tin-man's SPF 2984 build pictures

[WardL]

What a beautiful engine! I hope this is not too trivial, but I have some questions about your hoses.... 1) The large rubber radiator hose going forward...I have SPF 2608 and my hose goes forward on the passenger side. Wonder why the difference? 2) The small stainless braided hose (maybe 1/2") coming out of the puke tank going forward....I've got one too. What does it do? My guess is something to do with a high point air bleed?

[Keithc8]

Kind of been following this and do not understand why the engine would be so expensive and why it would take so long to get. We do stack injection 482C.I. to 527C.I. FE engines in about 8 to 12 weeks. Have done several and they have worked great. We do about 60 to 80 FE engines a year so we know them pretty well.
We have three 427SOHC projects going at the moment. We would be happy to help anyone with their FE engine build or with anything they have a problem with now. Waiting on part vendors on the SOHC engines and they are about a 4 to 6 month project at the moment. Expect this to get better as production of parts picks up.
Hope everyones Cobra project goes well for them in the future.

Keith

[csx4910]

Keith,
I can honestly say I wish to God you had that SOHC motor avail 2 years ago I would of jumped at it. Or the 527 with stack injection. Oh Well, Maybe some rich relative I dont know will die and leave me money to do the twin supercharged cammer for another build. You are doing some great motors. I wish the dealer I worked with had offered you up as an option. I just didnt know you existed until after I had purchased my car.
Ron

[Keithc8]

Well I hope all goes well. We do business with some of the Superformance and Backdraft dealers. The main reason they push Roush more is and they do not like for me to say this is because they make more money on the Roush engine. I bet that the engine you got we could have done for about 4000.00 to 5000.00 less but it would have my name on it and not Roush if that means anything.
We probably need to do a better job of getting the word out there. We are pretty well known on here but if I guys just goes into a dealer they are going to get pushed the direction that makes them the most money. This is one reason I have made special deals with some Superformance and Backdraft dealers to buy cars from them and we do them complete from there.
We have more engines in the Kirkham Cobra's than anyone and I feel they are at the top of the Cobra food chain. We have a very good relationship with David and Tom. Let me know if there is anything we can help with in the future and I am sure that your car will be great when done.

Thanks, Keith

[Spoooky]

Tim Man, I have the same 511 but with a carb. I had a ring issue in the beginning that was discovered with a leak down test. I was without my motor for about 5 months as well, but Roush did me right. What a beast! I have motor #3. You will love it. Now I don't have the eye candy of the 8 stack and I don't have the tuning quirks either. I think I made the right choice with the carb. Take your time and get it dialed in right. Simple is sometimes best. You will have a hell of a Cobra and a smile from years.

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by timsullivan

Tin-man: When all is said and done how much will you have invested in this turn-key? I'm guessing at least $100k? ($50k for the roller and Ca. sales tax, $30k for the motor, trans and air intakes, $20k for the Voss install and miscellaneous?)

125 large. Came in at about 50-50 on the roller and engine tranny combo plus 15 large on the install. Oh, and included in the rollup is payin' da man in Arizona his tax: 7 large. A lot of cash, sure, but I worked 53 years for this and it will give me something to do after I retire. Like checking all is in order before taking it for a ride, tightening all the nuts and bolts after I drive it, changing oil, polishing, nah, dusting it off and in general just havin' a good time. Did I get that right?

BTW I tried sending you three pm's and I do not know if they took. John, AKA, tin-man

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by Keithc8

Kind of been following this and do not understand why the engine would be so expensive and why it would take so long to get. We do stack injection 482C.I. to 527C.I. FE engines in about 8 to 12 weeks. Have done several and they have worked great. We do about 60 to 80 FE engines a year so we know them pretty well.
We have three 427SOHC projects going at the moment. We would be happy to help anyone with their FE engine build or with anything they have a problem with now. Waiting on part vendors on the SOHC engines and they are about a 4 to 6 month project at the moment. Expect this to get better as production of parts picks up.
Hope everyones Cobra project goes well for them in the future.

