Rolling Chassis

Saturday 21st July

With the van loaded with my shiny new engine it was back on to the A1 for a trip down to GD to drop the engine off and to have a first look at my rolling chassis.

The plan being that we would head back to GD a few week later once the clutch and gearbox arrived and we could assemble everything and fit it into the chassis at GD using their engine hoist.

Rolling Chassis

Wheels

AP Brake Upgrade

Engine Collection

Saturday 21st July 2012

The day has finally come to collect my engine and to be hinest I'm feeling a little like a kid on Christmas day.

A van is hired and its off to Castleford we go.

Driving to Engine Data Analysis on a bright summer's morning has also added to the air of excitement being shared by Ali and myself. On arrival the engine is already on an engine hoist and is in the entrance to the workshop. My grin is now from ear to ear and Ken is out to greet us with a handshake and a coffee.

Looking at this magnificent looking engine, I'm even more convinced I have done the right thing going down the iron block route as opposed to the supposedly more refined and less thirsty LS fuel injected units that GD like to use. I set out wanting original looks and great performance and I think this fits the bill just nicely.

Rear View

Front View

One thing that I had always liked when looking at original AC Cobra's was the large oval air filter. I had asked Ken if he could source this for me and we quickly changed the standard big round Edelbrock filter for the 'Cobra' filter. I hope you agree the final result looks bang on. As Steve comments in his blog, this might upset a few of the Ford purists but you know what? I don't give a damn - I just love the look of my engine. And the best thing is that it is unique. It has been built to my exact specification and design.

Now with the Oval 'Cobra' air filter

Time now to load the precious cargo into the van...

Leaving EDA

Loaded and ready to roll

Engine Update

Received a call from Ken at EDA to say that the engine was built and ready for me to see it on the Dyno machine.

Ill post a photo here later showing the engine on the Dyno and put all the results up - but suffice to say I was over the moon with the performance figures. In short its about 75 bhp/tonne more than a Porsche 911 GT Turbo!!!

Ken, the perfectionist that he is still wasn't quite happy and suggested a few more tweaks were needed. A couple of days later he had changed some of the Carb settings, worked some more magic, squeezed a few more horse power and a created better torque curve. The engine was now ready for collection... Big smiles all round :)

As promised here is the engine on the Dyno

Max Power - 412Bhp @ 5500rpm

Max Torque - 455lb/ft @ 4100rpm

Bulkhead Update

May 2012

Spent quite a bit of time filling, sanding, re-filling and covering the bulkhead with a few layers of gelcoat. The final result was ok but not perfect and i was constantly exposing the filler when I rubbed the gel coat down - i was also having problems with the gelcoat not hardening - much like I had experienced with the doors, bonnet and boot :( Gelcoat is certainly not my forte and is probably my biggest concern with the build to date.

Following a recent trip back to GD, I had a good look at a few of the cars in the workshop and to be honest I wasn't blown away with the bulkhead finish on any of them, including the factory cars. I mean they looked good but they didn't look perfect and I really want my car to be as perfect as possible.

Back at work a few days later and Stuart, the owner of one of the vehicle bodyshops (Carsmetic near Dudley http://www.carsmetic.co.uk/) we use, was in to see me about some jobs we had for him so I asked for his opinion. He suggested that he could fill and spray the bulkhead and inner wings, blending them smoothly into the engine bay if I could get a RAL number for the corresponding paint finish.

Spoke to Andy, got the RAL number and asked Stuart to see what he could do...

The photo below shows the prepared bulkhead, filled and sanded and ready for final painting

Perfectly smooth ready for painting

I must admit I was a little concerned that the paint might not match or you would be able to tell what was painted and what was plain gelcoat but the finish achieved was amazing.

As promised, photo of finished bulkhead and I must say I'm delighted with the result :)

Painted and looking perfect

Another Pedal Box Update

With the pedal box now mounted in a much better position, I attached the brake and clutch cylinders once again and then started to look at how to fit the various hoses and connect to the inner wing.

Brake & clutch cylinders with associated pipes/hoses

Holes prepared for brake & clutch lines

Brake and clutch lines fitted

Fairly pleased with the end result and feels like I have made some reasonable progress here