ERA Owners- Time to Nitpick!

[Kramer]

I've been watching this thread and can't say enough about the folks at ERA. Through thier customer service I am reminded all the time that I made the best decision. I know a lot of Cobra owners with great cars as well but if you plan on building the car and take some enjoyment in that aspect and want to rely on manufacturer help I would recommend ERA without a question. If you are simply looking to drive a cobra, I would look used b/c it will certainly be cheaper.

IF YOU DO GO WITH ERA, my only advice to you is know what you want and ask for it upfront. I have seen them handle all types of special request but you given their workload you need to spell out what you want from them and get it all down on paper.

Kramer

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Kramer

I am reminded all the time that I made the best decision...

Not to hijack this thread, but did you get that sneaky charging issue taken care of?

[SSSammy]

Yes, make up your mind on ERA, forget SPF and BDR, you won't have half the fun building those. Do a painted roller, not a turn key .. more fun! Not too many hours to finish it. I have wrenched on all three of these brands and the ERA is the easiest to work on, BDR is tightest under the hood. Apologies of course to fans of these other two, but this IS the ERA Forum

Do the rear mount battery. I'd have them upgrade the 2 ga. battery cable to something bigger, 1/0 ga, maybe. If you're going to use a monster FE, I'd do a 1/2" fuel line vs the stock 3/8". Also, If you're building a torque monster, see about getting a more robust differential from CWI. Call Mike Bontoft and talk about it. Cheaper to do it up front than after you twist the axles off like I did

I have the inboard rear brakes, think about the ERA design rear suspension with outboard brakes. I'd do that if I were starting over. If you do any tracking, I'd see about the 12" front brakes (Sierra?), still keeping the 15" wheels. Again if you are tracking the car, you will want heavier springs than the 250# jobs that ERA supplies. I forget what Rick Lake told me at RnG, I think he said 350#, but he is the expert for that question.

Go with the six pins if you can afford it. More authentic, and a good feature when it is time for resale.

If you plan to do a lot of your own work, you will have the tunnel and rear cover off a bunch of times. I have literally worn out the screw holes in the floor and the nut plates in the rear bulkhead. I would ask ERA to install them with DZUS 1/4 turn fasteners. I am going to do that just as soon as I get the next rush of energy. In other words, not any time soon

When you get it running .. drive it a couple months without the interior until you get it completely sorted out. You might be yanking the seats, tunnel, and rear cover a lot.

Sam

[Grubby]

I purchased #178 last Winter. The original owner had installed a Corvette rear and the car only had 300 miles on it and was not even close to being sorted out.

Peter answered several prepurchase questions and then when I got the car home the guys at ERA answered numerous questions and fixed me up with all the parts needed to put the correct Jag based rear in the car. They even made a special run or rear closing panels to replace the ones that had been "modified" for the Corvette rear. #178 now looks like a proper ERA, and is an absolute joy to drive. I put 600 miles on it in one month of driving.

Peter even remembered the original buyer, and noted that he was frugal and had the Corvette rear in his garage and was going to use it.

I plan to order a new ERA in the near future.

John