Owner built on a budget;

[*13*]

Always need someone in your corner to keep you honest!

[rustyBob]

Ray it looks awesome and the judges are going to notice all that hard work.........
anybody can paint everything black and call it good but to me that shows "no effort".
and yes i used a ton of stainless steel button head bolts to put my car together and you would be supprised on how many people notice it....I'm on a first name basis with the guys at Fastenol because of it.........

[Hray]

Hey Gang:

Question: Prior to me cleaning and repainting the stock shocks that CR sent out with these kits I have a question for you. Are these shocks ok. Remember I must have somewhat a medium ride comfort. if the car is too rough my wife will not ride with me. And I also want a soft to medium ride.

I would not mind a bolt in adjustable shock, but finances for now would prohibit going over the top for this.

Any insights would be appreciated. of course the easy way is to paint these and install and change out later. But if there is a better shock that are around 50bucks each I would go ahead and make the switch now. Most of you guys may have stiffer performance shocks.

Ray.

[Double Venom]

Ray,
If you have the stock supplied shocks from the early kits, you will most likely want to stiffen them up fairly soon. These are "soft!"
DV

[Hray]

They are the yellow monroe gas-matic shock. same shocks came with all three kits so I assume this is what they sent out.

Of course I know with this short wheel base the car is always going to ride a little rough no matter how you spring and shock it.

Thanks for response DV.

Ray

[rustyBob]

put them on and drive it for a while and if you dont like the ride then change them..

[Hray]

Bob: You always have such pratical advice, and I really like it when it does not involve more money or more work.

Tip for some of you, Because my shop is heated with propane bottles, and since they charge about 4$ a gallon for it at the local shops, I had this wet leg put on my propane tank for the house. This way I can fill my own bottles.
This can easily be done with any propane permanent placed tank.

Here is a pix of it.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2635/...2bcb9a20_b.jpg

For other trivia, as you can see I love reusing old stuff. here is one of my shop buildings, it was a metal semi truck paint booth, I assembled it and then covered it with free wood that i got from local granite supply store to make it look old. My other cobra, boat, and 74 vette are stored in it plus motors and stuff.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/...d6ac497d_b.jpg

Now to get to cobra update:

76 hours, 13 days, 77 days to go:

Got all the hard lines back on car and placed permanently.

Started the wiring, got the back leg roughed in, got the front leg started.

I think I am ok on back, the manual shows routing fairly good. Front did not provide clear detail as to routing. Below are a couple of pictures, please let me know how to change so body will fit fine.

Not sure if the wire should run to outside of frame rail or to the inside.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2768/...32db8292_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2501/...7d8db7cb_b.jpg

Does this wire run like this, or under the rail and to the outside.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2705/...4a4edc6b_b.jpg

Regards and thanks for the help. Ray

PS: I just spent an hour online trying to find a cobra air cleaner lid, anyone know where to check.

[Double Venom]

Tony Brandon, or Finishline will get you in touch with the appropriate Cobra Air Cleaner.

Wiring: Good Ray, leave enough slack on the sides where the wiring starts starts going straights up -toward the headlight harness.

If you decide to put the aluminum nose in place then it will trap the front wiring, make it sightless and pretty!




DV

[Hray]

DV: Thanks for feedback, since my radiator is black, I was thinking of blacking out the grill area, maybe even using undercoating on it, or at the least flat or satin black.

Now another question, or maybe a checking on my understanding. I pretty much have used all mechanical guages up to now. it looks like I need to put this into my plain english to understand. I like to understand exactly what is happening to make things work.

My analogy and most of my experience is with house wiring. I know a person can switch the hot, or switch the ground. If a person switched the ground and used a dimmer switch then the light would work just fine and be bright and dim.

So, in the case of electrical gauges do they run hot to one side of the guage, then run the ground (the other terminal at the gauage) to the sending unit and the sending unit functions like the dimmer switch on the house, the more resistance or pressure (or whatever happens in that sender) the gauage reads this resistance and displays that in terms of oil pressure, or heat, or fuel level.

I came to this analogy as i was tagging all the wires to the cobra, there were several that were identified as 'gauage power', and others gauge sender.

