Mike this all started about 7 years ago. I was at a car show with my ERA roadster, everything is just perfect, it gleamed and had that great stance that ERAs are know for. I had the hood open to show off some of the chrome and of coarse the mighty 427 engine
. One of the spectator was looking at my car hard and long and as we all know thats not unusually for cobras, but then he turn to me and said " Nice kit Kar"
I asked him what gives it away and he said it was the paint under the hood. Not only was it just painted but it wasn't very smooth. So that fall when I put the car away for the winter I figured I would just sand and paint the underside of the hood. Then it hit me, I can plate metals to all kinds of subsurfaces and fiberglass was one that we had been plating for years, so I figured that when someone looked around in my engine compartment they would see Big engine, lots of chrome and polished aluminum on it, polished aluminum firewall, polished aluminum engine bay walls and a Aluminum hood, well at least they think its alumunum and because our process is seamless it takes the shape of the scoop area and looks like the metal has been bent perfectly to match the exterior.Since I plated my own hood about 7 years ago I have fooled more people into thinking its an aluminum body cobra. If you think about it, if you own and aluminum body cobra and you have it painted, the only way most people would know it was aluminum is if you tell them. By plating areas of visibility and being discreet about it I now have all the benifits of alumunum and all the benifts of fiberglass. Its really taken off in the last two years so I guess from public response I would say its a winner.
Ron
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My ERA #148 soon to be a real antique