ERA Assembly Milestones
 

In reading cscobra's posting, he stated that he just received his chassis number, although from his explanation, it sounds like his build was well along.

I guess I was under the impression that the chassis number was assigned early in the build.

So when is the chassis number assigned?

One thing I was trying to do was to put together a sort of 'major milestone" listing of the events of bringing an ERA cobra to life. I'd appreciate your comments. Where does the chassis number fit into this milestone listing?

Since I'm doing a turnkey, lets assume start to complete car. Peter estimated 12 months for mine.

First deposit - day one

Into ERA database - day 90

start production - day 120

not related to ERA but start build of engine, day ?

(How long should it take a builder to build an engine, on average, assuming normal workload in his shop?)(When does the engine need to be at ERA?)

Body and frame bonded - day ?

shipped to painter - day 210

painter takes from 45 to 90 days, assume worst case 90 days

return to ERA - day 300

ERA starts final assembly - day ?

Car complete - day 365.

retrieve car - day 380

inspection and registration in NJ - day 410

on road - day 411

I tried to assemble this timetable based on reading numerous threads here, and thought a discussion on this would not only help me, but others as well that are in the process or will be joining the "ERA List".

Ray

RAO-3:

A call to Peter would give you an estimate of the current time frame for a turn key. My understanding is that it can be a year more or less.

A lot depends upon what the current backlog of cars might be and whether they are kits or turnkey cars. Also, the decision as to which painter to use and his time frame will impact the time line. It also depends upon your making timely decisions and payments.

My bias should be clear... it's worth the wait, what ever it is.

Jim

Ray, deposit #1 gets you in line for a chassis. ERA normallybuilds around 60 cars a year, probably 50% - 60% or more as turnkey minus or full turnkeys with motors installed. The balance I believe (my guesstimate) are mostly rollers with the body bonded, and many of those have suspension fully installed. My experience was a 12 month turnaround for a turnkey. Deposit #1 in early January, 4 weeks later a phone call "we have a chassis available - do you want it?", yes sir, deposit #2 to lock up the chassis (some people want to wait longer), once you have your chassis, it is a matter of the fabricating shop having room - then a body will be made, cured, and bonded to your chassis. That is generally a couple of months after you have your number. Once you have your body bonded, you can go to paint - mine was at Tony's for 12 weeks. Once back from Tony's, painted, it goes to the other building - final assembly where Peter's office is. That is 'normally', a 3 month process. The car will get a little time each week or so, until it moves up in line, and becomes "one of the 3 cars dat I gotta get outta here this month", and it will quickly morph into a completed car. It's a good thing to have wheels and motor on site so there are no delays. Keith Craft built my motor in 4 weeks from order, and ERA had it by the time my car came back from paint. They had my wheels before the car went to paint. Ordered Jan 7 2007, picked up Jan 7 2008 (approx), one year exactly. Rickd

Hi Jim,

Peter said it should be about a year.

Ray

That is a long long long long wait!!!! I waited 4 months and it was painfull enough. I feel for you.

Rickd, all great information! So they actually started on your chassis one month after the initial deposit? So many have told me that it takes 3 months. I gather from what you said, at this point he assigned a number to you?

So basically you had:

deposit 1 at day 0
deposit 2 - 4 weeks - at day 30
start of chassis build and assign number - 2 months - day 90
chassis/body bonding - 3 months - at day 180
paint with tony complete - 12 weeks - at day 270
final assembly - 3 months - day 360

Based upon this, as long as the engine and wheels show up prior to completion of paint, there should be no outside holdups.

Thanks

Ray

Rao-3:

I think Rickd's experience is fairly typical of a turn key. The chassis start time is the key to the whole following time line.

The salient points are: be ready with your money when Peter calls for an installment, make timely decisions, if you are providing any parts (motor, trans, etc.) get those items to ERA before they need them and stick more or less to the basic ERA plan (don't start asking for weird motor/trans combinations, brakes, etc. that requires re-engineering and additional fabrication).

Also, stay in touch with Peter on a regular basis. He has had customers order cars, then dissappear for months on end and then blow in and demand their cars.

The boys at ERA are human, they do their best to make and keep customers. With over 700 cars produced twenty five years (and I've been dealing with them for most of that time), there are a lot of satisfied ERA owners out there.

Jim

Hi Jim, that's why I'm trying to put together this schedule. I want to have all the major decisions made, the $$$ on hand, and the engine ready for when he calls.

How often do you touch base with Peter? I actually faxed out something to him last week, and he did confirm that he got it; I was hoping to go over it with him as well, yet I don't want to be a pest either. I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.

My thoughts were to have most of the build details worked out BEFORE the chassis is started, to ease the flow of construction.

So far, I have been quite happy with them.

