Advice on buying a cobra

[markyg]

Hi guys, reasonably new to the forum and just looking for some advice on buying a cobra and then improving it. It has always been my dream to own a cobra and after riding in a 450bhp one there is little to give you that same feeling or buzz as you all know.!!! Anyway I am an expat who is living and working in Sweden and I have a good friend of mine over here who is a mechanic and use to restoring old classics mainly american cars. We have both decided to look at buying a registered cobra on the cheap and then doing it up with a chevy LS3, top trim and paint work. The reason for this is that we want to make an investment out of it eventually, but first for a year or so actually enjoy it. My question as budget is tight for the initial car is do i buy a pilgrim sumo for example or try and stretch a little more for either a GD or AK all of course needing work. Would it make a difference to the resale If we were to eventually finish it to a high standard regardless of model purchased and spec/ finish all being equal, would there be a big difference on resale value by going for a GD compared to say a Pilgrim Sumo?

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks

Mark

[corn plaster]

Will a LS3 fit in a Sumo? If a LS3 is your engine of choice look to see which kits fit them as it will make it easier in the long run. If you buy a cheap Cobra and fit a LS3 ,paint,trim etc that's going to cost more than the purchase price i would guess. Good luck.

Big can of worms about which will be worth more when finished.

[Lloyd Barnes]

Would you be selling it in Sweden or in the UK?

[AlexB74]

The engine should fit, but the bell housing is too big for an easy LS swap into a pilgrim I think... you'd need to get the angle grinder out on the firewall & main chassis. You'd also need to do a lot of work on the back end to support 430+bhp...

As Cornplaster said, there isnt a profit in engine swaps in cobras... unless you are charging a fee to do it to someone elses car. To turn a profit, think like a dealer.... I'd buy well, then maybe consider doing the slightly easier tweaks (stripes & pipes) to add value & make it sell.

Alex

[markyg]

Hi guys thanks for the kind advice much appreciated and valid comments. I would look to sell it in Sweden/Scandinavia after we have converted to right hand drive. Cars fetch much more money over here. Ref the engine and build costs if an LS3 won't fit which I am sort of cinfident it will with a bit of manouvering then i'd look at a chevy small block with high bhp so either way we will be able to fit a high powrred chevy engine in. Luckily enough i can get Anerican engines relatively cheap as the Anerican car scene over here is huge, so access to parts andis quite reasonable and my mechanic also has a paint shop. My thoughts and only a guide is if i got for an example a cheap Pilgrim that needed a fair bit of work with a small V6 in and finished it to a high standard and say all in finished I am into it for £25k because of contacts and i can claim the vat back, would i get more pro rata than say spending an extra £5-£10k on a work needed DG/AK with the same spec finished? I see a lot of DG and AK's in mint condition and high spec easily in the £40's+ but not sure if I have ever noticed a Pilgrim achieve those figures. I am going for a modernish look black wherls, black side exhausts as well in either deep metalic red or metalic sunburst orange. With ghosted black stripes. I know not old school unfortunately but I believe will sell well over here as they like the street rod look. To be fair I am more looking forward to enjoying it when done for a while than selling it which will be hard to part with I am sure.however need a good return on investment as my mechanic will take his part of the profit when we sell. Hence the reason for the choice of model over the end ROI.

Thanks again guys.

[TINKA]

To make the most money I would of thought picking up an old Dax with an old Jag V12 engine would be a better bet as. V12's don't fetch top dollar and a LS will add value. The engine will easily fit and there would be no problem with the running gear handling the power.

[AlexB74]

v6 pilgrims in particular wont take the LS (at least not without vast heartache, effort and very little extra resale value). In a nutshell, either be a specialist garage & sell services, be a trader/importer or get a build license deal (like Dave Brooks/Absolute performance) and build kits from scratch.

[markyg]

Thanks Alex for the advice and very good points. Actually my mechanic did point this out that there may need to be a fair bit of cutting and changing to make it fit. Regarding the power its not a major isdue as he is used to putting in huge V8's in to old American muscle cars and making sure the power is put down properly. I am not sure however I would make a decent enough profit just bu tarting it up a bit and the hope was due to the parts and labour resources i have we could do it at a reasonable cost and make the money at tge ither end. I actually think Martins point maybe a good one for me as shouldn't be an issue then with engine and gearing etc. Otherwise as mentioned it might be just too much hassle doing all that converting. Had my eye on a possible cheap pilgrim but might have to change my plans.

Are Pligrims mainly set up for small engines hence the reason they dont fetch as much money as say DG or AK etc. Or is there a perceived quality difference between these makes?

Thanks again guys its much appreciated and certainly food for thought.

[Daryn Smith]

Are Pligrims mainly set up for small engines hence the reason they dont fetch as much money as say DG or AK etc. Or is there a perceived quality difference between these makes?

My fingers are poised to strike

If you purchase a MK III Pilgrim and if needed beef the diff carrier you should not have to worry about fitting a powerful engine. I have a 383ci sbc fitted with an excess of 400ft lbs of torque and it does not create an issue. Its also fuel injected and runs sweet on a radical cam.

EFI

[Paul Jarrett]

metalic sunburst orange with stripes would look the biz