I am down to now trying to find places for the last two or three pigtails to plug in, hopefully, I can figure them out, if not then pics will be coming.

I also found that air cleaner at summit, I think it matches the valve covers that came with the car.


UPDATE: 78 hours, 14 days, 76 to go:

Got all the wires accounted for and tagged, ready to start hooking up of dash components to wiring and actuall making connections.

This decision to install mustang column and not the chevette is going to cost about 8 hours of extra wiring as I figure out what to do with all the wires that were going into the column.

got holiday stuff to attend to so short day.

Ray

[Hray]

Greetings My Family:
Well, I would say that we are one big happy family here on club cobra, ok, maybe I do not know enough about everyone to say "happy', so I will settle for a big family. As a family when one hurts they all hurt, so therefore I can share with you some of my medical problems. At about thirty I was diagnosed with this disease that normally just attackes people above age 60. The Doctor said it was not necessarily life threating. I was diagnosed with AAADD. Now most of the time anything with double DD's is very pleasant and most likely enjoyable. But in my case it is a 'deficet disorder'. Premature Age Activated Attention Deficiet Disorder normally referred to as triple A Double D.

Well during breakfast yesterday I told my wife that I think after years of precautions I was cured. She asked how I based my accessement. I told her that I just spent almost four hours grinding, shaping and painting one brake caliper. Therefore, anyone with attention disorder would not be able to focus that long. She informed me that perhaps another disease has taken its place and that perhaps I would go get checked for OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I assured her that it was not necessary.
So therefore I am checking in here with the rest of my family for your observations. Here is the lone single caliper that I spent such care and love on.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2631/...7db92a30_b.jpg

Update: 94 hours, 16 days, 74 days to go (sunday)

We got the repainted tank and straps back on car,

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2578/...cea95fd8_b.jpg

Here is picture of tank wired up, I think I read on another thread that I could as a precaution run a ground from a screw on the sending unit to the frame. if I messed this up please let me know.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2561/...23011045_b.jpg



We sealed up the trans, bead blasted it then painted. It is ready for the reinstall.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2775/...d30fdb28_b.jpg

I routed all the wires, as as routing tagged each wire with masking tape and indicated where it was supposed to go. This way I will not have to keep referring to the manual and diagrams.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2556/...63df66fa_b.jpg

My friend Craig redid the tank, trans, and brake master cylinder. I am sure he spent at least 6 hours, I went ahead and included those hours above. Thanks Craig; but I know i will repay once we start on your 65 Riveria next spring.

Well needless to say with the attention to detail we are giving this build we are going to go over the estimated 500 hours for the total build. While the Autorama was just a date set to have it done I was not intending on doing it to this level of detail. The progect just sort of took on a life of its own and seemed to dictate to me that I must ratchet it up a notch. I do think we will come in under 600 hours. Time will tell. So far nothing seems to indicate we will be over budget of 11.5K.

PS: Thanks for the arm chair diagnosis that I am not totally insane.

Later Ray

[James Stern]

Ray, I think you suffer from GWE another psychological term. (Good Work Ethic). "Keep On Keepin' On"

[rustyBob]

Ray, there's nothing wrong with you that a pizza and a picture of beer wont cure....
keep up the good work............it will pay off..........

[onefastmustang]

Ray

Are you looking for the oblong black cobra air cleaner? I have one out in the garage that I will never use..

[Hray]

OFM: That is exactly what I am looking for, my valve covers are mostly black. I will be glad to pay you for it. Not in a hurry for it, I can come pick it up, or one of these days get your work cloths on and come help out. or just come by for a beer and a chat.

Ray

[Hray]

UPDATE: Monday
106 hours, 17 days down, 73 till done.

Sent in my application for the Autorama, I am feeling fairly confident that I will make it.

Got the new steering column welded up today, Craig is making it pretty.
Went and picked up the copper slag media blasting material today to blast the exhaust and side pipes. The Cilgen satin aluminum coating arrived today. This will do exhaust and roll bar.
Reconnected the emergency brake system today.

Made several electrical connections and started connecting the gauges.

[Hray]

Trivia Time Again:

Why did CR sell and include a wiring harness with all spade connectors, and then with same order include a gauage package with terminal connections?

