Drive Safely

[tony martin]

DRIVE SAFELY !!!

[Doug I]

well if you insist Tony ........

but man ... it's no fun !!

it's only bad when you run out of traction, steering, throttle, brakes, road, ideas, inspiration and luck all at once.

regards
Doug I

[jeffko]

I don't feel like I can drive safely with a car that can't be aligned, a leaking clutch slave that sticks, brake and accelerator pedals that are uncomfortably close together, headlights that do not have brights and now a potential for a breaking windshield. sheeeezzz! However, the ladies in my wifes book club thought it was pretty cool sitting in the garage.

[madmaxx]

Jeffko,
I can sense your pain. BDR does the hard part and messes up on the easy stuff like good headlight relays, slave cylinders, windsheilds, header to side-pipe slip joint connections, calibrate the fuel guage correctly etc. Nobody complains about the looks, the brakes, the dash layout, the suspension etc. If they would spend an extra $100 for quality parts alot of pain could be avoided by its customers. We are talking $28,900 car, so charge people an even $29K, use better parts and maintain your profit margin!!!! The windsheild is dissapointing but luckly mine has not broken yet.

My impression is the majority of the people buying a BDR is the guy who does not want to go through the hassle of building a car from scratch, just drop an engine and trans and go. . I wonder if Superformance has these little bugs, I know they are not as comfortable or streetable!!.

I still think it is a great car and love mine but I have had to work the bugs out of mine and now that I have it is a thrill and blast to drive and show-off!!!

[jeffko]

madmaxx,
You are exactly right! I looked long and hard for what was the right fit for me. On paper BDR nailed it, quite a different story when the car was delivered and the subsequent months. I had over $700 in paint damage when the car showed up and lurking beneath that beautiful exterior was more problems to follow. I think, in fact I know, some of the problems are bottom line decisions that come from growing pains while other have been plain carelessness.
I feel I have held up my end of the bargain and they should do the same. Reg and company are nice, but they don't always come thru in a timely fashion or at least as fast an owner would like for something they should not be waiting for in the first place.
The alignment alone has cost $400 with another $380 to finish it. You would think BDR would be responsible for everything but the normal $80 alignment, but they feel differently. They have agreed to pay the $380, but only after I do and then ship the brackets that were intended to fix the original problem back. They sent me a T5 shifter and yoke for a TKO trans. I had to find a transmission shop to change the yoke, which cost them $105, but they still have not sent me the TKO shifter which is about 3" shorter.
I am sure these frustrations will subside when I get all the problems worked out, but it will be awhile before I forget what I had to go thru with their "quality assured" and "quality manufactured" car.

[tfarhood]

Believe me, there is no such thing as a perfect replica/kit out there. I still feel that dollar for dollar you can't beat the BDR. Mine has had its fair share of little things (and still does, like the slip fit pipes), but the support from Reg and company has been great. Some things are addressed immediately, some things took a little while to solve. The bottom line is that Reg has always gone beyond what is necessary to support his product and I can't thank him enough.
My car has suffered the cracked windshield (from the original outbreak), I had to adjust the position of my pedals to suit my wide feet, my e-brake needed adjusting, even my clutch master cylinder gave out after 1 year, and my front springs were replaced. Through all of these things, Reg has either sent me the parts or told me exact part numbers to get. The clutch slave cylinder failed because of the way I installed the rod that connects to the fork, not Backdraft's fault. The replacement part was $18 and hasn't failed since. The clutch master cylinder is the same wilwood in many Cobras, and they fail in those other cars often also.
I did my own engine/tranny install, so I have myself to blame for some other items. Even though the slip fit pipes are leak prone, I trimmed a little too much and have leaks still, again not Backdrafts fault.
Some of the complaints I hear, like shifter and yoke are driveline install issues, not Backdraft manufacturing issues. If Reg installed the driveline for you, then the responsability is Custom Cars, not Backdraft for those items.
All in all the Backdraft product is very nice. As for Superformance comparisons, they have been at it ten more years than BDR. They still need to be tweeked, but they have had a lot more time to evolve and refine. As for the comparison to kit building, all I can say is that I'm glad I didn't have to build mine. Buying a roller is a great option to have. I have the ability and talent to build a kit, but I just don't have the time and patience for it.
I think that Backdraft is a great buy, and Reg is doing a hell of a job. Are they perfect, no. Are they customer service oriented, yes. Are Cobras ever finished , NO . I'm always thinking about what I need to do next, it will never really be finished, just a work in progress.
As for the alignment, I aligned mine on a car lift with a ruler and alignment levels/bubbles. I have driven it 6000 miles, at every speed, up to 120 mph. The car has never felt unsafe. My tires are wearing perfectly even. I'll bet if you have your daily driver checked, it would be out as much or more than your BDR without extra shims and brackets.
Even with some of the issues mentioned in this thread, you still have one fine Cobra. I hope you work through these little things and drive the hell out of you car .