Keith

Hi Kieth, if you check out any of the Roush dealer sites its about 40+ large for a polished 511 IRFE 8 stack. If you add the costs for upgrades like domed air cleaners and the Bowler auto tanny you can walk away at about 50-53 large depending on any extra goodies, inclusive of transportation. Nothing said out of school since its all in the public domain. Time wise, there were some vendor issues. Nuff on that.

BTW luv the cammer.

Cheers, John,AKA, tin-man

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by WardL

What a beautiful engine! I hope this is not too trivial, but I have some questions about your hoses.... 1) The large rubber radiator hose going forward...I have SPF 2608 and my hose goes forward on the passenger side. Wonder why the difference? 2) The small stainless braided hose (maybe 1/2") coming out of the puke tank going forward....I've got one too. What does it do? My guess is something to do with a high point air bleed?

while this could be conceived as a thread hijack, we'll just let it play thru. John, AKA, tin-man

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by patrickt

John, that's pretty good advice from Ron. Have them break the car in for you and take it for at least a hundred miles of driving before they pronounce it "fit for delivery."

Patrickt, only issue is it will not be registered in California, so maybe drivin' it aroud for a few hundred miles may not be possible, but I will ask. John, AKA, tin-man

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by csx4910

Hang in there Tin Man,
I would plan on late January as not much gets done around the holidays anywhere anymore. As I suggested before, given the short itme you will have her every year when on break from China, even it is takes more time let them works out the bugs before you take possession. Roush has a looooooong history of slow for repair work once the customer takes possession and ask for as much paperwork/proof of install as possible. For spending well north of $100K on a car you would think you would get more paperwork than a 2 page receipt of the list of the car and compnents. I would also make sure you ask for Roush warranty in writing (I got none) and scpific things that will void the warranty. Roush is fuzzy on those details but will be fast to try to void the warranty saying you did something worng if the motor has problems. Take it form someone who knows the hard way!
Ron

Ron, good point on the guarantee, I did not receieve one from Roush. John, AKA, tin-man

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by Spoooky

Tim Man, I have the same 511 but with a carb. I had a ring issue in the beginning that was discovered with a leak down test. I was without my motor for about 5 months as well, but Roush did me right. What a beast! I have motor #3. You will love it. Now I don't have the eye candy of the 8 stack and I don't have the tuning quirks either. I think I made the right choice with the carb. Take your time and get it dialed in right. Simple is sometimes best. You will have a hell of a Cobra and a smile from years.

I ceratainly hope you are right, we see you in the New Year when I finally get my car and we all meet up. John, AKA, tin-man

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by Keithc8

Well I hope all goes well. We do business with some of the Superformance and Backdraft dealers. The main reason they push Roush more is and they do not like for me to say this is because they make more money on the Roush engine. I bet that the engine you got we could have done for about 4000.00 to 5000.00 less but it would have my name on it and not Roush if that means anything.
We probably need to do a better job of getting the word out there. We are pretty well known on here but if I guys just goes into a dealer they are going to get pushed the direction that makes them the most money. This is one reason I have made special deals with some Superformance and Backdraft dealers to buy cars from them and we do them complete from there.
We have more engines in the Kirkham Cobra's than anyone and I feel they are at the top of the Cobra food chain. We have a very good relationship with David and Tom. Let me know if there is anything we can help with in the future and I am sure that your car will be great when done.

Thanks, Keith

there was a big push on the Roush and I did not know about you [and I am sorry to say that] so I looked at the Roush site and the 511 IRFE 8 stack just blew me away. I had not seen a SOHC engine at that time, whereas I have now and I like my fine upstandin' friend in Scottsdale Arizona would have been more inclined to go with a KC cammer if I has been more aware of what was on offer at the time I made the decision to go with Roush.

Is there a lesson here, you betcha, you need to do a better job of tellin' people who you are and what you do and I am not finding fault in any way just stating what I feel as a consumer. I do believe what you are currently proposing being the open house at your place of business is a good idea.

OK so look on the bright side, there are more old farts like me retiring each year and they probably have more disposable income to spare to buy a Cobra and spend whatever its takes to get that absolute wow factor engine in their ride.....and it could be a KC Cammer, chromed with all the bells and whistles attached..

The rest as they say, is up to you.

