New and saying HELLO plus advice

[lsutigerfanatic]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the board and am looking into building a Cobra. Was wondering if anyone had any advice on which company to go with for my kit. So far I seem to be leaning towards ERA. Anybody have experience with them or other good company. Thanks

Stephen

[mrmustang]

ERA makes a great product, I've owned three of them (all 427SC's) to date. What are your planned uses for the car? Street cruiser, drag or road racer, or ? Also, what is your anticipated budget like?

Welcome to the madness.



Sincerely,

Bill S.

[Ron61]

Welcome to the club and ERA is a great Car, just as Bill said above. I have seen several and they were really good.

Ron

[FUNFER2]

Like mentioned above, the budget is what will set your goals. To make it a little easier,......there are 3 levels of cobra manufactures that I base on price, typically with quality, but NOT a rule. There are the lower end, middle and top end. I will not post who qualifies in this list, as I will be pounded upon but, if you email me I can give you my opinions.

Prices can range from $18,000 to about $40,000. Then you have the Shelby and the #1 cobra of all cobra's,.....The Kirkham, which can be had from say,
$60,000, and up over $100,000, depending on the up-grades and originality, engine ect. Building it yourself rather than jobbing it out, can save you a LOT of money,.... if you do it correctly.

Most everyone here on CC as a collective, can answer about any question you may have. Some are extremely knowledgeable in the history, others in building, body work (like me) engine's aftermarket parts ect. to help you build your dream cobra !

You can create a cobra cheap, or very expensive. I know of a local man that pieced together a cobra for $13,000. He lives on a gravel road () it's is green with berber carpet, an old 351 Cleveland (now a used 460) fairly ugly wheels, automatic with a 8.8 rear. He painted it in his garage with a old suction paint gun with dirt and fish eyes included. He'll bring it out to shows for a couple of hours for fun, then leave, which is great. But ya know what, he's happy with it and that's ALL that matters !

Take your time, study and listen, and build the car as YOU want.
You'll be in COBRA HEAVEN .

[lsutigerfanatic]

thanks for the comments. I am looking at one just to drive on the weekends and to possibly race. My budget is limited at the moment so it will probably be built in stages. Looking at about $45k as an end total. I am not exactly proficent enough to build the entire thing but should be able to do much of it. I am looking into many options at this time as I am just starting out. I will do a lot of research before I actually get cranked up. thanks again.

[rustyBob]

You hit the nail on the head...........do your research.........it will save your a$$ in the long run.And your budget of $45k is dooable BUT you will have to search for deals on slitly used parts and hit swap meets (which can be fun) and any help you can get from friends in the different trades will also help (body/paint,machine work,upholestry) it all makes a difference. seek out a Cobra club in your area an ask questions about everybodys cars,and keep it simple, it will make it easier to maintain in the long run.

[Clois Harlan]

In your price range you have a lot of choices but I think the ERA will set you back a little more than 45k unless you are interested in a previously owned ERA. Bill (Mr. Mustang) may have something you're interested in if ERA is your choosen path.

Many of the manufacturers (that have survived the economy) offer a good product and others offer an excellent product. Backdraft, Factory Five, B&B, EM, Lone Star, and maybe a few others will fall with in your budget. Don't scrimp on your drive train and I would figure at least $10-12K just on your engine transmission set up if you are going with new. Except for Backdraft and possibly Superformance most kits do not include tires, wheels, driveshaft, battery, paint etc. so I would plan on another $3000.00 for those items. In short to complete a $20K kit will probably cost another $20-25K. Used might not be such a bad option after all.

Clois

[Michael C Henry]

If you've been watching this game over the last couple of years you'll notice some of the manufactures are not around anymore. Things change. A lot of the manufactures do things differently than the other manufactures making their stuff perpritory. Their body fits their frame. Their hood, doors ,hood, and trunk only fit their body etc. Brands are merged. Brand names are sold to different builders that may or may not change the product from what is used to be. And to add to the complication, some manufactured brands may not keep a lot of records, have a fire, move, change their product and sell to a different builder (My situation). So watch that (in stages) stuff. ERA is one of those manufactures that has been around almost from the start. Right now their are alot of incomplete and finished car for sale. You could make youreself and and someonelse happy if you bought one of those cars. The saying "like a boat the two happiest days are the day you buy it and the day you sell it". Plus side, at least in my state (WA) these cars are now supposed to be dated from the date of manufacture of body and chasis ( If you have the documintation) The state officials are wising up try to make the value as high as possible for sales tax purposes (OH YES they want money). Their are local member that have found small DMVs that were working from old regs and let the cars be reistered as the date of the year it replicates. I think that route is drying up. The cops would prefer that so they would have a clue of what they were looking for. Anyway the car has to be emmission tested and pass of go through the waiver proscess every other year (even year dated on even years and odd dated cars on odd number years) untill it is over 25 year old and or if and when the registration changes to get liesence plates and tabs. For me that gives some older cars an added value. If you buy a not allready registerd car make sure you have receipts and some times they want documintaion of where major donor parts came from and of coarse the the MSO (Manufactures Statment of Origin). State registration will get cloudy if that isn't clear and it's all on you to prove all the critical points to get it registered and titled. Proscessing your paper work is just something that they could put off untill another day or get someone else to do. Remember all states want more money and have told any and all agents to get as much as possible.

OH OH I just found a renewl notice for my Cobra replica . It says I have to have it sniffed again and it's dew for new Plates (more money). I went through that last year. OH! it's last years(2008) notice, right time of year though.

[FWB]

no matter what manufacturer you choose, either...

1. get rid of the wife first...or

2. let her know you will choose the car over her without thinking twice.

just kidding....maybe...

Fred