I've
been quite ill this weekend, so no work on the Cobra to speak
off. However this did give me a chance to re-think the dashboard
layout.
I
had wanted the radio mounted in the center recess, but found
that the heater is in the way if you try to put the radio below
the cutouts for the gauges. After a bit a carefully measurement
I came to the conclusion that moving the gauges to the bottom
and re-locating the radio at the to pin place of the gauges
would work. The gauges at the bottom would just clear the heater
controls, (with the heater pushed right back). The radio would
then sit above the heater, and below the bulkhead rail.
I
set about cutting away the moulds for the gauges, then laying
fiberglass across the now flat back , then filling the slight
depressions left at the front. I also added some more fiberglass
re-enforcement, around the the new area for the gauges and
the fixing points for the center piece, as I want to countersink
the screws
enabling
them to be hidden by the leather. It is also worth noting that
the center mould is by no means of the imagination square,
it is a very poor mould and needs quite a bit of adjustment
to get it looking right, depending which so called straight
edge you use!
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Dash Center before |
..after 're engineering' |
The
blue colour just denotes the area to be covered by Burr Walnut
Veneer
.
As the heater control can now no loner be reached from the front,
I intend to use the slider heater control from a Polo, with it's
'push, pull' wire to operate the arm. The slider can be positioned
either hidden under the dash or in the area behind the steering
wheel.
09/11/03
First
off some more good news, goodies have arrived, ie Front/Rear
nudge bars, Petrol Cap/Base, Air demister vents and moulding,
Glove box moulding. Also the windscreen in ready, (Brasscraft)
and will be waiting for me at the Exeter show next weekend,
even better the carpets will be delivered next week along with
the seats, and leather trim. That's the last of the 'big' items.
Started
off by continuing on the dashboard, having decided on where
the gauges and radio were to go, I cut the holes, also cutting
the holes for the Speedo, Rev counter and dash warning lights.
Next I made a matching template for the middle section from
1mm ally, this would provide the base for the Walnut Veneer,
this then just sits over the existing front. It was a bit of
a pain cutting matching holes in the ally plate and took quite
a while to complete.
I
fitted the gauges in place to assess the overall look and ensure
everything fitted.
|
|
Dash
ally plate
|
gauges
fitted'
|
The
ally plate once covered with Veneer, covers the blue area.
Next
I needed to work out a way to operate the heater, now pushed
right back up against the bulkhead. I used the sliding control
for the heater from a Polo, the push pull wire was simple to
connect to the operating arm on the heater, (which I have cut
down to give more room).
I
only need one of the slider controls and will mount the slider
in a vertical position on the dash just behind the left hand
side of the steering wheel. The movement of the slider is just
right for the amount of movement needed to move the control
to the off , screen and car positions.
Next
job the dreaded filler cap hole. I was very careful in measuring
the position for the hole, but even so only drill a 50mm hole
to start with and then opened it out to the 65mm required for
the hose. In the end I need not have worried, the hole was
exactly over the filler pipe for the tank, fitted the hose
and clips then sat the filler base on. I still need a couple
of gaskets and some stainless screws for fixing.
Starting
to look even better now with more shiny bit's going on. So
next job fitting the screen vents, no big deal really, just
cut
the slots in the position stated in the manual, then screwed
the chrome vents in place, although I did nearly fit them the
wrong way round, ie blowing into my face rather than the screen,
doh..
I
also fitted the moulding's under the vents for directing the
air flow from the heater, just stuck them in place with silicon
sealer.
That's
about it for this weekend, next week I am off to the Exeter
show for trim items etc.
23/11/03
No
work on the Cobra last weekend, went to the Exeter show, which
was great, loads of cars especially Cob's. Hope mine turns
out as smart as some of the pristine examples I saw. Spoke
to Tony on the Pilgrim stand who apologised for the missing
items I was waiting for. And hey presto on the Tues morning
my seats and leather arrived.
Managed
to pick up a few things at the show, namely, Fog and Reversing
lights, Dashboard warning lights, Door and boot rubber seal,
stainless screws for the filler cap, a couple of rocker switches
and finally my lovely Autobrass windscreen.