[DC COBRA]

Broken windshield-- cracked with less than 100 miles on car, Reg sent me new one, replaced myself no biggy


Brake light switch went bad after 1.5 years==got part number from Reg replaced it was simple.

Ford dealership in Dallas aligned my car for I believe was $100 wears tires nicely and definately has that road racer look with the exteme negative camber, but looks cool.

First attempt with driveshaft was a constant velocity looking thing==Bad Idea Reg sent me stock unit for BDR car paid $105 to have new yoke and end put on no problems yet.


Paint quality fairly good nothing I really can't live with on my $25990 roller old price.

Rear springs a little soft but still waiting on a new set with REG.

Fixed the header slip joint problem by getting rid of the junky headers had new ones made with welded on flanges with flanges on sidepipes also, they are bolt together, no leaks, no problems.

All in all with the few tweaks and few repairs I had to do, quality is decent, the dealer whom I bought this car from couldn't much about quality control he didn't build them and he could only spend so much money on making his customers really happy. I do believe BDR could make the delivered product nicer but when you order one and wait along time you are sometimeswilling to acept the obvious even when your bubble is somewhat deflated.

Reg and Tony and BDR together has fairly taken care of the problems so far and I have a car that is a monster and *****cat to drive. I enjoy my car, it has won like 14 out of eightteen car shows, it's bad fast and so far has not broken down on the road yet. I really do enjoy driving every chance I get. Although I did have to adjust the pedals a bit for my size 11 feet and 6'1 and a little north of 200 pounds frame, but she is comfortable now.

As far as everything else just whatever that tfarhood deud said..

DON

[tfarhood]

DC, I would like to hear a little more about your headers and pipes. Are the headers the original with modifications, or new from scratch? How much $$$ to do it, and where did you have the flanges made???
Inquiring minds want to know .

[tfarhood]

DC, I would like to hear a little more about your headers and pipes. Are the headers the original with modifications, or new from scratch? How much $$$ to do it, and where did you have the flanges made???
Inquiring minds want to know .

[madmaxx]

Please understand in my opinion there is no better buy for the dollar than a backdraft when it comes to cobras. The car sits right, the wheels do not protrude out the body, era correct etc. I am a fairley competent mechanic. If a person can install their own engine and transmission I feel they can easily address alot of the problems themselves without taking their car to a mechanic. I have alot more confidence in myself than a mechanic at a shop.

Now I also feel that for $28,900 plus shipping, a customer should not have the windsheild, sidepipe, headlight relay issues. I can assure you this is what is pointed out to customers that visit the Superformance showroom. Imagine this "oh sure BDR are priced less but look at all the problems" This will eventually hurt our resale values. I have a list of 20 items I had to address. 14 were from the engine/trans install that were not BDR related, the other 6 were. I had to spend a total of $185 to address them all, including $80 for an alignment, if I would have taken to a mechanic I am sure it would have been $2,500.

I know I will never own another car that receives as much attention as a my Cobra.

This forum is an excellent place to answer questions and you save alot of time.

BDR by the time you are on chassis 300 you should be out of all your growing pains with flanged side pipes, good relays, properly engineered windsheild frames, proper cam on ebrake handle to have enough travel etc.

