West Coast Cobra Owner Build Chassis # 3299

[kitcarbp]

Heat shields under budget. So after shopping around for heat shields they were all over my budget. The prices made no sense to me for a simple curved stainless plate. So I ordered 304 stainless cut to my dimensions including nice radius’d corners that Chip Foose would approve of. I purchased the Stainless heatshield clamps from Finishline years ago and installed them. I had to relocate their mounting standoffs for my application. I took my flat pcs of heatshield to an architectural steel fab shop to run these through sheet roller for the exact radius I needed. All done these cost about 50% of aftermarket shields

[Spyderdan56]

That dash looks awesome!

[kitcarbp]

Oh. Forgot to post my humble garage with no lift to build the car ( except the body and paint that was outsourced) I used only one side of my garage to build the cobra.
Its not the size of your toolbox fellas, its the dude behind the tool that matters. Lol.

[kitcarbp]

Ok so the biggest lesson learned ( of about 1,000 lessons) on my build is never underestimate the labor it takes to make your hardtop fit to your Cobra Body. Since this was my first Rodeo, I had no idea. I shot my budget to hell on getting the hardtop to fit correctly but the results are priceless! The hard top took over 40 hours of cutting, glassing, and sanding and repeat ! to get it right. Here are progress photos.

[kitcarbp]

Here are the Southco brand hard top fasteners I used. The ferrules are custom machined from stainless bolts.

[kitcarbp]

So The body shop was finished with the car and hardtop in 2015 but the hardtop still needed the black stripes. The underside of the hardtop was still unfinished. One thing lead to another ( life) and in 2016 the hardtop was still sitting at the bodyshop without the stripes but cleared. Then the bodyshop calls and says they are closing up business, come pick up your top! So I was there the next day and bought home the worlds most expensive unfinished hardtop
Fast forward to the New Pandemic World we are living in May 2020 and once I mostly assembled the car and got some miles on it, the goal was to have my hardtop ready for October 2020 for a big Hot Rod event in Ocean City MD. It was the 19th annual pilgrimage to Mid Atlantic Hot Rod Mecca for about 3,000 registered hot hods and another few thousand that just show up and cruise the coastal strip. Its called Endless Summer Cruising OC , every October
Enough Story, here are the hardtop completion photo progress
I had picked out the foam backed headliner 2 years prior. I also wired in a modern LED dome light

[kitcarbp]

May 2020

Here are more hardtop progress pics

[kitcarbp]

September 2020
So now The hardtop is completed and test driven a few hundred miles at all speeds but still needs Black Stripes. Its two weeks before the OC Endless Summer Hot Rod show and I need good looking stripes"......... and fast!

No time to take it to a bodyshop with an unknown completion date!

So.... what does a home builder do? He orders 3M gloss black film wrap material and installs the two black stripes himself! Ive never done this before..... how hard can this be?
Step 0. - Make sure wife is out of the house for a few hours
Step 1- Need a clean mostly dust free work area. (Family Room off the garage)
Step 2 - Need supports to position the hardtop at the right height and angle. The Couch ! Perfect.
Step 3 - use a nice drop cloth........ Asian carpet....? Perfect!!
Step 4 - Measure, Measure, Measure !
Step 4.- Learn the install process, use lots of liquid installing the film.

Not surprisingly the Distinctness of Image (DOI) for the black film can’t compare ( inferior) to the painted stripes on the body. The orange peel is noticeable when using films. But I will circle back and get the stripes painted on someday when it’s the only item that still bugs me. From 5 feet it looks similar to production car orange peel you find out there.

[kitcarbp]

October 2020

Hard top finally finished. Lets cruise!

[Buzz]

Nice job with the top! Thanks for sharing your build.

[ERA174]

Kitcarbp, Your Cobra looks great, nice work! So, did you make it to the OCMD 2020 Endless Summer Cruisin'? The May Cruisin', usually has a larger turnout. This year it's May 20-23, 2021. The Endless Summer Cruisin' is Oct. 7-10, 2021. If you haven't attended yet, I highly recommend it. Don't expect to do anything crazy, enforcement has been stepped up in the last couple of years. If you or any other Club Cobra members will be attending either event, pm me and I'll buy you a beer.

[kitcarbp]

ERA174, Thanks.
Yep attended Endless Summer 2020 and going back May 2021.
There were only 2 Cobras out of over 2,000 registered cars in October, overall attendance was down due to the pandemic however. Next month should have a bigger attendance.

[kitcarbp]

Here are more pics from final assembly in April 2020.

Here are some heat shields I made to help protect the paint and body as the sidepipes exit using galvanized sheet with fiberglass/aluminum material to finish it off. I tried to ensure a reasonable air gap to give the clear coat a chance at a long life

[kitcarbp]

......more final assembly pics

April 2020

[1967cometrcode]

In 1992 I purchased a 1987 www fully completed and had the privilege of spending time with billy cloisonné who owned the business.in fact he drove the car to Edmonton for me.time caused my headlight baskets dried up ,broke and one rim was lost.I need 2 complete systems except the actual lights.the main basket bears the following numbers——kd41062 then kd920 then sea-h-25. Please help me source these items.thanks.new member

[kitcarbp]

Comet. I sent you a PM. Here is an example. There are several aftermarket choices from different vendors.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Empi-3019-7....m46890.l49286

[kitcarbp]

Here are more pics from April 2020 with final assembly details. I built my own rear view mirror brackets. The brackets sold by Finishline Accessories did not fit correctly. So I made my own without a mill! Its just a jig saw and files and lots of sanding and polishing. I first made them from ABS plastic to confirm shape and position and then cut the aluminum.

[kitcarbp]

Ocean City MD , Endless Summer Oct 2021. Great trip!

[kitcarbp]

Left the house before sunrise to drive 80 miles to start a 100 mile tour of Southern Maryland. Chilly but fun. A drink of 93 Octane at sunrise.

[Thor maine]

Nice!!!