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)