Cobra replicas in Australia - Page 3

Aussie Mike · #42 (**permalink**) 11-05-2004, 03:08 AM

That's basically what I'm building Jase. I've spoken to my engineer and there is no problem with running the exhaust down the side of the car it's just not allowed to exit towards the footpath.

I built my side pipes so that the can be easily split apart to repack the baffles etc. The whole outer skin of the sidepipe slides off. They also have cat converters inside them. I've basically built 2 sets of sidepipes. One set of pipes have the outlets blocked off and the pipe ducts back inder the body and into an extra section of exhaust system that exits out the back. The other set has the tip of the sidepipe exiting normally (for off street racing of course) and the rear extra exhaust section unbolts and is removed.

There's a few pictures of the pipes in my gallery. You can see how the pipes split apart and the cat converter. I havent finished the rear exhaust section yet as I've got to get the fuel tank finished first.

Cheers

Jase · #43 (**permalink**) 11-05-2004, 03:29 AM

Mike,

I've looked through your entire gallery and on more than one ocassion! Your gallery, and others, are whats giving me the inspiration to actually do this. Yeah I could just buy one - but its not going to be exactly as I want it to be. So many people said to me when I was restoring the Mini - for the money you've spent you could have bought a fully restored one and saved yourself the hassle - but then I wouldn't have decided on what colour the car was, nor the colour of the interior, the seatbelts, what type of engine and its specs, carbie and stage kit, air filter, steering wheel, gearbox, coil etc etc.. almost EVERYTHING on the Mini in the end was there because it was what I personally wanted. I would never have found one that I was entirely happy with, and as it turned out, I wasn't entirely happy with it anyway - the engine bay, which I ended up doing only a little bit of work on myself, was nowhere near what I wanted it to be, and nor was the interior.

My experiences with other peoples workmanship is why I want to do the next job myself. When the people who rebuilt the engine were putting it in, they scratched the **** out of the fresh lick of paint in the engine bay. When they put the windscreen in, they scratched the lip underneath - most of it I could have done myself, but I didn't want to wait, so in the end I paid someone what is in reality a ridiculous sum of money to do something poorly.

So I want my cobra to be mine and I want to spend months working on it, making sure every last detail on it is exactly what I want, and that it is done perfectly.

End rant.

Jase · #44 (**permalink**) 11-05-2004, 03:33 AM

Btw Mike, the suspension on your cobra is from classic revival isn't it?

BMK · #45 (**permalink**) 11-05-2004, 05:57 AM

Jase

There's a photo of my sons Mini Cooper "S" on my gallery that he put on there.

Bernie

Jase · #46 (**permalink**) 11-05-2004, 04:48 PM

I had a look at a New Mini Cooper S last week with dad - he's looking at getting one in the near future. Ironically enough, we went and looked at them the day my classic mini was picked up by its new owner! As a new car, the new mini is quite nice but I don't like them as much as the original. Kind of like the Cobra prototypes that ford have done in the past - nice, but it ain't an original!

BMK · #47 (**permalink**) 11-06-2004, 03:12 AM

Jase

I have had an opportunity to have one or two drives. He holds the keys pretty tight..

It handles very well and has a ton of power. I like the overall look of the car. There is a strong anti BMW mini group out there and we saw them at the recent mini nationals at Flemington Melbourne.

They have window stickers/decals and 'T' shirts declaring they are not BMW Mini owners...

I think the Mini is good value for money as well. Would go for a Cooper "s" though over the standard Mini.

Just my $.02 worth. Think your Dad would get a good fun buy.

The John Cooper Works car at an additional $9,000 is not a bad upgrade. I had considered that for my son but the insurance would have been triple. You can only guess what it cost now to insure a Mini Cooper "s" with a super charger...

.. for a 20 year old..

Bernie

Jase · #48 (**permalink**) 11-06-2004, 04:33 AM

Geez! My dad will probably never let me drive the Mini once he gets it, let alone buy me one! For some reason he doesn't trust other people with 'his' belongings. Probably has something to do with my sister sticking the hose up the exhaust pipe of the year old bmw 5 series one day when she was washing it. Her excuse? "It was dirty". LOL!

Over in the UK you can purchase a street legal, race ready John Cooper S pack - included in the price is the entry fee for a race series. The car includes a removable rollcage - so you can put it in for a race and out when you're going to and from work etc. I can't recall exactly, but I believe the car was stock, bar the rollcage and other race mods. I imagine if BMW did that here it would be very popular.

BMK · #49 (**permalink**) 11-06-2004, 05:07 AM

Yes I'm possibly a bit silly.

When I was up at the Cobra Nationals at Wakefield Park Raceway my son was driving the Cobra around.

