new guy looking at first Cobra..Shell Valley

[Dirty Harry]

I built a Shell Valley car 16 years ago and am still driving it today. It was a low dollar project, but it turned out pretty nice. I've never regretted going with SV. I've driven the snot out of the car on the autocross courses at the last several London shows. It's never been on a trailer and has never broken down and made me walk. It's won a bunch of car show trophies and people stop and stare at it when I drive through a town. It accelerates hard, corners well, and stops good, too. The body looks good, although I had some problems with fit on some of the components. I understand they corrected those issues after my car was built. Their people are great to deal with. I have about 30% of the dollars in my car as the nicer replicas out there, but no one has more fun than me. If I were looking to build another Cobra replica today, I'd call them for sure. If you're looking at a SV that's already been built, make sure you drive it, and check it ALL OVER for anything that would make it unsafe. These cars are a handful, even if well built.

[Terry Stapley]

Rob,
I built my sidepipes because I did not like the leaking slip fit connections!! I tried a few sealants and they still leaked so I put flanges on mine.
See my gallery for photos of the project!!

It really is fairly easy and I have a parts list of all of the parts you will need!
Let me know if you are interested and give me an email address so that I can email it to you!!

[bfitz241]

Good stuff..just what I needed. Good to know no frame troubles. I can fix stuff like tie rods. I plan on checking all the welds under the car. I'm also going to spend alot of time checking the doors, trunk and hood fit...

Without naming names, I learned from some owners of other brands that engine compartment heat can get passed the firewall and foot boxes and intrude on the passenger compartment, making the driver and passenger very umcomfotable. I understand this is probably a hot car anyway, but I really don't want a hot breeze blowing on my legs all day.
Is this a problem with the SV? If so, is there an accepted fix?

How about parts to improve the handling? Like anti sway bars, shocks & different rate springs? How well do the Granada/GM caliper brakes work?

Thanks for your time...