Post IVA Photoshoot

Saturday 18th January 2014

Today was another massive day in the story of this Cobra build. Andy had advised me last week that Steve Hole, editor of Total Kit Car Magazine, was visiting the factory and wanted to do a feature on GD and what they had in build. Andy told him about my car and said it was a good example of an old school Cobra and Steve asked if I would object to him doing a photoshoot and write up on my build.

As you can imagine I was delighted with this news and needed no encouragement to agree. I arranged with Andy that he would strip back all the nasty ugly IVA bits and bobs and make the car look pretty in time for the shoot.

When I walked in to the factory and saw my car gleaming I couldn't hold back the smile - it looked every bit as good as I hoped it would when I first set about my build - better in fact because it has been built to my exact specification, by me and my good mate Ali and there isn't another car anywhere in the world that is the same as this. It truly is unique and I love it.

Sadly, when I arrived at the factory, the rain was pouring and the sky was black and the chance of a photoshoot seemed impossible but after a cup of coffee and a good old natter with Andy and Steve about the build the rain stopped and we were able to get a few photos taken. To add to my pleasure, Steve was really complimentary about the car and said if the images come out ok he wants it to feature on the front cover of the Stoneleigh issue of the magazine and he also asked if I would object to having the car on the stand for the weekend. Andy also told Steve that he would gladly have my car as his factory demo car - high praise indeed from the main man himself.

Steve has promised to send me copies of his professional images, but for now heres a few I took myself.

Mean and Menacing

Reflections

Cute Ass?

6.3ltr V8 455bhp EDA Blueprinted Engine

Ready to Rumble...

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

Bulkhead

Whilst trying to finish off the remaining bodywork issues before the engine and chassis arrive, I thought it was time to tackle the horrible joint line between the top of the body and the engine bulkhead.

Got to work with some Isopon P38 body filler (not used this since I had to repair my rusty old Vauxhall Viva in 1985) and filled the crack in and then rubbed down with some coarse grade wet n dry paper.

LH Bulkhead (Before Filling)

RH Bulkhead (Before Filling)

Bulkhead (Filled, pre-sanding)

Didn't look too bad but there were some indentations that needed re-filling and where the bulkhead became the inner wing it needed re-filling and shaping to match the body lines. So mixed up some more P38, filled and sanded.

Bulkhead (Fill, part sanded)