Contemplating A Cobra

[poindexter]

Hi guys,

Oh, and Happy New Year!

OK, this is what my thoughts are on a Cobra, and please tell my if I'm pissing in the wind on this one (am I allowed to say that on this forum?).
Any how, I would love to build a Cobra, however, only if I could drive it daily.
So, how many of you guys do the daily driving thing?, and what measures do you take to deal with Melbourne's weather (did I mention that I'm a Mexican)?

Is it really a feasible car to drive daily? And what do you guys do to achieve that. Me thinks a hardtop and side windows.
If it is a goer, then the researching will begin.

cheers

[Beejay]

Welcome,

There does seem to be a few people that have made their car weatherproof and practical enough to drive every day, but I think it depends on what you are happy to put up with.

I am building a Cobra as a weekend car, so I want it to be as noisy,nasty and impractical as possible!!

Best of luck.

Ben

[Aussie Mike]

I'm going the weekend car route as well but I do plan on driving it to work occasionally. I just think of the Cobra as a 4 wheeled motorcycle. You can live without the creature comforts in exchange for all that performance.

I reckon buy a cheap econobox for wet winter days in peak hour, trudging to work. Keep the Cobra for fine days and cruising in the sun. That way you don't need to make so many compromises on your Cobra build.

Cheers

[PCC]

Get Cameron the "China Man" to give you good advice.

Whilst in Oz, he used his as a daily driver.

Mind you it was / is a pretty special Cobra.

Personally no as I have no roof, no air con and I wouldn't trust the power in the rain (speaking from personal experience).

[rat_rod_russell]

Any things possible. At our shop we like to drive our cars. The roadster we just finished has been street legal for 1 week now and it only has 256.3 miles because it has been raining for 3 of those days.
Computer motors and modern suspension will give it a feel of your every day car, and not run your wallet dry. Superformance has had some nice hard tops with sliding glass windows. I'm working on one as well but I’m thinking about glassing the top on permanently just because I want to drive it in the freezing rain, the scorching heat or Texas weather year round in general (For those who don't know it WILL change 50 degrees in a day and go back the next, its done it twice this week, rain freeze, then a sunny 85 the next day)

R^3

[Barker]

Poindexter, to drive daily is the dream of all owner builders reality if i can get my car out twice a week im stoked if it rains I get wet (and drive sideways)
in the sun I get burnt in the winter I wear a jacket (need gloves) .
Build a roof if you like the look wind wings help over 120 kmh but where can you drive that fast?
Truth we build em cause we love em you will drive it more the first year its regestered then you will rebuild it (better faster stronger whatever).
Drive it when it suits its you never let the passion drop. Laugh at the rain, the sun and the cold build it how you want.
Drive it when you can.

Barker

[poindexter]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the response.
Here is a question for all you Victorians: what is the go with the engine scene? Is there a single source of info for emissions etc? I have looked at the VicRoads site, and all the stuff seems rather generic and vague.

My initial thoughts ran to using a BA as a donor vehicle, and use as much as I can from it. This would keep the cobra all Ford, however, I'm not ruling out turning to the darkside and going the commodore as donor.

What are regs regarding side pipes?

What tire diameter is run with cobras 604 or 624?

And generally what weight range do cobras end up being?

I expect that all my questions have been asked and answered before, and therefore appreciate you guys taking the time to answer.

I'm still in the pie in the sky stage at the moment, and timing would be to start at the end of the year.

I read with interest the Homebush cobra, are there any photo's around?

cheers

[Aussie Mike]

Get in contact with an engineer before you start spending money. Outline what you would like to do and he will fill you in on what you can get away with.

Unfortunately a Cobra is considered to be an "Individually Constructed Vehicle" rather than a modified vehicle based on an old chassis or body etc. This means it must meet the Australilian design rules the same as any new car. Not too much of a problem except this includes emissions which rules out most of the desirable and reasonably priced power plants. You will probably be stuck with running a 5.4 Ford Quad cam if you want to stick with the blue oval or the new L76 or LS2 GM motors.

Picking up a wrecked BA is probably a good option as you will get the engine, trans, electrics and lots of other little components you don't think about till later i.e belts and pulleys and fuel fittings and other stuff.

No one seems to be building a kit that uses donor parts all from one vehicle. Most use mixtures of parts from Jag, Ford, Holden etc.

I hear a rumor that Classic Revival may be changing their chassis design to accept BA falcon suspension components. It might pay to chat with Ian to see what he has planned. His new development may work in with your time frame.

