Rob's Gardner Douglas Cobra Build

heater and dash under trays

2011-11-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

Time for a wee update though not a lot of progress that can been seen really. As I started working on the wiring and metering out wires etc. I realised that i needed to really get the heater ducting and lower vents finished in order to see what space I had where for cables and other things. To do this I needed to get the under trays fitted.
The under trays need set into place then held at the front with clamps whilst the back is marked then drilled through and on up into the steering column support bar in a few places, then tapped. The right and left trays need this done, the center one has holes in the 2 supports already and just the tray needs drilled.
The fronts of the trays that fit either side will get held in place with the dash lip as it has to be bolted underneath.

With the rear mounting holes done, The 76mm hole was cut with the holesaw for the adjustable heater duct and also a 12v power socket was added as well, This was done for both the passenger and the drivers side.

On the passenger side I also added a bank of relays as I needed extra on the car that wasnt covered by the GD loom. I need 1 for the fuel pump, 1 for firing the 2nd cooling fan as I'm using 2 stage cooling from the GM ECU, 2 more relays are required for the heaters in the drivers and passenger seats. I also need one more for part of the alarm system. The last one at the moment is spare, it will either stay a spare or its always there just encase or an emergency if required to swop with another.

Not loads of room with all the heater hoses on the passenger side along with the wiper motor.

Above pic shows the T piece which splits the air to the demist on the dash and also the lower hot ait vent. next hmmmmmm more wiring in the dash area :)

Wiper motor and cockpit wiring

2011-11-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

Time to get the wiper motor and drive mech into place, first the motor was bolted onto the bracket and the drive and tube curved across the dash past the 2 wiper spindle mechs.
Once everying was in place correctly I marked the bundy tube where the cuts had to be made and also running it about 100mm past the 2nd wiper spindle. Removed the whole lot again and cut the tube pieces and flared all the ends with my flaring tool. All put back and bolted into place. Will have to check operation at some point once the electrics are sorted to make sure its parking in the right place and not 180deg out.

With the wiper motor in place I bolted in the dash air vents then set about looking at piping the dash vents and the vents that blow the air down towards the footwells, The pipes need to be split and I had seen before where people made up T pieces etc. I got a handlier way around this and its a perfect fit for the flexi tubing :) I used 2 waste T pieces and cut of the ends where the rubber O rings are housed the remaining pipe is the excact diameter required. No particular reason I painted them balck the same colour as the pipe. I 'll get back to finishing this job at a later date.
Also got stuck into the wiring behind the dash, I ran near ll the cables that i could behind the dash and inside the car so quite a bit of work in this area, will take me a while and my head is pickled for today :).

Exhaust clamps / cable cover etc

2011-11-04T16:31:00.000-07:00

I had noticed the clamps that come with the exhaust were not stainless steel even though the exhaust was and also they dropped well below the exhaust. I decided to remove them and add Mikalor stainless steel clamps.
Looks at lot better with these clamps and they wont cause any ground clearance issues :)

I got some foam strip as well that was sticky on one side I used this to seal around the covers for the wheel arch compartments to stop any moisture getting in.

On my mind for a while was how to tidy/conceal all the cables for the ECU, main power and everything else that I had routed through the middle of the bulkhead. I done this in order to try and keep every thing else clutter free around the engine bay. The end result is my new cover :)

Thats all for now, Next job on my list is the wiper motor assembly and drive links along with some pipe work for the pedal box.

Engine bay

2011-11-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

The flexible hose from the fuel rail to the copper fuel line running down the chassis needed routed a bit better and some heat shrink on it to stop it rubbing on the electrical cables. in order to do this the Rocker cover bracket needed cut and re welded to stop the eblow fouling.

With that job done the covers could be fitted :) The connections from the heater box to the stainless heater pipes all linked up now as well.

The radiator mount was bolted in then the air filter was fitted and also the radiator, took a while to get done and everything connected up. The carbon link pipe was also dilled and the air temp sensor fitted.

All in all pretty happy with the progress this past month, project seems to be coming along heaps and bounds :)

Door trim etc

2011-11-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

Decided to get the drivers side door finishers, eschusions etc sorted, also added the Carbon kick plate. Made a start on the fitting the steering column, first was to get it lined up and cut as slot where the bolt wil pass through.

Pedal box

2011-10-31T15:15:00.000-07:00

What started out to be smallish job ended up taking a long time to do. I thought I was at the point of adding the brake pedal switch and then simply bolting the pedal box back in, hmmmmm wrong, quite a few hours later with the pedal box in and out a few times and a sore back its in now and I hope it don't have to come out for a long time.
Once I made the bracket for the brake light switch I ran some rubber U channel around it, not sure if its needed for IVA or not but better safe than sorry. Once I put the pedal box back in I looked at the spacings of the pedals and remembered that for people with broader feet needs the pedal spacing tweaked. As I had the footwell extension in I could move the clutch and brake pedals over towards the tunnel, I also moved the acceleration pedal at tad. I ended up with the pedal box in and out a few times to get this right for me and taking it apart each time to alter the pedals in the vice. Not easy putting the pedal box in on ur on bolt wise. I thought once this was done that was me , errr em nope, I noticed the goo goo pedal :) was just a straight bar right up and nothing there to attach the throttle cable to, suppose this is due to the fact we fit so many engines/cables. I had to take a while and figure out the route the throttle cable needed to go from the engine back to the pedal. Took a while to get the best route but once it was attached to the bulkhead wall I could see what mods needed carried out on the pedal shaft to attach the cable. I drilled and slotted the top and then added a stainless Jubilee so it could never jump out of the locator.
Pedal box was then bolted up and during this the adjusters were set for the brake and clutch cylinders, just more time :)
On another note I removed the windscreen pillar cover and ran some rubber U channel around it, again for IVA and their edge rule, I also replaced the lower bolt for a dome head again just to be safe. Some pics below, not sure what I'm doing next but loads to choose from :)

Pedals moved to the left

Plenty of foot room now :)

All bolted up and throttle connected, rubber around windscreen pillar cover.

Stainless throttle bracket added and cable attached

Footwell extension and carpets

2011-10-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

I started on the car today by taking back out the drivers seat and making a start on the handbrake mounting position and getting the mounting holes drilled through the carpets and body floor. I need to get my handbrake cable shortened and a different end put on it. Will ring speedy cables tmw and hopefully that will get that snag sorted.
I went to do the drivers side bulkhead carpet then realised I had not fitted the footwell extension, worse still I had not drilled all the holes in the body to get it bolted up. Well this took ages to do but we got there in the end. I put alloy rivnuts in the extension piece and used 5mm button heads inserted from the inside. I also run a bead of silicon to help seal it.
Once the extension piece was installed next began trying to carpet round the extension and the last bit of the tunnel, hmmmmmm pain in the butt this was and I was getting a tad high with my head right inside the footwell lol.
I also glued in the small bulkhead piece once i cut the holes out for the pedal box.
Before the pedal box goes back in I need to make a brake switch bracket to mount on the pedal box that's the next job on the to do list.

