ERA766 is on the road!

[cscobra]

On the road as of Saturday, 2.2.13, after 3 1/2 years of work. 125 test miles covered so far. More to follow, including build details, likes and dislikes, and "if I had to do it over again, I'd . . . . " comments. Pictures also, as time permits.

Bottom line: the ERA 427 Replica is a great kit from a great company!

[lippy]

Pictures?

[kevins2]

Congratulations! I have an ERA 427 build in progress, so am very interested in your "if I had it to do over again..." comments.

Regards,

Kevin

[DanEC]

I just passed 3 years on my build (#782) and I figure I have another 6 months to go before I hit the road - so looks like we were following the same schedule. But this thread needs pictures for validation.

Congratulations.

Dan

[lippy]

Dan, you're scaring me a bit. My 427 ERA arrives in April (hopefully) painted and with the body bonded. I plan to do this project with my kids and am planning on it taking about a year. Is that completely unreasonable?

[cscobra]

It takes as long as it takes if you want to do a top quality job. Don't set artificial time limits and don't rush things or you won't enjoy the experience nearly as much. You will have already saved a great deal of time with body attachment and painting accomplished before the kit arrives--you won't need to disassemble much as a result of this choice. Focus on one job at a time, do it thoroughly, and do it right before moving on to the next--it will save much troubleshooting time later. An old saying in paraphrase: "If you don't have time to do it right the first time, when will you have time to do it over?"

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by lippy

Dan, you're scaring me a bit. My 427 ERA arrives in April (hopefully) painted and with the body bonded. I plan to do this project with my kids and am planning on it taking about a year. Is that completely unreasonable?

I built mine from scratch - bonding, body work, painting myself - thus the long build. Getting a painted roller from ERA - I don't have a good basis to answer from but I would guess 6 to 18 months. It depends on how much assembly you had ERA perform, the amount of time you have to work on it, the speed with which you get the motor/trans set up and installed, any last minute glitches. For instance, I've killed most of the last 30 days resolving some electrical issues and a leaking heater shut off valve. I don't what it is lately - but Fed Ex and UPS deliveries have been slower than I could ever have imagined. 1-1/2 weeks to deliver a shut off valve from ERA - who could have figured. The heater switch took even longer in shipping. From CT to Arkansas appears to be like shipping to a foreign country. It's not ERA's fault - they deal with requests and ship fast. It's the shippers.

But, you should be in the ball park.

[tkb289]

Originally Posted by cscobra

On the road as of Saturday, 2.2.13, after 3 1/2 years of work. 125 test miles covered so far. More to follow, including build details, likes and dislikes, and "if I had to do it over again, I'd . . . . " comments. Pictures also, as time permits.

Bottom line: the ERA 427 Replica is a great kit from a great company!

Congrats on getting 766 on the road, nothing like that first drive after years of planing and work ... photos please

[tkb289]

Originally Posted by lippy

Dan, you're scaring me a bit. My 427 ERA arrives in April (hopefully) painted and with the body bonded. I plan to do this project with my kids and am planning on it taking about a year. Is that completely unreasonable?

Lippy,

Good advice from the guys ... take your time, do it right and enjoy the experience. My FIA was a roller, but it still took me (6) months to get it drivable and another (6) months to get it 'done'. I had to fabricate / modify some parts, wait for parts, send parts out for coating and so forth and so on. Then there are all the inspections and paperwork.

Depending on how many hours you can devote and to what level of detail you want to achieve, that will dictate how long it will take. A year is reasonable, but don't be surprised if it takes longer. One suggestion, take lots of photos of the build along the way, especially of you and your kids ... memories in the making

- Tim

[Jim Holden]

Enjoy the journey! With some 850 ERAs out there, virtually every issue in assembling these cars has been dealt with, more than once. Where I see some folks being challenged is where they deviate from the ERA's "plan" by using different components, engine/trans combinations.

Jim

[CJ428CJ]

I had Connecticut Customs paint mine and I had ERA bond the body to the frame. Other than that, I did the entire build myself. While I was waiting for the kit to show up, I built the motor and had ERA send me the subframe for the rear so I could get the rearend assembly ready to bolt in. Once the kit showed up, I had it on the road in 6 months.

[427 Street]

Good for you! That is great....

You are right: Bottom line: the ERA 427 Replica is a great kit from a great company!