Preparing for start up

Preparing the engine

The engine has not been run since it was collected - almost 18 months ago. So before I attempt to start it, it needed some lubrication.

I had spoken to Andy at GD and to the engine builder. As the engine had run on the dyno it wasn't a first start, so oil would still be present in the pump. The advice from the engine builder was to remove the rocker covers, then add a litre of oil to each side. The oil was poured over the rockers/lifters, springs and down the pushrod bores. The latter required a "pump action" oil can to squirt the oil in to the pushrod bores, which are above the rocker assembly. Once this was done the rocker covers etc were re-fixed to each side and the engine left overnight so that the oil drained down and lubricated the top end of the engine.

Tomorrow, after checking for leaks, I will add the rest of the oil to the engine. Then I will remove the plugs, disconnect the ECU and turn it over until I have oil pressure. Lots of max 20 second bursts is best for the starter I have been told.

Wipers

Today I bent the wiper arms to line up the blades with the lower edge of the screen. I bent them in a vice with jaw protectors. The bending was trial and error until they lined up right. Once they were positioned correctly, I extended the arms so that the sweep was 380 mm. This is done by sliding the arms out a little away from the pivot point. When I was happy that the length was okay, I locked the arms in place by moving the little locking plate (near to the pivot point) to be parallel to the main arm.

Wipers lined up with bottom of windscreen

Seat belt anchorages

There was a locating hole in one corner of each anchorage. A small hole was drilled in the centre of each anchorage locating hole and a self tapping screw inserted to stop the captive bolt moving. I made sure that the eye bolt was mounted with the hole pointing towards the sides of the car, so that the eye was in line with the seat belt tension.

Seat belt anchorage located by self tapper

Hopefully this will satisfy Mr IVA.

A couple of outstanding points have been sent the Andy, but no response as yet.

Electrical connections

Loom changes

Horn

These should ideally have been made before the loom was put in to the body, as it would have been much easier. On the column wiper and horn switch, there are a couple of changes to make.

First the horn relay (the third in) needs the purple loop removing.

Loop to remove can be seen here if you look carefully!

Loop removed

Earth added (see arrow)

Washer

The washer needs the green (or light green in my case) removing and replacing with an earth.

Earth wire (black) replaced green wire

Intermittent wiper

Then its the intermittent wiper. This needs more wires changing and a relay adding (VW 3BO955531 or 357955531). This has been ordered. It was easy enough to wire, although I did not have the correct colour wires, so used the correct gauge wire that I had and marked it up with the correct colour and the relay terminal. Refer to the GD diagram for wiring.

Changes made to wiring on column switch

Other connections

Now the bits that I hadn't done earlier!

The brake fluid warning wires on the loom had not been fed through the bulkhead or connected, so that was done.

brake fluid warning wires finally connected

Then it was pushing the fuel pump wire through the grommet at the top of the passenger foot well. Some Vaseline helped here. A new terminal has been ordered.

So hopefully that is the end of the wiring, assuming it all works! Now it is down to testing all the electrics.

Passenger seat

This was really easy compared to the driver's side. Basically I used the same process as on the drivers side, but did not have to worry about the handbrake. The seat belts were also added. Another job done.

Foot well carpet and bits

Number plate lamp

Sorted the number plate light today. The bolt was not holding the chrome trim properly. I drilled out the supposedly threaded hole and fixed a rivnut. This sorted it out.

Rear number plate light fitting with rivnut

Fog light wiring

For some reason I had not connected the three wires to the loom. Straight forward.

Foot well carpet securing tags

These tags are to stop the carpet moving. This is especially important on the driver's side. The fittings are made up of a press stud for the floor and two rings for the carpet.

The three parts to each fitting

One of the rings had three prongs (upper), the other has holes for the prongs to go through (under carpet). First I fixed the press stud parts to the floor using self tappers. I made sure that the studs were under the carpet and not the rubber heel pad.

Press stud on floor

Chalk was applied to the top of the press studs and transferred to the back of the carpet. The ring with the holes was placed on the underside of the carpet, over the chalk mark of the press stud. The ring with the prongs on the top side was lined up with the holes and the three prongs pushed through the carpet. The prongs were then tapped over the lower ring, trapping the carpet.

Ring on underside of carpet

Top pronged ring can be seen here - rubbing the carpet makes the ring almost disappear

So the foot well carpets are now fixed down with the press studs.

Passenger foot well carpet fixed

Door card

I had never been happy with the passenger door card fitting. So I took the opportunity to refit it in the right location. It was only a few millimeters out, but I could see it.

