26 Fuel Filler

So I am swill awaiting delivery of the Cap from the fuel filler fro Brasscraft - Im used to waiting for things from them now!!!

So as the filler needs a breather and I don't want a pipe that fuel could come out of in a worst case scenario I have drilled and tapped a hole and then drilled an M8 bolt so it acts as a threaded tube.

I needed to make a slight extra cut into the hole for the filler through the body so that the threaded bar went though -but not visible from the outside so all good.

25. Windscreen and Wipers

So After a 7 month wait I finally received my windscreen from Brasscraft....yes 7 months!  He forgot...even after me chasing....oh well I didn't want to work on it in the nice sunny weather anyway! Now its cold again it will be nice to freeze my arse off in the garage once more!


So on with the calibrated piece of wood....and up the screen goes....I had to file out the Escutcheon plates somewhat to get to to fit due to the angle of the screen.























Bolted the windscreen into the chassis beam things and all done....Drilled and tapped right through both and then drilled out the tap in the screen support so just thread left in the chassis.

I then mounted the wipers...forgetting completely that this is detailed in the build manual I went of
mounting it all and cutting the holes with no reference to it...ahh well I'm sure it will be fine.  I used the tape to mark the wiper arcs to ensure they covered the screen well enough.  Its a real pain assembling the motor with the gearing on the long flexi shaft and trying to hold it all in place to get ti fitted...

Then all the wire mechs were mounted and drilled through the body. The wiper mech and the gears etc are fiddly to fit due the the mounting location - a few choice words were said on numerous occasions.

When mounted I switched on the windscreen wipers and realised that they went from the bottom of the screen down the bonnet and back up again!!!!

WTF!

I left the garage at this point as something would have got broken.

After calming down and deciding not to sell the car I realised that it was just the park switch was in the wrong position - so i removed the motor gear and placed the park switch thingy in the opposite side of the main gear - Hey presto it all works!

This is the second issue I had with the park switch - initially I couldn't get the wiper motor to stop even time i turned turned the IGN on- this I realised (after speaking to Jon at AK) was because I didn't have the gear in the motor and thus it was constantly seeking the park position thus never stopping....That confused me for a while I can tell you.

Also while i was at it i mounted the mirrors - look quite nice so was happy with that.  One thing I didn't think to check was with the door open - JUST made it with literally half a mm spare...the mirror does rotate a bit so all good! phew!

How it looks at the moment....

I guess (as I'm uploading it much later than taken) this is about 12 months in I guess.
This was around July 2016

Nov 2016

Now 15 months into the build - pic to follow

May 2017

June 2017

24. Body On

So how to put the body on.....well I think most people get a load of mates around to help...I have a number of issues with this.....

No friends/live miles away from anyone I know and a massive lack of patience!

So I decided to go it alone...Madness? probably but hey ho its the way I roll.

I made a make shift 4 poster ramp to higher the body up and made holes a few inches apart so i could has it up corner by corner bit by bit...hard work but I made it....

I then sorted a few things underneath like the battery cables etc and it was ready to lower.  I decided to invoke some help here as i couldn't lower it right down due to the beams holding it up so this was by hand - only two of us though so front then back.....

The slight fly in the ointment was that I have reaffixed the small section of body that AK remove to get it out of the mould - or so I thought.

So I found out (GEN III chassis only) this part means that the body won't actually fit on the chassis with it in place - and my body will have to come off again to get painted so I left it off.  I think I will put this back on again but move it inwards so that it doesn't clash anymore - at least then I know I can get the body on and off if required..

23. Lights

So lights......I went for the p700 ones as I like the three pointed star....i got mine from SVC as it isn't too far from me - I also bought the other lights here also.

I looked at the LED ones and flatter shaped ons but none looked as nice as the standard ones so some more money was spent.

I used the rubber gaskets to mark out the holes to drill.....unfortunately I put the bloody thing back-to-front so the were in the wrong place...bit more filler required!!!

 As for fog and reverse - well what to do - they have to be 'E' marked so it limits the choice somewhat. No fancy slim line LED ones for me!...well not yet anyway ;)

So I bought the 'attractive' massive square things...I then made up some brackets that go underneath the body  - if I was to remove them (not that you would) then it would leave the car bottom clean of any marks.  So now just to route the wires into the boot from underneath and should be done.

22. Horn

So to fit a horn.....as I work in automotive we were trialling out a selection of horns and thus had many to throw away - so waste not want not one was fitted to the Cobra from the bin.

