Resin Bonded Bodies?

[BEAR-AvHistory]

I expect its the use of the words "rubber mounted" that ERA has on their site. When most think about rubber mounting you think about rubber isolating biscuits that body mounting bolts pass through placed between a car body & frame. In the FFR world some rubber is used at some points between the body & some space frame parts but the body is free floating on them.

You can see most of them in the Go-cart picture I posted. The upper edges along the trunk. From the trunk down along the rear cockpit bulkhead, across the firewall & along the radiator intake tunnel.

Read the ERA vs FFR blurb on their web site & some word games are being played. Its a nice car the owners seem to like them but they seem to be having trouble with FFR's leading sales position. I like the Chevy version of the Cobra replica more then the Cadillac version replica, as claimed by some ERA owners.

[cv2065]

I expect its the use of the words "rubber mounted" that ERA has on their site. When most think about rubber mounting you think about rubber isolating biscuits that body mounting bolts pass through placed between a car body & frame. In the FFR world some rubber is used at some points between the body & some space frame parts but the body is free floating on them.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Either the body mounts on a car, as you suggested, or on my Harley Dyna's V-twin, where rubber isolates the engine and gives it a 'shake' at idle. Thanks for the clarity. The Chevy versus Cadillac comparison seems extreme from what I'm seeing.

[CobraboyDR]

Its a nice car the owners seem to like them but they seem to be having trouble with FFR's leading sales position.

I doubt their customer base has similar motivations.

ERA owners have deep pockets and strive for authenticity. They aren't necessarily builders. Like SPF owners, they want to drive as near an original as possible. Their motivation is not the building process, track days, restorods, etc.

FFR are for builders, "Built, not Bought." And for that large group, FFR is awesome with engineering out the wazoo for that purpose. But you cannot build a FFR to replicate an original, and that is not the purpose. If you want originality you have to look elsewhere, and at a much higher cost.

Different markets.

I'm one caught between the two markets: I LOVE the FFR engineering and build process, but I also want something close to the original. My internal struggle is how much and where am I willing to compromise: 15" pin-drives on a solid axel or IRS with faux knock-off bolt-ons. The other factor is whatever I do I have to pay an extra 35-56% import duty.

As far as the unstressed floating body (FFR) vs. the bonded body/tub: I doubt you can find a whole lot of difference in the Real World as far as body cracks, etc., go. I suspect FFR owners thrash their cars far more than ERA or SPF owners do.

For their markets, both FFR and ERA make an excellent product.

As an aside, the Hurricane roadster has a fiberglass interior tub with a separate body that can be easily removed. Interesting hybrid...

[Jeff Kleiner]

...ERA owners have deep pockets and strive for authenticity. They aren't necessarily builders. Like SPF owners, they want to drive as near an original as possible...

Sorry, you're not going to hold water with that one until you show me an original with a fiberglass body bonded to a ladder frame.

Jeff

[CobraboyDR]

Sorry, you're not going to hold water with that one until you show me an original with a fiberglass body bonded to a ladder frame.

Jeff

"Strive for authenticity"

Key word: Strive.

[rich grsc]

Sorry, you're not going to hold water with that one until you show me an original with a fiberglass body bonded to a ladder frame.

Jeff

What, don't you guy's know., authenticity is a square ladder frame and bonded fiberglass body.

[Gumball]

But you cannot build a FFR to replicate an original, and that is not the purpose. If you want originality you have to look elsewhere, and at a much higher cost.

I gotta take issue with that statement.

I won't say that my Mk3.1 is an exact replica, but it's pretty dang close to the average eye and to my sub-average seat-of-the-pants. And, if I had started with a Mk4, it would have been even closer.

Certainly, a purist and Cobra-ista could pick it apart all day, but working with the blank canvas that FFR provided and using my knowledge of the original cars, including very hands-on experience with a few of them, I came pretty close at less than 10% of the cost of one of those cars. With an FFR, there really is a way for the "built, not bought" person who wants originality to reach a very reasonable compromise and achieve his/her dream.

But, to achieve this, I started with a base kit and chucked a bunch of what came with it in exchange for replacement parts that would be spot-on for a real-deal Cobra.





Look close and you'll even see rivets along the lower edge of the cockpit rolled lip.... just like how they held the aluminum body onto the original cars.

[CobraboyDR]

I gotta take issue with that statement.

I won't say that my Mk3.1 is an exact replica, but it's pretty dang close to the average eye and to my sub-average seat-of-the-pants. And, if I had started with a Mk4, it would have been even closer.

Certainly, a purist and Cobra-ista could pick it apart all day, but working with the blank canvas that FFR provided and using my knowledge of the original cars, including very hands-on experience with a few of them, I came pretty close at less than 10% of the cost of one of those cars. With an FFR, there really is a way for the "built, not bought" person who wants originality to reach a very reasonable compromise and achieve his/her dream.

But, to achieve this, I started with a base kit and chucked a bunch of what came with it in exchange for replacement parts that would be spot-on for a real-deal Cobra.





Look close and you'll even see rivets along the lower edge of the cockpit rolled lip.... just like how they held the aluminum body onto the original cars.

Very, very nice. Well done.

But few have been finished like yours, and I suspect the vast number of potential buyers of any kit car have the skills to finish one like this. Aren't FE FFR's rather rare?

[Jeff Kleiner]

... Aren't FE FFR's rather rare?

I think ya' got him Chris!

Jeff

[CobraboyDR]

I think ya' got him Chris!

Jeff

I know they exist. But numerically they are rare.