New to Club Cobra....???'s about origional fuel filters/pumps

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Excaliber

HA HA HA, ye haw, that's a knee slapper right there elmariachi.

That is really funny.

[767Jockey]

Originally Posted by dlotz

I'm starting with a Factory Five. I know there needs to be some significant glass work to the body, but I'm ok with that.

Well.........I'm not trying to pee in anyones Cheerios here, but........
You're wanting to build an originality based car, and you're starting with what has to be one of the least original looking cars out there. Have you really thought about this? FFR's are great cars, really they are. They have many strengths, but originality is definitely NOT one of them. By the time you carve it up, hide the Frankenstein rocker panel body mount bolts, try to cobble together a decent looking original style interior and perform the Jenny Craig procedure on the perky butt, you're near or past the cost of a more original looking style car. Really, you need to re-think this if it isn't too late. If you can't spring the bucks for an ERA and you're stuck on building it yourself, at least look at a few others that are really only a small bit more on cost to a FFR kit, and certainly at or less money than the FFR after all the major surgery. Have you checked out cars like Unique, Premier, etc? Premier (out of Kansas City) is little known but builds a great looking car. Unique is very popular as well.

FFR guys, please don't start a rant, I'm not knocking your cars. There are many things they do well, and yes, with enough money and effort they can certainly be made to look vaguely original. However, this is not their forte, and it's a whole lot more practical for an originality based build to start with a more original looking car. That's all I'm sayin'. I can feel the FFR artillery inbound already.....

[Power Surge]

You can definitely make a decent vintage looking FFR on the outside (Allen English's car is a great example), but don't kid yourself that you're going to build an "accurate" to original FFR. Just not gonna happen. The layout and construction of the car is just WAY to far removed from being accurate.

And yes, I am saying this with first hand experience. My first Cobra was an FFR that I planned to build "accurately". There's a reason I switched to Kirkhams and Shelbys.

But if you insist on using an FFR for this project, we'll help best we can.

[Three Peaks]

Originally Posted by 767Jockey

Well.........I'm not trying to pee in anyones Cheerios here, but........
You're wanting to build an originality based car, and you're starting with what has to be one of the least original looking cars out there. Have you really thought about this? FFR's are great cars, really they are. They have many strengths, but originality is definitely NOT one of them. By the time you carve it up, hide the Frankenstein rocker panel body mount bolts, try to cobble together a decent looking original style interior and perform the Jenny Craig procedure on the perky butt, you're near or past the cost of a more original looking style car. Really, you need to re-think this if it isn't too late. If you can't spring the bucks for an ERA and you're stuck on building it yourself, at least look at a few others that are really only a small bit more on cost to a FFR kit, and certainly at or less money than the FFR after all the major surgery. Have you checked out cars like Unique, Premier, etc? Premier (out of Kansas City) is little known but builds a great looking car. Unique is very popular as well.

FFR guys, please don't start a rant, I'm not knocking your cars. There are many things they do well, and yes, with enough money and effort they can certainly be made to look vaguely original. However, this is not their forte, and it's a whole lot more practical for an originality based build to start with a more original looking car. That's all I'm sayin'. I can feel the FFR artillery inbound already.....

I had the same comment on the FFR forum, but didn't take the time to explain myself- not wanting to be tarred and feathered by the faithful.

The hardest parts to bring up to original look would be the wheel openings. They just aren't concentric as compared to the originals, Kirkhams, ERA, etc... and would be difficult to reshape without major hassles. The visible mounting bolts and straight sided rockers that don't wrap under like the mentioned models are another non-original mark that is almost impossible to modify.
Adding fuel pumps in the trunk really isn't going to make an FFR look like an original, but with enough work, money, good paint, and other touches, it will look really good and fool a lot of people who wouldn't know an original from a Shell Valley, FFR, etc.....
As pointed out above, by time you have it looking original you could easily have gotten another, more original looking kit to start with..... IMHO.

Bob

[Excaliber]

Well we'll just have to work with we got! Certainly on the right track with an FE series motor. That alone will make it a very special FFR, as few of them have it.

RESEARCH and HISTORY are in fact one the best things about owning a Cobra. It's a fascinating subject. I love to study the details of what the originals came with, how they were modified over the years, who did what to which car. It's all good!

[KevinW]

Originally Posted by Excaliber

.... period style gauges (with correct mounting).

- Ive got a set of Smiths gauges on order, so thought i had the dash area licked, but what does 'correct mounting' mean? Layout on the dash ... or something else i need to worry about?

cheers,
Kevin

[Excaliber]

Layout of the gauges, different for street car vs competition car. Not really a big issue, it's nice to have them in the ball park. Look at some pics of the originals or some nicely done replica's to get an idea.

For instance, the Comp cars put the tach where the speedo was on the street cars. So the driver could more easily focus on the rpm's rather than the speedo.

My ERA has a street car dash and gauge placement. However, I swapped the speedo and tach positions, more like what the Comp cars did. I really like it, not how it looks so much as how it's WAY easier to see the tach now. Racing was always about what WORKS well #1 with little or no regard to how it "looks". In this case, it looks pretty cool though.


Dash layout from the FFR web site.
http://www.ffcobra.com/FAQ/dash.html

[KevinW]

OK thanks - got it.
My dash will come pre-drilled for 427S/C layout, so i can stop worrying now!

[mickmate]

I had a FFR body here for a while. These guys have hit on some of the salient points to be addressed for originality. The biggest visual to me is the roll bar size and angle (I can supply you a more suitable bar). The perky butt is a big visual cue on these which has been moved up and can be easily moved down during the build. It is only held up by the aluminum panels either side of the trunk. Leave them right out and set the rear of the body to height and make some new ones to fit the space. There's some characters here but a lot of good info too. Welcome aboard and enjoy the build.

[dlotz]

Mick

Actually my mk3.1 has a trunk hoop that will also need to be cut out and lowered. Not just the aluminum pannels holding it up anymore. But that is all planned out in the "drop-butt" mod!

I was going to make my own roll bar. I didn't like the origional looking 1 1/2" dia as I thought it was a little too skinny, but the 2" is way too FAT! I was looking at 1 3/4" bent on 12" rad. I haven't priced it yet so I am interested in a price if you can provide one easily!

I will also need the smaller receiver mounts to weld onto the chassis that fit inside the 1 3/4" roll bar as well.

PM me and let me know.

Thanks

[patrickt]

Deleted -- (responded to the wrong post, ehhrrrggg).

[computerworks]

You may have responded to the wrong guy, if I read it right

KevinW is in the UK building a Crendon
Dlotz is the guy with the FFR idea.

[patrickt]

dlotz -- Your enthusiasm is refreshing; it should be fun following along on your build. While the FFR is not blessed with "classic beauty," properly finished it can be very attractive in its own right. Kind of like Mary Ann was on Gilligan's Island.

[elmariachi]

Originally Posted by patrickt

dlotz -- Your enthusiasm is refreshing; it should be fun following along on your build. While the FFR is not blessed with "classic beauty," properly finished it can be very attractive in its own right. Kind of like Mary Ann was on Gilligan's Island.

Nice analogy Pat.

The other thing you have going for you is that there is a HUGE suport group on the FF forum, and they have been hard at it for many years and have tried everything you'll want to do. Twice. That counts for a lot when you are building one of these.