I

So I looked at the AK horn and it was fitted to the body but I thought I would fit mine to the rad bar as it was easier to tap it to screw in and also the horn is quite heavy and will vibrate a lot so thought this was best....so on it went.

I then realised that i have either lost or thrown out the connector from the steering column for the horn - balls!

So I frigged a splice crimp onto it - not sure it will be good in the long run but I am hoping to find the connector somewhere!  
Anyway I tried it (still have old BMW wheel fitted at the mo) and HONK HONK it works so another job done.

21. Seat belts

 So I added the brackets in the boot for the seatbelt top mounts - I had a bit of a faf finding the holes on the cockpit side - despite measuring them I still was a good 10mm off when i drilled through.  I opened the holes up and then left the eyelet in place and filled the sides to make it neater -looks ok in the end.

First eyelet screwed in and was the correct orientation when tight - I did think at the time "that was lucky".....

Then I did the second one, It was about 30deg out of alignment so I added a washer and then tried again - hey presto its pretty much flush also....all good....

Will have to buy some seatbelt at some point -i like the LUKE ones with the large metal clasp but i heard these were not legal in the eyes of the IVA?  not sure need to investigate - i just don't like the big black plastic clasps with the red button (like on all other cars)....but as all cars have that type does make me think this is probably the only type allowed.

20. Handbrake

So I sourced an XJS hand break and will be firing it in the traditional location next to the drivers door....its all very tight there but looks like it should work.

After reading many many comments on how poor the handbrake is it will be interesting to see how I get on.

As the body will be trial fitted for a while (soon hopefully) then i can see how it all works and adjust if required.

When reading the IVA reg it does make comment that the locking mech of the handbrake i.e. teeth need to be in good order and secure......mine....well as you can see below....not really so.....

The teeth are very warn in the middle - just where I will need it i would guess - so what to do....new part which is a pain to find - buy one from Dax -quite nice but £145 for something i won't use once past IVA.......so I thought I would try an reinstate the teeth.....

So I used the faithful Dremel to cut in new teeth and checking the mating with the teeth on the lever - all fits well and seems to have done the job - now just to reassemble and see how it works when on the car!

So the instructions say to pass the H/B cable round the wheel arch (i.e. between wheel and outside of the arch).

BUT......If i do this, at worst the tire rubs on the cable and at best it JUST misses it - so seems like asking to fail IVA to me.

Maybe the final wheels are off set from the hub more or something Im not sure - but I would rather avoid the issue altogether.

So.....I brought the cable inside just before the wheel.  This will obviously create a lump in the eventual carpet but you won't see it so its fine by me.


I also moved the whole assay forward by about two inches as I had placed it too far back and I ended up having too much cable to loose somewhere.  It does say this in the instructions but I read this after i had done it - well done me.

So now its all in I pulled the hand break fully on and.......the car still rolls.....well seem REALLY effective.  I hear lots of stories of how bad the hand brake is but not sure whether my shoes are set correctly - so will pop the callipers off and check....just as i realise they are all nicely lock wired one.....think Ill loose the lock wire and just thread lock them.

19. Engine Sensors

So the Coolant temp sensor and Oil pressure Switch and Sensor all need fitting in place of the OEM parts.....this will be really straight forward - take out the old and then slip in the new....

I wish.....


So they all have different threads so need adaptors and also there is no Oil pressure switch which you need to make the dash light come on so what to do....

Coolant temp sensor.

So taking out the OEM one at the front right of the engine it has a thread of M12x15   but the new sensor supplier with the Smiths Gauges is 1/8NPT  so I bought an adaptor.

This seemed fine until the bore of the hole through the adaptor was not large enough to fit the temp sensor through - I drilled it out and then it fit...great....Until I screwed it in and sheared the adaptor off the thread....which was still in the engine.

(BY the way - I had done this wrong - leave the LS3 sensor in the engine as the OMEX ECU used this....put the the one mentioned here in the opposite corner - remove the hex head bolt in the side of the head at the rear right and put it in there)....hind sight would be good!!!

Luckily I managed to coax out the adaptor with a screw driver with out much problem - so now looking for another adaptors that will hopefully fit this time....we will see.

Bought one from Merlinmotorsport so its on it was we will see if it fits when it gets here.  The internal bore size is not listed on any of them so its all a bit of trial an error.

So the new part arrived and its exactly the same as the old one so I drilled it out once again - I did speak to Jon at AK and this seems to the be how they do it also so just need to tighten a little less this time!!

we will see how I get on.

