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

Rear Number Plate Lamp

When I fitted the boot I decided to cut the section of loom that supplies the power to the number plate lamp as it was easier to feed it through the skin of the boot.

As I am nearing completion, this is one of the remaining wiring jobs to be sorted.

First off, I removed the light fitting and threaded the wires back through the bootlid and terminated them on the fitting. Then I made a up a new small section of loom and connected the two parts with bullet connectors and positioned this behind the boot carpet so a nice neat job was done.

Courtesy Lights

The GD loom comes with feeds to both doors for courtesy lights. GD tend not to fit these but I think its a nice touch and useful when using the car at night, so have decided to fit them. At a later date I will also take a feed to a separate override switch.

I positioned the door switches centrally between the two escutcheons and trimmed the length of the plunger to suit. The switches were then simply connected to the GD loom.

I have then broken into the loom circuit to take feeds to the lights which I have mounted in the dash under trays.

The dash is back out again at the moment so I will have to wait until its back in and connected before I can test everything.

Horn

Another small task that has been dragging on is the fitting of the horn.

I bought a really loud horn at Stoneleigh and given the position of the oil cooler thermostat, the logical position to fit this would be on the front right hand side of the chassis. Most people seem to go for this location even though the standard loom terminates on the near side.

The horn comes with a fixing bolt that is intended to run through some sheet metal then the horn body bolts up tight against it. As I didn't want to mount it on the body, I needed a bracket that could be fixed the the square box section of the radiator mounting frame.

As luck would have it, I had a piece of exhaust mounting bracket which I was able to bend into shape and cut to length.

All fitted, looks neat and sound loud.

Job done!!

Electrics

A couple of electrical problems that came to light at Blyton were that the Charge Warning light wasn't illuminating on the dash and when I switched off the ignition the car was still running until I removed the key from the barrel.

I was pretty confident that the wiring was all done right but decided to double check the whole of the front section of the body loom, the connections to the dash loom and the engine loom connections.

The steering column shroud was a pretty tight fit and rubbed a little on the ignition connector block so I removed this and connected directly to the ignition terminals making sure that all the connections were fully insulated. This has given much more space and allowed the loom to route along the actual steering column and back to the dash support bar.

The engine loom was wired correctly with one exception which I am hoping will fix the charge warning light problem. There is a separate section to connect between the alternator and the starter. It appears I have got the the connections at the alternator end the wrong way round.

I'm hoping to get the dash back in the car in the next few days so all will be revealed then.

One other issue I have is that there is a white wire coming from the GD engine loom which is meant to connect to the Coil + terminal but as I'm using an MSD box the coil connects directly to the coil. At the moment this white cable isn't connected and the car seems to run ok. Waiting for an answer from Andy at GD about this.

Doors

Another area requiring some final fit attention are the doors.

• Latches need adjusting to allow a smooth close
• Escutcheons need fitting around the hinges
• Courtesy light switches need fitting to the 'A' pillar
• The tops of the door edges need some minor gel coat repairs
• Door cards need fitting

Escutcheons & Latches

In order to fit the escutcheons, I had to ensure that both doors would open the same amount. I checked the measure measurement from the edge of the 'B' pillar to the edge of the door. This means that the escutcheons effectively create the door stop so its important they are fitted correctly. To allow me to do this I loosened off the hinges and then marked and fitted them using M4 button heads and nylocs.

I then adjusted the door fit, checking gaps and latch operation before tightening the hinges back up.

Quite pleased with the final result as it really tidies things up and looks like a professional build.


Courtesy Lights

I had previously drilled the mounting holes for the courtesy lights in the dash under trays - I'm having a separate light for each side that will illuminate the footwell - but I hadn't got around to wiring them in. The front section of the GD body loom has a positive feed to both doors and an earth which the door switches can be connected to but there is no feed back to the lights themselves.

This is relatively easy to resolve as you just need to break into the wires going to the switches and run a return back to the light.


Gel Coat Repairs

There are a few other areas needing gel coat repairs which I plan to address in one go (possibly even get GD to do them during the pre-IVA checks)


Door Cards

Need to read up on the best way of fitting these as this is one job that will make a big

Dash 4

Finally got the dash fitted for the first time and its a bit of a squeeze and will need some fettling to get it to be just right but its a good start.

It will also need to come back out in order to finish the wiring for the courtesy lights which I have fitted into the dash undertrays, to fit the heater ducting and to stick on the piping which finishes it off really well.

Its only going in now so that I can get the car running for the track day at Blyton.

