The family went down to Austin and attended the 5th annual Texas Cobra Club gathering. I didn't find the exact cobra count, but I think it was around 80! We had a pretty good time, Tommy required a lot of attention so I didn't get a lot of chances to talk to that many people. Here's a pretty good picture to give you an idea of how many cobra's showed up. This was at the Mexican restaurant that we ate at.

I did get something done after we got back tonight. I mounted the fuse box! One more item done on my list. I'm not sure how much I'll get done before Saturday though, as I will be heading off to Denver again for work.

I ran around town tonight trying to find something to plug up the radiator cap. No luck. I did do some work on the car though. I got the remote filling installed, and then realized I need 2 more hose clamps. I took a couple of pictures of the remote filler installation with the overflow line running to the overflow bottle on the radiator.

Updated First Start List

• DONE! Buy wire crimping/stripping/cutting tool
• Install headers
• Wire up the engine and ignition switch
• Clean Gas Tank and buy some gas
• DONE! Install Remote Radiator Filler
• Buy a cap for remote filler
• DONE! Figure out what to do with the overflow line from the remote filler
• Fill radiator with water and coolant
• ALMOST DONE! (need 2 more clamps) Clamp down the radiator lines
• DONE! Install a bolt near the steering rack on the drivers side to anchor some zip ties that will hold the lower radiator hose in place
• Figure out how I want to run the throttle cable
• Buy throttle cable mounting bracket
• Fill the transmission with transmission fluid
• DONE! Buy the right sized pulley belt
• Mount the fuse box

Not a lot of stuff got done tonight. I've been mostly posting questions to the forum to get some answers to my problems. I did make it to the autoparts store and the hardware store for some needed parts and supplies that are needed to finish most of the items in the current list. I'm pretty sure where I want to mount the fuse box, but I need to make 2 brackets from some aluminum to fasten it securely.

Updated First Start List

• DONE! Buy wire crimping/stripping/cutting tool
• Install headers
• Wire up the engine and ignition switch
• Clean Gas Tank and buy some gas
• Install Remote Radiator Filler
• Buy a cap for remote filler
• Figure out what to do with the overflow line from the remote filler
• Fill radiator with water and coolant
• Clamp down the radiator lines
• DONE! Install a bolt near the steering rack on the drivers side to anchor some zip ties that will hold the lower radiator hose in place
• Figure out how I want to run the throttle cable
• Buy throttle cable mounting bracket
• Fill the transmission with transmission fluid
• DONE! Buy the right sized pulley belt
• Mount the fuse box

I got the car off the dollies to see how much the engine dropped the ride height. The front of the car is now about 3.5 inches off the ground. So, the front dropped about 2 inches with the weight of the engine. The rear dropped an inch from 5.5 inches to the correct height of 4.5 inches.

I also routed the rear lighting wiring through the tranny tunnel to the back of the car. I routed the front wiring as well.

First Start List

• Buy wire crimping/stripping/cutting tool
• Install headers
• Wire up the engine and ignition switch
• Clean Gas Tank and buy some gas
• Install Remote Radiator Filler
• Buy a cap for remote filler
• Figure out what to do with the overflow line from the remote filler
• Fill radiator with water and coolant
• Clamp down the radiator lines
• Install a bolt near the steering rack on the drivers side to anchor some zip ties that will hold the lower radiator hose in place
• Figure out how I want to run the throttle cable
• Buy throttle cable mounting bracket
• Fill the transmission with transmission fluid
• Buy the right sized pulley belt
• Mount the fuse box

I'm sure there is more, but that is the current to do list.

The engine is in! With the help of a couple friends, we managed to get the engine in. It took us about an hour to do, and everything went very smoothly. I tried to install the driveshaft, but (of course) it's too long. I will call AMP in the morning, and start the exchange process for one that fits.

We have touchdown. For the first time, the car is on the ground, on it's own 4 wheels.

Here is my udpated things I'd like to get done/buy before Sunday!

