CSX 4000 series body / frame assymetry

[shelby racer]

Well, I finally got CSX4788 to the alignment shop (it was so badly misaligned that the front wheels did not point in the same direction and one of the rear wheels was rubbing on the body work (and less that 1/16" from the frame). With the frame level, one side of the body is about 3/4" higher than the other. I know the original cobras, being hand made were never symmetric (which oddly was a complaint that some people had about the Kirkam cars being "too perfect"), but has any one else found this with their Shelby? Is the body on my car weird? Is it not mounted properly? Any comments. Any guesses.
Thanks
John(;-)

[RodKnock]

I remember people or someone had said that some of the CSX bodies in the 4700's needed to be repaired. I can't remember if they were the Sout African or Mexican bodies, but the former owner of 4758, had to have the body repaired, but I can't remember the specific issues. A query of this site might help. The current owner of 4758, Rokndad (Tom), is very happy.

[LURK]

The molds for the continuation Cobras were off an original (number escapes me at the moment) which had "a bit" of asymmetry to it... sort of like boobs

Some rub in the back is not unusual when you're cornering at speed.

[rokndad]

Rodknock is correct. The original owner of my car was so disappointed with the fit and finish of the overall car (black rhino coating under the hood and trunk, poor door, hood and trunk alignment, and several other things, including paint finish, he contacted SAI and Gary Patterson actually came to pay a visit to personally inspect the car. He agreed to send it back to Las Vegas, and in the end, instead of trying to piece meal repair or realign the problem areas, he decided to re-body and repaint the entire car with what I'm told was a fiberglas body made in Las Vegas. The underside of the hood and trunk have the same glossy finish as the rest of the car. I have found no apparent flaws or alignment issues with the car. Very well done.

I just had a four wheel alignment and corner weight check at Glen's Alignment in Costa Mesa and it tracks straight down the road even with the Goodyear billboards. Expensive but worth it. Glen's also set the height of the car to Shelby specs and the edges of the wheel wells are within 1/4 inch comparing one side's height to the other. You may want to confirm everything you're having an issue with and call Gary Patterson at SAI. He's been pretty responsive on these kinds of things.

[BigRed427]

The first South African CSX was 4825.

[RedCSX1]

I was told personally by people that work or worked at Shelby that the fit and finish of the Shelby's from CAV South Africa were terrible. This included the use of the Rino Lining. The suspension on mine had some major issues that was corrected by Tom's Motorsports in Vegas. He has been a life saver when it comes to correcting faults/problems found with many of the Shelby's including mine.

[shelby racer]

Yeah, $971 to align and corner weight and set the ride height, and they still could not get it to where they wanted it. The rub seems to be eliminated. It was majorly toe'd in. The shop has done a bunch of cobras (real and replica) and they have never seen one this far off. Tony said that Gary D was going to reply to my inquiry but I am still waiting. I am not going to bother Gary P AGAIN about my car. He has already had to help me a bunch. You can definitely get the fenders the same distance from the tires, but then the frame is not truly level on my car. It is probably 90 + % there, and to get it the last ~10% would be hundreds to thousands of dollars so I am gonna have to say that it is good enough.

[RedCSX1]

WOW! who did the allignment? Griggs?

[shelby racer]

Basic alignment ~ $360. Because they have to take the lower control arms off and adjust the heim joint to where they think they should be put it all back together, put it back on the rack (multiple times, it gets a little involved. It also does not want to self center after turning. Is this common to the 4000s? Waay more expensive than I expected (the original estimate was ~$750), but I know and trust their work. Normally I take my cars to Big O, but not my cobra.

[mickmate]

If it doesn't want to center it might not have enough caster, is it light to steer? I was wondering whether it was front or rear that had the toe in problem? I haven't seen a 4000 (or any Cobra) yet that is symmetrical. I think it gets to the point where you only see one side at a time and it becomes somewhat of a compromise.

[shelby racer]

No wheel was originally pointing in the same direction. The left rear tire was rubbing on the inner body and at full droop (unweighted) was less than 1/16" from the frame. I know they are not perfect, but from everyone I have spoken to, mine is uniquely "special".

[mickmate]

I do know of another 4000 that was rebodied as it was almost as "special" as yours from the sound of things. Glad to hear you're gaining on it though.

[CSX 4027]

The cars do not come aligned.
The issues you are experiencing are common.
You need to get down and dirty with the car and understand alignment and learn right from wrong and either do it yourself on an alignment rack or stand over the guy doing it. I spent a week on the alignment rack on 4027. Anyone need more details can call me on my cell at 201-213-2681
There are 2 many issues to type.

[Excaliber]

Buddy of mine spent about $2,000 getting the alignment dialed in on his new SPF Coupe. Said he was blown away what a difference it made and was worth every penny.

[1985 CCX]

This really is a sickness!
Ya honey I am going to buy a really cool car called a Cobra. It will require a full alignment as it is not included in the price, oh ya neither is the engine, trans, or start up.

She says how much?

After you tell her comes the look, something like Darth Vadar when he is trying to impose the force. LOLOL


This really is a sickness....................


That night guys in the white jackets come for you. In the morning you tell the story to the shrink and he replies "Does it have a real 427 in it?"

This really is a sickness....................

[RedCSX1]

I can not stress this enough.

About Us

[Bluedog]

That's a big DITTO!

[CHANMADD]

That's the joys of buying a Cobra...you will be grinning for as long as you own it!!!

[JCoop]

Originally Posted by RedCSX1

I was told personally by people that work or worked at Shelby that the fit and finish of the Shelby's from CAV South Africa were terrible. This included the use of the Rino Lining. The suspension on mine had some major issues that was corrected by Tom's Motorsports in Vegas. He has been a life saver when it comes to correcting faults/problems found with many of the Shelby's including mine.

CAV has been defunct for a while, and former operations of the factory taken over by Auto Futura, who builds the current CAV GT40 replicar in South Africa.
You may be referring to Hi Tech, the same company that builds the Superformance Cobras, also in South Africa.

[Stentor]

Originally Posted by JCoop

CAV has been defunct for a while, and former operations of the factory taken over by Auto Futura, who builds the current CAV GT40 replicar in South Africa.
You may be referring to Hi Tech, the same company that builds the Superformance Cobras, also in South Africa.

No, I believe he is referring to CAV, not Hi Tech. CAV did make a limited number of CSX 4000 cars (and of course, Hi Tech is now producing glass CSX cars for Shelby, in addition to HST).

See post with references:

Two Continuation Car Questions