With the dash fitted, I then did a temporary first fit of the column shroud. There is a plastic surround that comes with the steering column that fixes in place with two cap head. The stainless shroud facia is then fitted to it. To do this I drilled through the plastic and fitted a pair of Rivnuts to allow the shroud to be held in place with stainless cap heads.

The aluminium frame will need some trimming to fit properly around the column rake adjuster and ignition barrel and the edges will then need rubbing down before I can glue on the leather cover but it will do for now.

And this is what it looks like fitted...

Dash 3

The dash wiring is now finally sorted and the wires that come off the dash loom to the steering column electrics and the front section of the body loom have all been identified.

Once I am happy with the fitment of the dash I will cable tie them together to neaten them up as it looks like a whole lot of spaghetti at the moment. Who said old Hi-Fis were messy???

Dash 2

Been having a look at the dash undertrays and seeing how they fit in place and I'm not overly happy with the idea that they rest in place and the back and then simply are held there with the lip of the dash.

Reading some of the other blogs I see that several builders have had a tab welded in place that they can attach them to but having no welding gear and no access to anyone that has locally I needed to come up with a different approach.

In the end, i decided to drill small holes in the underside of the dash and screen support bars and fit rivnuts. I then drilled through the undertrays and fixed them in place with button heads.

This gives a firm enough mount that wont rattle and will support the weight of the MSD box located on the passenger side. Glad I didn't decide to cut a space for a glove box now!!!

Dash

Made a start on the dash today. It had been lying around in the garage for weeks and I was dying to start cutting holes but I didn't want to do that until I had the gauges to double check the sizes.

One thing I wasn't overly happy with doing was thinning down the GRP to allow the toggle switches (for heater, lights and fog) to pass through as they only have short threaded sections to push through the GRP, the foam and the leather.

Whilst at Stoneleigh, Charlie Donaghy (who's amazing Cobra was on the GD stand) explained that he had taken a different approach. It was one I decided to copy.

This method was to cut out a rectangular section of dash that was big enough to house the switches and then fix in place, using M3 countersunk head set screws and nylocs, a 1.5mm thick stainless/aluminium  cover plate. The fixing holes for the switches can then be drilled through this giving a much more solid feel and without the risk of the GRP ever breaking with repeated use. 

As this plate stand proud of the dash by 1.5mm, the rest of the dash is then covered with 1.5mm rubber sheet, rather than using the usual foam as supplied by the trimmers, cutting closely around the metal plate so that no gaps will be seen/felt once the leather is applied.

The leather is then bonded to the rubber. 

The holes for the gauges cut using a Stanley knife

I used a small punch to make the holes for the warning lights (the holes had previously been drilled in the GRP). The lamps and gauges were then pushed through and fitted prior to wiring. This method gives, in my opinion, a much more professional and modern looking dash with no indentations where switches are clamped in place. I had bought a stainless steel fascia for the switches which is engraved for IVA purposes but I felt the dash looked better and more period without it so I have just used adhesive labelling which can be removed later.

With everything in place it was time to try and figure out how to connect the dash loom to the various instruments. First off, a call was made to GD to get a wiring diagram for the dash loom as I didn't receive one with the loom. I then went about labelling each section of the loom to make it easier as I started to make the connections.

A few more calls to GD to clarify where the wiring diagrams for the loom and the instruments were at odds with each other and it was eventually all wired up and ready to be fitted into the car and connected to the body loom. 

Gearbox and Things

17th February 2013

In preparation fo rthe body being fitted, some final jobs needed doing on the gearbox. Namely:-

Reverse Light Connections

Sort out reverse light connections. There are two brass, screw-like, fitting comings off the left hand side of the gearbox. These need connecting to the engine loom to work the reverse lights.

The engine loom has long wires that pass down along the side of the chassis rail but they have no terminals attached. Was advised by GD that you cannot easily get a suitable connector so he advised making one of our own. This was achieved by using a pair of bullet connectors and pushing them on.

Reverse light connections (close up)

Homemade connections

Connected

Speedometer Connections

There is a connector located on the right hand side of the gearbox in a fairly inaccessible position which needs connecting to the engine loom to work the electronic speedometer.

Again, I was advised by GD that suitable connectors are not readily available and that we should fabricate our own. We achieved this by stripping back some bullet connectors and fixing in place with a big blob of silicone!!

Cap removed and locknut loosened to allow some sort of access

Speedometer connector - close up

Connected

One final thing thing was to check the connections before putting the body on.

It was a few days after doing all of this that I found on another blog that proper terminals are available form Real Steel Engines :(

Other Connections

The lead in the photo below will not be used in my build. It is a neutral lock out to prevent the car being started whilst in gear. Being of an age where I learnt to drive by always depressing the clutch pedal, I decided this was some additional wiring I could do without (as per a standard factory build).