Seats and Harness

2011-10-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

Started off the day by tidying the workshop as I hate tools lying everywhere and then i cant find anything. Finished of all the harness anchor points first then started into the seat adjusters. I fitted them to the seats before drilling the holes in the shell for mounting the seats in. All bolted in so thats a bit more done and dusted for now. Tmw's another day :)

Roll bars and interior

2011-10-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

Got back to doing the final mounting on the roll bars. The rubber seals i made up were stuck to the boot floor with sikaflex. I drilled and tapped the rear leg of the roll bars to allow fitting of the new head rest mounts. I got some stainless steel thread bar to allow mounting to the headrest.
Took a while to get the hoops into place and everything bolted up, Job done now :)
I set the seats in the car to see what the interior was going to look like, looks the mutts nutts :))) well happy with the design of the seats I come up with, red stitching looks well on them.
Hope to get a bit more done over the weekend, some pics below of the work done and car now.

Interior carpets, leather , trim

2011-10-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

The progress starting to show now on the interior though a long way to go yet. The carpet is all fitted now apart from one bulkhead piece where the pedal box goes.
I fitted the side carpets first then the tunnel carpet before doing the rear bulkhead and the front bulkhead. Once the carpets were in the leather tunnel top got fitted after the brackets where made and the gear lever installed.

Door rubbers fitted and end finishers installed on the passenger side, DS finishers still need sorted. I fitted Carbon kick strips at the bottom of the doors and also behind where the seats go. The ones behind the seat should stop the harness from rubbing on the body work.

More progress soon :)

Interior leather

2011-10-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

Needed to make up a few stainless brackets to bolt the tunnel leather top on, I measured quite a few times before cutting the 100mm hole for the gear lever. The gaitor i spent a bit of time on, firstly getting it so the eschusion screws went through the leather as well and I also added some contact adhesive between the eschusion and leather then used a few bolts to secure it to the tunnel top until it set. The stainless tabs are ready to be bent around the tunnel and screwed on.
Working on the interior carpet tmw and trim, I'm hoping to have all the carpet fitted by Sunday. Pedal box is removed ready for the bulkhead piece on the drivers side next.

Door cards etc

2011-10-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

Got both the door cards fitted, they were simple enough to do just needing 7mm holes marked out and drilled for the door card clips and a nick in the leather for the handle to be fitted.

Made a start on the interior carpet doing a dry run, more on this on the next update, I made up some temp head rest brackets as I,m getting some different one made up by GD that connect to the rear leg of the roll bar.

Another job that need done was to make up some rubber seals where the roll bar legs go through the floor of the boot to stop any ingress of water, I can't final fit the hoops yet until I mark out then drill and tap the holes in the rear leg where the final rest rest brackets will be fixed. Once they are done thats the hoops hopefully ready to be properly fitted.

Got some rubber U channel and fitted it to the inner lip of the boot, makes a nice tidy finish to the area, I still need to get some rubber seal and fit it around the boot as well to stop any water getting in.

Tackling a few other bits on the interior at the moment will post more on the next update, thats all for now, theres work to be done :)

polishing

2011-10-17T14:18:00.000-07:00

Not a lot to say on todays exploits apart from sanding and loads of buffing to get the back of the Cobra polished up. There were a few places that had chips/scratches so i had them filled before. I wanted to more or less get the final polish done before the Roll hoops went on again and I had one repair behind one of the over riders to sort. There were a few other chips etc to be sorted up front so they were tackeled but a few need done again due to air bubbles etc. Anyways looking a lot better now after quite a few hours.
Couple of hours yet before bed time so maybe time to get one of the door cards fitted :)

Interior

2011-10-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

I started of the day by making a small list of some bits I needed and then finished in the boot for now. I need to sand and buff the back of the car again as there is a few wee scrapes and much easier before I fit the roll hoops again.
Anyways the inside of the car had been neglected so far with pretty much nothing done, first the floor got painted just to tidy it up, I know its covered with carpet but it looks better for now.

With that done one of the door cards was tackled next it wasnt that hard with the clips in the door cards to transpose the marks onto the door for drilling the 7mm locator holes.

Looks pretty good and makes the car look a little further on.
Next I started to look at the side carpets etc then realised the ridge around the door needed trimmed back to 12mm ,grrrrrrrrrrrrr I thought I had all the dusty fiberglass cutting jobs done, anyways I marked a line right around both doors with the scriber and cut and sanded the lip to 12mm.
Onto the Centre carpet I got it out to see what way it fitted and tried to figure out what way to put it down and also mark where to cut it for the gear lever.
I ordered eschusions from GD as well to tidy up the opening in the body for the door hindges, these come flat and laser cut, part of them needs bent 90 deg before fitting.

Once the 4 eschusons were bent the tape was peeled of them and give them a quick polish before fitting to the passenger side. Drivers side will get done at a later date.

Boot carpet

2011-10-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

I got stuck into the boot carpet, I was really surprised just how much carpet it takes to cover inside it boot area, seems more than there is inside the car. I got my carpet set from GD, its most likely cheaper to go and buy carpet and do your own but by the time you would pay someone to edge all the carpet I recon its better to buy the GD set as they use the best quality carpet :)
It took me a lot longer to fit and glue in the carpet than i first though, maybe cause I got a tad high on the contact adhesive a few times, very easy when ur head is inside the boot :))))))))
I still need to glue the bit that covers the back of the lights but the rest is done and dusted, will glue the last bit when all is sorted. I painted the very back of the boot just to tidy it up. Ooooo i cut the holes for the Roll hoops as well, but they may need made bigger when i go to fit them
While I was working at the rear of the car I fabricated up a couple of stainless steel brackets to fit the reflectors onto. I secured the brackets onto the overrider brackets.
Not sure what I'm doing next, there are that many jobs to choose from but i,m sure something will attract me in the morning :)

Boot area

2011-10-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

The boot is coming along nicely now, The fuel tank is now installed and strapped into place with a couple of stainless steel straps I had made up.I used rubber under the straps so they did not rub on the tank. Fuel sender is wired up as well, I ran an earth to the tank and well and up to the filler cap, not sure if its needed for IVA but it done now anyways.

Filler pipe and connections done to the Cap and a beather pipe put in.

shinny bling cap :)

While I was in working arond the boot I fitted the tail pipes on the exhaust system, I think the look well and the GD exhaust is very tasty done in 316 stainless and all tig welded.

I took out the big box of carpet I got from GD, there is some load of carpet to be fitted in the boot. looks like more for the boot than inside the car. I have a few more jobs to do in the boot before I start putting the carpet in like a cover for the fuel pump/filter.

body mounting

2011-10-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

A few hours today spent getting the rest of the bolts lined up and the body mounted to the chassis. Apart from doing this I side tracked and sorted out the tubing for the air horns and also the wiring.
I put some foam above and below the bolts in the boot so the petrol tank would not touch them when fitted .

As The bolts were being put in place they were coated with waxoyl.

Time goes by

2011-10-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

Been ages from I got any work done to the Cobra project, over this past 2 weeks I did get back into the swing of things having some extra time. The first few nights got taken up on where on earth was I on the build and trying to figure out where to start etc.
Well the first job was to get the body of :( The rubber mounts that attach the body to the chassis have rivnuts in 10 of them and 2 without, hmmm I only found this out after the body was on hence I could not get the bolts into 2 of them. Anyways there were a few we other things I could tackle with the body off again. I suppose its the beauty of the GD Cobra that the chassis and body can be seperated quite quickly though it does take a while to put it back on again on your own but I,ve done this twice now and I'm happy enough doing it myself.
The fuel system in the boot had some work done as well, I made up a stainless steel bracket for the fuel filter and fuel pump, insulated with rubber and also used 6mm rubber to mount it to the body, this should keep any vibration down. I mounted the pressure regulator above them and connected the lot up using fuel safe braided hoses and using the GD connection kit. need to run the hose out to the solid fuel line yet after that I will look at getting the tank strapped down.

