The considerably smaller owner market means there are even fewer online build documentations. These are a few of the ones I have referred to. GT40 Supercharged Jason Ferraro’s RCR build Australia Ruffian GT40 Chris Ashton’s highly modified Superformance Southern CaliforniaRead More →
While working on the steering, I decided to incorporate the self-cancelling turn signal mod. Update to current design The kit includes a VW turn signal lever. It has the self-cancelling mechanism built into it, it only needs an actuating cam to make it happen. But whoa, little buddy, it requires a little more attention than that. The cancelling cam is a 3/4″ shaft collar, with a couple bumps on it. I placed two welds, 135º apart and then sanded the profile. The PDF file shows the finished dimensions. You need to be fairly accurate in making this. Too small and it won’t cancel properly, tooRead More →
What cobra should I buy/build? I always answer this question with an explanation of the cars history and asking what are you trying to do? Do you want a good resale value, as cheap a build as possible or what? As you become familiar with the hobby and the vehicle, you learn there are four tiers of cars available to you. Original Cobra: unless you have an unlimited bankroll, this is probably out of your range. At today’s market, 427 cars are going to run you 1-2 million, depending on their pedigree and condition. Continuation & Kirkhams: Often these are one in the same, ShelbyRead More →
These cars are made to be driven. However the elements sometimes can be very challenging. We built ours with a heater and seat heaters, but the open cockpit can really be uncomfortable at 30 degrees and 30 mph. The addition of a ‘lap blanket’ puts all the components into play and makes for a very comfortable ride. The blanket snaps to the underside of the dash, trapping heat into the cockpit. It is under the seatbelts so heat generated by the heater is focused on your lower body. Read More →
The Over-Riders bolt up to the quickjack mounts with the same bolt spacing, but the back of the overrider is angle and the back of the quickjack is straight up and down. Takes a little tweaking of the mounting hardware to get all the pieces to line up. The angle of the back matches the angle of the nose opening. If you plan to mount the chrome hoop, to get it to match the the overriders, the angle of the back MUST match the angle of the nose. Different bodies are on different angles and typically, none of them match the angle of the commonly foundRead More →
So, what’s different with the new car? A commonly asked question, HM20203 is very similar to my first car, HM1078. So why and what? Why? Everyone talks about the concept of “if I had it to do over again, what would you . . .” There were few if any things I changed due to this concept. Yes, I did learn some tricks after building the first one, but for the most part, HM2023 is a totally different approach. Maybe the biggest motivator, ‘I like to build’. I just completed an almost three-year project and have a number of years of ‘annual upgrades’ ahead ofRead More →
The rollbar has a third leg that extends into the trunk, attaching to a frame point to provide triangulation strength. The originals had an adapter socket that bolted to the rear framework. The Hurricane Motorsports design has a tube welded to the rear frame extension that the strut slides over. It must slide down far enough to let the main rollbar pass by when it is install. The strut is then slid back up and the retainer bolt installed. All smooth and thought out, except on the trunk side. Their original design relied on the three legged triangle to hold all the pieces in place.Read More →
On my first build, HM1078, the car came with a Lokar #EHB-7000F, flat-mounted eBrake handle. The originals angled up and there was definitely room for improvement. My first pass was to modify the mounting of it and the way it attached to the cables. The Ford TBird IRS eBrake system was pretty in-efficient and this mod was marginal, at best. This is a link to the earlier posting. After multiple attempts to make it work, I found a Lokar #EHB-7016 Transmission mount handle. This provided a longer handle which increased the leverage. I modified it to fit the Hurricane frame which became Mod level#2. ThisRead More →
Choices I have often commented, “the most difficult part of building is selecting a color” The choice is often a spur-of-the-moment inspiration. For my second build, that inspiration came at a car show years ago when I ran across a Saleen 302 painted a bright red called “Lizstick Red”. Named after Steve’s wife Liz, the color is a bright red metallic tri-coat, similar to Candy Apple Red. I searched the internet for years, looking for the formula for the paint or a place to buy it. Saleen is very protective of the formula, produced for them by BASF. A little bit of blind luck, IRead More →