Toyota Chasis

[brooksie]

Im looking at cobra's and came across this kit..

TOYOYA CROWN BASED KING COBRA

The body has two gel coats for longevity of top surface. Four layers of 450 grams fibreglass matt, hand laminated for extra strength and durablility with an extra layer in stressed areas. All floor pans, boot pans and inner arches laminated into one piece body. This allows for body to fit straight onto shortened Toyota Crown chassis, shortened tp 90" wheel base. This includes boot, bonnet and doors which are double skinned.

Toyota Crown Chassis / Body kit, frame modified with all mountings for motor, gear box, hand brake, rollbar, seats, seat belts, with bonnet and boot doors swinging. Chassis has all suspension, brakes, diff, steering, shock absorbers and springs. $8,000....

http://www.gforcesportscars.com.au/toyota.html W/ Aust

Does anyone know if these are any good or look any good???

Thanks Brooksie.

[BMK]

Hi Brooksie,

'GForce' has been around for sometime. I understand that they do both a Toyota chassis and a custom type.

I know this 'Thread' will start a real debate about kits and the cost of kits.



I guess I'm not much value in the advice on which kit as I used a manufactured body and then went down the path of building my own chassis at a race shop in Melbourne.

We used a custom front end and a double spine chassis. A 9" rear end etc. 4.25LSD discs etc. front end used VT brakes and big calipers etc.

Whilst the car is a long way from being 100% finished and is very rough on the edges, it is finished and I am ironing out the bugs etc. Paint etc. in April. Roof being sorted now.

Done just on 3,500 k in two months.



I hope Aussie Mike buys in here and tells you a bit about his 'Classic Revivals' kit.

I first saw that chassis and body at Mike's home recently. I was very impressed with the body finish and overall quality.

My body is in white gel coat. I am certain that the Classic revival guys do their bodies in all colours of gel coat. If that was the case you could just clean/rub the mould lines out and drive it unpainted for a while as it is very well finished.

Mike will give you all the specs and costings.

If you want to follow up on the GForce you may wish to contact Ashley Hunter the editor of 'Just World Cars' in Geelong. Just Magazines Geelong.

Ashley's late father had a red GForce the car they use in their adds. He sold it to a jeweller in Geelong who still has the car.

Welcome to Australian Club Cobra and I hope you enjoy the fun we have both in Australia and on the general forum.



Do a lot of 'asking questions' and looking at different kits before you buy. There are 15 or more cars within an hour of you and just as many different kits. So talk to owners.



Guess that enough advice. Good luck

Cheers

Bernie

Bernie Knight
Mt. Gambier South Australia

Home of "Weekend at Bernie's #2" - March 13th/14th

[Tony Cram]

Hi Brooksie,

G Force are a very similar body shape to RMC. Many folk have been down the search path of which kit? You will as Bernie has suggested get a multitude of replies!!!!

The G Force Mark II is a custom built chassis and there is a Vic member who is just completing his and from what I have seen a very neat Kit to build. If you dont have great engineering skills the Mark II is a very good Kit. Dont know much about the Mark 1 but I would suggest many people do not like the chop and swap chassis. There is a mark 1 with 351 and a 98 RMC for sale in WA from "All American car sales" in WA both cars look O.K. (Check out www.carpoint.com.au - go to either used car search or dealer search.) Wayne Holland is good bloke as far as car salesman go - I bought my RMC from there.

Other suggested kits that I looked at are RMC WA, Classic Revival NSW, Laurie Bongailas (RCM) Vic (a good kit, priced very well but needs good engineering skills to complete). If you can get a hold of "Australian Classis Car" Mag May 2001 issue 94 or Feb 2003 issue 115 both have a fairly comprehensive articles on the major kit suppliers / builders.

Good luck with your search and welcome to the forum and your journey into cobra life. You will get a lot of information from the gang on this site!

Regards


Tony C.
Membership Manager - Cobra Club Victoria.

[Adrian S]

Hi Brooksie,

I'm in the final stages of getting my G-Force engineered and overall have been very happy with the kit. I'm not as mechanically capable as I probably should have been to embark on such a project but came through unscathed. Mind you, I called on peoples help along the way. I got the Mark I chassis as I didn't need the extra torsional strength of the Mark II. The Mark II is more suited to big block applications. I dismissed the Toyota Crown option based on the fact that one day I may sell the car, and in my opinion, it would devalue the car. Also, not sure about the amount of flex in the crown chassis. The Mark I is impressive - when I lift from any corner the whole side of the car lifts together as one. The G-Force is essentially the same as an RMC.

