Well, that didn't fit

General Cobra & Ace topics
Post Reply
User avatar
Roger King
Posts: 4396
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:29 pm
Location: St Ives, Cambs

Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by Roger King »

agnoraan wrote:
Roger King wrote:Changing to the 'X' member would give you the opportunity to relocate your header tank, maybe. Then the stock Ford thermostat housing can connect up en route to the rad.
Don't how fussy you're getting, but you are obviously succumbing to 'the Cobra disease', so might the time to point out that your wiring loom coming to the front of the car to feed headlamps, ignition, fan thermostat etc. etc. should be fixed right under the bonnet shut along the top of the new aluminium showing in your last pic. It goes across behind the bonnet hinge and comes round to the R side for coil etc.
Hi Rog, if the header tank is mounted at the front, it's still below the level of the top hose. Unfortunately, the engine sits quite high in this car, so I still wouldn't know how much coolant is in the system, which I think was the problem for it over heating at Cranleigh. Mmm, wiring, I absolutely hate it with a vengeance, I can barely wire up a plug :lol: :lol: , and it's like listening to someone speaking martian when they tell me how to wire things up, my brain just switches off, it's the spawn of the Devil. :lol: At the moment the wiring runs along the top of the chassis rail on the n/s and is pretty inconspicuous, I don't know if I really want to go redoing that to be honest. It's never going to look original, this car is more of a very rough facsimile of a Cobra, so I think I'd best think about this one, but thanks for the heads up :wink: is it really worth doing this??

Nige
If you can resist, do.
I got more and more tied up in getting closer and closer to an original, until it became clear that there was only one option. I'll tell you what that option costs if I ever finish adding it all up. Which I probably won't for all sorts of reasons.
User avatar
peterc
T289R Member
T289R Member
Posts: 2041
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:05 am
Location: Surrey

Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by peterc »

After the initial build I have not kept records of the ongoing costs of improvements. I don't think I want to know and certainly not for the management to know.
This Autumn must be making the templates and fitting of Ali panels like Nige has just completed. Not sure how it will work out but heh, I have a bench mark that I need to work from and to strive to improve on??
Under the banner of 'that didn't fit' I have just discovered that Lucas style rotary switches are around 45mm dia. Guess the pitch of my existing switches. 42!! B***ger!!
Peter C
User avatar
agnoraan
Posts: 1271
Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2014 5:37 pm

Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by agnoraan »

Having just read through "Cotton mouths " thread I realised it must be hose week this week :lol: After overheating at Cranleigh, I've made a start on revamping the cooling system, along with tidying up the engine bay. The top hose on mine was a piece of stainless that went diagonally across the engine bay, and whilst it worked ok, I wasn't too happy with the look of it.

Image


I bought two aluminium 90 deg bends and a piece of straight tubing and welded them together, so that the hose doglegged overtowards the inner arch and down to the radiator. I also added a small tube to the top of the hose at the thermostat end for the return.


Image



I took this opportunity to alter the front brace to form an X as opposed to the straight square section tube. I cut out the square tube and then plated the end with some steel.


Image


Some tubing was then welded together to form the X brace and was then trial fitted and welded


Image


The chassis was then sanded down, masked up and sprayed in VHT "chassis and roll bar" satin black


Image


I've also media blasted the timing cover, alternator bracket, top pulley etc to get them back to a nice raw aluminium look. My blaster wouldn't touch the paint that was on the valve covers though, God knows what it is. I ended up taking it to an industrial blasters, to blast it with a wet sand media. I've just lightly sanded the fins and lettering with some 320 w&d to make them stand out a little

Image

Image

Image





Well, that was one horrible job to do, as it seems like I've been leaning over the front of the car forever. My back is really starting to play up now. At one point whilst sanding the chassis down I got stuck in the engine bay and really struggled to get out


Not a pretty sight
Image




I've now got to put it all back together again and then detail everything in the engine bay as I go. I've also been in touch with a company that refurbishes Dellorto carbs, so hopefully I can get those quad downdraughts on there fairly soon :D

Nige
Last edited by agnoraan on Sat Jan 11, 2020 1:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
peterc
T289R Member
T289R Member
Posts: 2041
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:05 am
Location: Surrey

Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by peterc »

Hi Nige,
I would be interested in what power you estimate you will get by adding the quad carbs and what capacity you have.
3.9 or more?
The car is definitely improving by the day!
Dare I ask when do you stop working on the interim car and start on the new one?
Peter C
User avatar
clive
T289R Member
T289R Member
Posts: 3392
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 1:18 am
Location: Perth

Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by clive »

The last photo is very appropriate considering the title of the thread.
Cheers, Clive.