Body being lifted on on the winch.

I had to add more numbers to the chassis number for the IVA .

One of the rubber mounts I had to change round.

Fuel system.

Roll Bars

2011-01-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

Worked on at the roll bars but as usual getting time is my biggest problem.
To mark out the holes for the Bars I made a sleeve to fit the dremel bit that was the size of the holes on the chassis. Once i got the holes done I drilled out the lower body holes with the hole saw bigger than the bars.
Then a length of 12mm threaded bar was bolted to the holes and i put the level on them making 2 marks at right angles to the roof of the boot.

Once i marked the where the top holes were to be I drilled a 3mm hole through, then dropped a plum line down from the top to check the holes were accurate.

Here's a pic from under the car as well with the plumb line down through the chassis hole.

Once I was happy with the alignment i then drilled the top holes in the shell but drilled them just the size of the bars. Once that was done i fettled the holes to get the 2 front bars to fit. Once I was happy with them I done the 3rd leg.
When the bars were all fitted and tightened up I used a washer to mark a 5mm gap around the bars to fit the rubber grommets.
One of those jobs that just takes loads and loads of time but one you don't want to get wrong :)

Roll Hoop Start

2010-12-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

Not much done over this past few days with one thing or another and we had no water today eeeeeeeeekkkkk main pipe on the road froze and its buried down 4'6" . Thank goodness the water service got it sorted :)

Anyways Cobra wise I changed the side indicators, wasn't happy with the Black and Chrome theme on my car having orange indicators on the side so I changed them for clear lens and orange bulbs.

Took into the Roll hoops as well but slow going loads and loads of measuring as the holes have to be made from the chassis up. More on this later but suffice to say they are started, still the 3rd hole to do on the first hoop.

At the back of the boot there ain't much space to drill and I don't have an angle drill of all things so it took a while but I got it sussed.

After all the marking and got the pilot hole in the top body a 52mm hole saw done the job and then tried the Roll bar back to front, Yeaaaaa I got the measurements spot on, I hope the rest work out the same :)

Me and Mini Me

2010-12-21T12:06:00.000-08:00

Well work was dead quiet today and that was enough of an excuse for me to get stuck into the car.
Well there was only me about oooooooooo and mini me, here's mini me lol

I made this up a long time back from steel I had here, the winch was only £50 on offer.
I hooked the winch up via a strong ratchet strap across the 2 outer eye bolts for the harness mounting points and another forward one to the steering column bar.

So here's some pictures of one chappie putting A body on a GD Cobra :)

Once it was high enough, I rolled the chassis underneath. As it winched up I had to stop a few times to raise the front as it was a bit nose heavy but easy enough to lift and put supports underneath.

On its way down

Nearly there

Once it was down and lightly held, it needed to go forward about 10mm on the rubber mounts so a good plank against the harness plate and the tyre jigged it forward. Fiddled about then and got some bolts in to hold it temporary, It will be coming of again once I get some measurements around the engine bay and a few other things done like the Roll bar holes cut out :shock:
Then back on for a long time I hope :)

Pretty handy job in the end thanks to the fantastic GD chassis and body design.

Brightwork

2010-12-19T11:57:00.000-08:00

Wooooooooooooosssssssssshhhhh and another weekend is away.

Time seems to be flying by Cobra wise and this was one of those weekends where wee jobs took 5 times the amount of time to do as anticipated or should have, putting things in marking, taking out , drilling etc. O yea marked the flaming car as well, Nout a wee sand some gel and more sanding and buffing wont magic out, just more time

Had hoped to of got the body on before Xmas, maybe fingers crossed it may be on for the new year.

Anyways I got the screen out and back into the car now and the centre stay bracket sorted, mirrors on now as well so it actually starting to look in some small way like a car.

Took ages to mark out the positions of the rear overriders, one of the
jobs meaure loads and drill once.

Rear lights , mirrors etc

2010-12-17T11:42:00.000-08:00

Got some more work done on the Cobra.

I sanded round the rear of the car and done it with some G6 for now, not worried about the finished polish for now as every time I drill a hole it pops fiberglass dust around the place and the wee particles of glass when very lightly dusting down the car do tend to scratch it. Apart from that I leave the odd wee mark :(

Anyways apart from that I took apart the side mirrors and removed the brackets they come with to fit the GD made ones,

The GD bracket just screws to the black plastic ball which pulls out of the old bracket once the screw is undone.

With the GD brackets mounted on the mirrors, The screen was put back in the car to mark out a few jobs, from the screen escutcheon to the bottom hole of the mirror is 160mm. Once the screen is of the car again I'll drill and tap them.

Next I marked the screw holes for the escutcheons, then onto the centre stay bar. One of the brackets that come with this is not right for the GD see bracket in pic left. Its to small so I had to take some stainless and make another bracket up (right pic) then polish it. Bit more work to do to this and then mark holes to be drilled in the dash for mounting screws.

What else ....... I drilled the holes and mounted the rear fog and reversing light, They are mounted 7" either side of the boot centre. Number plate light also fitted now and connections made.

Hope to get the various holes sorted around the screen sorted next and then buff the screen dash area before putting the screen back in. Hopefully it wont be out again after that but I aint holding my breath on that one lol.

Wiring

2010-12-08T06:29:00.000-08:00

Some progress pics, I stripped the GD loom back and added extra fan control wires as I wanted 2 stage switching on them. Also I didn't want the main body loom running into the engine bay and back out again where it could be seen so some mods were done

Loom now runs straight through the heater box/ battery compartment and down the inner wing.

From there it feeds the NS lights and indicators and goes into the engine bay area up above where it cant been seen and a drop down to the fans.

Cable then runs out to the OS and feeds the lights etc , runs backwards and a drop to the horn before going to the side indicator.

Took me ages to do this and still waiting on some waterproof connectors arriving for the lights and indicators.

I started the boot wiring as well, running the wires through the boot skin is a royal pain in the butt more on that later don't understand why when bonding the inner and outer skin together at the factory they don't pop in the 2 cables a 5 min job rather than drilling fish holes that have to be covered up later.

Some of the loom now clipped and the number plate light connection is ran through the boot bracket ready to be hooked into the wires I ran through the boot skin.

When i had the boot off I decided to sand it to a final finish using 2000 grit and have started to buff it, better to do the sanding and buffing a bit at a time as it can get boring.

last one for now I have got the hoist setup ready to put the body on when i get to that stage so that no one will be under pressure holding the body

Wiring and odds and sods

2010-11-28T03:09:00.000-08:00

I got the rest of the p clips , jubilee clips and stainless self tappers I needed to get a few jobs done. All the cooling hoses are finished and tightened up, overflow pipe now clipped ( out with rivnut tool again)

I nearly forgot to do up the brake and clutch unions at the back of the engine, I had them in temporary but forgot to go back and finish the job. that would of been some handling if i had the body on i recon i would of had to take it of again

Started the main wiring loom, I cut out the fuse box hole in the bulkhead and then mounted the relays putting these in u get in some rare positions. Made sure to do the vectra steering column mod before i mounted the relays.
I took apart some of the GD loom as I didn't like the way the cables ran into the engine bay and then back out to the inner arches to supply lights and indicators etc. Still working on this, waiting on some conduit coming at the moment.
Also been working on the main engine loom as i want all the cables to enter the bulkhead in one position.

