Boot Paneling & MOT Fails

Long time since the last update, so many commitments this summer, time is precious.

The last job I completed was carpeting the boot, although before I did this I wanted to panel over the battery and fuel filler pipe to give a better finish and protect those items. I've put in some angle ally along the bottom and the upright ledge of the boot. I made up an ally panel that angles up to the boot lip and has a hole for the battery cut off switch and the panel is secured using 'thumb screws' to allow easy access. I also intend to fix a tin of tyre weld and basic breakdown kit in the space behind the panel.

Ally panel angled and fitted to lip of boot

Ally bracket fixed to floor

Carpeted and fitted with thumb screws

I felt the car was now about ready for its IVA and before booking it in I decided to get it MOT'd and get some jobs done that I couldn't do (tracking, headlamp adjustment..) The car went to my local, trusted garage. Unfortunately there were some failures, I was expecting the handbrake to fail but not quite as badly as it did, here's the full list of failures. On the bright side everything else passed OK.

• Handbrake performance (12%) a pass is 15% or 18% at IVA
• Brake system performance (49%) a pass is 50%
• Headlamp adjustment (could not be adjusted as there was no "discernible beam pattern")

The garage advised the brake system would improve once bedded in but I drove the car around their yard and it didn't seem right, the pedal is hard (so no air in the system) and braking is even across the wheels so it's not one poor caliper. After some further testing it was clear the servo assist was not working. I've since replaced the servo (not an easy job with the body on and all the other ancillaries around it). I've yet to test this to see if makes a difference.

The garage were stumped by the headlights, they say this usually happens if the bulbs aren't installed correctly, but not the case here. I've confirmed the lights I have are the correct ones as used by the factory so need to look into this further.

The handbrake had always concerned me, I know others have had problems, so I've taken the decision (following others) to go for an electric handbrake solution. I've bought a Hollin's kit that you can see here. I'll be fitting this as a direct replacement for the XJS handbrake, that incidentally was knackered during the MOT when too much force was applied. So that's my task for the summer - get this handbrake fitted and working, sort the brakes & headlights. Disappointed as I'd so much hoped to have it on the road by now..

Dashboard Installation & Testing

The dashboard wiring has been completed and since the last picture I have included an immobilser as per the IVA requirement. For security reasons I'll not be publishing any pictures of the installation, suffice to say it works!

Dashboard Installed

I have since tested all wiring and switches (apart from the dials that require the engine running). Only two snags; I found operating the O/S indicators, on their own or via the Hazard switch, would cause the fuse to blow. N/S worked fine. I spent some time (days) double checking the wiring connections, initially I suspected the indicator stalk and swapped the connections over but the fault stayed with the O/S. Then I disconnected all the O/S lamps and reconnected in turn finding that with the O/S front indicator disconnected everything else worked OK, there was a fault in that connector causing the pins to push out rather than mate, I now have a set of working indicators. The other problem was with the Savage switches, I found that only half of the LEDs were illuminating when they should. I found the lighting connectors on these switches will only work with current in one direction, I suppose the clue is the Diode in LED! Although it's not clear on the switch which is the correct way round, I just swapped around the ones that were not working to fix.

It feels like I'm on the final leg now. Next jobs will include fitting the seat-belts followed by the seats and the steering wheel. I have the seat-belts (4 point Lukes) on order and I've also got hold of the correct, collapsible, steering boss. Once done I'm going to start checking all is working OK and get a pre-MOT before the IVA, I know I'm going to miss the deadline of the Stoneleigh show for this year though.

Latest Picture

Carpets Part II, Trim and Dashboard

Happy New Year to all readers. Christmas brought a number of things, the usual hangover and disappointing TV viewing, but on the plus side the trimmer completed the leather work for the seats, dash and door cards. I also completed (almost) the carpets. So here's how it looks now

Carpets Completed

With the door cards back from the trimmer I have fitted these as well. The only minor issue is that it's fiddly to put the clips back into the card with the trim glued down, I should have left these in before they went to the trimmer. But once fixed I'm pleased with the result.

Door card

Finally the dashboard, this is how it looked on return from the trimmer, again I'm very pleased with the overall result.And, not wanting to sound fetishist,  the smell of leather in garage is great.

Leather Trimmed Dashboard

The next job is to fit the instruments, I had pre-cut the holes in fibreglass and just had to cut the leather. The factory recommends a 2 mm oversize on the diameter of the holes to allow for the leather. 2mm worked fine for the large gauges but was a little loose on the smaller ones and too much on the warning lights, if I did again I'd add 0.5mm around the warning lights to make for a tighter fit, I have managed to fix these with a large washer and 10mm hose clamp behind each one.

Dials Fitted

Next job is the wiring. I got permission from "The MRS" after Christmas to use the dining room table, it means I can site down and do the work in the warm which was a big improvement on the doing the carpets in the cold of November. The wring is not simple for a novice like me, a big help was having a decent terminal crimping tool. I laid out the loom bundling together the various groups of wires; switches, small gauges, large gauges & warning lights. The factory recommend using a daisy chain method to link the earths and common feeds such as the instrument lighting, however for various reasons I didn't opt for this. instead I used a couple of distribution bars fixed on the inside of the dash. I have the Smiths Classic gauges and some of these need to have a regulated supply and the factory does supply a regulator with the kit. The rest of the wiring was a matter of working through each switch / instrument in turn and ticking them off. Here's where I am today, this is ready for testing now, it's not complete as I've yet to add the immobiliser but I want to iron out any problems before I introduce more complexity and that's why there's a couple of stray leads.

