Newbie with my first question.... many to follow :)
 

Hi all,

Just want to say hello to all the members on this forum. I'm a newbie here and also to the world of Cobra building. I have not as yet purchased a kit yet; therefore is still in the research stage.

I have so many questions to ask. I will attempt to read as many previous post prior to asking them but so far, am very impressed with the amount of info and assistance you guys have posted here.

I guess one of the few questions most beginners would ask is "how much???". I don't think that most of you guys would be counting (or have a deliberate lapse of memory). So i won't ask that. What i'm really interested to know is "how long?". Can you guys that have finished your project tell me how long did it take u guys; or for those that are still in construction, how long has it taken you and what stage ur up to.

Anyway, its nice to be here, and hope to be part of your community.....

Welcome to the madness, Jnr.

Your question is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string. You first of all need some basic understanding in the difference between the manufacturers.

For example, if you buy an FFR in boxes and plan to go the donor route, you first of all have all the donor car dissassembly time before you turn a wrench on your kit. At the other end of the scale, a number of small assemblers will deliver you a completed FFR where all you need to do is turn the key.

Of course the used car maket for Cobras is also an option - pay your $$ and go. This is where you have to decide if the build is part of the enjoyment you want out of the experience.

Other cars can come in a variety of completion stages. An ERA for example, can come in a number of boxes - like an FFR, or complete with paint and wheels, ready to drop the motor in. A big difference in time (and $$) betweeen the 2. However, ERA's are more exclusive (limited production), and there is a factory production time waiting list - you need to call to see how long at present - I last heard something like 8 months.

The Unique company offers a number of stages of completion of their "pallet cars". Superformance is available only in a single level of completion.

Shelby also makes a replica %/ , and there is a waiting time for it. Um, on second thought, please disregard this sentence.**). (Please follow my advice at the bottom of this post before you try to fully understand this comment.)

So, you get the idea. Although you said you would not ask about $$$, in general, the price paid does have direct relevance to the time to complete. The more complete the replica you buy, the more $$ you spend, but the less time to complete it.

So, having said all that, you need to learn the search function on this site, and get familiar with about 10000 previous postings on the subject. Why not start by typing in something like "which kit" or "FFR vs Superformance" - and see what comes up ;) . The research can be a big part of the fun.

Enjoy. :)

Jnr, Just my opinion. Cobras run from approx. $25,000 to $60,000. to complete for a fiberglass body car and take from 3 to 12 months to complete. I suggest going to as many Cobra events and asking a lot of questions. You are on the right track reading Club Cobra. You should check out some of these Cobras in detail remembering to compare apples to oranges. ERA, Superformance, Hurricane, Unique, Backdraft, Cutting Edge, JBL, Factory Five, B&B, Longstar, and many others. Some question you should keep in mind. Is it important to have a original looking car, a race car, a big block or small block. Also, the more you spend the more it will be worth. You want to ask your self what I want to invest and what I want to get if I sell it. ken

Now this is a hard question.

Both how long it will take and how much it will cost are both dependant on each other.

I can give 2 quick answers.

Cost:
Generally I advise people to look at budget of around $50-$60 as a minimum to build a nice Cobra. You can build them for less, but unless you have connections with God himself or have done everything yourself, it's hard to build a completed nice Cobra for less. We've built a registered Cobra from body/chassis for $35K, but it's not what most people would want.

Time:
Generally Cobra's are finished within a 2-5 year period. I've built two with my brother and first Cobra took 2 years to finish and 2nd Cobra took 15 months. The 2nd Cobra was a bare bones street/race car.


The answers above, may not be correct for your situation...

Factors that affect cost of the build:

Will you buy the kit new, will you buy an unfinished one 2nd hand.

Will you just buy body/chassis unit, or will you get manufacturer to complete
some of it.

Will you spend hours and hours of research find the cheapest best solution to problems and limiting re-work.

Will you spend hours and hours searching for best price on products.

Will you spend hours and hours searching every swap meet for next couple of years picking up the odd bargain part.

How much can you do yourself? Can you fabricate all required brackets etc?

Do you have ability to modify/adapt lower cost parts to fit your car. Can you do body work, the more body work you do, the more you save. Can you do some or all of the interior work.

Are you comfortable with time, hassle & risk of buying parts and shipping them from overseas, especially US and UK to save a few bucks.

Do you want all new parts and everything reconditioned first before is fitting? Cost difference between new drivetrain and 2nd hand drivetrain can be substantial.

Do you want the highest level of fit and finish? This takes money.


