"Inspirations" for my ERA 289

[jeffy]

Originally Posted by xb-60

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

[Jim Holden]

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

[kgs365]

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

Originally Posted by Jim Holden

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

[jeffy]

Originally Posted by Jim Holden

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

Thanks, Jim! Praise from Ceasar...

Jeff

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by jeffy

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

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

[jeffy]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

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

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.