Dont know sh!t about cars? dont friggin build one!

[KobraKarl]

I dont even want to try to list all the utter stupidities i've had to remedy since I purchaced this car two years ago....well maybe a couple high lights...

brake pedal two inches further to the fire wall than clutch.....after adjusting to correct height ..brake actuator rod falls out .. have to fabricate correct shaft.

single canister for front and rear brakes as well as clutch...guess what happens if you lose your clutch slave cylinder?.......replace with three girling cans from FL.

discover low riser manifold on mid rise engine..and enough pooled fuel to blow the place up....replace with the correct mid riser.

welded shifter to classic original linkage ......

but today was the capper.....I discovered after noticing some unusual wear on my inbord half shaft u-joints......that my lower control arms were installed upside down and were makiing contact with the u-joint on hard compression

I guess I'm venting a little but if you bought your car from a home builder......... CHECK IT OUT your life might depend on it!!!

and if you dont know your way around a car pretty darn well, do yourself and the person you might kill a favour and have one of the many professionals do it for you ....these cars are plenty dangerous enough even when built right.

other than that I love this car

[Excaliber]

Ok, OK,,,,I'll drop the wrench and back away from the car then, lol.

Ernie

[agro1]

Ernie - That was damn funny

Or, Karl just made the factory built cars all the better...

[RICK LAKE]

KobraKarl WELL, I guess you have had some problems. Did you take a mechanic withyou to look at the car on a lift? Did you study your subject before you went out and got it? How much info do you have about the contemp car? Owners builder book? How many articles and pictures of cobras have you looked at? You have fixed some of your problems, so you must be mechanically able. The best replica cars come with very good pictures and simple instructions on how to assemble, what parts to buy, part numbers to get, and places to buy these parts at. You have joined Clubcobra with more than 6k people that have all the knowledge on these cars, Tell us the problems you are having and someone will have the answer for you. You have learned an important lession. I am gald that the problems didnot stop you from finishing your car. Like alot of the people with these cars, it is work in progress and you will keep changing things as time goes on. I bet that every time you get in that car a smile comes to your face and blood pressure goes up 10 points. thats the price you paid to have fun. Rick Lake

[Ron61]

Karl,

You just made the case for why anyone buying a home built car or a partial completed car shoud either really know what to look for or take someone with them who does. What you have ran into is not all that uncommon in the partial built cars that I have seen around this area. The possibilities for disaster boggle the mind to quote Burt on the TV series Tremors.

Ron

[Tongue Pirate]

It takes some patience to build an automobile. If a person knows that they don't have the demeanor to take the time to double check things to make sure that they are correct they probably sould leave the job of building to someone who is qualified.

[walt347]

The FFR I bought two years ago was really badly built. That didn't came to my surprise but it took me some time and $$$ to have things fixed to be in line with my personal quality standards. This is ok. I knew it and I fixed it (new firewall, new dash, new gauges, ..........)

Walter

[KobraKarl]

Rick and Ron,

I Know my way around cars pretty well. I assembled my first car from wrecking yard parts when i was 15, and have modified and restored several hot rods and sport cars in the last 30 yrs, always having at least one project on hand to satisfy my gear thirst. Having said that, at some point I realized there is enough to know, that I quit assembling rotating assemblies and transmissions...the rest ("50"s and "60"s I still enjoy working on, I have enough respect for career mechanics not to pretend I am one.

I studied Cobras enough to decide which manufacturers I would build, much of that info gathered right here

In the middle of that decision, this contemporary came along as a rolling basket with every thing I wanted....I knew I had a project to finish...most of the work was meticulously executed but I have been repeatedly amazed at the errors and oversights by the previous builder ( sat 18 years unfinished) that could easily have had lethal consequences.

As far as using this club for help! Man I couldnt imagine how else I would have solved the subtle differences to all these cars and sorted out these F/U's. It was a cc member (scobrac) who pointed out from a posted photo of my engine, that I had a low rise manifold. Not to mention the great guys and big laughs I get here on a regular basis

Most of these builder errors were hidden or too subtle to be picked up on a presale inspection (even on a lift) by all but possibly a very few. ..at some point, if you are buying a home built car, you have to trust it was done correctly.......I am going to do a body off rebuild to be sure there are no more surprises

Also, I didn't mean to suggest that home built cars are inherantly flawed, Im not at all, By far the best examples of ingenuity, detail and safety I have seen ,are on some of the cars I have seen home built by guys on this site.

I know enough build one ...........looks like I needed to know a little more to buy one

[aumoore]

KobraKarl

Sorry you had a bad experience with your home built cobra but that does not make all home built kit cars bad. In fact some factory built production cars can be dangerous. GMC and Chevy recalled the Envoy series when they first came out because the front end had bad tie-rod ends and brand new ones were subject to this part failing and the car running off the road. The point is just because it is "pro" built does not mean it is any better than a home built car.

I built my Hunter Cobra and I built it with my own safety in mind so I was extra careful and not in a hurry. In all "Kit" cars you have a lot of human involvement and as you know many people who work for companies couldn't care less about quality and are just looking for a paycheck. Even the ones who are very careful are subject to a mistake.

My philosophy is to know as much about my own car and look for problems myself. That is the only way I know it is done to my satisfaction.

[Whaler]

Hey As Rick said the possibilities for overcoming any problems are greatly enhanced becuase of all the guys who come together here.
What a resource. Off hand I have built my car from the point where my builder delivered it to me 65 percent finished( thats where I wanted it).Heres the clincher to this first time kit builder.
He said the "build manual was to follow"........still waiting for that

So he said "any problems/ questions just phone or e-mail me".....I have many times.

Any other problems... I came here!! There are tons of people who have walked this path already.

