Suspension/handling

[Mohuska]

Does anyone know of a good suspension/handling shop in the Bay Area that can completely redo my front end to get better handling?

Thanks.

Mike

[Randy Rosenberg]

Talk to the folks at Custom Alignment in Mt. View.

[Mohuska]

Randy,

Thanks... I've read both good and bad about them. Have you had them do any work for you?

Mike

[Randy Rosenberg]

Mike, my Superformance is there as I type. For years, I've been trying to solve a front end shaking problem - I've swapped/serviced almost every component in the front end chasing this problem. Joe is confident that he has identified the root cause (non-hub centric 5 pin wheel adapter) and is implementing a custom solution. I'm very impressed with his thoroughness and knowledge.

[Mohuska]

Randy,

That's good info. Thanks.

Mike

[CHANMADD]

Keep us informed ..........if that wobble goes away or not.....

[cgwitt]

Top of The Hill in Livermore just replaced my entire front suspension - redid my rear suspension and replaced my braking system. I have about 400 miles on this set up and I'm now driving a safer - better handling COBRA. The old set up would walk all over the road and the brakes needed to be double and triple pumped to get a good stop. Now I can drive my COBRA like it was meant to be driven without guessing what in the heck it was gonna do. Excellent work and at 500 miles I take it back and they do a complete safety check - after that I hit the road - if it ain't raining. I highly recommend Top of Hill in Livermore CA.

[Shootnride]

Originally Posted by Randy Rosenberg

Mike, my Superformance is there as I type. For years, I've been trying to solve a front end shaking problem - I've swapped/serviced almost every component in the front end chasing this problem. Joe is confident that he has identified the root cause (non-hub centric 5 pin wheel adapter) and is implementing a custom solution. I'm very impressed with his thoroughness and knowledge.

Randy,

I'd really like to hear the outcome of the work you're having done. I have SPF 1016 which seems to have a similar problem to what you've described with yours. I'm kind of curious if they could be the same problem since our cars were produced at virtually the same time.

Thanks,

Ted

[PANAVIA]

The hub / wheel adapter is a disc brake affair with a cast iron rotor that is the same physical piece as the hub - are they saying that is the culprit on your particular car ?

[BossCER]

Stewart Hall of Hall Fabrication in Benicia.
Top notch shop.

[Randy Rosenberg]

My SPF is not buttoned up yet and road tested, so we are still speculating. However what CA has found so far is that my Trigo adapters are not hub centric and require a hub rings/inserts in order to make them hub centric on my SPF. Custom rings/inserts were machined locally to fit my Trigo adapters and my hubs; and these properly center my adapters onto the hubs and allow for the weight of the adapters to sit on the hubs and not on the wheel studs. Additionally, some of the pins were also out of round (the thread is not centered), so new pins are on order. These changes/fixes should solve the problem with rear wheels wobbling at highway speeds. For good measure, the same solution is being applied to the front adapters/hubs/pins. Speculation is that this problem was masked by the softer sidewalls of the old GY Eagle GT IIs, and more pronounced with the installation of the Avons. Hopefully next week we will know for sure if all of this work has solved the problem...

[Mohuska]

What services does Hall Fabrication offer?

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by Mohuska

What services does Hall Fabrication offer?

Everything. They will make a Cobra from scratch and last time I checked they have a paint shop too. They restore original and replica Cobras and GT40s, Panteras and any race car under the sun. They put together my Cobra. Flawless work and you pay for it too.

I can also recommend Custom Alignment. I actually had a car there getting an alignment last week.

And finally, I can recommend Steve Wood of Panavia. They also do top notch work. Steve has worked on my Cobra a couple times and the job has always been done right.

[289fia_cobra]

I had my FFR aligned by Custom Alignment as well (Randy recommended it to me actually); they were already familiar with the FFR's "shims" on the lower control arms (shimming it forward or backwards about 1/16" at a time). They corner weighed it and got it as close as possible to balance. Not cheap but something as good as their work never is.

[Mohuska]

Thanks for the good info. Would any of these shops be able to make me a custom soft top?

Mike

[Randy Rosenberg]

Problem solved. The solution was the installation of customer made hub centric rings for the old Trigo adapters along with new pin nuts.

With regards to a custom soft top, you might try Cooks in Redwood City (Cooks Upholstery, Redwood City specializes in seat heater & leather seating, convertible top repair, convertable electric top repair, sun roof repair, body seal repair, interior car door, paint repair, carpet stains, and carpet damage.)

[RodKnock]

These guys have come highly recommended and they're doing some work for me right now.

Finish Line | Car Interiors

[Mohuska]

Thanks for the great tips.

Mike

[PANAVIA]

I spoke with Joe at custom about Randys fix ( as Joe does wheel /alignment work for Panavia as well , and we have been always happy) --and the fixes ( plural ) needed to get randys rattle to go away were like the night of 1000 fixes --and are very applicable to his vintage of car, which is pre #1250 chassis. #1200 or #1250 was breaking point for a significant design changes in the SPF chassis. At some point I need to write all this down so we can have a better repository of what to look for and how to fix it - like Dougs wheel hubs of last year !