• DONE! I need to plug the automatic transmission water line holes on the radiator.
• Buy correct sized pulley belt
• DONE! ($12 for a pair, ouch) Buy a replacement bleeder screw
• DONE! Bleed the brakes
• DONE! Buy a funnel with tube to help fill the differential
• DONE! Put the wheels back on and get the car off the jack stands
• DONE! Buy the right supplies (mainly coolant) for the radiator

The differential also got filled!

So, the only thing I didn't get done was getting the right sized pulley belt. I did try though. I called Engine Factory, and they said they'd get with the tech guys tomorrow and give me a call back with the info. Looks like I'll be making another trip to the autostore tomorrow.

I played with the coil-overs to see how close I could get the ride height to 4.5 inches. Right now, in the picture below the car is about 5.5 inches all the way around. I think the weight of the engine will drop the front down some more, and I'll just have to adjust the coil-overs in the rear some more to get it down that last inch.

I did notice one problem once the car was lowered. The rear flexible brake lines either hit the upper control arm, or hit the spring. I've seen on at least one other build, a tie zip used to keep the line away from the spring. After fighting the brakes for 4 days, It looks like I might have to adjust the positioning of the flexible lines, which most likely will require them to be bleed again (joy).

I am most likely going to clean the garage tomorrow night after I pick up the engine hoist. I've been neglecting the garage, and it's a total disaster area. Good thing Paul Sr. isn't around.

I hope the positive battery cable is fastened to an appropriate place!? I picked up a remote starter relay, and mounted it in one of the more popular locations. I see lots of people installing a "Maxi-Fuse" right next to the remote starter relay. I need to decide if I want to go this route, or just go with what I have?

And... Of course nothing goes as planned. The car is still up on the jack stands, and the brakes are still in need of being bleed. Why is this, you ask? Because someone (not me) stripped the drivers side rear bleeder valve. Tommorrow I'll pick up a new one and try again.

I was going to fill the differential, to finish off the last item from my "pre-engine" list. But, I don't have a funnel, and the gas tank is relatively in the way for me to just dump in the oil from the containers.

I'm going to be picking up an engine hoist from "Plano-Matt" on Thursday. The tenative plan is to drop the engine in Sunday afternoon and maybe have enough of the wiring figured out to start the engine??? I better call engine factory and get the right belt size for the engine. I wonder what else I'm forgetting that is required for the thing to run?

Things I'd like to get done/buy before Sunday!

• I need to plug the automatic transmission water line holes on the radiator.
• Buy correct sized pulley belt
• Buy a replacement bleeder screw
• Bleed the brakes
• Buy a funnel with tube to help fill the differential
• Put the wheels back on and get the car off the jack stands
• Buy the right supplies (mainly coolant) for the radiator

Found a leak in the passenger rear brake line, where the hard line changes over to the braided flexible lines. I didn't have anyone around to help re-bleed the brakes again after fixing the leak. That will have to wait until tomorrow.

I got the front of the car off the jacks and onto the front wheels. It looks like my lower control arms are bound up in the mounts, as the car does not sit down correctly. This doesn't really surprise me, as I've seen it on "Allen Matt's" car, and heard of it on the forums. I was hoping I wouldn't have the problem, but I do. I'll worry about fixing it later after I get the brakes finished, and drop the car down on all 4 wheels.

When I get the car down off the jack stands tomorrow, I'll take some more pictures.

My neighbor Brad and I attempted to bleed the brakes. We sprung quite a few leaks, that all got solved by a little tightening here and there. We are not 100% sure that we got all the air out of the system, so we are going to take another look at it tonight.

I also filled the gaps in the foot boxes with silicone, and beaded the radiator hose extensions. Well, I used a trick recommended on the ffcobra forums. I used rivits on the edges of the extensions instead of beading. This creates enough of a bulge so that the clamp and hose won't slip off. I also put a couple of coats of clear coat on the upper extension, to prevent oxidation.

Brad lent me his wheel dollies, so after we mess with the brakes again tonight, If we "finish" then I'll get the car off the jack stands and onto the dollies. Hopefully, this will give me the mobility I will need to easily drop in the engine.

