Joined for all the right reasons...

[bmwmech1]

Hey guys, I thought some of you might show some interest in this thread eventually... Lol! I have been gathering reference and have visited alot of the cobra parts and manufacturers websites, so I have been learning alot, lately! I have chosen to do a 427 version, but may also do a 289FIA version after this first one is further along. The body mold is coming along after I made a set of 1/8 scale plans for the body and chassis. The plans took a bit of time, since there is not a definitive "set" available, excluding the set from Cobra Restorers. From what I understand, there are some issues with that set of plans and I had a hard time justifying the cost. So I plowed through as much reference as I could find, looked at a ton of build photos on this site and got to drawing. I'll post some pictures of the plans and the mold for the body later tonight. I had toyed with the idea of doing a wood buck and hammer-forming the body from brass or copper, but decided fiberglass would be easier and quicker. Plus it gets painted anyway, so all the work is covered in the end. I'll use some very fine .6, 1.0 and 1.5 ounce fiberglass cloth to keep the body thin and to scale and it will end up being less than a millimeter thick but pretty strong and it will finish nicely. I ordered the 1/2 inch diameter brass tubing for the main chassis rails and a bunch of 3/16 round and 1/8 square tubing for the rest of the frame and suspension pieces, yesterday. Should have it by the end of the week. Once this gets rolling, I think most everyone will be impressed... it's just like what you guys do in a smaller scale. Everything will have to be made from scratch. Plus, I may just get so into it, I'll have no choice but to build a 1/1 version, too! Always wanted one, timeless design and has to be a blast to own one. Until the next update...

Garey