01:33
Ever see an idea so clearly in your head, but struggle to find the time to get it all done?
01:38
Wix helps you go from,
01:40
Eh, I'll get to it.
01:43
Build a full site just by describing your idea.
01:46
Let an AI agent handle daily tasks, plan your next marketing campaign, or help out customers,
01:52
so you can grow your business the way you want, without it taking over your life.
01:57
Try it out at wix.com.
02:03
What's going on? I'm Archie Manning, the Ori Athlete and College quarterback. Whether I'm running,
02:32
training, traveling, or just unlining at home, I love doing it in my core shorts from
02:35
Viori. With a breathable box of brief liner, they're quick to dry, super versatile, and stand
02:39
up to even my most intense training sessions. Plus, they come in three inseams and a ton of colors.
02:42
Ready to try pair? Go to viori.com slash arch and get 20% off at checkout. I think you're
02:46
going to love them as much as I do. That's v-u-r-i dot com slash a-r-c-h and get 20%
02:51
off your first order. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions.
02:54
Not only will you receive 20% off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any
02:57
U.S. orders over $75 and free returns. Have a great day.
03:07
Hello. Welcome to CarCast. I'm Matt, the moderator,
03:10
the Andrew here with Bill Goldberg. Our guest, Manny, we've been talking about you for a long
03:15
time now. Manny's custom build. You're here in the garage at Goldberg's garage. For those of
03:21
you guys that are watching it on the YouTube channel, you can see our lovely guest and
03:27
the car behind them, Ed Bill. But yeah, thanks for joining us. How are you?
03:36
Doing good. Thank you for having me. I've been pretty excited about it, but mostly excited about
03:45
the progress that we've made on the Cobra back here. So it's pretty cool stuff going on here.
03:52
I'm not getting any sleep. We've been basically talking to Bill and getting updates on this
04:02
project. It's basically been all-encompassing for quite some time now. Just between the project
04:10
and then whenever you get a chance, Bill and Wana can get out to Colorado to see Gage or have
04:18
Gage come and see them. But the rest, you're right. It's just this Cobra project. But let's
04:25
talk a little bit about you. How did you get into this start? You have a shop out there. Where are
04:30
you guys located? It can't be that far, right? Comfort Texas. I'm pretty close to Bill here,
04:39
about 15 minutes away, right in front of CGC, Cerakote or Clint. That's kind of how we met, really.
04:51
But yeah, I mean, I got into this. I've been doing this for about 11 years now.
04:57
I originally got into it because of my brother. So my brother has his own shop in the Fort Worth
05:03
area. Originally, when he was hired on to Bill Cobras, he was hired as their lead technician,
05:11
their master mechanic. When he showed me the pictures of the cars they were building at the
05:17
time, I was working just as a welder or fabricator. I just, you know, I told them,
05:22
I will sweep floors, clean bathrooms, whatever position you guys have in that shop. I want
05:27
to work there. Fortunately or unfortunately for me, I don't know, available was with fiberglass.
05:36
Nobody wanted to do the fiberglass. It's itchy chemicals, all that stuff. But
05:43
for whatever reason, fiberglass doesn't bother me. It is immune to freaking fiberglass.
05:50
It's the strangest thing I've ever seen. That's a gift worth paying for, by the way.
05:54
So I started doing the fiberglass, did it for about two or three years.
06:01
And during that time, their main welder quit. So that's when, you know, I kind of stepped in,
06:09
I'm like, hey, you know, I just happened to do that for a living before I did fiberglass.
06:14
And after that, I jumped into the welding and fabricating, welding the frame,
06:18
side pipes, roll bars, all of that stuff, and just kind of climbed the ladder from there.
06:24
After that, you know, it was basically running the shop and focusing on the assembly,
06:32
aside from still doing welding, fabricating, helping wherever the shop needed a little bit of
06:37
extra help. But with that, you know, one of the things that really I see this with a lot of
06:45
people that are doing cobra builds, there's a fear of, you know, am I drilling the hole in
06:51
the right place? Am I doing this? Am I doing that? And, you know, with that in mind, doing from
06:58
fiberglass to the frame to the assembly of the vehicle, it really showed me a lot of mistakes.
07:06
But one of the biggest things is getting rid of that fear to be able to do whatever you need
07:12
to your car. And you know, one of the things I was telling customers is we can fix anything,
07:17
whether it's on the frame, body, I'm like, or we can make something that works.
07:22
In the beginning, I didn't have a, in the beginning, I was terrified to drill on this car.
07:27
Yeah. Whether it was through, first and foremost, the carbon fiber, but even the fiberglass,
07:33
right? Because, you know, I'm not a fiberglass guy, if I screw something up. Long story short,
07:38
right now, I'm getting a drill near this car, I have no problem with it. So I mean,
07:43
you learn through process of just trying, you know, like any other build, what's specific
07:51
to these cobras, you know, we're trying to put the frame, or we're trying to put the body all
07:56
the way back down on the frame, right? Because the bolts have to line up and I screwed this up
08:02
and I screwed that up. Man, he's been doing this for so, so long. Once he came in today,
08:08
I pointed out the issues that I had, and they're just common problems that he's
08:12
rectified throughout the years. Yeah. And even, even with that in mind, you know,
08:17
I've been doing this for so long, but because they're hand-built cars, in the end,
08:24
not a single car has been a lack. They're pretty close, you know, the, you know,
08:28
save any hole. This hole here is pretty close to this one that I did on the last one,
08:33
but it's not the exact same place. And that could be from, you know, the fiberglass thickness
08:40
changing throughout, you know, like in the cars that I built, it's, we don't use a chopstrand,
08:45
we use a hand-laid fiberglass, the whole thing, so that there's no inconsistencies on the
08:51
thickness of the body. Well, but from one body to the next, man, they're completely different.
08:57
So, you know, the floor could be quarter inch, a little bit too far forward, a little bit too
09:01
far back. There's just no way to control everything exactly because they're hand-built cars from the
09:08
frame all the way up to the body. But not, you know, not a single car has been exactly identical
09:15
to each other, not just in the assembly aspect, but as far as, you know, motor transmissions,
09:21
interiors, gauges, they're just so customizable to, to whatever your personality is.
