Peoples thoughts on Australian Kits

[wishfullthinkin]

I am new to these forums and have a question.

Before i post the question i must say i am not asking this to bash a particular manufacturer or brand, nor am i trying to poll who's is the cheapest or anything like that.

I am looking at purchasing a kit in the next 12 months or so, what are poeples thoughts on the Australian kits. Ease of build, parts avialability etc.

Any info to help me make a decision will be greatly helpfull.

Thanks

[Aussie Mike]

There are plenty of good Aussie kits out there. There are options for what ever kind of spec car you want to build. Cruiser, show pony, dragster or circuit racer.

The advantage of buying local is the after sales support and the support of other locals who have built the same kit.

The other thing to consider is our unique set of rules for registering an individually constructed car in Australia.

That being said you could probably get any of the imported kits to pass, it just might be a bit more work.

The first things to work out before chosing a kit it what type of Cobra you want ie what you want to mainly use it for. What is your budget and how much of the work do you want to do yourself.

Cheers

[wishfullthinkin]

Thanks Mike.

Truthfully i am looking for a cruiser, something i can put a reasonable engine into and just take it out at the weekend, i live in wodonga which is a fairly short drive up to mt beauty and the surrounding hills so something i can just jump in and be able to drive.

The way you speek is that there are differant chassis for differant lifestyle i suppose you would say.

Is this a differance in chassis or the options that the manufacturers can supply, like brake setups and diffs.

[Dimi]

The variations in each car and kit will depend on how much money you want to spend and/or how much or how little fabrication of parts you want or can do yourself.

Dimi

[Aussie Mike]

I guess different running gear will work better for some uses than others. For an example a live axle car will generally be better on the drag strip than an IRS.

I may get yelled at for this but I think a well setup double wishbone rear end will perform better on the track than a Jag IRS.

For a weekend cruiser and occasional strop through the hils I reckon any of the kits will provide more than enough thrills and enjoyment.

For track days and such some of the kits have a more tunability and track friendly features like adjustable brake bias, bigger brake options, roll bar provisions etc.

Cheers

[LoBelly]

Originally Posted by Aussie Mike

For a weekend cruiser and occasional strop through the hils I reckon any of the kits will provide more than enough thrills and enjoyment.

For track days and such some of the kits have a more tunability and track friendly features like adjustable brake bias, bigger brake options, roll bar provisions etc.

Cheers

This is good advice

In many cases your times around the track will have less to do with your base kit/engine combo than your setup/driving ability.

Unless you're used to pretty high-end sports cars you'll find most of kits can deliver a very rapid ride.

LoBelly

[albanycobra]

Do yourself a favour and have a look at the new G-Force body.....I don't have one or intend on getting one but I looked at a body the other week and I was very impressed.....IMHO of course...

[Mrs flatchat]

"Our biased opinion of course"

The 3rd thru 6th October 2008 saw us at the 15th Australian Cobra nationals held at Wakefield Park, Goulburn NSW Australia.

We were extremely privilaged to be invited to compete in a freshly built off-the-showroom-floor DRB 2000 Boss Cobra replica, sporting an eye catching color scheme of "Citric Acid" and "Ergo" stripes with Grey triming.

The 5.4L modular power plant and 5 speed manual transmission is from a donor BF Ford Falcon (including adjustable steering column and electrics).

The very sure footed, comfortable ride employs all Jaguar running gear with special features such as limited slip diff and ABS brakes. A specially developed DRB patented rear upright watts link system ensures positive launch and tractable characteristics.

The American Racing Halibrand wheels, chrome side pipes and all the usual Cobra bright ware complete the cars authentic appearance.

This very user-friendly sports car enjoyed being trailer queen for over 2400klm to and from the event yet performed exceptionally well on the track --a testament to the DRB sports car recipe for excellence.

. P.S. We were impressed with the fact that you can buy or build a DRB Cobra and drive it on the road as comfortably as you would expect from a "normal" car, and be able to run it quite competitively on the race track.

[wtm442]

