Anyone selling quality glass 427 Cobra Body (only) packages?

[Buzz]

E-M had a great chassis and good quality fiberglass but the bodies are not very accurate. I've heard Sagebrush is good if they are still in business. I would recommend calling Unique Motorcars - they build a solid, accurate body with an integrated tub and footboxes.

[Bryan Anderson]

Please take a look at B&B we offer a Handlaid fiberglass Body, with hood, doors and trunk, steel reinforced and bonded with an Inner and outer skin 4500 you can see all of our options at *B&B Manufacturing - :::: - Feel the Thunder - :::: - Hotrods from Kit to Turn Key - ::::

[LMH]

Originally Posted by Buzz

E-M had a great chassis and good quality fiberglass but the bodies are not very accurate. I've heard Sagebrush is good if they are still in business. I would recommend calling Unique Motorcars - they build a solid, accurate body with an integrated tub and footboxes.

Sagebrush is in business. I'm in the shop all the time. In fact, they are probably sick of me by now!
Larry

[mr bruce]

the body in my link is a brand new f5 mk4 body, has all the latest features you stated

[mr bruce]

YouTube - 73turbopinto's Channel

[Tom Wells]

Buzz,

As an E-M/Power Performance owner I'm curious about exactly what you meant when you stated

the bodies are not very accurate

For example,


Tom

[Buzz]

Hi Tom - don't take it as a slam or mean spirited criticism, but the E-M bodies (and I refer to the 90" wheelbase cars made by the Everetts) have a few subtle deviations from the loosely defined "original" shape and stance that are not important or even that noticeable unless one really cares about closely adhering to original appearance.

The most obvious is the slightly high "perky butt" that is seen in varying degrees on a few replica bodies. The rear fender shape as viewed from the front quarter is different and the sectional height of the body is greater in the area of the doors, giving the car a chunkier though not unpleasant appearance (compare the distance between the bottom of the door opening and the bottom of the body to a photo of any original Cobra) . There has been mention of the wider front track that necessitates shallow dish wheels to keep the tires inside the bodywork, but that may vary depending on which of the many suspension choices is on a particular car.

It seems like a lot of nitpicking, but I seriously considered buying from E-M a number of years ago and I studied them extensively. As I said before the frame is a work of art and there are many beautifully finished E-M cars out there - yours absolutely included - its a beauty!

I only brought it up because the OP specified an accurate body shape, but I would not discourage anyone from buying a well executed Everett Morrison Cobra.

[decooney]

Originally Posted by mr bruce

the body in my link is a brand new f5 mk4 body, has all the latest features you stated

Mr. Bruce,

Would you mind posting 4-5 photos of the full rear and side profile?

It would be good to visualize the latest features you are referring to. I'd also like to know what has been done to not only address the issues but to give the body a little more substance and thickness than a flimsy potato chip.

Note: I recently spent several trips, night phone call conversations and emails over the past four months back and forth to the body shop with a friend who was finishing up his Mk3 body. I won't go too far into the myriad of problems but here is a small list. Once completed, I'd estimate there had to be at least five or more significant changes required to make the Mk3 version fit and look better, and even then it left more to be desired. I truly had no idea until my friend and I really started spending hours focusing and looking at each area requiring attention. Many times I think he was ready to scrap it in a dumpster and find something else better to start with - but he hung in there and saw it through to completion. And, we are talking veteran body shop too with several completed to date. I'm sure you've compared the 3 vs. 4 version and developed an eye for it; you know what I'm about to say. Hopefully with your eye and photos you can describe how and why its better and what really has been done to address all issues that truly needed attention; re-shape rear quarters, rear bottom section cut and drop or added glass, terrible door fitment, huge door gaps with dips, dips in hood, bulge above glovebox, straight line rear quarters vs. full round shape, narrow rear flares/quarters need to be extended to fit wider tires with real clearance - the list goes on... etc. Sure would save a body guy and owners a lot of work and headache if all this stuff is truly fixed now, which would be a big deal to those who actually work on this stuff. I'm sure anyone who's truly worked on a Mk2/M3 body knows first hand what it took them, which is a lot of work to make it right and truly ready for paint. At this point, I'd have to imagine an all new body with all design, all new doors/trunk/hood, and revised shape with added glass in several places would be necessary to make it noticeably better. I can't wait to see the new version properly fit to a chassis. Thanks in advance - would you mind sharing several eye level, side, rear, 3/4 angle photos of front and rear of the Mk4 body you have there for all of us to see?

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by decooney

Mr. Bruce,
It would be good to visualize the latest features you are referring to. I'd also like to know what has been done to not only address the issues but to give the body a little more substance and thickness than a flimsy potato chip.

Duane,
Your reasons for rejecting the KMP are valid. But I have to say, the fiberglass answer is right in your garage.
ERA can be the only logical choice. Correctness, detail and structural integrity are known and obvious.
It's clear that you know this because it's what you chose for your personal car.
The main question I think is whether Peter would sell 3 ERA bodies to put on unknown (to him) chassis. The result would not be 'an ERA' and he may wish to protect that.

[mr bruce]

all i can tell you is .it's a brand new F5 Mk4 body, rite from the mold, check their website out for all the details on the mk4 bodys. I doubt ErA is gonna sell you just the body(s) so your best bet is to just splash a mold from your car, and you'll have just what you want, plus ,you'll have a mold and you could go into business selling bootleg ErA bodys.

[mr bruce]

Mk4 Roadster

[decooney]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

Duane,
Your reasons for rejecting the KMP are valid. But I have to say, the fiberglass answer is right in your garage.
ERA can be the only logical choice. Correctness, detail and structural integrity are known and obvious.
It's clear that you know this because it's what you chose for your personal car.
The main question I think is whether Peter would sell 3 ERA bodies to put on unknown (to him) chassis. The result would not be 'an ERA' and he may wish to protect that.

Chase,
I believe your answer to your "main question" is correct. The bar has been set high, that is for sure. I for one am glad that ERA does not just sell parts and how they work hard to maintain a reference standard with reduced variability. I'm definitely not looking to help figure out how to rebody an ERA.


All,
I'm definitely not one to want to attempt to go into production or to help others to try and compete against faboulous Cobra cars and companies that already exist today. However there are some situations that come up from time to time with friends and colleagues with cars they are building or wrecked cars or chassis-only cars where I scratch my head saying why put a ton of work to heavily modify, flare, or fix a body, why not just start with a great body skin foundation nice right out of the box and custom fit it to the chassis. Is it a lot of work, yes. Less time than fixing an entire body, possibly. Would it be worth it, maybe. ... just a little research project to see what the options are to help out a few friends who've been talking about this gap for the past decade.

Thanks to all for your leads, feedback, emails and private messages. Will be following up soon.