Driving in San Francisco area even in summer could be a challenge. Just when you are least expecting, 80 degrees here at Vacaville (40 miles away from San Francisco) you drive towards the coast you could experience a 30-35 degree drop within a few miles.
There you are in your shorts and sometimes without a jacket, you wished there was more heat in the cockpit.
I have heard a big block could melt your shoes in the cockpit and that sort of claims. I am telling you I could drive mine barefeet and still not feel too much warmth.
I had it up in Reno during Hot August Nights in heavy traffic and at very slow speeds and outside temparatures over 100. It was still very comfortable.
We did glue the insulation on the underside of the tunnel.
Regarding the battery question. I ask because I have seen various way of routing the battery cable - some not so good, some splendid - like mine. LOL. This also affects where the right side fresh air duct goes onto the footbox. Email me I will go into detail.
ERA does offer some heat shields - aluminum panels that go over the primary pipes - buy them. They may have increased their offerings in this area since I did my car. I also made an aluminum/insulation/aluminum sandwich that riveted to the front of the foot box.
My car was even cooler than Turks. It was faster also.
Have your primary pipes jet hot (or whatever) coated, AND MAKE SURE THAT EVERY LITTLE OPENING TO THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT IS PLUGGED.
What I did is this: I turned out the lights in the garage and then put a bright light in the engine compartment ....I then climbed in the interior and looked for light.....in this case I did not want to see any. If I did see any light I plugged that hole. These are the things that make for a cool car.
I built my ERA from a "roller". I ordered the suspension, steering, brakes, & rear end "installed", as I didn't want to spend my week-ends combing scrap-yards for Jag parts, and coming up with the wrong pieces. I didn't want to deal with trying to get my junkyard Jag rear end rebuilt by somebody who hasn't seen a Salisbury diff in the last three years - ERA is getting them done by the pallet-loads - I'm sure their guy knows what he's doing.
I had already had experience (call that NEGATIVE) trying to use 3/8" (they are BIG, and TOUGH) pop-rivets to add chassis bracing to one of my other cars - I had to replace the borrowed Snap-On pop-rivet gun when it broke. I knew I didn't want to deal with that again.
I paid them to paint the frame, and sub-assemble the suspension/brakes. They bonded the body to the frame. If I had it to do over again, I would probably have them paint the body, too. I ended up dismanteling a lot of my car, mostly due to modifications I made. My body man refused to try to "roll" the body edges (so it would look more "real") with the rear bulkhead in-place . I removed the foot-boxes to section them to make room for my Cleveland. Those pieces (rear bulkhead and footboxes) had been permanently installed, and were a lot of work to R & R without damaging. I think I MAY have got a better paint job than I would have gotten from ERA - but, I think I also paid a LOT more for it.
ERA is definately a class act - the car goes together easier than a mid-sixties model car. Everything fits like it is supposed to, and they are pretty reasonable when you want to make "modifications".
I have built two Era cars. The whole assembly is very straight forward. The first car I painted the frame, bonded the body, Painted the car. Everything but the alignment and coating the headers. The second one, ERA painted the frame, bonded and painted the body. I enjoyed doing the whole car the first time although it is more effort to disassemble the the car paint everything and put it back together. They build such a great car and fit everything so well that it is really not difficult assemble. The second car I did not want to spend as much time on. Kids, family and work had to be balanced. The second car went together much faster since it was painted and mostly assembled. I have done the carpets in both cars. Some of the pieces need to be trimmed but most are ready for installation cut and bound. Not that difficult. Mostly it depends if you want to enjoy the assembly or if it is not fun then have someone else do it. ERA builds a great car and the whole assembly is pretty easy but does take time.
A question was asked early on in this tread about which rear was better for street and some track time, the jag rear with inboard brakes or the ERA rear with outboard brakes, any comments about which is better (relative terms vs use).
Corky, I haven't seen a lot of chatter here on the site about the pros and cons of the 2 rear ends, but my $0.02 is that if you're building a street machine, the stock Jag setup with inboard brakes is more than adequate. If all else is equal, I'd imagine you get a better ride AND handling with the stock setup, due to less unsprung weight, but I'm told the adjustability and brake cooling with the outboard setup makes it ultimately superior for the track. Guys? Edjumacate us.
Thanks for the .02 worth. I will be building mostly a street machine with maybe 1 or2 times on the track, open sessions. No racing. I guess the added weight and expense of the ERA rear is is not an issue if you will be in the track most of the time. I will be building a copy of the Allen Grant car, SB with Webers, I will start the process with ERA in Jan. This thread has given me a lot of useful info.
Thanks.
Been busy putting my interior in and missed this thread. It's straight forward, no big deal. Requires a bit of trimming and everything fits well. Having said that, if I knew of a shop that would do a great job without screwing anything else up I would have gladly paid $400. I had a shop make a slight mod to my seats. They couldn't get that right so I wasn't going to have them do my interior at any price!
Steve D***ey
Cobra Make, Engine: ERA FIA #2078. 331 stroker, sportsman block built by Evanuik Performance. 450hp
Posts: 256
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The ERA rear is 50 lbs. LIGHTER than the standard jag rear end because of the aluminum housing. That was enough of a reason for us to pay the extra $700 bucks to upgrade.
Right, it sure looks great, no doubt about it!
I didn't realize it was 50 lbs lighter, but the unsprung weight (at the wheels) is higher than the Jag rear end, right? The weight savings would all be sprung weight, it looks like.
I haven't measured it, but there isn't a big unsprung weight disadvantage with the new rear. A pound or three. The PBR caliper is light, and the control arms are weigh (pun intented ) lighter than the Jag pieces (including two more dampers and springs). The rotor is the only thing that adds significantly to the equation...
Bob, good job, sounds like an all-round improvement, with the lower total weight, approx. same unsprung weight, full adjustability, and better brakes and brake cooling! That would be why one should get it...let me recount my tens and twenties...
Thanks. I took the Cobra out today and drove thru Gladstone. It has been raining the last few days so when the sun popped I headed out with the Cobra to run my errands.
Good luck and have fun with your car. I have seen a couple of the ERA FIA cars around here. NICE cars.
) lighter than the Jag pieces (including two more dampers and springs). The rotor is the only thing that adds significantly to the equation...
Nice Country
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