A Miscellany of Distractions

It's been a while since I've posted any updates........ kind of been distracted by other things.

Got s few more miles in, been to another hot-rod meet at the Gateshead Metro Centre - forgot my camera which was a shame as there were 5 cobs there this time!

Now that the build has finished I've still felt the need to tinker. Fixed the mother-in-laws lawn mower (and her TV!) and found a junked treadmill motor on eBay for a few quid..... so with some plastic drainage pipe cut up and shaped for blades I made one of these using other bits and pieces in my garage:

Produces 18v in not much wind and was up to 30v (with no load) in the video. The idea is to charge marine batteries (identified a free source for some) and to then power my garage through a voltage inverter. Just need to acquire a 10foot scaffold pole as a mast now.

Most of my spare time at the minute has been taken up with helping my neighbour plan a somewhat extreme project.......... The plan is to build a twin engined 32 foot offshore powerboat along these lines:

The budget is limited so the plan will be to build the hull in ply (Dave is good with wood) and then overlay it inside and out with fibreglass. Motive power is planned to come from two Lexus V8's liberated from a couple of MOT failure LS400's which we will marinise and "chip" to give us 650-700 BHP. So far I've been getting to grips with some 3D hull design software - still got a way to go with this before it gets the chance to pass the feasibility test!!

Back to Cobras, this Sunday is the next North East Area Group Meet, I've planned a drive out to Keilder Reservoir so here's hoping for a) some not too wet weather and b) some other cobs to turn up.

I'll attempt to remember my camera this time!

What's going on?

You'll have noticed that the pictures in the blog title have changed......... one day it will become clear what was going on.

North East Area Group Meet (June 09)

Well today was the Inaugural Monthly Meet for the Cobra Club North East Area Group. I got there first and began to wonder if I was going to be on my own......However, I was shortly joined by Bob with his AK and Howard with his Unique Autocraft Python.......... and if that wasn't good enough...... then Geoff arrived in his Dax......So there we are.... the largest number of Cobra Replicas in one place in the North East to Date!

The weather was superb, sat outside in the blazing sun eating our Sunday Roasts. As this was the first meet I hadn't organised anything in the way of drive outs as I wasn't sure on turn out. Next Month I'll get a trip out organised.

Interestingly, of the four cars, one was 12 years old, another 15 and the third 20. Two were automatic, 3 had underslungs, 3 had chevy power with the fourth being rover powered.

So that's just over 1000 miles up now..... time to start thinking about rolling road tuning and returning to the mothership for final suspension tweaks. I've tried my best, but it still gets slightly interesting once you are over the ton.... on private roads obviously.

Hot Rod Meet

Had our first North East Group Meet tonight, went along to the Hot Rod and Muscle Car Meet at the Gateshead Metro Centre. Two Cobs plus Tommy (soon to start building) turned up. Quite a few interesting cars there plus plenty of interest in the Cobras:

It all got a bit wet after an hour and I had to leave as the interior was getting soaked!..... dried out OK though.

Update

Been taking advantage of the decent weather recently - nearly up to 900 miles now! It was almost becoming my daily driver at the beginning of the week:

I've carried on tweaking tyre pressures and damper settings and feel that I am getting somewhere close. The more I get used to it the brisker I am driving it and it still feels quite sorted. It is only when you let the lunatic loose in you does it feel like it still needs a little fettling. I will be going back to GD at some point for Andy to finish off setting it up.

Last weekend I had a shock.... spotted a small oil leak on the drive!!!! Turned out it was the NPT fitting on the underside of the Accusump. Nipped it up and it seemed OK, this has however set me back a bit in the paranoia stakes.

I've been on a few trips but keep forgetting to take my camera.... something I promise to rectify.

I also changed the metering rods in the carb to make it one step richer on the cruise circuit (4%). This made a reasonable improvement to the below 1500rpm running. Dead easy to do, air cleaner off undo the screw in each of the covers, pull out the pistons and rods, change the rods and put it all back together:

Here's the Edelbrock Video.... shows you exactly how easy it is:

Plenty of people keep mistaking the gel coat finish for paint:

Had a dabble with Photoshop, and now I have a new desktop background:

Looks like rain the weekend..... maybe I should get round to fitting the stoneguards??

Bonnet Handles Finished

A couple of minutes work with the Dremel saw the necessary adjustments made to the openings in the bonnet and it was then a simple task to fit the handles and bolt them into place:

Unfortunately, the Dremel work created a load of dust (as usual) so another wash and vacuum was required:

Weather looks good tomorrow...... so off to work again in it I should think.

Bonnet Handles

Time for a slight change. The existing bonnet locks are fit for purpose (SVA) but have started to annoy me. For one there is no obvious visual indication that the bonnet is locked, plus when you have unlocked the bonnet you have to heave on the front of the air scoop to lift the bonnet.