Ray

I've kinda accepted it, and look at it this way; If the wait was only 4 months, I'd end up not having it on the road until towards the end of the driving season here anyway, so wouldn't be able to appreciate it until the following year. So if things work out, I will still get it in time to enjoy most of the following year.

Ray

Ray,

The wait is half the fun. As you may know I went through the exact same process. I ordered ERA #708 in September of '04 and it was delivered (turnkey) in August of '05. I made one trip up to ERA during the build process at which time I delivered the tires and ignition. I also paid a visit to the engine builder (Danbury Competition). I tried to speak with Peter every month or so to keep on top of things.

Also remember that once you get the car from ERA, it will likely take you about a month to get it street legal and "officially" on the road. That is truly the toughest part of the wait.

Enjoy. It will all work out!

Chris

Chris, what took a month "to get it street legal"? Mine was delivered via an enclosed carrier, was already insured, I put a tag on it and drove it that day. Took a couple of weeks until I had time to register and get my permanent tag, but that took all of 10 minutes at the DMV. Rick

Each state has its own registration process for component vehciles. Some are very simple and some are a bear.

Jim

Plan two trips at least :)
 

Ray, I don't know where you live, but if it is far from CT like me, plan on two round trips via airline, with hotel. I'd recommend the first one about a week after the body comes out of paint. You want the opportunity to get it touched up if there is an issue with the paint job. It is hard to predict for purposes of a 14 day advance purchase discount ticket, so err on the long side. This trip will do you a world of good .. you actually have a car!

The second trip is when Peter is saying your car is a "week away." That is when you sit down with Peter and access the "enormous ERA customer database" :rolleyes: and confirm that everything you ordered was done. You may find some misunderstandings at this point, changes that didn't get entered into the database, etc .. better in New Britain than your garage :)

ERA #745 shipped in Sep 07 as a painted roller, 12 months after deposit. I had the motor and tranny ready when it got to TX. It took me 11 days to get it on the street, minus the carpeting. I had a lot of help from local CC members to pull that off.

Good luck!

Sam

Ray, you are in New Jersey, correct? Check with some NJ cobraphiles about the specifics of registration in the Garden State and this might eliminate the delay that Chris refers to (not sure what state Chris is from - no comment in his profile). Fortunately for me, Florida is one of the "replica friendly" registration states. Rick

In my case, I received my chassis number on July 1, meaning the beginning of chassis/kit production and time for deposit #2, nine months after deposit #1 in September '07. I've tried to put all of that time to good use in preparing as many of the other parts and assemblies as possible so that "final assembly" can go quickly once I receive the kit. I'm sure others have used similar approaches.

chris, I appreciate all the kind words! I was thinking that it would take about a month to get it on the road once I receive it, although of course I'd like it to be quicker than that!

SSSammy, luckily for me, I'm about a 3 hour drive to ERA - I'm in Central NJ. I appreciate the heads up on checking those things though, as I can be sure to make the trip there at those milestones of my build. Thanks for the tips!

Rickd - I've gotten the packet of information for NJ registration and titling, at the advice of some of the NJ members here. As Jim stated, some states are worse than others. It seems that it will take about 2 weeks for NJ DMV to initially process my application before I can schedule the inspection of the car. If I pass, I think it goes quickly after that. However, there's also a bill that may change the whole process by the time I get my car, so I guess it's going to be a wait and see on it.

cscobra, I guess the times for getting the chassis number are all over the place? I guess I was hoping to find some consistency in this, and that was my reason for my schedule; and to have all my selections made and worked out with Peter in advance of the actual build so none of that would hold up the process, and possibly to cut down on problems at the end with regard to things left out etc.

Ray

I put down my deposit in September 2005, received a chassis number in November or December. My engine was completed in Jan 2006. Car went to paint in May 2006. Arrived back at ERA first week of August 2006. Got insurance for it last week of February 2007 and tags 1st week of March 2007. The car arrived the second week of March 2007 and was on the road the day I received it.

Definately go up to ERA when Peter says it is almost ready to ship. The best time to catch any misunderstandings is before it goes on the truck! I went up two weeks prior to the scheduled ship date and found out that Peter and I had had a misunderstanding about the dash/instrument configuration that I wanted. Much easier to rectify at that point than it would have been two weeks later. Also didn't cause a delay in shipment that way.

Some states will give you temp tags so that you can drive it to any required inspections, others require you to trailer it to the DMV so they can inspect it first. Check with some who have already been thru the process in your area.

Also not all DMV offices within a state are well versed in how to register these cars. Also check with local owners to find out if any particular office is better than the others.

So Warren.... Should I put my deposit down on an FIA now or wait?

Excellent advise on the registration process. Find someone who's done it in your state and get with them.

Frank:

Send Peter money... that way he'll take your calls!

Jim

Jim,

How much more do I need to send him now to finish the current one?

Frank