I got some sound deadening for the petrol tank and fitted that so the tanks ready to go in when i get to that stage........ along way of yet

Thats about it for now not sure what I'm for doing next, have a few jobs on that i need simple bit for but as usual it does not take much to stop progress.

Cold

2010-11-28T03:03:00.000-08:00

Got up this morning and its kinda chilly, straight out to workshop and burner lit, lets be honest we have to get the priorities right :) ooo and the kettle on.

Just heard on the radio last night was the coldest night in November EVER for N,Ireland eeeek. -8.6 so wonder whats in store for us as the winter really sets in.

Got some work done on the car this past week but not loads as we were busy with our new waste oil burners. more info on them www.wasteoilburners.co.uk

2010-11-18T10:53:00.000-08:00

Not a lot more done I'm loaded with the cold grrrrrrrrrrr
I have the steering column support bar in temp at the moment so i could fit the steering column and mark out the hole where it goes through the Bulkhead into the engine bay. one more hole less to do. The rubber grommet is the ones GD use for the roll hoops.

Blog

2010-11-17T06:30:00.000-08:00

Took a wee bit of time today and sorted my blog and went back and added labels to all the posts hopefully any useless information Ive posted or ramblings can be easier found now rather than having to page back through all the posts :)

chassis foam

2010-11-17T05:49:00.000-08:00

Stuck the foam on the chassis as its getting near the stage for the body to go on :)

Wiper spindles

2010-11-17T05:40:00.000-08:00

Once the screen is fitted I could mark out where the wiper spindles go, they start 5mm out from the edge of the screen rubber and 415mm from the adge of the screen post. Its the same for both sides. these holes are at an angle hence not round. I found the best way to get the shape was using the washer from the spindle kit and to get the angle i used the plastic sleeve that goes over the spindle. Also with the screen in its a good time to mark out the heater slots.
Then its screen out and start cutting :)

Bonnet Locks

2010-11-17T05:28:00.000-08:00

I had previously spent ages marking out exactly where the locks go in the bonnet and it was now time to install them, the holes isnt round so takes a wee bit of filing but an easy enough job. The most important thing about this job is to do it before the boday goes on the car as you need to get into the engine bay area to mark the bulkhead where the catch goes into. Mr Dremel out once again :)
I also got all the nuts and bolts tightened up on the bonnet scoop, just need to paint inside it now, should of actually done it before fitting. I need some stainless mesh as well for the front opening on the scoop.

Windscreen

2010-11-17T05:23:00.001-08:00

Doing it this way is very accurate and no need to elongate holes etc. GD have a measurement for the posts 35mm from the bottom of the post and 175mm for the 2 holes but due to each screen being hand made I think this is the best way to install the screen. Also doing it this way makes the job easy for one person to do on their own as the steel bars help hold the screen in place :)

Windscreen

2010-11-17T05:04:00.000-08:00

Got a bit more done this past while
The GD body has threaded inserts moulded into the body and the centres of these inserts need to be transferred onto the legs so some reading done and some lengths of steel flat - drilling them for the screen fixing bolts, screwing them to some blocks of wood and bonding the blocks of wood to the inside of the body also made up some spacers that were the same diameter as the post legs from the carbon cut from building the dash. Thanks STR for the tip :)
The screen needs to be 6mm of the bulkhead at the posts on either side and also 930mm from the curve on the rear bulkhead to the top of the screen (inside measurement at top of screen)
Pictures speak 1000 words at times so some pics.

more pics

2010-11-11T16:52:00.000-08:00

Some more pics, next on the list to do is fit the Foam on the chassis tunnel for the body to sit on and then I'll fit the lights to the body and front indictors, I also need to fit the bonnet locks which seem to be a pain to get done, I'm still trying to get a list together of what to do next as I've been away from the project for a while, I find once you break from the work it wastes a lot of time trying to figure where u were :(
One job I know of is to finish sanding and buffing the back of the car hmmm time consuming,

Chassis work

2010-11-11T16:46:00.000-08:00

Got a few other wee jobs done over this past week or so, I had order the rest of the hoses to complete the heating system from the engine to the bulkhead and to the heater box so I fitted them.
Front anti roll bar is now in and completed apart from one joint which needs another part so will have to wait on that one.
Started fitting the air horns tonight but need a wee stainless bracket for the compressor and a stainless sleeve.
I need to get a few more clips and brackets sorted around the engine bay so rivnut gun will be in play for a while i think :)
fitted the other Carbon engine cover and have the steering finished ready to connect to the steering column at a later date when the body is fitted.

Wheels

2010-11-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

Got some work done to the Cobra this past couple of weeks for a change :)

Got the tyres on the Image rims and now fitted to the car after fitting the front caliper nuts with lockwire. Rad fans now mounted as well had to wait on one fan coming as one was the incorrect.

time flies by

2010-11-11T15:53:00.000-08:00

Cant believe its been may from I updated the blog, well most fo the summer was spent out in the convertible or on holiday plus doing the normal things around the home we have to do.
In order to have the workshop more inviting for the winter I had been working on a waste oil burner. It's now finished and installed and working a treat :)

Step1

Step2

Step3

Step4

Step5

Time for a Nap :P

Centaur

2010-05-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

Got the Centaur back today, it was away getting a new mohair softop fitted,
Almost 2 years to do this one , total strip down and all rot cut out and new steel/panels installed
Few wee jobs to do but its basically done and dusted now.
Its had a few retro changes, body, interior etc Done all the work myself apart from the softop which I couldn't do :(
Only 118 of these were built for Opel made in 1979

parts

2010-05-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

No physical progress on the car today and the next couple of days will be the same infact the next week is going to be busy.
Spare time today was spent sorting out parts, Onto good old eBay for stainless nuts bolts and washers of various sizes, and some electrical connectors.
Sent another few emails of about parts and spent a while on the phone with Andy ordering the heater hoses I need along with some stainless bits and chassis foam. I also ordered the footwell extension and the flush locks for the bonnet. Not needed yet but i took a notion and ordered the harnesses so that bill jumped a tad.
It's funny how you think you have most of the things you need until you take into a few jobs and then you find out you need quite a bit lol.
Also asked Andy to price up the carpets, interior trim and wheels, Got a feeling I'll need a stiff drink as the GD stuff is top of the line :) all I can say is I'm glad the target is to get the car on the road next year.

Cooling system

2010-05-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

Made a start on this today, I had already made the modified fan brackets for the radiator so I put the Radiator in place. next to be fixed was the GD modified thermostat housing, the original came out at an angle.

Mounted the expansion tank to the crossbar, I drilled under the bar and put in some rivnuts, soaked inside the crossbar with dinitrol once i had the holes drilled. I made some measurements and also mounted the stainless heater pipes that GD made up for me.

The heater pipes run up the side and then across under the expansion tank, Not a great pic sorry :(

While I was at it I sorted the hose for the AFM and connected it up properly.I still need some more hosing to connect up the outlet to the Carbon Air pipe the goes down to the filter.

Started to get the cooling hoses on and in place, only have normal clips for these so need to order some stainless ones.

I still need the heater hoses, thought they were here so will have to chase them up. I also noticed I don't have some bits for the steering so another few bits to the list for Andy tmw.

Clips

2010-05-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

Started clipping the engine loom cables this morning, early start to a long day :)
I noticed that where some of the cables were running the block had threaded holes for different things I,m not using, but all the holes were 8mm or 10mm way to big for the 5mm bolt needed for the stainless P clips.
Had a wee idea I took a M10 bolt and screwed it in near as far as it goes, then cut it so i had basically a piece of threaded bar.

