Castle Combe - Classic, Kit & Retro Action Day 2015

Saturday 20th June 2015

Yesterday I took my Cobra to Castle Combe as a guest of Gardner Douglas, for the Classic, Kit and Retro Action Day. This is basically a big car show with lots of track sessions available, including some weird and wonderful stuff from Vintage Double Deckers to Drifting Displays.

Andy had asked me if I would like to have my car on the stand and take some customers out for test rides and I was more than willing to oblige.

The forecast on the Friday evening was awful but as luck would have it it remained dry throughout and towards the end of the afternoon it was sunny and 22 degrees.

This was the first time I had taken the car on the track with it all set up correctly so it was great to get over 200 miles of track use under my belt. After some initial tweak age to the damping by Andy the car was running really well and my times were getting better and better as the day progressed. Cant wait to get to Blyton next month now.

Here are a few pics of the GD stand and some of me on the track.

Potential Customer Demo Ride

Keeping the 600bhp AK behind me :)

Another Customer Demo Ride

Gardner Douglas Stand with my Cobra, Andy's Mk 3 Demo and Darren's T70

Track Day at Blyton

Another great thing about the London to Brighton trip was news that a track day has been planned for Sunday 19th July

This was the first place my car ever ran so looking forward to taking it back to see what it runs like now its all properly set up

London to Brighton Run May 2015

Sunday 31st May 2015

Today was the second organised outing for Cobie with my participation in the annual Classic and Kit Car Run organised by GE Classic Motor Events http://www.classicmotorevents.co.uk

Having already planned this trip prior to my other love, Aston Villa, qualifying for the FA Cup Final, some tweaks to the itinerary were required. So an extra nights accommodation was reserved at Devonport House Hotel, Greenwich and the trip commenced on the Friday morning. However, the weather gods were not being kind and by the time I was 10 minutes up the road I soon discovered that my rarely used weather gear isn't weather proof!!! A pit stop followed with some emergency repairs and we were off again. Finally the weather improved as I arrived in London but the car got very hot stuck in horrific London rush hour jams.

Anyway, Devonport House is a nice safe location to leave a classic and having been quite apprehensive about this before arriving I parked up with confidence.

A disappointing day followed at Wembley with my boys failing to turn up but at least it was, as is often the case, a nice sunny day so I was optimistic about the forecast for Sunday's run.

On entering Greenwich Park on Sunday morning I was made to park up with a bunch of other Cobra's (of varying varieties) and I have to say I was really pleased with how my GD looked amongst them.

Parked between a Pilgrim and a Dax at Greenwich

The weather, whilst dull and overcast looked mostly dry so I decided to remove the roof before setting off and apart from the odd shower it wasn't really a problem. A phone call from Sue Hilliard and I was able to meet up with her and Larry, Dave Alton and his wife and Andy Burrows and Ayesha - we then headed off in convoy.

I had been to Brighton before but never for a London to Brighton run and it was great to see so many classics and kit cars on Maderia Drive.

I followed Andy into Maderia Drive in his re-sprayed Mk3 Demo sporting the new hard top which looks amazing - come on Andy get the Mk4 hard top sorted asap!!!

Following the GD Mk3 Demo into Maderia Drive

Then all the GD's parked up together...

This is a line up of quality Cobras

We then enjoyed Fish and Chips on the Pier before a 3 hour drive home in the sunshine that finally arrived just as I pulled on to the M25.

Brighton Pier

Stoneleigh 2014

Monday 4th May 2015

Had a trip to Stoneleigh today. First real drive out of the year and good to meet up with some fellow GD'ers at the show.

Parked with David Whyman and his T70, Ged and his Blue on White Cobra and couple I hadn't met before with their Lotus coloured T70.

Pair of Cobra's with a pair of T70's - GD Classics

Was good to see Ged's Old English White Cobra with blue stripe parked next to mine. I think the front and rear comparison shots look pretty good.

GD427 Mk4

GD427 Mk4

It was also really exciting to see what GD have done with their old Mk3 Demo - having seen the car in the workshop a few weeks back I was already looking forward to seeing the finished article with flared arches, hard tops and new paint job and I have to say the result was stunning - well done to Andy and Charlie.