A: So people can get experience cutting off spade connectors and installing terminal connectors.

B; So people that have replaced the connectors can cuss and scream when trying to put on the washers and nuts while laying upside down.

c; So people can get practice making a short pigtail to attach to the terminal and then plug into the spade.

D; So someone can spend 5 hours and drive 125 miles trying to find the single terminal to spade connector. visit several auto parts stores, visit street rod shops, and then eventually getting to a household appliance repair shop to get the connectors.

If you answered D, give yourself 100 points for being so much smarter than one person I know very well.

Update: 116 hours, 18 days down, 72 to go.

Here are the results of some of todays work.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2583/...02d35eb2_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2637/...e0795ba0_b.jpg

I hope the pain will be worth it, I do think the spade conversion will an easier reinstall after paint, and the various clips I got do make multiple connections much easier.

Managed to get all the gauages wired up in the dash, finished identifying all the wires that would have went into the chevette column. Now gotta figure out how to wire to several different switches.

Question: will not the headlight switch that came with kit also work for wiring up the low and high speed on the wiper motor. And how about a toggle switch on far left hand side of dash for highbeams to low beams.

I think I should do a temp mount of headlights, taillights, turn signals etc to make sure they are wired up within dash prior to fitting body. I would hate to be chasing wiring problems with a painted car and finished dash.

Nite all, and congrats on getting the correct answer to that quiz.

[onefastmustang]

Interesting... My wiring kit from CR wasn't like that at all.. It had all the right connections. You must have the really old wiring kit before they started selling the kit I got. It was like a Highway 15 kit or something like that.

[rustyBob]

Ray.........you da' man.......good thing your not in a hurry to get that thing done......
remember Ray no deadline, no pressure...

[Hray]

Having a chat with myself:

So I gotta fit the body, to fit the hood,...etc......

I am concerned that a body being fit to a chassis without motor and trans in the car would fit one way, and if fit to the chassis with motor and trans in then it would fit another way. So do I really get concerned with this. My history tells me that I have fit doors and fenders to cars without motor and trans in, then things change once the motor is in and i have had to refit them even if only minor.

I am sure the body will assiist in stiffening up the frame, but I do not want the body to be carrying any more pressure than is really needed.

So maybe I will research how much the motor trans weigh, then place some boards across the frame to place weights equal to motor and place weight equal to trans on trans cross member. Then have tires and wheels installed and cars weight sitting on the tires. then fit the body to the chassis. This will allow me access room to adjust the hood. fit the doors, trunk lid should not matter in this case.

Then when body has been secured front to rear, I can remove weights, and install motor and trans. This might allow for neutral stress or pressure on frame and body as completed, and may not require readjustment of hood and doors upon final fit. but mainly I do not want stress on the body when car is finished and just sitting. There I am sure is enough torque and twisting during normal driving without continued stress.

So now I am listening to other little voices either within my head or outside to provide additional insights.

[Hray]

UPdate: 124 hours, 19 days down, 71 to go;

Went parts chasing again and on the second stop I found the ignition switch that I would accept. My first stop was West marine, I thought that maybe they would have a pretty one. they only had expensive water proof ones that were not pretty.

I went to Vintage Ford, the local Ford restoration supply house. I purchased a 31 ford replacement ignition switch. Nut goes in from behind and leaves a nice clean front appearance and rather small and dainty looking. they did not have an acceptable push button starter. Stopped at Pep Boys and got that.

Then since we changed steering columns the custom work I did previously to improve the removeability had to be redone to fit the new column. You know changing things cost time and money. I think Kenton said, the most expensive thing about building these cars is changing your mind in mid stream.

Here is new steering column bracket again I can unbolt it from underneath very easily.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2713/...39e2a27d_b.jpg

Here is the ignition switch:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2507/...00e65225a4.jpg

Here is the steering column, I used the scrap left from the mustang column to fab up the bracket and fit it to the car. The opening in the dash is now much too large it will require fiberglassing it in to make it smaller. Also a good shot of the key. Nice neat and small.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2621/...714f2483_b.jpg

Hopefully, tomorrow will not require parts chasing and I can get a good days work in.