New Classic Roadster Owner

[Jim Barnett]

Well, I got one) I am picking up my 1956 Classic Roadster Cobra replica in downtown San Diego tomorrow. It is a 302/5 spd, light blue with white stripes and black interior. It is an AWESOME looking car and I am SURE that it will be fun to own and drive. I decided on buying it after reading as many of the posts about the Classic Roadsters as I could on this Forum. TREMENDOUS HELP and THANKS to EVERYONE!! I have phoned Don and am still waiting on a return call. I DO have a few questions about the Classic Roadster that I'd like to ask since my car lacks a few of the appearance things that I want to add myself (along with a driver's side rollbar).

About the rollbar: will ANY manufacture's rollbar fit OR do I have to get one specifically made for the CR?? How difficult is it to install a rollbar on a "finished" car??

My car has two small chrome "racing mirrors" mounted on each front fender approximately 6-8" from the windshield. They look fine, BUT is that an acceptable location (this MAY be a real stupid question since the car is not an original - I WISH) - and I know that most owners of replicas set the car up to their own preferences anyway, but I thought I'd ask).

The hood and trunk lid on the car does NOT have the traditional latches and I want to add them for appearance sake only. What company should I buy all the latches from (and everything else I want to add)??

It also does not have a wood steering wheel and I want one)

My gas filler is of the "flip up" type, BUT it is near the trunk lid and is smaller in diameter than the one on the other Cobra that the dealership is selling (that one has a hugh "flip up" type filler AND it is mounted on top of the right fender - or so it seems). I would prefer to have the larger "flip up" filler IF it wouldn't be too much af a hassle to change to it EVEN though the LOCATION would have to stay the same since the HOLE has already been made in the body to access the tank filler tube. Any suggestions??

The shifter on my car is NOT the angled type that most replicas have. AFTER I get the car home and figure out EXACTLY which transmission I have, CAN I switch the shifter handle and, if necessary, the shifter mechanism, to an original looking one (I THINK it is a T5 Tranny, but I'm not sure.... by the way, since I'm more of a MOPAR fanatic, WHERE do I find the tranny identifying numbers/ID??).

Concerning performance: I was told the 302 was a "crate motor" and had between 275-300 HP. Is that about right?? I'd like to increase that to around 400 and would appreciate knowing the best way to do that (i.e. maybe swapping on 351W heads later on down the road or possibly just buying a built 351W and changing the engine.

I know this has been a LONG POST, but I am new to all this and I will probably have a multitude of questions in the next several weeks. I certainly APPRECIATE any assitance and recommendations that you fine folks give me. I am VERY excited about the car. Should be a ton of fun to own and drive) THANKS!!!

[J. T. Toad]

well, I for one am not going to respond

I told you Ron.

[Jim Barnett]

Well, I can't understand the comments made by J.T. Toad. IF I've done something wrong here, EITHER by asking stupid questions OR by buying a car that you folks know about and that I shouldn't (I can still back out of the deal), I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE!! IF this particular car IS a problem, PLEASE let me know soon. I am supposed to pay for and pick the car up tomorrow afternoon. It seems to run fine although I haven't driven it yet and it looks well built and solid. AM I making some sort of mistake here?? THANKS!!

[dscott]

Jim, Congrats on the new car. I didn't get a message to call you unless you left it on the machine. Sorry, sometimes the machine is very hard to hear and I can't get all the info. The first thing to check on the car is the registration. Ca. is getting very tough on cars registered as a 1965. Have you done the transfer yet? If you do a search on this site for SB100 information you will get the full story on what is happening.

The roll bar is unique to CR. We do stock them. It's not hard to install but you need to be very careful with a painted car to avoid chipping the paint.

That is the typical location for the mirrors.

We have the hood and trunk latches.

You can buy the wheel from Finishline. 1-888-436-9113

You could switch to the 5" leMans style cap but it is designed to fit into a recess in the body. It would look funny to mount it flush so I would stay with the 3".

You can get the shifter for the T5 from Finishline but I wouldn't guarantee it will work. I think it comes to close to the dash. It's very easy to make one for that trans.

The tranny should have a tag on it. If it's a T5 it will have 7003 somewhere in the series. Otherwise it's probably a Tremec trans.