 This is a neutral lock out to stop the car form starting in gear.

Gearbox Oil

Decided to take this opportunity to fill the gearbox up with oil at this point as it will be easier than when the body is on.

Note we are using automatic transmission oil AQ3 but this is the spec recommended by Tremec.

Electrics

Some photos of the front body loom fitted in place following undersealing of the arches and nose cone.

All that needs to be done to finish this off is to fix the loom to the bonnet hinge moulding and apply heat shrink to the connectors once everything has been tested.

Need attaching to bonnet hinge moulding - note P clips already in place

N/S Wheel Arch

Side Repeaters

19th January 2013

With the fornt section of the loom in place, and wanting to complete a fist fit on all the connections, it was time to get the side repeaters fitted.

This had been left as they cant be fitted straight onto the body. The wall thickness of the wing is too deep so it needs grinding back.

This was achieved by fitting a grinding wheel to the Dremel, putting it through the hole that had been previous drilled and then gradually reducing the thickness of the wing.

Electrics

15th January 2013

Having read lots of stuff about wiring looms on other blogs, it appeared that there are a number of options depending on personal preference, build spec and technical ability. These options range from custom looms, to modified GD looms to the off the shelf GD version.

My plan has always been to build, as near as damn it, a factory spec GD Mk4, albeit with my own unique detailing to give it some individuality. There was one modification that some builders have done to the loom however, that I really liked. That was to alter the cable run on the near side wing.

The standard set up is for all the body loom to come through the big hole in the inner wing then two sections go off to connect to the engine loom, the earth strap fixes to the chassis rail and the front section of the loom runs along the inner wing, inside the engine compartment, then under the arch to the front of the car then back around to the off side.

I had seen other blogs where builders have chosen to strip the whole front section back and run this though the access compartment (where the battery and heater matrix are housed) and fix this to the inner wing but from the wheel arch side thus keeping the engine bay neater.

So, with this decided, I set about removing all the outer loom shroud and pulled various wires back to the correct positions and then taped it all back up ready to install. I decided to do a dummy run first and fix it all in place prior to finishing off under sealing the arches and surrounding areas.

Loom now stays within the wheel arch and is fixed to inner wing with P clamps

Loom has been shortened and cables now need terminating

And now terminated (awaiting heat shrink covering once system is tested)

Shows look running back across bonnet hinge to off side

Off side wiring connecting to headlamp and running back to o/s side repeater

Starter Motor

17 November 2012

Not a big job but a bit fiddly.

The starter motor simply bolts in place but there is a dust protector that fits between the gear box and the engine which has a slot that needs opening up to allow the starter motor drive to pass through.

This wasn't easy to cut with the dremmel as the plate is really tough but managed it in the end. Not the prettiest hole in the world but will work and noone will see it!!

Electrics

5 August 2012

Started installing the main body loom what seems like a lifetime ago now but only really fitted the rear section and didnt get around to finishing off the terminations.

So time to set about making some progress here...

First things first the connections to the rear lights were terminated

It wasn't clear how the wiring for the reverse and fog lights was meant to work out so we did some testing and established that there is a common earth. The outer casing of the loom was slit open and the relevant live feeds were pulled through in the correct positions rather than having to have them run back and forth inside the boot. The earth wires were also put in place and the whole loom was then taped back up.

These terminations will be covered in shrink-wrap once the car is built but until the whole system is tested I don't want to do this.

Body Loom Installation

Friday 13th January 2012

Spent several hours working on the Cobra last night and didn't seem to get very far :( One of those frustrating evening of which I'm sure there will be many more!

First of all we removed the doors and bonnet and associated hinges and brackets and packed them up to be sent away for powder coating in gloss black then we decided to have a look at the Main Body Loom for the first time.

Looking through the GD build notes and a couple of blogs we managed to get a rough idea of where the looms runs through the car and into the boot and bonnet area and we set about cutting the 45mm dia hole in the bulkhead to take the loom through into the bonnet and we attached the fuse box to the slot previously prepared.

Shows 45mm dia hole and fuse box fitted

We then drilled a pilot hole from inside the boot until we came through to the interior which we followed with a 25mm dia hole through the rear bulk head but stopping short of the interior panel. In the interior panel we created a slot approximately equal to the width of the cable to allow the loom to pass smoothly from the boot down into the floor at the rear of the passenger seat.

Wiring loom inside boot

Showing slot in interior panel

I now need to order some 'P' clips to start fixing the loom into place and then work out where all the random cables connect within the boot area - nobody seems to show this clearly in their blog, so once I have figured it out I will add more detail for others to follow.

Main loom and fuse box