Kidney Donor Seeks Advice...

[Finn]

Hi all,

Having done all the normal financing activities (selling a kidney, remortgaging the house, selling my baby nephews into slavery on the internet etc.) I think I can raise about £15K to £17K to build my dream Cobra rep. The question is, which kit? I think I am fairly settled on the Pilgrim Sumo, as it would seem that I can make a pretty nice example on my budget. Particularly tempting was the thought of a brand new Chevy 5.7l V8, which Tony Holmes assures me falls within my stated budget. However, a lot of research has shown more than a few negative thoughts about the quality of the Pilgrim. So, do I build a bells and whistles Pilgrim Sumo, or try and do a Dax or GD on a shoe-string?

My aim is to build a nice-looking road car for occasional use. I don't want to race it, and the chances are I probably don't even want to drive it fast on the road. I want it to look good, and sound good. I also want to try and use as many new parts as possible. I've built engines before on a previous kit car project, but this time I think I'd like something new and warrantied. Ideally, I'd also like to get all the bits in one go, so that I can just go ahead and build the thing. I figure that I may even be able to afford to get a Pilgrim sprayed, whereas a GD or Dax would have to be in gel-coat indefinitely. So what do you think?

[robert]

Finn

Alistair built a budget GD with a rover engine, including a hardtop for around 12K, so with the change, you could change that to a Chevy or Ford. The link below will take you to his post.

http://www.cobraclub.com/forum/DCForumID26/71.html

Robert
Forum Admin

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[pcoghlan]

Hi,

It seems in reading your post that in an ideal world you would go the DAX/GD route but the £££ are causing you to consider an alternative? Why not do as Rob suggests, do a cheap(er) GD or DAX but then spend a few bob on it each year to gradually turn it into a top quality build. There is no rush, from what I see most Cobras are never finished anyway, always something to improve or change etc.

Re the gelcoat you are better off leaving it in gel for a year or so anyway so I wouldn't worry about the fact that you can't immediately paint it.

Good luck!
Paul

[Miket]

Paul

Have you looked at AK, they are slightly cheaper on price than DAX, but not on quality.


Cheers


Mike

[alastaid]

Paul,

As the "budget GD" builder I would have a few comments, firstly I never for one moment regretted my decision to buy up front a GD, whilst making some rather big cost cutting exercises to get the car I wanted. However, to get the car on the road for that money has meant some serious work afterwards to get it where I want to be. This coming from the man who has just have to get the diff reconditioned, so I should know. Getting a diff in and out of a Cobra is not easy.

The beauty has been that the later expense has been drip feed, which I can sustain, and I do love spending hours in the garage on "projects". So I suppose all I am saying is, make an honest decision to yourself when buying, if you like spending hours repairing or fixing things that knew at build time weren't quite right, then go for the "budget" route GD/DAX/etc. If you have to have things perfect first time, then you won't build it for a budget. In reality, I think the word budget should be dropped it is just deferred expense.

Good Luck

Alastair

[wilf]

An alternate view:

Take a good long look at the asking prices for Pilgrim vs DAX/AK/GD built s/h cars in the kit mags and/or Hallmark.

Many here will know that I have no problems at all with Pilgrims, but if your budget could stretch to the others, your eventual resale value, providing you do indeed do all the sensible upgrades over time, will be higher.

Many of us don't look to the future, and the day when, for whatever reason, we need to sell what at present seem cars we want to keep for ever.

I would suspect that you would get more of your initial "investment" back for a tidy, if budget, DAX/AK/GD, than for a bells and whistles Pilgrim.

Always a tough one when your budget could go either way.

Have fun now.

Wilf

[STEVE T]

Here we go again ! I hope I'm not repeating myself but here goes,
From the rolling chassis stage (I don't see the point in stripping an old jag down the pain and suffering is not worth it see other posts), and a body exactly what is the cost differencebetween them all? because after that stage it is all down to cost from the wheels and tyres to the engine and box , but the windscreen instruments ,wiring loom and lights are all basically the same price .As for the interior just pop anything in thats safe doesent have to be in connoly leather for now does it?Engine and box , well you can get a nice chevy 350 250hp for under £2k with more hp and torque than an expensive rover and a second hand gearbox for £500 and remember what ever kit you buy it will cost the same for the engine & box they don't come any cheaper if you put one in a sumo than a GD.Start with a good foundation and build on that and the best for the money is the GD (mine and roberts opinion ).:+


Regards Steve T

[robert]

>Start with a good foundation and
>build on that and the best for the money is the GD (mine and roberts
>opinion ).:+
>
>
>Regards Steve T

I agree, wholeheartedly after a blast at Elvington, and a complete and utter blast at the GP circuit yesterday. The speed I can carry into the corners is wonderful, and really does suprise some of the 7 drivers.

Robert
Forum Admin

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[Finn]

Hi again,

Choices, choices. I can see that the consensus of opinion is that an AK/GD/DAX is a better quality foundation than the Pilgrim. However, the budgetary constraints are pretty much set in stone - oddly enough I don't have £15K hanging around as loose change, so I will be taking out a loan over several years to pay for all this. As a result, if all that money gets spent there won't be any more to finish off less than perfect bits, or improve the build quality. In my circumstances I really need to be in the position to get all the bits to build a finished car up front. So, the budget AK/GD/DAX will likely remain a budget version indefinitely, short of winning the lottery or marrying a millionaire (the latter of which wouldn't please Management too much). Then again, I don't want to build a lemon just because it was cheap.

Has anyone got a typical build-list and costing for the AK? Dax's brochures are great in this respect, giving a full breakdown of parts required and costs for an LX spec Tojeiro. I have found that getting this sort of detailed information from other manufacturers is not so easy, they often seem to pick a figure out of thin air.

[StuartH]

hmmm, as usual I'll have to disagree with what seems a slightly polarised view...
A standard form 250 BHP chevy is not nearly as much HP as an expensive rover which also weighs far less (this is a fact not speculation as I have one!).
There is also a major cost difference between a GD/Dax/AK and a sumo because sierra components (on a sierra based sumo) are no-where near as expensive as jaguar ones, though in my opinion they are worth the extra money.
(I can once again tell you this for a fact as my 'new' diff is currently being rebuilt - 100 notes for a set of 8 bolts - bargain!! (fortunately don't need them but the seals are expensive enough))

Stuart