when I was a kid - it was the coupe story that really gripped my skull and revved up my inner geek. - Especially The "Special Bodywork" rule in FIA that allowed "bodywork" to be applied to a car, to help its aerodynamics.
It is my impression that the rule had to do with nose and possibly a tail change.
Not a whole body! - but our friend Enzo did just that with the 250GTO , a 250SWB chassis with "Special" bodywork, --Ferrari campaigned to let his GTOs compete, and won the argument. However, what our commingling Il Commendatore had done was train the rifle scope on his own team.
They Daytona Cobra Coupe body took a leaf-spring Cobra from 140-150MPH car and turned it into a 200 scratching the limits of aerodynamics beast.
Il Commendatore once said something to the effect of , "Aerodynamics is for people who cant build engines." - it was most probably in Italiano, --but you get the idea.
It was interesting that at pebble beach 2011, that they celebrated the GTO , with 23 out of the original 32 ( not 36 ) cars on the front lawn. -
However, it was good to see a car 1 row in front of all the GTOs ( closer to the stage ) CSX2601. - the car that made the GTO obsolete, and slammed the door shut on Ferrari in GT at LeMans. , and later at the FIA championship in 65.
Here is CSX2601 with its new caretakers , they were very cool people to talk with.
So back to my coupe, - The Rear Diff is new enough where parts have not filtered out to the secondary market yet, so I had to go new. - once we figured out where things came from, a quick call to FH Dailey and we were in business.
In fact, I have visited them several times during my build and they have always let me dip into the Parts Drawings and find what I need.
After many a long hour of cleaning and painting components we were satisfied with the suspension and chassis to a point where we could work on the rest of the car. - At the time of her original damage, she was hit with the "brew" and in the weeks and months following that disaster, an important support mechanism fired up and began to work. they flushed the chassis tubes with fresh water and desalinated everything they could. - the salt in the water wasnt particularly high , afterall they were fresh water levees.
however the silt and goop was interesting to say the least. --
When we took the car down to a shell , one thing that had to come out-apart is all the electrics. -- The copper wire inside the lines was black and just nasty, everything from Fans to AC switches was bad, so in this case we are starting from scratch.
Light Fixtures are making their way in -
( oh and that is Misha -- Bobs dog, who is like 10 months old, -- she is going to be BIG.)
The lucas lights (Orange) are not what the coupe came with, but I like them better so they went on. - the other lights were motorcycle lamps and I just could not bring myself to install them, - and I am glad I put the Lucas lights on there , along with some nice WIPAC buckets and some trusty Sylvanias to get me through Brake and Light inspection!
Wiring; I have rewired several cars from scratch and they all run well , and have some new features. -
There were several options in front of me; Try to get a new harness from SPF -- well they were not sure when I could have one , which made sense as my version of the car was out of production and the new MKII coupe the Shelby 9000 Coupe was on its way, I had sat in one of the first 3 at Denbestes.
well, that was out. -
Option 2- use a Kwikwire harness like the kirkhams use on their cars. - Problem, they dont have AC, stereo and I wanted to add power windows, locks etc. -
well, that was out. -
Option 3- use a car harness from a car that had all those features and graft it onto the Daytona. -- well that was sub optimal and expensive as well.
Finally - The Light at the end of the wire ; ISIS POWER! The ISIS intelegent multiplexing system with CANN buss technology. - Adaptable, programmable , flexiable -- hardly any wires running from the front to the back of the car, except generic power and a network style cable. - that is it!
Isis works in a "One-to-Many" hub and spoke pattern , where the Main ISIS controller has network communication with endpoints that actually transmit power signals to things like lights , pumps , fans, and they can feed them voltage slowly as well. --
Example - lets say you have a master cell under the dash hooked to your controls. --and a Slave cell (power cell ) bolted in the nose or tail. - from transmitting signal to the master cell on what to do, the slave cell receives instructions and channels power to a specific output and can do so in an intelligent manner. Like flashing turn signals with no flasher switch/relay needed. Programmed patterns for turn signals , touch the turn signal button for a short time and it will do a 3 flash pattern then turn off. - or flash to pass headlights, or soft starting of fans -- the list is endless.
so the neat thing about ISIS is that you can always add something and not have to string wires from the front to the back of the car - a main power wire, and a network wire are already there from the first install. I have heard some of the FF5 guys using these in their cars, especially the GTM Car. -
I Started planning out the ISIS process and contacted Jay Harris from ISIS and their team has been very helpful in helping me re architect the electrical ideal in a supercar, -and that work is underway with some interesting surprises ahead.
INSULATION INSULATION INSULATION --- so one thing many people have told me over the years in cobra land is Insulate. --! so we did.
I went with a full install of Dynamat sound isolator in the cabin , 360 degrees around the insides of the foot boxes, then a layer of Mylar backed jute padding for underneath the carpet - we then dynamat tapped the seams of that together to allow for a better carpet installation task -- as of right now, 9-9-11 we have not put in carpet, there is a bunch left to do.
Here is bob insulating ! ;
More news when i get a chance --!