Motor choice

[hssss]

Originally Posted by Jamo

Thanks Ernie...I trust THAT discussion will follow you so that these folks can get back to the thread subject.

Amen!!

fastraxsg It's your car you know what can be done in the country you are in and what you have the capability and time to do, so do what makes you happy. Ask here for info that will keep you at least close to a Cobra and remember the locostusa forum if you need help making pieces that don't fit work in that thier cars from a mechanical point are quite close to the Cobra but with slightly more lax RULES for originality.

When you get back to the US then you can build your spot on replica.

[Aussie Mike]

Ken,

Do you get many 2nd hand domestic Japanese cars imported into Indonesia? We get quite a few Toyota Soarers down here which are the source of a lot of the Lexus V8 engines. Might be a cheaper alternative to the Bemer and there's plenty of know how close at hand for getting it running.

Ernie, You live in the US, "The land of the free". Freedom of choice is one of the things your country cherrishes. You shouldn't put people down for exercising that oportunity.

I was looking up Quotes by Winston Churchill for another interesting thread. I found this one which stuck with me: "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject".

Cheers

[fastraxsg]

Well guys, guess this is one for the record books. I've pm'ed with TonyD several times and his car is very nice. And its his....Beemer motor and all, seems he built it for himself, not the neighbors and he is happy. Fine by me....I've got the one of the lowest respected motors on the site, a GM Holden in line six, and with an auto to boot. I can't drive a stick anymore, I got hit by a car while riding my tricked out ZXR-7 and they wanted to amputate my leg...so no more clutch, have to have an auto, me and Carrol are home boys I guess, and we have all forgotten the STALLION by Jim Kellison, one of the first replicas, and it was wider and longer than an original (parapharsed from May 2005 KitCar magazine, 2005) they even sold one based on a VW pan. Isn't the reason we have so much choice in the States for parts and bodies and chassis is because its in the USA, where we have the right of choice. You can also look at every single original Cobra and find that no two are exactly the same, alway some small difference. All I wanted was to know if there was anyone else who had used a BMW motor other than Tony for some ideas. Many thanks for the support, the difference in opinion and for a place for all of us to express our own views. I passed on the Beemer, it was much to nice to chop up just for the motor and now after an entertaining afternoon sifting through all of this, I think I will go make vroom vroom noises with my old Wannabee, and no it doesn't say Powered by Ford, or 427 or even Cobra on it, its has a Holden Lion front and rear and when some asks me what it is, I always say its a Holden Roadster....

[Naumoff]

Ken,

How is it going? It's been a while.
Why don't you put sidepipes on the Beemer and some Cobra emblems for right now until you feel you can chop it up?

Don't let that V8 get away.

Did you already purchase the Cobra body?

[Steve R]

Ken,
Tell me more about your car.

Building a hot rod in Jakarta......Now that's the true essence of being a gearhead.
Steve

[RallySnake]

Ken,

Glad to hear you changed your mind on tearing apart the BMW. That's a nice car and much more practical than a Cobra in your hot climate. Can't you find a wreaking yard where you can pick up a rolled car with a good engine and transmission? Maybe you remove the whole AC system intact, too.

Unlike my firends here who have no idea of the difficulty of building a car there, I have been to S.E. Asia a few times. When the humidity is 95% and the low temperature is 90 degrees at night, just being outside is tough. You have done extremely well to get your car running at all. If it's running well, I'd leave the 6 cylinder engine alone and just put all my energy into the bodywork to make it look as good as possible. I doubt that you'll run into many Cobra snobs in Jakarta!

The problem with the V8 in a small engine bay is that the heat from the exhaust headers or manifolds gets sucked into the air intake and causes runaway overheating. It takes a very powerful radiator fan to keep mine under control when creeping along in California traffic in hot weater. The six has more open area around it for airflow and generates less heat.

From the pictures of your car, I would suggest using styrofoam and fiberglass to reshape the body to more closely represent the shape of the longer and lower Cobra body.

