I couldn't wait any longer.... So, I took it out for a spin... Nothing crazy yet, just a slow cruise down the alley and back, I did get it going fast enough to shift into second though.

No major problems. I didn't tighten the side pipes down enough, so I had an exhaust leak on the drivers side and I had pulled the speedo gear plug a while ago to install the speedo (but I'm missing the speedo gear thingy) so, a bit of transmission oil leaked. I put the plug back in. I couldn't tell if the brakes felt good enough yet as I could barely reach them, but they did stop the car.

Before the next go-cart ride, I need to rig up a way to secure the seat and keep it forward enough for me to confortably reach the pedals. Plus I need to do all the things I really should have done before this go-cart ride.

I torqued down the front lower control arms, and tested the suspension for binding. To my surprise there was none. I really expected the ears on the mounting tabs to close in enough to bind up the poly bushings on the control arms.

I finally put zip ties on the last coil over shock to keep the spring on the perch.

I cut off the factory welded on bolts that are on the side pipes. These were supposed to attach to the rubber exhaust hanger and then to the frame, but factory five never updated them after they changed the frame. So, off them come, and I have to fabricate up some new way of mounting the hangers. I sorta got something working, but am not 100% happy with it, so I still have some figuring out to do.

Well, my whole plan of having the dash brushed and anodized fell apart. The bozo's who brushed it, must have spend 2 seconds with a piece of sand paper scratching up my dash before they anodized it. So, I went with the back up plan, which was to just use the vinyl that comes with the kit. In all honesty it turned out great, and I wonder if I even should have tried the anodized approach.

I temporarily mounted the side pipes, and fired it up to see how much a difference it makes. It really quiets down (relatively speaking) the noise, but not so much that it sounds wimpy. I still need to make my own brackets to hang the rubber exhaust hangers from.

"Plano" Matt stopped by Thursday night and helped me bleed my brakes. While the brake pedal isn't as firm as I'd like it, it's going to do for now. After I drive it, if I'm unhappy with it, I'll try again.

The dash didn't get dropped off until Wednesday, and was supposed to be ready Friday morning. Like everything else, nothing gets done on time, and the dash will not be ready until Monday (I hope).

I still had the car up on jack stands from the Thursday night bleed fest when I tested out the side pipes. So, since the rear end was up in the air, I put it and gear, and spun the rear wheels around a bit. Everything seemed to be working well. Hopefully the first go-cart ride will happen next weekend.

I touched up the paint on the gas tank, and reinstalled it onto the car. I got the Clutch Cable installed with the adjustment thing. I had to frabricate a bracket to keep the cable away from the steering shaft. I also wired up the neutral safety switch to the clutch safety switch. I ran the engine for a bit during the testing of the safety switch and the clutch cable. Everything seems to work fine.

I also installed the horns, and wired up the engine bay portion of it. I'll run the wires to the horn button after I get the dash back Tuesday. Speaking of which, the dash is getting dropped off tomorrow to be brushed and anodized black. Hopefully it will turn out as nice as I'm imagining it will.

I've also decided against painting the car silver. I attended the Texas Cobra Club meet a few weeks ago and, 8 out of 12 cars were silver. I've come up with a new plan, but I'm not gonna tell everyone what it is (some already know), you'll just have to wait and see.

Now that I'm over being sick, I can work on the car some more. Late tueday night after hearing "Plano" Matt's car running, I started to get very sick. I took Wednesday off from work, and pretty much slept 20 out of 24 hours that day. I was running a 102.8 degree fever, and thought that I was going to die. Too bad for you I didn't, and late on Thursday I was feeling almost back to normal. Unfortunately, of course this means I'll have to go back to work tomorrow.

I mocked up the gauges on the dash. 2 problems: 1st, the water temp guage mounting bracket is too small. 2nd once the gauges are wired/hooked up, you can't really remove them from the dash.

So, what this means is, I need to finalize my dash plans. Originally I wanted to have a dark grey (or black) annodized brushed aluminum look. I'm going to call an annodizing place tomorrow and get a quote. If it's too expensive, then I'll just go with a brushed aluminum look. Which means I need to track down someone with a belt sander, because I can't sand by hand in a straight line. My last resort, if the brushed aluminum look can't be pulled off, then I'll just cover it with the supplied vinyl.

I also fabricated two brackets for mounting the horns. I didn't finish the installation since I let "Plano" Matt borrow my hand riviter, I'm going to see if I can borrow them back tomorrow.

Lastly, I ordered my throttle cable and mounting bracket.

I'm not going to work on the car tonight, but I did go help "Plano" Matt with his car. We were trying to get his engine started, but after fixing a leak with his thermostat housing, and filling up his beast will all the necessary fluids, the fuel pump wouldn't start pumping. 20 minutes after I got home, he called and said the starter was at least trying to turn over the engine. Turns out the computer isn't too happy doing anything unless the clutch is pressed in. 20 minutes after that he calls to tell me he got it started! Turns out, he didn't have a good ground on his fuel pump. So, two cobra's got started up for the first time in North Dallas this weekend.

New 1st go cart ride items

• Install the guages
• Install the clutch cable adjustment knob
• Put some touch up paint on the gas tank, where the acetone and brake fluid ate through the paint
• Re-install the clean gas tank (I've been running the engine out of a gas can)

March 6th: The day the beast roared to life.