Oil Pressure Switch and Sensor

So this is another messy job as you need a 'T' piece that is M16x1.5 to 2x 1/8NPT  - which don't exist hat I could find so I ended up with a 18/NPT adaptor T with then a 1/8NPT to M16x1.5 adaptor....

the sensor goes in the side and the switch in the top.....this is a relatively tight fit due to the proximity to the engine - but all went in ok with thread lock placed on all to ensure it is all water tight.

18, Immo

So as I have removed the steering column lock form the car (due to worries of it engaging whilst driving) I will be fitting an immobiliser as my IVA required 2nd form of immobilisation.

So I bought a Sterling Excel immobiliser and have fitted it in a secret place!

The think came with no wiring instructions but eventually found the following details:

Geen 2x GND (KL31)
Red +12V Perm (KL30)
Orange  +12V Ign Switched (KL15)
Blue - 1st brake relay of the immo
White - 2nd break relays of the immo - this one must be powered at all times the car is running and then off when it is stopped - this is used to 'tell' the system that the engine is off so to start the immo again.
Yellow - Door catch or a switch to make the immo look for the transponder.

I had all this set up and the door ajar and transponders all worked fine but the isolating circuits did not seem to work - when I measured continuity through them they were always connected.....seemed odd.....but then realised they were relays inside so I needed some current draw to hold the relay in - with a bulb slaved on as a load it all works - so on to fitting it to my chosen circuits.....

Sorry no pics of this install!!!

The Drivers door button solution is as below.....

I had a push to break switch lying around

So I used this to make and break a contact to GND - this means that as the door is open the with links to GND and allows the immo to look for the transponder.

The switch comes with one fixing which I found to be wholly inadequate.  So I had to make a metal bracket over the back to support the plunger side - otherwise this was flexing and causing the switch not to work.  Annoyingly this meant that the single fixing that I had hidden behind the door seal would now need to have friend in the middle of the body panel....argh....well its countersunk so should not be visible when finished.

17, Doors Latches and Bonnet Latches

So onto the door latches....

I have already made the door cards - leaving about 2-3mm gap around the edge to allow for the leather......always feels wrong leaving gaps - normal you are trying to avoid them (and actually getting them).....so Im sure this will be an exercise in how to get no gap where you want one!


So a delivery from S&J resulted in all the parts arriving.

I then marked the locations of the latch holes on the door with masking tape - then took the tape off and stuck it on the door card to transfer the holes into the (hopefully correct) location.


This worked well apart from the fact that I thought I felt a hole where there wasn't one resulting in the 'spare' hole you see in the pic!  doh....never mind it won't be seen.

 After attaching it with P38 for a few days I went back and all good -the door shuts fine.

So I tried slamming the door and still fine -although there was a lot of force required to overcome the latch - I guess it is new.....

....So much force in fact that on the third attempt the whole fucking lot fell off...!  Bastard!

So now understanding the force required a new approach was required.  The P38 stuck the plate but it didn't completely surround it which it would need to to give it strength - also I think I will also bolt of screw into it to give it added strength.....another job to do a few times - yay!

So after the annoying failed attempt I called Jon at Ak and asked his advice - he said that if you want to slam the door shut I would need to place blocks of wood between the body and the metal to 'link' the two together to give it strength.  So whilst I could just be careful it really not in my nature and sods law will mean that the passenger will not know to latch the door carefully so on with the wood etc....

I have tried P40 on one side and P38 on the other - nothing like consistency - this was simply due to what i had left but will also act as a test to see which is best.

I expect them both to be ok but we will see!

So After waiting a few days for the door to set all seems good - I can slam it and it doesn't budge....so hopefully success this time.......a week or some father on and it is still good so looks promising.

The Drivers door obviously set at an angle as when bolted in tight the angle of the plate pushed the door out....so this all had to come out and be done again - I DIDNT MIND DOING IT ALL AGAIN AT ALL.

Anyhoo both doors now on an latching again....

By the way - the nuts for the door striker are 5/16 UNF - took me ages to find the bloody thread size!

Bonnet.

So I measured up where the bonnet latches needed to be - slightly odd that they need to go through the double skin part of the bonnet - but after looking at other blogs pics etc this seem to be what everyone does so out the drill came.

A few pilot holes drilled - making sure that they were far enough off to avoid the rubber seal when the locks went through - originally they were too near as the lock shaft is quite thick at the top so I had to re-drill / encourage the holes to move in the right direction!

More to follow when I have taken some pics!