The 302 may be a crate motor but who knows from where. Stock hp on a 302 was about 190 to 210 for the older engines. It's a very easy swap to put in a 351w. The 351w heads on the 302 isn't much of a gain so I wouldn't bother unless you are going to upgrade many other components. It's no problem getting around the 400hp range in the 302. It just depends how big your wallet is.
Don

p.s. J.T. Toad, what was the meaning of your message. Has Ed contacted you about your roll bar?

[J. T. Toad]

Jim,
it was a joke between Ron and I (prior thread). I know nothing about your car or if you should buy it. Let me encourage you to read your comments and my response on the other thread.

I must apologize to you, I did not mean to suggest anything different than a comment to respond to Ron.

I hope the purchase goes well for you, and it is enlightening to see you so excited about the purchase.

[Jim Barnett]

MANY THANKS, J.T. and Don!!

[dscott]

Jim, that title can be a major problem for you. I don't think CA will allow a title with the car registered as a 1965. Most of the titles were illegal when registered with CA. Call the DMV yourself, give them the title # and let them tell you what's up. Don't believe the dealer, they just want to sell the car. You could wind up with a car you can't drive until you re-register it under the new SB100. They only issue 500 numbers per year and this years are gone. If that car has an SB100 number already then you won't have a problem.
Don

[J. T. Toad]

seeing as Don brought it up

for your reading pleasure

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/7oys...tle_fraud.html

http://www.sachitechcops.org/news050804.htm


http://www.streetrodderweb.com/hotnews/0410sr_boyds/

Lockyer for some reason has decided to try to make himself famous.

[Ron61]

J.T.,

Quit scaring the new member. Jim welcome to the club and you will enjoy the car, but the title can be a mess. First find out what year the engine in the car is. If it is 66 or older, you can title it as a 2005 with pre smog exemption via engine year. But if it has a 302, then it wouldn't be a pre 66 engine. There is a member who just advertized a 1965 289 block for sale on here. Going the engine year route is about the only thing you can do as the 500 SB-100 numbers were gone by noon of the 2nd day. And it will just get worse as the backlog of people with cars tries to get them. Do the math. Just 500 numbers per year and 35,000 peope wanting them and that number will grow each year as new people buy or build cars. And it is not just Cobras but any kit or special construction car that uses them. And if your engine should be a 74 for example, you would be required to have all the emissions equipmwent on it that it originally came with. And you would also have to have it smogged every other year to the 74 standard, which isn't to bad if you keep it tuned up. As for the roll bar, that would require some careful work to not crack the paint around the holes you will have to cut.

Ron

[J. T. Toad]

I am not trying to 'scare' him ;-)

some people have been hit with huge fines, and I would rather him find out now then after he buys a car he can no longer drive, or have twice the amount invested...

what is it..
hindsight is 20/20

[Jim Barnett]

WOW, you guys are GREAT!! I can clearly see WHY this IS the Cobra Forum to belong too AND THANKS!!

[petek]

Jim,

Do a search on this forum for SB100; I think you'll find a lot of information that will lead you in the correct direction.

There are a number of California Cobra owners here on the forum - Ron and J.T. being two of them.

Come to think of it, do a search on the forum for Boyd Cottington (spelling?) He ended up with some trouble with his hot rods, nice and old ('34 Ford) with nice and old titles -- but new engines and title problems.

The CR Cobra is a fine car, I have one -- but be VERY CAREFUL about smog checks, titles, and California law.

[Jack21]

My $.02. Take this for what it's worth.

I'd pass on this one. Too many other, more favorable options out there.

Title? I'll defer to CA title guru's here on the pitfalls of CA titles. Typically, you want a '74 or older block for State emissions.

Unless you're a very conservative driver, a 302 is too small of an engine for a CR. Sooner or later, you'll want more power. A 351W (or 393W) is the smallest engine you want to put in the car. Disconnect the secondaries on the carb while you're learning how to drive it. The W is taller than the 302 and needs to be installed lower for the topside to clear, and properly clearanced for the sidepipes to sit level. So pass if it doesn't have the engine you want from the start. Swapping is more involved than it looks, and expensive.

Same with the filler cap. It can be done (I did it, but prior to painting), but it's a hassle. Double hassle on an already painted car. Remove the 3" cap, and patch the hole. French in the 5" cap, install the cap (get it level), and install the fuel filler line. Made mine out of exhaust tubing. Then re-paint the whole thing.

