Some final touches

Not sure there is ever a final touch! It's an on going thing. Some wag once said "try telling the wife the difference between getting the Cobra on the road and finishing it". Ummmmm, I think he had a point.

My Cobra

Charging fly-lead cable

As the battery is in the nearside compartment, behind a cover and the front wheel, it is very awkward to get at. To resolve this, I decided to fit a fly-lead to connect to the charger. This will save removing the spinner, the wheel nut cover, jacking up the car, removing the wheel nuts, the wheel and the compartment cover when I need to charge the battery.

This was straight forward and required one hole to be drilled in the engine bay through to the nearside compartment. The wire that came with the charger was fed through in to the battery compartment and will be sealed with silicone and fixed down.

The charger connector can be seen here

Extension wires were then cut to the correct length and ring connectors were crimped on to them at one end and female bullet connectors at the other end. Male bullet connectors were then crimped on to the wires that had been threaded through. These were then attached to the extension wires.

Extension wires connected in the battery compartment

The wires were then connected to the appropriate battery terminal. Now all I need to do is lift the bonnet, connect the charger, then turn on the power. Simple!

I could have fed the wires through to the passenger foot well and put the connection somewhere in that area, but it would have been more difficult to do and more difficult to get at the connection.

Badges

After trawling the internet, I found that the original 427 Cobras had round Cobra snake badges on the nose and boot. Earlier 289 Cobras had an AC badge on the boot and a Cobra badge on the nose. The badge I used was a 45 mm round Cobra snake emblem, which was mounted with clear silicone after roughing up the back.

Cobra nose cone badge can be seen here

The same badge was attached to the boot. LS6 badges have been placed above the side vents. The traditional 'Cobra Powered by Ford' badges are not appropriate as it is a Chevy engine.

Immobiliser

The main cable goes from the immobiliser to the ECU. Due to the way that I had oriented the ECU, I could not get at it easily (Andy at GD had similar problems when preparing for the IVA). So to get at the ECU and immobiliser cables I decided to remove the passenger side under dash tray, the tachometer and the speedo! Believe it or not, this is much easier than dropping the dashboard to get access to the rear of the dash. The wires on the tacho and speedo simply unplug on the ETB gauges. The second cable has a white and a black wire which go to a switched ignition and an earth wire. A fly lead for a computer connection will be added at the same time.

On looking at the immobiliser to ECU cable I thought that it was a male 9 pin connection and the instructions said it was a female! It was me ..... the female part refers to the pin holes, so it was a female (Dave from Canems pointed this out - sorry Dave).

Let it all hang out! The 9 pin male connector (white) can be seen in the left hand hole

There is a male and female connector on the ECU. One is for the immobiliser and the other for a computer connection.

Next jobs

I don't like the side vents, even after powder coating - they look cheap. I have seen superb vents on Mark's and Noel's Cobras. I am trying to source more appropriate items, so watch this space.

Andy at GD pointed out that the boot gas strut fixing bracket on the body needed strengthening. I am going to do this and whilst I am at it I will get another matching strut to equalise the pressure on the boot lid.

Post IVA work

These are some of the things that could not be done prior to the IVA. So now that the test has been passed I had no excuses!

Registration

Papers have been sent away to register the car. There seems to be a sea of these. I have sent:

• The IVA20 certificate (Individual Approval Certificate) given to me after the IVA
• Declaration of Newness for kit supplied (from GD)
• The invoices referred to on the Declaration of Newness from GD (not copies)
• Invoices for the engine, gearbox and tyres (not copies)
• Copy of driving licence
• Cover note from insurer
• Completed V55/4 (form from DVLA - notes from GD)
• Completed V750/1 to transfer the 'cherished' plate that I have purchased (assignment fee paid)
• The registration fee of £55 plus the first year's tax of £235 (Mar 2017).

Now it is a case of waiting for the DVLA to action it.

NOTE: You also need to send in a V627 form too. I didn't!

Wheel spinners

Whilst they mimick the real thing, they do not have a sufficient radius to make them IVA friendly, so they are left off for the examination. They are easy to refit, needing just an Allen/hex key to fit them in place on the Halibrand style wheels.

Spinner fitted

Number plates

I had bought a number from DVLA that was one away from my normal car. So along with the documents sent to the DVSA/DVLA, I sent the transfer document.

Plates had been made up ready, so the front plate was drilled using the blank fitted for the IVA and attached to the bar on the front of the car using the P clips. The rear registration plate was fixed using normal double sided number plate fixers and button head bolts.

Wind wings

These cut down wind turbulence for the occupants of the car. From experience in my Caterham these are essential.

The lower screw in the windscreen stanchion and the one above the mirror are removed. The screws supplied with the wind wings are used to attach the wind wing hinges to the stanchions. The top hinge is shorter than the lower one where it attaches to the windscreen stanchion. The screw head goes to the inside and the nut goes in the hinge. A fibre washer goes between the screw head and the hinge, another goes between the hinge and glass of the wind wing.

Wind wing

Sun visors

Again these couldn't be fixed before the IVA test as the radius' are not adequate. To make the screws easier to fix it is best to tape the brackets in place.

