2/8/09 Cobra Update - Bodywork Begins
SEATTLE -- So the holiday's are over, other (non-Cobra) oblications have been fulfilled, and it's time to get back to the business of car building. As you recall, back in December we mounted the body. So, the next step was to remove it, of course.While it was on the chassis, we noted things like body-to-aluminum clearances, seat position, and engine clearance under the hood. Pulling it off, allows us to fix and mount those things that need fixing and mounting.
First Rick and I mounted the windshield wiper motor (it's that gold-colored canister thingy):

The standard mounting would be directly to the firewall. But after looking at all the various options, we decided to fabricate the vertical aluminum bracket and mount it outside of the passenger frame rail. This gives a cleaner engine bay and keeps the firewall free of clutter. This took about 2 weeks.
Then are the seats. Once we verified that the desired position would clear the body, we were able to mount them with confidence. The thin shell of the racing seat requires both bottom mounts and a bracket supporting the back. An added bonus was having my dear friend and college roommate, Mike Murphy come visit just after the New Year. Here he is helping mount the driver's seat:

The brackets supporting the back of the seats were particularly challenging. We purchased Kirkey support brackets because they seemed like the cheapest, easiest way to get where we wanted to be. They had to be cut down to fit within the frame supports, and a slot cut in the rear cockpit aluminum -- had I known, this would have been 100 times easier if I hadn't yet rivetted all the aluminum.
Here's a shot of the bracket:

And here it is actually bolted to the frame and seat, doing it's job:

Mounting the seats took about 3 weeks.
Then we worked on the vents. I purchased the vent kit from Cobra Earl , and set about getting them installed. This car is pretty much what Factory Five Racing calls their MK III.I, which (along with some previously made and un-reversible choices about computer location and wiper motor location), meant this too, was a challenge.
Here's what we ended up with on the passenger side (yes, that is a 3" Attwood bilge blower - I think it's one of the few US Coast Guard certified bits on the car):

Of course getting the "air valve" so it would work right wasn't easy, either. I converted the "slide" valve to a "butterfly" valve by reusing the aluminum disks from the dashboard guage cutouts, and some coathanger wire - here it is from the inside (some day I'll add a cable to actuate it):

The driver's side is yet another challenge. The vents are taking like 3 weeks.
What else? Oh yes, the body! Yesterday I picked up some castor wheels from Lowes and mounted them to the body buck so I sould roll it in and out of the garage. After rolling it out into the (somewhat) sunny sky, I took a look at the parting seams - here's just above passenger side headlight:

Nice, eh?
The I got started with the dual-action, orbital sander and some 80 grit disks. The garage is starting to have the feel of a boatyard (ah, memories!). When I started I had a full head of hair:

Then we worked on the vents. I purchased the vent kit from Cobra Earl , and set about getting them installed. This car is pretty much what Factory Five Racing calls their MK III.I, which (along with some previously made and un-reversible choices about computer location and wiper motor location), meant this too, was a challenge.
Here's what we ended up with on the passenger side (yes, that is a 3" Attwood bilge blower - I think it's one of the few US Coast Guard certified bits on the car):

Of course getting the "air valve" so it would work right wasn't easy, either. I converted the "slide" valve to a "butterfly" valve by reusing the aluminum disks from the dashboard guage cutouts, and some coathanger wire - here it is from the inside (some day I'll add a cable to actuate it):

The driver's side is yet another challenge. The vents are taking like 3 weeks.
What else? Oh yes, the body! Yesterday I picked up some castor wheels from Lowes and mounted them to the body buck so I sould roll it in and out of the garage. After rolling it out into the (somewhat) sunny sky, I took a look at the parting seams - here's just above passenger side headlight:

Nice, eh?
The I got started with the dual-action, orbital sander and some 80 grit disks. The garage is starting to have the feel of a boatyard (ah, memories!). When I started I had a full head of hair:


Next up is some filler. Then more sanding. Then more filler. And sanding. And filler. And sanding. And filler. And sanding. The body is going to take a few months...
I'm planning on getting the body primered in flat black, and driving it that way for the summer. I figure there's no sense in rushing into final paint just yet. Besides, I'm getting anxious to drive the darned thing (legally, that is).
Thanks for reading.
Joe
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/caropepe/tags/mybuild/
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