Hi everyone
We live in Hervey Bay which is a small town on the east coast of Australia. Our Cobra full kit and Coyote engine are hopefully being unloaded in next couple of days in the nearest port (Brisbane). After customs (assuming the exhaust pipes are not stuffed full of cocaine), it has to be delivered to the local Factory Five agent and then I have to arrange delivery to my home about 4 hours away. So maybe before Christmas! Maybe not! I refuse to get too excited but cross fingers.

Our cobra journey started with Covid and teenage boys. We were stuck at home during various forms of lock-downs and my sons started watching every episode of Top Gear ever made. In one episode, they go on about Caterham kit cars and my now 16yo asked me if we could make one. Now, as pointed out to me by my other 18yo son - the sensible one like his mother - we know nothing about cars. I still don’t really know what a carburetor does and conversations about alternators and camshafts remain a complete mystery to me. My mechanical experience is limited to tinkering on bicycles. Once, I forgot to put oil in my car for 24 months until the engine seized completely (many many many years ago)! This gives you an idea of my level of aptitude. But as I get older, I do love fixing stuff and trying to figure out how things work and I have always had a secret desire to do something like a car. I am now aware of the importance of oil. By day, I'm a medical person which I guess is a detail oriented occupation and I can generally work things out - except that in a work setting I have lots of sophisticated tools and support systems to rely on.

So we started looking up kits on the internet. Constrained by our limited knowledge and abilities we fell upon Factory Five, which seemed like the most complete package and the neatest car. So we put a deposit down in Sept 21. We paid up in full in April 22 and we have been waiting since. There are a few other Australian customers involved in this order and I think we are all a bit nervous about how things are going to go with the delivery. Certainly, it is not usual in Australia to pay everything up front, and from the other side of the world with no physical contact, the longer the wait, the less certain we have been about how real or secure Factory Five actually is. Also, stories of incomplete inventories cause a little anxiety, because if it takes 15 months to get a car, how long will it take to get missing parts? But I guess we ultimately have to have faith in the system - and build a couple of canoes while we have been waiting.

I only discovered this forum about a fortnight ago. And it's great! And I am amazed how respectful and civilized you all are to each other. It is a credit to you all. Going through the forum, some of you are so clever and innovative that I sway between a completeIy overwhelmed, "we're never going to do it properly" feeling and then feeling "yes we can do this and it's going to be fun". I look forward to hopefully getting lots of help (I know we're going to need it) and making new friends in the process.

So with the internet, you tube, local car nuts, a helpful local Factory Five agent and resources like this amazing forum, I am quietly hopeful we can manage this. Honestly, I’m more interested in the building and learning process than the car as such, though I'm sure it will be fun once it is done. I expect moments of total frustration but overall a sense of achievement and bonding with the boys. Unfortunately, the eldest (uninterested, sensible) is leaving home for University in 6 weeks. Hopefully, he'll be home on weekends and holidays. The more enthusiastic youngest one is entering his final year at High School in 6 weeks. He wants to go to Medical School so I will try not to distract him too much. When we finish, I will hopefully still be married, and plan to drive with my wife on local roads, no racing - and my sons probably hope that they will pick up chicks with it though Australian rules disallow them from driving a V8 for another couple of years.

While we have been waiting, we have prepared the shed (everyone has a shed where I live). As it gets more real, we have built a dolly, purchased a crane and things like clecos, and many tools which have been longingly fiddled with but not yet used. I have to admit stupidity and lack of preparation/planning with all the options that I did not really know about until I started reading this forum. I guess we'll work it out as we go along. We have simply ordered the complete kit with 3 link suspension. We have ordered the Gen 3 Coyote engine - it seemed like the "least complicated" option. Hopefully they have sent us the right hand drive kit! Until we have the inventory done, I am not entirely sure what else we should be doing or ordering separately or in advance to make life easier and avoid delays later on (I don't want to build any more canoes). Any suggestions appreciated.

Unfortunately, where we live, salty sea air and humidity mean corrosion is a real issue. All the surfaces of my shed tools start rusting within days without protection. Even wood rusts according to my engineer neighbour.... so I guess it will be an extra challenge to deal with. I also imagine that Australian roadworthy certification is going to be super painful. They have rules and regulations for everything and everyone here. We cannot pass wind without the proper emissions certificate. I know for sure that seatbelts, seats and lights will have to be different. Not sure how the metric/imperial thing is going to go in terms of local supplies or how much it will matter. Initially I'm not sure whether we're going to powder coat the frame on top of the Factory Five job nor do I really know what to do with the aluminium panels. Certainly, some of the lengths some people have gone to on the aluminium requires the sort of patience we almost certainly do not have.

So, this build thread is a little bit of a diary of our journey but mainly a place where we hope we can lean on your help and experience.

Cheers

JP and Paul and Toivo