So I decided to change to the more conventional type of handle. Problem is.... they are a bit long and have no fixing for the latch (they are supposed to be used with a cam):

No problem though. Using the existing lock as a guide I cut down the shafts then drilled and tapped the ends for the M5 fixing bolt:The latch can then be fixed using a couple of 3/8 washers to space the latch off the shoulder of the shaft:Tomorrows job will be to modify the holes in the bonnet to accommodate the handle base plates.

More Miles, Getting Wet & Joining the "ACC" Club

The other night we decided to go to Seahouses for a fish supper. Nice 100 mile round trip up and back down the Northumberland Coastal Route. It was a nice evening when we set off..... but about 10 miles short of Seahouses the heavens opened. Even trying to keep some speed up didn't help and we got soaked. Luckily I managed to find a covered petrol station forecourt in Seahouses and took some shelter 'till it passed.

I must admit it looked at little daft driving an open topped car in the rain with the wipers on yet having to wipe the inside of the screen also!!

On the way back it became overcast and a bit colder... my Wife had nearly frozen to death by the time we got home! The heater is OK until you are going faster than 30mph.... then all the heat just gets sucked out of the cockpit!

Time to think about investing in a hood me-thinks.

I've ditched the age related registration I got after SVA and changed to a 1963 "ACC" plate. After much deliberation I opted for a "stick on" plate for the front.... it is about as neat as you can get in my opinion.

On the whole I think it looks a lot better:

I still need to fit the stoneguards on the rear arches..... haven't found myself bothered to jack the car up and remove the rear wheels yet!

Going to Work

Had a couple of nice days up here so it seemed rude not to take the Cob to work:

Much to my amusement I managed to set a few car alarms off on both days!! The new shape Renault Clio's are my favourite - they seem over sensitive as I can set them off with a slight blip of the throttle at twenty paces!

Not really the car to use if you are trying to sneak in late though!

UK Cobra Club - North East Area Group

Now that the car is (nearly) finished (for the moment) I put my self forward as the Area Rep for the North East / North Yorkshire Area Group of the UK Cobra Club. There a enough Cobs hiding up here in the North East / North Yorkshire to have a viable monthly meet so it's time to get them to come out of the woodwork.

We need a venue for a regular monthly meet and after some research I decided on The Manor House Inn , the meet being on the third Sunday of the Month starting in June.

It is on the A68 just by Derwent Reservoir and can be found here.

This gave me a good excuse for a drive out to check it out and get the agreement of the landlord. I had a bit of a drive round Derwent Reservoir when I was there and ended up doing 112 miles - the longest trip to date - with no problems. When I filled up upon returning it would appear that I had done just over 15mpg... but then I was taking it steady!

Engine Bay Louvres - 2

That's the other one done then:

Next job is to fit the stoneguards - hopefully this weekend - no driving as rain is forecast:

Engine Bay Louvres - 1

Fitted one of the engine bay louvres tonight. This was done using four M3x30 button head allen bolts self tapped into 2.5mm dia holes. The Louvre was spaced off the back of the rebate by passing the bolts through some small diameter aluminium tubing (again painted matt black). I'm quite pleased with the end result:Looks quite convincing...... could almost be the engine bay behind the vents.... not just a matt black painted rebate! You have to remember that on the GD you can't really have "proper" vents as these would provide an opening into the footwell compartments.... which would be OK if you guarantee you would never drive in the wet.

The good old days!!!

Having picked up my engine bay louvres and stoneguards at Stoneliegh I once again had some jobs to do on the car..... just like the good old days! You'll remember that I fitted blanking plates for the SVA test and crudely bodged them into place with silicone adhesive. I ripped the plates off to be confronted by the remaining silicone:It was at this point that I remembered what a bugger silicone can be to get off anything - not to mention GRP. However off I went to my local Screwfix Direct (3 miles away) and in exchange for less than three pounds got a little pot of this:Tried it out on an off cut of GRP - no reaction. Applied it to the remaining silicone - waited 20 minutes - applied some more - waited 20 minutes and yup..... No Nonsense..... Just scraped it all of with an old credit card. No silicone and no scratching or marks to the GRP. A quick roughing up with some wet and dry it was ready to paint matt black:Here's the finished article ready for the Louvre.... when I've got me hands on some M3x30 allen head bolts that is:Simply repeat for the other side.

Oil Change

475 Miles was close enough to 500 so I changed the oil to Valvoline VR-1 20W50. Took a bit longer than expected (abut 4 hours longer!) as the filter crushed when I put the pliers on.... oops!. Next time I'll do it on a car lift down my local garage..... I've had enough of grubbing round on the floor under the car!

Having collected the old oil I poured it out into a large tray and had a good look at it for anything untoward..... not sure what I was looking for but could find nothing out of the ordinary!