Man, it was awesome. Even with open headers, it wasn't too loud for me. Don't get me wrong, it was loud. But loud in the best way.

We found some coolant dripping. The amount that was on the floor, however seemed to be close to the amount that we spilled when filling the radiator. So, I'm holding off freaking out about a leak until tomorrow. [UPDATE] March 7th: "Plano" Matt came by to help me track down the leak. It turned out to be the upper radiator hose wasn't clamped down tight enough. We ran if for a few minutes after tightening down all the clamps, and no new drips.

Now I need to start the first "go cart ride" punch list.

• Torque down the front lower control arms
• Do a rough alignment
• Fix my soft pedal problem
• Install clutch cable
• Buy and install throttle cable and bracket
• ...more to come as I think about it

Getting closer!

Updated First Start List

• DONE! Buy and install a ground strap for the engine.
• DONE! Buy wire crimping/stripping/cutting tool
• DONE! Install headers
• DONE! Wire up the engine and ignition switch
• Clean Gas Tank and buy some gas
• DONE! Install Remote Radiator Filler
• DONE! 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
• DONE! 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
• DONE! Figure out how I want to run the throttle cable
• Holding off, not really needed for 1st start! Buy throttle cable mounting bracket
• DONE! Fill the transmission with transmission fluid
• DONE! Buy the right sized pulley belt
• DONE! Mount the fuse box

Rich stopped by and helped me with the wiring. He pretty much validated that how I was wiring it up, was correct. So, we started to cut all the required wires for starting the engine to the correct length. Unfortunately we need a double crimping tool. Rich has one at work, that he is going to borrow and bring by tomorrow. So hopefully tomorrow night we'll have the engine and ignition switch all wired up.

The correct length drive shaft arrived today. It got installed and the transmission is full of tranny fluid.

I had Rich (a mechanic by profession) check out my brake pedal feel. He said it feels too soft and that I still have air in the system. After he was messing with the brake pedal, I did a quick check for leaks, and found a slow leak at the passenger side front caliper. He also expressed concern that I could boil my brake fluid due to the distance that the brake line is from the header. And, he was concerned about my spark plug wires melting off due to how close they are to the headers as well. So, it looks like I'm going to need some 45 degree or 90 degree spark plug wire connectors.

Updated First Start List

• NEW! Buy and install a ground strap for the engine.
• DONE! Buy wire crimping/stripping/cutting tool
• DONE! Install headers
• Wire up the engine and ignition switch
• Clean Gas Tank and buy some gas
• DONE! Install Remote Radiator Filler
• DONE! 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
• DONE! 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
• DONE! Figure out how I want to run the throttle cable
• Holding off, not really needed for 1st start! Buy throttle cable mounting bracket
• DONE! Fill the transmission with transmission fluid
• DONE! Buy the right sized pulley belt
• DONE! Mount the fuse box

I called AMP yesterday, they forgot to send out my driveshaft. They "claim" that they are going to send it 2 day shipping, but we'll see if it arrives in time for the weekend festivities. I didn't order the throttle bracket yet, as I think I want to run the Lokar one, and AMP doesn't carry Lokar stuff. I'll most likely order the stuff from Summit.

The headers are on!!! What a total pain in the butt. It took me nearly 4 hours to install them. Mainly because the gasket holes were not opened enough, so that when I was trying to thread in the bolt, I would run into the gasket. Fearing cross threading the bolts, I filed some of the gasket holes a hair bigger, so they didn't get in the way. The second major pain, was getting a wrench on the bolts. There is no room in the engine bay to begin with, then on top of that, the bolts barely fit past the exhaust tubes.

I got the old radiator cap position capped off with a dry seal rubber plug thing. It's on there solid, and I hope it will hold. I have been told by the "experts" that this should work. I also picked up 2 hose clamps, and clamped off the last of the radiator hoses.

BTW, you can't fill the transmission without the drive shaft in place. The fluid will fall out the hole where the drive shaft goes in. I will have to wait on the correct drive shaft before I can finish filling the transmission.

I looked at a bunch of cars in Austin, and payed special attention to the throttle cable setups. I think I'm going to go with a "S" curve and stick with the standard mounting. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to order the parts I need tomorrow.

Here is the current plan. Tuesday, I will call AMP and see what the status on my drive shaft is, and I will order a throttle cable and mounting bracket. Thursday night, after I come back from Denver, I plan on doing a few hours of wiring. Friday I plan on stopping by the friendly neighborhood gas station with my trusty 3 gal gas can. I will continue with the wiring as necessary on Friday night. Saturday (hopefully a nice sunny day), I will drop the gas tank and flush it out first with acetone, then with a small amount of gasoline. Here is the problem, if the drive shaft has arrived before Saturday night, then it will get installed, and I will fill the transmission. If it has not arrived, then the whole starting the engine on Sunday will be put on hold. If everything goes as planned, then Sunday I will fill the radiator and gas tank, and turn the key.

Updated First Start List

• DONE! Buy wire crimping/stripping/cutting tool
• DONE! Install headers
• Wire up the engine and ignition switch
• Clean Gas Tank and buy some gas
• DONE! Install Remote Radiator Filler
• DONE! 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
• DONE! 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
• DONE! Figure out how I want to run the throttle cable
• Buy throttle cable mounting bracket
• Need correct drive shaft, first Fill the transmission with transmission fluid
• DONE! Buy the right sized pulley belt
• DONE! Mount the fuse box