I think it looks awesome! Ship it out to California so you can drive it!

No reason why not. Any questions, please feel free to ask.

Er...me too. What a nice car Jeff. I've been following the build and picking up a lot of ideas. Really like the colour, and the black wheels.
Also the instrumentation...it looks great. I had been thinking of the 6 gauge setup from CSX2009, or the 2557/2558 setup like yours. Your pics have persuaded me! A question though for when I start on mine - can you see the oil temp and pressure gauges OK, or would moving them all slightly closer to the car centreline be beneficial?
Looking back, anything you would change that might help us 'pupils'?

Glen

Hi Glen-

I haven't even driven the car yet, so I can't comment on the gauge visibility question. I'll let you know in due course!

At this point I wouldn't change anything at all; I've already changed everything I was unhappy with!

For advice, just do your research, thoroughly. Don't be in a rush: have patience, you'll need lots of it. You'll learn a lot as you go along that you may want to incorporate. Also, there is a surprising amount of misinformation and folk-lore surrounding these cars, some of which I have discussed and debunked in this thread. Sometimes you'll just need to stick to your guns to get what you want.

There are certainly some things you could live without to save money: the oil cooler and Beaumont oil flow regulator are first on that list. Unless you plan to race it, you just might skip the oil cooler altogether. ERA makes a front-end without the oil cooler scoop, which Tim (tkb289) has on ERA 2136. Looks good!

Be sure the wheels are properly smoothed and finished before you paint them. Mine are Trigos and came out really nice.

Sit in a Kirkey before you buy one. I went down a size from my measurement.

I would definitely recommend my main vendors: ERA, Dan Dalena, Jim Inglese and Connecticut Custom. Each one has a deep passion for their work and is dedicated to pleasing the customer. That is very, very valuable.

Good luck with the build; I look forward to following your progress!

Jeff

I very much applaud Jeffy's efforts... his vision. The car really is quite spectacular in its attention to detail and the "period" comp. car look. I know that Doug and Rob in the shop enjoy doing cars that are "correct", but not the norm, run of the mill, big block... after all, they've done hundreds of those.

Jim

Jeff, what did you do to them to smooth and finish the wheels prior to paint?

ouch
 

ouch....run of the mill big block ..:rolleyes:

Don't know if Teddy had to do anything to mine. But it is clear from looking at the finished product that any imperfections will be amplified by the dark color.

Thanks, Jim! Praise from Ceasar...

Jeff

Brake Air Scoops?
 

Jeff, Your car looked terrific from every angle as it was loaded for the show! I didn't see any brake air scoops under the front. Do you plan to put those on at some point? I bought them for mine and am about ready to try installation. Any thoughts or information keeping you from putting them on?
Thanks,
Greg

They just weren't ready yet. Peter P. is having Teddy paint them satin black on the outside and "aluminum" on the inside. They should go on soon, and I'll ask John to send me some pictures to post.

Jeff

I spent some time looking at your car at Frank Maratta's show. It was beautiful. I spoke with Murray ( I hope I got that right) for a long time until my friends physically pulled me away. He also had a great looking Black ERA. It was nice to see two cobras there. It was unexpected. Good Luck with your car.
Lou

Final tuning complete!
 

I got this report yesterday from Jim Inglese:

Hi Jeff,
The tuning session went very smoothly and I took your car out with Doug, and drove it a couple of miles. It runs beautifully. You will be pleased with the way it drives at low speed; it’s very smooth and has good manners in traffic. You will also like the performance when you floor it. I am very happy with the carburetion; the engine feels super.
Jim

I can almost taste it!

That's a pretty good endorsement from Jim Inglese, Jeff. And from my limited experience with Webers on Alfas, when they're jetted and tuned correctly, they stay in tune easily, are smooth, powerful and reasonably economical (considering it's breathing through eight throats all the time!)
Cheers,
Glen

Jeff,

I'll bet you can't wait !!!

Having good throttle tip-in and drivability in traffic ... along with the performance, now that is the total package. Sounds like Jim nailed it!

All you need now is some nice weather and the open road :D

- Tim

We are just about done. I spoke with Doug last week and he was performing the final road test (weather has really held this up) and putting on the finishing touches. I'll probably pick it up week after next.

Thanks for the story of the build, Jeff. It's particularly interesting to see it all from 'inspiration' right through to completion. Really nice car.
Cheers!
Glen

Jeff,

Congratulations! Probably in time for the start of your driving season, let us know if it's as fun to drive as it is to look at :D

- Tim

Brake scoops!
 

John sent me these pics of the recently installed brake scoops. What do you all think? The original plan was to paint the outside satin black and leave the inside "aluminum", but the guys at ERA liked them so much this way, they put them on without the black paint to see what I think. Not sure yet, but they sure look like aluminum now. Opinions?

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/d...8/DSCN3472.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/d...8/DSCN3473.jpg

Brake scoops really round out the FIA look. Til you put em on it really just looks like a street car.