She has arrived!

Well Christmas 2014 will be long remembered in my household. Last Friday I accepted delivery of my Pace 427 S/C kit! So we have the chassis and body (fitted - for now) and umpteen boxes of parts!

As you can see, everything is well packed for shipping, and packaging of the parts is well thought out (with little boxes for all the bolts). I have most everything at home now (except the engine, gearbox, diff and exhaust system).

So the next few weeks will be full of sorting and making up sub-assemblies, as well as finding a temporary home for the body which will come off to give easier access to the chassis for the bulk of the mechanical build.

Body time

Laying up the carbon fibre and kevlar body is next, with a new blend of blue I think we're calling Indigo. Yes, it does look a bit Cadbury, but in the flesh apparently it 'really pops'. 

Finally, she's out of the mould and fitted to the chassis. We just need a few more holes cut, then on to the next stage which is packing all the bits.

In the meantime, back at my ranch, using my newfound welding skills I've built a trolley to host the build for the first stages. Much like the trolleys at the Absolute Pace factory you can see in the pics above. I just finished an intro to welding night course at the local TAFE.

Chassis Completed

My chassis is done now and occupies the showroom, waiting nakedly for the body.

Another Cobra is Born!

Well yesterday I received very exciting news. My Cobra chassis is now on the jig being welded into shape. Should start to see some good progress now.

Kit Decision Made

Well after lots of deliberation and discussions with suppliers and fellow Vic Cobra Club members, I've decided on the kit for the Cobra.

Absolute Pace in Queensland have developed a new, aluminium semi-monocoque chassis with mostly manufactured new components, and somewhat predictably called the Pace427. It is receiving top reviews by most who have seen the vehicle and Craig White's factory in Arundel, although as of today no-one has completed and registered a Pace427. I am confident the risk of ending up with an 'unregisterable' Cobra is small and manageable.

A major part of the decision to go with the Pace427 is the body and space this creates for the occupants. At 6'1" with a long torso, I'm often told I look like Noddy when sitting in a convertible with my head above the windscreen! 

I've visited Craig's factory twice in the past year, and I am very impressed with the quality of the components I've seen. The passion driving all those I've spoken to at the factory is also impressive. The finish on the body gelcoat is fantastic, and will aid the budget - I don't think I'll need to paint the car initially. This will allow me to spend the budget on the build for now. If I get bored and/or rich in the next few years I can always change colours then!

Shed ready!

Last few weekends have seen some good work and we now have a working shed!

Built the back wall from timber, and re-tasked the old garden gate to be the back door. I needed to weld an extension to the frame as well as some extra hinges.












(It is clear my welding skills are next to non-existent so I either need to do a course and/or get help if anything needs welding on my Cobra!)

Added some shelves and the all-important work bench. It is timber, but I think I'll get a sheet of metal on top as working with cars is a bit different to working with wood :-) But it is good and solid as you can see.

Also had a tradies special day at Total Tools last week so I stocked up on a few items including a decent vice for half price! Win!

And no shortage of power points as you can see. These are on a separate 15 amp fuse, just so you know! 

Finally, rolled out the compressor from storage and my tools draws I got for my birthday a few months back, and voila! All I need now is a kit car! Bring it on!

And then comes the floor.

A fair bit of progress over the past few months. Well for me anyway.

Gutter and downpipes installed and all the flashings finished up top.

Installed power and lighting. Used LED tubes in some old fluoro mounts I had; just removed the starters to bypass the ballast. It is as bright as day in there now.

Finished levelling the floor, prepped and poured the concrete today. Minimum 100mm thick with heavy duty reo, and as it took so long to go off today we expect it will be VERY tough. Shouldn't be a problem though as I don't have enough height for a hoist or anything but it is good to know anyway.

It happens to be Motorclassica in Melbourne this weekend so I am off there tomorrow for a bit of car bling to spur me on. I've recently visit Craig White at Absolute Pace in Queensland a few times and am quite taken with his Pace 427SC replica and he has come down for the show too, so will be good to a catch up with him.

So I've nearly run out of excuses. Shed nearly done. Kit pretty well chosen. Just need a bit more cash and off we go!