Let's talk engines...

[RICK LAKE]

RAO-3 Ray I'm not sure how must of a problem in NJ they could cause on the year of the car. IMO the FE stroker is the way to go. A 470-482 cubic motor in Aluminium is the way. Chaplin has one in his car. Sorry you could not have made the little cobra show at Washingtons Crossing. He would have taken you for a ride. As to what the other guys say forget the big HP numbers, It's not needed. The Car is 2,550 lbs. 400+ hp will give you a hell of a ride. A single 4 barrel carb works fine and is simple. Motor, you only want to do this once. IMO hydro cam shaft and lifters are just like any car you buy new. Solids are for racing and hard driving, not cruising and idling. You can get a larger hydro cam to give you the nasty idle. This IMO is the best way to go with minimum maintainance to the motor except for oil changes. Get a torque motor built not HP. This will be a streetable enjoyment. Specs on the motor would be from 9.2 compression to 10.5 compression. With the less compression in the motor, regulator gas is easy to run. Get a set of EDELbrock heads from KCR, stage 2 for the motor. IMO the biggest power killer in the cobra is the side pipes. About 25-50 HP is killed. The street pipes are quieter that race pipes. Race pipes are louder. Transmissions, superstreet 5 spd from Richmond. Comes with the overdrive for cruising. 2.87 first gear. Most guys with transmissions have low rearend gearing don't use first gear anyway. Torque moves the car, not HP. This is not the cheapest trans of 5 spds, but the strongthest and will not get hurt from a little abuse. Rearend gearing. First you want a posi, 3.31 gears with this trans and a torque motor will be perfect. 3.54's will give you a small accelleration advantage but make the motor run at a higher rpm when cruising. Cruising speed 65-80. DON'T lug the motor. It pounds the bottom end to death. FE's have heavy rotating assemblies over most other motors. This should give you an idea of where to start. Get the deal started and tell ERA you will get back to them on motor and trans combo. Which rearend are you going with, inboard or outboard brakes?? Have a nice trip to ERA. Take a camera and plenty of pictures to look at. Make a list of things to ask. Peter will walk you through the whole deal. There is a 90 day waiting period before anything is done. Rick Lake

[patrickt]

I can't take issue with anything Rick L. said -- and I dearly enjoy finding fault with Rick's posts. I don't think you can even get a "one-legged rear" in an ERA, they all come with Power-Lok LSDs, so don't worry about that -- just decide between inboard and outboard. Regardless of how your mechanical skill is now, there's a good chance that over time you'll become a pretty proficient Cobra mechanic, and the ERA outboard rear is fun to play with. The rods and sway bar are adjustable and the mechanical configuration of the entire rear is a simple, elegant design. Rick L. -- you never proffered an opinion on whether zerk-fitted U-joints were less strong than the "lubed for life" U-joints. What say you?