Car gone today 😢

Five years since my adventure of building a GD started and three years since it was finished, this car has now been sold and was shipped to its new owner in Nottinghamshire today. The car was transported in a closed PRG trailer by Andrew at Zoom of Chester. Great service if you ever need your car moving and you don’t want to drive it.

The car can be seen later this year at the Newark car show in July 2021 and no doubt in the lanes around Nottingham. It maybe even have its new roof, air scoop and a few other modifications. 

130,000 plus page views

The counter has passed 130,000 page views for this blog. Thank you for visiting.

Not surprisingly the most viewings are from the UK, followed by Russia (!), USA, the UAE and Germany.

AK with lick of paint

The previous blog showed us putting the body on Terry’s car. Just look at it now - what a stunner! 

Edit April 2021 - this car is now featured in the latest Complete Kit Car magazine, including on the front cover.

Clothing an AK

Went over to Terry’s in Pateley Bridge to help lift the body onto his AK chassis. James was driving (almost finished his AK), but a boat would have been better after the heavy rain - floods around Otley.

Anyway, with help from Stan we managed to get the body on, although it was touching the near side manifold when in place. So another phone call to Jon at AK and a further challenge on the build route for Terry!

Stan, James and Terry ponder. What’s that then?

The body over the chassis, ready to fit

Engine in AK

Got an email from Terry, who is building an AK, asking if I would help install his engine. So a quick trip over to Pateley Bridge in the pouring rain.

His workshop is so tidy, made mine look positively bomb like!

So after a bit of prep, he shifted the engine hoist round to the front of the chassis.

Me stood with hands in pocket. Easy life!

After a few huffs and puffs and a few hours of pushing, pulling and lowering, the engine went in to place. Brilliant stuff!

Engine in place, just to tighten up mountings.

Terry thanked me for my help, but I seemed to be the king of standing around (see first photo for proof!).

Engine in place without the hoist.

Another GD gets clothed!

Went over to Andy Holmes at New Walton near Grimsby for a BBQ. Well to help put the body on his GD. Plenty of help - not sure how much was brought on by the offer of food from Annie. Annie is Andy’s long suffering wife! Steve was there, Andy’s right hand man on the build, or is Andy the helper in reality?

Anyway, after a bit of pushing and shoving the body was on. Looks good too.

(See the link to Andy H’s build on the right of this blog - scroll down a little).

Over 115k page views

Just gone over the 115k page views since I started this build. Most visitors have come from the States, closely followed by UK page views. Thanks to all those who have visited this site. I hope it continues to prove useful to you.

Finding things - made easier!

Hopefully I have improved the navigation of this blog a little, so that you can find things. I have added some labels (build elements) and have been through these to break them down a little. If you have any further suggestions, please let me know.

Over 90,000 page views!

Just topped 90k page views, with the US taking the top spot, followed by the UK. Thanks to all visitors to my blog!

Northern Cobra Club North York Moors run

It was the Cobra Club Northern annual run this weekend, organised by Mike and Angela Hammond. We decided to just do the Sunday (the run was Saturday and Sunday). The overnight stop and meal was at the White Horse Inn at Rosedale Abbey. Our room was called the Kildale! Sense of humour?

Twelve Cobras had turned out for the run from Rosedale Abbey, ending at the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, near York.

My car in the middle

Most of the Cobras

We travelled up on the Saturday evening, only to find that the battery warning light came on and the voltmeter was showing 13 volts (a little low). After some fiddling with the battery cables and Si Smith shorting out the contacts with his wedding ring (ouch - don't try this at home - the ring gets red hot), we decided that it couldn't be fixed, but was probably ok for the run. However, being cautious, we took the decision to head home. The run back was uneventful - so why did we not do the run?

On Tuesday an auto electrician checked out the car and pronounced the alternator faulty (only done 2,150 miles!). So a new one has been ordered and will be delivered and hopefully fitted tomorrow (Thursday).

Today the oil was changed again (a year since its last change), as a precautionary measure. So 5.5 litres of Mobil's best and a new filter put in/on to the engine at 2,275 miles.

Stoneleigh Kit Car Show 2018

Someone counted 85 Cobras on the UK Cobra Club area on Sunday and around 45 on Monday plus over 25 that I saw elsewhere at the show. What a display. Superb!

A view of some of the Cobras on display

Another view with my car in the foreground

Another shot .... of Cobras

My car (again) with the bonnet up

Thanks to all those who came to say hello on Sunday and Monday - I am not going to name check as I will no doubt miss someone off! It really is a privilege to talk to you all. Comments on my car and blog are really appreciated. It was great to meet all the enthusiasts, both people I know and new Cobra owners embarking upon the build process. Good luck to all and hopefully my blog maybe some small help along the way.

First run out of 2018

Bolted in the seats after fitting the heat pads. Then started her up. Just love the sound of that V8.

To Ilkley, then Bolton Abbey, up to the Strid, over to the outskirts of Skipton, down to Addingham, into Ilkley over the Moors to home. Then topped up with Super Unleaded - the car, not me! Lovely day and great weather.

Good to get out again.

Burley-in-Wharfedale Classic Car Show - 19 August

See over 350 classic cars at the Burley Classic Show near Ilkley. Last year there were Aston Martins, Rolls Royce, Minis, Jaguars, MGs, Triumphs, Jowetts, Austins, Datsun, Land Rover, American cars and much more. Plus a good selection of motorbikes and some steam engines.

There will be a number of Cobras at the show from the Northern Cobra Club, including mine. So if you fancy seeing them and the car featured in this blog, do come along. It is a great day out.

Put it in your diary - 19 August - and say hello!

Stoneleigh National Kit Car Show 2018

The dates for the National Kit Car Show at Stoneleigh in Warwickshire are Sunday 6 May and Monday 7 May. It is the bank holiday weekend.