09:28
And that's again the, that I made to you, you know, I'm obviously a Dodge guy, but I mean,
09:33
this is one of the most iconic and most beautiful, frickin' sexy cars built in the mid-60s that still
09:40
stands up with any other frickin' car as far as aesthetically and performance-wise. So,
09:47
quite obviously, and it's funny because Bruce Meyer commented on one of my posts of the car,
09:56
right? And the reality is I'm copying his original frickin' Cobra, that race.
10:02
Yeah, he's got the first street Cobra. Yeah, which he just wanted a war at a Pebble Beach force.
10:09
Gorgeous. And it's how it was back in the early, in the mid-60s, right? And that look
10:16
is something I replicated in 2025 because I think it's badass and it's a killer car. Now, granted,
10:22
you got your Purist like any other vehicle, like any other brand, but this is a car that you've got
10:31
so much freedom. Whether you're a Dodge guy, whether this is so much fun and you can take it,
10:40
you can put your own stamp on it. True to his statement that they're all different,
10:45
but it's cool that they're all acceptable because everybody just puts their own spin on it.
10:50
It's funny because cars back in the day from the factory were often different. Like, I know
11:00
everybody says, you know, you got to get it. They couldn't replicate the same shit over and over and
11:08
over again. Yeah, like anybody working on cars will go, you know, I don't want to do a replacement
11:15
fender or replacement quarter panel because nothing's going to fit right. And you're like,
11:18
yeah, but it's popped from the same tooling that Ford used back in the day or whatever.
11:23
And I'm like, I know, but it's never going to fit right. Like it was just fit the right.
11:27
An interesting thing that came up, Bill's heard of this story before, but with Adam Carolla's
11:31
collection with all of the vintage Lamborghinis that he would have, that there's, you guys
11:36
were talking about e-brake soon. The e-brake was sometimes on the right next to the tunnel
11:41
and sometimes on the left by the door. And I'm like, why? And when we finally talked to
11:46
one of the people who worked there at the factory, the test driver, he's like,
11:52
he's like, what I found was it depends on who's putting it in, if they're right or left-handed
11:56
and where they wanted it to go. Sometimes they just didn't really think like they should all
12:00
be in the same space. He's like, I'm left-handed. I want it here on the left and nobody cared.
12:06
Cars went out the door. Especially on this when it's a driver's car, right? And you're
12:11
building it for your own satisfaction and your own driver ability. And a prime example
12:18
as what Manny did with the trans mount for the e-brake, right?
12:25
I mean, it's all completely shooter preference, shifter preference, driver preference.
12:32
And it's all completely applicable to my size, the length of my arm. It's everything. It's
12:39
comfort. It's usability, right? And yes, it's mounted backwards. Yes, the handles, the shifter
12:49
knob is mounted backwards, but they're all strategically placed so that I can get to them
12:54
number one, comfortably and number two, safely.
12:58
You know? That turn around in that bracket was less than 24 hours. And literally,
13:05
we had a time constraint because I had like five guys coming over and I put Manny to the gun, right?
13:12
And I said, you know what? Today, I want to get to the point where the next time we congregate,
13:19
we're putting the fricking body on. Yeah. I was just watching the YouTube video on
13:27
of you guys doing the bracket, the assembly here. You guys can find it at Goldberg's
13:32
Garage, the YouTube channel. You can see it there.
13:35
It was a technical video. It's not the most exciting video in the world, but it's one thing that Manny
13:42
is going to start doing is through my process of trying to build this car and trying to get
13:48
questions answered, I go to YouTube and I look for instructional videos or I look for videos that
13:54
are applicable to building a replica Cobra. And there's so many holes that need to be filled.
14:01
And that's what he's doing. Speaking of that, we talked about this before on this behind me in the
14:09
photo of the Black Truck, the 954 Lightning. Yesterday, I was in the garage in the parking
14:15
garage of my apartment complex going, I need to put a new starter on there and taking a page
14:21
out of your book. I was like, I guess I'm just going to try to film it. I don't know if it's
14:24
going to work well. And by the way, if I was doing something under the hood way easier, but I was
14:32
underneath the car, underneath the truck trying to get a starter and hold the camera going,
14:37
well, I need three hands for this, but I shot it and I just wanted to do a quick
14:44
like installation video going, here's the truck. We're going to put a starter in it.
14:48
It needs a starter and then I'll get to other stuff. Let's see if I can film some of it.
14:52
It's not going to be the best video, but we'll show you how to do it.
14:55
I had the same dilemma yesterday and I have the answer. Just use your, gets there right here.
15:03
That's what I'm doing. Anytime I'm underneath the car, that's what I'm doing. I'm not messing
15:07
with the camera. I'm not messing with my hands because this is the best view that you can get.
15:11
Period. End of story. And I mean, used properly. They're freaking great to slide
15:17
in videos now. Are those the, those are the, the meta glasses. Yeah. They're so easy. Literally,
15:23
you put them on, they hook up and then you press a button and it starts recording.
15:28
If they're two minute videos, right? And they immediately go to your phone.
15:33
So, and then you can download them and do your thing with them, but telling you when it's
15:37
an instance where you're trying to mount something and you're in the engine compartment
15:41
or you're most importantly underneath it, 100%. That's actually a smart idea. I could have used
15:47
that. And I also could have used some eye protection as all the crap and crud from underneath it.
15:52
I got a wire in my freaking eye last night. It was falling into my eyes and I'm trying
15:57
not to bitch about it while I'm under the car with, I'm trying to hold the phone.
16:01
So the video is going to be a little dark. It's going to be a little quick,
16:05
but I'll get the first one up. Then the next one is under the hood. I'm doing
16:09
distributor and I'm doing a bunch of stuff that Holly sent me by the way.
16:13
I reached out and said, this truck drives like shit. I need to fix it.
16:16
Thank you, Holly. They hooked. I mean,
16:24
everyone has one of these, right? Yeah. Every day changes. You know, Holly hooked
16:30
this up with the harnesses last week, right? So one of the last details
16:35
when you're trying to get this thing on the road. So thank you, Alex.
16:38
Appreciate it greatly. Big time.
16:41
The other thing we were, we were talking about the other day was when you were trying to put
16:46
that bolt in the back and you're spent all day drilling it and putting one,
16:51
one bolt and laugh, man, he's laughing at you. But you couldn't not finish like you had to
16:58
finish. And when you were done, you have to walk away with a little bit of that sense
17:03
of satisfaction. And it's been a minute since I've been able to work on the truck because
17:08
moved out of the warehouse. I don't know. Last November, almost a year. So once the starter
17:14
and everything was done and I put the key in the ignition and it fired right up, I was like,
17:19
oh, that's the best feeling in the world. I don't know why just the smallest little thing.
