Which Cobra?

[Snapper7]

I have been looking at different Cobra's for a while, The Dax and the AK seem to be the ones I like best.

I would use the car for touring in Europe only so racing spec's are not of no interest. I would also be looking to purchase one that has already been built and is a year or two old.

Could someone more in the know answer a few questions.

1) What are the plus and minus point of both the Dax and the AK?

2) What is the better engine choice out of the Ford and the Chevy for fast road touring?

3) What stage of tune would be best (I would be touring with Caterham owners)

4) What would be the better gear box setup for fast road touring?

5) How good is the Hard Top for the Dax and the AK?

6) How reliable are Cobras for cross Europe touring?

7) Anything other advice or questions I should ask or know?

[singlecoil]

If I fancied a Cobra then I would go for the Gardner Douglas, personally.

I think you are going to have a problem getting good answers to this, if you ask an AK owner they are going to tell you the good points of their car, similarly Dax owners are going to extol the virtues of the Dax.

As far as the engine is concerned, a Ford engine is more 'right' in a Cobra, but the Chevrolet small block is easily the most popular.

The best engine, and really not much more expensive, is the Chevrolet LS series.

[Happy Jim]

Touring - Europe - Caterham...not sure that lot go together :-)

I've just done the Europe thing in a GD with the Chevy LS Engine, 2000 Miles and a quick blat round the Nurburgring....lovely chubbly and didn't miss a beat.

If you are buying second hand go and view a few, you'll quickly work out that you need to buy on condition rather than make (unless your heart is set on one in particular).

Rgds

Jim

[Tony427]

Post the query on www.cobraclub.com sit back and watch the fur fly....

Cheers,

Tony



PS. The answers AK.

[andygtt]

Find a bunch of cars (around 10) of both makes which spec comes close to what you want... then buy on condition.

[Dave Dax builder]

Snapper7 said:

I have been looking at different Cobra's for a while, The Dax and the AK seem to be the ones I like best.

I would use the car for touring in Europe only so racing spec's are not of no interest. I would also be looking to purchase one that has already been built and is a year or two old.

Could someone more in the know answer a few questions.

1) What are the plus and minus point of both the Dax and the AK?

2) What is the better engine choice out of the Ford and the Chevy for fast road touring?

3) What stage of tune would be best (I would be touring with Caterham owners)

4) What would be the better gear box setup for fast road touring?

5) How good is the Hard Top for the Dax and the AK?

6) How reliable are Cobras for cross Europe touring?

7) Anything other advice or questions I should ask or know?

1. Without getting political) Too many to list. I build Dax not because Dax pay me to but because that is where the demand is (And has been for the last 15 years or more). Look what cars the dealers like to carry as stock! that way you will know which is the easiest to sell if/when the time comes to move on to pastures new. You should be able to pick up a like for like spec AK for less than a Dax. But the dealers like both of them...A lot.
2. Chevy. far more popular that the Ford engine and you can get parts all over the world slightly easier than Ford.
(This is for early iron block engines. Over 55 million made, all basically the same layout)
3. 350 with 350bhp or 383 with 400-450 bhp. still very drivable at this level of tune and fun too. the 383 being the best for massive torque)
4.Tremec 3550 or TKO. Borg warner T5 at a pinch, but these are only rated to 300 ft lb of torque and both the above engines will have plenty more than that.)
5. Hardtops look the part and offer some protection from the elements but.... it gets very hot and very noisey in there and water will still try to creep in around the corners as the cars were never designed for a top in the first place.
6. If you plumb for one of the early iron block motors I would suggest taking some distributor parts and an alternator to be on the safe side if you don't fancy joining a recovery service. That's about all you should need if it's been built right.
7. Buy one with plenty of miles on it, then you know it's had a good shakedown. I've had new builds breakdown within 100 miles and some that have done 1200 miles in their first weekend. You can never be sure what will let you down, and you can bet your bottom dollar it will the the one thing that you never prepared for......That's life.
Try to find out who (if anybody) reconditioned the running gear. If it has a new or second hand gearbox. Careful of engines built by companies who are not based in the UK. look at evidence of uneven tyre wear, crow poo welding, exhaust header pipes which are less than 1 3/4" O/D (A 383 chevy need to be able to breathe).
These cars are raw, don't expect them to drive like a Z4 BMW, you are in charge, not an ECU.
Have fun.