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Completed the trunk carpet installation today which was the last part of the carpet installation. Glad to be done with that. Pretty happy with the results. Made sure I could still access the fuel pump and fuel level sender.

I had a very positive experience at our local car show Saturday. Well over 300 cars were in attendance. My cobra drew a lot of interest from the crowd in large part I believe due to the color. It really looked good in the sunshine. The only thing left to do on it is the trunk carpet which should be complete in a week or two.

Ben, yes I had binding added to most of the carpet piece's. Gives it a more finished look. My main trunk carpet piece didn't have openings pre cut in it for the roll bar and fuel neck. I ended up cutting the main piece in two since I thought it was trying to do too much with one. The battery shelf and vertical section will be one piece and main floor another piece. I do have to figure out how to keep access to the fuel pump and sender unit especially since the sender is stuck again.

Finally finished the cockpit carpet installation. Still have the trunk to do. A lot of work. Overall, pleased with the results. I have my car entered in our local car show Saturday. I'll post some pictures.

Still working on carpet. Quite involved it turns out. Was able to get the car out of the garage today for a couple pictures.

While the car was at the painter, I started gathering the parts required to assemble and install pusher fans on the car. The car doesn't need additional engine cooling; I just wanted the authentic look of the fans. I bought the fan motors from RockAuto.com and the fan blades from Grainger. I fabricated the mounting bracket based on copies of original brackets. I have the fans wired to a switch on the dash. Pleased with the results. Getting closer to starting carpet installation.

Some progress pictures. Carpet installation is next.

More pictures.

Greg was right. The pace really picked up. The car is now painted.

As for the color, I contemplated a half dozen colors over the 5 years I've been building the car. But in the end, I decided on the vintage color combo of guardsman blue with wimbledon white stripes.

From the pictures I was sent, it looks like the paint job turned out great. The plan is to pick up the car next Friday. That will be 2 days over 4 months. Not too bad.

More progress.

After my car being at the painter for 3 months, I got an update on the progress. They have completed the initial blocking of the primer I had applied to the car. Not much progress for 3 months. Next they'll take off the doors, hood and trunk lid and primer with polyester high build primer. Then many rounds of blocking. Hopefully the the pace picks up but it's going to be awhile regardless.

I agree. Here's a Factory 5 that had just been painted when I was there. Very nice work.

I had been planning on having my car painted this winter and after seeing others on the forum get their car's painted, it further encouraged me to move forward. So once the days started getting colder, I started the process.

First, I stripped the car of parts and then performed the final round of bodywork. I wanted to do as much of this as I could myself. Getting the sides flat was especially challenging. Since I had time, I also enclosed the exhaust opening to mimic original cars.

I next primed the car with 3 coats of urethane high build primer using roll-on primer from Eastwood. It actually turned out pretty good. It didn't have the same smooth texture you get with a spray gun but its more than adequate. My plan was to block sand the primer to 120 or 180 grit paper and then turn the car over to the painter to finish up. Turns out there were a couple problems with my plan. An injury to my shoulder would prevent me from doing much sanding and it turns out I applied the wrong primer. When I informed the painter what I had done, he said he intended to prime the body using polyester high build primer and that it shouldn't be sprayed over urethane primer. That means the urethane primer would need to be sander off. Since I wouldn't be able to do that, I'm now going to pay him to do it. Live and learn.

I found the painter I plan on using, Ken's Custom Autobody in Marysville, CA, after seeing an example of his work at a car show several years ago. In talking with the car's owner, he told me about the painter and turns out he's less than 3 hours from my house. His shop specializes in painting cobras, have painted over 1100 of them over the years.

After finishing the body work I could, I loaded up the car and dropped it off at the painters. The price I was quoted for the remaining bodywork and paint, while giving me a minor heart attack, was actually in line with prices these days and I have no doubt the end result will be excellent.

As for the paint color I chose, that was a very difficult choice. Over the 4-1/2 years I've been building the car, I've considered many colors; reds, blues, silvers, strips, no strips. I'll hold off on revealing the final choice until I have some pictures of the car with paint on it.

It should take about 3 months to complete. I'll post updates as I receive them.

Ben, the bungee cords on either side do a good job of holding the cover down. It's not going anywhere. Sorry for the delayed reply.

I wanted a tonneau cover for my car to cover the interior when it's parked, both to protect it from the sun and to keep prying eyes out. At first, I thought about a traditional tonneau cover, the type held in place by lift-a-dot fasteners but then I watched Pete Howland's excellent YouTube video of the tonneau cover he purchased for his car (HM2029) and thought it would work for me also. Pete was nice enough to included the contact information for the manufacturer in his video. His cover was made by Phillip and Kay Deal, a husband-and-wife team in South Carolina. They are retired and this is a side business for them.

I contacted them and started the process to have a cover fabricated. Each cover is made to order. A fabric template was mailed to me and I marked features on the template such as the roll bar location, rear view mirror location, tie-down grommet location, etc. I then mailed the template to them and then several weeks later they mailed me the completed cover.

When I installed the cover for the first time, it fit perfect. It took only a few seconds to install. It's held in place by a couple of bungee cords. It's not designed to be installed when the car is moving or being towed. But it'll work perfect for when the car is parked. The cover cost $275 and $20 for a storage bag plus shipping.

Here's their contact information in case anyone else is interested:

Phillip and Kay Deal
wpdeal@gmail.com
864-895-5034

Here's a link to Pete Howland's YouTube video where he discusses his tonneau cover:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAHleF-xRRE