15th Jan 2009 - Spoke to Andy at GD today about my body shell. Unfortunately for Andy he has been off sick with a flu bug, so things are a bit behind. I was expecting the body next week, but Andy reckons now it should be ready for me on the first week in February. Not to long to wait and I still need to get transport and willing hands organised yet!!
While I was on the phone, I asked about the options for the bonnet scoop, as I had heard that you could have it integrated and blended into the bonnet rather than the more popular bolt on affair. Andy said that was not a problem and comes in at the same price, so I am opting for that. As Andy pointed out, the screw\bolt on version was just to conform to the authenticity of the original car. I'm not to worried about that and like the look of the bonnet scoop blended in so that's what I'm going for. Also I get the added bonus of not having to cut out the hole in the bonnet myself!!! I took some pics on my phone camera when I was there recently, they aren't brilliant but give the general idea. (see below)
22nd Feb 2009 - Picked the body shell up today, a monumental occasion!!! Been building up to this for nearly three years!! The father of a guy I work with is partners in a haulage business so for the price of the the diesel he brought one of his curtain sided lorries for me. It was a little big but better than the other way, and made things a lot easier for getting the body in and out. I rounded up a motley crew to help and things went fairly straight forward. Fortunately I only live 25 minutes away from Gardner Douglas (how handy is that?!!!) so we were there and back in no time.
The body fits onto my frame well (thanks for the idea Simon), and I can get the chassis in and out from underneath. Hopeful I will be able to get the body onto the chassis fairly soon. Simon Said he had issues with the boot section sagging while it was on the frame. I have rigged a support at the end of my frame to try and stop that, but after talking to both Simon and Andy at GD, even if it does sag a bit, the problem is not insurmountable.
The motley crew in the last picture below are the guys I got together to help. Quite a range of ages but all one thing in common......they are all "Petrol Heads". The cars owned or have owned or built is pretty impressive. Rick, the younger guy in the picture owns a Nissan 350Z. Stuart the guy on the left totally renovated to showroom condition an Austin Healey 3000 (fabulous car). The other guys have a smattering of Caterham's, Lotus Elise's, MG's and not to mention a Norton Dominator!!!!
Right, lots to do, better get busy!!!!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Also today I started the fabulous job of painting liquid rubber on the inside of the wheel arches etc. Lots of fun!!! As much as I didn't enjoy doing it, its very necessary to avoid the gel getting cracked from underneath by flying stones etc. Apart from the wheel arches, I did the inside of the engine bay forward of the radiator and also the underside of the floor pan of the boot. Got the first coat on today, but it needs a second. Nice job for me over Easter!!!
27th May 2009 - I spent an hour this evening sorting the foot well extension and wheel arch cavity covers. I am using Jack Nuts to secure them, as normal Rivnuts would not hold in the relatively thin GRP. Once the Jack Nuts were fitted and the body drilled to accept M5 bolts, I stuck some 20mm wide by 4mm thick, Neoprene rubber strip around the cover, to essentially seal it and make a snug fit. Once fitted I used Simon's idea of shining a torch to see if there was any light visible....which there wasn't!! The footwell extension has to be left off until the body is fitted otherwise it would snag when lowered the body on.
Even though the Neoprene strip should seal both the footwell extension and the wheel arch cavities, I might just paint a bit of liquid rubber round the edges of the covers, before I drive the car in anger. Can't see what harm it would do, and I won't be taking these covers off very often.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
8th June 2009 - I was away for the weekend so spent some time this evening preparing to test the hydraulics. As with a lot of good ideas I have used while building this car, I got the following one from Simon Rudman.
Because I did the brake pipe flaring myself, I am not 100% sure I am not going to have any leaks!! So the idea is as follows. I made the frame that the body is sitting on so that the rolling chassis could go underneath. This has allowed me to roll the chassis almost to where it should sit under the body. With the two part braded hydraulic hoses for the brakes and clutch joined together and routed straight down, rather than through into the engine bay (see pictures below), I could just connect them to the Hydraulic couplings on the bulkhead part of the chassis. This enables me to fill the Hydraulic system and test, before the body goes on. Now, if there are any leaks when I test the system, it will be far easier to get to the problem than if I had the body on!! I've not been able to test tonight as my wife is out and I need someone to press the peddles while I bleed (the brakes that is!!). That's a job for this weekend coming!
3rd June 2009 - I had a day off today so I fitted the Pedal Box. This is a sod of a job, mainly because the Pedal Box is so heavy and ungainly. I wanted to fit it before the body went on, because like Simon Rudman, I wanted to check the hydraulics for leaks. It will be far easier to fix if there are any, with the body off. GD had cut out the Pedal Box opening for me and drilled one central hole for the fixing bolts. I made a bracing plate out of a bit of steel bar and then used this as a template to mark and drill the other four holes for the bolts.