17:24
And it's just the best feeling in the world. You have a list of stuff and it's not a simple
17:31
fix. And so you add it to the list and then it takes you a little while to get to it.
17:36
That's where we are right now. Those are the things that I'm having to do right now
17:41
that we said, you know what? Okay, we'll do the brake lines.
17:46
All right. So Manny, continuing with your background, your story. You were working
17:50
at your brother's shop. Your brother's shop, was it specifically Cobras? Because you had
17:54
mentioned Cobras, but what else were they? What kind of shop was it?
17:59
The shop itself originally was, it was a car company. So they were building all sorts of kids
18:07
from, I think it was like seven different kids. They were calling it the Growler,
18:14
which was, I think the prowler from Dodge. They had from the 32 Roadster, the Lamborghini
18:21
Countach GT40 and the Cobra. And there was some type of Mercedes that I'm not familiar with,
18:28
but they had several kids. I need to check this out. Those are kind of, I'm curious.
18:32
Well, from all of those, the only one that survived was the Cobra, partially because it's
18:39
a stretched wheelbase that was changed on it. From what I knew back then or what they told
18:46
me was the other one that I really liked was the GT40. That one unfortunately was basically an exact
18:53
copy of the original and they could not produce it as a fully built car. But with the Cobra model,
19:02
because it has a little bit of accented fender flares, the stretch in the cockpit for more room,
19:09
it's basically its own design. Shelby, I guess, couldn't pursue. They tried,
19:15
but couldn't pursue for the rights on that model. But did you catch what he just said?
19:21
It's stretched. Yeah. Yeah. So four inches and then different firewalls. So on top of the four
19:29
inches, I have an extra two inches and an extra four inches. So far, record, I've been able to
19:37
get a guy that's six, five into one of these comfortable. Had to do some modifications because
19:43
one of the things I couldn't get past was the windshield. And it really all depends on the person.
19:51
Some people have long legs. Some people have long torsos. In my field, long torso people
19:59
are the difficult ones because the windshield, it's either right here or just basically right
20:04
here and right at your eyesight. And that's really the biggest struggle is if you're
20:10
longer torso, that's kind of, there's not much I can do there without making the car look
20:16
kind of odd as we raise the windshield too much. Is there a way to do a bucket? So if you cut the
20:26
floor and dropped it down two inches, is that possible? So the frames that I build already
20:33
have basically an angle from on the back in the front. And so we're using four inch, four by one
20:42
and a half tubing, square tubing, which it brings it down to four inches technically where you're
20:49
sitting. So with that drop plus a low profile seat, that's basically the lowest I can bring you.
20:57
But because we're able to offer that, people that are six, six, one, six, two,
21:04
then have seat sliders on their cars. And so if you're able to let other people drive it or
21:11
if they go to sell the vehicle, they have the options that you have a seat slider,
21:15
you're still comfortable. You can have your wife drive it. Because of the stretch,
21:22
transmission tunnel is narrower. So instead of being in kind of a sideways position where your feet
21:28
are kicked off to the left, you're basically sitting comfortable straight to steering wheel,
21:35
to the pedals and transmission using the TKX or the Tremac transmissions. It's basically a spot
21:46
on fit. What I would compare it to is I have a 2012 Mustang. I would compare it location-wise
21:53
exactly to that and in comfort to that version of Mustang. And see, this is something that obviously
22:00
I learned afterwards. And that's one of the main reasons why I start talking to Manny was, hey,
22:06
they offered one for a bigger guy, right? But I obviously had one that's existing. And so we
22:12
tried to do the things that some things that he incorporates with his to my existing. So the low
22:20
profile seat is basically, I switch mine out. Yeah. I mean, there's a two or one and a half inch
22:27
riser in the front. But I have to keep the riser in the front, because if not, I'm literally
22:33
sitting right on the ground. And it's extremely uncomfortable. Yeah. So with our frame and
22:38
having that angle, that's kind of what we're doing with the riser. It basically puts you and,
22:42
you know, instead of sitting completely flat, if... Yeah, it leans you back a little bit because
22:46
the seat's not adjustable in any sense. And we kind of lean back a little bit just to get a little
22:50
less. But it can be. You can put a track in there. Yeah. Yeah. You can't do it in mine,
22:57
unless you want to go from midget to even shorter midget. Right. Because if you're
23:02
track, you'd start putting you up toward the windshield or down toward the back.
23:06
Now, one positive thing that we found, other than the fact that it's crooked,
23:15
is that I did a steering column tilt that we were able to put in. And a lot of people said that
23:22
it couldn't go in the Cobra, but I spoke to Manny and he's put a lot of them in. So we
23:27
slapped it in here. And definitely, definitely changed the
23:34
entrance, the seating position. I mean, it's... And anytime you can get an inch, man, in this.
23:40
And I want to show you one thing. I mean, are you ready for this? Yeah.
23:45
In one picture, this is the description of this car. Okay. Bear with me for a second.
23:52
Yeah. All right. All right. We're going to get up and walk around in the shop for a second here.
24:01
Can you see that? We see a bit of the column and then we see the pedals and the spark plug wires.
24:06
Okay. So yeah, how are you going to change that plug wire?
24:10
You mean, well, that's how I change it. That's why the freaking access hole is there.
24:15
Yeah. Is those plug wires.
24:18
That's actually pretty good. That's pretty smart because, I mean,
24:22
you've got to get your big ass underneath the dash, but hell of a lot easier than
24:28
try to do it from the engine compartment. Yes. Well, it's impossible, number one, from the engine
24:33
compartment. And number two, I mean, the heat, the engine. I mean, it's literally on my shin.
24:40
I mean, it's crazy. It's crazy the amount of space that every single aspect of that vehicle
24:47
is screaming for. Yeah, I like it. That's a smart idea to be able to access that.
24:55
Mania, what I wanted to ask you was about your shop that you have now. You're on your own,
25:03
doing your own shop. Is it specifically Cobra's now as well or what do you do in there?