I then drilled a hole down the center of the bolt to allow it to be tapped for a M5 bolt.

Once tapped and the M5 in place, I put some retainer on it and screwed it into the block, Just needs the P clip in place now, seems a tidy job. Can do the same with some of the other clips others I need to make some brackets, That's on the cards when i get time outside again.

Engine covers

2010-05-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

Made a early start this weekend and got stuck into the engine bay wiring and run the extra wires needed in the loom, for the oil and water temp, reverse feed and switch wire. Dumped some wires that were not need and spent ages getting the loom in shape for the cobra engine bay and getting it all nicely put together again.
Still got to make a few brackets to mount the clamps to.

After several hours of wiring I took into the engine bay covers and brackets, fancied a handy job !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Started of with the passenger side and bolted the bracket on, well almost the center mounting hole in the row of 3 holes that go on the coil packs was a couple of mm out and so was the other bracket. Sorted the holes out and popped the brackets on.

The crbon covers had GD pre marked the holes to be drilled. I opted for the pillar drill as a couple of the holes are on the radius and the drill bit could slip real easy. Anyways 6.5mm holes drilled for the M6 bolts and relief no slips. Passenger side tested out and its fine.

Problem,,,,,,,,, When I set the cover over the drivers side the holes were out miles, On the left hand side they were out 6mm on the horizontal plane and 5mm vertical. On the right hand side they were out 6mm horizontal and 7mm vertical. Took a while to get my head around where the error was in any case I could not re drill the covers.
I made several measurements and made sure the cover was sitting exactly where it was supposed to, cant really go wrong as the oil filler is on this side and its an accurate fit. Also on both sides you have the fuel rail crossing over.
I decided to cut the bracket to fix the problem on one side as the hole would be of the bracket.
Bracket cut and it took a couple of goes tacking it go get the exact position. 6mm across all over, 5mm down one side and 7 the other.

Job done at last end result looking good, just took a weeeeeeeeeee while longer than expected :)

Battery Cables

2010-05-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

I got around today to getting some more cable for the battery and ground leads, I remembered when I was in the motor factors picking up my new Buff, they gave me a new one as the part hadn't come in to repair the other one under warranty.

Got home and out come the Hydraulic crimps :)

The finished product

Cable lengths and terminals

Red Feeds
1 x 1360mm terminals 25/10 one end 25/8 the other
1 x 390mm terminals 25/10 one end and a battery clamp the other.

Black Grounds
2 x 450mm terminals 25/10 one end and a 25/8 the other
1 x 490mm terminal 25/10 one end and a battery clamp the other.

I had to call into parcel force this afternoon to pay duty on the LS6 exhaust gaskets I got from summit racing eeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkk overall they weren't cheap :(
They started cheap $25.00 a set so i bought 2 just to have a spare set $50 in total, then $25 to fill in customs form, $40 for postage then £17.95 to parcel force for vat and handling. About £100 all in for something that costs about £35 in the states. Glad I wasn't buying a engine lol.

Bonnet locks

2010-05-07T03:59:00.000-07:00

Firstly with the bonnet catches you need to be sure what locks you are using before you drill the final holes, flush type or T handle as the holes are different.
The T handle has a round hole with 2 side locator's.
The flush type has a round hole with squared of corners.

The first measurement is taken 3" down from the center of the bonnet. I knew exactly where mine was as I placed my first dome screw for the bonnet scoop dead center (see older post on mounting the bonnet scoop )
This line extends 14" out from the center of top lip of the scoop.

In the above pics I took 2 measurements one in a straight line from the center of the scoop and one at an angle to meet the second measurement 1.5 " in from the edge of the bonnet at that point.
There was only a couple of mm of difference so not that important what way you do it.
Once I got the cross where the 2 measurements met I then transferred the measurement underneath just to check.

To make sure these measurements are correct next you need to measure the bulkhead lip (20mm on mine) plus the escushion 1mm, then subtract the bonnet gap when closed (7mm on mine) This gives a measurement of 14mm so allow 15 :)
In the above pic you can see a thick red line that has been drawn 15mm in from the edge of the bonnet, this is the bulkhead line plus the escushion plate measurement.
You can see that the widest part of the locking mechanism is at this point and the barrel part is well clear of the bulkhead and wont foul.

The pilot hole is then drilled,

The same is done with the other side.
I cannot go any further with mine at the moment as I have T handles and want to install flush locks. Next job to do is drill out with a hole saw the hole for the barrel, drilling through one skin from the top and one from the bottom.
Once the lock is fitted. the bonnet will then be packed level with some card then the locator's slots can be cut out in the bulkhead. Don't forget to order the escutcheons for the locator's slot like me :)

Dash Finished

2010-05-06T15:05:00.001-07:00

Big grin this evening, the dash is now finished, I can put it away for a while now until the car nears its completion. Well I just may take it out for the odd peak now and again :)

I used the GD dash loom and it was all pretty easy done, would of been easier if I had of had the main loom in the car and done the dash later but when the notion strikes you go with the flow.
The only aquard wires were on the Hella hazard switch which were
Green/white = R
Green/pink = 49A
Brown/green = 49
Brown/green = 15
Green/Red = L
Red/white = 58
Black = 31

The final product

Tmw I was going back to the wiring but the Bonnet locks are now in line to get tackled by popular demand :)

Radiator Fans

2010-05-05T11:39:00.001-07:00

As with most builds you get evenings where you go out to do one job and you get side tracked.I went to do a wee bit more to the wiring and wanted a rough idea where and how much cable to add into the engine loom for the fans.
I got the Radiator out and the fans and decided to mount the fans on the Rad.

First I set the fans on the Radiator and then measured what length I needed the stainless bar to be.

With the bars cut I marked them top and bottom to be drilled,Two 5mm holes top and bottom, these get pop riveted to the rad. Once the bars where drilled they were set back on the Radiator and then the Radiator marked to be drilled with 5mm holes.
Once they were done the bar were put back on and a couple of the pop rivets pushed in just to hold them in place, Fans then set back on and the holes marked for the rivnuts. The Rivnuts are pressed in facing outwards away from the Radiator.

Next step is to drill out the fan mount holes from 6mm to 7mm, this lets the rivnuts fit inside the fan mounts, giving a great location guide before the M5 x 15mm bolts and washers are installed, It's also a good idea to put thread lock on as well.

Hopefully with some time tmw,the radiator and bars can be painted as its very easy marked when working at it.
Takes a while to do the Radiator Fan mounts like this but its a much much better job the the normal pins that push through as they can damage the cores. GD advised to mount the fans with the 4 x 20mm bar.
You end up drilling about 48 holes with this wee job and thats without pilot holes.

Engine bay Electrics

2010-05-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

Some decent progress made today with the wiring, well from an identification point of view spent a couple of hours trying to ID things and going through wires with Alan
Anyways the oil pressure sender on the LS unit is an electrical type so this needs removed.

I removed the switch and installed a bolt, which was drilled right through after it was shortened, then it was widened out part of the way down and tapped for the Smiths Gauge fitting. Once this was done it was installed into its location.

Next the oil temperature probe was installed just above the oil Filter

Water temperature probe fitted

Now starting to take the loom apart as I need to add some more wires and also move the location of some branches. I want the loom to go comfortably in the center of the engine bay and back inside the dash, at the moment its to far to the Drivers side.

