Help with parts

[Jacle]

Hi im thinking of getting a type 65 coupe but i dont know if the engine i want will fit and what transmission i need.
The engine i was going to use was the SL500/S420 (119) `96-`99 Long Block witch is a mercedes benz engine. Also where can i get a custom dashboard for the coupe

Thanks
Jacle

[Roy Hewson]

Your openning 2 large cans of worms or boxes of opportunity. I haven't heard of any one doing the Mercedes transplant, but I'm sure it can be done with enough time, skill , DOUBT and $$$$$. The dash is much less traumatic. Russ Thompson has a custom dash but many of the coupes have done it their own way. Understand though, if you want it custom your way it opens the door to the need for skill. time, DOUBT and $$$$.
Roy

[riptide motorsport]

X2 on what Roy said.

[Jacle]

Oops i thougth russ tompson was a person not a company

[Jacle]

Thanks but for the custom dash i was wondering if there is q company that makes custom dashes.

[RonSchofield]

Thanks but for the custom dash i was wondering if there is q company that makes custom dashes.

Very doubtful. It is such a small market for custom dashes. It also depends on what you want in a custom dash. If you just want holes in a different location, then it would be easy to get a blank and put the holes where you want. If you want to go more extreme like myself, then it will be a lot of work and trial an error. It took me about a YEAR to create the dash I wanted.





If I was to replicate it for someone else, I would have to charge about $15K for the pieces and you will still have lots of work to do yourself.

[Jacle]

Very doubtful. It is such a small market for custom dashes. It also depends on what you want in a custom dash. If you just want holes in a different location, then it would be easy to get a blank and put the holes where you want. If you want to go more extreme like myself, then it will be a lot of work and trial an error. It took me about a YEAR to create the dash I wanted.





If I was to replicate it for someone else, I would have to charge about $15K for the pieces and you will still have lots of work to do yourself.

I like your dash design very much. But isnt 15 000 i little much because it cost more than the kit

[RonSchofield]

I like your dash design very much. But isnt 15 000 i little much because it cost more than the kit

That is the problem with mass production vs custom work. With mass production, you get lower cost. If you had Factory Five design and build you a custom kit, you wouldn't be getting it for the price of one of the mass produced kits. I have about 400 hours in time designing and building the dash and I am not done yet. That doesn't include materials and parts. Think about how much that would cost? I had to make a lot of changes from the molds that I made, so I would have to remake all the molds and make them commercial quality. It all adds up. Maybe not 15K, but at least 10K.

[STLMARSHALL]

I like your dash design very much. But isnt 15 000 i little much because it cost more than the kit

I think $15,000 is cheap for an entire year of his life! I would charge 10 times that.

[tirod]

Custom dash board builders are out there, check the GTM guys, or street rodder builders. They are few and far between, it takes a lot of money.

It's easy to imagineer a custom dash, the difficulty is that they are created from scratch. No parts exist, period. They have to be formed, fabricated, and installed. That means you are using someone else's time and labor - literally. How much do you charge for yours? Somebody else with the skills is going to charge just as much as you, if not more, for that part of their life they are trading for cash.

Once you get all the dimensions down, then the artistry of laying out what can go where, and can it still be useful? gets involved. Ergonomics, Life/Safety in a crash, what vendors are supplying, what materials, it's a long list of choices. The Coupe was a prototype - it never was put thru a factory build process. So what we have is what Shelby American whipped up to meet FIA requirements for a limited production race car. GT40's got a lot more attention, those were sold in street legal form. Compare, and you see a lot more DOT and driver comfort compliance. The roadster at least was built to Brit production sports car standards of the day, the Ace and Bristol had been on the market for years. The Coupe never got any of that. Seven cars, and none exactly the same in every respect.

That's the challenge of the kit - there's a lot more to building a car than meets the eye. Some guys have been on it for years, others screw them together in less than 9 months spare time. That doesn't mean they are finished by any means. It's just a matter of assessing tradeoffs - you trade time or money to get the results you want. Others sell complete ready to roll Coupes for $90,000. That's cheap compared to a Ferrari.

If a Mercedes engine is what you want in it, go for it. It will likely be a one of a kind, but that hasn't stopped others. They did get the opportunity to figure out all the details themselves, just like the first guy to drop in a LS1 Chevy, a Hemi, mod motor, or Coyote. Be prepared for the work of plowing a new field the first time, tho. There will be stumps to clear, unforseen rocks, etc. Detours will need to be negotiated, like a lack of outside headers - nobody has ever done it. Therefore, no headers, just like no custom dash exists like what might appear in your imagination.

It takes a sense of inventiveness and the ability to research, plus a broader perspective. One thing for sure, the more rare or exotic the features, the higher the cost. And what is disappointing, there's no guarantee it will perform above and beyond the benchmark. Most of the work will go toward getting it to run and handle up to that mark, not exceed it. That's because so much work in the conventional areas is already done, and the money goes further. Getting it to do even better means spending more time/money, and the law of diminishing returns starts weighing heavily.

It's the basic choice one has to decide at the beginning, take advantage of the cost/benefits of existing production parts, or invent new stuff from whole cloth? That's a money decision others really can't make for you, get as much information as you can and make an informed choice.