Tuesday 17th January
Well, today proved to be a very exciting day in my Cobra Build program.
After phone calls to various engine builders, a visit was planned to see Ken Coleman at EDA up in Castleford, West Yorkshire. It took three hours to get there after M6 traffic problems but have to say it was well worth the journey.
Met Ken and his two colleagues and they couldn't have been more accommodating with coffee on arrival, a workshop tour and an explanation of their build process. Some two hours later, I had shaken hands on a deal for a 400+bhp 383 Chevy Stroker engine, blueprinted and built to EDA's exacting standards including steel crank, steel conrods and aluminium Edelbrock heads.
Estimated delivery to be end of April 2012. This gives plenty of time to complete all body work tasks without any excuses!
A trip back down the A1 followed calling in at GD to meet with Andy to discuss the Chassis configuration and options.
Another hour later and I've shaken hands on the deal to supply the rolling chassis complete with AP brake upgrade. Still need to give some thought to the radiator though and decide if I go for conventional with single fan or the aluminium rad with twin fans.
So... best part of £30k later and I'm driving back home. Broke but happy and looking forward to the end of April. The engine will be delivered to GD and Andy has agreed that we can help with the installation!!! How exciting!!! And much better than any Easter Egg :)
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.
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| 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.
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| Wiring loom inside boot |
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| 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.
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| Main loom and fuse box |
Build Costs
Summary of Build Costs
I have been keeping a running total of build costs but thought it might be a good idea to share these...
I will continue to update this post as the build progresses
Running Total - £37132
Miscellaneous
Timber support frame - £40
Fasteners & Fixings, Adhesives, etc - £200
Body
MK4 Body with twin stripes (including Catches, Locks, Handles, Body Loom, Lighting, etc) - £6,642
Tools
Dremel and accessories - £100
Rivnut Tool and Rivnuts - £50
Chassis
Circa - £20,000
Engine
EDA 400+BHP 383 Ci (6.3ltr) Chevy Stroker - £9,600
Speedflow Fittings
For fuel, water and oil systems - £500
I have been keeping a running total of build costs but thought it might be a good idea to share these...
I will continue to update this post as the build progresses
Running Total - £37132
Miscellaneous
Timber support frame - £40
Fasteners & Fixings, Adhesives, etc - £200
Body
MK4 Body with twin stripes (including Catches, Locks, Handles, Body Loom, Lighting, etc) - £6,642
Tools
Dremel and accessories - £100
Rivnut Tool and Rivnuts - £50
Chassis
Circa - £20,000
Engine
EDA 400+BHP 383 Ci (6.3ltr) Chevy Stroker - £9,600
Speedflow Fittings
For fuel, water and oil systems - £500
Budget Realignment - Engine & Chassis Decisions
Wednesday 11th January
This week I have been talking to engine builders to get some idea of lead time and costs and also been in touch with Andy at GD to get an estimate for the GDEURO rolling chassis - OMG!!! My budget certainly needs realigning.
Engine Builders
Spoken at length with Ian at British American Engines and have a price of c£5.5k + VAT for a 400BHP+ Chevy Stroker.
Then spoke to Ken Coleman at EDA (as recommended by Andy at GD) and he has quoted £8k + VAT for what on the face of it is a very similar unit. Off to visit him on Tuesday to have a look around his workshop.
Could really do with hearing from some other builders about their experiences.
Chassis
Andy has sent his quote through for the rolling chassis and this was an even bigger fall of my chair moment - c£18k + VAT
Need to go through the bill of materials in detail and see what, if anything, can be deferred until later in the year without overly delaying my build - a set of temp wheels and tyres would defer best part of £2k!!
This week I have been talking to engine builders to get some idea of lead time and costs and also been in touch with Andy at GD to get an estimate for the GDEURO rolling chassis - OMG!!! My budget certainly needs realigning.
Engine Builders
Spoken at length with Ian at British American Engines and have a price of c£5.5k + VAT for a 400BHP+ Chevy Stroker.
Then spoke to Ken Coleman at EDA (as recommended by Andy at GD) and he has quoted £8k + VAT for what on the face of it is a very similar unit. Off to visit him on Tuesday to have a look around his workshop.
Could really do with hearing from some other builders about their experiences.
Chassis
Andy has sent his quote through for the rolling chassis and this was an even bigger fall of my chair moment - c£18k + VAT
Need to go through the bill of materials in detail and see what, if anything, can be deferred until later in the year without overly delaying my build - a set of temp wheels and tyres would defer best part of £2k!!
Doors, Bonnets, Fasteners and Frustration
Sunday 8th January
Well today was meant to be a day of finishing the test fit of both doors and making a start on the bonnet but despite best laid plans and all that (and a bit of a hangover it has to be said!) the passenger door ended up taking a whole lot longer than expected. Then when moving on to the drivers door, I did something I should have done when my kit arrived, I started to check I had all the right fasteners and guess what??? There were several missing and a few spares ones too...
So with the missing fasteners, it meant I couldn't hang the drivers door :( but on the upside I did manage to transfer all the fixing positions form the passenger door onto cardboard templates so I was able to cut and drill the door ready for hanging when I have sufficient socket cap heads!!
Well today was meant to be a day of finishing the test fit of both doors and making a start on the bonnet but despite best laid plans and all that (and a bit of a hangover it has to be said!) the passenger door ended up taking a whole lot longer than expected. Then when moving on to the drivers door, I did something I should have done when my kit arrived, I started to check I had all the right fasteners and guess what??? There were several missing and a few spares ones too...
So with the missing fasteners, it meant I couldn't hang the drivers door :( but on the upside I did manage to transfer all the fixing positions form the passenger door onto cardboard templates so I was able to cut and drill the door ready for hanging when I have sufficient socket cap heads!!
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