So They are now all fitted but because the bonnet has the strengthening beams in the hole goes straight through them - this wasn't an issue as you can keep t nice and central - but then when you put the cams on it interferes so i had to widen the hole and now it looks a mess!

I looked at the AK ones at the stoneleigh show and they place theirs more inboard on the flat section so maybe i would have been better doing that - but  I like the position and I have now done brackets etc for them to secure against (body on its own will not last agains the metal cam) so decided to stay with it but tidy the holes to the best I can.

In the end they don't look too bad and should look better when painted....if that day ever comes!

16, Engine n Trans

So here we are - the day has arrived!  After parting with an unspeakable amount of money the big V8 lump has arrived!

I managed to get the bad buy into the garage with a rather large push and just needs to be unwrapped.




And here she is in all her glory - now - where do all the pipes go and how do it all connect up - hmm work for another day I think!




Found a few images to help  - I did think a crate engine would come with some instructions, but no!  as per usual nothing!  They must think everyone is an all knowing expert is all areas!  roll on wiring I'm more at home there!!!

Below TK0500 sensor locations copied from legendarydude.com/blog/ls3-engine-install/

So first was to get the bloody thing off the pallet - as the delivery guy brought it on a pallet it was on effectively two......this didn't seem an issue - but it WAS!!!!  The pallet was wider than the legs of the brane so it couldn't get around it....eventually I managed (with the help of good old Dad) to pull the engine off the bottom pallet an onto the legs of the crane.....bit dodgy but it worked!
Then getting it off the crate pallet was pretty straight forward....and onto the floor it went - now for the transmission.

So I managed to line up the trans and engine on the floor (with some wood under the box to get the right height - as its a heavy bugger to move.....removed the rubber bung from the end of the box and fitted the yoke so i could turn the box to engage it....With a few jiggles it was in. 

Then it was on to lifting the beast to get it in.....the first issue (in a series of issues - more to come!!!) was that the crane hits the anti roll bar....the same anti roll bar I just fitted....bollox!  so off it came again.

So with the bar out of the way - off we go again.....(2nd time now - keep watching!)....I didn't have one of those bars that you wind to alter the angle (BUY ONE!!!) but managed to make do with large ratchet straps that we left longer at the front so that it was at an angle when going in - worked pretty well to be honest....well was ok for me - Dad was the one at the other end fighting with it to get it in.....well why strain yourself when others will do if for you! 

 So It was finally in!

Dad suggested to check the manifolds fitted as it looked pretty tight - so we did exactly that.....

IT DIDNT FIT!  BU-GG-ER!!!!

So the A Bank side fit but with only a few mm spare.  The B Bank side however - no chance!

 <-- B Bank
 The Holes would not line up as it was too close tot he chassis - what the hell?????!?!?!?! 

--> A Bank Just!

 Clash on B Bank and its not even in place yet.

So after a call to Ak and Bob (as Jon is away) it would appear I am the first to do this as the GEN3 chassis is new and their demo one has hand made manifolds......So the only solution we came up with was to chop the top part of the manifold - this has threaded holes in to add heat shields which I won't have so should be ok -we will see.

 So the Engine will have to 'pop' out again - ahh well it needed too anyway as i need to finish the fuel lines now I know where the pump can fit etc so I will do this whilst it is out!

Fuel Lines now all in - all down the same side due to space restrictions with brake lines but seems to work ok.

Engine now back in and all seems to fit ok!

 Then to mount the transmission bracket - this is a bit awkward as its so close to the floor but my 90deg Drill bit came into its own again!

Checking positions before drilling.

 All in - i have bolted through from the top of the chassis - hopefully it won't foul the body as its so close to the chassis tubular section - but if it does I will just cut around then and glass over the top.

 Arial Shot...

All done and off the axle stands!  I can order the prop now.......Good to have this bit done....fells as though its taken another step closer to completion - which I guess it has!!!

So all thats left is to 'pop' the manifolds on....wont take two mins!

OH BOLLOKS!....they don't fit!

The back of the manifold clashes with the chassis - oh twat!  what the hell !  So after I fair bit of head scratching I called AK  - apparently I am the first to use this kit with the standard manifold rather than a bespoke one...I didn't realise that you could get a bespoke on to be honest (must have missed that bit in the manual....?!), so anyway the part hitting were some lugs that hold a heat shield that i don't have and won't fit - so off they come!

 The blood thing will not line up without alteration ---->T

The right side of the engine does fit but is resting on the chassis rail when installed.  Whilst there is not much movement from the engine (apparently) this will not do as there is no clearance at all...

