First day in the garage!

Thought that I had better tidy up a little, so that I could find things ...... some hope! So some parts were put on shelves and others in the car body.

Once things were out of the way, I set to work on an easy job - removing the very sharp flash lines. This is where the gel coat has seeped out of the mould joints such as around the wheel arches, bonnet and boot. These are removed very carefully with a fine file and with fairly course wet or dry (I used P80). Use thick gloves to avoid cuts!

The removal of the flash lines on the body (where the two halves of the mould meet), will be left for another day. This sounds like a much bigger job!

Here are three photos of the initial body rear wheel arch, the arch when filed and then one when cut back with the Dremel.

Look carefully and you can see the sharp flash lines around the wheel arch edge

The wheel arch with the sharp flash lines removed by a file and course wet or dry paper

Once the basic prep was done, the wheel arch return was cut back using the Dremel, then rubbed over with wet or dry.

The wheel arch trimmed back - note the consistent width of the return

All sharp edges have now been removed from the body. An easy job, I just needed to take care not to file or rub the polished body!





Collected the Cobra body

Meena at GD Sports Cars had sent an email late last week to say that the body was ready for collection, along with the invoice for the parts that I had previously ordered. The bill was paid by bank transfer. Yikes! Have I spent that already?

A phone call to the van hire company and one to Andy at GD and the collection was arranged. I picked up the Mercedes Sprinter Luton (internal body size 13' x 6' 6" (6' rear door)) with a tail lift. I collected the van at the start of business on Wednesday, to avoid a two day rental. Ideally I would have taken it the night before, so that I could get an early start. I arrived at the Practical hire company's office in Ilkley at around 8.45am, where Chris handed over the van and then I set off to collect a body from the GD Sports Cars factory near Newark! Well to be precise, the body for my GD 427 Mk4 (Cobra), plus a few thousand pounds worth of GD parts for the car.

To the Luton van I had added gloves, straps, plenty of sheets and some cheap duvets from ASDA. And of course the camera. I wanted to protect my new toy from any scratches, hence the sheets and duvets - not for me to have a snooze! After a two and a half hour trip, I arrived at the factory and was greeted by the sight of my pure white (colour ref RAL 9010) GD427 Mk4 body. Wow! Excited? I was like a kid on Christmas morning.

The body outside GD Cars

After being welcomed by Andy and Meena and of course being offered a cup of real coffee, the body was loaded in to the Luton, with the help of a few willing hands and the assistance of the van's tail lift.

Body loaded in to the Luton van (that is Andy strapping it in!)

The other parts were checked off and loaded too. I had ordered - lights, hinges, locks, dash board, windscreen, heater, wiring loom etc. In total around a quarter of the cars total cost! Not much spare space in the van, especially once the other parts and plenty of soft packing was added.

While I was there I took the opportunity of picking Andy's brains. I had various questions on the body prep. and the next order. The next order questions mainly surrounded the rolling chassis. However, the immediate points covered the techniques for removing the flash lines and polishing the body.

Then it was a careful drive home, mainly up the A1. The body and parts were unloaded in to the garage, with the help of my wife Carol, Matthew (son in law) and my daughter Sarah, plus of course the youngsters, Cameron and Ava.

Cobra body out of the mould

Jonathan from the Shetlands was at GD Sports Cars on Friday and saw my GD 427 (Cobra) body shell out of the mould. He has a GD 427 ordered too, for delivery later this year. However, Jonathan has chosen to go with a thumping 7 litre LS7 engine. Hope that the roads and neighbours are prepared!

Here are some of the photos he sent me - thanks J - really appreciated.

The body mould after my shell had been released

First look at my new car

Side view of shell

Rear quarter view

Looks good from the photos. I am really excited! Getting close now.

Chevy LS6 dyno results

Here are the results from the dyno. 

First the power output graph. The bottom axis shows the revs and the side axis the power in bhp:



Power in BHP

Maximum power is 480 bhp at 6,100 revs. That is about 84 bhp per litre, so nothing to write home about compared to a European engine. They tend to rev higher and produce their power near the top end and deliver less torque. American engines on the other hand tend to be of a bigger capacity (my LS6 is 5.7 litres or around 348 cubic inches) and are lower reving. They deliver their maximum power at lower revs, but give out loads of torque. So, hence the Americans saying that there is no substitute for cubic inches.

Here is the torque graph. The bottom axis shows the revs and the side one the torque in ft lb:



Torque in ft lb

The maximum torque here is 451 ft lb and is delivered at just 5,000 revs.

Engine collected

I set off early to the engine builder today and to collect my LS6 engine for the Cobra.

First I got the output printout from the dyno and a mug of tea. The engine builder had lied to me. The figures were even better than he had said! A maximum of 480 bhp at 6,100 revs and 451 ft lb torque at 5,000 revs. Wow!

My new LS6 engine

After chatting about various engines, drivers and cars, my engine with its ancillaries was then loaded in to the car - yes it all fit in the back of an estate car, about 180kg in all. An engine lift helped get the engine in. It was loaded on top of a board to protect the carpet, with a board behind the front seats and plenty of padding.

The engine in the back of my estate car

It was then securely strapped in. Luckily there are strapping points in the cargo area already. There was no way I wanted the lump becoming a missile in the event of an emergency stop!

Strapping the180 kg projectile in to the car

Once securely strapped in, it was then a very steady return trip to Yorkshire. In total another 6 hour round trip. But who cares with a new engine and the sun shining?

Getting it out was not a lot of fun though. Matthew, my son-in-law, brought some much needed muscle and brains. After a bit of head scratching, we hooked some straps under the wooden board and one pulled whilst the other pushed. We got the engine out on to the trolley and in to the garage. Thanks Matthew.

I haven't forgotten about the video of the engine on the dyno - just haven't got it yet. I'll post it as soon as I can.

Engine mapped on dyno

Just had an email. My 5.7 ltr LS6 engine was put on the dyno this morning, as Dave from Canems was there and they had a slot available. Dave mapped the engine with the ECU. It produced 475 bhp and 440 ft lb torque! That should give the Cobra some go at only around a tonne.

A video is on its way. I am well pleased with that.