As an example , MY FE breakin the other night...I blew off the bottom rad hose for a grand finale........I am told by the threads and my builder I fall into the 75 percent of the crowd who endure bottom hose syndrome. Nice to know.

I wanted to know whats normal pressure and temps for oil. I found it all here.


As you say......don't assume all cars are built the same...home guy or pro....it doesn't matter. I work with 30 other trades man in my mill.......we all have differing skill levels,work ethics and standards. There are the broadly applied mill standards and there are personal standards.

It applies here too.

Good stuff, just glad you are keen enough to know what's not right and needs attention.

Tim

[Excaliber]

KobraKarl makes an excellent point about the more subtle mistakes. I am an experienced mechanic and it is easy to overlook something even when your doing a good inspection with the car in the air. I would not have caught the low rise manifold for instance. You can't test every bolt, screw and fastener on a vehicle. If your "over all" impression is good, thats about the best you can do.

The problem is certainly bigger than "just" home builts. The only difference is you lower your risks with a professional builder, but your risk is still there. After I started raceing my Excalibur I found several potentially serious "flaws" in the build (brake line routing, fuel line routing, fasteners, etc.). I would NOT have found them if I hadn't pushed the car hard and "worked" the suspension hard.

Ernie

[KobraKarl]

Ernie ,

You just reminded me of a guy who found out his car had hard piped brake lines all the way to his front brake calipers! Can you imagine!

[Steve R]

Nothing wrong with a low rise manifold on a med rise eng. Just gives you more hood clearence. This provides room for a taller air filter. Med riser looks cooler though....

[RICK LAKE]

Aumoore I am not shore that the tierod ends where replaced on envoys. The lower control arms had defects. I say no more. I think your info is wrong.
Whaler How can you buy a home assembled tool , car, kids toy without a manual to assembly it buy. The better replica cars come with indepth instructions on assembling your car. The poorer companys have storys about it is in the mail, etc. I have 20+ years in the mechanic world I learn new things very day about the product a work on. It took me 5 years to get my car running, drove 1000 miles to Run&Gun, drove the car 3 miles and chewed up a stub shaft bearing. Put the car on the trailer and still had a great time because a helped install a center section for Stacy P and his car ran 9.85 at 137mph and won the King of the Hill. We spent 12 hours swapping over the carrier because his welder welded the straps of the safety fuel cell to the rearend carrier assembly in the car. I have not heard of the lower hoses blowing on these cars. I have double clamps on my hoses and protective covers on the hoses where they might rub on the frame or steering rack. I work with 11 other techs with different skill levels and the most IMPORTANT THING is that the car leaves the shop fixed and safe. We don't care about who found the problem or who fixed it. Nothing is perfect but we all try to improve it. Rick Lake

[KobraKarl]

Steve R,

low riser bolts up fine , george Guessford of Guessford machine described the performance of that setup as 41/2 on a scale of ten.

The low rise runners are a bad match with a midrise head ,the bottom of the runner of a low rise manifold is a 1/4" to 3/8"below the bottom of the head intake port making a terrible port match as well as pooling a lot of fuel!,mid rise heads also are about an 1/8" wider than low rise runners.....after i swapped to mid riser the performance difference felt like 50-60 hoarses.

Karl

[KobraKarl]

Oops... That was George anderson of gessford machine.

[Whaler]

Originally posted by RICK LAKE


"Whaler How can you buy a home assembled tool , car, kids toy without a manual to assembly it buy. The better replica cars come with indepth instructions on assembling your car. The poorer companys have storys about it is in the mail, etc. "

Yep........I agree. It came home 65% finished. I get to do the rest and it wasn't too too hard. Wiring, piping,Fuel, All easy stuff and if I need help I could ask for help.

"I have 20+ years in the mechanic world I learn new things very day about the product a work on. It took me 5 years to get my car running, drove 1000 miles to Run&Gun, drove the car 3 miles and chewed up a stub shaft bearing. Put the car on the trailer and still had a great time because a helped install a center section for Stacy P and his car ran 9.85 at 137mph and won the King of the Hill. We spent 12 hours swapping over the carrier because his welder welded the straps of the safety fuel cell to the rearend carrier assembly in the car. "

I have not heard of the lower hoses blowing on these cars. I have double clamps on my hoses and protective covers on the hoses where they might rub on the frame or steering rack.

I have heard of it. My hose blew off at an intermediate pipe I had made between the waterpump hose and the bottom rad nipples hose. This pipe did not have a bead at each end it did have double clamps. It blew off after my cam breakin the other night. The car got to 110-115 deg C. I had the cam break in done and did not want it getting hotter. At about 1900RPM I switched the key off and the rest you can imagine being a mechanic with 20 years experience etc.
My pipe now has a welded bead at each end along with the double clamps. Think it will ever see that extreme again? Or get shutdown in that fashion again? Not likely

"I work with 11 other techs with different skill levels and the most IMPORTANT THING is that the car leaves the shop fixed and safe. We don't care about who found the problem or who fixed it. Nothing is perfect but we all try to improve it. Rick Lake"

That's why I said in the MILL I work at there are mill standards which encorporate many aspects into a maintanence procedure or task, safety being first and foremost. Then I talked about personal standards and those encorporate all kinds of aspects in the job. You know the difference. We usually have a nice balance that achieves the best of both in getting the job done.

Bottom line is neither us or our cars and their perspective manufacturers all come from the same mold.

Tim

[Steve R]

Karl,
Never did like the look of the low rise manifold Now please excuse me why I drown my sorrows in a tall glass of 7-UP
Steven

[SCOBRAC]

Hmm.. My CC was pretty perfect in every way. Well worth the way too little I paid for it..

[SCOBRAC]

You mean there is a manual for this stuff.. Doh..