In search of Mechanic

[IanW]

I'm looking for a Cobra (replica) mechanic on the Penninsula. Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

[Gary(SF)]

Ted Taormina in San Carlos. He has built over 50 Superformance Cobras (including mine) and worked on many other Cobra brands. His shop always has high end exotics in there being serviced, including Enzos and various Lambos. Excellent mechanic who loves Cobras and a great guy to work with.

Taormina Imports Exotic Car Service Specialists

[jeffnolan]

any feedback on Panavia?

[289fia_cobra]

What needs to be looked at?

[IanW]

It's been sitting in a garage for 7 years (my passed away and nothing was done with the car), but it was running except for a cooling problem that wasn't diagnosed. I also need help getting it street legal for CA.

So, hard to say exactly what it will need but an experienced Cobra guy who can go over the entire car would be ideal.

[lippy]

I'd speak with Ted and Panavia. See who you like. I do my own work, but they both seem like good guys.

[289fia_cobra]

Originally Posted by IanW

It's been sitting in a garage for 7 years (my passed away and nothing was done with the car), but it was running except for a cooling problem that wasn't diagnosed. I also need help getting it street legal for CA.

So, hard to say exactly what it will need but an experienced Cobra guy who can go over the entire car would be ideal.

Where abouts are you in the Bay Area? Some of us could give it a look over and evaluate it's condition as well as figure out registration bits.
Questions that come to mind:

What manufacturer or kit?
What Engine?

I live in Sunnyvale but our club is made up of everyone living everywhere between SF and Morgan Hill and a 20 mile radius from either points.

Ted and Steve (Panavia) would be excellent in doing a complete massaging of whatever is wrong with it and explaining the registration process.

I do have a couple of hours between 4pm and 6pm.

[IanW]

It's a Classic Roadster with a '66 427 side oiler. I won't have the car here for another month or so but would welcome the input. I live in Hillsborough and when I get the car here, I'll ping this thread and if you are still interested, the beer is on me!

Pics HERE

[289fia_cobra]

I'm surprised there are no engine pictures. Classic Roadsters is a Canadian firm from what little I've researched. Not much on them: Classic Roadsters - Home

Typically, those of us that have bought either an SPF, or built our own, tend to have a fairly straightforward process for registration.

If this does in fact come with a 427 installed and can verify the serial number on the engine block as being a 1966' 427 side oiler, the issue then becomes the transfer of a vehicle (assuming it's out of state) and then it's an issue of whether it was originally registered in it's current location, before being sold to you here in CA.

btw, if you're inviting, you may want others to come because I'm not an expert in a 427SO. I'm a small block guy. You'd might want to consider either Steve or Ted plus a couple of our guys to give it a look over. I say this only because I have a Factory Five perspective, whereas most other have Superformance knowledge. Kit cars being what they are, you want a variety of eyes because no two people build cars alike. Steve and Ted see all sorts of vehicles as well as SPF's and other kits so their input would be more valuable.

[IanW]

The hood was being a bit sticky the day I took those pics and I didn't want to wrestle it off by myself, so no engine pics. Too bad really.

But thanks for the perspective - I am just starting my research on this and it's been awhile since I thought about this car. It is really a passion project to get the car to where my father wanted it. He always had 3 different car projects on the go at any given time and the Cobra never consistently made it to the top of his "let's finish this thing" list.

Just for some historical perspective, this is a Classic Roadsters I car. My father received it in 1991-1992 timeframe. He took a while to do the build and originally planned on it being a track car or was going to register it in Nevada. By the time he decided to get it registered in CA, the company had gone under/changed hands I guess and he was trying to figure out how to get a MCO from Classic.

So, yes I need some advice on how to navigate the DMV registration as well. For example, I know I need wipers. But, will the quick lift bumpers get approved or do I need the street bumpers? The block is stamped 1966 so the smog part should be easy, but I am sure there are many things I am not thinking of that will come up.

Thanks for all the input - much appreciated.