Need some help: Cobra kit with most room?

[syclone2910]

Hello, Looking for some info here. I am 6'5" 285#'s and am wanting to start a cobra kit car build. I really need to know what kit has the kinda room I will need to be able to see through the windshield instead of over it

Thanks
Will

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by syclone2910

Hello, Looking for some info here. I am 6'5" 285#'s and am wanting to start a cobra kit car build. I really need to know what kit has the kinda room I will need to be able to see through the windshield instead of over it

Thanks
Will

What is your inseam like? (IE: how long are your legs?).



Bill S.

[rustyBob]

Check into Lonestar...and welcome to CC
what you going to use it for ?? street,street race, race only, or a show car...
how much you looking to spend.????
did i say welcome to CC
what part of the country are you from ????
and just how much use do you plan to
get out of it ???
did i say welcome to CC
I'm not trying be nosie here BUT those a just some of the questions you
should be asking yourself before you ever start looking for a project like this.
i dont know what kind of skills you have but if you can do most of the work yourself
thats a plus....if you have to pay to have most of the work done then you may want
to check into buying a car that already done..
did i say welcome to CC
the "kits" these days are easier to assemble than the ones in the past BUT there
can still be things that need to be made or modified.
did i say welcome to CC...
do your homework and check around with local owners and ask a lot of questions.
good luck and keep us posted....we all enjoy a new build....and did i say welcome.

[jhv48]

Backdraft has a cockpit that is 2 inches wider than most other Cobras. You can also mount the driver's seat directly to the floor instead of on the tracks. That should put your head below the windshield. However, Backdraft is a roller, not a kit, but it does fit larger guys better.

[azfordman]

This may not help much since I drive a Contemporary, but it may give you some perspective. I am also 6'5" and around 280. I had to remove the drivers seat and sit directly on the floor, this brought me down and back the several inches I needed to fit into my car. I am working on a fiberglass comp seat that will have no padding and bolt directly to the floor. I look "through" the windshield, but with the top off, the top of my head does go above the top of the windshield. If it helps, my waistline is at or above the windshield on most of these cars. Mark

[tcrist]

My suggestion is to find a Cobra gathering in your area. Posting where in you live would help other Cobra owners let you know where their gatherings are. Being the time of year it is, you might not find a large gathering but someone in your area might post up.

Good luck.

[Three Peaks]

A couple of things that really help in this area.

Find the thinnest seat frame you can- either a Kirkey race style aluminum seat with just the cover will be pretty thin, or a fiberglass seat frame with most of the padding removed will save several inches.

The other route to take is to tilt the seat back a bit when mounting it. This will bring your head down a bit and also make the driving position a little more comfortable. I make a seat mounting plate that accomplishes this and it is easy to mount to the floor and the seat.
However, as tall as you are, your knees will probably still be hitting the bottom of the dash unless you can make adjustments in the dash. I would think the kits with aluminum dash pieces would be easiest to modify to raise the lower edge up a couple inches to make room for your knees.

Also, what size shoes do you wear? You may want to look into a kit or finished car that has the largest footboxes possible. Fitting even my size 10's in the foot box without hitting the wrong pedal at times can be a challenge. If your feet are bigger than that, you may want to find a way to enlarge the foot box and also wear driving shoes while driving the Cobra to make a little extra room.

Good luck, the search is half the fun sometimes-

Bob

[chucks]

I have a 66 Classics Roadsters car built for bigger guys, it's for sale, very nice car.
Viper enngine 6 speed
I am 6'2 215#

[john chesnut]

I'm 6'2" tall with 34 inch inseam. I also had my right leg almost severed at the knee in a freak accident years ago. I had 5 surgeries to walk but I have trouble bending it. I tried several Cobra replicas but I couldn't find one that I was comfortable in or that I could sit in and have my head below the windshield. I also wanted to have the stock 90 inch wheelbase and stock width.
I ended up building my own. I constructed a steel and aluminum space frame. Most Cobra frames are constructed out of 4 inch tubing. The floor is on top of the tubing. My frame wraps around you so my floor is 4 inches lower than stock while my ride height is the correct height. I designed the headers to go up and over the footboxes. This allowed the foot boxes to be wide, tall and long. I built the trans tunnel as narrow as possible. I moved the dash 1 inch forward. I molded my own seats to conform to my shape. The seats are very comfortable even with out alot of padding. I ended up having alot of room. My legs are almost straight out. The footboxes are always cool. I had to mount my seat on a 3 inch pedestal to see properly. In the end I ended up with the replica that I wanted. I am extremely comfortable in it and completely out of the windstream. I can drive it all day with out a problem. I went with the Vette LS6 engine. If I had used a Ford big block my footboxes would have been a couple of inches narrower. Good luck in your search. John

[Dwight]

I wanted a Cobra with lots of room in the interior. Some kits had 94" and 96" wheel base but the interior was the same as the 90" wb cars.

Lone Star has a 94" wb with the extra 4" in the interior.

You can cut the tunnel down some to give more room. It's just fiberglass. You can reglass it or use aluminum panels. The carpet will cover it.

Drop the floor, lower the seat, tilt or removealble steering wheel, lots of ways to improve the inside of a Cobra.

Dwight

[randlej]

another for Lonestar. Lots of big guy's in them. Beautiful interior as a nice bonus.

[Luce]

The Lone Star also had dropped seat and foot pans to lower your seating position and heels 4" so it's like you're sitting in the car and not on the car.

[cubldr]

And Brian at Lonestar tells me they have a second choice of seat to better accommodates the larger "caboose". I am only 6' 3" 220lbs but the typical replica seat bolsters (SPF, for instance) are narrower than my svelte hindquarters.

[jonas1022]

I was just at the Lone Star facility. They do have more room inside their Cobra replica. I would hazard a guess that you could find it roomy, and there are several options on the menu to follow up on with them to increase your space. Brian is a tall guy, lanky, but tall. He gave me a link you might look at:

http://closeuptvnews.com/videos/lonestarclassics/

Nice little 5 minutes well spent.

[GMS]

Will,
Here is a drawing of our JBL Motorsports chassis with some dimensions. The center tunnel is 10" wide on the competition chassis and 8'' wide on the touring version. Our floor pan is on the same datum plane as the bottom of the chassis. Even the tallest of people look through the center of the windshield. Also plenty of room for aftermarket seats.

Larry Goins
JBL Motorsports

[mickmate]

A dimple in the left rear inner fender will get the seat back a precious inch which helps you straighten your legs alot and stay under the wheel. The wheel can also be raised and pulled towards you some to fit under it. You're doing the right thing by looking for the roomiest breeds to start with then there's plenty of tricks to apply. If you learn to use the search function here you'll find a lot of good info on this topic.
Welcome aboard.

[PSB]

96" wheelbase kit from Hunter Kit Cars has lots of room. I've had several people sit in mine and comment on how much room there is compared to other Cobras. http://www.hunterscobrakits.com/

Pete