Getting my Cobra ready for the season

[john chesnut]

It seems like winter would never end up here in the Adirondack Mountains of NY. We've finally had some decent days and I can't wait to get my Cobra Tribute on the road.

I moved to NY from NH permanently last year. My Cobra has been in storage since the NH registration expired last August. I'm hoping that getting it registered in NY is not going to be a problem. I do know that they want want me to pay sales tax on it!

This weekend I went through the car to make sure that it was ready to go. I built my car with C5 Corvette suspension. This required narrowing the suspension by 2 inches per side. In the front I had a custom steering rack made with the inner tie rods in the proper location. I got that right as the steering is sweeeet. But, in the rear I made a mistake in the location of the rear tie rod frame mount. The result was rear bump steer. This weekend I corrected that. Now the suspension will go through full travel without any bump steer. Can't wait to drive it.

Wish my luck with NY registration and inspection. Having fun, John

[Ozgur_Tan]

g'day john,

what about your miata based project ?

peace,
ozgur
ozgurtan.com

[john chesnut]

Hello Ozgur, I hope that all is good with you.

The Miata project has been proceeding slowly. I have been through a few different variants while trying to achieve my goals. I finally have settled on building a dedicated space frame for the Miata parts to bolt into.

I had tried to use a stripped down Miata tub and simply slide on a 50's styled body. But, the Miata engine is tall and is mounted far forward. The cowl is tall and the seating position pretty far forward. I couldn't get the look that I wanted.

I set the wheelbase at 93 inches. (The Miata is 89.2) I moved the fuel tank to the top of the rear cradle. The engine is moved 14 inches rearward. My goal is 1,700lbs or less and 54% rear weight.

Here are a few pics. The frame is not done. I built it to test the layout and design. It is just tacked together. (Don't look to closely at the welds. I am not a welder!) Next week I take it to a friend that builds race frames for a living. By the end of the week I hope to have the finished frame and jigs. Then I can finish up the body.

For the body I started with a Devin inspired one that I had. I am using a Porsche 356 Speedster windshield. My 6'2" son is in the car. I like the way it's looking.

I'm building this on the cheap, using all of the Miata parts. Having fun, John

[Ozgur_Tan]

thank you for update !

[s_reynolds]

John, I admire your talents and skills. Wish I had some of them. A hundred years ago when I first started looking at kit cars/replicas, the Devin was one of my favorites along with the Cobra and MGTD replicas. I now have 2 out of the three. Cobra and I just bought an MGTD replica for my next project. Keep us posted on your progress.

Sam