Wiring so far (no immobiliser)

Carpets Part 1

Hi Folks,

The dashboard and door cards are off with the seats being trimmed at the moment. The factory kindly let me have the carpet early so I can get on with that part. The factory also supply the required glue. The order for fitting can be found in the build manual, the first part is also the largest and probably most awkward being the piece that covers the bulkhead behind the seats. The process I've followed is to first create a template using some old wallpaper, transfer the template onto the carpet (remember to make sure the template is the right way up), cut the carpet and test fit. Once ready to glue the carpet, rub down the back of the carpet with a light sandpaper to roughen up the surface and clean off with acetone as well as the area of the car to be carpeted. Apply the glue (make sure the area is well ventilated - wow that stuff is strong), let the glue go off and then fix in place. It's a strong contact adhesive and difficult to manage in large areas, a second pair of hands helps. 

Making Paper Template

Transfer Template onto Carpet

Fitting Carpet (masking Tape provides location marks)

 The next pieces are around the edge of the tub in the seating area, the top of this section has some of the bolts that secure the body to the chassis and these will show as a bump under the carpet, mostly they are out of site but I preferred to have a cleaner line, so I made up some spacers from 6mm MDF that fit around the edge so that the carpet can sit flat. The MDF is soaked in varnish to make it waterproof and easier for the glue to stick to.

Nose Vents and Front Splitter

Nose Vents: There are 3 rounded triangular vents in the bodywork just in front of the bonnet, each of which have an aluminium duct that directs the air, but mostly just adds to the 'bling'. I fixed the ducts with P38 around the edges and hand holding them in the correct position until set. A further layer of P38 is then added over the lip of the duct from under the body. I smoothed this off as best as I could (you can't see the underside and finished it off with black POR15 to match the rest of the inside of the bodywork. This also helps to reduce the ugly reflections that can be apparent in the chrome underneath. A thin bead of silicon sealant is added around the inside of the vents to finish the joint between duct and bodywork. Because the vents are aluminium regular metal polish is too course and can dull the metal. I found the best finish came with a very fine silver polish and cotton wool pads (lets see how long it stays like that!).

Nose Vents Fitted

Splitter in Place

Bracket Fixed in Place

Front Splitter: The front splitter is an IVA requirement as the aperture at the front is too large and needs to be reduced or in this case split in two. The splitter, provided by AK, comes as a stainless steel sheet with a rolled over edge to give the correct radius, two angle brackets sit inside the body work with a steel bar between the to support the splitter. There is adjustment on the width of the brackets that helps to make a tight fit to measure up the correct location. Every piece of work I do on the car at the moment leaves me nervous of damaging the new paintwork, hence you can see the foam protection around the nose of the car.

Another Job Done

Paintwork...

Time's flying past again, I know there hasn't been an update for a while, but with good reason. Another significant milestone is passed and the paintwork is finished. It took 4 weeks in total but the job was started earlier than planned when another job was delayed. The work was carried out by Option 1 Sportscars (I have no connection with them). Option 1 are specialists in fibreglass work and I think it shows in the results. Below are a few pictures during and after the work.

The colour I chose was OdysseyRed with silver stripes, it's quite subtle, but has a good variation of shade depending on the light, it emphasises the car's curves without too much bling (there's plenty of chrome work to add the bling). The varying shades reflect ambient light and weather conditions, the pearl metallic isn't too showy but up close in bright it has a deep sparkle. There's a few images below to give a flavour.

As you can see from the pictures I've also been refitting the brightwork, it's easier to put it back with no need for measuring and drilling, but a much more careful process knowing you have expensive paintwork to protect..

 

In the paintshop - 1st colour applied

 

Ready for Collection

In light Cloud

In Sunshine

Metallic Pearl Finish

Interior & Dashboard Part 1

Electrical Problems: It's 6 weeks since my last update, it feels like I've spent a lot of time on the car but with little to show for it. One the snags that has taken up time has been a problem with my electrics. I went through some testing to make sure all was OK, but found when I put the dipped beam on, only the O/S headlight would come on. The N/S headlamp came on dimly along with the N/S front indicator and repeater. Much time was spent checking over and testing all the wiring looking for a short etc. With a lot of help from friends in the Cobra forum I traced the problem to a poor earth connection inside the N/S wheel arch.

Testing the Electrics

Interior Panels: The factory supply fibreglass panels that fit around the door openings. These panels are eventually to be carpeted and are, in the main, hidden  by the seats but still an important part of the interior. The ones I had from the factory did not seem to fit well, pulling away from the body they left a gap around the front of the door opening. They also did not fit tidily around the door edge, although much of this would be covered by the door seal rubber I wasn't happy. I made up my own panels from 1.5mm aluminium, these give a better fit, a more solid finish and the door rubber will fit over the panel and the edge of the door surround giving a clean edge.

Large gap on the original panel

Poor fit around the edge of original panel

Newly made up panel with much closer fit

Dashboard Part 1: I'm trying to finalise the layout of my dashboard. Like a lot of people I've made up  some exact size replicas of the dials, switches and warning lights and with some blutack moving them around to get an aesthetically pleasing design, that is functional (can I reach everything, can I see everything - with gear lever in various positions) and meets IVA regulations. As with so many aspects of this build one of the difficulties is identifying the centre line. I've seen a few cars recently where the instruments have been placed carefully around the centre of the dashboard, only to see them offset from the centre of the car and when you have a stripe down the middle that can stand out. I've opted for a line taken from the centre line of the car at the top of the dashboard, down to the centre of the transmission tunnel, it's about 15mm from the vertical but the eye is fooled as it lines with the other centre lines. Here's what I think is the final look, but holding back for a few days before drilling those holes!