I will be there, but the weather will dictate if I am in the Cobra or not, as I am still without weather gear for the car! Some of previous displays are below:

Take a brisk ride in a Westfield to get the adrenalin going!

A GD T70 Spyder

The GD stand with a mk3 complete with hardtop

The Ultima stand

A few of the Cobras on display

A mk3R on the GD stand

A mk4 on the GD stand

The AK stand

Photos

Photos of the car - November 2017. Too cold to go out ..... brrrrrr

Front near side

Front off side

Rear near side

Rear off side

Only 1504 miles, so far!

Engine bay

Burley in Wharfedale Car Show

There was a Classic Car Show just down the road at Burley in Wharfedale, so I decided to take the Cobra.

My Cobra at the Burley in Wharfedale Classic Car Show

A great show with over 200 other petrolhead's pride and joys. And it was free to show and to come in to look at some mouth watering cars. Look out for the 2018 date in February (the show will be in August).

North York Moors Cobra Club run

North York Moors

Arranged by Mike Hammond, the North York Moors Cobra Club run was superb.

Cobras outside hotel on Saturday morning

Not sure what a gathering of Cobras is called

We only did the Saturday, bailing out at Malton. A great hit with a fabulous turn out of Cobras and members/partners. It was amazing going through the towns and villages, a long line of Cobras really turned the heads and the cameras came out too.

I thought that I had "done" the area, but Mike had chosen some great sweeping roads with tremendous scenery that we had not seen before. The only negative was a shower, and the Cobra doesn't do rain, but go quick enough and the rain goes over you. Except I found a leak, or rather Carol did, in the passenger foot well. So a job to do next. Hopefully next year Mike will sort the weather too!

My car back fired frequently on the over run and made the sheep jump, so Noel Hirst Christened it the 'sheep banger'. Not sure that was a compliment! I will ask Dave from Canems to look at the ECU settings.

Harewood Hillclimb

The following day I took Russell Naude up to Harewood in the Cobra to see the racing and some old rivals of mine. Good to see real racers on the hill and in the paddock. Cars ranged from Austin Healey 3000s, through Caterhams, Subarus, Peugeot 205s, Minis, Elises to a multitude of single seater race cars. One of my old rivals, Dave Banner, took fastest time of the day in his OMS.

There was also an event for the Fueled Society, with some nice custom cars on display. Good crowds and a great way to end the weekend.

Just topped 1000 miles!

The Cobra is now ready for its first oil change after 1000 miles. I needed to do this before the Northern Cobra Club North York Moors Run at the weekend.

Almost 5 litres of  Mobil 1 and a new K&N filter from CarPartsForLess were used. The new filter, an HP 1007, has a 'nut' fitted to aid removal, however it is a little longer, but when fitted it is still above the lower extremity of the exhaust so should be ok.

The front of the car needed jacking up to get at the oil drain plug and the filter. A plastic carrier bag helped to catch the filter and the oil from the filter and an oil drain can caught the old oil.

The new filter rubber ring was coated with engine oil and the filter was partly filled before it was fitted to help with the process. After pouring the new oil in to the engine, it was allowed to settle before checking the level with the dipstick. When it looked to be at the correct level, the engine was run for a few minutes to circulate the oil, before finally topping up.

Job done!

Cobras go to North East

Mark Turnbull had invited me up to his house in Sunderland. Keith Akerman joined me. So two Cobras travelled from Yorkshire to County Durham to see another Cobra being built. What a fabulous day we picked  - wall to wall sun!

First we got to Marks and kicked tyres. Looked at his grey Gardner Douglas 427 Cobra. Admired his four post lift. And compared notes on how we had gone about building our cars.

Another Cobra being created

After we were Cobra'd out we went up to Tyneside to see his new home. Well the building site that will become the Turnbull's new residences. Mark's family have also got a number of these apartments too! He is doing some consultancy on the building, including moving quite a number of staircases to free up the main views of the Tyne. Rather him than me.

A couple of the staircases

Just look at that view!

Then Mark took us back to Sunderland and bought us fish and chips. At this point Keith's car decided to run out of fuel. Luckily he had a can in the boot. Petrol in tank, fish and chips in a carrier, we made our way to Roker marina. After boarding Mark's vessel (he is a record holder in the North Sea - caught the biggest shark ever caught here!) at the marina, we settled in to lunch. Yummy!

Captain Turnbull. What better place to eat fish and chips.

After food, we returned to Mark's house where friends and family descended on the Cobras. A bit more tyre kicking, mickey taking and photos, before it was time to leave for home.

Traffic jam at Chez Turnbull with Keith's Cobra

Not wanting to run out of fuel, we filled up at a nearby filling station. A nice lady in a Merc Pergoda let us out in to the traffic (it was Michelle, Mark's wife - she had managed to evade us during the day).

The two Cobras drove impeccably and got us home safely, despite heavy traffic and some suspect driving from others (including a Porsche driver who obviously had something to prove to himself).

GD open day at new factory

I met some great folk at the new GD factory in Grantham on Saturday. Some I had met before, others I had talked to or corresponded with, others were totally new to me and some had used this blog. Loads of people attended. What a nice group, with the same or a similar interests.

The weather was good in the morning, but it chucked it down in the afternoon. I had checked out the forecast for the journey and had decided that the tin top was a much safer bet. And a good choice this turned out to be. Some lucky folk had demo runs in the sun, whilst others got soaked, not that this spoiled the day - at least for me!

The day had been organised by Meena and Andy at GD, with a lot of help from Sue and Larry of ClubGD. Staff and family had been roped in to help and those who attended were met by a mouth watering selection of pastries, biscuits and drinks. Just what was needed after the long journeys.

Here are a few photos from the day.