My word of advice would be to take a good look around at all the kits. Most of the kit makers are always improving things so keep this in mind - I believe Ian at Classic Revival has started using a new body mould for example.

If ever you're in Melbourne, there are plenty of us guys building different kits (probably in NSW too). Any one of us would be happy to show you.

Happy hunting.
Adrian.

[SPEEDEAMON]

I'm confused. I thought the King Cobra should look like a full blown race car with a Cooper body. I also know that the Toyota Crown is a basis for taxis in Japan as well as chauffeur driven executive cars, not too different from a Lincoln Town Car. So why would they use this set up. Why not a more sporting chassis? Any pix of the underpinnings?

[boxhead]

Hey there Brooksie.

I recently purchased my kit from Ian @ classic revivals, I think mine is the latest one and it has been made from a different mould to the one they used afew years ago.
The seams in my cars body are in different locations than Aussis Mike's.

If you want to see some pics of the Classic Revival kits check the pics in the galleries for Aussie Mike, Leeroy and mine.
Here is a link to the manufacturer of our kits http://www.classicrevival.com.au

Another kit I gave alot of consideration to is this one http://www.cobrakits.com.au/ I went and looked at this kit afew years ago and it all looked very good.

One of the things I wanted in a kit was the independant rear end.

Good luck with the searching and allways choose the one that YOU want.

[Aussie Mike]

Hi Brooksie and welcome to the forum.

I don't like to put down anyones kit and I won't bag the Gforce Kit. I've seen Adrian's car and they seem to make a solid product.

The Toyota Chassis kit is cheap at $8000 but to me this saving is false economy. Saving a few $$ on the foundations for your car is a drop in the ocean compared to the costs of the other ingredients in the finished product. It costs the same for a paint job, trimming, wiring, motor and box etc whether the car has a flash body/chassis or a mediocre one. The difference in the end is that one handles like a Cobra should and the other handles like a Toyota Crown. When you go to sell it down the track the running gear under the car will be a real factor in the return on your investment.

Most of the body/chassis kits out there are around the $10K mark. My Classic Revival was $11K and I believe Lauries cars are cheaper at about $7K. The difference in price evens out when you take into consideration how much work is required to put each one together.

You can pick up a complete Jag front and rear end from a wrecker for about $1500 or if you go for a homebush or DRB the Torana running gear is even cheaper. Again don't fall into the false economy trap here because it costs much the same to rebuild a Torana front as it does a Jag or Toyota or any other. Bushes, balljoints, bearings, discs etc are much the same prices regardless of manufacturer.

Pick the chassis and running gear that you want and try not to compromise what is important to you in your car. Do you want IRS? How about 4 piston ventilated front brakes? Do you want fully adjustable front and rear suspension?

Doing the summs on going the Toyota route I figure you would be saving on average only about $5K over many of the other dedicated chassis cars out there. It may work out to less by the time you source your suspension, brakes and steering as there are bargains to be found. By going the dedicated chassis route you will end up with the basis for a car that will potentialy stop and handle much better.

In the end you get what you pay for.

Cheers

[BMK]

Hi all,

Knew we would get some good feedback here.



One of the things that I feel is important is how you fit physically in the car. Mike and I had a brief discussion about this when I was over. I sit very low in my car and find it great to drive for long distances.

I don't get out feeling like I have just had a 3 hour ride on a Harley.



Now that will start something....

My first car was an RMC ex Mike Moores and it had a low seating position. The corrugated floor in the early RMC was easily lowered even further allowing a low seat position. I see the GForce is similiar to the RMC.

I built this current car the same way and I am now thinking about lowering the footwell area a little to give me better access to the pedals. This was something that became apparent to me after Aussie Mike was sitting in the car.

I spoke with Bob Kallio from Midstates at the Run N Gun in Missouri and after sitting in his car with footwell boxes I can know see this reasoning. So I will experiment here.

I guess we all build our cars to suit ourselves. I think that is important when picking your supplier. Do you want a car that you can fit doors up, boot up etc. Do you want a supplier that gives you the body with all of this done and located/bolted to the chassis. What is best for you.

Then to even further complicate things you can have a car with an extra 50mm in the doors/chassis from Homebush for extra room. They also have a larger footwell that fits under the guard lip giving you about 100mm of extra space to swing pedals.

Check out the Sydney members and their cars also.

I agree with the comments on pricing. Cheap at the start sometimes is false economy.

Have a good New Year and hope you enjoy looking at the many options. Importantly sit in them and get a feel for the floor position, seat position and where you look through the windscreen. Just don't ask for the keys.



Mike - hope to catch up next week. Have fun there.

Garrett - hey Garrett has a holiday house down at Anglesea Beach lets crash it for a few days..