25:09
Yeah. So basically just strictly Cobra's. Every now and then we do get people wanting us to
25:15
do the restoration, which we tried for a bit, but there's just, I don't have the experience for that,
25:27
I guess, to put it plain. Going into the Cobra business and doing that from I was in my 20s,
25:37
I basically have hooked onto that market and being able to go from fiberglass all the way
25:43
to the assembly of the vehicle. I've gotten pretty good at finding solutions for the Cobra's.
25:51
Now, one of the, I do want to expand on to, you know, different body kits. One of the great
25:57
things about working for that shop back then. I basically came in right at a time when they
26:05
were trying to launch a new car, I think it's called a blade. It wasn't really a hit, but it did help
26:15
me a lot to learn the fiberglass procedures and basically mold making. So because we had to
26:24
do body work on this car and basically make a mold from scratch, I was able to get that knowledge.
26:30
So I want to expand a little bit. I love Mustangs, you know, I want to expand into the Mustang market.
26:36
Like one of the cars right now that I did, I did for my wife is a 2005 Mustang and I did a wide
26:44
body kit on it. One of the things that I'm not a fan of on wide body kits is doing the rivets.
26:51
I like the way they look wide body, not a fan of rivets. So, you know, I spent,
26:56
it took me a while. I spent a lot of time after work and basically blended it in. No rivets,
27:03
all, you know, looks like it belongs. So that's, you know, one of the things that I'm probably
27:08
going to put out pretty soon is the offer that body kit, you know, fender, rear fenders, bumpers,
27:15
all that stuff. Okay. On the cobers that you guys are doing, is there,
27:22
is there a kit or something that you like to start with or how much do you do just do in-house?
27:27
Like you're not building the bodies completely from scratch, right? Is there, are you? You are.
27:35
There's different options. So you have your options of doing just the kit. You can buy just
27:40
the kit, do yourself at home or you even offer, I guess, an in-house bill where you can come
27:49
into the facilities and you can build it with, you know, our help. And, you know, it varies from
27:56
you basically, you can buy frame and body from us and that's it or we can do the full kit for you.
28:03
You know, it's basically whatever the customer wants. And then, you know, with that stage of
28:10
picking out what you want, same thing with your firewall, you know, I tell you our normal
28:15
stretch is four inches. We have a two and then a plus four. What do you want? With the plus four,
28:23
however, and I haven't, I haven't done too much into this just so much to do, with the plus four
28:28
inches, you're kind of limited to a 302. You can only put a lawn mower. Yeah, so the 351 being
28:36
that it's a little bit wider at the head. So with that 302, I basically, you know,
28:41
fabricate a custom header to it and, you know, kind of route everything super tight.
28:46
But, you know, some people that want a Cobra and are limited because of their size,
28:53
they're able to have an options. And with those, those 302s, you know, board and stroke,
28:58
typically what we do is a 347s. So around 450 horsepower, which is plenty for a car that
29:05
weighs, you know, our cars being that they are a little bit bigger, about 2500 and 60 pounds with a
29:11
full tank of gas. So that's, that's also like a 16 gallon tank, so no normal size tank, which,
29:19
you know, get in seven miles to the gallon is kind of needed. But, you know, you're kind of
29:24
limited to a 347, but, you know, still those, those people that are on the fence about the
29:30
size and then being able to fit in one of these because of that option, they're able to,
29:34
you know, basically pursue their dream car. Well, so you mentioned something interesting. So
29:40
when you're talking about creating more space in the cockpit for that driver, the two inch or the
29:46
four inch stretch, you're not changing the proportions of the car itself. It's not like
29:51
you're buying a Cobra with a longer door, right? Because Shaq is trying to get in it, right?
29:57
And like West Coast Customs added six inches, you're talking about moving the firewall
30:03
to allow more. So getting in the vehicle is essentially the same. But once you're in it,
30:09
you feel like you have more room because you've moved maybe the pedal box, you've moved the
30:13
firewall, you moved all of that to give you more room, which is why it eats a little bit more
30:17
into the engine compartment. You need a 302, you need a small engine. Well, yes and no.
30:23
So the normal stretch for this Cobra, the four inches was done right at the door.
30:29
Okay. Oh, the body itself already has that stretch, you know, that doesn't change.
30:35
Partially why we did it at the door is getting in and out of these cars, that door being tiny
30:41
is hard. So having that extra four inches right at the door helps immensely to get in
30:46
and out of them. After that, then that's just a change in the firewall. So I have
30:52
three different options of firewalls that, you know, when I'm building after I've
30:56
got the body and I'm fiberglass and everything together, that's when I ask, you know, what
31:00
firewall do you want? And then I fiberglassed that into place. And that's, you know, basically
31:06
you have your custom firewall to your selected option. And at the end of the day, you've got
31:11
options, man. That's the coolest part, right? That's that, like I said, that's kind of what
31:15
drew me to Manny and that guilty by association. He was literally 50 yards away from Clint's
31:21
place at CGC where I was doing all my Saraco stuff. And so I'd go over and introduce myself
31:28
to Manny. We talked about the project and I'd bend his ear every time. And then he's like,
31:32
you know, well, maybe I should come over one time and we'll start working on it. And,
31:37
you know, it's been, I can't thank him enough for his help. He's kind of transitioning
31:44
and we're trying to get his shop out there at the same time. And it's like once a week,
31:50
it's like D day, man. Okay, Manny's coming today. How can I eat until dinner?
31:57
You know, let's, let's do it. And man, the ability to strike these punch lists down has
32:02
been fantastic. But that's why the project's taken so long, right? Because it's not a,
32:08
it's not on the schedule project. It's just when we've got time to do it,
32:11
Clint comes over, Clint came over last night till 10 o'clock and did wiring.
32:15
So periodically when we got time, we just lend it to it. But right now,
32:22
we're at that point, man, where it's all hands on deck when we can,
32:26
yeah, because we're this close to getting it fired up.
32:30
I got a couple of questions about the car, but let's, let's take a quick break and then
32:34
we'll jump back into it. Hey guys, it's Matt again. I just wanted to give a big shout
32:39
out to everyone who's been coming out to our Bravago Hard Seltzer tasting events and
32:43
ordering online. If you haven't tried it yet, here's what you're missing. Bravago is lightly
32:48
carbonated, stevia free and bursting with flavor. And guess what? It's not just great on its own.