An Exciting Work in Progress

And The Finished Article - WOW!

Cant wait for the Mk4 Hardtop to be available - will really increase the usability of my car!!!

Happy Birthday Cobie

Saturday 1st March 2015

AC 62 COB is one year old today. Cobie was officially first registered as a new car exactly 12 months ago today. Wow!! Doesn't time fly...

During the the past year the car has covered over 3000 miles and has been as far away as France for the Le Mans Classic, its been used for camping weekends, a track day at Donnington Park and more recently for charity rides in support of Sporting Bears Children's Charity.

Having owned a couple of classic cars for the past 11 years or so, I know that people will often come up and ask about the car or pass compliment but I can honestly say I have never experienced anything quite like the response that I have got from taking Cobie out. From youngster, through to old folk, male and female, the looks and comments have been overwhelming but they have made the two years hard work building the car so worthwhile.

To celebrate Cobie's birthday I have commissioned an original painting of the car which is due for completion today. Really excited about seeing this and will post a copy as soon as it arrives along with details of the artist.

Yesterday, I also returned with Cobie to GD to have a couple of little jobs done to get the car ready for the spring. It was good to meet up with another new builder, also called Keith. Keith is building a MK4 Jag with an LS2. He has finished the chassis and is awaiting the bodyshell which we saw in the mould. Be good to see his Old English White Cobra at a GD event this summer

Really looking forward to another year of exciting motoring - let the sunshine and the engines roar!!!

Sporting Bears - Charity Rides - Classic Motor Show

Sunday 16th November

Well a quick update on the Sporting Bears Event today at the Classic Motor Show.

My car was one of two Cobras there, the other being a Bright Yellow Rover powered machine. There were a whole host of other exotic, super and classic cars there too.

Rides in Cobie were advertised at £40 each with ALL money going directly to the charity.

During the day I did 12 rides raising just shy of £500 and using a tank or so of fuel in the process!!!

This is a great cause and the look on the passengers faces when they heard the roar of the 6.3 V8 was priceless. A young lad form South Wales summed it up perfectly when he just turned and looked at me with a huge grin and said "Wow!! Thats Proper is that. Proper!!"

NEC Classic Motor Show November 2014

Delighted to be taking Cobie to the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show at the NEC on Sunday 16th November and to be providing Charity Rides with Sporting Bears

About Sporting Bears...  

The "Bears", as we are affectionately known, are a dedicated group of classic car and sports car enthusiasts with one primary aim - to raise money for children's charities through our own social and touring events, and to support other charitable events. It is to the club's credit that annual subscriptions support the club overheads thus allowing all monies raised from events to be directed towards the selected charities.  Since the Club was formed in 1989 we have been very active and have raised over £1,000,000 for children's charities in the UK.

Hoping that as many as possible will book a ride and raise money for these good causes. Fingers crossed for good weather...

New Project - Peugeot 205 1.9GTi

With the Cobra build complete, my build buddy Ali and I have been working a new project, albeit it on a very low key basis since February 2014 - this time for something entirely different... A Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi Re-Build.

I have a blog running showing progress, if you enjoy reading this blog why not take a look.

http://keitht68gti.blogspot.co.uk

Peugeot 205 1.9GTi - Tired and in need of total re-build

Prescott Revival (2)

Meant to upload these photos when I posted the GD ones at Prescott Revival...

Not really a huge fan of the Marcos but these were two really nice examples. One a classic coupe and the other a prototype Marcos Spirit 220 which new Marcos owner Tony Brown was proudly displaying.

Classic Marcos Coupe

Marcos Spirit 220 Prototype

Prescott Revival

Sunday 10th August 2014

This weekend is Prescott Revival arranged by the Marcos Owners Club. Had been planning to take the C~obra and had pre-booked 6 runs up the hill.

As seems to new typical of the Britsish weather it was torrential rain all through Saturday evening and Sunday morning. It seemed pointless to take a rear wheel drive, open top high performance car so I took a modern Golf GTi Mk7. This meant I could at least have some fun up the hill.