I was a bit nervous and I was told "..he will do a lot better than you".

Now that would not be hard..

...

But I asked why and was told,..".. WELL ITS NOT HIS CAR THAT HE IS DRIVING, IS IT? ...

Todd spent time at Sandown Raceway with the BMW driving guys and Jeff Brabham and really enjoyed the days. The roll cage sounds interesting. Although with that great interior I would be worried about placing it in and out..

Bernie

Jase · #50 (**permalink**) 11-06-2004, 06:15 PM

I'll try and find the article and post it here because I've probably got half the details wrong anyway!

I tell you what though, if I were driving someone else's cobra, I think I'd end up cruising around in first and second, not going any faster than those two gears would let me - and even then I'd probably have my left foot resting on the brake! Although I guess out on the track, there isn't much you can hit, other than the odd wall here and there.

Aussie Mike · #51 (**permalink**) 11-07-2004, 03:02 AM

Hi Jase,

The Classic Revival uses rear IRS components from the Ford Falcon AU XR8. The front arms and hubs are Jaguar XJ6. The chassis has mounts for coil overs and you have to modify the suspension arms to hook them up.

I've also modified my rear end setup to take the diff center and axles from a VU GTS300 Commodore. Not really nescesary but I wanted a different ratio and I wanted a Hydratrak LSD.

Most of the suspension parts can be found at auto parts dismantlers these days or you can by a complete rear end new from Ford.

You can pick up a brand new crate motor LS1 for just under AU$7K I've seen them sell second hand at wreckers with a transmission and loom for close to this also.

Cheers

Jase · #52 (**permalink**) 11-07-2004, 04:02 AM

Somewhere in another thread someone suggested that if you're a first time builder with little auto background/knowledge and are going to be undertaking most of the build yourself, it is best to stick with the parts that the kit is provided/built for so you can get a bit of knowledge behind you before you tackle anything more difficult. Sound advice I'm sure, but are there any "downsides" to the Classic Revival kit that can't really be ignored from a performance point of view? Or is that sort of thing more down to personal preference?

Aussie Mike · #53 (**permalink**) 11-07-2004, 02:21 PM

The Classic Revival is a good kit straight out of the box. I've only changed things on mine because I'm a chronic tinkerer. I just can't leave anything alone without changing things even though they work fine.

Cheers

Rebel1 · #54 (**permalink**) 11-07-2004, 02:44 PM

Jase, I agree with Mike.....It is only if you are a chronic tinkerer or you can see some improvement you may identify, then often any changes are of a personal nature.

In another thread I mentioned to you about my footboxes and #8 spark plug. I wanted to fit a 351 as opposed to a 302 and therefore had to modify the footboxes.

Now, the 351 will fit into the standard kit, but fits so tight that not only does one have problems with #8 spark plug but also the headers are compromised.

The standard kits are just fine...I sometimes do wonder though if the manufacturers put a little more thought into their kits then we would not have to "tinker" as much as we do.

But...build em as the manufacturer says and you'll have a nice car.

Cheers

ledge · #55 (**permalink**) 11-08-2004, 12:05 AM

Jase
You might want to check out which kit manufacturer damb near cleaned up at the nationals last month before you go signing any dotted lines for a Classic Revival but hey i might be a bit biased

Rebel1 · #56 (**permalink**) 11-08-2004, 01:51 AM

Hey Ledge,
Guess what a Harrison body was flopped from?.

Not gonna tell ya but I'm a little biased too

ledge · #57 (**permalink**) 11-08-2004, 02:01 AM

lol
I think we are all biased towards our choice of kit supplier
Thats why we chose the one we did hey
I personally think that any kit that gets through the rules and red tape these days is an awsome peice of machinery

Paul

Rebel1 · #58 (**permalink**) 11-08-2004, 02:18 AM

Agree with ya Paul.

And..if I had my time over again....guess what i'd buy.....and it's made in Queensland too.

Jase · #59 (**permalink**) 11-08-2004, 03:05 AM

Its all a moot point at the moment! As I said in another thread, I did a few quick calculations today and have realised that it'll probably be 18 months before I start this project. At least that will give me plenty of time to do plenty of research. It also means that I'll spend the next 18 months going more and more insane than I already am. I just can't wait to wake up one day and go out to the garage and spend 12 hours stripping my knuckles bare and using swear words that not even Quinten Tarantino has heard of.

Aussie Mike · #60 (**permalink**) 11-08-2004, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rebel1

Hey Ledge,
Guess what a Harrison body was flopped from?.

Not gonna tell ya but I'm a little biased too

Speaking of floppy bodies, how are you these days Les?

What we really want to know is how your build is progressing. Haven't had an update from you for a while.

Cheers