What would you get?

[RAO-3]

Rick, do you know if wipers are required? Never thought to check on this one, and no one has mentioned this before.

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

RAO-3 The quick release in not legal in the state you live in. You could add it to the car after you go through the state inspection of the car. If you are running side pipes, ERA has covers for them to pervent burnt pants and legs. You will have to check on this for your state also. Rick Lake

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RAO-3

Rick, do you know if wipers are required? Never thought to check on this one, and no one has mentioned this before.

Regardless of whether they are required or not, you'll want them. And they are not particularly easy to install or calibrate. ERA cars use a solid state circuit mounted up against the firewall that turns the motor momentarily in to a generator to properly park the wipers. Just go ahead and pencil them in on your worksheet.

[Chaplin]

Ray-
Call up Special Titles Division of DMV in Trenton, tell them you want to title a kit car and have them send you the "Reconstructed Vehicle" packet of information. It details all of the rules your car must comply with.

[JWheaton]

The great thing about ERA is that you get to put your deposit down and then have some time to think (save) for options.

Go for the twin paxton supercharger option!

What is your budget?

I know others will jump all over me for this, however, the outward brakes are really nice, but not needed if it interferes with other items on your wish list. Inboard brakes help to stop the car pretty well and have been doing so well before they offered this option. Go big with the front brakes regardless.

1) Powder coating
2) Bond and rivet by ERA (they know what they are doing have them do it)
3) Assemble roller (unless this is what you want to do)
4) 6-pin wheels only if you will be doing 95% street driving.
5) Pipes (location and mufflers) depend on your tastes and who you want to drive with (you married? )

It might be easier to pick the options you shouldn't get!

I have a spreadsheet with the options on them I can send to you for pricing out car. Give me an email and I will send it tonight.

Jamie

[Jim Holden]

Just to clarify a point made earlier on; you can change the pads on the inboard Jag brakes without having to drop the entire rear out of the car. There is a removable panel behind the seats that can be removed to access the brakes. It does help to remove the seats (four bolts each) to give you room to work. Having said that, however, there is no question that the outboard brake setup is easier to access and the suspension has provision for easier adjustment of the suspension settings, etc., but it does come a price premium.

On the street, the inboard Jag system is more than adequate. After all the basic system came out of a car weighing two tons or more vs. an ERA at 2,500+/-

Jim

[patrickt]

Jim's right on all of that -- but the only downside I can find to having the ERA outboard rear is that it's pretty darn hard to get to the front driveshaft U-joint for lubrication. The integrated handbrake cable mount gets in your way. What would really be nice would be a small removable trap door on the passenger side of the tunnel at the base of the floor. That way you just remove the passenger seat, take out the trap door, and *poof* the U-joint is right there in front of you. Yep, that would be nice alright.

[xracerbob]

Patrick-
You should be using the non lube type U-joints. They are much stronger and safer.

Lots of excellent info here:
http://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/html...eak%20u-joints

[elric]

What did Peter have to say? If you're just going to street drive the car I would see no reason to get the outboard brakes; save the $$$ for other stuff.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by xracerbob

Patrick-
You should be using the non lube type U-joints. They are much stronger and safer. [/url]

You know I had that conversation with Bob P. about why ERA specs the Spicers with fittings as opposed to the Spicer "Life" U-joints. There's six of them on the car, too. I can't remember now what his reasoning was, but they continue to spec. the lubable U-joints over the non-lubable ones. Bob, any comment?

[Chaplin]

I only drive on the street so I went with the inboard brakes. If I were to build my car again, the only thing I would do differently is to go with the outboard brakes.

While it is true that you can remove the access panel to get at the inboard brakes, I find that removing the seats to get to the panel, and then reinstalling the seats when I'm done, takes longer than actually doing whatever type of servicing that I wanted to do to the brakes or rear in the first place. I know some people claim to be able to remove the access panel without removing the seats, but that hasn't worked for me- can't get my hands and a screwdriver back there with the seats in. It would be so much easier to just jack the car up, pop off a wheel and have full access to the brakes in 5 minutes.

The extra cost of the outboard brakes is not that much more than the std rear if you do it now, but if you want to retrofit it later on, it will cost you almost as much as it would have if you would have purchased the outboard brakes initially- I've asked about it.

So I would go with the outboard brakes now because you cannot easily (or inexpensively) upgrade that later on and forego some other options now which you can more easily upgrade letter on when the budget allows.

Plus, the outboard rear is so damn pretty to look at

[RICK LAKE]

patrickt You are lucky to live in a normal state with common sense. NJ is the dump a$$ state with there safety inspections. The side pipes need covers and the QR hub on the steering wheel is not legal. This I know for sure. The rest of the crazyness would need to be answered by Chaplin or anyone with a new cobra going through the red tape game. I have hear that some cars go through without any problems and other are jerked around to death. Monday morning or Friday afternoon would be the best time. As far as the leg burn I thought you had this one figured out. Buy a small welding blanket and cut it long enough to cover the sidepipe. Once out of the car, roll it back up next to the seat. Burnt skin of pants leg is still a pain to remove from the side pipe. It's a nice war wound to remember. Rick L. Ps how was the beach this weekend???? NO PICTURES. Watch out the other half is behind you.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

As far as the leg burn I thought you had this one figured out. Buy a small welding blanket and cut it long enough to cover the sidepipe. Once out of the car, roll it back up next to the seat.

Yeah right, if I can't remember to step out over the pipes how am I going to remember to throw a cape down over the pipes? Who am I, Sir Walter Raleigh? Oh yeah, are zerkless U-joints stronger than ones with fittings?

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

You might want to consider ordering all your options at the time they start building your car, as they are all installed at no extra cost. I made the mistake of buying my optional stuff after my car was complete, and thus I had to install everything. Also have Peter arrange your paint work, then you will not have to take the car apart for paint (another hard-learned lesson)...it will be done for you. My car has a 428 with a toploader...and is BLACK, with no stripes. It is just about done...only needs to work the bugs out and install the wipers and heat shields.
Good luck, you cannot go wrong with ERA.

[RAO-3]

Originally Posted by ZOERA-SC7XX

You might want to consider ordering all your options at the time they start building your car, as they are all installed at no extra cost. I made the mistake of buying my optional stuff after my car was complete, and thus I had to install everything. Also have Peter arrange your paint work, then you will not have to take the car apart for paint (another hard-learned lesson)...it will be done for you. My car has a 428 with a toploader...and is BLACK, with no stripes. It is just about done...only needs to work the bugs out and install the wipers and heat shields.
Good luck, you cannot go wrong with ERA.

Your car sounds really nice... I really like the black, but my wife thinks I should consider a different color as my current car is black. (I hope I didn't go and ruin things, using the "w" word here. ) I wouldn't have swayed but really liked the color of the car in the pic earlier up in the thread.

(I did speak to the owner of that car for quite a time and he was so very helpful, but never did ask his name or the specifics on the colors. If anyone can help me with that, I'd appreciate it)

I share your thoughts about trying to get all the options I want at the start, and I guess that's what got me going with this thread; that and trying to gain knowledge from other people's experiences. I plan to keep this car a long time, so want to be sure it's about as right as can be.

Thanks for all the help.

Ray