Once the Pedal Box was fitted I temporarily fitted the Steering Column Support Bar. This bar also acts as a support for the pedal box. It will need drilling for rivnuts to secure the pedal box brace bar, but I can do that later once I know the Pedal Box doesn't have to come out again! I then attached the hoses from the reservoirs to the Master Cylinders. All I need now are the braided hoses from the reservoirs that join to the bulkhead ones. Andy is having trouble getting them and its holding me up for testing the hydraulics now. .
30th June 2009 - At last, three years from the start of the project, I have fitted the body!!! At last it is starting to look like a car!
The body is heavier than you think when trying to manoeuvre it onto the chassis. GD say a minimum of three people but I think that would be woefully under gunned. I had five guys and it was still a bit awkward. Firstly I rolled the chassis out of the garage and greased the mounting brackets with Vasoline. We then lifted the body on and with a bit of grunting and groaning, and a bit of "Jiggling" it was on! I think the back end has dropped a little bit while it was on my stand because the body won't butt up tightly to the bulkhead fittings. I am about .25" short on both sides. I have spoken to Andy about this and he reckons its not uncommon and I should use a bit of 2" x 3" between the rear wheen and body sill to ease it forward. I will try that this weekend coming and see how I get on. If that doesn't work I will try the method that Simon Rudman did and jack up the back and pack under the boot section with wood. Then weight both passenger bays as far back to the bulkhead as possible with 50 or 60Kg's and leave for a couple of days for it to ease back into place.
4th July 2009 - Final body securing bolts in today. Taking GD's advice, I eased the whole thing forward with a bit of wood and then with the help of a friend, "jiggled" it forward a bit till the bulkhead fixings were as near as dam it, in line. So, I fastened them up, followed by the rest of the engine bay area. A couple had to be eased open laterally with the Dremel but nothing to serious, maybe 1-2mm. I then moved onto the Tunnel bolts which again were about 1-2mm out. With all those fitted, the only ones left to do are the two in the boot. I need to think about these as there are no pre drilled holes.
11th July 2009 - I fitted the foot well extension plate today. This could not be fitted before the body goes on because it fouls the chassis when initially fitting the body. Its a bit awkward getting it fitted after, but I eventually sorted it. I used dome headed M5 bolts to fit through the Jack Nuts. These have a smaller profile for when I eventually fit the carpet. Even though I had fitted foam rubber round the edge of the footwell extension, I thought I would make doubly sure of it being waterproof so painted a layer of liquid rubber round the inside joint. Better safe than sorry!!!
21st Aug 2009 - I had to take the Pedal box out so I could put the Accelerator Pedal back on. I also needed to put the brake light switch on.
Spoke to Andy about fixing the bracket that holds the brake pedal switch, and he says they normally drill and tap an M6 thread and then just bolt the switch to the Pedal Box frame, so that's what I did. It was relatively easy and the result was as desired.
Once the switch was on and the accelerator pedal was back on, I could put the pedal box back. Now putting it in the first time was bad enough, but taking it out and then putting it back in again was a real sod!!! The main problem is the limited amount of space you have to work in. Also, the five bolts that hold the pedal box to the bulk head are really difficult to get at. After trying with spanners and sockets I finally settled on using Hex headed bolts. What I did was to put an Allen key into the bolt head and wedge it against anything handy, then I gently went round the other side and tightened up the nyloc. The Allen Key fell out a few times but eventually I got them all in!! Really hope this doesn't have to come out again for the carpets!!
Last job was to fit the throttle cable. I originally cut a slot in the top of the throttle pedal and then drilled a groove for the nipple to sit in. This always bothered me, so I eventually settled on a stainless steel collar round the top of the throttle pedal. The cable passed through this and then the solderless nipple was attached. A bit long winded but it worked and I was happy. I still put a second nipple on and then tied a not in the remaining cable!!! Just a bit paranoid about the cable coming free!! I got a spring loaded connector from Venhill (the supplier of my throttle cable), to connect the cable to the carb, this worked fine and was easy to fit. The cable then fed through the bulkhead under the hydraulic hoses into the wheel arch cavity and then through into the foot well and throttle cable (I had to drill a hole above the pedal box for the cable to pass through).
The next job was to patch the hole. Basically I filled it with filler, taping a bit of alloy shuttering on each side to hold it till it set. I left that overnight and then to make doubly sure I mixed some epoxy resing and fibre glass matting and covered both sides with that. Once all this was dry I painted it to hide the cock up (even though it will be behind the petrol tank!!). I will put some liquid rubber on the inside of the wheel arch to cover that side.
