MikeFromPerth's Pace 427 Build Thread
 

Hi all,

About ten years ago I decided I was going to build a Cobra one day. At the time, I lived in a house that had a single open-sided carport. Not ideal for building a kit car. But after I moved house last year, I was sitting on my friend's balcony and a blue & white cobra drove down the street in front of me... and then the googling began. The time had come!

I knew what I wanted:

- blue with white stripes
- 427 style (rather than 289)
- supercharger (don't ask me why, i can't explain, i just need to own one!)
- new build (no hunting around in scrap yards or second hand parts - I don't have the skills or the time)
- as close to a "just bolt it together" solution as i could get. I have young kids (i.e. very limited spare time) and an alarming lack of skill :LOL:
- full road registration

After a lot of reading and talking to several cobra club members I came to the conclusion that the Absolute Pace was the kit for me. Wazza spent several weeks answering about a million questions from me over email, all of which made it pretty clear to me that the quality was there and they'd thought of pretty much everything. Wazza must be sick of me already I reckon, I must say he's really gone out of his way to help me a lot.

So, I've placed my order and have been watching the very exciting updates rolling in from the guys at AP.

Meanwhile I've been "nesting"... buying various trinkets and tools. Also I built a chassis support frame and one for the body too (which I made to be lifted up into the garage ceiling for storage):

http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/pict...ictureid=15528
http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/pict...ictureid=15527

Found some suitable HSV cats from an exhaust shop nearby, ready to be modified:

http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/pict...ictureid=15529

Even installed some new lights in the garage!

http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/pict...ictureid=15526

As for the car itself, here's the latest photo I have from the AP guys. Very exciting!

http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/pict...ictureid=15530

Drivetrain will be LSA with TR6060 MG9 gearbox.

So... here I go! Hope you're all going to help me coz I sure as hell won't be able to do it without a good helping of advice :)

Cheers,
Mike

** Reserved for future **

Good luck with your build Mike!

(Just as well you plan on adding a supercharger, 'cause everyone knows red ones are faster ...)

Not enough 'reserved for future'.

Congrats on your purchase, it never ceases to amaze me they quality of these bodies unpainted.

Additional lighting for working late at night and in the early hours before before the family gets up. My suggestion, line your floors with something, the drop of a spanner on a concrete floor at 3 am is cringe worthy.

Good choice, and update your progress often, been to quiet in here lately.

Great work Mike and good luck with your build.

You might not need the Supercharger as the Stripes always make it go faster.

Good colour choice too :-)

Cheers Gregg

Nothing like a deep breath and a huge leap of faith! :)

All the best with the build Mike, although with the forethought and the pre-planning that's evident from your remarks, you'll be fine.

Looking forward to watching the build, and helping with info if I can.
Have fun with it all, the Pace certainly ticks all the boxs you had.

Congrats Mike. Welcome to the family!;)

I have built a Pace 427SC with LSA/MG9 so if you have any questions, just let me know.

Cheers,
Sime

Nice work Mike. Will watch your progress with interest.

You would swear that body had just been painted. Super nice Mike, looking forward to seeing it in the flesh....

Thanks all for the kind words.

Glad to see that my highly unconventional colour choice has everyone fired up :-)

I'm looking at cabin heaters at the moment, seeing if i can find a nice compact one to potentially fit in the footwell(s) or behind the dash. I doubt they're super effective in an open top roadster but if they can just take the bite of the cold off my toes then maybe in combination with heated seats I'll manage to survive! Being a 9-5 office-dweller (who doesn't drive to work) I am really keen to maximise the usability of the car outside of just warm daytimes.

Cold? in Perth? When does that happen?

haha! Yes but it's all relative. Having grown up in Perth, i define "too cold" as being "under 20 degrees"

Below 20, the heater's on!!!

I'm thinking heated seats for Albany winter....

congrats on your choice of kit they go together a lot easier than the jag based one i built last time round .. ive already bought the heated seat pads to go into mine and have been playing around with 12 volt heaters for the footwell but im leaning towards water heated type as you can buy some nice units that go in hot rods ect ect .

good luck from chassis number 50
dean

Can't say I have ever had cold feet in my cobra. I think the 300 kW heater I use up that end of town does a good job at keeping the toes warm.

The heated seats sound like a reasonable idea however :)

I am with you Tim. Its normally the "Top half" that gets cold. Although my seats are quite a good "surround hugging" type so its normally the hands (gloves), Neck (scarf) and Bald Noggin (Beanie) that cops most of it. A good jacket too.

I haven't been in a Cobra with a heater yet so can't say how good that is.

A couple of guys in Vic have seat heaters and floor heaters.

You could also get the Tradie battery operated heated jackets too :-)

cheers

Gregg

Deano i have done some googling looking at various options. Here's my list of bookmarks in my 'heaters' folder:

Demon Tweeks Lightweight Heater | Demon Tweeks
Hi Performance Air Hot Rod Heater
CLAYTON CLASSIC BARREL HEATER - Classic &AMP Vintage Car Parts from SVC - The Best Prices
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SCA5PIM...ZFVVVJBYYWFJ6S
https://www.amazon.com/Old-Air-Produ...AT5706GDJVXP5B
https://www.amazon.com/Auxiliary-Hea...compact+heater
https://www.amazon.com/Auxiliary-Hea...compact+heater
Buy 12 Volt Heater, 12 Volt Car Heaters, Portable Car Heater - My 12 Volt Store
5.2Kw Car Heater Kit - Car Builder Solutions - Kit Car Parts and Accessories
Compact Heater Matrix And Fan Kit - Car Builder Solutions - Kit Car Parts and Accessories
Custom Aftermarket A/C Systems & Replacement Parts for Hot Rod, Classic, & Vintage Cars/Trucks - Compact Heaters
Hot Rod Heater Siroco or Use as Demister Small and Compact | eBay
Universal Compact Mini Heater UTV Skidsteer 12 Volt All in One | eBay
Universal Cab Heater UTV Skidsteer 12 Volt | eBay
Zirgo Gobi Compact Heater Deluxe Kit « zirgo.com
Compact Heater Matrix And Fan Kit - Car Builder Solutions - Kit Car Parts and Accessories
ABS Heater Matrix Case - Car Builder Solutions - Kit Car Parts and Accessories
2.2kw Micro Heater 12v - Heating - Water - Heating
Heating - Water - Heating
Old Air Products - Custom Aftermarket A/C Systems & Replacement Parts for Hot Rod, Classic, & Vintage Cars/Trucks - Heater Cores - Heater Valve

the 'micro heater' one looks the goods maybe. it's tiny. i suspect that in the Pace footbox, it would fit between the outer wall and the steering column (assuming my GM throttle sensor thing can be arranged in such a way as to not clash with it). question is whether 2.2kW is worth the hassle. i don't know if that's "plenty" or "worthless" or somewhere inbetween. or for that matter, whether a heater is even worth bothering with at all...!

haha! maybe what i really need is removable footbox insulation rather than a heater :-)

How about something like this or would it draw too much power?24V ELECTRIC 1080W / 45A Heater / Defrost Unit (2 Duct Outlets) **NO ENGINE WATER REQUIRED** FEATURES A 2 FOOT SWITCH HARNESS FOR DASH MOUNTING OF SWITCH: Speedy Air Spares

I reckon that the problem with those electric ones is that to get an equivalent power output to, say, the 2.2kW water one I mentioned above, it would (in a12v system) have to draw nearly 200 amps!

That same site does have some approx 40-50 amp ones, meaning about 500 watts. Question is, how much is enough?