With respect. John, AKA, tin-man

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by tin-man

Patrickt, only issue is it will not be registered in California, so maybe drivin' it aroud for a few hundred miles may not be possible, but I will ask. John, AKA, tin-man

For $125K they could slap on a Dealer's Tag from someone and take it on a lengthy shake-down cruise. For that kind of money it needs to be absolutely, 100%, perfectumundo. I know we all love our cars, but that just seems like too much dough.

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by patrickt

For $125K they could slap on a Dealer's Tag from someone and take it on a lengthy shake-down cruise. For that kind of money it needs to be absolutely, 100%, perfectumundo. I know we all love our cars, but that just seems like too much dough.

but I am a sucker for fine cars. Good idea about the dealer plates I'll check it out. Thanks, John, AKA, tin-man

[csx4910]

Mine had several shake down miles by the dealer before it got registered because they can use the dealer plates. I will say most of the problems I encountered with my 511 were in the 500-600 miles after I took possession and before the large problem with the motor that had it at Roush for 5 months, encountered several other failiures of non roush parts on the motor(but the replacements and warranty approval still had to go through Roush). I had the distributor pin shear off, fuel pump issues, several flywheel problems etc. many of which I was told had been changed on future motors so hopefully it will be more sorted out than Tim's or I or others here in Arizona.

The first 5 or 7 of the 511's are here in Arizona (about 8 with the 8 stack and half with a carb) and every one of us had substanial problems butI can't believe Roush wouldn't of learned some things and made improvem ents in future motors.

[timsullivan]

Yep, your messages all came through. Thanks for sharing the specifics. You clearly have worked long and hard and deserve every minute of one hell of a lot of satisfaction that is coming your way soon. I don't think it is possible to build a nicer SPF then what 'yer doing.... Please remember one thing when you take her out for those first couple of rides: "Respect Me or I'll Kill You".

-Tim

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by timsullivan

Yep, your messages all came through. Thanks for sharing the specifics. You clearly have worked long and hard and deserve every minute of one hell of a lot of satisfaction that is coming your way soon. I don't think it is possible to build a nicer SPF then what 'yer doing.... Please remember one thing when you take her out for those first couple of rides: "Respect Me or I'll Kill You".

-Tim

haven't even got my ride yet and I'm having a DWRAT moment. Thank's however for the heads up and the advice as others have said on this forum, nothing over er, hmm, err, 25-125 first time out, ya think? BTW is it customary to take an extra pair of shorts on the first time out?:LOL

Here is a picture of The Beast from an other angle, slyly lookin' at the fair Gazelle from South Africa, waiting on the time he an his buddy can snuggle up with her and make music.

Cheers, John AKA, tin-man

[FredBMOC]

Tin-man, Beautiful car!
Just a little note to say that Backdraft here in FL (Speed Fanatix) tries to deliver cars with 125 miles on the clock to catch some of the inevitable things that go wrong with these cars in their first miles: bolts that loosen, carbs and EFIs that go out of tune, exhaust manifolds that loosen up, light bulbs that fall out, etc. These cars are not mass produced and are all a little bit different so they take the time to find some of their unique niggles before the owner takes delivery. I'd suggest you try to get them to do the same for you as they know what these cars should feel like and will be better able to spot things that need tightening/readjusting.
I am sure they also love to flog someone else's car

Good luck with the beast!

btw: my brother and family have been leaving in Shanghai for the past year and are scheduled to spend one more before deciding if they come back stateside but they love their life in China: they are making a lot more $$$, get a nice signing bonus every time they renew their contract, get company paid driver, cook, maid and all living and children education expenses paid by their company. Not a bad deal at all...

[Stentor]

Tin-man,

That's going to be a sweet car. What kind of tires are you going to be running--Avons or GY Billboards? You need a decent set of "meats" to put down the power from your 511.

[csx4910]

Tin man, The avons are pricey, but I wish I would of done them in the beginning. HUGE difference in handling but I will warn you they pick up 3 times the rocks that the stock tires do. Do repeat my mistake of not putting the clear bra on when the car was new. I am now paying a lot of money to repaint the front of teh car because of all the rock cips and even a few cracks in the fberglass from rocks. It is well worth the $600 or so it costs.
Ron