32:54
It's a perfect mixer too. Throw in a splash of gin or vodka and you've got yourself a next level
33:00
cocktail. Find it online at drinkbravago.com or at our next event. That's drinkbravago.com.
33:08
I don't know about you, but when I'm using AI for my business,
33:12
I don't need it to tell me what to do. I know what I want. I just need help making it happen.
33:18
With Wix, I finally have an AI tool that gets things done the way I want. I just have to describe
33:24
the type of website I need and it's ready. I can even ask it to manage my inventory,
33:29
plan my next marking campaign or help out my customers. Wix gives me AI wherever I need it.
33:36
Try it out at wix.com.
34:06
It's going on. I'm Arch Manning,
34:09
Viori athlete and college quarterback. Whether I'm running, training, traveling, or just
34:12
unlining at home, I love doing it in my core shorts from Viori. With a breathable box of
34:15
brief liner, they're quick to dry, super versatile, and stand up to even my most intense training
34:18
sessions. Plus, they come in three inseams and a ton of colors. Ready to try pair?
34:22
Go to viori.com slash arch and get 20% off at checkout. I think you're going to love
34:25
them as much as I do. That's vuri.com slash arch and get 20% off your first order.
34:30
Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. Not only will you
34:33
receive 20% off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any U.S. orders over $75
34:37
and free returns. Have a great day. Did you know 39% of teen drivers admit to texting while driving?
34:42
Even scarier, those who text are more likely to speed and run red lights. Shockingly,
34:46
94% know it's dangerous, but do it anyway. As a parent, you can't always be in the car,
34:50
but you can stay connected to their safety with Greenlight Infinity's driving reports.
34:54
Monitor their driving habits, see if they're using their phone, speeding, and more.
34:58
These reports provide real data for meaningful conversations about safety. Plus,
35:01
with weekly updates, you can track their progress over time. Help keep your teen safe.
35:05
Sign up for Greenlight Infinity at greenlight.com slash podcast.
35:11
Okay. So what I want to ask was, Bill, on your car, because this was an existing kit already,
35:16
which obviously we talked about many times, you wanted to create some more space for yourself.
35:22
You talked about moving the seat, going to a lower profile seat, or lowering the seat,
35:27
but you didn't, you didn't change anything else in the car. You didn't change the firewall or
35:33
anything like that or the dash. Not at all. Not at all. And you know, one thing that I did,
35:37
adding the tilt column, sure. But yeah, I mean, I came to that realization yet or two days ago
35:42
when we put the body on the car and I put, you know, hastily put the seat in
35:47
and sat in there and I'm like fudge, man. It's changed everything and it's still tight
35:53
as hell getting in here and it's playing in the end. But the fact is, is this right here.
36:03
Yeah. I did the first mock-up with Manny. I told you, I changed the seats out, right?
36:11
Yeah. Look at the thickness of that cushion. I mean,
36:13
Yeah. So we're looking at the seat bottom.
36:17
I can cut it down to here. Okay.
36:20
And look what he gives me. Yeah.
36:23
Then I'm not looking over the windshield, right? Right.
36:27
So other than dropping it down, I don't, I can't do anything, right?
36:35
Yes. 1000%. It gave me probably an inch. And anytime I can have an inch to play with,
36:40
whether it's the seat or whether it's the column, man, that's really comfortable.
36:44
And the biggest difference that I made was the Tremac, right? It's literally moved up
36:50
eight inches from where it was originally. Yeah.
36:53
Everything's still being the same, man. It's, I'm not shifting here, right?
36:59
Right. I'm in a comfortable position to where you normally shift. And so that in itself
37:05
changes the dynamic of it, yes, still being the same size, but there's little alterations
37:11
that have helped. Yeah. Having the different shifter locations compared to the four speed makes
37:15
all the difference in the world. And the TKX when that came out, and I know we talked to
37:20
my kid from Tremac about it, they were smart. I'm surprised they didn't do this a while ago,
37:27
but it solved the issue that so many people are running into, not just with kit cars, but
37:32
fitment into so many different muscle cars and stuff from the day.
37:37
The six-speed's badass. And I've done a six-speed on my red Mustang Cobra, but
37:44
just even the fitment is tight. When I was doing that car, if the TKX was available,
37:54
when I started that, there wasn't a TKX. I don't mind the six-speed. It's done. It's in there.
38:00
I mean, the car's not done, but the transmission's in there. We got it all to work.
38:05
But having the TKX, I would have been like, oh, five-speed's fine, lighter, smaller, more room
38:10
around the exhaust, more room around the crossmember just, you know, just would have been better overall,
38:17
but yeah. Nothing but happy with it so far. And we haven't even fired the thing up.
38:22
All right. So the big news, though, is as you can see behind you is you've got the
38:27
body on it. Tell us about it. How did it go? Tell me it was super easy. It was no problem.
38:33
And it took 10 minutes. I'll tell you from my perspective,
38:37
and then you can get a real person's perspective that's done it 50,000 times.
38:41
How many bodies do you think you put on? I don't know. Just throw it out there. Hundreds?
38:47
Yeah, I mean, it's hundreds. It's been so many. This was my first one. You watch all the videos,
38:51
you do the, you see how people done it? Issues, you know, you, I always think the
38:56
worst. I'm a pessimist, so I don't think it's going to fit. I had four guys over here,
39:00
five guys over here. And so we had somebody strategically at every single freaking point
39:07
to where danger could occur. And I got to say, man, looking at the entire process,
39:14
it's still not fitted properly. I have a half an inch to go on one body bolt,
39:20
and then it'll be done. But man, it was flawless. I mean, I'm going to put,
39:27
I'm putting the video, they're putting the video together right now, and it's a bad ass.
39:31
It was such a cool day, dude. It was so gratifying, but it went on really freaking easy, I thought.
39:39
Yeah, so the fact that we were able to match so many of the body pulls to the existing frame
39:46
pulls actually surprised me. One of the things is, you know, I don't typically do them,
39:54
how we're doing this one, you know, basically, I'm building them from scratch, you know, we're
39:59
starting from nothing and then building up, which in my opinion is a lot easier. Having to do,
40:06
you know, basically body off and stuff, you're, you know, it's a little bit more difficult, but
40:11
the tolerances on this car are very tight. And, you know, compared to the ones that I'm
40:19
and they're not existing. Yeah, I mean, it's whenever I was, I had to hold the front end,
40:25
so I wouldn't touch the radiator. I mean, I was like an eighth of an inch from touching the radiator
40:29
and I'm having to pull it back as they're setting the body down. As I'm pulling the trunk back.
