unfinished

[mdl.wright]

Evening everyone. Now dont laugh, but im looking to build a cobra on a budget!!!
Does anyone of you know of an unfinished kit out there for sale?

Thanks people

[Tenrocca]

Pace have an unfinished kit for sale?

[750hp]

Lots of them around at various stages.
What's your starting budget and overall (realistic) budget?

[Dimis]

Even the finished ones are often unfinished, and most everything is for sale.

If you ball park a budget we might be better placed to help.

Ps. Who's laughing. I'm building mine on a budget too.

[deano59]

one here in Adelaide
AC Cobra Car Kit | Cars, Vans & Utes | Gumtree Australia Tea Tree Gully Area - Greenwith | 1021459730

[mdl.wright]

Thanks for the replies. As far as budget goes.... how longs a piece of string.
Just sold my Mustang and got high 30's for it, in an ideal world id like to get a part finished for a bargain and finish up after a year or so of building able to convince myself I spent no extra! is this realistic or not (Im prepared to lie to myself a bit over what i've spent!)

[Zedn]

Depends on what you want to do. I originally thought mid 30s, but I reckon it will be mid 40s when done. That is with doing 95% of the work myself and I only paid about $8k for the body, chassis and used suspension. I have saved where I could but used quality parts. If you got a cheap engine and gearbox combo you would save a lot as I have spent over 10k on driveline. You could get a wrecked ls1, Gearbox and engine management for a few grand.

Cost savings can be made but you have to sacrifice the end result. Eg nice $200 steering wheel vs $40 from super cheap auto, suspension with all new bushes and bearings nicely cleaned and painted vs degreesed old suspension with dodgy rattle can paint job, nice new alloy radiator vs an old one sourced from the wrecker, $800 quality gauges vs $200 eBay gauges etc

[Zedn]

Have you looked at all the kits on offer? Some are cheaper than others and cost of parts required varies.

[byroncobra]

is this realistic or not

Sorry.....NOT

[stephen low]

I'd disagree and say it is possible but you'd have to put up with a very Spartan result.

Got my unfinished car as the third hand and got it through engineering up to rego stage for pretty much $30K, including the engineering costs.

My kit originally cost me about $13K but it came with some of the expensive extras including the windscreen, fuel tank, monza fuel cap, radiator, wrong sized/series tyres on halibrand replica rims so I had a good head start. That's the value of research though and a wait over about an 18 month period once I was certain.

But the body was in gel coat so no paint, no interior finishing at all, no stereo - Spartan as I said butI was driving the car.

I'd have to admit the forced strip down and rebuild has cost me a good deal more but then as has been said, I now want to finish the car off nicely, so I am spending what is reasonable for quality items.

If time's on your side do the research and see what's on offer.

Have fun!

Slo

[Wazza]

You'll get what you pay for I guess.
Nothing wrong with trying to make a budget Cobra...just don't be always wanting to upgrade things over and over because you're not happy when you look at other Cobras and want yours to be a bit "flasher".

I've done that before....it's like a never ending project.

And don't be like some "looneys' out there ...that spend WAY TOO much trying to make a "perfect" car.

You need your head examined if you do that ....Right ??

Good luck with it , but expect to pay a bit for quality....

The most expensive bits are the ones that you replace/upgrade two or three times.

Cheers,
Warren

[Modena]

You could certainly pick up a part finished kit and maybe get it finished for 30, but it would end up as less than a prime example. As others have said it's up to you what you want in the car and consequently what it will cost. I have spent over $56K on kit and parts, nothing on labour, and I'm not done yet. Eg engine/engine mgmt/trans/diff are going to come in at over 14K. Could I have spent way less, of course, but I am taking the path I want to and using everything new (where possible) and not compromising because of cost - if I want to do something a certain way then it waits until I can afford it.

[Philm]

Don't think $30k will do it.


Like everyone has said to build a decent car I would feel $50K would be a minimum up to $80K for a compliant car will new components and a decent paint job.

I did build my cobra for about $30k the first time round, new kit but 2nd hand imported mustang 5ltr and T5, reworked the stock ecu and loom, no interior steel wheels etc etc.

But then I spent $XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.00 to finish it.

Phil

[MRGEORGE077]

Might be able to find a built and sorted out one for that amount or a little bit more.

[Toecutter]

Yeah, 30k is certainly going to make it tight....

