New Oz member with a few questions

[spinout427]

Hi all in Cobra Land. if you own one your lucky, and I say that lightly as I know most of you have worked very hard to save the Money to buy one completed or build it yourself. Im sure that many of you have spent countless hours in the garage/shed as well. Im new to the forum and ever since seeing Craig Whites Cobra kit at Motorclassica last year, I havent been able to stop thinking about it. I have also spoken to Craig (PACE 427 in Arundel) and he seems like a great guy.

As a new guy I suppose I could ask these couple of questions to Craig at PACE but I would rather ask people that have purchased his 427 kit and actually built it, you know different views.

1. Has Anyone in Oz actually completed the PACE 427 kit and have it registered for the road in full registration Mode. If yes what State. I have spoken to several people, (maybe not the best people to speak to) who have warned me about kit cars in general and having difficulties getting them fully registered here in Victoria?

2. Have any of you that have completed a kit build or who are deeply into it, come across items that pushed your build budget for the build beyond your original expectations, and if yes, like what?

3. Can I clarify if an Automotive engineer is required prior to registration and what the approximate cost of something like this would be in Victoria?.

Please forgive me if these type of questions have been asked before, I just cant seem to find the answers on this Blog. Thanks to all in advance for just letting me ask the questions.

PS if Im doing this posting thing wrong please let me know.


Spinout427 :

[Aussie Mike]

Welcome Spinout. You have come to the right place.

There are a lot of people currently building Pace Cobras. It looks like one of the first has just gone through engineering in Queensland and passed OK. There are several currently being built here in Victoria so you wouldn't be alone in the build and engineering process.

I built a Classic Revival and the Engineering report was about $1300 but that was a few years ago now. I went through Enklemans down Morabin direction andthey are reputable. It might be worth giving them a call to investigate current pricing. It may also be worth talking to some of the folks building Pace cars down here and as who is engineering their cars. Enklemans had already done several CRs so that made life easier when it came to engineer mine.

Keep asking questions on here and get along to a club meeting and talk to some folks. The Cobra community is great and very open/welcoming. Researching is all part of the fun.

Cheers

[Cobra01]

Hi Spinout,

My Pace 427SC Kit is complete for registration purposes

All I need to do now is a Lane change test and the engineer will submit all the relevant paperwork to QLD Transport and I will get the go ahead to register the Car.

I think about keeping to a budget it will depend on the build that you want and your Will or Won't power depending on what you see that you want to add to the build.

I think there are 4 or maybe 5 Victorians that are building Pace 427's at this time and some of them should be quite advanced.

I cant answer the question about an engineer but I don't see any problems about getting it to pass .

Run through the New Build post of mine and that will give you some idea about what is involved.

Craig is producing a build manual that will show you what is involved.

Aussie Mike has given you the right advise .

Cheers

Brad

[stiffy]

Hi Spinout427,

The price of the build will depend on your talent and what parts your use.

The better the part naturally the more expensive he build.

Most Cobras end up costing upwards of $80k, more likely closer to $100k

When painted/trimmed.

With this in mind the engineering portion is quite small (2%) on average.

I also used Enklemans in Braeside and they are one of the best in Victoria.

The AP 427 certainly looks/is a fantastic Cobra, if I was in the market for one

It would be on top of my list.

Stiffy

[400TT]

Spinout427, great to hear from you again.

We have had Tom Bullock at Enklemans engineering look over the car down there in VIC. So to get pricing etc, just contact Enklemans.

All the required engineering reports including Lane Change test Brad indicated above will be supplied to Enklemans.

If you can spare the time, I would really recommend getting up to our factory to see the facility, how the kits are manufactured and see first hand the latest with the product.

[Russell9318]

Spinout427, as far as costing goes, Stiffy is pretty well on the mark. A bonus with the Pace 427 is the body finish is sensational in the gel coat and painting is not a requirement unless you want some special colour but then Pace are pretty good with their gel coat colours. Painting can come at a later date if you want something different or are building a show car.

Four of us builders in Melbourne spent a couple of hours with Tom from Enklemanns and might I say that after looking over Paintwerks car he was suitably impressed. Prices for engineering are around the $1200 mark plus extras such as emissions testing which is an independent test, around $400 I believe...may be wrong.

Those that are telling you about kit cars being hard to register are definitely right but only for the kit cars that don't deserve to be registered. You take the well constructed cars that comply with the requirements set down and be guided by those that matter and registration is relatively easy. If you want to see hard, go back to the 70's and 80's when all modifications were outlawed.

Best of luck with your shopping around and remember, no questions are stupid and that includes the stupid ones.

Cheers

Russell

[spinout427]

Hi guys haven't had a chance to log on.
Just wanted to say thanks for the welcome and the information.
I will give Enklemans a Buzz for more info.
I knew that building a top kit like the Pace wouldn't be cheap but at 80 to 100 K may be a little over my budget, unless I build it as a long term project. I have been an aircraft engineer for the last 25 years and luv aircraft, but my dream would be to build these gorgeous machines for people looking for a turn key option. wow what a dream job that would be.
I wonder if its worth looking at finding an unfinished kit.
Anyway dreaming costs $0.00 and
I can't wait for this years Motorclassica as I read there will be a cobra display this year.

Will keep researching
And reading.

Cheers guys

Spinout427

[Modena]

Spinout, stiffy only says 80-100K because he needs to pay people to do the work! :P

If you can complete a Lego technics you should be able to screw a Pace together.

While its true you can spend 100 depending on what you choose, there are also some VERY nice Cobras getting about (Harrison, CR, etc) which have come in under 65K with paint.

[Tenrocca]

A few people have offered estimates on the total cost of their Pace builds here:

to the people building pace cobras

Also, FYI in NSW a standard manufacturers lane change test is not valid as there are too many variables in the setup of each car.

[Treeve]

Speaking as an engineer, regardless of state, I've tested two near identical CR cobras on the same day in the same conditions. One sailed through, the other was unable to be driven through the test at 70km/hr - it would spin due to toe out on the rear. Alignment paperwork proffered at the start showed toe in, so no idea how the alignment was done. The difference was the setup of the car having toe out at the rear on the car that failed.

For your own safety, and that of others I strongly recommend you get this test done.

Treeve