Commissioning a Turn Key ERA 427 Cobra

[RodKnock]

Glove box? A heater, defroster, heated seats, A/C, PS, PW, stereo, and PA can't be too far behind.

I tend towards the purist end of the Cobra spectrum, but then my Cobra experience generally comes from watching my tires flat spot in the garage.



Flygirl, glad to see you back on CC. Patrick was very worried about you.

[Flygirl]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Glove box? A heater, defroster, heated seats, A/C, PS, PW, stereo, and PA can't be too far behind.

I tend towards the purist end of the Cobra spectrum, but then my Cobra experience generally comes from watching my tires flat spot in the garage.

Flygirl, glad to see you back on CC. Patrick was very worried about you.

Thank you. He expresses worry in a very...umm...pejorative manner, however.

I'm only considering the glove box with the comp instrument panel as a design element that blends street and race themes.

And that list of luxury items omits the most important one of all: a slushbox!

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by Flygirl

Thank you. He expresses worry in a very...umm...pejorative manner, however.

I'm only considering the glove box with the comp instrument panel as a design element that blends street and race themes.

And that list of luxury items omits the most important one of all: a slushbox!

Well, that's "our" Patrick. At least you won't be painting your Cobra "beige."

If someone would make an affordable Sunburst, those would sure look nice on your street build. Last thread I saw about the Sunbursts, they were about $800/wheel.

Sunburst Wheels

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by Flygirl

The current hypothetical set up of a turnkey ERA 427 Cobra for Pinto Girl:[/i][/b] Street version, Wimbledon white, no scoop, 428/five speed, vinyl seats, street gas cap (or the comp version if it's cheaper, especially if I go with the comp instrument panel, see below), Halibrand style knock offs, undercar exhaust with the pipes exiting downward in the rear and mostly out of sight (instead of straight back), chrome overriders front and rear (no bumper or grille hoop) and the splitter up front, 15" wood steering wheel with the Cobra center cap. It'd be equipped with the heavy duty puller fan so the twin pushers wouldn't be necessary. The only question is that I really prefer the comp instrument panel, would it be too much of a mistake to spec that instead of the street panel, but with a glove compartment? From an aesthetic point of view, this car wouldn't have the sunbursts, so perhaps the comp filler cap and comp instrument panel with a glove compartment would be elements blending comp and street styles...? Or is that just weird? Really don't know how I feel about this yet.

Here's a thought - instead of the Halibrand knock offs you might consider the FIA wheels that some of the very early 427 cars seem to have been fitted with or at least acquired over time. I actually wish I had purchased them for my ERA roadster. The downside is that Vintage doesn't sell the FIA style (Trigo does) so I wouldn't have been able to deal with Bob at Vintage who is a great guy.

Be sure to talk to Peter about wanting the street fuel cap. They have to perform a little work to accomplish that and I sourced my own filler cap from England although they may be able to help you come up with one. Also, ask them to be sure and not drill the body for the roll bar - assuming you don't intend to have one. For some reason they drilled my car for the roll bar and then had to fiberglass the holes back up. If your a stickler on authentic features ask Peter for the original type glove box knob. I think he must keep those in the back of his desk drawer or something but if asked he will cough one up - or he did for me. If you want to get really into authentic details 428Street can really fix you up with all sorts of information.

Good luck

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Nothing wrong with a Cobra with some S/C features and some 'Street' features. The combination is quite common (even among original Cobras). Mine has street bumpers (they look great and protect the front body edges from road rash), S/C dash, scoop and gas cap, along with sidepipes and single roll bar, for that 'Cobra" look. The 428 is a no-brainer, as you can save at least 10k, and the 428 performs great and has good 'street behavior' (just look at the old GT 500 Mustang). I would suggest the large (original size) Moto Lita steering wheel, as the look is fabulous and the larger diameter makes for easier steering. Any way you do it, it will be 'correct' for you. Good luck.

[xb-60]

I agree that you - or anybody doing a new ERA build - should do what you really want to do, as you're the one paying the money. Personally I think any deviations should be period correct, but apart from that, a lot of the original road cars were modified for racing early in their lives, so there was a lot of mixing and matching back then, and that validates it in a 'replica' now.
Cheers,
Glen

[kgs365]

congrats on the first step Flygirl....you will enjoy the ride...I'm just about done with the process and don't have any regrets

[jeffy]

Hi Flygirl! Welcome to the ERA family!

Fortunately, you have time to come to your senses and decide to build a 289FIA! If you visit ERA over the winter, mine will be there for you to look at. Here is the build album:

ERA 2131 pictures by jeffy10028 - Photobucket

Good luck and enjoy the journey!

Take care,

Jeff

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Jeff, I saw your car when I was at ERA last week for the party. Very nice car. Is it back there for service, or have you yet to take delivery?

[jeffy]

Originally Posted by ZOERA-SC7XX

Jeff, I saw your car when I was at ERA last week for the party. Very nice car. Is it back there for service, or have you yet to take delivery?

Thanks!

Picked it up in May, about 1,700 miles since then, I think (the speedo was out for about 1,100 miles). Glad it doesn't look all beat up!

From the day I picked it up, the Richmond tranny would grind shifting from fourth to fifth. No one knows why. I lived with it (I figured out a way to avoid it about 80% of the time by putting it in neutral for a bit before going to fifth) and now its been pulled to go back to Richmond. Obviously defective out of the box.