Classic Glass Cars Australia 0061 8380 9443
Cobra Craft Australia 0061 2958 42917
DC & O Cobra Country Australia 61 2 46472778
Hunter Special Vehicles Australia 0061 4934 1210
Laurie Bongaias Australia 03 9887 9997
Piper Automotive Australia 0061 7552 49455
RC Sportscars Australia 0061 3976 90447
Robnell Cobras Australia 613 720 5366
Townsville Cobra Connection Australia 077 781814
Venom Custom Fabrications Australia http://www.venomcobras.com/index.html scott@venomcobras.com
RCM Cobras (Bongalis) Australia - Blackburn, VIC 03 9887 9997
Python Vehicles (GV Automotive) Australia - Melbourne, VIC http://www.python.au.com/ python@vicnet.net.au
Classic Revival Australia - NSW http://www.classicrevival.com.au/ xsales@classicrevival.com.au
De Type Automotive Australia - QLD http://www.cobrakitcars.net/ dtype@onthenet.com.au
DHB Enterprises Australia - QLD 07 5529 1455
DRB Sports Cars Australia - QLD (*) http://www.drbsportscars.com/ peter@drbsportscars.com
Harrison Australia - QLD (*) http://www.cobrakits.com.au/ w_j_harrison@austarnet.com.au
Evans Kit Cars Australia - SA 61 8 8381 9650
Homebush Fibreglass Australia - Sjdney, NSW 02 9746 8719
Adelaide Cobra Replicas Australia - SW 0413 040 502
Kenmer Engineering Pty Ltd Australia - VIC (03) 97016037
G Force Sports Cars Australia - WA http://www.gforcesportscars.com.au/ rob@gforcesportscars.com.au
Replica Motor Company (RMC) Australia - Welshpool, WA http://www.replicamotorco.com.au/ info@replicamotorco.com.au

Distributors and Reps
Backdraft Australia - Melbourne, VIC http://www.backdraftracing.com/ python@vicnet.net.au
B&B Manufacturing Australia - Blackburn, VIC http://www.bandbroadster.com/ bbmfg@jscomm.net
DRB Sports Cars Australia http://www.gt40australia.com/ peter@drbsportscars.com
David*Richards Australia - Sydney 02 4739 6549 rozrichards@bigpond.com
Graham Docker Australia - Melbourne 0412 539 263 agrahamdocker@optushome.com.au
Graham Pring Australia - Adelaide 08 8293 1459 gpring@internode.on.net
Rob Garvie Australia - Sunshine Coast 0429 644 231
Stahl Engineering Australia 03 9484 5308
Stralis Sports Cars Australia 07 2071 644
The Cobra Shop Australia - Brisbane 07 3284 9020 info@cobrashop.com.au
The Snake Pit Australia 02 632 7145
Venom Custom Fabrications Australia http://www.venomcobras.com/index.html scott@venomcobras.com
RMC Australia - WA 61 8 9356 1415
Cobra Technology Center (CTC) Australia - VIC http://www.cobtech.com.au/ ctc@ctcqm.net.au

[stephen low]

Wishfull

All good advice here, best if you can wait till March and get over to Winton during the Victorian Cobra club's State event "Shelbyfest". Then you can talk to all and sundry and get a closer look at a wide range of cobras too.

As to Dave's comment on the new G Force body I'd agree it is a smarter looking product. I've a mate that has finished his second G Force build using this body but even this needs time and effort correcting mould errors.

I think most bodies would be the similar though there are some shockers out there you should avoid and you'll get this advice if you come and meet the cobra crowd.

First Wednesday in each month the club also meets in Malvern Melbourne if you're down this way.

Take your time and do your research properly.

Cheers and happy dreaming / planning

[gjkrv8]

Wishful,

I went through this process about 12 months ago.

I joined the Cobra Car Club VIC, and read heaps of posts on this forum.

The forum was a great source of information and opinion. A lot of the opinion comes from first hand experience so is very relevant.

I ended up going with the Classic Revival.

Before you choose, get plenty of advice and do lots of reading.

I personally visited the two manufacturers before I ordered etc.

One of the things I was most interested in was after-sales support as I knew I was going to need it.

Also I was interested in what sort of donor parts and engine choices I had with the different kit manufacturers.

In my case I purchased the Rolling Chassis option which sped things up a lot.

I have found Ian at CR to be most helpful and always answers the phone when I ring (in somes cases it was every day during some of the hectic build times). Often with some good suggestions to some of my problems.

The only one thing I found a little challenging was me being in Melb and Ian in Syd. Would have been nice to drop in to his shop a couple of time to explain and look at things etc.

The other thing I found challenging at the time was sourcing the engine, although since I dont think that is a big issue, but make sure you check this out as well.

If you need to chat just send me a PM and I can call you.

Rgds

Gregg

[Beejay]

Good advice from all the other guys. If it is a cruiser you are after pretty much any of the modern kits will do a good job.

I like the Classic Revival because it has a body that can be removed from the chassis, but also has the boot, interior and inner fenders as one piece.

The new model CR looks even better because it uses more Commodore parts - which means plenty of performance parts to chose from!

If you get a chance go to Shelbyfest and have a look at all the cars and talk to owners.

Good luck!

