Paint

It's now March, 2001. The body is being painted at Jay's Rod & Custom in North Hampton, NH.

Nate took the car apart before Jay picked it up to do the body work and paint. Nate removed the lights, windshield, roll bars, seats, bumpers, and other ancilliaries. We considered removing the body but Jay said he preferred to paint it while it's on the chassis.

Here are some shots of the the body in primer, as Jay is completing the tedious process of sanding, filling, and finishing prior to painting...

Jay said the compressed air trunklid strut that Nate installed last fall is too strong, and it's warping the trunklid so he can't make it fit the body properly. He'll replace it with another one after he's done with the body work and paint.

And now ... ta da!! The color is Viper Blue and a Dodge pearlescent white, all covered by three coats of clear.

Awesome!! Gorgeous!!

The nose up close and personal.

I can't wait to get the car back so we can start putting it together ... and hit the road!

A few days later, and all the masking is off, and the Cobra has its nose up in the air ready to get the freshly painted headers and new side pipes installed.

A three quarter view showing the "boot" open at the rear.

The fasteners for the tonneau cover and convertible top are in place. The instrument panel will be raised up into position and screwed in.

Here's the hood, about ready to go into place.

Check out that cool Cobra emblem!

It's home!! Back from the painter's, sitting in my garage, waiting to get put back together and hit the road!

Up on jackstands, but almost all back together after a weekend of work.

Lights, roll bars, bumpers, wind wings, and most of the other external bits are back in place, as are the newly polished and waxed Halibrand replica wheels we use for the street.

We've also done a fair amount of cleaning and polishing, but there's still quite a bit more to do to clean up the appalling mess left over from the painting process.

A shot of the cockpit, with the new Cobra emblem on the steering wheel. You are looking over the shoulder of the new Cobra New Clubman seat. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a Clubman Sprint to match our other Cobra seat, as that model was discontinued shortly after we bought it last fall.

We plan to install the carpeting, and relocate the handbrake handle to provide room for the Clubman Sprint on the passenger side.

License plate, bumpers, lights ... just about ready for the road!

After another weekend of work, the seats are in and and most of the carpeting is in, and almost all of the other assembly is done.

Oh, yes, and thanks to the convertible top installers, it has a top!

Pretty funky from the rear, eh? The paper will come off the plastic once the installation is completed.

Now, if only we can get some good weather once the car comes back from the top shop!