Cheers

Bernie

Bernie Knight
Mt. Gambier South Australia.

Home of "Weekend at Bernie's #2" - March 13th/14th

[boxhead]

Hey there Bernie, just a quick helo and to let you know I will be picking up the pics I took of yours and Garret's car later today.
I will post the pics tonight.

Happy new year to everyone out there.

[BMK]

Boxhead,

Happy New year....

Thanks mate. I guess I am not the only one sitting here surfing this site - with little to do nursing a sore head.



The house has bodies scattered all around sleeping and listening to music so I thought I would have a look around the site here.

Have a good New year.

Cheers

Bernie

Bernie Knight
Mt. Gambier South Australia

Home of "Weekend at Bernie's #2" March 13th/14th.

[cameron02]

Hi Brooksie,

First thing I would recommend is decide what you want the car for.

For example. Most people on this site seem to want a weekender that looks great and goes very very fast. Many people do their engines, brakes etc up to racing specs.

For myself (and some others). I want to drive the car for work every day. I'm not going to drive fast but I do like decent acceleration now and again. I've never been into fast cornering as I'm too scared of hitting some little kid on a bike or something. I just want a car that looks good and feels groovy to drive.

For my purposes the Toyota Crown chasis would be fine and I did look at that option. The main reason I went for a DRB was that I met someone who had built one and was very happy.

Most people seem to put on really big brakes. Important if your racing but I'm just motoring around town. The DRB uses Torana Disc brake front end and Drums on the rear. I remember driving an LH Torana and it stopped fine. The Cobra is much lighter than the Torana so should stop fine with the standard brakes.

As far as I can tell. If you use the standard stuff it works out a lot cheaper.

Oh yes, if you want to drive it a lot you may want to get a hard top and make windows. See if G Force supply a hard top.

Personally I would not worry too much about re sale value. Most people would not have a clue re the suspension set up etc. If they are really into it then you can just about guarantee that whatever you have they wont be completely happy with anyway.

If you want the race car option, Robnell have a very good reputation but I could not afford one. $$$ Ouch

Hope this helps

Cameron

[Tony Cram]

Hi Brooksie,

I wont add to your now growing list of preferences! Everyones suggestions are great!!! Good to see lots of passion about each of the kits.

Adrian, sorry mate, I made an error on my last note about the G Force. My note confuses the Mk1 with the crown which are separate. Meant to say Mk1 and Mk II are custom built as opposed to the Crown and that I dont know much about the crown chassis.

Brooksie, take Adrians and Cameron's (and others!!!) advice look around carefully and decide what you really want out of you car. Adrian's G Force Mk 1 is an excellent kit and is worth a look.

If your ever down in Melbourne be sure to come and have a look at as many kits as you can. There are some great examples here and all, I am sure would be willing to show you their cars.

Regards


Tony C.

[brooksie]

Gee's Thanks fellas all the info and advice I like to see...

Im not interested in a real go fast machine, got a Yamaha R1 for that...

All I can say is you are a top bunch !!!

Thanks again

[BMK]

Hi Brooksie,

Just spoke with Ashley in Geelong and the GForce they have over there was not built on a Toyota chassis.

He did say that the Toyota chassis was not an option looked at.
He knows nothing about the Toyota option.



There is an unfinished car in Geelong on a Toyota chassis that has been off and on "For Sale". The general thoughts are that there is no interest due to the link with Toyota.



Just an additional bit of information to think about.

Cheers

Bernie,

Bernie Knight
Mt. Gambier South Australia.

Home of "Weekend at Bernie's #2" - March 13th/14th

[PCC]

Hi Brooksie,

What I know (and its not too much) that what is just as important as building / purchasing a Cobra is knowing the right people to offer good advise when needed.

I found it very difficult in the first instance in finding the right people to offer the right advise.

No matter what initial saving you think you will get, if the right advise is not found then the cheque book can easily become open and never shut.

I'm similar to Cameron in that my DRB is a looker, but with enough punch to leave a WRX (attitude drivers) in the mirror.

The other trap (Good advise given by Scott Hampson) that it easy to fall into the trap of adding this and that by way of HP (not the sauce), bigger brakes etc etc that just makes a mockery of any budget you may have.

Find out what YOU want and stick to it (unless of course you are related to Bill Gates).

Boy or boy, after seeing some of the Cobra's in QLD, I could quite easily fork out another $20,000 on this and that. Fortunately common sense prevails.

Good look mate and enjoy the build (I envy anyone who can devote the time to such a programme).

[BMK]

Hope we havn't scared him off



Bernie

Bernie Knight
Mt. Gambier South Australia



7 days without "Maccas" makes one weak