My Tribute Cobra build

[DLN1965]

My first little trip out in my Kobra ....
only a few miles... to give it a try

Despite being patchy grey (the car.... not just my hair) it certainly turns heads !!!

And I had forgotten how punchy these cars are ... even more so with the lightened fibreglass body (100kg less.... so I’ve read)
Handles like a dream on the new adjustable suspension and put a grin on my face when pulling away !!

Couple of little things to do before it’s finished but rather pleased considering it’s all my own handiwork

And in theory .... it goes in for paint next week !

 

[DLN1965]

Today is the day ….. I will be dropping my project off at the painters today

couple of little jobs for them to do too…. Nothing difficult, but I don’t have the tools to sort …

I may have progress pictures as they crack on with it (which I may post on here) ……. BUT it will be 3+ weeks before I collect it !

 

[DLN1965]

Took my car in for it’s respray …
Gary from Surrey Customs spotted some alignment gaps and not straight panels (Nothing that he hasn’t seen and sorted before !)
But he has a keener eye than I !!!
It’s in his capable hands now …

Main colour decided months ago …. But had to pick a stripe colour (YES it will be striped !) and having seen 1001 shades of the same colour I ended up picking ‘medium’ !!

I will get progress pics as it goes along !!
In approx 3 weeks (depending on how it progresses) I should have my dream car back on the driveway to put the nudge bars back on …
In time for summer cruising !!
Woooohooo

 

[DLN1965]

Slight hiccup here …The spray shop may not be able to do the respray .. it will take much much longer than he planned and the price will go up hugely !! I have a contingency pot BUT not as much as the increase !!
AND some of his his bookings can’t be pushed back !!

He is (and I am) looking around for another place locally to assist …. Otherwise it’s back to square 1 !!
Don’t fancy doing it myself !
And some of the cheaper quotes are no where near the finish I am looking for …..
I will know more later today !!
So …. Bit gutted !!
But not given up yet tho …. Feelers have gone out !!
And hopefully we can come up trumps ??

Multi colour Primer looks good tho …. Right ???

 

[andyBeaker]

Slight hiccup here …The spray shop may not be able to do the respray .. it will take much much longer than he planned and the price will go up hugely !! I have a contingency pot BUT not as much as the increase !!
AND some of his his bookings can’t be pushed back !!

He is (and I am) looking around for another place locally to assist …. Otherwise it’s back to square 1 !!
Don’t fancy doing it myself !
And some of the cheaper quotes are no where near the finish I am looking for …..
I will know more later today !!
So …. Bit gutted !!
But not given up yet tho …. Feelers have gone out !!
And hopefully we can come up trumps ??

Multi colour Primer looks good tho …. Right ???

No idea what a vinyl wrap costs, worth investigating?

 

[DLN1965]

I did think of that a long while ago Andy, but wraps are temporary AND need a good paint surface to adhere to ….
And I’ve kinda set my heart on a certain colour scheme
Not given up hope yet !!!

 

[andyBeaker]

I did think of that a long while ago Andy, but wraps are temporary AND need a good paint surface to adhere to ….
And I’ve kinda set my heart on a certain colour scheme
Not given up hope yet !!!

rat Rod.......

 

[DLN1965]

Been to get 3 quotes from different spray shops
And I’ve heard NOTHING !
All 3 could talk the talk and said they can do this or that ….
I thought I had chosen my favourite of the 3
BUT awaiting the email quotes and had nothing !
Tried emailing all 3 and had no replies
Tried text messaging all 3 and had no replies
Tried calling all 3 and no one is answering the calls !!

what does it take to get a honest yes we can do it this time and it will cost so much OR sorry we can’t do it within the time / price constraints !!

so annoying !!!!!

 

[Jaws]

It does seem to be the British way... You hear the same basic story concerning all trades

 

[Lee337]

Yep, agree. I wanted some wheels powder coated & emailed 3 different local businesses without reply. Phoned another two but neither of them got back to me.

 

[Squag1]

No, it's everywhere.
Why people can't say that they're not interested or can't do it I don't know.

 

[Malone]

Are they fed up with people asking how much, and then never coming back?

 

[Pow-Lo]

Same here with our utility room units. Some burd came out and measured up and said she'd email with a quote by the end of the week. Still nothing some two weeks late, so Mrs P phoned and no answer, emailed and no response. I phoned two weeks later and got an answer. Yer man said he was very surprised as this burd was their best kitchen planner. Said he'd drop her a message and get to ring me and I've heard nothing and that was about a month ago. We gave top and went elsewhere and units coming next week.