Engine loom

2010-05-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Spent a while on the engine bay loom. It is the LS6 loom which has been modified as far as I know, There are ID tags on a right few of the plugs but some have none so I will need to suss out what is what and if any are surplus.
After that some figuring out will be needed to get it linked into the GD loom, For now its trying to route it the best way I can around the engine to keep as much out of sight as possible.

Prop shaft

2010-05-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

Spent ages earlier looking for the correct nuts and bolts for the GD prop shaft, as usual didn't find them until I started something else IE the wiring. So whilst I had them to hand I measured the correct length required and shortened the bolts and fitted the prop. A wee bit fiddly but job done :)

Shell to chassis mounts

2010-05-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

Read somewhere but cant remember where that a couple of the rubber mounts need cut along the tunnel section of the car to stop the shell fowling on them. Grinder outside and cut and sprayed. The other 10 mounts I took of and greased them to stop any rust forming behind them.

brake lines and fuel line all run up and clipped to the front of the car. Figured out the speedo, reverse lock and reverse switches on the gearbox.

The GD stainless exhausts are temp mounted on the car, I,m waiting on a couple of LS6 exhaust manifold gaskets coming from summit Racing before I seal it up. Tried the UK but no one had them in stock.
Going to take A look at the engine wiring loom now to get an idea what way to run it and identify some of the engine plugs.

Rear axle

2010-05-03T03:45:00.000-07:00

I gave Alan a call last night, nice to chat about the builds with somone else whos doing the job or done it, his project isnt far of being sorted, Lucky chap :)
Sometimes guidance or re assurance works wonders.
Taking today away from the shell to go back to the chassis and go over whats been done and what needs to be sorted ie Engine wiring.
Decided to start at the rear axle and move forward, Checked all the bolts and nuts etc, Diff carrier bolts are wired as are the brake calipers. Checked the diff oil and greased the drive shaft joints just to top up.

Checked all the brake lines as well a couple needed a wee nip up and the drive shaft castle nuts needed the split pins put in

The handbrake mech needs a couple of return springs installed not sure if I have them or not and will need to see where the chassis needs drilled to mount them. I turned the shocks fully anticlockwise and turned them clockwise 5 clicks springs are set showing 10 threads below them. Will have to get more info on the settings later.
Off to get find some bolts for the drive shaft now, update later.

Heater Box

2010-05-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

Another day and 2 steps forward and one back again, The heater box was on the job sheet for today, Firstly it was dismantled taking the sides of , removing the matrix and then the blower fan.

The side mounting flanges need cut of and some M6 rivnuts installed on the outlet side. This is to allow mounting to the car using M6 x 25mm bolts. Some very good information on this heater installation on Simon's Blog.
Now modifying the box was the easy bit for me. Once the mods were done the holes for the duct needed drilled in the bulkhead, my project had no pre drilled holes and most things not marked so its been a learning curve working out some holes.
With the duct holes drilled, I made a template like Simon and marked the mounting bolt holes.

So far so good then my brain overloaded may have been due to the wine last night :) I had to try and figure out with nearly no space where on earth the holes went into the engine bay, for the heater pipes, the more i thought the more i panicked as i knew they had to be 100% accurate. After a couple of hours flaffing about measuring remeasuring and reading online I took the plunge and drilled them.
Now for the step back again, heater box has to come out and be put away as the engine bay still needs sanded and buffed more and this can be done with the heater pipes sticking out. A well I will see progress soon I hope.

Inner wing compartment access covers

2010-05-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

Whist doing the pedal box I decided to sand and level of the entrance to the compartment and add the fixings to allow the cover to be bolted into place. All went easy with the drivers side so having the tools out i decided to do the passenger side.
Problem the cover would not fit right there was a 7mm gap at the top and it rocked as well, I knew that a rubber seal wouldn't solve the problem.

I got the fibre paste out and levelled the areas and once it cured hit it with the DA sander and a 80 pad. Out come the stone chip again and covered the repair areas. Covers got stone chipped as well

Just need to pop the covers on once they dry tmw.

Pedal box

2010-05-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

Another day and a bit more done, weather was great today so very enjoyable with the doors open in the workshop and the birdies chirping outside.
I went with the fixed pedal box rather than the adjustable as I like the new GD seats with the headrest inbuilt, this allows me to fit seat runners and does away with the need for an adjustable box.
First I dismantled the box

With that done I setup the position required, then marked one hole, removed the pedal box and drilled it out, then repositioned the pedal box and bolted it up, marked up the other bolt holes and used the right size hole saws to center the arbour. Removed the box all drilled out all the holes

Pedal box was then bolted back in, then the master cylinders attached.

I didn't bolt it up tight as it will be in and out a few times during the build, no point adding more work :)

Fuel filler cap 2

2010-04-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

After a wee bit of head scratching and going through the brake fitting I came up with a plan as I didn't want to go and get a npt tap for one job and have to order and wait for a 1/8 npt fitting.
I took out a M10 male and female brake fitting and decided to weld them giving the fitting required for the job.
Now I have loads of M10 taps 1.5 and 1.25 but no 1.00mm, sods law the filler neck is alloy so soft, so I decided to tap it the old fashioned way :) For M10 its a 9mm hole which I marked out but putting the neck back in the car and marking the location where it needed to be to route the brake pipe vent. Once marked it was drilled out.
next step I used the normal M10 tap JUST to start the thread by about 1 turn, once that was done I took a spare m10 male fitting (see pic) and cut 2 slots in it with the grinder. I used that slowly to tap a thread in the alloy filler neck just doing a bit at a time and keeping it lubricated. 10mins job done.
I then welded the male and female fittings together, ground them down and installed the finished item into the neck with some threadlock.
Just need to clean it up and put it away until a later stage when the body work is sorted.

Fuel filler cap 1

2010-04-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

Decided to tackle the fuel filler cap today, I'm going with the Aston type. First of all I checked the center mark for the fuel neck to be installed. Happy with that I took out a 76mm hole saw and drilled the hole for the neck. I've been lucky so far that everytime I need a hole saw on the project I had the right size,
Next I added a couple of the gaskets supplied with the neck and cap and screwed them together, this meant I could set the cap in the right position on the car. I put a small bit of masking tape on the body and a bit on the filler and marked the 2 when the cap was in the right position.
Once removed 6 holes need drilled in the filler neck flange, these are pre marked underneath so easy enough to do with a 4.5mm drill bit. Once that was done on the top side I recessed the holes so the M4 button heads would sit flush.
Next the filler neck went back on the car lining up the masking tape marks, the 6 holes where then marked and drilled out on the body.
Simple as that ready to go on.
Well almosttttttt I had read somewhere that a breather needed fitted to the neck though there is already one in the cap. Flicking through the GD CD I seen the breather setup and also reading Simon's blog I knew one needed fitted. Firstly I didn't have a 1/8 npt male to female fitting and I didn't have a npt tap. Hmmmmm how to get round this

Bonnet scoop 3

2010-04-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

After drilling all the holes in the bonnet for the M4 button heads, next job was to cut a really big chunk out of the bonnet going through both skins.
I carefully ran masking tape 10mm right round the scoop in from the holes that had been drilled and 20mm in from the front of the scoop.
With this marked out a deep breath or 3 and the combination of the angle grinder for the straight bits and the dremel for the curves the cuts were made. The outer skin comes of first then you trim the corners of the inner skin to release it. Just before the cut through is made in the skins support it so it does not snap of and take a chunk of the bonnet with it.
Once cut out the file and the flap disc on the pencil grinder smoothed of any rough bits.
Now once the bonnet is cut it reveals the outer and inner skin, there is a gap between these and the surfaces need bonded together. IT is important not to squeeze these to skins butt tight as it distorts the bonnet, I checked this with GD.
So putting a few temp bolts in just to retain the natural gap between the skins I then bonded them with a polyurethane bonding agent, tiger seal, sikaflex etc does the same job.
With that done the next job whilst the bonnet cures is to remove the front part of the scoop so wire mesh can be installed. So tea break over and away to play with the dremel again :)

