One missed update.....and the best picture EVER!

After I published my last update, I realized I forgot to say something about the safety recall that showed up on my doorstep.  As we all know, when you buy a car from a dealership you periodically receive an email or letter asking that you bring your car in for a repair or update of some sort.  Ever wonder how that works when you build your own car?  Now I know.  A package shows up on your doorstep with a letter explaining the problem, instructions, and a bunch of parts!  All joking aside, I have to say that I can not be more impressed with Factory Five Racing that they continue to listen to their customers (even after the sale) to address issues that appear to be more than "one off" problems.  Before, during and after my build Factory Five proved themselves to be a top notch company that knows the value of a great product and great customer support.  Sure, there were little "flaws" along the way that needed a bit of creative thinking to resolve, but this is a hand built car for crying out loud with thousands of parts that had to fit absolutely perfectly.

Without getting into too much detail, the issue being resolved with this recall had to do with asymmetrical tension transferring from the clutch quadrant to the pedal potentially leading to failure of the pedal.  To put that another way....the clutch pedal could snap under the excessive pressures of a heavy duty clutch, which this car definitely has!  The bag only contained 4 parts which seemed very encouraging.  Now that the work is completed, however, Colleen and I have added 4 more parts to our growing "most impossible parts to reach" list!  The fix involved removing the clutch cable from the transmission, removal of the clutch pedal and quadrant, modification of the quadrant to add additional bolt holes and then reassembly of everything in reverse order with the additional parts.  This all sounds simple enough, until you consider that all of these parts were originally assembled with no body, engine or interior aluminum panels to get in the way.  With all that now in place, every step involved handling parts often as small as a grain of rice in spaces too small or hard to reach for any normal human.  In addition, much of this had to be done by feel when it was impossible to actually see the spaces.  As you look at these picture, remember what I said earlier about needing kids or a trained monkey to build a car.

Taking everything apart.

Still taking everything apart.

Colleen through the car.

Modifying the clutch quadrant.

My constant companion and assistant through the entire build.

And now for the best picture ever taken of the car during the entire process!

It's legal!!

Brad apparently has lots of friends in Kansas because after beating my head for 6 months against the brick wall otherwise known as the Georgia DOT, Brad was able to accomplish the task in Kansas within a day!  Note to Jeff Gump:  This is exactly why I refuse to talk to anybody in Georgia!  The speed at which Brad got this accomplished is a testament to the people of Kansas and what can happen when somebody is actually willing to help.  Not only did the Saline County DOT go out of their way to help Brad work through what could have been a confusing process, but they went WAY out of their way to work with people at the state level to get an antique tag (and blue, to boot)!  I can not tell you how happy I am to see this photograph!!

A FEW TWEAKS....A LOT OF FRUSTRATION...BUT FINALLY A PLAN TOWARD A HAPPY END

First the "Tweaks":

Since bringing the car home, I have been busy fixing or improving little things that came back from the body shop "less than perfect" in our opinions.  The car looks absolutely fantastic, but there were a few little finish items that we felt were rushed by Whitby's in an effort to get the car out the door after having it for SO long.

First,  the trunk would only open about a third of the way.  We were told that it was because of our selection of concealed hinges.  After a couple hours of fine adjustments to the hinges, Brad and I were able to get the trunk open the entire way.  And to keep it open, we added two gas struts.

Second, the cowling (arc of the body over the dash) wasn't symmetrical and had it's high point slightly to the right of center.  Again, after a few hours of adding rubber spacers between the body and the dash support in just the right locations, the cowling now sits symmetrically.

The gap over the dash emphasizes the asymmetrical curve of the cowling.