(If I'm not here I'm in my workshop or on the golf course!)
User avatar
agnoraan
Posts: 1271
Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2014 5:37 pm

Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by agnoraan »

peterc wrote:Hi Nige,
I would be interested in what power you estimate you will get by adding the quad carbs and what capacity you have.
3.9 or more?
The car is definitely improving by the day!
Dare I ask when do you stop working on the interim car and start on the new one?
Peter C
Hi Peter, i've spoken with the Uk Dellorto suppliers and also with a guy that specialises in Dellortos, that will fine tune it on his rolling road for me. Both seem to agree that they should give approx 20hp or so over the 390 cfm Holley carb that's fitted on the car at the moment. It's not a huge amount, but they seem to think that whilst giving more power, it should be more responsive and also return more mpg, which is win win in my book :lol: But if I'm honest, I really think they look the mutts nuts, which is probably the over riding factor in fitting them :wink:

I'm looking to start the new car after I've finished renovating the house, which should be around Spring time next year all things going to plan. I didn't want to start it, or rather my wife has suggested, that I start it after the house is finished. :wink: I really want to devote 100% of my spare time to the car without other distractions getting in the way. The Viper, although it seems like a major overhaul, has been something that I spend a few hours here and there on, without interfering with the house stuff too much.


Clive, that photo was actually of me getting out of the engine bay, I was in much deeper than that and had got stuck trying to sand in the corners of the chassis.

Nige
User avatar
peterc
T289R Member
T289R Member
Posts: 2041
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:05 am
Location: Surrey

Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by peterc »

So on a costing basis would you chose the quad carbs over spending the money on an increase in capacity which I believe would equally only give 20-25 extra bhp. I agree the the visual impact would be a big driver compared to the increase in capacity being unseen.
Andy might be able to comment on the drivability. I thought at Cranleigh he said that the IDF's were a bit temperamental around town.
Peter C
User avatar
agnoraan
Posts: 1271
Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2014 5:37 pm

Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by agnoraan »

Hi Peter, the engine in the car at the moment is a 3.5 which is mildly worked on with a cam, Holley 390 cfm carb and headers. I've got a 4.0 engine sitting on an engine stand in my garage and the plan was to rebuild it and swap that into the car. However, it's such a nice engine in there now I've decided against it for the time being. Having owned a number of cars with 500 plus hp, it's nice to have a car that isn't a pain to drive and doesn't drink petrol in single figures. At the moment it goes quite nicely and returns around 30 mpg on a run. As I said earlier, I've been told that by fitting the Dellortos, it shouldn't affect fuel consumtion once set up and it could possibly improve it somewhat. The performance is fairly lively for what it is, so with an extra 20 hp or so from the carbs it should liven it up a bit more. I've spoken with a number of people that run quad Dellortos on Rover engines and they've all said that once set up properly you wouldn't know there were multiple carbs under the bonnet. If it becomes a pig to drive the carbs will be coming off and I'll go back to the single carb setup on there now. They do look nice though :wink: :lol:


Image


Nige
andyg
T289R Member
T289R Member
Posts: 205
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2007 5:23 pm
Location: Reading

Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by andyg »

I have 44 IDF's which give about the same hp as the 670 Holley they replaced, but roughly 10% more torque.
Fuel consumption is on a par when cruising but does drop off when you drive it hard.
Mine is temperamental around town in stop go traffic, especially when in hot weather, but this may be due to my fuel supply. I have a fuel log fitted as per the original FIA cars, which sits on top of the water neck. This results in the fuel getting heated up, so when not using it too quickly, you get hot fuel into the engine. Obviously once driving in a more spirited way, the fuel does not sit around long enough to warm up too much.
Need to make sure the linkage is good so that they all operate in unison and find someone who can set them up properly on a rolling road.
But I must agree with you Nige, just need to open the bonnet to put a smile on my face - they look fantastic.
Andy
User avatar
agnoraan
Posts: 1271
Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2014 5:37 pm

Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by agnoraan »

andyg wrote: But I must agree with you Nige, just need to open the bonnet to put a smile on my face - they look fantastic.
Andy
Hi Andy does the fuel get hot due to heat transfer from the engine, or is it under bonnet temperature and the fact that theres a large concentrate of fuel being heated in the log?
The Dellortos I've got are DRLA 40's which are just about right for the size of my engine.

As to smiling when you see them, I'm blaming you for me doing this work to my car. I had engine envy after seeing yours at Cranleigh :-P :-D
Nige
Post Reply