Lesson learned!!!
 |
 |
 |
 |
To give myself a break from the rubbing down, I decided to start the task of fitting the roll hoops. This is quite a daunting task on its own, as you have to drill big holes in you lovely shiny body!! Firstly I had to take the back wheels off and stand the rear of the car on axle stands. You can just about fit the stands on the rear diff carrier (see pics below).
 |
 |
Another necessity I had delivered this weekend was a Vectra steering wheel. This came from E-Bay for 8 quid and is a necessity
|
|
 |
 |
for the IVA because the sports wheel I want will not be compliant.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
I started with 400 grit after taking the serious flash off with a file, then went to 800 followed by 1200. I will finish off before compound and polish with 1500 grit.
If you look at the first picture below you will see one of the difficult bits when doing this yourself. Along the door edges seems to be a meeting of two or three layers of GRP. To get a smooth finish you need to do a lot of rubbing and very quickly you are breaking through the gel. I can't see any way round this. What I have done (pics to follow) is rub it down till its smooth, then paint a thin layer of gel on and rub down again. Slowly but surely I am getting the finish I want.
The second picture below show the nearside front wing. There was sort of an indentation in it. When I tackled Andy he went into a long story about gel settling etc etc etc. Basically I have rubbed the imperfection out now so will hopefully look perfect once it is compounded and polished.
12th Sept 2009 - So, Can't really progress till I get the body flash lines removed and it rubbed down. I want to fit the roll hoops next but need to sort the body out first. Not had much time recently so I was determined to spend some time this weekend rubbing the flash lines down. I am doing the flash lines only, and then will compound and polish. If it looks OK I will leave it at that. If it doesn't I will go over the whole body. The job needs doing outside of the garage as its a bit messy!! Anyway the weekend weather was good, so away I went...............
 |
 |
 |
 |
31st July 2009 - Picked up the GRP dash today from GD and also the dash loom. I'm not quiet at the stage of fitting it, but wanted to make sure I understand all the wiring etc. I am using the type of dash that fits down to the transmission tunnel, rather than the classic straight across. I am also incorporating a glove box. I can imagine this will be a sod to line, but everything is possible!!
12th July 2009 - I fitted the final two body securing bolts today. The two that were remaining are in the boot and attach to the mountings at the back of the chassis. The main problem is that the holes aren't drilled, because the Euro Chassis and Standard Chassis have different dimensions. What I had to do (and it worked quite well), was to drill a 1mm pilot hole at the edge of the mounting from under the car. Then, from in the boot, I took a million measurements and drilled a pilot hole from inside the boot. This found me the mounting bracket threaded hole and I then drilled a bigger hole to put the bolt through. A bit of faffiing about, but it worked well and now the body is fully secured and attached to the Chassis. If you look closely, you can see the inital pilot hole next to the bolt. I just filled them eventually with a bit of Isopon.
5th July 2009 - Now the excitement of the body fitting is over, its time to move on!! I decided to fit the front under tray and secure the oil cooler. The tray is a little awkward to fit. Essentially the slots cut into the trailing edge of the under tray (pre cut by GD) fit in between the radiator bottom fittings and the chassis mount. Don't take the bolts all the way out as they are a sod to fit back in!! The edges of the tray bolt to the inner wing, and add rigidity to this part of the body. It's best to bolt the oil cooler (if you have one) to the tray before the final fitting as it would be difficult to get the bolts tightened once the tray is in place.
22nd June 2009 - Body fitting getting nearer!! I stuck on the foam strip that cushions the body tonight. Having listened to a couple of people, there is no need to stick it on the Diff carrier so I just stuck it on the tunnel and the rear body support plate. I also cut the hole in the tunnel for the gearstick. Measured about 20 times and cut once with a brilliant attachment for my Dremel. Its a radius cutter and cost £9. Worth its weight in gold and made a perfect hole!!
31st May 2009 - Not much done this weekend. Good weather stopped play!!! things like gardening, BBQ's etc etc got in the way!!! I did manage to fit the fluid reservoirs though in readiness for trying the hydraulics out, once I have fitted the Pedal Box.
30th April 2009 - Finally picked up the pedal box from Gardner Douglas. It may be bleeding expensive, but its certainly a masterpiece of engineering. Its fairly heavy as well so should have lots of fun fitting it!! I want to get it fitted before the body goes on so that I can test the hydraulic connections for leaks. It will be a lot easier to rectify any issues with the body off.