[jeffko]

Guys, I am a reasonable man, but when you screw up someone’s paint job and send the car anyway...that's wrong. For one the eight paint problems you could not open the driver’s door without seeing that the door misalignment was putting a 2" gouge in the paint on the body side doorjamb. Why was it misaligned? Because two of the four bolts were stripped and the third bolt was loose. Another is starting just above the steering wheel on the rolled edge of the body the paint is very rough and there is no clear coat at all. This spot is about 24" long. Another is the passenger door will not close unless shut with a little force. Why? Because the gap between the body and the door on the hinge side touches each other about 1" before the door closes. The windshield on the passenger’s side was very wobbly. Why? Where the two bolts attach to the frame...the bottom bolt almost completely missed the frame. And the list goes on. I don't need this kind of crap and I am quite sure you guys would not have liked it either. Maybe I'm a bit fussy, but these are not minor problems to me. Obviously you guys have not had the problems I have had.

I know a guy that just took delivery of his BDR, drove it 50 miles hearing a bunch of clunking sounds from the rear. Got to a shop where he found some of the bolts holding the differential to the frame were loose. The car dropped almost 1" when everything was secured and now his ride height is where it should have been. That could have been a very serious problem. Thank God my friend, or anyone else, was not hurt.

Everyone knows nothing is perfect. I have lived 46 years with imperfection in myself and everything around me, except my kids. Oh, and in case my wife reads this You too honey. Nobody said a @~%^~$^%^!& thing about perfection! Own up to your mistakes and backup what you have promised or stand behind what you have done. That is all too often a novel concept nowadays. I believe when a man is paid for a job he should do his best to complete that job and be prepared to fix his mistakes. It's called responsibility!

I don't want to sound like a prick because I am not. What I am is a little pissed.

[DC COBRA]

tfarhood

My headers were custom made by Rob at Kieth Craft Motorsports in Plano Texas. There number is 972-578-3550, My motor has AFR 225 heads so the pipes are 2 inch from head to sidepipe which is also 2 inch, makes a real nice system, they had the flanges cut which were lasered or cnc or something like that. nice and very thick then had evertyhing ceramiced coated. I think I paid $1000 for custom headers coated gaskets and install. Thet are all new construction nothing used or reused except for sidepipes. Word of advice, fix your sidepipes while headers are being made so everyhting gets coated at same time. The sidepipes are very very very restrictive. I chose to use only a vortech cone and some new tubes from DR GAS. Believe me people notice and if you turn the exit down a little it is relatively quiet in car driving till you go under an overpass.


jeffko

I don't think you are being prickish about being disappointed over getting something not up to your believed expectations. I have had to bite my tongue and keep my mouth on a leash on some of the things I saw on my BDR when it was delivered. Your already disappointed, you are not going to get your money back, don'y think you will get another car either, yeah I fell for the you pay less for a car that is almost the same quality as other manufactures, bottom line you get what you pay for. These car are not mass produced enough to get the quality issue perfect and then again just think if you would have paid alot more for some other brand and still had problems, bet you would not feel any better. This will not be my only cobra, then again it may, next time I will do a little more thinking and homework and hopefully not end up with as many problems. I have been driving my car about 1.5 years now, it is starting to get rock chips(that hurts) and I even ran over a brick while we were in Austin(spring meet) it dented the oil pan fairly good but I still smile and wave and antagonize people every time I take her out. Besides driving the car down the highway is what these cars are about and most will see these cars over 20 feet away if their on the road. Perfect they are not, then again alot of new vehicles have fit and finish problems along with driveline and drivabilty problems, I know I own an Auto repair shop. Bottom line is fix whatever problems you can and complain enough on the harder ones to get somebody hopefully to help if not fix it yourself and just drive your car, just drive. Somehow it just fine once you are driving even if you had to fix something before you get to go. Face it on the paint, these cars will never look perfect unless the whole car is repainted after a few rockchips, bricks or whatever they still don't look bad when they are going down the highway. When we were down at Austin, We put about 300-350 miles on the car withno problems, There was a quite a few other people that cannot say that, not that I am bragging but just be thankful for what you have now.

