[Jack21]

Man...I know how you feel about buying parts over again! I have enough leftover parts for 2 or 3 more cars.

If you already have a decent aftermarket balancer, might as well use it. Clean it well, mask it well and paint it. Same with the flex plate.

But the paint you want to use is rattlecan RustOleum Epoxy Appliance Enamel. Color choice is extremely limited, but gloss black is good for parts like this. You want to let this stuff bake in the sun for a weekend (or in the oven at around 250deg for 4 hours). Then let the parts sit for a week. This stuff is hard!

Electrical parts, connecters, shrink wrap. RADIO SHACK. Cheap, and there's always one nearby. True Value hardware stores are a good second. Home Depot or Lowes are good too if you don't have to stand in line at the checkout for half hour for $5 worth of parts. All auto parts stores have dielectric grease. Same stuff you use on Spark plug boots. Plain non-moly wheel bearing grease and a spritz of WD40, mixed in a small pill container, and applied with a Q-tip works for me.

Lucas parking and tail lights. You want to re-do the grounds on these to crimp, solder, and grease. As supplied, they will eventually corrode.

Another tip. Ron Francis sells turn, park, and taillight bulbs called "Bright Lites". They are substantially brighter than OEM bulbs, and make your Cobra (through its' dinky Lucas taillights)more visible at night. Order spares because, unfortunately, they don't last as long as OEM bulbs.

Last time I looked, the Monokote heat gun was about 20 bucks. If you do a lot of electrical work and shrink wrap soldered connections (and if you're building a Cobra, you qualify) this is the best tool for electrical shrink wrap. (towerhobbies.com)