 .

The lugs were trimmed off and now there is enough room - well about 15mm wish...which so Jon tells me will be enough....so lets hope it is...

Sorry for the pics all over the place but this application is driving me mad with is bizarre formatting - its just des what the fuck it wants....stupid bloody thing....

So the Oil dip stick is too far outside of the chassis - so i bent it into the bozzare shape bellow and altered the bracket to suit and it fits around the block/manifolds/chassis etc - took bloody ages and was a right bugger - much cursing and foul language flew form the garage during this part.....then it was all bolted up - put the dip stick in.....put the......dip.....stick.......IN!!!

YOU BASTARD - it won't go in - I forgot that the dip stick is a flat blade type s will only bend in one direction....as you can see my 'masterpiece' bends in every direction going.

Another hour spent straightening it out again with the pipe bender......Then I just pushed it back in the hole and left it sticking out of the car - patience has gone and trying again now will result in something getting thrown out of the garage - so full strop mode active - another day will have to see this job completed.

So I also need to get a prop made....considered a few bog rolls and some sticky tape - but probably not a good idea so spoke to Bailey Morris - the form is what they give you below...

I filled in a few parts that I knew - apparently you don't specify the shaft diameter so not sure what else to fill in.  I have heard that some people have sent their SlipYoke to them to allow it all to be balanced - they didn't ask me for this so we will see!

Also now have the clutch piped up to ensure it works (see page on clutch!  it all went pretty smoothly NOT!).

 So - the Xmas period in the garage has not been kind to the manifolds - as they are only a cast part they have rusted really badly - although this won't make any difference to function it look scrap so need to change!

 So what to do with them - I looked at getting them ceramic coated but a place in the midlands (forget the name) but the quote came back at circa £700!  FORGET THAT!  i could have custom part made from stainless for around that price.  After hunting around a bit i found some  manifold paint - the issue with the was that it needed to be cured at 350deg C for 2 hours - err.....My oven reaches 200 and the engine doesn't run so game over.  Then I found that POR 15 paint cures at less then 200 - hooray!

So an order was made -1x can.

I did many light coats with 15 mins drying in-between each one....

 All sprayed up and into the oven 200Deg C for 2 hours. Smelled a bit but was ok.

 Out they come - looks pretty good...

And here they are on the engine...all done......much better!  Lets see how long its lasts.

The pictures are in the wrong order but  - the pipework needed doing next.  i ordered the pipe kit from AK - this way at least I knew everything was there......(I would learn later that this isn't the case!).

So - for me this was a 'challenge' as I didn't know where they all went - maybe other know all this but not me!  and AK give you nothing so on the phone to Jon as is frequently the case.  As usual Jon is very helpful....So connected them us as driected.

The breather pipes from the top of the air intake into the Front Left and Rear Right of the engine are not supplied so I ordered some breather pipe from Merlin - not too expensive and does the job.

Its worth nothing that they supply a very small (maybe 6-8mm) pipe that I was wondering what it is for - basically this is to make up the very small pipes form the front of the engine, (RHS) into the coolant header tank, into a larger ID by adding it as an internal sleeve then putting the 'proper' tube on over the top.  I also did this on the rad connections as this was also too small.  A spray of WD40 made life a whole lot easier.

The heater connections from the water pump use 2x90 deg pipes joined (Ak don't supply the joiner pipes - again ordered from Merlin) these then join to the long 16mm ID (I think) pipes - these then join again (4 joiners needed) to another piece that I assume you cut in two (haven't don't this yet) to connect to the heater when the body is on.

So I have also fitted the Stat - I did this into the stainless bar on the coolant tank - I assume this is the best place to put it!  I mounted the stat to the rad bracket along side - doesn't look pretty but you won't see it much, and after all my car is for driving not for looking at - so its fine.

Rad also  fitted - but it doesn't fit in-between the rad brackets - handy!  So I overlapped the top and put some rubber between the fan and the rad to make up the gap....The only issue with this - that I realised afterwards was that the air filter now hits the top - so it may all have to come off and and be lowered - this is a pain as I have used the 1 time fitment plastic zip-tie things - bastard!  Well we will see - I may find a way - if not Ill order a new set - grit my teeth and do it again - like so many things!!!! 

So after mulling it over and another install with the zip tie things I wasn't happy so another method was required.

The solution was to use the longest fan brackets at the bottom into the end of  the chassis and then make brackets/hangers to hold the top to the rad bracket...

Much better now - but it should be after three times!