DON

[madmaxx]

Jeffko
I have to admit I had no flaws in my body or paint. I had a slight blemish but it was the size of a eraser head and I would have to look for 15 minutes to find it again. My doors rattle on the jambs but black tape fixed it, which is kinda raw in a 30K plus car but digestable. I realize these cars are not mass produced but there are alot of mass produced cars for alot less money. Beleive it or not I bought my used sight unseen, if I would have read your post I wound not have bought unless I would have seen it in person. I had stupid little problems, ebrake not adjusted, passenger lap belt not installed, driver side lap belt hold down bolts engaged only two threads, fuel guage inaccurate, to much negative camber (which I did not care about but in my boredome fixed by elongating the holes and using larger washers).

You have every right to be upset. You have spent alot of money. New lexus gs300 goes for $43K. I bet we are all within 5K of that price.

[uncltodd]

All- I'm out over $50K on #139.

Delivered price was about $43K with powertrain.

If the dark cloud over me sucks problems away from y'all, then so be it. It was meant to be.

3rd starter.

3rd alternator.

2nd carburetter.

New clutch, pressure plate and flywheel.

New E-brake linings, E brake still not useable, really.

Exhaust leaks so loud they are embarrassing.

2800 miles in 11 months.

My engine/chassis warranties (???) expire next month.

Would I buy a Backdraft Cobra again?

Dude, in a heartbeat.

I love my little blue car.

Reg is supposed to send me some handout Backdraft literature for my upcoming car shows.

I wish he would find me my vinyl top as well.

UT

[tfarhood]

Jeffko, sorry to hear that your car had some problems as you described. Mine didn't have anything that severe. The doors were right, the paint was very nice (but not perfect), and the windshield did mount solidly. You have every right to be disappointed about those things. I guess there is always turnover in the factory, and it sounds like someone may have been learning on your car, or either got fired after your car. I would have been a little pissed too.

[madmaxx]

uncltodd,
I wish you lived close to me. I would love to get my hands on your car. I can assure you for about $250 by the time I got done you would have no problems, Your slip joint on the side-pipes would have been adjusted with a hydraulic tail pipe expander, Your speedometer cable would have been the right lenght so it would not break in 200 miles, your E-brake would have been adjusted, copper tubing would have been used for the oil pressure switch, not that anything is wrong with the nylon, but when you use standard threads in a npt fitting and ony engage two threads they tend to leak and fall out (go KC!!!!), your slave cylinder would have been mounted pefectly perpindicular to your clutch arm, not cocked at some angle with all thread, alignment would have been performed, carburator adjusted, timing set correctly and the hold down bolt for the distributor tightened, any unused vacuum ports on the carb would have been plugged, a fuel filter would have been installed or at least the hose clamps on your fuel lines tightened, a hole saw would have been used to make the hole for your gear shift not a ****ing hammer and prybar and as a bonus I would have centered it so the boot did not pull the transmission out of 4 th gear, the msd connections would have been soldered or at least the correct size butt connectors used so they did not fall apart in your hands, the conduit would not rub against the headers. A PVC valve would have been installed so your breathers did not puff like a dragon and cause you to stink like gasoline (Wow that cost a whole $3.95 including the hose) When I say $250 I mean from the start not after all the repairs that have been made. Mechanically there is no simplier car on the road, period. The incompentent clowns at Keith Craft motorsports in Plano were the ones that drove the death nail into your drivetrain. I have seen there pathetic work in 2 different BDR's and the stentch of incompentency is obvious. (Sorry sometimes I have a hard time saying what I really mean).

You can see how critical I am so when I say I beleive a BDR turnkey minus purchased by an above average shadetree mechanic owner is the best for the price I mean it!!!! Now if you are not a shadetree mechanic you would be wise to find an individual installer or better yet join your local club and I know those guys know how to put one together to help you. I actually have been driving my car to work for the last month and nada, zero problems.

[jeffko]

Wow Max...I don't suppose you live in the Chicago area? I could add to your offer a couple free meals and all the beer you can drink....after we are done of course.

[madmaxx]

No, I live in Texas but if I get a trip to Chicago I will let you know!!!