11/16/08 Cobra Update - Aluminum, Tuning & Seats
SEATTLE - I see my last update was back at the end of September. That was a follow-up to the go-carting I did just after Labor Day and described covering the dash with leather, painting the side pipes and taking care of loose ends. Now it's a six weeks later and - although I've been busy - I don't have much to show for my efforts.Oh, and I took a weekend to do some AutoCrossing in my 1991 Mazda Protege at Bremmerton Motorsports Park. The results are here, but they don't tell the whole story. My goals were threefold: I) don't get lost, II) be smooth and consistent and, III) improve my time with each run. I accomplished all three and had a ball! There was so much going on that day I never had much time to get nervous or do much reflecting. But man, I can see how the quest to shave seconds off your time gets in your brain and won't let go. You start thinking about all the things you could do to improve and then can't wait to do it again!
Here's the proof:

Now, back to the Cobra. Once the dash was complete I mounted the headlight switch. But first I had to find the right location. Here you can see my mount, to reach it you have to go under the dash, but the the contour of the bottom edge, it's quote easy:

I then worked on making a dead-pedal for the driver's footbox. There are a couple of reasons for having a 4th pedal to rest your foot. First, it keeps your left foot closer to the clutch, meaning less distance to move during a shift. Next, you can brace yourself in those hard corners. Finally, it's just comfortable. Some people put them closer to the floor, but Bob Bondurant says to make it about the same height as the clutch, which is good enough for me. Here's what it looked like before mounting in the footbox (the pedal itself came from the donor):

In addition to drilling & riveting aluminum I've been working on the motor. I had a few vacuum leaks that needed plugging and tracking them down was a little tricky. Probably the toughest was the seal between the intake manifold and the EFI plenum spacer. I ended up making a new gasket from thicker material (per Edlebrock's specs.) and installing a couple of heli-coils to replace striped threads in the aluminum intake (not my doing - they came pre-stripped with the donor...I probably paid extra to have them pre-stripped).
I also spent quite a bit of time tracing down the computer and understanding it's behavior - which, some might say, is a fool's errand. It's supposed to be able to output a set of codes, letting you know what it's thinking. However, it turns out the stock code checker can be bypassed if you "flash" the memory, which I suspect is the case with this one. No matter, it seems to work (the engine runs) and I'll be able to confirm this later.
In the middle of all this, I took Karen for a ride in the car - her first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCSCPW-Kf-E
Finally, I ordered the seats I've been wanting to get. The stock FFR seats, with their authentic period-correct low-backs, don't provide the kind of support needed for track days, or autocrossing. So I ordered a set of UltraShield Spec Miata seats from Saferacer.com.
You can see what I mean about the support - look at how deep they are, especially along the legs & torso:

I ordered a 16" wide for the driver's side, and 17" for the passenger. Obviously getting into these things is a little more complicated than simply sliding your butt in. You have to get into position, hovering over the seat, before dropping in. My first time I was holding on to the roll bar with my right hand and had to let go as I dropped in - the back of my hand came down on top of the aluminum bulkhead behind the seats you see here. Hard. Luckily, I managed to keep the blood off the aluminum and seats and didn't hit the vein, so it all worked out okay.
Next up? A little more tuning to smooth out the surging idle. A little more aluminum to install - plus the trunk mods. Then I need to install the wiper motor & heater wires. Finally, I need to clean up power steering hoses and stop wire-tying them to the steering shaft... Once that's complete, there's no reason the body can't go on. Hopefully in the next month or two...
Hey! I just realized it's been 1 year since my first post! Have one on me!
Thanks for reading.
--Joe
This Post:
http://garage.caropepe.com/home/ffr_cobra_project/FFR_Build_Diary/2008-11-16_cobra_update-aluminum-tuning-seats.html
All Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/caropepe/tags/mybuild/
