$600 per year, arrive & drive program!

[jdog]

I see that a lot of people have continuous problems getting/keeping their cars running.

I have come across a system that's kind'a like one of those fly & race, Cobra series. Where they move & prep your Cobra for you at each different track, you just show up and race.

So far this is working for me & I thought I'd throw it out there for others to consider.

1. Find a reputable 'local' engine builder. Preferably someone with fe experience. Get them to build or buy your engine for you (even if your buying the engine from somewhere else), they can usually get it at 'wholesale' and give it to you at the same price anyway. They make a little on the sale.

2. Negotiate a set price for regular maintenance visits. I have a 'oil change & valve adjustment' every 3000 miles for $300.

I get a complete maintenance inspection, by a pro, twice a year for $600. He can look for little problems before they become big problems. My guy just found a cracked distributer cap, before it left me dead somewhere!

For me it's like having a AAA card, I don't even change a tire on this thing.

$600 a year is not a bad price to pay for one year of hassel free Cobra driving, IMHO!

jdog

[CobraDan]

Since I did service orientated work at my job before I retired I know that as your mechanic leaves your house your cobra on the next outing could still fail, so does this include towing?

[scott h]

i will change your oil for $250.00. sound like someone saw you coming.

[Rick Parker]

I have a friend with a 91 Ferrari Testarosa. He unfortunately sits still for $350 oil changes. "But they use Red line Synthetic oil and a Ferrari Filter"......OMG

[jdog]

Ask your friend what it would cost to include a valve adjustment & general re-tune with that oil change? I'll bet he doesn't get that for $350.

Maybe I didn't explain about the valve adjustment & re-tune part of the arrangement. How many have their valves adjusted & engine re-tuned by a pro twice a year?

Come on guy's that's $50 a month.

You can't get your lawn cut by an illegal alien for $50 a month!

We're talking about a $20,000 engine and a pro tuner!

jdog
P.S. Towing? I have AAA for that! And a trailer!

[RACER X #99]

If you think that's a good deal and are pleased with his work, good for you. Guys who can do their own work will just smile while reading this thread.

[Dwight]

[jdog]

Do you mow lawns, too?



jdog
P.S. I don't mow my own lawn either!

[pgermond]

Originally Posted by jdog

Come on guy's that's $50 a month.

You can't get your lawn cut by an illegal alien for $50 a month!

Oh yeah you can and I think you can get your valves adjusted too - jdog.... we should talk at the next breakfast

[Yetiman]

Part of the reason I have my Cobra is doing valve adjustments and getting my hands all over it.

If someone wanted to pay me $600 a year to do these things to my car I would probably decline the offer.

Pay them to do it ? Get the heck outta here !

I do however pay to have my house cleaned. I usually am watching TV or poking at the computer while it's being done and thats A-OK as I hate doing that kind of stuff.

I guess I am a car guy, not a house guy.

[Lowell W]

Sounds like you ARE getting your "valve" adjusted a couple of times a year.

If you had an extra distributor cap in your trunk, along with your tools and other spares, a cracked one wouldn't leave you "dead somewhere", if you could diagnose the problem.

I think, for a lot of guys who end up keeping their Cobras for any length of time, doing at least some of their own work is part of the appeal of having one of these cars. They take you back to a time when almost everybody (almost everybody I knew, anyway) worked on their own cars. Furthermore, considering the crude, primitive nature of these little fuggers, it seems important to me for owners to be more familiar with them and spend a little time doing routine maintenance, if nothing else. Getting under the car a couple of times a year, at a minimum, gives you an opportunity to notice stuff that isn't right before it does become a big surprise.

And heck, I'm only one of the "checkbook builders"! You're suggesting $300 oil changes and valve adjustments on a forum where many guys have assembled their own cars and some have even fabricated most of the car, for goodness' sake!

Lowell

[PatBuckley]

What is really interesting about all hobbies is the variety of people involved - all the way from scratch builders (like that guy who is doing a Daytona coupe) to guys who reach for the check book.

It is too bad that when someone decides to give some input as to what he feels is a good idea for him it gets shot down.

I think that for Jdog, paying someone to go through his car, tune it, adjust the valves, etc., is a a great idea!

