This has been a disappointingly slow week where work on the Cobra has been concerned. While I’ve gotten a few things done, I’ve gotten more stuff started, or screwed around with, than I’ve actually finished. Generally speaking, if I want the car registered by the end of May, I can’t have weeks like this.
Category Archives: replicabuilding.com
Installing the Headlights
It was another gorgeous day here today, and I got a chance to spend a couple hours working on the car again. With the body on the car, I wanted to start getting the various lights wired up so I could finish up the mounting of the chassis wiring harness.
Installing the Body (Temporarily, again …)
Today’s task was a simple one — get enough done on the car to feel comfortable putting the body on, so I could get all the light wiring out of the way.
I had hoped to really finish everything that needed to be done before doing a final installation of the body, but the work yesterday with the headers burned up enough time that there was no way. Its not every day I can get help to do the body, so I did what I could before then.
Dash and Header Work
This post is a little delayed — I meant to get an update written up last night for the work I did yesterday, but ended up busy most of the weekend. I’ll post a second update for the work I did today.
Yesterday was a busy day. I got an early start on the car, being out in the garage by 9, and worked pretty steadily until 4 or so, trying to get some details out of the way to be able to put the body on the car today. I’d hoped I could get all the details worked out and maybe get the body on for good, but I didn’t hit that milestone so instead this week will be for getting the lights on the car, and I’ll pull it back off next weekend.
What I did do, however, was get some work done on the dash, and dealt with the gasket leak problem I had with the headers on the engine.
The Beast Awakens
It’s alive.
Transmission Tunnel
It was another rainy day in New Hampshire, but I got another two hours or so of work done on the car. I had been debating just doing the exhaust hangers tonight for most of the day, but decided that I would wait and do that next week or the following one once the body is on the car. If the side pipes don’t align correctly, I don’t want to have drilled the mounting holes and have to move the mounts because I had to adjust the engine position.
I spent bit of time looking at heater/vent duct routing — I got in some ABS ducting parts today and need to work out where things were going to run. I have a plan at this point for how I’m going to route it, but I need to get a few additional bits and pieces. I think I’ll do that on Saturday.
Instead I decided to focus on the transmission tunnel.
Footbox Top and Exhaust Hangers
Yesterday’s time working on the car was, unfortunately, back in an all-too-familiar old pattern of getting very little useful done given the time spent. I had hoped to get the exhaust hangers installed, and get the under-dash panel installed. I ran into issues with both, and in over two hours in the garage, ended up with basically nothing to show for it.
First Start Video
I finally got a chance to edit together some clips of the three days I spent trying to get the engine started. Its still disappointing the video doesn’t end with a nicely purring (or roaring) engine, but it started, and thats a start.
A word of warning, I suppose: My friend who was taping has a mouth like a sailor, so… if you have kids and still live in the fantasy that they’ve never heard any of Carlin’s seven dirty words you can’t say on television… well, don’t let them watch the video.
Cleaning Up the Dash Wiring
Fresh off getting the engine started… sort of… its back to the work week and back to finding things I can do in a couple hours in the evening. I e-mailed back and forth with Retrotek today about the tuning, but the weather is lousy for the next couple of days, so I can’t really take another stab at the engine until perhaps Thursday.
I decided today to do some cleaning up of the wiring behind the dash. Now that I know the engine works, the wiring behind the dash is basically done and I can get it cleaned up and get the sheet metal installed, as well as get the dash mounted and the associated bits wrapped up.
Starting the Motor
This weekend was a nerve-wracking time. As I’d suggested earlier last week, my intent was to get the engine done wiring up and get it started this weekend. While I assumed it wouldn’t necessarily start and run well on the first try, I did hope it would’ve been an easier process than it turned out to be.