Seat fixing - fitting to the car

Fixing the seats

This turned out to be a real pain and very time consuming - working out where to drill the holes to fix the runners. In the end I may end up changing the head restraints (which are currently mounted on the seat) to ones mounted on the roll over bars. Otherwise the head restraints touch the rear bodywork, the seat belts touch the head restraint and the head restraint restricts rearward seat movement - apart from that lot it is fine!

GD had supplied four fixing bolts, washers and spacers for each seat.  The long bolts and spacers go at the front of each seat. All the spacers were sprayed satin black to blend in (not that you can see them) and to reduce the risk of corrosion.

The carpets under the seats were turned back. Here I had to remove the seatbelt anchorages from the floor. A measurement from the rear bulkhead of 560 mm was used to locate the front fixing points on my seats, but check your own as Keith Akerman used 640 mm. The front hole nearest the transmission tunnel was about 75 mm from the tunnel side and about 90 mm away at the rear mounting point. A template of the bolt holes was used to determine the other location points.

Template taken from bottom of seat, marking the bolt holes

8 mm holes were drilled through the floor to take the fixing bolts. The holes I drilled in error (I had the runners in the wrong position), will act as drain holes!

The bolts were put loosely in the runners, before the seats were positioned in the car.

Bolts loosely fitted to runners

The seats were then trial fitted, before holes were cut in the carpet. Getting all four bolts through is not easy, so the rear holes were slightly larger.

The carpets were re-fitted with the seatbelt eye bolts. The holes in the floor were then marked with chalk and the carpet placed over them. The chalk was transferred on to the back of the carpet by pressing it with my fingers, before holes were cut in the carpet. Finally the seats were put in to the car and with the spacers at the front. The length of each bolt was noted, the seat removed and each bolt shortened to the appropriate length. The seats were fixed in place using the bolts, nylocs and penny washers from underneath the car.

Driver's seat fitted

Now just the passenger side to do.

Handbrake

Once the seat was in place, I could hardly get my fingers around the handbrake. I solved this by fitting a 3 mm spacer at the front handbrake mounting. Because the rear had no spacer, this caused the front of the handbrake to be move away from the car side and this created enough room to use it. Useful!!

Spacer between the handbrake and front mounting can be seen

The leather that covers the handbrake and the escutcheon were re-fitted.

Attaching the seat belts

I am fitting four point harnesses. I have had these in my Caterham and five point in my other two race cars. The five point were great in the race cars and stopped me submarining under heavy braking, but they could hurt the gentleman parts at times! So four point it was. You feel so secure with them on and they stop you moving about in the seat.

The harnesses are the clip in type in black to match the leather trim. It was simply a case of attaching them to the eye bolts on the fixings on the roll hoops and to the anchorages that I had located on the floor. The belts were then adjusted to suit me. At this point I took the opportunity to shorten one of the eye bolts so that it did not protrude from the fixing under the car.

4 point belts fixed

To keep the IVA inspector happy, I will edge the belt fixings with rubber trim to make sure that the curves are of sufficient radius.

Steering column - switches and wiring

This is the second part of my steering column switches and wiring post.

The switches were removed from the column mounting. The original stalks were cut off above the rubber gaitor locator towards the stalk end - see the photo below.

Cut stalk alongside an in-cut one

The end of the 'switch stalk' was then filed flat, drilled and tapped to take the replacement GD stainless stalks. The plastic flange that locates the rubber boot is at a slight angle, so the hole needed to be drilled to take account of this.

The plastic flange that the rubber boot is located on. Note that it is not 90 deg to the stalk

The new turned stalks were screwed in and a small amount of 'loctite' used to make sure they do not work loose. The column adjuster was fitted and a small grommet fitted to the leather to finish it off. This was glued to the leather to keep it in place.

New stalk fitted

The wires were connected to the column switches using the wiring diagram from GD. I will come on to the ignition switch later.

Wiring for column connectors

The wires have had female crimp connectors attached at the ends of the cut wires. Connectors are attached at the other end to link to the the dashboard loom using the block connector.

A switch with the wires connected

Don't push the switches fully home on the steering column at this stage, as they will need to be removed to install the dashboard.

Seat fixing - the runners

Runners

This is the easy bit!

Seat base as delivered

First job was to find the captive threads on the seat bases under the leather. The holes were found by finger and then a small indentation was made by pressing the leather over each hole. There were four of these - one at each corner. These were exposed by carefully cutting around the holes with a sharp craft knife.

Captive threads exposed

The threads needed running through with an M8 tap to clear the them. Eight bolts (M8) had been supplied by GD to fix the runners. One runner was fixed to each seat, making sure that the adjuster spring was nearest to the seat base (the runners are also handed). Next the adjuster handle was fitted over the peg and between the two locating lugs on the fixed runner. Then the other runner was put in to place and fixed to the seat. I have head restraints fixed to the seats, so it was okay to fit the adjuster bar at this stage. If you have head restraints fixed to the roll over hoops, then the adjuster bars should not be fitted for the IVA test as the seats need to be in a fixed position.

