Contemporary cobra

[NeilM]

Hi Paul.

Many thanks for the offer and should I be able to raise the required funds then I will most definately be in touch - just did not want to jump the gun and build my hopes up ( and Marlon's ).

Yours posts on the CRC have already been a huge help and coupled with the knowledge held on this site too I am sure all of my questions would be answered.

How does the Contemporary stack up against a Crendon?

I was going to ask over on the CRC but did not want to stir things up.

Once again thanks for the offer.

[FatBoy]

Originally Posted by NeilM

How does the Contemporary stack up against a Crendon?

In my opinion, it is at least as good as a Crendon, if not better. Marlon's car also has some really nice upgrades included.
You might want to consider replacing the suspended padals for a floor mounted pedal box. Mine had a original style underfloor pedal box and I'm just about to order a Kirkham pedal box for a friend with a Contemporary. The Kirkham pedal assembly is a work of art, as is their throttle pedal and linkage assembly. I think it will cost around £500 for both complete assemblies.

Mickmate makes a really beautiful stainless steel fuel tank to fit a Contemporary that looks identical to an original from the rear of the car.

I had copies of the Contemporary seat frames made when I built mine in case anyone wanted some steel seat frames rather than the usual plastic buckets available in the UK. They were never used and should still be at the trimmers in Derbyshire. If he still has them, you could get him to trim them for you and you would have a really nice pair of seats. He did a beautiful job when he did mine. They were actually better than the Kirkham seats in terms of upholstery quality and identical to originals.

Someone is Spain has posted on the Contemporary thread with a toploader gearbox for sale.

Paul

[NeilM]

Hi Paul

I thought it would compare favourably to the Crendon as that was the one I have been saving for - unfortunatley the Kirkham is out of my price bracket.

I had looked at the FFR but could not totally fall for the shape ( rectified by the Mk 4) but now no one is the official UK agent.

I shall check out the Pedal assembly as I did notice there was only two pedals on Marlons picture that he sent through.

I saw the replacement Fuel tank that MickMate had made in one of the other threads and had pencilled that in already.

As for the seats I will be in touch if I raise the cash - I guess I would just have to get headrests fitted for the IVA. Once again thanks for the offer.

Saw the top loader gearbox in Spain and have been pricing them up from the various US outlets.

The only other missing item was the front hubs and I saw they were available at various outlets - was going to wait to see what else was needed.

I presume that all the Jag donor parts required are all from an E Type.

Once again thanks for the offers.

Neil

[FatBoy]

Originally Posted by NeilM

I presume that all the Jag donor parts required are all from an E Type.

Yes, I believe so, although it looks like Marlon already has all the E-Type sourced parts.

If you decide that you would like to go for the Kirkham pedal assemblies, let me know ASAP as my friend has a container coming over from the US and he is putting the pedals in that to save shipping costs and I'm sure he wouldn't mind including a second set for you.

On the originals, the brake and clutch pedals come up through the floor and the throttle pedal comes down from the top of the footbox on RHD cars and through the side of the footbox on LHD cars.

Paul

[NeilM]

Hi Paul

From chatting to Marlon and the photographs he sent through, I could not see what, if anything was missing from the front suspension apart from the Hubs for the Pin drives / front discs / Jag uprights (they may just have been ommitted from the pictures).

My timescales are dependant on a property sale which may happen shortly but may not happen for a while - so I will probably not make your container .

[FatBoy]

Hi,

I recall seeing the front suspension arms and I thought I recall seeing the front uprights, but I may be wrong on that second point. I'll have another look through the pictures when I get home this evening.
Will Marlon accept a holding deposit from you? It would be a shame to lose such a great deal for the sake of timing.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Paul

[FatBoy]

I've checked the photos again and I couldn't see the front uprights in any of them, so I think you have to assume they aren't there.

I remember that when I built my Contemporary that the first set up uprights had the steering arms mounted pretty much perpendicular to the upright axis, which caused terrible bump-steer. Contemporary eventually replaced them with units that had the steering arms mounted at more of an angle, which improved matters significantly.

Therefore, I assume that the steering arms aren't simply E-Type items and that some degree of bespoke fabrication is involved. I'm sure Nick or Jeff can shed some light and pont you in the right direction.

Paul