SPF Owners- Time to Nitpick!

[RedBarchetta]

I've been hesitating to post on this thread, not so much to protect any one brand, but more so because anything that has gone wrong or wasn't exactly "right" has either been a by-product of usage or is a compromise that the factory has had to make to run a profitable, ongoing operation.

1. Agree that the cheap Wilwood two-piece remote clutch reservoir is a POS. Replaced that with a billet piece very early on. The factory could do better in this area but has chosen to stick with it because more have stayed sealed than have actually leaked.

2. The standard SB header design is well built, but the ports are designed as a one-size-fits-all. Unfortunately, most SPF buyers don't install a standard Ford cylinder head but either an Edlebrock Victor Jr. or AFRs. And, unfortunately, the port designs of both of these heads are quite different. So what you end up with is a rather restrictive header at the ports and the only fix is a custom header (and not cheap).

3. Same goes for the mufflers. 2" ID for the core is much too small for most applications. The factory could do itself a favor and redesign these to a minimum 2.5" ID, which would be a better compromise for SB vs BB. I don't think any manufacturer is going to spend $$ on tooling etc to offer multiple header pipe and sidepipe configurations, but offering a better base ID would be well received.

4. The cars have experienced consistent issues with the parking brake mechanisms. Very finicky to adjust properly, but the ones that have been adjusted the right way will hold the car on an incline. I believe the newer cars have resolved this issue.

Short of the usual stuff you experience with any Cobra (i.e. loosening bolts due to vibration, gauges that may fail due to the same conditions, etc.), the car is rock solid and worth every penny. I could easily list 20 things that are absolutely great with the car, but this thread is about nitpicking. If anyone's expectations of buying/owning a Cobra are that it's going to run perfect for the first 30K miles like any Honda off the showroom floor, then you're dreaming. It's the nature of the beast.

Having said that, I really like the build quality of the ERAs and given similar circumstances would consider looking more closely at them, too. It really comes down to how long you want to wait. ERA makes a really fine car. But so does SPF.

-Dean #747