New Buyer help

[John248]

Hello all, I could use some sage advice from those on the board. Come this spring I plan on ordering a car from Dana and I have just a few questions before I make that order. First off let me explain what I am going to be ordering, keeping in mind thiss is going to be a California car.

Complete Cobra kit for 351W (blueprint 408W/Tremec transmission)
Hydraulic clutch upgrade kit
Wilwood 12 inch brakes
Upholstered door panels
Driver side seat track
Heater/defroster kit
Weatherstripping kit
Vinyl dash upgrade
Team III 17 inch wheel/tire combo

Now for the questions.

1. Any issues with the quality of the fiberglass body or frame ?

2. What was the time frame from placement of order to delivery ? Also any issues when your car arrived?

3. Any problems or issues during the build of the car ?

4. I plan on putting the body on a body buck during the build. Has anyone else done this and if so....do you have the dimensions (or are they same as the FF cars) ?

5. Lastly, if you could go back and order your car again, what extras would you add or delete ?

This is going to be a 12 month build (I hope) and it’s going to parallel my rebuilding of my wife’s 67 mustang she drove in HS that we recently found abandoned in a side yard of a house for sale.

Any advise, help, prayers or counseling would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
JW

[Dirty Harry]

My purchase experience was in '92 and that pre-dates Dana. If you're still interested, though, I'll tell you about my SV experience. My frame and body were of very good quality. The suspension attaching points needed some minor alignment (hit with a hammer to make them line up), but no big deal. I picked up my kit at their shop and there were virtually no backordered parts. I loaded the parts on my truck and trailer, paid them in full, and pulled away. No hassle, no drama. It was just days between my order and their telling me that the kit was ready for pickup. I built a stand for the body and put wheels on it. During chassis work, I was able to push the body out of the way or work on it, if I wished. SV made all the cutouts in the body for me, prior to delivery. I like the 351 choice. I would do that again. I used the Mustang II brakes but later upgraded to 11" Granada brakes to get better stopping power. Wilwood was not an option, then. I use a hydraulic slave to operate my clutch. I like my setup and it has been very reliable and trouble-free. I deleted the door panels at first, but later ordered them from Dana. I started out with the sliding seat tracks, but felt like I was sitting too high in the car, so I bolted the seats directly to the floor. I have never installed a heater, but have been tempted, at times, to add one for the cool Indiana nights. I used the SV weather stripping kit, applying the strip to the body, instead of the moving parts. I started out intending to cover the dash in vinyl and changed my mind and painted the dash panel with black wrinkle finish paint. Much less work. I have made some changes and upgrades over the years and Dana has been great to work with. Installed a CD player-big waste of time, would not do that again.

[John248]

Thank you Harry for the reply. I’ve been holding off my purchase until I got info from a prior customer. From what I’ve heard, the company is even better now that it is under new owners. I’ve heard nothing but positive stuff about Dana, and my back and forth emails with him confirm what was being said. I am looking forward to getting my car ordered so I can join those of you who succumbed to the madness.

Thank you again.
John

[MKS427]

If you are getting large port/raised port heads. Make sure the headers are compatible. You may consider solid motor mounts to drop engine to lower the exhaust port alignment with body/side pipes. Large primary tubes are needed to get all you paid for out of the heads. I had to abandon the FFR headers for this reason.
Dirty Hairy was right about the seat tracks. If you are around 5' 8" or above, they may not work for you.
Have fun with your build,
Mark

[John248]

Thank you Mark for the information. I have in a few different cars and all are not the same. Since I’m 6 ft, I will have to take your information and think about it. I was wanting the seat track so my wife could drive it (she’s 5-6) without using pillows and phone books to get her in it.

Thank you again

John

[pgermond]

I built a Unique in 2003 and used a buck. I can send info if interested.

If this is going to be a Calif car...... why the heater and defroster setup?

If you are going with a 5-speed be sure to get the correct rear gears for the type of driving you plan on doing.

[hauss]

I would suggest a external slave cylinder, for the clutch, you will not have to drop the trany, if you ever have to work on it.

[Dirty Harry]

As for the adjustable seat...Shell Valley may have a floorpan option now that much earlier cars did not. Ask Dana.

[MKS427]

Originally Posted by hauss

I would suggest a external slave cylinder, for the clutch, you will not have to drop the trany, if you ever have to work on it.

YES! One of the guys in our group, has that problem currently at 1500 miles.

[John248]

Pgermond: I live in the Central Valley where the weather is, but the coast can be chilly. I plan on driving it as much as I can....built to drive, not just look pretty in the garage. I would rather have the heater combo and not use it a lot, than not have it at all when I could use it. If the wife ain’t happy, the drive ain’t happy......

Harry: SV has a dropped floor pan on both sides, so that should help with the legroom, and make for a more comfortable ride on longer trips.

Hauss: Thank for the tranny tip. I will have to add that to my book of build advice.


Thank you again for the tips. Keep them coming, because lord knows when I start building the car, I will be asking a lot more questions.