The issue with side pipes is that they exit towards the foot path. The drivers side pipe is legal but the passenger side is not. It's pretty much irelevant as from experience its nearly impossible to get side pipes down to the legal noise level and still have the engine run. Build an under body system and then change after rego if you want to run side pipes (for the race track only of course ).

Tyre diameter depends pretty much on your personal choice. People running 17" rims are generally running 275/40/17 or 315/35/17 both which have a diameter up round 645mm. The guys running 15's will often run 295/50/15 rears which are up around 680mm diameter. The 15's certainly fill the guards up nicely.

Most Cobras seem to weigh between 1050 and 1250 KG depending on drive train choice etc. There are some heavier bodies and chassis available and some light ones. There are some super light cars that may get under the 1000KG mark but they'll be pretty well stripped down with no creature comforts like carpet or windscreen etc.

The only stupid quastions are the ones that don't get asked so fire away. These threads often result in some good discussion.

Cheers

[stephen low]

Poindexter

As AussieMike says buying a donor car and using a lot of its bits is certainly the way I would go for a 2nd build. A fellow near me building his 2nd GForce has used an SS ute of about 2004 vintage and has absolutely used a significant part of the donor in his build.

Mind you this fellow has built his own sports plane.

I think his cost for the bits he is using after purchase and resale of unwanted items has put his cost at about $4-5K I think. Very good expenditure for motor/box, loom, column, fuel tank, pedals, heater and much of the plumbing.

Also his 1st car was a daily driver across town but did only run a VN V6 he has no seen the light but it is still a bit dull being a darksider. His experience is that you need a good heater, for demisting, and they can be a bit drafty but he loved it and is proving it with his 2nd build.

What I really like is that by using as much of the donor as possible including the loom, he will just plug and play the V8 music, very soon too! He even managed to get the ute fuel tank into the GF, that was after he syphoned off the $50 worth of fuel still left in the tank!!

Would be worth looking down this track and yes if you can also daily drive it you will be one lucky sod!!

Cheers

[BMK]

Good luck with the research and the build. There's certainly a lot of experience and good advice here for you. Guess you don't need to make any decision on your own..

Doing it again I would go a 4.6ltr. And a Harrison or the Classic revival after seeing "Aussie Mikes" kit. Both appear well finished and value for money. There are a number of cheaper kits but they do however require some extra work for you...

Cheers

[poindexter]

Hi,

At the begining of my cobra thoughts, I wanted a 4.6, but as I understand it, compliance is an issue with these engines.

I might now start to do the rounds, and eye ball as many cobras as possible.
I've as yet not seen a Harrison in the flesh, but have heard nothing but good reports of them.
Ideally, I'd like to see a rolling chassis to get a feel for the packaging issues involved.
Form what I have seen in pictures, there's not much room to play with.

cheer

[BMK]

poindexter,

A Classic revival at Aussie Mikes and the Harrison at Doug Pearces.

[poindexter]

Hi,

Thanks for the info.
Where abouts in Melbourne is Aussie Mike?
Doug is in Lylidale last I heard.
Is there a list of VicRoads ICV engineers around.
Used to be on their website, but I haven't any luck there lately.


cheers

[Luke Gillett]

Hi Poindextor,
Here's the link to the vicroads VASS list.

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/...icatesVASS.htm

All the best,
Luke.....

[Aussie Mike]

I'm out North West of Melbourne about 3 KM from Calder Park Raceway.

Cheers

[poindexter]

Hi,

Thanks guys for a quick response.
I ask, and in short order I get answered, this is great.

cheers

[boxhead]

We are all here to help.

[poindexter]

Hi,

Are there any kits out there that uses the commodore rear suspension? The reason I ask, is that I may use a commodore as a donor vehicle and I seems a waste not to use the rear suspension. Perhaps the semi trailing arm suspension is not suited to the cobra installation?, weight, geometry issues?

cheers

[Aussie Mike]

The early Classic Revival cars used Commodore rear suspension I believe. They have since moved to an AU Falcon IRS.

I've modded my chassis and AU rear suspension to use a Commodore diff center and axles. The Commodore uses the BTR80 center which is a bit bigger than the BRT75 used by the Falcon. There are also a lot more ratios to choose from and I couldn't get 3.9:1 for the Ford rear. I'm also running a Hydratrak LSD.

Quite a few guys have used the Commodore live axle setup under there cars. Not quite as strong as a 9" but still pretty tuff under a light weight Cobra but the whole assembly is a lot lighter.

Cheers

[poindexter]

Hi,

Was that a commodore live axle that classic revival used, or the IRS setup?

cheers