And finally, and this had nothing to do with Whitby's, Brad and I didn't like the layout of the dash.  Apparently building a car gives you the freedom to say stupid things like "Let's rebuild the entire dash" and actually not give it a second thought.  Brad wasn't particularly happy with the layout of the gauges, and I wasn't particularly happy with the layout OR the look of the wood.  In my opinion, the wood looked great before the body was finished.  Once we got the car back with the finished body, however, the wood looked less professional and "cheaper" by comparison.  With the decision made, Brad and I spent a lot of time searching the internet for alternate layouts from actual Cobras, and I searched all the suppliers in the area for just the right black leather for the new look dash.  What we found was a dash layout known as a "Competition Layout" that puts more emphasis (and visibility to the driver) on the more technical aspects of engine management such as Tachometer, Oil Pressure and Coolant Temperature, and less emphasis on items like the Speedometer.    What we both liked was that the Speedometer would now be centrally located, since it would most likely be the passenger who would be keenly interested in just how quickly they were travelling 4" off the ground.  And while we were at it, we went ahead and replaced the horn button and toggle switches with more authentic replicas from the original Cobras.

New black leather "Competition" dash in progress.

There are couple of cosmetic items still to be fixed, specifically the aluminum bezel around the steering column and the right side pipe realignment, but I figured I should leave something for the Salina chapter of Team Daily to tinker with to fill their evenings.

Now for the "Frustration":

The original intent behind bringing the car back to Georgia after the completed body work was that I would get the car titled and tagged here so I could enjoy the fruits of three years and about a billion hours of labor for just a little while before sending the car to it's final home.  This was an extremely generous offer by Brad and Christina which I was more than happy to accept.  To make an EXTREMELY long and frustrating story short, after several unsuccessful visits to the Fayette County DMV chasing down multiple wild goose chases, and countless hours of internet research and phone calls looking for answers, I came to the unfortunate realization that the title and tag were never going to happen in Georgia.  Months of frustration and ultimate failure can be boiled down to two key points:

• Laws recognizing "replicas" and allowing for their titling as the year of the car they replicate (1965) were removed from the books at some point between the time I started the car and the time I finished the car.
• By not being recognized as a 1965 vehicle, the car would have to meet all of the requirements in Fayette County for a new car.  And because I live in an Atlanta metro county, the one standard I could never have passed was the elevated emission standard.

I would also like to add that while the outcome would have still been the same, the painful process was made even worse by the false hope handed out by employees at the Fayette County DMV who had absolutely no clue about the laws on the books.  I can't tell you how many times I heard comments like "give this a try, I think it might work", or "call the state office and I think they can provide you with the answers you're looking for", or my absolute favorite "you're just missing this one form".

In case you can't tell... this was an unpleasant experience.

And finally the "Plan toward a happy end":

Once it was determined that the tag in Georgia was never going to happen, Brad and I started exploring ideas for tagging the car in Florida and Kansas.  Luckily, Brad quickly found out through law enforcement patients and friends of friends who worked at the Saline County DMV (who apparently know their laws) that they would have no issues with titling and tagging the car in Kansas.  Not surprisingly, Kansas has no emission standard to meet.  Yet another reason I love Kansas!  And with that determination, the wheels were set in motion to transfer the car back to Kansas.

As sad as I am to see the car go, the determination that it could be tagged in Kansas has lifted a huge weight from my mind.  Besides, a 430 horse power rocket sitting idle in a garage is a sad sight indeed.

Reliable Carriers came today to load the car onto an enclosed trailer for it's final journey back to Kansas.  It was a crappy day weather wise, but the rain stopped just long enough for me to make the drive to the parking lot where the truck was waiting.  This last drive was the longest distance I had driven the car.

Buckling up for the final drive.

Sitting at the intersection.
(I might owe Brad some new rear tires)

Pretty cool enclosed truck for transport.

Driving up to the lift.

Inspection.  Only two small marks found on the rims.

Car being lifted into place.

Driving away.

