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!