Jeff

[tkb289]

Flygirl,

To add to the comments above, welcome to the ERA family!

You have a great plan and as the guys said, build the car YOU want. As the build progresses, you might change a few things here and there, but the key decisions that are not easily changed are color, body features (scoops & cut outs) and dash configuration. Sounds like you have those well thought out.

One hot topic around here is roll bars. For a street setup, none is the way to go

Some folks have gone for the traditional single roll bar, some with dual roll bars and yet others with a full width roll bar set up ... I have a unique setup on ERA 2136 that allows for a single or full width roll bar

What I would suggest is to consider having ERA weld into the frame, the tubing and mounting points for whatever roll bar configuration you might want in the future, maybe even have them make the roll bar and fit it to the frame. The whole setup will be powder coated and will fit just right.

Then be sure to tell Peter ... DO NOT drill the body for the roll bar, just leave it in pure street mode, NO roll bar. Down the road, if you decide to race the car or just want to have a roll bar, all that needs to be done is to have the body drilled and you are done. A small investment up front and a real savings later on if you change your mind.

Now whether you go for a single or double roll bars ... that's up to you

[Flygirl]

Thanks for the thoughts about the roll bar. I'm on a tight budget so I don't think I'd be able to afford to have roll bar fabricated, but I like the idea about having the mounts installed, just in case. I'll just have to see how the cost adds up; to be honest, I'm still saving my nickels and saving my dimes, very early in the process.

Definitely would go sans roll bar, that was one of the first decisions I made. Really like the clean look of the street version.

Originally Posted by RodKnock

If someone would make an affordable Sunburst, those would sure look nice on your street build. Last thread I saw about the Sunbursts, they were about $800/wheel.

Yeh, you're right about the Sunbursts. I didn't like them initially, but the more I ponder them, the more I do. For some reason I was under the impression that they weren't as wide as the Halibrand replicas, especially the rears. I suppose that the rear suspension could be altered to increase the track a bit and fill the rear quarters. I also have come across some pics of narrow bodied (in the rear) 427s, but that's not how the ERA comes standard and there's no way I can afford to be modifying the body, that's for sure. A car with the narrower rear quarters and Sunbursts would be primo, in my opinion. But for this example I'll definitely have to make budgetary concessions. Just not quite sure where, yet, or how many.

[strictlypersonl]

The Sunburst wheels are all the same: 7.5" wide. When we use them on the rear, we use longer control arms to increase the flange-to-flange distance by about 3". I'm not sure whether that's possible with the ERA rear. I'd have to check whether there's any new interference.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by Flygirl

A car with the narrower rear quarters and Sunbursts would be primo, in my opinion. But for this example I'll definitely have to make budgetary concessions. Just not quite sure where, yet, or how many.

That is my ideal car too but it would take major wheel flair, body work on the ERA and while I can do fiberglass work - I just didn't want to get into it that deep. So, I went with the 7-1/2 and 9-1/2 inch Halibrand replica wheels and left the body alone. You can find 428Street's profile and see some pictures with the ERA body and the Sunburst wheels in the rear. If I'm not mistaken, I believe KGS365 (the green street roadster on the ERA website) has the widened rear track with Sunburst wheels for comparison.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by tkb289

Flygirl,

To add to the comments above, welcome to the ERA family!

You have a great plan and as the guys said, build the car YOU want. As the build progresses, you might change a few things here and there, but the key decisions that are not easily changed are color, body features (scoops & cut outs) and dash configuration. Sounds like you have those well thought out.

One hot topic around here is roll bars. For a street setup, none is the way to go

Some folks have gone for the traditional single roll bar, some with dual roll bars and yet others with a full width roll bar set up ... I have a unique setup on ERA 2136 that allows for a single or full width roll bar

What I would suggest is to consider having ERA weld into the frame, the tubing and mounting points for whatever roll bar configuration you might want in the future, maybe even have them make the roll bar and fit it to the frame. The whole setup will be powder coated and will fit just right.

Then be sure to tell Peter ... DO NOT drill the body for the roll bar, just leave it in pure street mode, NO roll bar. Down the road, if you decide to race the car or just want to have a roll bar, all that needs to be done is to have the body drilled and you are done. A small investment up front and a real savings later on if you change your mind.

Now whether you go for a single or double roll bars ... that's up to you

I'm not sure if it was intentional or not - but my street car w/o roll bar still has the brackets all welded to the frame.

[tkb289]

Originally Posted by DanEC

I'm not sure if it was intentional or not - but my street car w/o roll bar still has the brackets all welded to the frame.

Interesting, that just might be standard practice at ERA ... it makes a lot of sense to build the frame that way.

[ERA Chas]

Enjoy your brand-new ERA.

[strictlypersonl]

Every chassis has the mountings for the driver's side roll bar built in.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by strictlypersonl

Every chassis has the mountings for the driver's side roll bar built in.

Flygirl... if the cost for the mountings for the passenger's side roll bar is relatively nominal, you should go for it. It gives you, or subsequent owners, easy options in the future.

[428street]

I'd be more then happy to share any details about my car and/or all the things that I would do differently on a new build...I spent countless hours, days, road trips figuring out all the specifics on the Cobra Street car...I'm on here every once in a while but best to email me at fzabski@trmacs.com for quicker response...