 to 3 months then it will depend on QLD Transport for the final inspection and signing of paperwork .

I haven't posted on the New Build Thread lately because there has been nothing really exciting to talk about or Photograph.

There have been some significant improvements from when my chassis was made to now but I will let Craig explain them to you.

Cheere
Brad

I was only joking mate, but actually Im surprised that Craig hasn't finished his own demo car and got it registered yet, certainly would make more sense that the actual kit manufacturer had one registered.

If the car is so light how do you go for putting a v8 in it isn't there something in the ICV rules about weight vs engine capacity.

This was the thing that Craig was worried about with my Kirkham.

[Cobra01]

Hi Damage

I am only using a 302 CI Windsor

Because the car has an alloy Chassis i wont need any more horse power than that to get enjoyment from the car.

By the way when will your Kirkham be ready for rego?

Cheers

Brad

[Dimis]

Originally Posted by damage

Im surprised that Craig hasn't finished his own demo car and got it registered yet, certainly would make more sense that the actual kit manufacturer had one registered.

Surly Absolute Pace would have a demo car completed...??

I'd have though there would have been one at a cobra meet somewhere... ShelbyFest, or Nationals, or similar?

Can anyone who went to one of these events, or has visited AP please verify, or maybe even Craig himself?

PS: Good luck with the build Brad... Can't wait to see another cobra running around mid year.

[Cobra01]

Hi Dimis,

You have to crawl before you can walk and at the moment Craig is crawling at the fastest pace he is allowed by his supply chain.

Its a credit to Craig and the design team at Absolute Pace that they have orders for plenty of cars (Craig has numbers if he wants to tell anyone).

I for one didn't realize just how many parts went into building a Cobra regardless of manufacturer.

All i can say is wait and everyone will say oooh aaah what a great product.

But then I am biased because i will have one soon

Cheers

Brad

[hewey]

I was at the Nationals and there wasn't a driveable one going around - hence this thread.

Brad,
Here's the web site for our build (built it with a mate - Churchy over 10 years....). We weren't in a hurry !
The Two Corks Cobra Project

We finally got NSW Rego early last year - still some finishing to do (like paint !) but I'm loving being able to drive it.

Hewey

[hewey]

Looks like it is coming along well Brad. will be great to see it running. One of the best days in my memory was the day we got our Cobra replica running.

[damage]

Brad,

Not sure when I'll hit the road I got sick of waiting for Craig to do the work so picked the car up and am now finishing it off. Basically I m redoing all the work that Craig did it wasnt up to the standard that I expected and a lot of the work he had done just wasn't complete. I guess after paying close to $15,000 for him to do the compliance work I shouldn't expect the headlights indicators tailights demisters windscreen wipers or windscreen squirters or anything to be finished or wired for that matter.

Pretty expensive to have those items bolted to the car I thought. On the up side my seat belts appear to be operational.

Bit disappointed after all the rave reviews that he gets but I guess he saw me as an easy feed.

Still waiting for Craig to send all the certificates but getting all the normal excuses about how busy he is. Anyway I'm sure when he gets around to it he might send the stuff I've paid for I just hope it's not 12 months time.

[Cobra01]

Hi Damage

Good to hear your build is progressing well.

I don't think forum is the right place to discuss your differences with Craig or anyone else for that matter.

These sort of comments should be kept between you and Craig.

All I asked was when your Kirkam was going to be ready for rego,I was

expecting a rough date that's all.

Cheers

Brad

[damage]

Oh really sorry my mistake I thought that's exactly what this forum was for, don't people get on here and ask for advise on what kits how to and who to.

Quite simply I couldn't just give you a date because I don't know. I don't know because I have no idea of what level of testing etc I'm going to have to do because Craig hasn't supplied the information that he both promised and was paid to deliver.

When I employed Craig to do the full compliance and assembly for my car everything was as easy as and would only take a couple of weeks this progressed to him not organising to freight the car till some 5-6 months after it was ready and then it sitting around his work shop for another few months.

Then he starts carrying on about how hard it is and how he looses money on these Kirkhams and bla bla bla. He's done next to nothing on my car charged me a fortune and won't or can't supply the necessary paperwork I need to get the car registered.

Yes I've got the ah$&s and I'm voicing my opinion but I can assure you at this juncture in time I am not the only one. I am how ever the only one voicing my opinion because other people are trying to get their stuff and don't want to upset the apple cart, I on the other hand don't want to see other people fall into the same trap clearly I'm not going to get what I paid for or the rest of my parts so as far as I m concerned as a public forum where people come to read about kit builders and how to put kits together then this is exactly the place I will come and share my thoughts.

