How long is a piece of string?

[agnoraan]

I've been toying with the idea of making an aluminium LeMans hardtop for my Viper. Would you guys say it's worth the time, effort and cost to do it, or would you use a fibreglass one? Just curious as to how much extra value, if any, it would add to the value of the car when it comes to sale time. Any thoughts and opinions are welcome

Here's the car with the 'glass top loosely fitted. Once this roof was made to fit properly, it would be used as the buck for the ali one.






cheers...Nige

[Old Boy Racer]

Nige - given that your longer term aim is to create an all ally car, then I'd wait until then and use the glass top you have. Yours is likely to the most "authentic" looking Viper around anyway by the time you've finished with it, so very much doubt that an ally lid will add to the value.

Robin

[agnoraan]

Thanks for the compliments Robin, it's appreciated. I was just wondering out loud if it was worth the effort and if it would generate more money over and above the cost and time of doing it, whilst making it an easier car to sell when i need to generate some cash for the aluminium car. The Viper's a bit of a mongrel as it's not strictly a 289 in shape and size and never will be regardless of how much I make it look like the Le Mans cars, whilst not nescessarily appealing to the 427 guys either. Once the rear end is modified it'll resemble a 289 Le Mans car more than it does at present, but even then there will be discrepancies to an original, governed by the original Viper body. I guess that when it comes time to sell it, I'll find out if it's desireable to others.

cheers..Nige

[catsx11]

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[Paul Blore]

I agree, I think the changes you've made will add significant appeal to the car come sale time as it's now unique and much more closely resembles an original 289 Le Mans Cobra.

I really think you've done a cracking job so far. Very well done.

I've just realised that you've put the Mobil Pegasus decals on it. All the best cars have those.



Paul

[Old Boy Racer]

Nige - agree completely with Alan and Paul. You clearly have the talent and experience to go with your vision of what a "proper" Le Mans type 289 should be. I've nothing against those who do it, because everybody who creates something personal rather than buying porridge (apologies to those North of the border who wear skirts) deserves credit even though it might not be something I'd appreciate. If you took a Pilgrim tricked out with candy apple paint, billet wheels shod with the biggest tyres it would take, magnolia hide interior, Wilton carpets and a fully blinged up engine bay to a custom car type event, it would be appreciated by those who go along to see those sort of vehicles. Nothing wrong with that. Take the same car to Goodwood to park it alongside yours and guess who'd get the thumbs up from that audience. Horses for courses (no pun intended).

In that sense, and with Kirkhams and even some Hawks heading fast towards a price bracket that very few can afford, I think it matters less about the start point and more about what you've done with it and how it is presented. As both Lee and I found out recently, there is an eager market of people looking for carefully prepared authentic looking 289s and 427s. His went in a couple of days while mine took a whole 4 days. Both went at prices well above those we might have expected because the market has clearly moved on from the out of date price guidelines on this very website. IMO that will leave a group of enthusiasts who thought they'd been left behind by the market, ready to snap up something that looks as good as your car. And lets face it, even if they decided to swap the engine for a bigger 4.2 or 4.6 they'd still be getting a car that most would have thought out of their reach.

Robin

[agnoraan]

Thanks for the very positive replies guys, I don't know why, and I'm hoping I'm wrong, but I've always felt that a lot of people on here wouldn't understand or like what I've done to the Viper so far, as it's not a 100% true facsimile of a 289 Cobra. It was always going to be a stop gap car until I get to a point where I'd need to sell it to finish the scratch build 289. I just couldn't own a car that didn't look right to me, hence me spending time, or wasting it, as has been said to me recently from an outside source, to get it to a point where I'll be happy to live with it for a few years whilst working on the other one.

I've quite a bit of work to finish off on the house renovation, which will keep the wife happy, before I can get started in earnest on the ali car, but I can snatch a few hours here and there to make the Viper more as I'd like it to be. Having thought long and hard about it and taken on board other peoples views on the matter, I think I'll probably fit the 'glass Le Mans top to this one, rather than make an ali one for it. The other things I want to do is to make an aluminium 289 style dash, along with a pair of doors, modify the rear 1/4 panels/arches to replicate the look of 39PH, fit the L452 tail lights and also modify the boot lid to a split one. I might put some curve in the sills and rear valance, but I'll have to see how things are before doing that. I've four weeks off in january, (well that is January ) so the plan is to get as much done to it then as possible

Thanks again
cheers..Nige

[Phil Riley]

Keep up the good work Nige, I can't wait to see the end result.

[Roger King]

Thanks for the very positive replies guys, I don't know why, and I'm hoping I'm wrong, but I've always felt that a lot of people on here wouldn't understand or like what I've done to the Viper so far, as it's not a 100% true facsimile of a 289 Cobra.

Ah, but that's not what this Club is necessarily about. Unlike most owners' clubs, we have a huge variety of approaches to getting our automotive kicks. Our cars are all different makes, use different engines etc. Some do the full anal originality bit, down to insisting on 2BA screws instead of the more readily-available 10UNF (can't think who that might be), and others do the fibreglass hotrod. Neither is 'right' or 'wrong'. They're just cars, and refreshingly different ones. Years ago I used to park in fields with a load of other AH 3000s, all exactly the same except for colours. Dull.

[nikbj68]

You`re just wasting time....
Get on with the Insanity build!!!

...But seriously folks, having seen the car last weekend, It has gone from 'last on my list' status to 'Oh yeah... lovin` that'.
With the dash upgrade the interior will take such a leap too, and knowing how you say it drives, it will be a very saleable motor.
Whether Ali doors, bonnet & hardtop will add value or saleability, I don`t know(they should add desireability!), but if you want to practice your skillz for the Big One, go for it!