Newbie with questions - part 1
 

I have been researching the site for a little over a month. Lot's of great info! I would really like to build my own kit however I have zero automotive experience. Is it naive to think I can tackle this project? I understand I probably will have to have some professional help with certain aspects. With that said I love building things and I can't think of anything better to build.

I'm self-employed and work from home. My business is on auto pilot so I have a ton of free time during the week that I need to fill.

I am looking at the Hurricane kit.

Thoughts and comments welcome/needed.

Thx

Ric,

Contact Steve at Hurricane and ask for an excerpt from the assembly manual. You can build this car if you have the tools and patience. It might well be worth an airplane trip into Omaha and a visit up to their shop so they can walk you through the various stages. I am sure there are plenty of Cobra owners nearby that would love to pitch in. The nice thing about the new Hurricane is its a 99.9% complete kit and most of the fabrication work is already done for you.

PM me offline if you want to discuss, I have Hurricane #6.

Jim

Thx. I plan on doing that.

This might be a stupid question but what types of specialty tools will I need? I already planned to greatly expand my tool collection. :-) Darn.

Based on your comments, consider buying something already finished if you can. You run a high risk of never finishing your build. If you do finish, you will be forever fixing your mistakes. Of course, I'm describing what would have happened if I tried to build one. A Boeing machinist will build a beauty of a Cobra (I've seen one and it was amazing!). A handy man might build a piece of junk. Of course, a piece of junk to one owner may be just what another owner wants!

Consider building a cobra from Lone Star Classics. They have a great "In House" build, program that they help you build it. From frame to paint.

Website-
Lone Star Classics - Kit Car Replicas.


Example of a build in progress-

Lonestar Classics Forums • View topic - 7-Day Build In Progress

The tool requirements vary greatly depending upon which kit you buy. Some kits require that you do your own sheet metal work in the engine bay, which will necessitate cutters, riveting tools etc. Some kits come with prefabricated brake lines that just attach and bolt on. Others come with the line and ends and you will then need things like tubing benders and brake flaring tools to make your own lines. These are not necessarily pricey or difficult to learn how to use, but they will be required. Depending upon where you live, chain auto parts stores like O'Reilly and AutoZone have lots of loaner tools that will reduce the specialty tools that you would have to buy. But I would say at a minimum to build a Hurricane, provided you have a body shop do all your paint and body work, you'll need:

- A 2+-ton hydraulic floor jack
- 4 heavy duty jack stands, possibly even 6
- A complete set of SAE sockets and wrenches in 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" drive
- Torque wrench, tape measures, rulers
- Electric drill and bits
- Clippers, snippers, rippers files etc for trimming and working .040 sheet aluminum (this is actually the fun part)
- Hole cutters and saws
- A bench-mounted large jaw vise
- A couple of hammers and pry bars
- Crimpers and associated tools for installing wiring ends

Buy good quality wrenches and sockets. A lot of the other tools that you will use gently and only a couple of times can be purchased used on eBay or through places like Harbor Freight. They aren't the best quality but the are perfect for the one time you'll use them. For example, I bought a $9 set of hole cutters from Harbor that I used to pull the nice, clean 1" diameter holes in my aluminum firewall. I doubt I'll ever use them again unless I build another car.

Then you'll need lots of sealants, goops and juices that will be called for in the manual (like the adhesive to attach the carpet.) You'll also need about 500 rolls of blue paper towels, a couple dozen cases of beer, a shop fan, a fly swatter, 20 bars of Lava soap, 10 boxes of nitrile rubber gloves, a couple of drop lights and a stool. Oh, and a helper is a MUST (good family bonding and de-bonding times ahead.) :LOL: And go to your nearest Ace Hardware and sign up for their membership rewards card because you are going to be spending lots of time there buying miscellaneous bolts, screws, nut, clips, ties, retainers, glues etc.

In the case of the Hurricane, the kit comes with all the fasteners. But if you decide to deviate and make the car more original, or if you decide to make other changes along the way, that will require additional bits and pieces. All of this assumes you'll purchase a ready-to-run engine and driveline.

Also, some kits like Hurricane are truly "ready-to-build" component-wise in that they come with most everything except paint, tires, battery, engine, transmission and driveshaft. Others claim to be complete but are missing a lot of bit parts that you have to chase down. Some of the manufacturers have owner build forums that you can use. In the case of Hurricane, there is not one single issue you will run into that you can't get an overnight solution for on that forum. And depending upon where you live, if you buy the beer, we'll come build it for you if you get in a jam. In a weekend. :D

Do LOTS of homework and go meet some owners. And with regard to those that say buy vs build, I will tell you that building one of these cars is the most rewarding thing you can do with your kids and family.

Jim

EDIT>>> And you will want the greatest device ever invented, the Dremel Tool.

Can't go wrong with the Hurricane. You can rent a lot of the specialty tools from auto parts stores like Advance Auto.

Dan HM-1073

Thanks for the detailed info. Yeah I definitely want to build it.

Just curious but what would you estimate build time to be on a hurricane considering I'm a novice. I'm not in a rush just wondering.

Almost impossible to answer. I know if I had 8 hours a day non-stop and didn't have to wait for parts I could probably build one in about 45 days. But I would think the average guy is going to need 2-3 months working on it persistently. Its not necessarily hard, its tedious and its not entirely a linear assembly process. For example, the wiring harness has every wire labeled where it goes. But you have to decide how you want to route the wires, and you have to cut them to length and install the ends. Will you heat shrink boot each end? More time. Will you tape wrap them and attach them with original style harness clips? More time. Or are you just going to zip tie them as you go and use Ace fasteners? Less time, crappy look. Another example....Hurricane will send you the stock Wilwood brake and clutch pedal assembly. Will you stick with that or will you want add the original AC-style pedals? The latter could add 4-6 hours of custom fabbing to your effort.

Here is a link to an old Hurricane build that is a great example of some of the work. Bear in mind lots of changes have been made by Hurricane that will make new builds much easier. For example, the old Hurricane shipped with a dog turd gas tank that had to be modified. Now it ships with a beautiful aluminum custom fitted tank that bolts right in.

Welcome aboard!

When we were considering building, we looked at as many build threads and blogs as we could find.

We ended up going with Factory Five so we spent a lot of time reading the ffcars forum and build sites that we found there. Although you are building a different make, you may still be able to find some helpful information there, at least as far as looking at other people's build blogs and seeing what is involved and if it's something you still want to do.

As far as how long it takes? It takes as long as it takes. We decided not to make a schedule or put a 'finish date' on ours. Time pressure can take some of the fun out of it, at least for us. I was hoping to get done in a year, but it will end up taking two. But doing our own bodywork and paint added quite a bit of time. And as they say, YMMV.

I have found the build process to be tremendously rewarding. 99% of the time. ;)

John