[400TT]

Originally Posted by damage

after paying close to $15,000 for him to do the compliance work I shouldn't expect the headlights indicators tailights demisters windscreen wipers or windscreen squirters or anything to be finished or wired for that matter.

This will be my only response here to Damage, sorry for the thread drift. Actually Damage has paid $11, 948 for the work that was completed. Damage was informed the electrical wiring was not performed and was not charged for it. This is the incomplete portion he is talking about. On top of the compliance work, we also installed the suspension, performed work on brake lines, installed differential, assembled and installed axles, installed fluids, worked on brake lines, worked on dent removal etc. Then it involved a lot of custom work due to the specification of his car. e.g. custom machining compliant fuel filler internal cap housing to suit his Lemans housing etc.

I am waiting for contact details from Damage for his engineer. I have supplied a full engineering spec list to him and recommended an engineer so he can get compliance work started. He has enough to progress it, the ball is in his court.

I have not charged Damage for the items or paperwork that have not been supplied or completed.

I wish we could have performed the work faster and make no excuses for the time it took.

[400TT]

Hewey, there are no finished driving examples yet. The first customer kits were delivered last year and we have supplied them at a discounted price to owners as a reward for their faith in us.

We do not have a finished demo car. We are certainly doing the best we can to complete one and assist our owners finishing their kits as fast as possible.

The level we have designed and constructed this kit to does not unfortunately lead to quick prototyping of parts to build a demo quickly. What would be the point of building a demo car that does not use production level parts? Due to the resources it would take to produce it, we decided to extend the reach and extent of our computer aided testing and prototyping.

For example to produce the chassis units to the level we required needed a production facility setup and expert fabricators employed. It is unfortunately not something you can turn off, so the facility has been continuing to produce parts.

Same goes for body to get it to the level required. We have built our own composite shop.

From our experience we could not produce these main components to the required level if we outsourced the manufacture.

We also needed to manufacture an extensive body fitment jig to fit the bodies to the accuracy we required.

And then we have the volume manufactured parts we have designed for the PACE 427. The prototype parts are not suitable for use, so we need a full production run to get a single usable part. Some of our minimum production runs are hundreds of parts.

And it takes time to sample off-the-shelf part suppliers and find parts at the required level of quality. e.g. windscreens. We have these being produced for us now at the quality required.

Our PACE 427 build manual is already 186 pages long, full colour with some fold out A3 sized exploded diagrams. Also contains 100's of high resolution images for the DVD. We are working on it in conjunction with our manuals for our other products, so a work in progress.

I am blessed to have a passionate team and we certainly appreciate the support we have received. The current difficult economic times makes it even more difficult to bring a product of this level to market. We are just performing the finishing touches and result has exceeded our expectations. So we expect our customers should be satisfied as well.

Attached a page from our build manual, enjoy.

[byroncobra]

That drawing puts other so called "manuals" to shame Craig, beautiful work.

It gives us some idea as to your drive to supply a fastidious quality product.

Although I'm not in the queue (yet) I congratulate you guys that are waiting for your car or in the building stage.

We're all just busting to see a Pace on the road

[Cobra01]

Originally Posted by hewey

Looks like it is coming along well Brad. will be great to see it running. One of the best days in my memory was the day we got our Cobra replica running.

Hi Hewey,

There are some days you always remember I hope the first firing of my engine is a memory to be cherished.

Thanks for the wrap on my build.

How about some more pictures of your cobra in your Photo Gallery

Cheers

Brad

[Tonus72]

Hi damage - I think the point has been made before, that if you want to start a thread, do it. To change the subject on someone else's thread is called a 'hijack'.

This thread is about the first Pace 427 being on the road. I am looking forward to see the first one completed. Keep up the good work Brad!


Cheers

Tony

[damage]

Originally Posted by Tonus72

Hi damage - I think the point has been made before, that if you want to start a thread, do it. To change the subject on someone else's thread is called a 'hijack'.

This thread is about the first Pace 427 being on the road. I am looking forward to see the first one completed. Keep up the good work Brad!


Cheers

Tony

ooooooooooooooooooooops sorry, I got asked a question so I answered it and that was my opening to add a little more.

Sincerely sorry 2-3 months is the extent of my fuse when promised things.