Was good to see some other GD'ers braving it though, with Andy, Darren and David in their T70's and Charlie with BAM. Managed to get some decent photos of the guys - must figure out how to start posting to Facebook!!)

Classic Le Mans 2014

A photo of me and Ali taking Cobie round Le Mans circuit

Classic Le Mans 2014

I had decided some weeks ago that I would like to 'dress' the car in period race decals for the trip to Classic Le Mans.

I finally sorted out a design layout (getting hi-res images was challenging) and on Monday this week my local supplier, Signs Express, put all the transfers onto the car.

The result, in my opinion, is fantastic but judge for yourselves...

Classic Le Mans here we come...

Classic Le Mans - Car Prep (3)

As promised, Andy sent out a new steering column last week which SH Autos swapped for the original one. With the old column out of the car it was easy to see just how bad it was. The run out on the spindle was horrific, the bearing shot and generally beyond repair. If only we had checked this more thoroughly first time around. Note to other builders: Double check every component before final fit.

Anyway, the new column was fitted and the car put onto the 4 Wheel Laser Alignment ramp. With updated settings from GD (the old ones suggested positive rear camber not negative!) the car was set up as advised.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't great so I was unable to get out and properly road test the new set up until a couple of days ago. The result I have to say is outstanding - this car does actually steer and handle like a modern car now (apart from at very slow speeds due to the lack of power assistance).

Most of the other little jobs that needed doing before the Le Mans trip have now been completed too and were hoping to be blessed with good weather.

Classic Le Mans 2014 - Vehicle Prep (2)

Along with the steering issues, the list of jobs needing to be sorted before the Le Mans trip are:-

• Bell housing cover to be refitted
• Change oil & filter
• Fit mesh to oil cooler and brake ducts
• Fit document holder and and fire extinguisher to transmission tunnel 
• Investigate knocking behind dash
• Make and fit side screens
• Sort problem with gauges giving high readings 

Given time available, I had to call on Adrian at SH Autos to give me a hand with these items as well as the steering.

As at today the side screens have been made and fitted, the oil and filter has been changed and the bell housing cover re-fitted.

As the Le Mans trip is a classic/historic event, I thought it would be nice to 'dress' the car in period race livery. With some help from my Marketing Manager (who is a complete whiz on Photoshop) we have come up with the  following concept.

Classic Le Mans 2014 - Vehicle Prep (1)

Having gone to Classic Le Mans in 2012 and then the 24 hour race in 2013, I was keen to head back to CLM this year with the Cobra.

Since the car went back to the factory to have the suspension set up, I covered a further 1000 miles or so and I still wasn't happy with the handling and more specifically the steering. The steering is very heavy and the wheel doesn't return to centre after cornering which is quite concerning.

There are a number of other little jobs that need finishing off before heading down to France, so I took the car to my local garage, SH Autos in Bromsgrove and let Adrian, the owner of the business, take a look as he had previously helped out when I was having build issues.

After a few days in the workshop, the fault, or rather the series of faults, have been identified. Firstly, the pinion gear on the rack hasn't been made particularly well and it is quite notchy. We took the rack over to Kiley Clinton who confirmed this but they did say it shouldn't affect the steering as much as it does.

The next thing that was identified as a weakness was the UJ's in the two part linkage between the column and the rack. These were adjusted and lubricated but will probably be replaced with a better quality replacement.

With the rack back in and the car up on ramps it was clear that at every revolution of the steering wheel the rack showed huge resistance. Further investigation pointed to the centre bearing that support the connecting linkage. With this loosened off the rack would operate freely. The dilemma this presented that the linkage and centre bush needs to be tight but this stops the steering operating correctly. Further investigation revealed what we assume to be the route cause of the problem however.

The steering column is a modified Vauxhall Vectra column. Where the spindle comes out of the column it isn't running true and this causes the resistance through the centre bearing.

Just spoke to Andy and he is sending a new column out overnight so hopefully this will rectify the problem.

Factory Visits to GD and EDA

Thursday 27th March 2014

After passing IVA, Andy said to me that I needed to put about 500 miles on the clock and then bring it back to the factory to be set up properly once everything had time to settle down.