Paul

[fastraxsg]

Thanks Paul, I've been trying to get things figured out on how to bring in a complete Hurricane Motorsports kit but you can't get a straight answer anywhere other than "you will need to pay a lot of coffee money" to get things done. Anywhere up to 80%. Originally I had tried to find info about a UK car called a Pyhton that advertised using all of a Beemer 5 series but either they have gone out of business or they are hiding. Heard a lot of negative comments about that too. I have been talking to another expat here who also wants to build a Cobra and we have been thinking of going back to the guy who built mine and see if he can do a more accurate body from all the photos and drawings we could produce. The major problem with mine is in the wheel well area with the space from lip to the top of the fenders, this was primarily due to the way they did the suspension. I had a darkside motor with complete front and rear suspension lined up but there are some issues with the wiring for some vechicle theft setup. Looks like I will keep the six for now but will change to a 3 row radiator to help out with the cooling. We are still trying every which way and trying to do it the legal way but no one seems to want to let us do that. Even though I have one of only two such cars in Indonesia, there are still guys that will criticise it cause its not right but who cares....ya only see them once and they get back in their closed in cars and drive away frowning, I get in my open top roadster and laugh all the way to the next stop....

[fastraxsg]

SteveR and Naumoff, I couldn't bear to tear up the beemer...its like new and been taken care of. Plus probably couldn't flog the rest of it off. I was told this weekend that there is a least one place here that can bring in motors legally and now my wife tells me the family business just applied for an import permit...nothing like finding out at the last minute. Anyway, the beemer has been for sale for a long time and if it is needed I can go back or pick up another one similar. The current car was build on an Aussie Torana LJ of '72 vintage using the 173 cid motor and 4 spd trans. The builder made 4 but guess they were all on different pans, only 2 survive that I know of, the other is Suzuki based. When I bought the car it was sitting sky high with side pipes, one worked, one dummy. You can see the photos in my gallery. I had the motor changed to a 202 cid and switched the trans to an auto, motorcycle accident left me with alocked left knee. I have tried to sort out the wiring, doing it wire by wire, had it done once and figured I could do heaps better, all things work except still a couple of things to change or modify. Have problems with over heating so run without the hood, am looking to have a 3 row radiator put in next month and a high torque starter. Should solve the problems, current radiator is old, plugged and dented. I tried filling in the side pipe slots on the side, first attempt a fiberglass but should do it again, am going to do a home paint job, got as far as primer. The car isn't really rigid, the frame isn't triangulated or anything so sometime we have door problems and hood problems. I really should lift the body and do things up properly. as you can see the body is off particularly in the spaces between fenderwell and height of fender but that is due in part to the way the suspension is hung. I ordered some new rear lowered springs so the back should come down properly now. current ones are too long. Its been a lot of fun, it will never be a proper Cobra and that is why I stay out of the originality forum, guess a few should stay out of the scratch builders forum and save everyone some aggravation. I would like to import a Hurricane, they are working up a right hand drive car as we write but am sweating the customs and import hassles now, have heard horrible rumors including getting everything confiscated, tax up to 80% and others....so time to re-think if it is worth it. There is more detail in the gallery. Naumoff, i have the Cobra emblems already, just haven't found the desire to put them on anything yet, for sure not on mine until I have at least a V-8 in it. then still probably just leave the Holden emblems in place.

[Naumoff]

It is good to hear you are still enjoying tinkering with it.
That is half the fun.

You need to get elected to some Gov. office long enough to import your new Cobra.

You mentioned a Cobra body. Who made it?

[fastraxsg]

My current body was made locally by a guy who had a picture of one and then proceeded to wrap it around this odd ball chassis I have and a straight six GM Holden. It is made of heavy thick fiberglass, all hand laid and was probably pretty nice when first finished. Now the fenderlips are all broken off, the guy before me had really wide tires on it and there are some little places around door handles and trunk hinges that are rough. The Fender liners were pretty rough too. Considering that he did not have a car to measure or pull a mold from he did ok but its isn't real close. I have been thinking that if I can't get a body into the country, maybe will try scaling up from all the photos I have, books and such and see if he can do one that is more accurate and then get a ladder type frame made. It will still not be real exact, but it would be an improvement over what I have now. And if I can get a V-8 in it, then re-sale value will at least help break even.

[fastraxsg]

I'll try to pass that off on my wife....now if I could convince our shipper this week and the guys at customs, I could tell Hurricane the check is in the mail. I did write directly to Venom in South Africa (makers of Backdraft) and they seem agreeable to send me a car too, using Beemer parts from a donor though would be a 6 cyl. car but still pretty quick or even a v-8...choices, choices....