Both T5, and Tremec bring the shifter out the trans tunnel next to your leg. Not particularly original, but it works a whole lot better with internally shifted trans's like the T5, and Tremec. Leave it alone. You'll like it better.

Now for the question nobody seems to ask, particularly with CR's, but every prospective CR buyer should. What does it have for suspension, steering, and brakes? The wrong setup will make the car handle like a logging truck rather than a sports car. I'm looking for tubulars w/coil overs, disks on all 4's, and a Flaming River manual rack if manual steering.

And I don't want to see any Chevette steering column. Either a DV setup, or Ididit column with Borgeson lower end. Lecarra makes any steering wheel you'd want. Wood, leather, 16" or 17" for manual steering, 14" for power steering.

Go to finishline or cobraspares for OEM finish up items, windshields, mirrors, gas caps, lights, etc.

[Chevbra]

Just a little info ...

In Ca. there are two ways to register your car if you built it yourself. The first is to do it the old way before SB100 came along.
You have to have the VIN verified by taking it to a CHP office, pass a brake and lamp inspection by a certified shop and pass smog. The first two are straight forward but it's the smog that is different with the old way or SB100.
The old way is to smog it to the engine code with all the smog requirements the engine had in it's original form. Let's say you registered it today and you have a 69 Ford 351 in it. It would be a 2005 ... smogged to 69 Ford standards every two years.
SB100 allows you to register it as a 2005 but the year of smog is what year the car itself most closely resembles or what year the engine most closely resembles ... visually ... your choice. If they can't decide what year then it's given the year 1960.
The smog equipment required for your car with SB100 is described as " what the car reasonably acommodates in it's present form."
As of Jan 4 2005 all 500 sequences have been assigned. Wow!!! No more available till Jan 2006.


You have to take it to a referee to do this. They are usually in a Junior College.
I took my Cobra in and the guy says "what year do you want it to be smogged to?" I said 1965. There ya go ... smogged to 65, which means "exempt".

If you buy the car rolling then you are stuck with however the car originally was smogged and registered.

Matt

[Ron61]

Matt,

Everything you said is correct, but if you use a pre 1966 engine, there is no smog to pass as they never started having the smog tests until 66. And even then, any well tuned engine should pass as they weren't so strict as now. I have had two 1965s, one a 390 and the Comet with the 289. Only smog equipment was a PCV valve and they are not required to be checked ever for smog as there are no standards for 65 and back. The main problem around here with using a newer engine is finding the junk they hung on them for smog. So if I were doing it by engine year, I would get a 1965 or earlier block.

Ron

[Jim Barnett]

Hey guys: my 1969 Hemi Bee is SMOG EXEMPT. Anything OLDER than 1974 is smog exempt as far as I know. It's that "over 30 years old" clause in the smog laws (requirements).

I'd AGAIN like to THANK ALL of you who took the time to respond to my question(s). My CR was registered by the dealer that I bought it from. It had already been classified by the DMV and registered twice before (1965 Ford).

[MACOBRA]

Hi Jim

I see your in the forum, welcome to the club. My CR is a great car and I live in the world of FFR and ERA.

Stuart (MACOBRA)

[Ron61]

Jim,

My 69 Torino Cobra has been smog exempt for many years because of the Historical Plates. But the 30 year old exemption won't work on a replica made now. It has to be titled under the year completed, IE 2005, and then you either use the year of the engine or the SB-100 route if you can get one of those numbers. A 1974 car is no longer smog tested, but it was built in 1974 and not 1975. Your Bee is exempt because it is pre 1974, and was actually built in 1969. I don't know of anyone who has a replica that was actually built before 1974, so I am not sure just how the DMV would react to that, and you could call 10 different ones and get 10 different answers. See the article in the March 2005 Kit Car Magazine dealing with the DMV and their confusion over registering replicas.

Ron

[J. T. Toad]

great, anyone want to buy a stroked crate from FORD

anyone have a pre '66 block?

question for you Jim, how does a car get registered twice? I am sure it is semantics, but I am, as usual, confused.

[Ron61]

J.T.,

Take the stroked crate motor and have pre 66 identy numbers cast onto it. There are several pre 66 390 blocks around this area, but I am not sure just how good they are. As for being confused, I heard that confusion is the mark of Genius. If that is so, then according to the Kit Car article, our DMVs must have a lot of Einstiens (spelling), working for them.

Ron