I am guessing at the prices but I bet I'm close....

2 oil changes - 7 quarts at $3 = $21 - 30 mins labor at $90/hr = $45 plus filter at $8 = $74 X 2 = $148 (yeah I know Jiffy lube does 'em for $19.95 but would you want some pimply faced loser screwing with your car?)

2 Valve adjustments - 1 hour at $90/hr plus vc gaskets = $100 X 2 = $200

2 Adjust carb, set timing = 45 mins @ $90/hr X 2 = $135

2 Complete chassis inspection - mainly looking for things that are about to fall off - which seems common to these cars... 45 mins @ $90/hr x 2 = $135

OLF = $148
Valves = $200
Tune = $135
Inspection = $135

Total = $618

Sounds like a deal - a retail deal for sure, but a deal nevertheless.

I bet if you asked Stewart Hall how much he charges to do the same thing for some of his well heeled clients it would be quite a bit more....

[SS COBRA]

Hey Jdog, I don't mow my lawn, don't trim my shrubs, don't maintain my salt water pool, and not going to change my oil or adjust the valves either. been there and done that. With 59 years of experience behind me, I'm with you, I work and I work harder at playing, and enjoy driving the car. I do clean and wax the car. Maybe I would have a different feeling if the tech that works on my car wasn't the guy who builds them. Until things change,I'm going this way.

[petek]

Doesn't always boil down to time and money?

If you've got the time but not the money, you do it yourself.

If you've got the money but not the time, you have someone else do it for you.

If you are like me with neither the time nor the money, you end up doing it yourself and let the yard go another week and hope to hell the neighbors don't complain... again!

[ROUSHAC]

jdog just proposed a good idea for some of us.

Like petek said above: time vs money.

When I was young, I was a "do it yourselfer" on most things, now I'm lucky enough to be a "pay somebody elser".

Some of us have other priorities in our lives than working on the car all the time like family and work. I don't think that I was/am a better/worse person for doing either, though I am getting a bit tired of some the guys who can do all the work putting down those of us whom they assume can't do the work when we just have other things that are more important to us to do with our time.

[jdog]

I was just proposing an option for those that are not inclined (for what ever reason) to work on their own cars.

There aren't too many Ferrari/Lambo/Viper drivers that work on their own cars. I was just trying to show that a Cobra can be owned/driven/maintained like any other 'Super Car'.

You don't have to get your hands dirty and bust your knuckles, if you don't wan't to. But, just like I wouldn't take any other Super Car to Jiffy lube, I wouldn't take my Cobra there either.

Compared to what a Ferrari/Lambo or even Viper would have to pay to get what I'm getting, would be considerably more money. I feel I'm getting every bit of my money's worth. And my car runs like a 'Super Car'!

And I know if I kept a trunk full of spare parts and all the tools to fix everything I could fix it myself on the side of the road. Those days are long over for me. I'm no fe machanic. I think I'll just pay a pro to do it. Just like you would if you had a new Benz or BMW.

Good luck guy's, it was just something to ponder.

jdog
P.S. That's pretty close Pat, except it's 11 qts oil. I have a 9 qt Aviaid oil pan and the oil cooler & lines take another 2 qts!

[Sminor]

I'm with you, Jdog. I gave up English motorcycles because I got tired of trying to keep them going all of the time. If I ever get my Cobra on the road, I will consider myself lucky to find a mechanic competent to do the tune up work so I can just drive and enjoy my car.

[Clois Harlan]

To each his own...I don't think $600 a year is a bad deal. I have a friend that is fully capable of doing his own maint. but chooses not to because he likes going to the lake and doing a lot of other things. Works for him and I bet he would jump at a $600/yr. deal.

Some things I just feel better doing myself on my car and others I want someone better than me to do it.


Clois

[Excaliber]

I was working at a Formula Ford race shop not that long ago (before the track here closed) and we had something like that for the car owners. It was not a set price however, they were charged for whatever was needed on the car. We stored the cars, prepped them to race, hauled them to the track and all the owners had to do was show up and drive! I even hung around and was pit man for some.

Some of the owners would come into the shop and perform their own maintenance, hire out the stuff that was over their heads. Others just wanted to drive, period. Fun while it lasted...