 

[andyBeaker]

Same here with our utility room units. Some burd came out and measured up and said she'd email with a quote by the end of the week. Still nothing some two weeks late, so Mrs P phoned and no answer, emailed and no response. I phoned two weeks later and got an answer. Yer man said he was very surprised as this burd was their best kitchen planner. Said he'd drop her a message and get to ring me and I've heard nothing and that was about a month ago. We gave top and went elsewhere and units coming next week.

We use Howdens A lot - their kitchen designers generally seem pretty good and the product is a cut above the DIY stores. They will match DIY store prices at the drop of a hat.

Best of all,the carcasses come fully assembled, saves a ton of time.

 

[Pow-Lo]

We use Howdens A lot - their kitchen designers generally seem pretty good and the product is a cut above the DIY stores. They will match DIY store prices at the drop of a hat.

Best of all,the carcasses come fully assembled, saves a ton of time.

Um, this was Howdens. They only sell to the trade and we had this burd in to measure up, we would have then placed the order and then our builder would've picked it up. No way could or would I recommend them after this. We ended up measuring up ourselves and placed an order with an online outfit. They're delivering next week so we'll soon see if they're any good or not.

 

[andyBeaker]

Um, this was Howdens. They only sell to the trade and we had this burd in to measure up, we would have then placed the order and then our builder would've picked it up. No way could or would I recommend them after this. We ended up measuring up ourselves and placed an order with an online outfit. They're delivering next week so we'll soon see if they're any good or not.

Ah. Maybe I am lucky with my local branch, they are excellent without fail.

Howdens sell to anyone despite what they say -;their salespeople are heavily commission based. Your builder will get a much better price though; we do a lot of business with them, you would be astonished at the %discount we get....!

 

[DLN1965]

A little update ….. as it’s been quite a while

Been let down by a couple of painters
But all booked in again for sept 7th

took it for a pre mot test to see if there was much work needed…. I knew about the lack of rear fog lights and horn (as I had had the car stripped down twice ready for painters …. Then rebuilt back on the road after I was let down !!)

So apart from these items the only issue was a corroded exhaust …. Something which can be easily fixed . May consider a stainless built one with cats and a little more burble
Everything else was very good (even the LED replacement headlights !)

The painter was very keen on stripping everything …. Including all the glass, door handles and all seals !! This could look good when he’s finished…. Most I’ve seen haven’t been sprayed that well and all these areas have been masked over !!!
I went to order the paint as it’s a US spec paint (House of Kolor) .. and had to reign myself in a bit when the paint alone crept above the £1,000 mark !!!
I bought 2 x 1 litres as a test a few weeks ago …. One is BMW Titan silver …. The other looks

Quite like driving it (even in its stripped form !)

 

[DLN1965]

Well …. It’s at the painters !!

But ……. The main painter spent a day sanding and marking up the body with pencil marks, and was involved in a motorcycle accident and broke his femur !!
He is a sub contractor to the garage …. Which means no income for up to 6 months !!
Is there a curse on the car perhaps ??

But the paint has been ordered, along with base coat (note it’s a base coat colour NOT primer !! As this is a 4 stage paint…. primer base coat main colour (transparent to give depth and reflect the base colour through) and finally a lacquer !!
The garage did offer me a loan of their car trailer, if I need to transport it anywhere prior to the MOT in mid Oct ….
Reckon I should give it a full service and replace serviceable items at the same time!
And treat it to a nice hidden stainless exhaust …. The sidepipes are for show !

 

[DLN1965]

A little update ….. tho not much really
I took The paint into the garage ….
And they will do a spray test on an old bonnet to see if I require 3, 4, 5 or more coats of my paint

Got in to see the car and it looks much better than any of my efforts !
And it’s not really in primer yet !!!

So far happy with results ….
May have paint left …. Tempted to do the Bird in the same colour ???

 

[DLN1965]

Afternoon all

I think it’s time for an update ….

The car is in the sprayers
He did a trail spray out with the colour to see what I think …..
I definitely thought 3 coats looked best, then he tried 2 more …. So 5 coats in total
This really looked like the colour I was hoping !!
And it started show a deep shine !
Lacquer to go on top too ….
The body looked super smooth…. Much better than I could do AND he filled out curves on the flat bits where the mould wasn’t perfect
He thinks it’s about 10 more days BUT will need my assistance marking out the stripes …. As they taper slightly, and wanted my eye to agree with his eye
So we pencilled in 1/2 a day to get these right !!

Slight challenge is that the MOT ran out yesterday so I will need it trailered (unless I can get a set of trade plates …?) to the exhaust shop so they can build the stainless exhaust THEN back home to get the MOT … had it pre MOT checked before the spray shop and the exhaust was the only failure

So in theory …. Just in time for the cold winter months ?? And a few weeks annual leave to assemble all the chrome bits I took off !!
And a all weather cover over it !!