Updated Pre-Engine/Wheels list

• DONE! Brake light switch needs to be installed (on order from Napa, will pick it up on Monday)
• DONE! The gaps in the passenger and drivers side footboxes need to be sealed up with some silicone
• DONE ENOUGH FOR NOW, NEEDS FINAL TIGHTENING! The round steering shaft things (I don't know what they are called) need to be installed.
• NOT GONNA HAPPEN (YET), WILL NEVER GET IT OUT AGAIN! The upper steering shaft clips need to be installed
• DONE! Need an appropriate sized nut and bolt for the lower steering shaft to u-joint
• DONE! The battery ground cable needs to be fastened to the frame
• The positive battery cable needs to be fastened to the appropriate place on the drivers foot box (wherever that is)
• DONE! Clear coat the upper radiator hose extension
• DONE! Bead both radiator hose extensions
• Fill the Differential with gear oil and friction modifier
• DONE!Tighten up the IRS upper control arms
• DONE! Emergency brake cable installation

The emergency brake works!!! It took a lot longer than I though it would, but it's in, and works.

My little mechanic and I checked on my body in the back yard. What's with all the Snow??

Updated Pre-Engine/Wheels list

• DONE! Brake light switch needs to be installed (on order from Napa, will pick it up on Monday)
• The gaps in the passenger and drivers side footboxes need to be sealed up with some silicone
• DONE ENOUGH FOR NOW, NEEDS FINAL TIGHTENING! The round steering shaft things (I don't know what they are called) need to be installed.
• NOT GONNA HAPPEN (YET), WILL NEVER GET IT OUT AGAIN! The upper steering shaft clips need to be installed
• DONE! Need an appropriate sized nut and bolt for the lower steering shaft to u-joint
• DONE! The battery ground cable needs to be fastened to the frame
• The positive battery cable needs to be fastened to the appropriate place on the drivers foot box (wherever that is)
• Clear coat the upper radiator hose extension
• Bead both radiator hose extensions
• Fill the Differential with gear oil and friction modifier
• DONE!Tighten up the IRS upper control arms
• DONE! Emergency brake cable installation

I switched the rear wheels around as I put the wrong ones on the wrong sides on Tuesday. I moved the passenger side rear braided line towards the middle of the car about an inch to give better clearance with the wheel.

Updated Pre-Engine/Wheels list

• DONE! Brake light switch needs to be installed (on order from Napa, will pick it up on Monday)
• The gaps in the passenger and drivers side footboxes need to be sealed up with some silicone
• DONE ENOUGH FOR NOW, NEEDS FINAL TIGHTENING! The round steering shaft things (I don't know what they are called) need to be installed.
• NOT GONNA HAPPEN (YET), WILL NEVER GET IT OUT AGAIN! The upper steering shaft clips need to be installed
• DONE! Need an appropriate sized nut and bolt for the lower steering shaft to u-joint
• DONE! The battery ground cable needs to be fastened to the frame
• The positive battery cable needs to be fastened to the appropriate place on the drivers foot box (wherever that is)
• Clear coat the upper radiator hose extension
• Bead both radiator hose extensions
• Fill the Differential with gear oil and friction modifier
• DONE!Tighten up the IRS upper control arms
• ORDERED CORRECT CABLES TODAY! Emergency brake cable installation

Wheels!!!

Not a lot done tonight as I mostly hung up some new fluorescent lights and started to clean up the garage.

In addition to the updates in the list below, I also put my shim in the lower steering shaft to U-Joint connector. It was a .006 spacer that I cut to size and jammed in there to take up the space. This really reduced the extra play in the steering wheel. I think once the clips are on the upper steering shaft that the upper play will be eliminated. There still is a little play where the lower U-Joint goes into the steering rack. I still need to figure out a good way to eliminate this.

