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« on: December 01, 2019, 02:54:25 PM »
Hi Bob,
Actually as somebody who has owned the car and reviewed its entire history file, spoken to owners, etc. yes I am aware a lot can happen in 23 years. However in this case I can assure you the paint and stripes were done at Cobra Automotive when it was restored. As we all know 23 years is a long time in the continual growth of knowledge on these cars as well as the availability of correct restoration parts as well. This isn't the only '67 that was restored a long time ago and has 65/66 style stripes on it. Wasn't throwing the old Sasquatch hunter under the bus just stating a fact- they did the paint and stripes many moons ago. It is what it is.
Now, since you brought up who should be ashamed I'm not. This is a great old car and as I stated in my post I spent a lot of time and yes a fair amount of money correcting and sorting a bunch of MECHANICAL details as noted in my original post. I have a lot of experience with making Paxton cars run right, in fact one of my discoveries after much dyno time with a see-through carb bonnet I made, as well as tons of road tuning with dual wideband O2 sensors and EGT probes on my Paxton SC '65, was to incorporate a marine spark arrestor on the carb to prevent the "tornado in a telephone booth" from pulling fuel out of the bowl vents. This one mod is so incredibly effective you can typically pull 5-10 jet sizes out and get the car to run spot on A/F ratios. I shared this info with Craig Conley including the mfr and part # for these arrestors and now he considers it a mandatory addition and includes them with his Paxton kits as I understand it. Anyway on top of this on 2148 I fixed a number of things from a cam that was simply wrong for a boosted application, not only bleeding boost but also needing an electric vacuum pump for the power brakes, aftermarket headers, a "hot rod" exhaust, Hurst shifter, aftermarket 10 spokes, and on and on. So yeah $30k goes by in a blink with stuff like a $5k Scott Fuller concours exhaust and correct '67 manifolds, a rebuilt OE shifter from Jim Cowles, wheels, hubcaps, Polyglas tires, and then going through the engine, trans, brakes, fuel system, suspension etc to make it all work like it should. Oh, I did paint the inside of the trunk as it wasn't finished to my standards and had the original wood steering wheel restored by the same fellow who does them for Bill Kemper's Cobras and others. I also re-did the instrument cluster and detailed the dash to make it nice and crisp.
That said the paint done by Cobra was still excellent, a lot of the interior was still original and really great, and cosmetically the car was super nice so yeah I saw no reason to pull off the side stripes and risk screwing up the paint or having a shadow visible. Simply didn't bother me that much as the car just looks killer as it is. The crappy repop wheels, Radial T/As and fast n' furious exhaust though- all that had to go immediately!
I've never been a die hard concours correct guy as I like good old cars with good bones that run and drive like they should. Or better. Don't get me wrong I appreciate your and others dedication to picture perfect cars that get pushed on and off of trailers just to get rolled into or out of a show, or maybe putter along over a concours lawn, but I'm a driver first and foremost. I get my pleasure from hopping in these cars and driving them hard on the back roads to Road America, a cruise night, or an early Sunday morning blast to feel what it was like when they were new and step back in time. Not one of these cars rolled out of SA as perfect as some like them to be now and I'm not bothered by a GT350 callout that has an extra 2" of white vinyl stripe next to it that shouldn't be there.
So, ashamed I am not. 2148 came into my life as something that wasn't fun to drive and didn't live up to the legend. But it left as something that was all of that and more. My buddy, who has owned it for the past 3 years, has enjoyed that just as much as I have and I'm sure the next owner will too. 2148 is a great car and in the world of 1965-1967 cars a factory Paxton car is hard to beat IMO, especially one that rips like this one does!
Hope this helps explain things a bit.
Wishing you all the best and a very Merry Christmas, Bob.
Colin