Cobra running gear

[mylesdw]

Dave: yes, thinking about it, the forces under braking will always be limited by tyre adhesion, so for a light car they won't amount to much.

[mylesdw]

Dinosaur: I reckon the Stag idea is a none starter. The engines have a dreadful reputation for reliability and the rest of the bits are not meant to be much better. What about Mercedes V8 based? They are nice solid bits of engineering and have been around long enough to be available and are not too full of electronics (the older ones).

[dinosoar]

Myles,
Mercedez eh? Interesting.
I know about the Stag engine's reputation. I have an Australian 302Cleveland and toploader sitting in my workshop next to a cobra 289 shell. Hence the thoughts about chassis and running gear.
Your comment about the hot rodders handbook sounds interesting. Where could i get a copy?

[TonyD]

I had a look at using a Mercedes V8 rather than the BMW engine I eventually used.

There are two main drawbacks:-

1. the Mercedes is a very wide engine, widest of the bunch ( although this may not be a problem if youir shell doesnt have innner wings and you can taper the footboxes to take account of the wide V configeration,)

2. they are also not very efficient in standard trim and thus the power to weight ration will be a bit dissapointing.


On the plus side however there are more and more entering the breakers yards as the cost of keeping the original cars on the road becomes prohibitively expensive.


Cheers,

Tony

[dinosoar]

I just had another thought.
What about Vauxhall senator / carlton rear stuff?
Not had any expeience of the stuff but built to handle a good size engine.... any thoughts?