9/30/2024
A week shy of 3 years since my deposit, Ellen and I went to Boston for Lauren's 30th birthday and to see the Fall colors. I made a side trip to ERA to check on the progress and see my car. Before we went back to the shop, Peter told me how impressed he was with the color and body work. Several customers that have come through have been equally impressed. When I saw the car, the color and finish blew me away. Ron totally nailed the color, and the depth and richness of the paint was amazing. The narrow hip fenders are perfect, I can't wait to see the tire fitment. All of the fender and cockpit edges were rolled to a perfect radius. As you can see in pictures, there were several cars including Peter's to compare the paint and bodywork on my car. Not because I'm playing favorite, Ron's bodywork and paint are a step above the others. If you're in the shop, go ahead and caress the rolled edges to notice the difference.
As to progress, the fuel & brake lines along with master cylinders are installed. The majority of the aluminum inner panels have been installed also. The rear harness has been pulled. Hoping the build accelerates. The engine is in the back but I didn't want to remove the shrink wrap.
Yes, that's Peters' car still in the shop for over 3 years now and they continue to cannibalize parts from.
6/5/2024
Ron Randall at Metal Morphous has finished the body work and paint, my car is headed back to ERA. Ron has been an absolute pleasure to work with making my dream Cobra a reality. If you look close, you can see the attention prepping the body and the detail rolling all of the edges to simulate an aluminum body. The conversion to narrow hips tightens and enhances the aesthetics and curves while making the car look properly proportioned and not a like a flared out race car disguising as a street car. Only 32 of the original Cobra street versions had these narrow hips and in my opinion are the most beautiful versions of the 427.
Ron with his years of experience was able to create the color I've had in my mind for years thinking about this car. When my wife and I went to Ireland and I saw the waters around Valentia Island, I had a real world example. Rather than picking a color from a sheet, Ron went old school relying on his years of experience and hand mixed the color. In doing a mixture of four different paints each with their own unique metallics resulted in truly unique color with an amazing depth that makes it look like poured wet paint. I can't wait to see the car in person, I know I'll be blown away.
There are seven cars ahead of me at ERA, bummer. Well I've been waiting since putting down a deposit in October of 2021, what's another couple of months?
5/24/2024
The under surfaces of the hood and trunk lid have been aluminum coated by Metal Morphous with their proprietary technique. One more round of polishing. The color and aluminum plating look amazing in the photos.
5/15/2024
I couldn't be happier with the color and depth of the paint. One more final buff and sand to go. From the frontal view, I like the spats.
5/15/2024
Aluminum coated fiberglass removable spats. Yes they are bigger than the standard after market spats. Ron has worked on a lot of Cobras over the years and knows where the rocks hit the rear fenders. These as per request, were designed for function over aesthetics.
4/30/2024
4 coats of polyurethane primer applied. Allow to cure then final sand and paint.
4/19/2024
Transformation to a narrow hip Cobra is complete. Polyester gel-coat will dry for a week and then final sand, primer and Valentia Island Blue paint! To make the fiberglass look like the originals done in aluminum, Metal-Morphous added fender edge returns and rounded the cockpit edges.
The polyester gelcoat is not easy to sand but gives a better finish. They will then apply 3-4 coats of urethane primer which is easier to sand and is the recommended base coat for the paint.
4/11/2024
The rear fenders are done. Final sanding and Gelcoat this week.
3/11/2024
The left fender has rebuilt to narrow hip configuration. Much cleaner and gives takes the car back to its original English Roadster aesthetic.
2/29/2024
Narrow hip rear quater panels in the mold.
2/23/2024
This is the beginning of the body seam work. After lightly sanding down the seam area, they apply an epoxy adhesive to ensure that any loose fibers are well bonded before the bodywork is started. Narrow hip fender molds that will be grafted.
1/20/2024
ERA853 cleaned up and front & center at Metal-Morphous. The red Cobra on the wall is Fred’s ERA753.
For originality, I ordered a 16” steering wheel from Moto-Lita. Most builders use a 15" wheel for several reasons. The smaller wheel is available as a cheaper knockoff and is sized like modern steering wheels. The Cobra is a 70 yr old design so I wanted it to have an era appropriately sized steering wheel.
I don’t like the thick glossy finish they put on their wheels so I custom ordered the wheel unfinished. Peter said he's seen the finish crack and peel over time. I wanted a wooden steering wheel with patina and the appearance appropriate for a 60 year old design. I also chose the 1/4” thicker option to help control this beast! Since they weren’t applying a finish, Moto-Lita wouldn’t stamp the wheel with their logo but they would put “Made in Great Britain” on it. Of course no discount for not finishing but they did refund me £40 for forgetting to stamp “Made in Great Britain”. For the finish I applied 2 coats of Monocoat Rubio Pure hardwax followed by buffing with wool then cotton with red rouge.
1/26/2023 Metal-Morphous picked up ERA853 for transformation to a narrow hip.
10/12/2021
Peter Portante doesn't like pictures, especially selfies. 427 Roadster in the background is his personal car. My car will get the same Sunburst wheels.