Bracket taped in place

Next the tiny screws are fixed in place.

Attaching the screws

Sun visor in place

Note: If you are fitting a hood, fix the brackets the other way up to me i.e. facing down, as the hood bows will not fit otherwise.

Costs - arrrrgh!

Most of us try to produce a budget for our builds. Some of us bury our heads in the sand and don't bother! Even where we do a budget, many of us hope that we can keep the cost below what we expect. Our view is that the unexpected will not happen or that we can save as we go on. The reality is a lot different! I had budgeted £40k with a £5k contingency, so £45k.

My costs, when I added them up, were a real eye opener and I had done a budget and tried to stick to it! So here are my final costs for the Cobra, with a Euro chassis, an uprated LS6 engine, a Tremec Magnum gearbox, AP brakes, the IVA test, registration, transportation etc. I have included the build and first year's road insurance, car tax, fixings etc down to the pound. Gulp!

• Body, fixings and trim £15,451
• Chassis and brakes £18,332
• Engine and ancillaries £7,763
• Transmission, bell housing, clutch etc £3,534
• Tyres and wheels £3,406
• Hood and fixings etc £1,700 (added later)
• Transportation, final checks, IVA test, registration, insurance etc £3,478

• TOTAL £53,664

So why had I got it so wrong?  First I hadn't allowed for the IVA and on road costs. I hadn't allowed for AP brakes and the bigger discs associated with these. The engine cost more than I planned, mainly around the ancillaries and immobiliser. I added a few items to the body that I had not planned such as gas struts. And finally GD increased their prices on a number of items that I had not allowed for.

So a cautionary tale, allow a decent contingency say 15% on top of your budget, unless you don't care about costs! You don't need to show your better half the budget, but you should know what you are letting yourself in for - even if you are spreading the cost over a few years.

Stripes or no stripes - conclusion

Thanks for all your feedback, whether via the blog or verbally. I have mulled over your suggestions and have reached a conclusion.

My favoured colours for the stripes are currently gun metal metallic grey main stripes, with red 'pin stripes' down each side.

However, I am going to leave the car white, as it is, for the time being. I can always change my mind and add some stripes at a later date and if I get it wrong it won't be the end of the world as I can remove them or change them (they would be applied by a car wrapping company). In fact changing the stripes would refresh the car and give it a new look!

So what you see, is what it will be colour wise.

IVA test today

Two years on from my original decision to buy a Cobra and this was the big day.

The car had gone to GD a few days ago for Andy to check all was ok. Andy found a number of things and corrected them, in addition to sorting that brake pipe and the handbrake. Thanks for all the hard work Andy.

I went down the night before and stayed in a hotel to make sure that I was on time the next day. I didn't sleep well or enjoy breakfast due to the impending test.

I had arrange to meet Andy at the VOSA test centre in Nottingham at 8.30, but he had made good time and had arrived at 8.00. By the time I had arrived, the car had been unloaded and had had its emission test completed. So first stage passed.

Cobra at the test station

Martin Bailey, the IVA Examiner, then went on to check the VIN plate, speedo reading, the heights of the lights, the general construction, for sharp edges, the seat belt mountings, the electrics and that all the lights and wipers worked as they should. He drove it around the test facility to check it. He checked the speedo, the brakes, etc and finally the noise (and I have probably missed off a few things too). The car was weighed on the weighbridge and turned out to be a svelte 1095 kg.

Martin, the Examiner, checks the pressure needed on the brakes

Andy then said he would put it in the trailer! Was that it? Martin had got on quietly and efficiently with the test and it had passed! A big relief and a big grin from me.

The car gets brought back from GD on Tuesday by Paul Bowden (PB Logistx). Then I have a load of small jobs to do and need to register it, before it can go on the road.

Car collected for IVA test

My Cobra was collected by Paul Bowden today. It is on the way to Gardner Douglas (since arrived safely!!) for an inspection and preparation for the IVA test. Thanks for sorting the collection and delivery Paul.

Here are photos of the car being loaded on to the trailer.

In the trailer

Oooo!

Bye bye! See you in Nottingham.

Side vents

I decided to get the side vents powder coated in satin black. Collected them from Triple S in Bingley this afternoon. Look the business.

Side vents powder coated

Getting bored!

Awaiting the IVA date. Getting bored. Finding jobs to do!

Badges

The badges will be put on once the IVA has been passed. Here is a photo of the badges to be applied.

Left to right - Cobra badge on the steering wheel centre, LS6 5.7 litre badges each

side above the 'air intakes' and the round Cobra badge on rear boot (I think)

Pratting about

So whilst waiting I filled the car with fuel, as the IVA specifies a full tank. I tightened up the water and oil temperature sensors on the engine. Then I filed down any exposed threads under the car that protruded beyond the nuts.

Photos

I couldn't resist some more photos, so here are a couple.

Can you guess what it is?

Black stone guards at rear make it look more aggressive

Stripes

Thank you all those who sent me their views on the stripes. A variety of views. None the same! Now all I need to do is make a decision!