First start up!
 

Hi Folks,

Well, it's been just over three years and earlier in the week, I got to hear my Cobra start up for the first time.

Rough, doesn't even begin to describe it, but it was still a wonderful sound.

There's definitely been a few hurdles getting the Boss 290 to work so I thought I would drop a few of the things that I've found on here to help out the next person...

1. Chiptorque in the Eastern States (Australia) are great. I had to deal with them to get an X4 Flash Tuner. They could not have been more helpful and even with a newb like me, they were very patient. The X4 was needed to primarily disable the smart shield antitheft bits and pieces on the engine and get the whole lot talking but I'll be using it to tune the engine as well.

2. I used a guy called Che from AmpedUp Auto electrics over here in Perth and he's been great. The work is very neat and tidy and he thinks out of the box. A couple of examples are below.

3. We had a problem where we had no signal to the speedo. This has been resolved by using a GPS Speed switch from Hummingbird Electronics. This feeds directly to the VDO gauge and seems to work a treat.

4. I also had a problem finding a feed for the tacho. We could have taken a line from the alternator but that would have meant pulling all of the intake and plenum out again. Again, from Hummingbird, I got a CAN Bus interface which feeds the VDO gauge perfectly.

The rest of the wiring was pretty straight forward (well... to Che it was... it was a jungle of loom to me).

The amount of loom that was left behind once only the needed bits were pulled out was amazing. Probably 3/4 of the cable wasn't needed.

Makes sense though... the loom came from an FG so it had all of the extra luxury bits included.

I've also ordered wheels and tyres from Vintage Wheels, Hot Rod and Muscle car and Bob was also very helpful and the prices were great.

Anyhow, looks like I'm on the home stretch now. From memory, my to do list looks like this...

1. Get the car tuned.
2. Wait for the wheels and tyres to arrive. Install and get them balanced.
3. Get the engineering check done.
4. Take over pits and get registered.
5. Get paint done.
6. Get interior and upholstery done.
7. Enjoy.

Cheers,

Adam.

well done on the build .I was under the impression that gps based speedos did not meet the current adrs in case of lose of signal ie driving thru tunnels ect ect ? hopefully this wont be a problem for you come rego time .
cheers dean

Hi Adam
Having been I your shoes only a few weeks ago I know the adrenalin rush you get when it first crackles and pops to life. Well done!
Any video?

Hi Dean,

That was my initial thought as well. Apparently it should be fine but I guess I'll find out when it comes to the various engineering checks etc.

Fingers crossed :D

Adam.