Ben

[DaveW]

Hi all, first time post for me too, i'm looking for a kit at the moment, i'm Melbourne based but in Perth this week, went to G-Force last weekend and spent the morning with Rob, i was blown away with quality of the build, the body was absolutely beautiful, uncoated, not even primed or filled, took me for a ride in the 429 gas only guzzler, what a hoot, the quality of this kit fit and finish was magnificent, I plan to get to Harrisons and CR on the east coast during Feb as these were the 3 i had short listed, but my biggest concern is engine, i havent spoken to an engineer yet so i dont know what i can get away with in Vic,
Dave

[albanycobra]

I know this is a bit left field but also consider the FFR complete kit Roadster....all I can say is value,value, value. Ask your Aussie kit suippliers for a matching qoute.

[LoBelly]

Originally Posted by albanycobra

I know this is a bit left field but also consider the FFR complete kit Roadster....all I can say is value,value, value. Ask your Aussie kit suippliers for a matching qoute.

or maybe a quote.

Personally, if I were to do another cobra, I'd be looking very seriously at this option. (or a Kirkham - best value/ best car, or maybe both)

LoBelly

[400TT]

Can't argue with the recent sentiments. Don't limit yourself to just the local kits. There are plenty of fantastic options over in the USA. And it's quite often not hard to find someone local who is familiar with the make who can assist

I looked seriously in the USA and look at me now.

My advice is to attend club meetings & events. Talk to owners and previous owners of kits.

Sounds like you are doing a thorough research of the manufacturers, which is great.

This way you will get the right kit for you. Good luck with it.

I've owned three Cobra's and have loved all of them.

[wishfullthinkin]

WOW.

Thankyou so very much for everybody's help and advise, i wasn't really sure how a thread like this would turn out. I am into rc cars as well and if i asked the same question about chassis and kits on that forum it would have gone like this one did for about five minutes then turn into a mines better argument. I guess there is a bit more cash tied up in these though. Everybody is willing to help out.

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, i am a spare parts interpreter at a local spare parts shop, do you guys think this will be a help or hinderance in getting some of the bits and pieces. Personally i would have thought it would help, or am i better off just going through the kit manufacturer for the parts.

My final question for today is about engines. Because i can source a lot of engine parts ( i could build an engine from a bare block ) am i going to be restrained by the law? By this i mean are vic roads going to can me because i don't use a built motor out of a donor car?

[alffie]

You wont be able to build an engine cheaper than a crate motor!! Your choices are very limited, its either LS series engines or the Ford boss series, Iam not sure if you will ready in time to use a 5L windsor.
There are holden dealers around that have been selling LS2s under $5000 brand new and T56 for $2500.
The main reason I went with a CR is because all the parts are brand new and the body is all one piece. No mater which kit you get you will have some issues you will need to sort out along the way.
Ive also found that the kit makers arent that more expensive for the parts, by the time you find someone else withe the parts they often turn out to be similar in price.
Getting a roller will save you a lot of time and work, get a painter lined up now so when you get the kit he will take it straight away, otherwise you will be waiting a while for paint.

[Aussie Mike]

Emissions compliance is going to get you on the motor. You need to use a motor that is compliant to the current emissions specs which means sourcing something late model and using the ECU and assosiated emissions controls, cats etc.

You should speak to an engineer on this one or perhaps someone here can chime in with the current state of play in Victoria. You will probably find it's easiest to source a complete crate motor or pick up the drive train from a wrecked late model.

Depending on the parts you will probably be able to souce them cheaper yourself. If you are buing them from the kit manufacturer they will add their markup on them. There will be plenty of people one here with sources for parts at the right price.

As far as a mines better argument I think you will find most Cobra enthusiasts are fairly mature and realise that each kit has its plusses and minuses. There's things in each kit that I like and things I don't but I dont think it does any good to bash others cars.

Cheers

[400TT]

Or on the flip side you could buy an older Cobra and restore it. The emissions rules have been slowly getting more restrictive. A lot of older Cobra's were built during a period where emissions were less restrictive even to the point of carby engines. Even if the 2nd Cobra doesn't have the engine you desire, you can swap to any other engine of the same emission level. This is certainly the easiest way to build a big block Cobra and the only way in VIC.

It all comes down to year of first registration. Even if the Cobra is not currently registered, if you have the paperwork for the original registration you are good to go.

You can source 2nd hand Cobra's from any state as the states have a recipricol agreement on rego, but you may need to make some changes. e.g. WA cars have an exemption for running side pipes, so technically you would need to run an under body exhaust in VIC. From my experience VIC is straight forward when it comes to interstate rego transfer.

2nd hand Cobra's have been increasing in value over the years, but there are still good buys out there. Certainly in the fixer upper category.

Also the manufacturers have been slowly introducing updates and new Cobra models over the years. But in all honesty some of the older models make excellent street cruisers. And even today at the Cobra Nationals, some very old, very modest models still top the placings. So they perform as well.

Most Cobra's, if not nearly all will have modification plates with ICV codes on them. Very few have true manufacturer compliance plates, but they do exist. If you look at enough local Superformance Cobra's you will find compliance plate cars.

So lots of options.