I was keen to get this done as I haven't been entirely happy with the handling up til now, particularly under powerful acceleration as the car seemed quite 'twitchy' and a bit like a high power front wheel drive car with a bad dose of torque steer.

I had discussed this with Andy and he was confident this would be resolved quite easily... and as usual he was right!!!!

Having had several consecutive days of early Spring sunshine, it was no surprise that on the day of the factory visit the forecast was horrible!!! So, arriving at the factory with the car on the new Brian James Race Shuttle and one eye on the weather, the trailer was unloaded and Andy was straight out with his various gauges and spirit levels.

First off damping was adjusted slightly on the front suspension. Then the rear alignment was adjusted, adding a fair bit of toe in. Next, rear ride height was dropped about 10mm and damping adjusted. The final tweak was then to set the rear camber angles correctly as there was a quite a bit of variation between left and right wheels.

Having made these adjustments, it was off up the road with Andy at the wheel. As a passenger, the car seemed stable and responsive through the various bends and roundabouts and was pulling up in a straight line under braking.

Andy then asked me to drive the car to see how it compared. Literally a mile up the road I could tell that the changes had make a huge difference. The car now went in the direction it was pointed, it didn't twitch under acceleration and it didn't follow the camber of the undulating roads as it had previously.

We got back to the factory just before the heavens opened and loaded the car back on to the shuttle for the short ride up to EDA in Castleford to have the carb set up. Ken rang just as I was leaving to say he had been called away to Donington, but 'Dyno Den' his colleague would be there to sort out the carb issues I had been experiencing.

Arriving at EDA, Denis decided to change the plugs and increase the plug gap to .040" from .025" before looking at the carb. This didn't seem to make too much difference so the carb was swapped for a brand new one. Float levels were checked and adjusted and vacuum was set up. Several tweaks later I headed back home hoping that the slow running problems were now a thing of the past - unfortunately I am still getting lumpy tick over and uneven performance sub 2000rpm particularly when coasting. A further trip back to Ken is required.

Trackday - Donington

Sunday 16th March 2014

Had a phone call from Chris Morgan, a race instructor friend of mine on Thursday evening saying he was involved with a track day at Donington on Sunday and he wondered if I fancied taking the Cobra for spin... Really? It took me about a nano second to say YES!!!

The track day was being run on the full GP circuit and Im a big fan of this track although I have never driven around it before. As I wasn't able to get on track til the afternoon session, I wanted some sighting laps before taking the Cobra out - there was some seriously fast kit on track including M3's, Clio Cup Cars, Caterhams and the like and I didn't want to be getting in the way - I got Chris to take me out in his mate, Pete Edwards, Clio Sport. With a couple of laps completed it was back to the pits to warm up AC62COB, affectionately known as 'Cobie'. And then it was me in the driving seat with Chris sat next to me giving me the racing lines to get the most out of both car and circuit.

Cobie in the pits waiting to go...

Some last minute tweaking

Lights are green which means... Go! Go! Go!

Pulling away from Type R on the Straight

Returning safely and in one piece

With a few laps under my belt, I was beginning to feel more confident and was happy to take the Cobie out with Chris by my side, replaced instead by a couple of friends. Will from work and my co-builder Ali had come with me and were desperate to get out on track.

Will was the first to brave it and we had a good few laps seeing lap times falling but as confidence builds as does exuberance and with that comes danger. On my penultimate lap with Will, having exited the Melbourne Hairpin safely, I built up a fair bit of speed heading to Turn 11, Goddards (the last turn before the start finish straight), and I left it a bit too late to brake. Standing on the middle pedal for all my worth, all four wheel locked up and I got into a bit of a wobble. Fortunately my season karting has given me some valuable experience on track and I was able to get the car back in a straight line and through the turn without coming off circuit. This could have been pretty nasty as there isn't much run off on this slow turn.

After that it was time to return to the pits to calm both myself and Cobie down and to do some vital check on engine oil and brake disc temperatures. All ok there, in fact Chris suggested I wasn't trying hard enough as the brakes were still way too cold to be effective.

Feeling all sensible again it was time to take Ali out on track. A half dozen or so fast laps followed and apart from a mild drift at the Esses there was no drama. Back once again to the pits.