Two runners and adjustment bar fitted

Now I just need to fit them to the car

Carpets - the final fit

Final fitting of carpets

This is a job where you need patience and time.

At the transmission tunnel side, the lower and upper sections of the extension were trimmed with off cuts of the carpet. These small sections of carpet were fixed in place using contact adhesive to make a tidy job.

Small sections of carpet added to horizontal surfaces

Again on the transmission tunnel side, the carpet was cut along the top and bottom of the foot well extension - I cut all the way along towards the bulkhead. The carpet was then pushed in to the foot well extension. The carpet was then marked with chalk on the back and cut to the bulkhead/extent of the extension. A 'v' was cut in to the carpet in the extension to get rid of the ruck. The carpet was then glued in place, using spray adhesive.

Transmission tunnel foot well extension with carpet fitted

Next the off side foot well extension was rubbed down, sprayed satin black and then the cut out carpet was stuck in to the recess (this needed a small amount of trimming).

Carpet stuck in to off side extension

Then the off side piece of carpet was glued down.

Side carpet glued in place

Now I just need the escutcheon that Mark Turnbull is making to finish off the surround.

Floor carpets

The bulkhead carpet was laid and cut to the peddle box. This was stuck with contact adhesive. 

The floor section of the carpet was next. This needed the fixings supplied by Gardner Douglas securing to stop the carpet 'creeping' under my feet. This will be done once I locate the fixings! So for now it is just a loose fit.

Off side foot well almost finished

After this the passenger side was straight forward. The nearside bulkhead carpet, followed by the floor carpet were fixed in the same way as the drivers side. Then I added a 'map' pocket to the transmission tunnel side.

Near side foot well almost complete

Widening footwell part 2

Widening the footwell part 2

Once I had the hole cut out, I then reinforced it with resin and glass fibre, overlaping the edges and on the back of the outside panel using West System Exoxy Resin (this helps maintain the structure of the body, whereas normal resin may not bond as well) and glass fibre matting.

The resin is mixed 5:1 (resin to hardener). I made sure that everything was ready, as the resin starts to go off very quickly, so I had to work fast. The resin mixture was applied to the hole, the glass fibre matting was then put in place, then the resin was applied to the glass fibre matting with a brush (Tip: get throw away brushes for this). The resin was applied and worked in a stipple manner, rather than a painting action, then left to set. During this process I created gentle slopes at the top and the edge nearest the driver to avoid catch my foot.

Glass fibre and resin added to top and bottom of hole. The sides and back were next.

This is a messy process, made more difficult by the location. The hole will be rubbed down (take care here as glass fibre can get in to your fingers if you are not careful) and then lined on the flat area of the hole (not the edge) with carpet. This will reduce the space gained to 30 mm, giving the same space either side of the accelerator pedal.

Glassed extension

NOTE: This modification is not recommended by GD.

Gear lever and handbrake gaiters, plus drain holes

Gear lever gaiter

The leather gaiter was nicked around the bottom, then glued to the escutcheon using contact adhesive.

Nicked and glued

The escutcheon and gaiter were located centrally on the transmission tunnel over the gear lever and hole (the hole is not central within the escutcheon, it is towards the nearside). There was 45mm to either side of the escutcheon on mine. The escutcheon position makes the gearlever look central to the transmission tunnel. Then it was simply a case of drilling undersized holes, before fixing with three self tapping screws.

The gear shift knob was a leather covered Simione Racing model. This was fixed by putting a rubber insert over the gear lever and then the knob. The knob was located using three grub screws, before the collar was screwed into place. Finally the leather 'laces' at the top of the gaiter were tied.

Gear shift escutcheon, gaiter and knob in place

Handbrake gaiter

The escutcheon had to be bent slightly to match the shape of the floor. This was done by putting the escutcheon in a vice (protecting the polished face) and gently tapping it to the correct shape. The gaiter was then glued to the escutcheon as with the gear lever gaiter and fixed to the floor around the handbrake using five self tapping screws.

Handbrake with escutcheon and gaiter fitted

Footwell drain holes

Holes (12 mm) were drilled in the floor to take 15 mm plastic pipe inserts. If you don't install drain holes, the footwell can fill up with water when the top is down and it rains. This can prove difficult to dry out and can be a nuisance, unless you fancy a swimming pool! The inserts were glued, then tapped into place and the length trimmed from the inside.

