Peoples thoughts on Australian Kits

[wishfullthinkin]

I am new to these forums and have a question.

Before i post the question i must say i am not asking this to bash a particular manufacturer or brand, nor am i trying to poll who's is the cheapest or anything like that.

I am looking at purchasing a kit in the next 12 months or so, what are poeples thoughts on the Australian kits. Ease of build, parts avialability etc.

Any info to help me make a decision will be greatly helpfull.

Thanks

[Aussie Mike]

There are plenty of good Aussie kits out there. There are options for what ever kind of spec car you want to build. Cruiser, show pony, dragster or circuit racer.

The advantage of buying local is the after sales support and the support of other locals who have built the same kit.

The other thing to consider is our unique set of rules for registering an individually constructed car in Australia.

That being said you could probably get any of the imported kits to pass, it just might be a bit more work.

The first things to work out before chosing a kit it what type of Cobra you want ie what you want to mainly use it for. What is your budget and how much of the work do you want to do yourself.

Cheers

[wishfullthinkin]

Thanks Mike.

Truthfully i am looking for a cruiser, something i can put a reasonable engine into and just take it out at the weekend, i live in wodonga which is a fairly short drive up to mt beauty and the surrounding hills so something i can just jump in and be able to drive.

The way you speek is that there are differant chassis for differant lifestyle i suppose you would say.

Is this a differance in chassis or the options that the manufacturers can supply, like brake setups and diffs.

[Dimi]

The variations in each car and kit will depend on how much money you want to spend and/or how much or how little fabrication of parts you want or can do yourself.

Dimi

[Aussie Mike]

I guess different running gear will work better for some uses than others. For an example a live axle car will generally be better on the drag strip than an IRS.

I may get yelled at for this but I think a well setup double wishbone rear end will perform better on the track than a Jag IRS.

For a weekend cruiser and occasional strop through the hils I reckon any of the kits will provide more than enough thrills and enjoyment.

For track days and such some of the kits have a more tunability and track friendly features like adjustable brake bias, bigger brake options, roll bar provisions etc.

Cheers

[LoBelly]

Originally Posted by Aussie Mike

For a weekend cruiser and occasional strop through the hils I reckon any of the kits will provide more than enough thrills and enjoyment.

For track days and such some of the kits have a more tunability and track friendly features like adjustable brake bias, bigger brake options, roll bar provisions etc.

Cheers

This is good advice

In many cases your times around the track will have less to do with your base kit/engine combo than your setup/driving ability.

Unless you're used to pretty high-end sports cars you'll find most of kits can deliver a very rapid ride.

LoBelly

[albanycobra]

Do yourself a favour and have a look at the new G-Force body.....I don't have one or intend on getting one but I looked at a body the other week and I was very impressed.....IMHO of course...

[Mrs flatchat]

"Our biased opinion of course"

The 3rd thru 6th October 2008 saw us at the 15th Australian Cobra nationals held at Wakefield Park, Goulburn NSW Australia.

We were extremely privilaged to be invited to compete in a freshly built off-the-showroom-floor DRB 2000 Boss Cobra replica, sporting an eye catching color scheme of "Citric Acid" and "Ergo" stripes with Grey triming.

The 5.4L modular power plant and 5 speed manual transmission is from a donor BF Ford Falcon (including adjustable steering column and electrics).

The very sure footed, comfortable ride employs all Jaguar running gear with special features such as limited slip diff and ABS brakes. A specially developed DRB patented rear upright watts link system ensures positive launch and tractable characteristics.

The American Racing Halibrand wheels, chrome side pipes and all the usual Cobra bright ware complete the cars authentic appearance.

This very user-friendly sports car enjoyed being trailer queen for over 2400klm to and from the event yet performed exceptionally well on the track --a testament to the DRB sports car recipe for excellence.

. P.S. We were impressed with the fact that you can buy or build a DRB Cobra and drive it on the road as comfortably as you would expect from a "normal" car, and be able to run it quite competitively on the race track.

[stephen low]

Wishfull

All good advice here, best if you can wait till March and get over to Winton during the Victorian Cobra club's State event "Shelbyfest". Then you can talk to all and sundry and get a closer look at a wide range of cobras too.

As to Dave's comment on the new G Force body I'd agree it is a smarter looking product. I've a mate that has finished his second G Force build using this body but even this needs time and effort correcting mould errors.

