Time to catch up!
It's proving difficult to do two projects at once these days, simply because I seem to have no time that allows me to get round to either. Hence the lack of updates on the web page due to no activity in the garage. Here's what's happened recently.
On 28th July I went along to the Cobra Replica Club meeting at Duxford. What can I say? Duxford turned out to be further than I imagined. Put that together with the fact that it was probably the hottest day of the year, it made for a very hot and uncomfortable journey. Anyway, I arrived at just after half past twelve and there were loads of Cobra's there. Some looked good and some looked not so good.
I met Martin Underhill when I was there and I must say a big thankyou to him for taking me for a drive in his Chevvy powered Cobra - we reached 90mph before I even knew it! As it was also my first ride in a Cobra, it gave me a good feeling as the car appeared very solid and comfortable, even though Martin has yet to set his suspension correctly (so he told me). The one doubt I have had in my mind for a long time is how rickety the kit car may be once finished. The small test dirves I've taken in mine has sounded like a loose bucket of nails being dropped (nothing has been tightened up yet). I'm pleased to say that this isn't a question any more.
Martin gave me a couple of goodies while I was there. Firstly, he gave me a template I needed for making up the door panels for the Sumo. He also gave me a CD that contained all the pictures he took throughout his build. His CD offers some interesting pictures that have helped me in some areas, but more on that later.
Coming back from Duxford inspired me a little more and immediately I wanted to get on and continue with my car. However, the ride to and from Duxford in the sunny conditions had completely worn me out. So I settled for a couple of cold beers and thought about what I would do next.
A couple of days later, having thought about it and seen how it had been done on some of the cars at Duxford, I fitted the boot handle and latch. I measured up and made one large hole through the boot lid so that the locking pin could go through. Then, using the rubber sealing grommet that is supplied with the handle, I marked up the larger hole that needed to be cut out. I then made lots of small holes with the drill to perforate the fibre glass, and then took to the file to make a nice smooth hole. Then the handle was then screwed into place.
The next job was then to fix the latch to the inside of the boot. The point to which this fixes uses a metal strip inside the boot lid for a bit of extra strength (only found this out when drilling the pilot holes). It took me three attempts, with gradually increasing drill sizes, before I managed to get the correct size hole for the self tappers I was using. This was one set of holes that I didn't want to re-drill and I needed to get it right first time. Once the boot handle was in place it wouldn't be possible to reposition any parts of it.
My attention had now moved to the doors. I am planning on having some electrically operated door openers. I have obtained a couple of door actuators, similar to that used in central locking systems. I've tested that these can move the door latch and they do. I have found out, however, that trying the motors outside the doors and trying them inside the doors are two different matters indeed. The motors work best in a straight line, but due to the small confines inside the door there is very little room to get the motors in a straight line where I need it. I need to figure out a little more how the rod that opens the lock will need to be shaped. In the meantime, testing the various ways in which the motor could be used, either to push or pull, I managed to burn out one motor. Need to be more careful at £15.00 a time!
At the back of the car I have had a latch made up so that I can now lock the boot and this has been fitted into place. This is fixed to the floor of the boot with a large self tapping screw and I have placed an 8mm bolt through the back of the boot to the top of the bracket for the lock to clasp around. This gives a little extra strength and security.
Another piece of news is that I believe that I have now sorted out the clutch problems I have been having, although this comes with a small story itself.
I was getting to the point where I was really fed up with the cable conversion not working, especially when I've heard so many other stories from people saying theirs is working. To that point I sent off for the hydraulic parts that I needed in order to use the clutch as it was originally designed.
I phoned Ian Taylor at the Runcorn SD1 Centre and arranged for him to send me the parts. I actually managed to swap him for the old manifold and carbs that I took off when I fitted the Webber, so it has only cost me postage. Not bad I thought, but things then got worse.
The parts arrived last Friday and the following day I unpacked them to see that I had everything I needed. The only thing I did need was a pipe to connect the slave and master cylinders together. I knew the approximate length of pipe needed as I have been under the car so many times, so I had a braided flexi pipe made up and then went home to see about fitting them.
When I got home I opened the bonnet to be presented with a big problem. Where do you fit the master cylinder?
Turns out that the reason that Pilgrim do the cable conversion is due to the fact that there is no room on the bulkhead to fit the master cylinder, otherwise they would have stuck with the hydraulic clutch themselves. This left me two options. The first option would be easy, adjust the cable clutch and get it working (not so simple given the numerous attempts I've already had). The second option would be to make up a remote bracket to fix the master cylinder to, away from the bulkhead but still operated using a cable (involves levers of all sorts and sizes). Option two sounded bloody awkward, so I went for option one and was totally surprised.
A further small adjustment of the clutch cable into the bulkhead and the problem seems to have been solved. With the engine running I am now able to move through the gearbox with ease. The travel on the clutch pedal seems reasonable too, and it is not too heavy. I guess I can only put this down to perseverance and being pushed into a very small corner. At least this now means that I can concentrate on getting the rest of the car built. I have since had the rear wheels of the car up on axle stands and tried the gearbox through the gears. Seems to work ok!
On with the show.....
Looking more at what is required in the boot, I have fed the wire for the number plate through the lid of the boot. This helps remove the untidiness of loose wires hanging down, only for them to get caught around the first thing that gets put into the boot. To do this I drilled a hole at the top of the door, just where the petrol filler cap is located, and another hole just above the boot lock. The only difficult thing now was to feed the wires through the door from one end to the other. This proved more difficult than it actually looked.
Every time I tried to feed just the wires they were getting stuck inside the door somewhere. So to get around this I tried using some magnets. I attached a nut to the end of the wires and using the magnets was able to pull the wire along. However, this worked with minimal success. In trying to follow the curves of the door, where the wire was trying to be pulled around a corner, it was getting stuck - most probably between double skin of the door.
In order to get this to work I needed something that was pretty sturdy yet could still be dragged by a magnet. I had a thought and then used some curtain wire. This was rigid enough that I could push it along through the door skin and if it got stuck I could use the magnets to pull it away from the sticking area.
This worked a treat. The curtain wire moved through the door with little trouble. It did get stuck a couple of times, but the magnets helped out well in these instances. Once the wire came out the other side of the door, I attached a curtain ring to the end and then fed the wires for the boot light through it (and taped them in place). All I had to do then was simply drag the curtain wire back through the door, feeding the wire from the opposite end. Moments later the boot wire was in place.
While working in the boot I also fixed down the wiring loom so that it was not sloshing around. I pop rivitted some of the old pipe clips I had to the floor of the boot and then tied the loom into place with some cable ties. Once the boot gets carpeted it should look nice and tidy.
Lastly I have fitted the first inner wing into the cab area. I contemplated using some fibreglass resin to stick this in place, but changed my mind and simply used some contact glue. I spread the glue on the door sill, on the inner body edge and onto the inner wing edges. When the glue was touch dry I put them into position and then clamped them into place using all sorts of tools and pegs! Have checked the results tonight and all appears to be good.
P.S. For anyone that should need one, the wiring diagram for the Sumo can be found here.