I went the other way and bought a cheap but registered and engineered example of an older kit. It's certainly not the most desirable one out there but it was solid, proven and drivable which was important for me.

I paid 36k for it with a 'handyman' feel
Most of the car was built on what was clearly a very tight budget. The interior felt cheap, the suspension was soft and soggy and the engine bay was a crime scene you can see it in my gallery. It will need about 10-14k spent on the exterior to get to to a reasonable finish according to a few quotes.
Now add to that the 20k i've spent on a custom built 347 will all the best internals and efi to keep the engineering docs current. That also includes panel, prep and paint in the engine bay so that we won't have to take the donk out when we do the exterior. You can also add another 4k ish for nice gauges, tripod lights, chrome, good indicators and very good 15" street tyres and having the front end set up professionally after the heart transplant.

Then there is the work I've done at home with changing shocks and lowering the floor. Oh, then there was the custom exhaust.
I'm sure there is more but as you rightly said, I shouldn't have to aknowledge all of the expenses

So it owes me about 60 ish but I'm very happy with the driving experience.
I am however conscious that it's probably a 45k ish car now and if I ever end up finishing it perhaps it might bring 50-55k at a stretch.... Well that is par for the course.

The bottom line is that I love driving it, tinkering with it and eventually ill end up with what I want. Not what someone else wanted. I've had finished cars before but they were all... well..... Finished. And where is the fun In that? It's working for me but I thought you might be interested. Good luck with your search.

[tavas]

There's a part finished kit on gumtree in SA. Owner wants 9k. No affiliation, just found it.

[deano59]

Originally Posted by tavas

There's a part finished kit on gumtree in SA. Owner wants 9k. No affiliation, just found it.

ive spoken to the owner of this he dosent know what kit it is but it looks like a classic cars kit that used to made on angle vale rd by cocci bros there actually market gardeners enzo and dominic I used to work on there farm as my first job from school . the kit is sitting on a jag diff and front end the driveshafts haven't been shortened yet the doors look like there hanging but there not the body looks to have been knocked around somewhat .and what you see is what you get .
I actually posted the link to it earlier up . im in sa and pretty much in the same boat . im looking for a unfinished project but something further along than that one is they must be out there .
I got 3/4 of the way building one yrs ago but had to sell due to a divorce mine was a paul wooley kit was a roller with the diff all recon the front end all. new windscreen and doors fitted. 302 recon engine and c4 trans fitted sitting on new tyres and rims .
I am hoping to have enough to either buy a older car my preferred option as I like the old school carby look or a car that someone has gotten a fair way along with and either lost interest or run out of money or worse case like mine a forced sale .
finding these unfinished cars seems to be the hard bit tho .
good luck to the op im not sure where your based but im in Adelaide not all that far from where this kit is located if anyone wanted im sure I could ask the seller for a closer look if someone interstate was interested in it .
cheers dean

[QLDCOB]

Morning Everyone.
I am based in Gladstone Qld, and I have one for sale. It is a venom chassis and shell.
Series 2 front and rear, shortened. I have 2 off and the wifey asked the question why do you need 2? She is right so I am getting rid of one. The one that I am selling is not as advanced as the other, but it will accompanied with drawings that we have done to date. If anyone is interested please ring me on 0408 790 189.

[sevenohms]

Originally Posted by mdl.wright

Evening everyone. Now dont laugh, but im looking to build a cobra on a budget!!!
Does anyone of you know of an unfinished kit out there for sale?

Thanks people

I agree with most of the other posters. Yes but it'll be very Spartan, you'll need to be careful with your cash (there's bargains around). And you'll need to be able to do everything yourself.

For example, mine is about 30k (and I'm not quite finished yet).
Body and Chassis Rails $6000
I used almost everything I could from the wreck. $5500 engine/trans/comp/dash/wiring, use the exchange rate to your advantage
Shopped around on ebay for bargains: Jag front end $100, rear end $200, parts from the UK (jag), land rover defender lights, Mini Headlights, rebuilt the Jag stuff myself, Lemans cap $50 from a wholesaler.
Lots of stuff made at home or with engineering companies I bartered with. Sprayed the paint myself, not perfect, but I love it.
There are many better cobras out there, but it's got my fingerprints all over it, and that makes me proud.

Remember that when you buy an unfinished project, you normally have to pay to fix the old owners mistakes.

[Zedn]

Any details on source for the $50 cap?