Yet Another suggestion.... [Archive]

Tailwind

03-01-2007, 11:20 PM

I wish I had seen this thread when it was fresh, Kit cars ruled my life for several years, Tbirds 57 on lincoln chassis, Licoln Zephers on Corvette chassis and hand built chassis and mustang II suspensions with 302 ci motors for the all too well know Cobra replica. I built about 11 cobras, all with different color schemes, engine mods , brakeing systems, some has functional sidepipes, some fake , some had no side pipes. It was some of the hardest work I have ever done, and not very rewarding at all. until one day when Ron at carolina classic car restorations offered to let me use one to take my girl to six flags. That changed the whole Idea of the kit cars, I see why people want them as they are really quick and exciting. Now the real story from behind the scenes at "Carolina Classics"

There are an absolutely amazing number of people that pull up to look and gaze and ask questions, while in awe, even after telling them it was a kit from where I worked called the Classic Cobra. People all over coudnt get enough of them, We drove them to shows in Atlanta, Miami, Las Vegas and about anywhere else that had a venue for kit cars.

I guess I would do another if I had to,

But if your looking to by one remember this. approx. 92% of all car kits purchased are returned to the place of puchase and pay for them to be assembled. 5 percent of the other 8 are never finished and are sold kind of in a loop until its basically worth nothing. 3 may be completed by purchaser.

I thought it was cool at first just because we were considered manufacturers and we got to make our own serial number data plates. In that case I was once a VP at an auto manufacturing plant. Did not make the cash that went with the title. I just worked and drove the cars. And eventually the downfall of it all was some guys that bought kits and had pics of our finished cars, somehow managed to get a bank to lend then substatial amounts of money on them. FRAUD of the worst kind. Kit car building is one of those times in my life I wouldnt want to loose but really would not want to repeat either.

When you go to buy one they literally try to make it sound like you and a buddy could put it together while having a kegger over the weekend, when in reality you need a body shop, a welding rig, (Tig Preferably for exaust tube manufacture. And a professional mechanic. They dont sell headers that fit you have to take 4 lengths of tubing for each side, cut them into about 6 to 8 pieces each make sure you number them with a sharpie, and then with an exaust tubing bender (forgot you have to have a large tubing bender to) slowly start to fit the 32 sections of tubing into place , cupping the ends to make the bends stay round and then start a tack weld on one. then pick up 1st part of second tube do the same on another exaust port. Once you have done this eight times, while remembering that the objective here is for all 8 tubes to be of equal length and fit from the exaust port to the collector which is waiting under the car. pick up part2 of pipe one and try to imagine in your head where it might be able to fit and still allow the others some space through the steering box,over the upper a-frame down under the firewall. Once you have taken the week needed to get that out of your system. remove the tacked assemblies and tig up all the joints nice and smooth. and remember everytime you burn through you are dropping little steel balls of slag into the pipes. I highly recommend removing them before mounting the headers or your car will rattle everywhere you go. If you are lucky enough for them to actually fit like before, Praise the lord, youll be the first , first time custom header builder that did it. Now picture doing a complete custom interior, and a custom all over paint job , mounting a convertible top, making hinges for the hood and the trunk, Mounting windsheild frame and glass assembly and heres the worst part, making a hand made custom wiring harness for the entire car integrating MG and Lucas english hardware with american and japanese aftermarket hardware, with factory ford electronics, and an aftermarket heat and air system, all fitted on a jig built but totally custom frame. Now the brake lines, fuel lines and on and on and on. For the amount of labor it takes to actually complete a kit car like the Classic Cobra, you could turn whatever you have now into a Grand National Show winner and still have a big boat load of money in your pocket, My point is that its a ton of frustrating hard and expensive trials and tribulations that will test every ounce of patience, and all your reserve power, and may put your sanity on the border. In the end you will either sell it incomplete of hire a shop to finish it, and when all is done you still have a copy a fake, an imposter that isnt worth anything much unless you spent tons on the shop you hired. so now you have your car and no money. So I hope you really enjoy it because at some point you will want to sell it and then is when the really depressing statistics dredge up from the sea of doom, It has no value. Now its a used kit car. and will be sold traded rotated around from shop to shop or home to home until as I said before it is absolutely worthless.

And that my friend is the kit car life at least from the kit maker side, If I never see another chopper gun connected to 55 gal drum of resin Ill be happier than a pig in the mud.

Just one mans humble and time proven opinion.