Chris then suggested that I let pro-driver and instructor, Pete Edwards take me out in Cobie so he could give me some feedback on its set up etc. Somewhat reluctantly/apprehensively/nervously I agreed. I gave Pete a safety briefing - its an expensive car, theres no insurance, its still being run in, I need to be able to drive it back home, etc , etc - and we were off. I soon discovered that unlike being a passenger in other track day cars its much more scary being a passenger in my own car. Also Cobie has nothing to hold onto which makes life more interesting. Approaching the Melbourne hairpin for the first time with Pete at the wheel I was beginning to think oh well 1 lap out of 3 nearly done, soon be back safely in the pits when the unexpected happened... yup you guessed it, Pete lost it on the exit putting Cobie in a 360 spin, off the track and onto the grass, ending up about 4 feet from the wall. Impressed... I was not!!! Two slower laps followed and Cobie was back in the pits - safe but shaken.

Look closely and you can see the grass in the oil cooler following the 'off'

I had been advised previously that it makes sense to trailer your car to a track day - I never really got this until Sunday afternoon when, after an adrenaline packed session came to a close it was time to head home. The last thing I wanted to do was drive Cobie back down the M42 for an hour. Next time the Race Shuttle will be attached to the Range Rover and we will enjoy a more serene return.

On arriving home, seeing how dirty my pride and joy had got, I did wonder if I had treated Cobie badly by subjecting it to such harsh driving. But, its a 400+ BHP super car that was built for speed. The best place for speed is on a race track so...

When's the next track day??

Hood

The final major item required to finish my build is the fitting of the hood and tonneau cover.

I took the car in my new race shuttle to Intertrim at Telford on Monday and was able to go and collect it yesterday. As the sun was shining, I couldn't resist driving the car back on trade plates and wow - what a satisfying feeling.

Hood up, no side screens, bright, cold, dry afternoon the sound of my big V8 roaring through the lanes and B roads back home - roll on the summer and lots of hot sunny days.

This was the first time I had driven the car on public roads for more than just a mile or two up the local lane and there is still a bit of adjustment needed to the suspension set up in my opinion. The car still seems a little stiff, particularly on the front end and seems to skip over the bumps in the road rather than absorbing them. Also, there seems to be a rattly noise coming from the diff/rear axle under low revs which will need looking into.

My other dilemma following the driving experience was the steering wheel. I have gone for a Mota-Lita wooden rim and it looks a million dollars but it is very thin and so different to a modern wheel. I might end up swapping this for a leather trimmed wheel on track days and long drives.

Really pleased with the work done by Graham and his wife at Intertrim and certainly recommend them to any body else needing trimming work. While the car was with them I asked if they could fit a piece of carpet to the rear bulkhead inside the boot. I have always felt that this made the boot area look a little unfinished. Graham duly obliged and cut and fitted a piece for the princely sum of a tenner in cash!!

Speedo and Tacho Swap

Saturday 15th February

Well the dash is back out and the speedo is to be sent back to Speedy cables. Why? Well, I didn't calibrate it properly and when I test drove it a 20 mile run put 800 miles on the clock!! As I'm not planning on doing much more than 3,000 miles per annum I wanted it setting back to zero.

I had hoped that I would be able to get the dials out and swapped over without removing the dash but they were fitted really tightly so end the end it was another (and hopefully for the final time) dash out job! This is certainly something worthy of warning other builders about as it is impossible to reset the odometer without returning it to the supplier.

Saturday 22nd February

The dash is back in a looking good with the new instrument set up. The steering wheel has been realigned and the indicators cancel correctly.

Another job that needed sorting after IVA was the horn - I had asked Andy to look at this when he prepped the car but it must have been over looked and the tester didn't even the horn at IVA. The way I had it wired meant it worked on the push back position but not in the self return position. There were some mods that were needed to be done to the relay wiring which I had overlooked during the build. Essentially there is a thin purple wire that is looped across two relay terminals which needs to be cut and then an earth fitting to terminal 86 (not terminal 85 as per the build notes)

Headlamps

Sunday 2nd February

Swapped the headlamps today for Lucas P700s

I once saw a GD at the factory with these fitted and I was blown away by them