40:35
Yeah, so we had to do a lot of it to finesse it and get it to sit properly.
40:41
The ones that I build, typically, you know, I have half an inch of, you know, we're able to,
40:48
you know, go tilt the body front to back and kind of shimmy it and do whatever we needed to get it
40:53
exactly. But that's for the first, that's the first time. That's the first time. So you can
40:57
mock it up. You have, you have clearance and variance. And so you can put it any way you want
41:04
and then boom, then the next time you put it on. Yes. But, you know, taking stuff off,
41:10
especially when you take an entire body, I'm sure stuff shifts a little bit just from sitting
41:15
and not sitting on a solid surface. But overall, I mean, we were able to get it everything on,
41:21
everything, you know, most of the holes were pretty spot on. So like I said, I was very
41:27
pleasantly surprised that that's how that went. I think the biggest thing that made it
41:34
easy was the amount of people that were here to head. Because if you've got me pulling
41:39
on the back and you've got an eighth of an inch clearance with the two rear
41:44
bumper brackets that the body literally goes over, and then you've got Danny in the front,
41:50
pull it on the front end, and the radiators got an eighth of an inch clearance. And then you've
41:53
got somebody looking at the shocks. You've got somebody looking at, you know, the heads,
42:00
you know, because the heads, dude, my linkage has an eighth of an inch clearance on either side,
42:09
whether it's where it hooks on the firewall or whether it hooks on, you know, the foot well,
42:17
it's, there's no room to spare. Act that this thing went on. I mean,
42:25
actually, the throttle linkage, did you try it to make sure it doesn't, when you throttle it,
42:29
it doesn't hit? It's a good question, right? Like maybe it fits. That's a fine detail, right?
42:37
Yeah. Okay. But look how close it is. Oh, I see. Yeah, there to the, to the valve cover.
42:45
Yeah. And, and the body. And the body. Even closer to the body. And when you move it,
42:52
when you throttle it, it's still clear. It still clears. Yeah. Yeah. But you can only like blow
42:57
air in between it. It's that, that fricking close. So when I'm, I'm talking about clearing
43:02
stuff, I mean, I'm not kidding. I mean, it's, it's, it's pretty, pretty amazing. I mean, like I said,
43:10
the, the firewall, the, the access hole in the driver's compartment, that's indicative of the whole
43:17
car. So when you guys, when you guys put the body on, this wasn't using the lift to lower the
43:25
body down, you guys. Oh yeah. It was. So, and then everybody was around it just jamming a finger in.
43:34
Everyone's getting wedged in there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For me, the first time one goes on, man,
43:41
I mean, obviously I did my willies. That's fricking easy. That's a little tub.
43:45
But this thing with considering it's a race car and all the stuff, well, okay,
43:51
the Bilstein shocks in the front, they don't fit. The diameter is too large to where they hit the front,
43:58
the, the AR on one side of the frame on the other, both of them. So that has to be changed out.
44:04
But I was amazed at how easily it went on. Yeah. Okay. So the shocks, the coil overs are too,
44:13
too big in diameter. You need a smaller diameter shock. Okay. Yeah. They're literally hitting
44:19
on the A arms hitting on one side and it's up against the frame on the other side. So we can
44:23
move the car, but we surely can't compress the shocks because it's going to hit. But yeah, it's
44:29
easy stuff. What we're, the next thing we're doing when we hang up here, we're doing the,
44:36
what are we doing? The steering column, the angles a little off. And then we're going to
44:41
hopefully rectify that and then put the dash on. And then we probably have four or five
44:46
different wires to continue the wiring. And we're literally there, man. I hooked the gas tank up
44:52
last night. I mean, we got to finish brake lines. I mean, that list is there. We've got carpet and
44:59
trivial stuff, like the doors being put on, but, and the seats being put in. But yeah,
45:04
we want to get this thing fired up as quickly as possible. Okay. Yeah. So how much,
45:10
I mean, it's tough to say you got your checklist and everybody's got other jobs to do,
45:18
you know, running back and forth. We're going to thrash on it a little bit today. And, you know,
45:22
the checklist, obviously there's stuff that we can do after we've tried to get this engine fired
45:28
up. Yeah. The checklist, like you're saying, the suspension, the shocks, you can replace the
45:33
coilover. You can fire this thing up, but you're still, yeah, the roll bar with the roll
45:37
bar. Yeah. We're not doing that until after we get this thing fired up and, you know,
45:42
tuned up and fighting a rock and then we'll do stuff with that.
45:46
Does the body have to come off at any point now or is this done?
45:51
Yeah. No, that's, it's, it's where it's going to be. And, you know, at this point,
45:56
we're working, working around it now. It's funny how I pushed Manny to certain deadlines.
46:02
And in this situation, Clint's like, well, Clint's mastering the wiring issue, right?
46:10
So he comes over periodically and nine times out of ten, it's not when Manny's here.
46:14
And so they have questions back and forth. I'm not a wiring guy. I'm not going to profess to
46:18
be by any stretch. And he obviously wants the body to come back off. So it makes the wiring
46:28
easier. Yeah. And right immediately as soon as we put the body on, I tried to get to Manny and
46:37
push an answer from his mouth that we weren't going to take it back off. And right when he got
46:42
that answer, when I got him to utter that answer, I started tightening bolts up.
46:49
It was, it was no, no turning back. Decision's been made.
46:53
Oh, I knew that Clint was going to tell him with conviction that Manny said that the
46:57
body's not coming back. Yeah. Sorry, Clint. And then that leads to last night,
47:02
I'm underneath it. I'm tightening up body bolts and I squished, I squished a
47:10
body mount bolt in between the body and the frame. Got left behind between body.
47:18
Oh, yeah. Okay. Oops. Oops. I mean, I screwed up.
47:25
Well, look, as Manny said, everything can be fixed.
47:30
Cut off wheel. Yeah. Okay. So you're getting closer, filming it during the process. Hopefully,
47:38
we'll get to start seeing some of those. We're filming a tenth of it. It's tough,
47:44
man. Yeah, it's tough. Unless you have dedicated camera guys and I don't want
47:48
someone here 24 seven, you know, because, and, you know, I just don't part of the problem with me
47:55
is I've been doing this so long and I just started doing it recently because, you know,
48:00
Bill told me about it or I should is my every building cobras is my everyday thing
48:06
that I don't think about recording anything. You know, for me, it's just another day.