Lessons Learned:

• There's no limit to what you can do if you set your mind to it.
• If you stay focused, little steps add up quickly to big steps before you realize what happened.
• To build a car, you must have either children with small hands or a trained monkey.
• "Car Guys" love to offer advise and jump in to help whenever asked.
• Apparently after building a car, "I'm not sure I can do that" is no longer accepted when asked to fix something around the house.
• The hours were long and often scorching or freezing, but I loved every minute of it and would do it again in a heartbeat. (I'm pretty sure I could do it again in half the time if somebody wants to give me the chance)

More Pictures

Since the car has returned to my garage, I've added a few odd and ends to help finish it off.  Things like exterior and interior badges, floor mats, interior door panels and a nice chrome fire extinguisher.  Leslie says there's nothing more reassuring than strapping yourself into a car that comes with a fire extinguisher.  I think I sensed sarcasm in her voice.  I still need to calibrate the gauges, but I can't do that until I can get it out on the open road.  And I can't do that until I get the paperwork back from the state in a few weeks.  So for now, here are some more pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally!!!

Well, the day finally came yesterday when I was able to drive up to North Carolina to pick up the finished car!  Brad and I have already assembled a "to do" list of future projects to improve or finish up little odds and ends, but for all practical purposes it's finished.  Now I'm waiting on the title to show up (two to three weeks....aaaahhhh) so I can start the process of getting it tagged in Georgia.  In the meantime, it will have to sit in the garage and taunt me.

Picking up the car on Saturday at Whitbys.

Unloading the car from the trailer on Sunday.

 

 

 

The final "To Do" list on our whiteboard for the past 11 months.

Coming Soon!!

Brad and I have been informed that the car is now finished.  We have not seen any completed pictures yet, but have been told that it looks fantastic!!  Based on other completed cars I've seen from the same shop, I have no reason to believe it will look anything but perfect.  I am making the long 6 hour drive up to Greensboro this Saturday to pick it up.  Watch for pictures soon!!

Finally.....Some Updates

I apologize for the long delay in updating our blog.  Getting any kind of updates or commitments from the body shop has been an extremely painful process.  We have been told "it will be done at the end of the month" on at least four occasions.  Of course the month would come and go.....and nothing would be finished.  But every time we would begin to completely lose faith a vague email or even a photo would arrive to revive our spirits.  At first we were thinking that this aggravating process was limited to just our car, and our body shop.  But when I started talking with others who have built or refurbished old cars, I quickly learned that the entire antique auto body industry is based on glacier like progress.  I can't tell you how many time I was told "If you get your car back within a year, you're lucky."  We even spoke with another gentleman who had his car finished by Whitbys and shared similar stories.  Here's the good part, though.  He said that if the car hadn't been flawless when if finally arrived, he would have been pissed.  Needless to say, he's very happy and said that we would be too when we finally did get the car.  Well, we're closing in on 11 months now and I'm happy to report that Whitbys has finally committed to a completion date of September 15th.  Of course, everybody at my office has reminded me that he didn't specify a year!  I won't believe it until I actually see it, but this time it appears to be the real deal.  Brad said he wouldn't buy his plane ticket down here until they were sure, and they told him to go ahead and get the ticket.  They're even in the process now of getting the car titled in North Carolina as a 1965 Cobra, which should make tagging the car in Georgia much easier.

Well, it's not a lot but these pictures represent the bulk of pictures we have received in 11 months.  (actually that's not true, we did receive a lot of pictures a while back but had to point out that they weren't of our car)  Enjoy...I know I did when they arrived!

Ready for the paint booth.

In the paint booth, ready for paint.

Stripe painted and taped, ready for body color.  And.........

Lexus Indigo Pearl with Wimbledon White!!

Body Work Photos

The body work on the car has been a SLOW process, but I do see headlights at the end of the tunnel.  Realizing that our car wasn't getting the attention it deserved, I recently paid a visit to Whitbys to speak with Jeff personally and to get a definite schedule for completion.  Very long story short...I have been assured that the car will be complete at the end of April.  There's a lot of work to be done, but we have worked through the schedule and it appears that it can be done.  My job now is to remain the squeakiest wheel of all his customers for the next 4 weeks.  Here are a few photos of the finished body in primer.  Hopefully I will be able to post MUCH more complete photos very shortly!!

Body in primer awaiting final wet sanding before painting next week.

Apparently our experiement of adding rigid foam in the doors caused quite a headache.
The team at Whitbys was able to get all the ripples smoothed out though, and the doors look great.

Finished brackes for concealed trunk hinges.

Trunk lid.