Cops and Rodders Car Show

We entered the Cobra into the "Cops and Rodders Car Show" and won second place in our division:

Now all we need is a first place win...

Our first car show, Tucson Classics

We entered the Cobra in the Tucson Classics Car Show this weekend. Many great cars came out for the event and ours took third place! We met some other local Cobra owners too.

The FFR Coupe took first place. I think the William Shatner and Carol Shelby autographs on the glove box got us a few extra points, for the win:

We also had several offers to buy it, but we need to put a few more miles on the odo first!

Some other cars that I love such as this BEAUTIFUL Mercedes gull wing in BRG:

And if I remember correctly this is an Austin-Healey in BRG (my next favorite color):

Till next time...

Day 24: The Last Day

As of today, the car is assembled and drivable!
Earlier in the week we put the windshield on, visors on and wind-wings on:

Adjusted the windshield wipers and put various trim plates on too. Oh yeah, the doors are on and were a pain in the ass to align:

From the inside:

We attached the radiator aluminum to the body, hooked up the oil cooler below and put the hood on:

Hood still needs minor alignment, but looks good from any angle:

And it looks good closed too:

We have temporary plates so we can drive it down to the DMV for inspection:

A few minor things 'here-and-there' to work out, (brakes need to break-in, minor alignment on hood/trunk/doors, still misfires at low RPM if ya dump the clutch) but it's done.

We built a car!

Here's Dad bringing her back from the maiden voyage around the neighborhood (the sound on my camera just doesn't do it justice):

After a quick check of everything, I took her for a spin and um...it's INSANE fast, handles like a cat on carpet and is a blast to drive. I've never been in any other car quite like it. It feels solid, not at all like we assembled it from a bunch of boxes. I did get her into third gear, but our neighborhood roads don't have enough 'room' to really stretch her legs, heh.
Though the build portion of the car is done, I'll still post videos and pics here, so check back soon!
As an estimate, I think we put in closer to 700+ hours total build time and just over one year.
Thanks to everyone who helped and huge thanks to Factory Five for enabling our dream! It's been a hellofa ride building it, and now it's officially a hellofa ride! :)

Day 23

The body is officially attached to the chassis now. Exhaust is on both sides and we installed the ceramic coated heat shields over the pipes to keep from burning legs on ingress/egress from the vehicle:

The trunk is on, after a bit of adjustment and cursing:

Still needs a bit of fine tuning forward and back, but it's there:

Tomorrow we tackle the hood and windshield, then possibly the doors...if the hood doesn't give us too much trouble for alignment.
I'M SO EXCITE!

It's on

With the help of a few friends we put the body on the chassis last weekend, and the next day we installed the roll bar:

Then the rear bumper (note the gas tank straps just chillin...) :

I put the gas tank back in at this point because the rear bumper mounting bolts and body fitment was just easier in the long run.
A sweet view from the front, just because:

Fire extinguisher, just in case:

Earlier today I installed the rear wheel well aluminum on the driver's side, which is on the right of this picture:

And then the front driver's side wheel well aluminum, again on the right side of the picture:

That front suspension is adjustable six ways to Sunday. Should handle "Like a cat on carpet." ( Dave Smith )

I then attached the body to the chassis with rivets along the bottom, then put on the exhaust:

Shiny! 

Some more shots of the rear end, if you're into that:

I know I am! Oh yeah:

And now it's officially summer in Tucson because I found a fluffy kitten in an empty glass in my house tonight:

Cheers!

More Shiny Bits on the Body

The hood is all set to go:

This color blue is amazing and changes hue in different light:

The front grills are done, Cobra badge looking great too:

We also put the tonneau cover mounts on the body:

And the signature side vents are mounted as well:

These are aftermarket vent grills that Dad got somewhere (probably Breeze Automotive?) since the "stock" ones that came with the kit looked kinda cheesy:

We will affix the body to the chassis this weekend permanently! Very close to done...

Shiny bits

We put the brake and turn lights on the rear of the body, as well as the gas cap, roll-bar grommets and trunk seal:

From the other side:

Headlights and turn signal lights are in:

The "myspace angle":

The hood is ready to go:

And so is the trunk:

Till next time...

Body, Painted! UNF!

We got the body back from the paint shop and damn is it nice! The color is Lexus Indigo Ink Pearl and white. It looks great in the sun:

From the front:

We rolled it into the garage where it will sit for the next few days to "cure" before we put it on the chassis:

It almost looks black in different light:

And from the back:

We've been working on a few small things here and there, such as the VIN tags:

I predict a busy weekend coming up...

Day 22: Ready for paint!

The body has been sanded and shaped to perfection! Applied primer to the body, hood, trunk and doors:

Then sanded with finer grit paper:

Then finally "wet sanded" and ready for paint:

This is the first shot I have ever taken with my finger in the way, so I'm including it anyway:

We are going with Lexus Indigo Ink Pearl (exactly like this one: http://www.worldisround.com/articles/123897/photo279.html ) and Brilliant White stripes down the middle.
It gets hauled down to the paint shop next Tuesday (2-19-2013)!

So close now... :)

Day 21 More Body Work

We were in a rut about the body work, so we enlisted an experienced pro to sand and 'bondo' the body to perfection:

There is a thick layer of red dust all over the garage now due to the sanding process.

Smooth like a bullet! Next weekend we primer the whole car, then it's off to the body shop for paint.