Drain holes near bulkhead

Widening footwell part 1

I have decided to make more space near to the accelerator pedal as it was tight even for me with my dainty size 8's. I pinched the idea from Mark Turnbull, thanks Mark (see link to Marks website on the right). The extra space will be some 40 mm, making around 365 mm in total between the cut out side and the footwell extension in the transmission tunnel. This gives over 30 mm each side of the accelerator pedal in my case.

The right foot extension!

First I marked out the hole to cut, using a template from Mark - wow a lot to cut away! The template was aligned by marking the farthest point of travel of the accelerator pedal and about 50 mm up from the floor. These two lines were 90 deg to each other. The main dimensions I used are 220 mm high, 205 mm wide at the bottom and 140 mm wide at the top.

I cut the corner holes using a 55 mm hole saw fitted to the electric drill ..... carefully, to make sure that I didn't go through the outer skin (watch the pilot drill bit here). Also, if you can, do this before you install the pedal box, I didn't and it would have been so much easier if I had! Once the GRP is cut through it is quite obvious as the resistance to the cutter is much less.

Marked out and corners cut using hole saw

Then using the Dremel and its flexible extension, I cut straight lines to join up the corners to complete the cut out. Next I removed the foam using a craft knife and a chisel. I left some near the top as it will make a smooth transition from the pocket to the side wall. I also think I may do this on the cut nearest the driver, to avoid me catching any shoe soles on the pocket.

Hole cut out  with some foam left near top

Now this is done I will create a 'pocket' using glass fibre. I have ordered the West System resin, which should arrive pretty quickly.

NOTE: This modification is not recommended by GD.

Door cards/leather panels

Apologies for the lack posts recently, but a pending house move has taken it's toll on the Cobra build!

Door cards

The door cards are the leather covered door trims. The leather is mounted on thin MDF and has holes pre-drilled for the clips and door handle spindle. The latter's position is not obvious at first! The hole is the one with the arrow in the photo below.

Rear of door card

The clips to fix the cards were green things, located in a bag in the door card pocket. I put masking tape on the door first, then offered up the card. I cut out the hole for the door spindle carefully, removing the foam. Some people use a hole punch here. The clip was inserted into the relevant hole in the door card. It was then marked on the back with black marker pen. This then transferred to the masking tape to give a hole centre to drill in the door (7mm).

First hole drilled

This was repeated for the other clips, working along the top first, until all the holes were drilled and the card could be clipped in place. This is simply a case of pushing the clips with a thumb until it clicked. This left indentations in the leather that soon recovered.

First card in place

On the first door the door card lined up fine. On the second, I didn't check it properly and found that it overhung by a couple of millimeters and fouled the lock. That was after I had fully fitted it. Here I had to refit the piping a little to avoid the lock. So if you are doing it check this out before you drill any holes in the door!

Roll over hoops - part 1

Seats

Couldn't resist putting the seats in the car to see what they looked like!

Really happy with the look!

Had to cut the carpet out from around the handbrake bracket, then bend the bracket a little to gain clearance with the drivers seat.

Setting up the car

Next I levelled the car on axle stands. The chassis is the thing that is set to the level, not the body. It needs to be level side to side and back to front. This took hours!

Front wheels

Whilst it was up on the axle stands, I checked whether the front wheels, when on full lock, touched the inner wings. They did! So using the Dremel, I dressed the lip on the inner wing back a little to create some clearance. This was required at the front and back of the front wheels.

Small area removed from inner wing to allow tyre clearance

Roll over hoops

Now to the butt nipping bit! I have been putting this one off, but the time has come when I can't do this any longer.

The items involved in fixing the roll over bars are the two stainless steel hoops, the saddles/brackets and the fixings. These differ from the GDJAG to the Euro, in that the fixing points have different spacing. So unlike me, do not assume that a template from a JAG will fit. It won't. You will need to make your own template if you can't blag one (not that I really needed one)!

Roll over bars, saddles and bolts

The saddles/brackets are made of steel and needed to be painted before fitting. I used Hammerite satin black spray.

Levelling up the chassis was important as it will allow the plumb bob to line up with the mounting vertically. The rear half of the chassis was the most important as this is where the bars are mounted. Finding flat areas of the chassis to check the level, however, was a challenge!

Now to some real work. A 5mm hole was drilled up through the inner front mounting point of the chassis into the boot floor. I used a 90 degree chuck adapter for the drill and plenty of dexterity to get the drill in place around the suspension! Why has no one invented a bendy drill? Next I made an undersized hole (about 40mm) with a hole saw. Finally I marked a circle using the mounting hole as a centre point and opened it up with the Dremel. I then made sure that the mounting point was in the centre of the new large hole. It was, phew!

Hole with chassis mounting point below

First hole in [place with bolt designating the centre of the hole

The other holes will wait until I am fresh to the job. So now for some wine and a feet up!