48:10
You know, I guess I kind of lose that new feeling. I remember when I started working
48:19
for that kit car company, you know, I was taking pictures of the cobras. I was taking pictures
48:25
of, you know, the bodies, everything, everything that I was doing. I was recording and maybe
48:31
after a year or so, I just kind of you get used to it, you know, or. But now it's different.
48:37
And it's a cry for help for guys like me to look on YouTube for direction. And now,
48:48
I think he's understanding that there's a huge gap. Truthfully, there is. And you know,
48:54
whether it's a cobra or whether it's something else. Yeah. Where car hacks and shortcuts and
49:01
experience really means a lot. And if you can, if you can pick out one little subject on a cobra
49:10
that there's not an instructional video about, then I think it's needed, you know,
49:14
because there's a lot of guys out there that have these cars. And I think there
49:17
will be more and more, you know. With heaven, you know, we have people over the U.S. that have
49:23
our kits. I mean, often a lot of them have my cell phone number and on the weekend, they'll
49:30
shoot me. It takes like, Hey, you know, the manual says to do this, you know, how I'm trying it,
49:36
but it's not working. You know, so I have a lot of pictures of where, you know,
49:41
arrows pointing to here, do this quarter inch, you know, stuff like that. So I already do have
49:47
a lot of a lot of information on it. The thing with it is it's specifically do the cars that
49:54
I'm building, but a lot could be applicable to just the task itself. It can, you know, or if anything,
50:00
it gives you a really good idea of how, how to tackle whatever build you have going on. The
50:07
trans mount, right? Okay. I looked, I looked, so if you go on Google and you just mount
50:16
trans mounted e-brake bracket, there's a very limited amount of them that are out there.
50:23
And there's even less brackets that are on, that are on video on YouTube. Yeah. If many can fill
50:32
that gap on a transmission that's as popular as the TKX and a build that's as popular as the Cobra
50:38
Kid car, that's a void that needs to be filled. So I think it's cool for him because he's learned
50:43
that through the process. And a guy like me, who's doing it for the first time and who doesn't
50:48
have an ego. And I look for myself in ways to rectify problems and they're not out there. And so
50:56
I think that's where he needs to, he needs to fill the void. Yeah. You know, and that, that's a good
51:00
point is, is the video you guys just put up like a day ago was making that, that bracket for the,
51:07
for the drift break, right? For the e-brake that you guys did. It's mounting it to the
51:12
transmission. So someone can look at that and essentially replicate what you did to mount
51:19
that, that drift break to a TKX. It doesn't have to be Cobra specific. And maybe they want to
51:25
change the shape of the handle or have it come out of a slightly different location. But
51:30
what you did there, and also talking with, with my kid at Tremac about it as well going,
51:36
hey, does this make sense? Can we do this? Can we drill here? Can we tap that, you know, that,
51:42
that hole or whatever? And then he'll say, you know, sure, it makes sense to do.
51:46
He was a great bit of information. And I didn't, we didn't touch anything until I asked him,
51:51
because I don't, I don't want to cover anything up. I don't want to get it to get in the way
51:55
if I have to access anything later. Now, logic is going to tell you what you're looking at.
52:00
It's going to answer your question, but I just wanted to make sure. And, and I think
52:04
Manny should offer, Hell, Tremac should offer that somebody should offer that because Tremac's a great
52:10
a very popular transmission. And that application, as you said, could be done with anything,
52:15
with any e-brake, any, any vehicle, if they have the room in the top. From the beginning
52:20
on that bracket is, you know, I'm assuming they're solenoids. I know for sure we,
52:27
we were right, we're right over the reverse, reverse light switch that Tremac has. Yeah.
52:34
Now these cars, the Cobra doesn't have, you know, reverse lights. But with the design of that bracket,
52:40
you know, or just with anything I do is I always keep, keep in mind that somebody's going to work
52:49
on this in their house. They don't have a lift. They don't have the options to remove the body
52:53
from it. So whenever I work on a Cobra, and it's a changing process, you know,
52:59
that the car is always evolving. But my goal is always being able to access whatever you're doing,
53:05
being able to maintenance the car at home. What's the complete opposite of what it, what it is now.
53:12
That's how everything used to be. So whenever, you know, like that, that bracket, you know,
53:17
I had a specific cut out for that reverse light switch. The majority of people are going to
53:22
need that, maybe not in the Cobra market, but I know every other car is going to need that.
53:28
Yeah. So, you know, made it one easily to be removed once the body was on, but then
53:35
also has the option that it doesn't really have to be removed because everything you need to get to
53:40
already has access. And first and foremost, it fits in the tunnel.
53:43
It fits. So moving forward on the kits that you make, are you going to,
53:49
are you going to use the TKX? Are you going to recommend the TKX to clients now that you've
53:54
got a bit of experience with it? That's already what, what we've been using. That's what the company
53:59
that I was originally working for was using at the time was TKX. And then, you know, we switched
54:05
over to the TKX. Even able to offer the, I believe the T56, Magnum, the T56, or the six-speed,
54:12
we've been able to do that. That four-inch stretch, you know, I've had these cars next to,
54:20
you know, normal-size wheelbase, the nine-inch wheelbase, RSV94. The great thing about that is, so
54:28
most of the, most of the cars have independent rear suspension, not because,
54:37
because they wanted the handling of the IRS, but because there's no room for the driveshaft.
54:43
I mean, you saw the driveshaft on his car, it's like seven and a half inches.
54:47
Yeah. You know, so with the four-inch stretch, we're actually able to do a four-nine-inch from,
54:53
I believe, Moser, or pretty much any four-nine-inch rear-end solid axle, which, you know, a lot of
55:00
these cars, not many people take these cars to actual courses, tracks, stuff like that. It's
55:05
more of a drag strip, you know, straight line, with a four-link suspension. It handles great
55:12
on the track, you know, and a lot of people don't push them that much, and the four-nine-inch,
55:17
and the way that suspension is designed, handles pretty much what a lot of people will push these
55:22
cars to. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, it's looking good. I'm glad you guys got the body on,
55:32
and you were able to come here and chat with us finally, to chat with us all about it. It's
55:37
a badass car, and we've all been excited to see the progress on it.
55:43
What's next for you, Manny? What's going on? Just keep your shops busy. You're looking for more stuff.
55:49
So I'm actually looking to maybe make some modifications. I've been trying, I've been
55:54
getting a lot of feedback from customers, and making some modifications. I know a lot of
56:00
people that are purists, they really don't want the car to change, but a lot of these changes are
56:07
for the better of the car, making it more drivable. Well, nowadays it's so much more acceptable for
56:14
people to do custom customs, right, and take it a little further, because it's all, again,
56:19
it's all applicable to the driver. I'm seeing a little bit more lenience in that market,
56:26
more acceptance, really. I guess it's been about a year and a half ago,
56:32
I did one with an LS3. Same thing with having that transmission, LS3 being almost the exact same
56:40
dimensions as the 302. It's a perfect fit. It's just people don't like seeing Chevy in a Ford car.
56:48
But again, again, it's an LS. You know the reliability of an LS. I wouldn't want one in there.
56:56
This gentleman said he's like, I want to be able to daily drive my car, not mess with the carburetor,
57:01
anything like that. He's like, I want to get in it and drive it and enjoy the car.
57:06
And he's like, if I was like, I'm not even taking it to car shows. This is purely for my
57:11
enjoyment. So we did an LS3 in his car. So my goal is, I want people to enjoy these cars.
57:21
I want them to basically enjoy the building process. If you buy one of these cars and it
57:30
turns into a nightmare, you finish your car and you just want to get rid of it just because
57:34
it's a pain in the ass. Yes. So luckily, I think I have it pretty spot on with people enjoying their
57:42
builds and being a part of it is another thing is being able to have that sensation of I did this.
57:52
I helped build this car. Not only do you know exactly what's going into your car,
57:57
but because you were a part of it, you now are learning how to maintain your vehicle without
58:02
having to take it to a shop. Well, that and you have no one else to blame when you hook your
58:06
linkage up and then you're driving and you hit the throttle and the linkage falls off.
58:11
You're the one who did. But to speak to that, again, this is the second car that I've done.
58:18
First real car, I mean, the first was a G. But I mean, this experience was freaking awesome.
58:26
It was earth shattering. And the pride that I have by installing one bolt
58:35
is infectious. And the amount of help that he's given me is, I mean, I can't even freaking,
58:43
I don't even know where I'd be. This thing, I'd still be trying to put the shocks in or
58:48
something. But it's been a lot of fun. And it's, I've learned a hell of a lot. I've had a great
58:55
time along the way. I've been frustrated a little bit, three and a half hour bolt situation and
59:00
snapping. Oh, I, I, I snapped a couple more of your drill bits. Sorry.
59:09
You know, for the most part, it's been freaking so much fun, man. And not a lot of people get
59:14
this opportunity. And I'm 150 years old. And I now can say that I put a freaking car together
59:19
every nut bolt of it. I've touched every single bolt on this car. And that's empowering. And
59:25
and it's fun. And as a car guy, you know, that's now I'm a real freaking car guy,
59:30
because I can say with conviction that I put a car together. Yeah. And although it hasn't started yet.
59:38
That's all right. It'll get there. There's no turning back now. Hell no. There's no turning
59:43
back now. All right, guys, this has been awesome. I appreciate it. For those of you
59:51
that are online, of course, check out Manny's Customs Builds. His website is on Instagram as well
59:59
at Manny's Custom Builds on Instagram. You can also see him linked from Goldberg's Garage
00:07
Instagram page as well. There's a few posts up there as well. So yeah, give him a follow,
00:12
say hi, see what's going on in the garage. And Manny, thanks so much for joining us.
00:18
It's been fun. This is probably not going to be the last time you're on the show. So
00:22
well, you're welcome back anytime. And I'm sure when this thing is on the street,
00:26
we're going to have to get you back on to talk about it. But awesome. Bill, thanks so much.
00:33
I'm glad you guys are getting this stuff done and having fun during the process.
00:37
You got it, buddy boy. Until next time, keep the air and the spare and the bag and the wheel.
00:44
Ever see an idea so clearly in your head, but struggle to make it real?
00:48
We've all been there. With Wix, you can build a website for your business
00:52
just the way you pictured it. Get the best of both worlds with AI and drag and drop tools
00:57
all in one place. Stay in your creative flow and use AI when you want, how you want.
01:04
Create a website your way. Try it out at wix.com.
01:18
Get up to $210 in stackable rebates on batteries, brake pads and rotors,
01:23
cabin and engine air filters, and wiper blades. At participating USGM dealers only,
01:28
max rebates derived from collectible rebates on all eligible parts.
01:31
Visit Cadillac.com slash service offers or see dealer for full details.
01:34
Offer ends 22826. Multi-point vehicle inspections vary by participating dealer.
01:40
What's going on? I'm Archman and Viori athlete and college quarterback.
01:42
Whether I'm running, training, traveling or just unlining at home,
01:44
I love doing it in my core shorts from Viori. With a breathable box of brief liner,
01:47
they're quick to dry, super versatile and stand up to even my most intense training sessions.
01:51
Plus, they come in three inseams and a ton of colors.
01:53
Ready to try pair? Go to Viori.com slash Arch and get 20% off at checkout.
01:56
I think you're going to love them as much as I do. That's Viori.com slash ARCH and get 20%
02:01
off your first order. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions.
02:05
Not only will you receive 20% off your first purchase,
02:06
but enjoy free shipping on any US orders over $75 and free returns. Have a great day.
02:10
Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult
02:15
life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families.
02:20
With Greenlight, you can set up chores, automate allowance and keep an eye on your
02:24
kids spending with real-time notifications. Kids learn to earn, save and spend wisely.
02:30
And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money with guardrails in place.
02:34
Sign up for Greenlight today at greenlight.com slash podcast.
02:38
It's tax time, y'all. If you want to file free, this next one's for you.
02:45
Free edition only roughly 37% of file is qualified. Double form to 40 returns only.
02:53
How this is tax-less. Love that jam. Up next, commercials.
02:58
And to a TurboTax-free edition, see if you qualify at TurboTax.com slash free.
03:02
No schedules except for earned income tax credit, child tax credit,
03:05
student loan interest and schedule 1A.