Visiting the Painter – Ken Pike
My son and I visited Ken Pike painter at Street Rod Painter. Everyone we asked recommended his shop.
Related notes live on the Factory Five Cobra build hub.
Ken Pike painter: Why we chose Ken Pike
My son and I have talked to a ton of Cobra owners. Therefore everyone points us to the Street Rod Painter, Ken Pike!
He’s about 65 miles from us. So we took a trip up to visit his shop a few weeks ago.
Also, he has a lot of space. His team has completed over 800 Cobra roadsters. Besides that, they paint tons of other cars as well!
Shop tour and build plan
We arrived at the shop. Then Ken’s shop manager (Arial) showed us around. Meanwhile, tons of work was going on.
Tons of different cars. Likewise, different models of Cobras. Plenty of projects going on!
Rolling chassis before paint
Ken suggested that we get the car to at least a rolling state. It doesn’t need to be go-cart ready. However, the engine has to be installed. Because then the side pipes can go on and the side holes get trimmed.
The plan is to get to a roller/go-cart by May. That’s pretty aggressive. Next, we take the car up to Ken and leave it about one week. After that we pick up the chassis. Meanwhile he keeps the body, doors, and panels to finish.
Then once he’s done (about 3-4 months), we can marry the body back to the chassis. Ultimately we finalize the build!
Paint ideas: black and bronze
My initial thoughts are metallic black with bronze stripes. So the paint can color-match the wheels. Here’s my feeble Photoshop attempt below!
One local Cars and Coffee guy has a Superformance Cobra. His paint looks pretty stinkin cool! I need to pick his brain a bit more. Still, I’d like a black metal flake that complements the bronze shades. As a result, it should look factory!
Overall, we were pretty impressed with Ken’s shop and attention to detail. Therefore we will definitely use him for the bodywork!
