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.