10th April 2009 - Got the final coat of paint on the engine bay. I need to leave it a while (maybe a week) and then just wipe it over with 1500 grit, followed by a good polish. I'm quite pleased with the result and I don't think I would have made such a good job messing about with Gel Coat. I'll leave that to the professionals!! The finish is better than the picture shows. The flash reflects back of tiny specs that will smooth with the sanding and polishing.
4th April 2009 - After filling, sanding and smoothing, I reached a the point where I could prime the engine bay. I was just going to do the bulkhead, but decided in the end to do the whole engine bay!! It looks a decent job, so I hope I can get a good finish with the paint.
27th Mar 2009 - Tackled the bulk head join tonight. After preparing, I filled it with Isopon P38 filler with up to a 3" width. I then sanded with 400 grit followed by 1200 wet and dry and this has created a very smooth finish with no edges. This stuff is formulated for easy sanding and smoothing, and it does what it says on the can!!!
I now have to lightly scour the whole engine bay with a Scotch Brite and make sure everything is clean then I will prime it with a high build primer. Once primed, two coats of colour matched cellulose paint (got the code from Andy - RAL9005), and that should be job done. I got the paint from a company called Autopaint in St Helens (via the Internet). I gave them the RAL code and they mixed it for me. It was £6.99 a can and I bought two, which should be easily enough.
17th Mar 2009 - Back from Holiday and an evening free!! What better way to pass a few hours than removing flash lines in the engine bay!!! I carefully used a file to take down the bulk of the flash line and then started with 400 wet and dry, followed by 800 and 1200. It took me a couple of hours to do both sides and I'm fairly pleased with the result. I haven't quite finished and it will need a little more work before spraying but I'm fairly happy so far.
Just got the bulk head join to do now. I am going to follow Lee Topham's example and spray the engine bay. I am not confident of a good join using Gel on the bulk head gap. There is about a 1/4" step so I will fill it with about a 2-3" width then smooth it with wet and dry. After that I will prime the whole engine bay and use some colour matched cellulose paint, and spray it. I have the colour match code from Andy. Looking at Lee's, its as good or better than compounding and polished Gel, and what's more, it will be a damned site easier considering the confines of the engine bay!
23rd Feb 2009 - Bit concerned about the frame. Its OK standing still and supporting but thought I ought to brace the legs a bit more for moving it backwards and forwards. I'm still a bit concerned about climbing aboard when its on the frame. I need to fit the pedal box before I take it off the frame to mount on the chassis, in order to bleed the brakes as Simon Rudman did with his. Will have to give this operation some thought!!!
8th Feb 2009 - I've been agonising over the cost of the pedal box additions to make it fully adjustable. Its over £500 on top of the standard pedal box. Having spoken to various people on the Cobra Club website, I've sort of made my mind up that it's a good (but expensive) idea. I ordered the body with the longer footwell in order to accommodate the adjustable pedal box, but having had lots of time to think about it, I thought I would try and find a cheaper alternative. That search has failed (I found some alternatives but they weren't very satisfactory), so I have decided to bite the bullet and I will be ordering the fully adjustable kit from GD (after I've saved up a bit more due to shelling out for the body and other bits!!!).
I took some pics of the built in bonnet scoop on my phone camera when I was there recently, the pictures aren't brilliant but give the general idea. (see below).
16th Nov 2008 - Spent some of the weekend constructing a frame to go over my rolling chassis so that I can support the body when it comes. I unashamedly stole the idea from Simon Rudman but hey........why re-invent the wheel!!!! (Thanks Simon). The idea is that I can roll the chassis in and out of the garage (I only have a large single garage) making working on the body (underseal, wiring, etc etc) easier, before I drop it onto the chassis when ready. I will also keep the frame afterwards for when I need to take the body off in the future (different engine etc).
24th October 2008 - Went to Gardner Douglas today to have a look at a Mk 4 Body, to see what I could do myself. Looking at the flash lines, both in the engine bay and on the body itself, and I have decided to do all the preparation myself! I had a long chat with Andy and I feel that I can save myself a lot of money, and do a good job myself. Surprisingly (seeing as GD are in the business to make money), Andy agreed!! What seems to be the only difficult bit is the seam in the engine bay, but having spoken to a few builders, and Andy, I don't think it will be insurmountable.
Anyway, after a stooge around and a chat to Andy and Meena, I put my order in for the Body!! I also ordered while I was there the following:-
| General body metalwork |
| Catches, Locks, Handles and Bolts |
| Body Loom, relays and fuse box |
| Pre fitted body panels |
| Pre cut body holes |
I hadn't intended ordering it just yet, but Andy said there is roughly a ten week lead time, which takes me to the end of December. That suits me fine so the order is in, and now I'm excited!!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |