Any new ERAs in que?

[Mark IV]

350 HP in a street roadster is plenty! And for sure you want the .82 with a 3.31. The .64 would be OK with 3.77s or shorter.

FYI we have a customer who put Blockley 205/70x15 tires on his 289 and loves them. very "period" like the Pirellis or Michelins available in the day.

[desgros@vtlink.]

I have 215-70X15 Michelin tires on my ERA 289 Slabside. Very pleased with the handling and the look of the tires.

John
#3010 ERA 289 Slabside

[RockBit]

Originally Posted by Detroit Bill

To the OP you want to get with Brent of the gearing. This will have a cam in it. That cam will not like low rpm. How low is low is the question and Brent will know.

My only other suggestion is the speedo. I would get the electronically driven speedo. It is driven by the speed sensor that comes with the TKO. The cable drive unit is a POS. If you are going for authentic this might be an issue but I thought I would throw it out there for what it is worth.

Good luck!

I spoke with Brent and he endorsed the 3.54 gearing for my setup. I then made the change with Peter. I'm still thinking about your suggestion on the speedo.

The body will be mounted to the chassis next week.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[patrickt]

Regarding the speedometer, I have the reverse Smiths, all mechanical, gauge and it has worked flawlessly for ten years now. But, there are three points to having one that you have to know about: 1) The cable itself requires special lubrication; and 2) The reverser on the back of the speedometer requires special lubrication (actually, it has a zerk fitting just like your ball joint and you have to grease it pretty much the same way); and 3) There is a critical length tolerance to the little thingy that connects the reverser to the speedometer itself. I have posted detailed threads with picks on all of this, so it's pretty easy to find. If you follow the instructions, and have the right plastic transmission gear, your mechanical Smiths will read accurately, the needle will not bounce, and it will run smoothly and quietly -- and nothing looks as cool as a reverse Smiths, or any Smiths for that matter.

[RockBit]

Peter tried to warn me off the CCW speedo. He said they had seen lots of troubles with them. It was not negotiable though, and I told him I would deal with it. I'm sure I will be looking up your posts when I start hooking things up. I'm not hung up on authenticity, but I'm leaning toward old school as a theme in the build. Sort of a time machine back to the 60s.

[desgros@vtlink.]

The SW speedo on my 289 Slabside stopped recording miles at 999. Peter very quickly replaced it.

Anything mechanical or electronic can break at anytime.

John

ERA #3010 289 Slabside

[RockBit]

My new ERA is inching toward the finish line. It will go to Metal Morphous next week for paint. How are other new ERAs coming along?

[AndrewB]

Originally Posted by RockBit

My new ERA is inching toward the finish line. It will go to Metal Morphous next week for paint. How are other new ERAs coming along?

VERY slowly as it seems there is quite a backlog. May will be the one year anniversary of my order and when we visited ERA 3 weeks ago (which was awesome BTW) the frame was complete and powdercoated but that was all the progress made so far. I have also been quite unsuccessful on pinning down Peter for an ETA

Its ok though as I am behind schedule on building the rear end and engine. Also, we have a different delivery coming in a few weeks which may actually be ahead of schedule, child #2, so my hands will be full to say the least.

ERA's are worth the wait!

[RockBit]

Brent has been waiting to assemble my engine for months, until the car gets closer. He is now putting it together. Yes, Peter is very evasive when discussing dates, probably due to the backlog he has. I guess I will spend the hot part of the summer finishing the car, and be ready to go after the heat breaks this fall.

Are you building the engine yourself? Congratulations on the new baby.

[AndrewB]

Originally Posted by RockBit

Brent has been waiting to assemble my engine for months, until the car gets closer. He is now putting it together. Yes, Peter is very evasive when discussing dates, probably due to the backlog he has. I guess I will spend the hot part of the summer finishing the car, and be ready to go after the heat breaks this fall.

Are you building the engine yourself? Congratulations on the new baby.

Thank you! I'll be interesting as one two year old is hard enough sometimes...

Yes, we are building both the engine and rear end ourselves. This will be my first time setting gears so I've been doing a ton of research and talking to pro's. The last of the parts got delivered the other day so I'm hoping to start in on it this weekend. Worse comes to worse, we have a good shop nearby if I throw in the towel. After buying quality gauges, torque wrenches, and various one time use (hopefully) tools, you'd be ahead by having someone else do it but we were looking for a good challenge.

I'm on the list at Connecticut Custom but I should give Metal Morphous a ring as well. Their work on making a narrow hip 427 is very cool!

[RockBit]

Originally Posted by AndrewB

I'm on the list at Connecticut Custom but I should give Metal Morphous a ring as well. Their work on making a narrow hip 427 is very cool!

PM set.

[lippy]

I used Connecticut Custom and got the show car finish. Really nice job, and good folks to deal with (like ERA).

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by lippy

I used Connecticut Custom and got the show car finish. Really nice job, and good folks to deal with (like ERA).

I wish everybody that I have to deal with was as kind, polite, professional, friendly, and competent as Walt and his family. Unfortunately, that's not the case on just about every other aspect of business related life.

[jasond29]

Well I guess add another one to the que. I just sent my deposit off today for a slabside and hopefully Peter will have my roller to me in a couple months........and by a couple months I mean 12-14 months..lol. Its going to work out perfect though because it will give me time to build the engine, transmission and rearend. I am having Ron at Metal Morphous do the paint work, awesome guy to talk to and is as excited as I am to build my car. Can't wait.

Jason

[RockBit]

Jasond29 - congrats on your order. Add 8 to 12 weeks to the delivery Peter gave you for paint time.

[jasond29]

Got my assembly manual today, it is very thorough and gives a part number for every little nut and bolt. Guess I will start the gathering parts stage now. This is awesome.

[RockBit]

Jasond29 - Pace yourself. You have lots of time.

[RockBit]

Metal Morphous picked up my car for painting this week. Brent dyno'ed the engine but had a setback. It looks like the car may ship sometime in July.

Any ideas from anyone how long it takes to get an ERA roller road worthy once everything is in hand?

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by RockBit

Metal Morphous picked up my car for painting this week. Brent dyno'ed the engine but had a setback. It looks like the car may ship sometime in July.

Any ideas from anyone how long it takes to get an ERA roller road worthy once everything is in hand?

Lippy and Kevins2 would have a good idea. To what level is ERA finishing out the car before shipping?

[RockBit]

It will be a 'roller', so it will have all suspensions, wheels, steering, and tires. The roll bar and bumpers will probably be installed.

I will need to install engine/transmission, interior, pipes, and do some wiring. I'm not sure what else.