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...

Roll Hoops 2

Having sound proofed the rear bulkhead inside the boot I could now move on to finishing the roll hoops.

The legs pass through the carpet that sits on top of the rear deck and tank so this needs marking and cutting fairly accurately - I've seen a few cars where the final fit of things like this really let the car down so I want mine looking right.

The first task was to identify which bit of carpet actually goes where. I decided to empty the box out and lay it all out where I thought it would go (a bit like Ryan did with his build)

Once I had identified the correct piece, I was really disappointed to notice that the carpet was badly marked and the pile was virtually cut through in a few places. Trying to make up my mind whether to reject the piece, which would delay the build, I positioned the carpet in situ and the damaged area is right where the legs go so I was erring towards putting up with problem. I decided before making a final decision I would try a trick that I was shown years ago that gets indentations out of household carpets where furniture has flattened the pile. This is to put several ice cubes directly onto the affected area and for some strange reason this then lift the pile back in to place. Well... I tried it and it worked perfectly and you would never know there had been a problem!!

Again following Ryan's method I marked around the tops of the holes in the boot floor using chalk and pressed the carpet into place - this left a mark on the underside of the carpet which would effectively be where the hoops pass through.

I then took the centre point of the hole positions, and pierced through the carpet. I then stood the legs on the top side of the carpet and marked around them to give the maximum diameter. The next step was to cut a star shape in the carpet that would be pushed through the holes in the boot floor with the legs.

The legs were filled with expanding foam (damn that was a messy job) which GD recommend you do to stop any resonance transmitting from the chassis through the hoops. A warning to other builders, this stuff really does expand quickly and gets everywhere. Make sure you put your fixing bolts back in place or the threads will be covered up and need re-tapping. Keep it off your skin too or it leaves marks for days!!

Carpets

Needing to get the roll hoops fitted I had to fit a piece of carpet in the boot. This is the piece that goes on the top deck and the roll hoops pass through the carpet.

Its important therefore to get the holes cut as accurately as possible so i followed a tip I had seen in Ryan's blog and marked around the holes in the boot floor wiht chalk and then put the carpet in place pressed down and it marked the hole positions on the underside of the carpet. I also passed the roll hoops through the holes in the rear scuttle and positioned them roughly in place and marked around them. As luck would have it both sets of markings lined up and I was confident enough to cut the holes.

This I decided to do by simply cutting a series of crosses from the centre point of the hole position. That way, rather than cutting big holes the legs would push through making a better seal around the base (the holes still need to be filled with silicone form the underside to keep them watertight).

So the carpet was laid in place and the hoops passed through and secured to the chassis. I will go back and glue the carpet down at a later date when I have sorted out which bits go where in the boot!!!

The lumpy bit on the right hand side is the fuel hose that needs re-routing

Roll Hoops

Wanting to get the car finished by the end of May, I'm throwing some extra hours into the project at the moment and I took the day off with the plan being to fit the roll hoops.

I wanted ot do this when I was feeling fresh and not after a long day in the office and I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time in case things didn't go according to plan.

Opinions and techniques for fitting the roll hoops vary form the plumb line method as used by the factory to a steel rod and template set up as I believe created by Steve R. Time taken by other builders to fit them also seems to vary greatly and I  must admit to being somewhat nervous about starting this task.

Before starting, I had a good chat with Alan GD who explained how to set the car up level and then how to use the plumb line method. I had already sourced some 12mm threaded bar and some plywood to make template but after listening to his advice and discussing/arguing with my co-builder Ali I decided to go with the factory method.

With a method agreed, I started to look at how to physically implement the plan and it became clear I was going to need a new drill or at least a 90 deg angle chuck for my existing drill as its too big to get in the confined spaces inside the boot. I managed to find a suitable attachment in stock locally at Screw Fix but this wasted a whole lot of time and it was nearly lunchtime by the time I actually got started.

However, after a full afternoon I had got both roll bars trail fitted. Admittedly, they still need to be filled with expanding foam (apparently this helps reduce road noise from being transmitted up from the chassis), bolted up in place and then the holes in the scuttle tidying up and rubber gaiters fitting but the bulk of this daunting task is behind me.

The following summarises the method I used.

1. The car was jacked up until it was level both front to back and left to right.

2. The rear wheels were removed for access

3. The rear coil spring retaining bolt was removed so that I could get access to mark the position of the outer leg mounting hole

4. Having marked through the holes in the mounting brakets for the front two legs small pilot holes were drilled through from under the boot. The same was then done for the rear leg (although this position is flexible to a degree as the bracket can swivel left or right a little.

5. I then used a hole saw of similar diameter to the legs to open up the lower pilot holes. This gives a clear view of the mounting holes.

6. A plumb line was then taken from the centre of the mounting hole and the position marked on the underside of the rear scuttle. This is a little tricky but lying in the boot helps!!

7. Pilot holes were then drilled into the top scuttle from the underside. These holes were then checked for accuracy by running the plumb line all the way through the hole. A couple were a little bit out so were re-drilled. Then the holes were opened up with a hole saw and dremel.

8. The roll hoops were then passed through and positions checked by running the fixing bolts into place. 

After all that it was time for a cold beer...

Next time I will tidy up the holes, fill with foam and fit the rubber gaiters. Need to read up on what people do for sealing the lower holes and then look at getting the carpet in as the roll hoops pass through the carpet in the boot and they cant be bolted in place until this is done.