Bonnet scoop 2

2010-04-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

With The actual position on the bonnet marked out, my next job was to mark out where all the holes where to be drilled in the scoop. After some head scratching and masking off round the lip with some 20mm masking tape I decided to make the first hole 10mm in from the front of the scoop at each side. After that I marked a hole dead center at the top of the scoop so that each hole from there to the front corner either side should work out in the same place. I then set about working out the spacings to make them equal 51mm worked out just about perfect after a few trail marks.
With everything marked out to my liking it was of to the pillar drill to drill all the holes out with a 4mm bit to suit the M4 by 20mm Button heads and lock nuts. If needed I can ream them with a 4.5mm bit later.
Once all was done The scoop was set back on the bonnet and held down with some gaffer tape to stop it moving about whilst the bonnet itself was drilled through both skins. Best to leave the masking tape on for this as the drill can spring when going through the skins.

Bonnet Scoop 1

2010-04-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

Interesting thought cutting the center out of a perfectly finished bonnet.
Step one the top of the scoop starts 3" down from the edge at the bulkhead. Now to find the center line with curved corners and sloping sides makes it a bit more aquard.
On the straight part of the sides of the bonnet I made a few measurements up it and marked the center to give me a rough guide to start with. I laid the scoop on the bonnet and put some masking tape either side closest to the front of the car and another bit at the top in the center and marked it 3" down.
setting the scoop on I made a series of measurements at both sides and also the distance from the 2 front corners to the front of the bonnet. When I was sure it 3" down and had the same measurements side to side and also to the front of the bonnet I drew round the corners onto some masking tape also had a bit at the side. I could then remove it happily knowing that when placed back it would be in the same place.
When in place from each front corner to the front of the bonnet was 487mm and from the same front corners 220mm to each side of the bonnet. Top center was 3" from the bonnet top. I had another measurement at the top from side to side but this varies depending on where each person puts the tape across as a reference.

Doors

2010-04-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

Made a start on the 2 doors the other day. The process of getting rid of the air bubbles along the join at the top of the doors and down the edge. The coarse lines were removed before with a file so it only meant flatting along the tops of the doors with 800 grit wet and dry, This was only to key the surface and not to try and sand down into the GD gel finish.
Once that was done I masked of the area either side of the mould lines and made up some gel coat 50.1 ratio or a couple of drops to a tea spoon.
I just let it sit for a couple of days to cure as I was in no hurry to get back at it, though I removed the masking tape a few hours after the gel went on.
Next stage was to sand down the newly applied gel with 800 grit paying attention to not go onto the GD gel to much, Once it was flatted down and the seam lines of the new gel totally blended in I looked over the door again and 95% of the air bubbles were taken care of.
If I had applied the 3rd coat of gel on the first hit I think it would of got them all out in one go, but happy now that this job is in hand.
I'll put some gel on the side of the doors and along the bottom when doing the final bit at the tops.

underseal

2010-04-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when I got back home I finished of the rest of the under sealing, using stone chip and applied with the air fed stone chip gun. It's a lot less messy than brushing on rubber seal and isn't as easy marked once on, With 2 or 3 coats it gives loads of protection to the shell. You just need to watch for over spray and we bits getting on the body near where you are spraying so either cover the car or just wipe of any that gets on right away with some standard thinners. In total used about 7 liters on the car.

Buffer lies down :(

2010-04-28T06:07:00.001-07:00

Well as it says on the tin, my pro buffer just decided to give up, the electronic speed control stopped working so its of to the shop as its only 5 months old and done a couple of cars. Just one of those things that happen and its one item that has never a good time to quit.
Early start this afternoon so while waiting for some tech info from GD re the dash instruments/switches I decided to buff the shell a wee bit, only got 10 Min's.
That buggers up my plans as it could be 2 weeks before it gets repaired, really wanted it for the holiday weekend.
A bit of a rethink in order now job wise, once I get back from town I'll tackle more of the under seal and get that job wiped out. Not sure whats on the list after that, I'm sure I'll soon come up with something :)

Dash

2010-04-27T16:42:00.000-07:00

The dash cut outs Hmmmmmm nervous to say the least, Opting for the Carbon faced dash which I think looks really well it was time to measure out and start cutting out the holes for the clocks, lights and switches. The Only problem is that one slip and the dash is scrap. The holes for the warning lamps are just a 12mm hole but I used a few sizes of drill bit to get up to the final hole size, I started with the battery drill but found it wanting to cut in once I got to the large bit and was in danger of taking a chip out of the face so I headed for the pillar drill which gave much more control and made the job easy. I would not fancy doing these free hand unless I reground the drill bit to a really small angle.
For the small Gauges, start button and hazard relay I used a hole saw which done the job perfect again on the pillar drill.
The 2 large cut outs for the Tacho and Speedo I reverted back to the trusty dremmel and the radius tool which worked spot on.
Took a long time to get to this stage but well worth it, next is to install the clocks and start the wiring. I got the Diagram from GD today which should help identify the wires etc. I went with the Smiths classic gauges which should go really well with the Carbon dash.
I want to get the Dash part finished as its a module and can be put away until needed again, then I can get back to the sanding and buffing, the part we all love so well :))))))))))))))))))))))

Door Gell and wiring loom

2010-04-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

Looked at the tops of the doors where the mould join is, then sanded the area slightly to roughen the surface but not taking to much away from the gell, There is quite a few air bubbles as normal in the doors. After the sanding I masked of the area and coated both doors with some gell once it hardens I'll have a go at sanding it to see how it comes up, more on this later.
I took out the GD main harness today and had a look at it to see whats envolved with it, I must say its very well made and worth the extra cost implication as oppossed to a standard loom.
First job with the loom was to ID all the wires, I got this info from the GD paperwork. Idea with the labels was to ID the wires as the loom went in, knowing quicking at a glance what went where.

Sanding and Buffing

2010-04-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

Done some work on the dash on Friday, spoke to GD as the wiring loom came with no diagram or ID tags, Email to follow, but it didn't land so I took another look at the Gel coat as I mentioned before. It buffed up well but having done quite a few spray jobs over the years I reckoned I could get it even better to match a pro spray job,
So out come the DA sander and the 1500 discs, It's hard to see in the pics but if you look you can see after a light sand when the shine is off the surface in places has the appearance of an orange skin. I sanded the area until it was dead flat, One pic shows the finished result :) looks like a mirror infact you cant see the car, just looks like a perfect reflection.
Will take some time to go over the whole car and buff it up but the end result will be worth it.
Looking ahead I need to decide on interior trim and carpets etc so I know what route I am going down , wheel size is another issue that's floating about at the moment.