Decided
to get a messy job out of the way first, fitting the inner
sills. The supplied sills are oversize and after a bit of trimming
fitted okay. I used a combination of pop rivets and fibreglass
to fit the sills, don't look to bad actually for something
which will never be seen. I hate fibreglassing, stuff gets
everywhere and stinks the house out. While I was fitting the
sills, noticed another flash line I had missed, along the top
of the rear bulkhead, no problem getting quite used to rubbing
down gelcoat now.
I
got hold of some Capri Mk1 door handles this week so will fit
the handles next week end, hurray working doors at last. The
seats and trim are in Tan leather and I have to say are very
high quality, very nice, should go nice with the Walnut Burr.
Talking of which the Veneer parts for the Dash are coming
along nicely
I
have also made up a door for the glove compartment, and hope
to make up a small center console between the gear lever and
handbrake, again using the Veneer.
Now
to fit the windscreen, the Autobrass screen is of very high
quality, and SVA friendly. I have chosen blue tint, the screen
pillars have to be attached first but all the screws are supplied
and everything fits together well. Next I checked the depressions
in the body and found they were slightly out so very carefully
marked the positions for the legs. Cutting the slots was no
problem and the screen slotted into place nicely. I had also
made up a support for the screen the required 870mm, ensuring
the screen will be in the correct place for the hood.
With
everything in place I marked the positions of the two fixing
slots each side and removed the screen. I double checked my
measurements before drilling holes in my £400 windscreen, at
least the chrome plated brass drills easily. Fitted the screen
back in place, (not forgetting the escutcheon plates).
Now
the difficult bit, you now have to perform acrobatics up inside
the wing to fit and tighten the bolts. If you are double jointed
and have arms like an Orangutans, no problems !. After a bit
of struggling the screen was fitted, hey it looks even more
like a car now !.
Some
more goodies set to arrive during the week, Carpets, Seat runners,
Wing Mirrors, Grill set and stainless bulkhead cover. Things
are coming along well now, so sent off the paperwork for the
chassis number, and then the dreaded SVA is looming.
30/11/03
Some
of the promised goodies did not arrived, most importantly the
overriders which means I cannot fit the nudge bars yet. Decided
to fit the door handles instead.
I
had a letter from DVLA telling me the inspector will be arranging
with me shortly to inspect the vehicle, once he has been and
I get my chassis number, I will book an MOT just to get a legal
drive on the road.
I
managed to get hold of MK1 Capri door handles which means I
have nice chrome ones, I did not have the connecting rods so
tried to use the ones from the donor car. Unfortunately they
are not long enough so I joined two together by drilling a
slot in a 10mm bolt and 'nipping' the two rods together, a
bit heath robinson, but it works and I have some adjustment.
The
mounting plate needs to be spaced out from the door to get
the face level with the door panel, it would also be a bad
idea to try and fit the door handles without the door panels
as you need to mark up where the hole in the panel is.
Fitted
the boot seal next, and even though I am using the 'medium'
size it is very difficult to get the boot to 'lay' perfectly
flat to the body, it seems to fit better without the seal.
Still I continued with fitting the boot catch. I bent a length
of 1" flat and welded an 8mm nut the other side of an 8mm clearance
hole. This allowed me to screw in the bolt, which would form
the 'catch' part, the required amount to get a good fit. As
for the vertical alignment the only way I could get a successful
fit was to adjust the height of the flat with washers. I was
trying to get the catch to 'pull' down the boot lid to get
a better fit.
I
'm still not convinced this is the best fit I can get, so may
re-visit later.
Finally
fitted two rocker switches to the dash center, and cut the
corresponding holes in the Burr Walnut inset. One switch for
the Heater fan, another for the Fog light. Hopefully I will
replace these with toggle switches after SVA.
I
think, (hope), Santa is bringing me a Radio for Christmas.
Hopefully
next weekend I will be able to fit the rear speakers and start
on the leather work for the dash..