Registering and titleing in Massachusetts

[kgs365]

has any one built one and recently gone through the registration and titleing process in Massachusetts?...any advice before i write a check to ERA?

[kgs365]

the first question was so well received i thought id ask another ...feel free to pm if you dont want to give a range....here it is ...cost of a paint job single color a silver , red or black no stripes and no fancy body work other then smoothing it out and painting?...trying to work the budget out ...already have the motor a 390 FE with a full compliment of edelbrock (heads, cam, intake, carb etc) ..

[patrickt]

$7,500 -- give or take.

[Ron61]

I believe that Patrickt is in a pretty close range unless they run into some body flaws that shouldn't be there and have to be fixed. Also prices will vary from area to area as they seem to be higher out here than most other places I have seen. A very nice single color paint job here with minimal body work would run you in the $7,000 to $ 9,500 range depending on what shop did the work. I would opt for the higher price as they will guarantee their work and the other shops are more or less the old Earl Scheib types. Looks great for a short time and then you start to see the cheap paint they used. I don't remember exactly but I believe that the paint job I had on mine, I had stripes too, cost me just over $11,000.

Ron

[strictlypersonl]

We have two local painters that do an excellent job at prices that range from $5000 to $7500. Because we fit every body before it arrives at the painters', there's never any surcharge to "fix" it. Of course, because both of them have done many of our cars, they know all the quirks that the ERA body requires to make it really accurate. Those who have visited our shop have seen the quality of every job.

[patrickt]

KGS365 -- Both Connecticut Custom Car & Tony's have a price sheet for ERA Cobras that they will fax to you. I only have experience with Connecticut Custom. They do phenomenal work; their painters' hands have been touched by God. You can give them a call at (860)253-9553 and they will fax you their current prices. Different items, like rounding the inner lips or doing the inside of the trunk lid, cost a bit more and there are slight premiums for colors like silver, red, or black. A word of advice... do not skimp on your paint and body work. It's pretty hard to "upgrade" your paint job a year or two down the road. You will eventually want the best, so you might as well get it now.

[kgs365]

thanks guys you have been very helpful...has anyone gone through the registration and titling process recently with an ERA in Mass...its big investment/outlay to have as a garage paperweight...the engine is out of a 1972 pick up and i have the title so i think i got the engine thing down

Kevin

[Cashburn]

Good luck in Mass. You should visit the ffcobra.com forum and read up on the latest nightmare of one guy. They are following the law to a T in Mass and you need to have a matched engine (including heads), transmission, and differential. Do the research, I have essentially given up on Mass until new laws can be passed.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Cashburn

Good luck in Mass. You should visit the ffcobra.com forum and read up on the latest nightmare of one guy. They are following the law to a T in Mass and you need to have a matched engine (including heads), transmission, and differential. Do the research, I have essentially given up on Mass until new laws can be passed.

Jay, are they also doing that with cars that are properly registered in another state, and then sold in to Mass.? Or only on cars that you title for the first time in Mass.?

[kgs365]

ive been following on FFcobra...some sail through... some got to jump through many hoops...fingers crossed for SEMA legislation

[Cashburn]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Jay, are they also doing that with cars that are properly registered in another state, and then sold in to Mass.? Or only on cars that you title for the first time in Mass.?

If they have the '65 Golden Ticket from another state... walk in, pay taxes, walk out. Like some other states. Punish the people that follow the procedure...

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Cashburn

If they have the '65 Golden Ticket from another state... walk in, pay taxes, walk out. Like some other states. Punish the people that follow the procedure...

I spent five minutes looking at some of the Mass. rules. After I found the rule that said that any new car, from anywhere outside Mass., anyhow, anyways, that has less than 7500 miles must pass their new emissions test, I gasped and closed the browser. That rule apparently applies to everything, GM cars, foreign cars, etc. I think that's even worse than California.

[Cashburn]

There's a ton of confusion I am sure. It really will get worse if the residents of Mass that have an interest in cars do not make an effort to change the law. SEMA can only go so far, it requires tax payers to plead the case and carry it through.