Lights

2010-04-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

A bit more done, lights and indicators at the front are finished, I also cut the air vents out just need to get some stainless mesh for them. Oil cooler blank is cut out as well.
Mounted one of the side indicators to see how it looked, to be honest I would rather not have these but its an IVA must. Next I made a start on the rear lights but only done the side/stop and Indicator on one side as I need to sand and buff the mounting area on the other side.
All in all good progress this week and I ordered some more parts from GD over riders, twin cooling fans, seat belt anchor bolts and door Escutcheons that's another few quid taken care of.
I ordered some 3M 1500 grit sanding discs of EBay the other day and they arrived this afternoon, i,m thinking of flatting the complete shell again to get a more glassy finish as I can still see the odd dimple here and there, will make that decisions over the next few days.
Next on my list is to build the dash, I want to get all the cut outs done so I can make any cuts needed in the bulkhead area where the dash bolts up to. Not looking forward to this bit as I'm installing a Carbon fronted dash so no room for error and the thoughts of the drill bit chipping a lump out of the Carbon do not bear thinking about :(

Cut outs and Indicators

2010-04-20T10:09:00.001-07:00

I decided to tackle some of the front cut outs, once measured a few times out come the trusty dremel, For any Cobra builder its a must do purchase :) as its used all the time.
Following the GD instructions everything went smoothly. One Indicator fitted. Still loads to do including the air vent cut outs but a little futher forward . Next is to get the headlight adjusting holes and mounting holes sorted.

2010-04-18T16:47:00.000-07:00

Slow going this past while with half the house getting pulled apart, wall down, floor lifted new kitchen, bathroom and half the house tiled in natural stone but I guess we all have to do the indoor work at times :)
Anyways some further progress on the GD Cobra I got the door fitted and the mechanisms, this took a right bit of tweaking and adjusting to get the gaps right.
The bonnet fitting was a simple task but I ended up removing the hinges quite a few times to slightly bend them in one direction or another to get the bonnet set at the right height and the shut lines sorted. Looks much better than using washers or packers to sort it.
The boot was much along the same lines as the bonnet, once both were sorted I fitted the stay bars to both, the standard stay bars need the brackets modified in order to fit correctly, the bonnet lower bracket is removed and the hole used to bolt it in place, the boot lower bracket needs attached to another bracket with I made to fit under the boot lip.

Sealing underneath

2009-12-23T14:16:00.000-08:00

Time to do underneath the car, mainly under the 4 arches and the axle tunnel. So far i got one side finished. I got 6 (1KG)tins of 3M black stone chip which should help protect the fiberglass tub from flying stones.
I also got the Farcela G6 today so plenty of time over xmas will be spent sanding and buffing the shell, then I'll tackle the doors bonnet and boot.
One thing for sure you don't want to be standing still in the workshop to long with this weather, its been white around here for a few days now :)

Roll hoops

2009-12-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

Decided this evening to fill the roll hoops with foam and leave them for a day, then go back and remove any excess. Best thing to do with expanding foam is use it and leave, its very sticky and messy in liquid form :)

With the hoops done I decided to meaure and drill the holes in the shell for the harness anchor points.

The G6 didnt come in to the motor factors today so hopefully tmw as I would like to get the main part of the shell buffed up to a mirror finish.

Next on the list of jobs will be to tackle under the arches and inner wings, coating them with stone chip to protect the glass fiber from stones pleting those areas.

Panels

2009-12-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

It was hard to get into the swing of things today, I got up, looked outside and the place was white :) with snow. Managed after a couple of cups of coffee to get ventured out into the workshop.
I got stuck into the doors and boot today sanding down the edges with a file to remove the mould lines. Took a picture but its hard to get a good picture. One thing that i notice happening, when the mould edges are filed and sanded there still seems to be pinholes here and there, they look worse than they are when they fill with rubbing compound :(
They are really small but plenty of them, not sure on a solution, any ideas ??
Tmw should see all the edges finished from a filing and sanding point of view, there are a few bits on the doors that will need some gel but I'll get to that at a later date,

2009-12-19T16:29:00.001-08:00

Well another few days and a wee bit more done, forgot to add a pic of the metal work sprayed so added it this time.

The sanding and buffing of the shell is moving on slowly, i,m waiting on my supplier getting in some Farcela G6 as I only have g3 here and its really not up to the job at this point, just takes way to long.

So while waiting on the G6 to arrive I started to do the bonnet and door mould edges. I started removing the edge with a file until it was well down then just used some 400 and 800 grit to finish of before the 1500 and G3 to bring up a nice shine.

So far so good and not many problems though there will be a few areas that will need some gel repairs which will take a while.

OOOOOOooo and its soooooo cold today lol

2009-12-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

Time flies by and I have not updated the blog in 2 months, thats bad. Other things took over for a while and not much was done :(

Anyways the metal work has now all been top coated and put away until its needed.

The shell I started to get into but soon realised it was going to be a long haul job finishing it, the previous sanding of the flash lines left some deepish scratch marks. To remove these plenty of sanding will be required with 1500 and 2000 grit around these areas, Then it will require loads of buffing

The snag in this will be, once these areas are sanded and made mirror flat the rest of the shell will seem a tad rippley even though its very minor. So in order to get it perfect the whole shell will need flatted with 2000 and buffed.

Well on the bright side its a very good way to get rid of the extra calories we all consume at this time of the year :)

Metal Work

2009-10-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

Well another bit coming along nicely, all the normal steel metal work has been sanded where required and treated with some metal ready from http://www.frost.co.uk/ which is the same as jenolite. great stuff and removes any iron oxide thats left and leaves the metal with a phosphate coating.

The metal work then got a couple of coats of 2 pack primer, ready now for the top coats. If you have no spraying equiptment POR15 is a really great paint to use on these parts,

The body got a wee bit done but not much, just the job of removing the sticky tape that held the bonnet and boot on whilst the kit was transported home. Petrol or white spirt works :)

Where we are now

2009-10-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

As I said in my last post the kit is now home, the chassis I will be going back to the start and going through everything so its 100% and the way I want it.

Body wise loads of sanding and buffing to do in order to get the flash lines polished out before I start to build parts into it.

Along with some sanding and buffing the first job is to get all the metal work sanded and ready for some 2 pack primer, then top coated in 2 pack black.

When we collected the car from GD we got about 8k of parts which was the handiest option living in N'Ireland rather than getting bits shipped now and then, also I didnt like the thoughts of having a screen shipped and arriving in 100 pieces :(

So here goes the fun begins

My kit

2009-10-13T15:33:00.001-07:00

A bit different than normal, within a few days of deciding to build Gardner Douglas Cobra a fellow GD enthusiast who had started building a kit had decided time was against his dream. He decided to sell the new parts he had acquired with his kit, along with all the Jag donor parts which were all overhauled by ward engineering etc.
At the same time buying an already built car from GD.

This ticked quite a few boxes for me as the project so far was along the lines of what I was aspiring to,

Colour Black
Engine LS series 400BHP ++
Everything else either new or refurbished.

So 15k later out of pocket I had the beginning to my dream. I first saw my project at GD when we called into when on holiday July 2009 and met Andy for the first time, you could just tell how much he lived the cars by his enjoyment to talk about tech stuff and show people around the factory, whilst enjoying coffee :)

I was supposed to get back over for the project around the start of September but life in general took over, as it does.
So it wasnt until 8th October the trip was taken from N,Ireland to newark to pick up the project and take it to its new home :)

The blog begins

2009-10-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hopefully this will work out ok, this is my first blog and the aim of it is to show the journey of my Gardner Douglas Cobra build.

The end goal is to have the Cobra looking something along these lines :)

My journey started out around 6 months ago with a very hard search on which kit to build and after many inspections and questions the path was clear Gardner Douglas.