Factors that affect the time it takes for the build:

How much are you going to do yourself? Buying pre-fab brackets, getting interior, paint etc professionally done saves a lot of time.

How much time will you honestly put into the project? Can you and will you put aside a couple of nights every week to work on it. Can you put aside a day every weekend to work on it? Will you work on it on your holidays and public holidays.

How much research, shopping around, swap meets etc will you do. This stuff consumes a lot of time.

How much money you have available? Not having money available to buy required parts in timely fashion, certainly slows a build down.

After ordering your kit, will you start working on your project immediately even before your body/chassis arrives. On 2nd Cobra we bought engine out of a wreck and had it removed and all work done ready for it to bolted into the chassis before chassis arrived. Same with rear end etc etc. Had also bought a lot of parts required.

Do you want the highest level of fit and finish? It takes time.


In my opinion I don't think there is generally a great deal of difference in time it takes to build different replica brands available in Australia if you start at the same stage. The only places where there can be differences is choice of suspension/drivetrain and work required in body. I reckon the most time consuming part is the finish and fitting. The fidley stuff. The main mechanical stuff is easy and moves along pretty fast. It's all the fidley stuff that slows the build down and the more particular you are with the final finish and fit, the longer it takes. The same holds true with money, most current replica's here would cost approx. the same to build. The main price difference is in the quality of mechanicals and quality of fit out. Big items are paint, interior, body fittings(shiney stuff) & wheels.

900 hours is a good start.

I think Craig was getting there (in his advice!!)

Sorry mate

Actually I don't like the hours quote...as I think most are very conservative.

Actually spent 3000hrs on our first Cobra. :eek:

It probably means more if you say 2 nights a week and 1 day every weekend, plus some holidays and you could possibily finish one in a couple of years.

To 400TT: 3000 hrs divided by 40 hours a week = 75 weeks of man hours. I don't think so. I built my roller Hurricane Cobra in 8 months in my spare time and it was at the paint shop fo 2 months of that. What kind did you build? ken

Thers a lot of drinking and thinking time built into that 3000 hours maybe? :D

Drinking, thinking and playing with your friends in the garage. That is as good as it gets. The more time you spend building a cobra the more fun you get to have. You can buy a Superformance and just ad the engine and trans. in a weekend or spend 5 years building and designing your own. It's all fun. ken

That first Cobra Craig built was very detailed, and took out a few trophy's. Probably why it swallowed a lot of hours.

Some Cobra's seem to be never finished!

Ben

It's close enough to be accurate. What I can't quite remember was how long it took. Was 2 years or just over from memory.

Also two people were working on the car.

If you honestly account for all the hours of researching, shopping, swap meets, running about and working on the Cobra. 3000hrs work were performed on that Cobra. We also tackled a fair bit of body work etc and did a lot of modifications to chassis, body etc. It was built to show standard.

Because the costs were shared, we also had a very accurate spreadsheets of costs. And it was amazing how much money was spent on misc stuff...small stuff.

It was a DRB, but doubt you would know the brand. We also build Cobra's a little differently here in OZ, to how most are built in the US. Lets just say they are a little rough when we get them and we don't buy kits, we buy body/chassis units and then make them do what we want.

A fraction of that time was spent on the next Cobra, a Harrison. We didn't record time spent this time around, but total build time was 15 months. But we knew what we were doing and knew all the shortcuts. And also didn't have all the time wasting involved when you are not confident in what you are doing. It also wasn't detailed to the hilt, actually not detailed at all. :D

On my GT40 I've spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on the body and I'm still getting a professional to paint it. And this car as already been painted once.

Thanks for the response guys, didn't expect such a thorough explanation...wow... I can only do research at the moment as i have more pressing matters that i need to spend my money on. The plan is to purchase a kit mid next year allowing me 12 months to learn as much as i can.

400TT
I reckon your post at the beginning of this thread was spot on in all departments. Im about 3/4 through my build and agree that 3000 hours isnt out of the question.
Ive docmented every cent Ive spent and the money spent on little things such as nuts and bolts add up really quickly. About 98% of the nuts and bolts on my car are stainless and and thats already gone over $2500.

Regards.

You spend a lot less time 2nd time round. Less time spent procrastinating and mucking around.

I'm looking forward to seeing yours in the flesh when it's finished. Attention to detail is fantastic.

Yeah, those stainless bolts really suck up the cash. We didn't estimate anywhere near enough money for small stuff like this.

Zipped Excel file attached with active hyperlinks to websites on the following thread.
http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/suggestions/69551-list-manufacturers.html