I think most bodies would be the similar though there are some shockers out there you should avoid and you'll get this advice if you come and meet the cobra crowd.

First Wednesday in each month the club also meets in Malvern Melbourne if you're down this way.

Take your time and do your research properly.

Cheers and happy dreaming / planning

[gjkrv8]

Wishful,

I went through this process about 12 months ago.

I joined the Cobra Car Club VIC, and read heaps of posts on this forum.

The forum was a great source of information and opinion. A lot of the opinion comes from first hand experience so is very relevant.

I ended up going with the Classic Revival.

Before you choose, get plenty of advice and do lots of reading.

I personally visited the two manufacturers before I ordered etc.

One of the things I was most interested in was after-sales support as I knew I was going to need it.

Also I was interested in what sort of donor parts and engine choices I had with the different kit manufacturers.

In my case I purchased the Rolling Chassis option which sped things up a lot.

I have found Ian at CR to be most helpful and always answers the phone when I ring (in somes cases it was every day during some of the hectic build times). Often with some good suggestions to some of my problems.

The only one thing I found a little challenging was me being in Melb and Ian in Syd. Would have been nice to drop in to his shop a couple of time to explain and look at things etc.

The other thing I found challenging at the time was sourcing the engine, although since I dont think that is a big issue, but make sure you check this out as well.

If you need to chat just send me a PM and I can call you.

Rgds

Gregg

[Beejay]

Good advice from all the other guys. If it is a cruiser you are after pretty much any of the modern kits will do a good job.

I like the Classic Revival because it has a body that can be removed from the chassis, but also has the boot, interior and inner fenders as one piece.

The new model CR looks even better because it uses more Commodore parts - which means plenty of performance parts to chose from!

If you get a chance go to Shelbyfest and have a look at all the cars and talk to owners.

Good luck!

Ben

[DaveW]

Hi all, first time post for me too, i'm looking for a kit at the moment, i'm Melbourne based but in Perth this week, went to G-Force last weekend and spent the morning with Rob, i was blown away with quality of the build, the body was absolutely beautiful, uncoated, not even primed or filled, took me for a ride in the 429 gas only guzzler, what a hoot, the quality of this kit fit and finish was magnificent, I plan to get to Harrisons and CR on the east coast during Feb as these were the 3 i had short listed, but my biggest concern is engine, i havent spoken to an engineer yet so i dont know what i can get away with in Vic,
Dave

[albanycobra]

I know this is a bit left field but also consider the FFR complete kit Roadster....all I can say is value,value, value. Ask your Aussie kit suippliers for a matching qoute.

[AC-460]

Here's a cheap car couldn't go wrong
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/AC-Cobra-427-...1%7C240%3A1318

[albanycobra]

The car FFR builds pass's most of the Engineering required in WA.
Actually I had no problems except changing a master cylinder from 3/4 to 5/8.

My cost to bring the car into west oz $8800 this included all fees and charges. A friend just brought one in and I think it cost just under 10k as the dollar has slide a little since then.

[boxhead]

Originally Posted by albanycobra

The car FFR builds pass's most of the Engineering required in WA.
Actually I had no problems except changing a master cylinder from 3/4 to 5/8.

My cost to bring the car into west oz $8800 this included all fees and charges. A friend just brought one in and I think it cost just under 10k as the dollar has slide a little since then.

Is that shipping cost only or was that purchase and ship?

[albanycobra]

The complete kit cost is approx $21k US I think and $8.8k to bring it into Australia nothing more to pay.

[boxhead]

Originally Posted by AC-460

Here's a cheap car couldn't go wrong
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/AC-Cobra-427-...1%7C240%3A1318

I agree that it looks like a lot of car for the price.

Just not sure if it comes with testing requiremenst and side impact as per ADR requirements.
Also I suspect you would need to remake engine mounts, as I think he is reffering to old cast iron 350 chev motor (wont pass emissions), but not a big job to modify mount locations.

[NASSTY]

Just to clarify, I didn't use Enkleman's in the end as they hadn't certified my kit before. Instead I used an engineer who had. It kept the whole process as straight forward as possible.

Cheers

[Aussie Mike]

I used Enklemans. Absolute pleasure to deal with. Took a lot of the stress out of the whole process. Give them a call before you spend anything on a kit to find out where you stand.

Cheers