Updated Pre-Engine/Wheels list

• DONE! Brake light switch needs to be installed (on order from Napa, will pick it up on Monday)
• The gaps in the passenger and drivers side footboxes need to be sealed up with some silicone
• DONE ENOUGH FOR NOW, NEEDS FINAL TIGHTENING! The round steering shaft things (I don't know what they are called) need to be installed.
• NOT GONNA HAPPEN, WILL NEVER GET IT OUT AGAIN! The upper steering shaft clips need to be installed
• DONE! Need an appropriate sized nut and bolt for the lower steering shaft to u-joint
• The battery ground cable needs to be fastened to the frame
• The positive battery cable needs to be fastened to the appropriate place on the drivers foot box (wherever that is)
• Clear coat the upper radiator hose extension
• Bead both radiator hose extensions
• Fill the Differential with gear oil and friction modifier
• Tighten up the IRS upper control arms
• ORDERED CORRECT CABLES TODAY! Emergency brake cable installation

Well, My mechanic stopped by today to inspect some of the work I have done on the car. He found quite a few things wrong with it, and he chewed me out a bit, as you can see in the first picture. Something wasn't quite right with the rear calipers.

After the rear brake inspection, he inspected some of my latest handy work. The emergency brake handle installation. Everything looked ok as far as he could tell.

The engine was next. He decided it needed a few minor adjustments before it gets mounted to the frame.

Last but not least was the steering inspection. He wasn't too happy that I didn't have the seats installed, as he could barely reach the steering wheel.

In addition to the surprise visit from my mechanic. I went through and made a list of things to do before the wheels, engine and wiring go in.

• Brake light switch needs to be installed (on order from Napa, will pick it up on Monday)
• The gaps in the passenger and drivers side footboxes need to be sealed up with some silicone
• The round steering shaft things (I don't know what they are called) need to be installed.
• The upper steering shaft clips need to be installed
• Need an appropriate sized nut and bolt for the lower steering shaft to u-joint
• The battery ground cable needs to be fastened to the frame
• The positive battery cable needs to be fastened to the appropriate place on the drivers foot box (wherever that is)
• Clear coat the upper radiator hose extension
• Bead both radiator hose extensions
• Fill the Differential with gear oil and friction modifier
• Tighten up the IRS upper control arms
• Emergency brake cable installation

I made a simple lower radiator supporting bracket from an aluminum square tube and a strip of aluminum. In the first picture if you look closely at the bottom of the radiator you will see a screw next to one of the clamps. This screw goes into the square tube (there is another screw on the otherside that is hard to see). Then the aluminum strip is placed under the square tube, extends past the car frame and is bent up at a 90 degree angle. This is currently being held on with the c-clamps. The eventual plan is: The strip will be rivited to the square tube under the radiator. Then the 90 degree tabs on the edges will get rivited to the frame. The factory five design requires the aluminum piece that fills the void in front of the radiator to the body to be screwed into the body for lower radiator support. With this bracket I made, I won't have to drill holes in the body, and the aluminum piece can just fill the void and make things look pretty.

I also cut the upper radiator hose and temporarily mocked it up on the radiator.

I ordered my wheels, I going with the American Racing Hopster series. Being budget conscious I decided to get the Kumho Supra 712's. This way if (when) I roast the tires I won't feel so bad. The total bill came to $1552.32, so I saved a couple hundred bucks over the Centerline wheels I had originally ordered. They said it should take 2 weeks for the wheels to get in, so I have to come up with 2 weeks worth of "Other" work to do on the car. I should not have too much problem doing that.

I finished up drilling and cleco'ing the cockpit area. I also drilled and cleco'ed a couple of miscellaneous panels in the trunk area. I'm running out of aluminum panels to drill and cleco. I need to get my wheels sooner than later, or I'll have to think up some other filler work to do in the mean time.

Also in the picture below you can see the horrid dent I made in the transmission tunnel to try to give the street performer seats some more room, so they can be oriented straight. The aluminum is pushed in as much as possible in that area and rivited to the transmission tunnel frame. Even with this modification to the transmission tunnel, the seats will still have to be squeezed to fit correctly. Hopefully the carpet will stretch enough and look ok around the dent.

I've pretty much decided that I'm going to go with the American Racing Wheels Hopster series 550. I'm going to try to find a local reseller who can order them and hopefully it won't take too long.

In the mean time, I got the radiator/fan shroud/fan/overflow tank assembled, and I drilled and cleco'ed a few more aluminum panels.