Papa

I appreciate the kind offer. I'll reach out to Agora again and see if they can get the one they were supposed to send me on it's way.

For those who like 1:1 scale ... My Cobra is getting a major upgrade.

May 20th and still no book here.

The display case finally arrived. It's very good quality and assembles easily.

Today is April 10th and still no book delivered to me in the U.S. Has anyone else received it yet? I'm also still waiting for the display case, but it may actually be on its way. I have a FedEx shipment coming from Pompano Beach, FL that could be it, but no communication about the shipment from Agora.

Recommended change to help get better fit on the side pipes. Instead of having the side pipes use protrusions to fit into the headers, reverse that. In this way, the pipes could be sanded/filed down by the builder to shorten the length where they connect to the headers to allow for a more accurate fit that is more parallel to the body.

I like the red spring detail. It looks really good.

I see the issue of the front shock piston coming out of the cylinder has been discussed a couple of times. I assume this problem is resolved with later assembly, but for the near-term, I just used some zip ties to keep things in place.

This example is from Backdraft Racing, which makes some very nice modern replicas. They are typically build-to-order based on each customer's specifications. I'm a member of the Mile Hi Cobra Club in Colorado, and we have representation from many manufacturers including Superformance, Backdraft, Shell Valley, Factory Five, and more.

Thanks, and I'll let it go as well. Have a great day.

To address your question about rear bulkhead mounting, The bulkhead is a sheet of aluminum, which isn't strong enough for attaching safety belts to. I've seen at least one "original" Cobra (CSX-3010) where the belts attached to a cross bar on the roll bar that is positioned lower (below the body). Most modern replicas run the belts to frame-mounted tabs. The shoulder belts pass through the bulkhead, over a support bar and then to a chassis mounted attachment point. The lap belts attach to similar tabs on either side of the seat, and for 5-point harnesses, there is a mount point through a steel plate on the floor under the seat. I would imagine most of the original S/C cars were configured with lap belts only as racing harnesses are not great for street-driven cars and safety was not as much of a focus when the originals were built. The attached picture shows my passenger shoulder belt attachments as viewed from inside the trunk. You can see where they come through the bulkhead, over a frame bar, and down to the chassis-mounted tabs. The second picture gives you a great view of the setup without the body in the way.

There were only 31 "original" Shelby Cobra 427 S/C cars produced. The originals are the cars carrying the CSX-3xxx serial numbers. There were an additional 19 full competition cars produced and 260 street cars. The street versions had either a 427 or 428 engine, no roll bar, no side pipes, and were intended to be the production Cobra. What most people don't realize is that Shelby American still produces Cobras today as what are known as "continuation" series cars. They are also CSX serial numbered cars, but in the 6000 series. They also produced a run of CSX-1xxx cars a few decades ago. Other CSX cars are produced by Superformance, which is a licensed manufacturer in South Africa that produces CSX-4xxx, CSX-7xxx, and CSX-8xxx serial numbered cars. Our beloved model is likely based on the current CSX-6xxx series from Shelby American. The CSX-6xxx cars are made-to-order and some are made with the roll bar harness mounts. Again, no two Cobras are exactly alike, and the vast majority are replicas of the original 31 cars produced. 427 Cobra (CSX6000) (shelby.com) 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 Roadster: History, Specifications, & Performance (supercars.net) If Carroll himself was okay with it, we should be, too.

I know my car isn't an original or built to approximate an original, but I thought some building the Cobra model would like to see a complete build from start to finish of a real car. https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?24916-Papa-s-MKIV-Roadster-Build-9115-(Graduated)-Inglese-8-Stack-on-Order!

Here are the belts in my full scale car for reference.