Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Build (and road) insurance

Today I had to renew the build insurance on the Cobra. A renewal quote of £302 from Footman James for build insurance looked good, but could not be cancelled part way through the term (or at least there was no refund) and it could not be converted to a road policy.

A-Plan offered a laid up policy, that once the car was registered, becomes a road policy covering me and my wife for up to 4,000 miles a year for just £490. I reckoned that this was a good price for a car valued at £60k and with 480 bhp. As I am aiming to get the car on the road for spring 2017, the A-Plan insurance seemed like a very good deal 😃.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Auxiliary power supply

I fitted the nearside under dash tray today. A reverse of the driver's side, so it was easy, except I added a 12v power supply outlet.

Auxiliary power supply

The power outlet that I used was an Audi part that is used extensively by the VW group, so can be found in VW, Audi, Bentley cars etc. I bought mine from Prestige Motor Services (see link on right). This is a neat solution that hides under the nearside dash and can be closed when not in use. It pops down when needed and closes up when not needed. It avoids having the power outlet on show for example on the dashboard, which seems wrong for a Cobra - even a modern take on one like mine.

The power supply will go on the passenger side nearest the transmission tunnel. I had to take care marking out where the heater outlet and the power supply unit needed to fit, as they go between the two cross braces. An oblong was cut out of the under dash tray for the power unit. Here I drilled holes at each corner of the area to cut out, then I used a jig saw to cut out the hole, before finishing with a hand file. The aluminium was too thin for the power supply clips, so small pieces of aluminium (shims) were cut to pack out the clips (see photo below). These were glued in place.

Reverse of under dash tray showing small shims at either end of power unit
Looking from foot well
The wiring will be completed when I fit the dashboard.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Under dash trays and dashboard plus door seal finishers

At last, some work after a break doing some housework! Well work on the new house. So I am back to building the Cobra after almost a three month lay off. Yes I did a few small jobs, but now it's down to it properly.

Some essential, but easy jobs first. The bonnet was secured properly. The pivot bolts were re-attached, as were the gas struts. Next the remaining caphead bolts and washers were used to secure the hinges to the bonnet.

Then the wires were extended to attach to the horn. A tie wrap secured the wires to the compressor to ensure that they do not flap about.

Wires tie wrapped to compressor
Under dash trays

I had already fitted the centre under dash tray (see a previous post) a while back. The centre tray is where the ECU will sit.

The outer trays were secured to the front cross brace (the brace nearest the bulkhead) using self tapping screws. This will allow access to the dash if needed, at a later date. I had been putting this off. I thought that dodging the swarf from drilling the holes would be difficult. It wasn't as the holes could be drilled without getting right under the dash, I simply leaned in to the footwell and drilled the holes.
Hole in the underside of dash tray drilled through to the cross brace
The outer trays were fixed to the front brace only.
Under dash tray secured by self tapper
They were temporarily held at the dashboard end by racing tape. The trays will be sandwiched between the dashboard bottom and the rear most cross brace (nearest the driver/passenger).

The footwell heater outlet holes are pre-cut in the GD panels, but the laser cut holes were too small for the plastic vent, so needed opening out. I used the electric drill and a burr.  Here one part of the vent pushes through the hole, securing with the flexible lugs. Two small slots in the trays and squares on the vent stop them swivelling. The other part clicks over the vent on the upper side.

Driver's side vent in place
The other side is handled in the same way.

Door seal finishers

I have decided to replace the door seal finishers. I was not happy with those bought from Europa having seen the GD items. The GD finishers are not cheap, but they are good!
Front nearside door seal finisher in place
The rear door seal finishers will take a little more thinking about before I can fit them!