Patrick's 427 Build

[Pat427]

Weight

In order to get titled in Texas, I had to get an official weight of the car. Some people have mentioned that you can just guess the weight and the people at the DMV don't care, but no such luck in my case. They wanted an official printed copy of the weight report. Well, luckily for me, there is an official CAT Scale at a truck stop about 5 miles from my house. I went there today and got the car weighed.

When I came out of the office, I found my car surrounded by about 8 truckers. I took me a good 15 minutes of chatting before I could leave. I feel this might become a common situation.

The car came in at 2560lbs. I'm not sure how they calculate power-to-weight ratio in terms of car performance, but I gotta think 538hp in a 2500lb car is pretty good.

[q4stix]

I'm sure each horse will really feel that 5lbs on its back

.21hp/lb slots you in right between a Ferrari 458 Speciale and an early Bugatti Veyron, so not too shabby at all!

[mark jones]

Beautiful, wish my budget would allow that combo.

[Pat427]

Clutch Fork

The past few times I've taken the car out for a drive, I've been having some trouble with the transmission going into gear. I got stuck at a red light and couldn't get the car into gear and I caused a mini traffic jam. I was able to eventually get pushed into a parking lot to remedy the issue.

It turns out the bolt holding the clutch cable to the transmission throw-out fork is coming loose which caused the clutch cable to wiggle loose from the fork. Luckily I was able to tighten that bolt enough to get the car back home.




Anyone else have this problem? Anyone have a solution? I was thinking about replacing the jamb nut with a locknut. Any thoughts?

[Hoooper]

loctite. Tighten the jamb nut tighter. A nylock may or may not work depending on how hot that clutch fork gets. A distorted thread nut should work well for it. When I have something like that which may get warm I would usually use a distorted thread nut in place of the the jamb nut.

[Pat427]

Legal and more...


Well...I'm legal. I went to the DMV with all my papers in order as per the Texas DMV website. The guy at the DMV had no idea what I was trying to do. I don't think he had ever heard of someone trying to register a kit car. He called his supervisor who appeared to have more knowledge about the situation. After a few minutes of them typing on the computer, they both came over to the little window and gave me my temporary tags and registration stickers. I couldn't believe it went through without any issues.




Also, the Texas Cobra Club is having their annual meet in a town about 8 miles north of where I live. I had the chance to go out there and meet some guys. Everyone was really nice and it was awesome to see so many Cobras out there. When I went out there, a lot of guys had gone for drives and the others were still covered up, but all-in-all there were about 100 cars out there.





Unfortunately, I'm on daddy daycare duties this weekend, so I can't take the car out there to hang out and go for rides, but still a cool thing to be happening so close to my home. Driving around town, I've seen packs of Cobras driving around. It's interesting to see the attention they command.

[Papa]

I wonder if this is the club Dave Smith was going to visit that he mentioned in his FFR Live update a couple of days ago.

[TMartinLVNV]

That is really awesome Pat. Every time I try to go to a meet, it gets cancelled

[Jeff Kleiner]

I wonder if this is the club Dave Smith was going to visit that he mentioned in his FFR Live update a couple of days ago.

Yes, it is. He texted me last night and said that the swab they used at the airport for the mandatory COVID testing must have been as long as his arm! I replied that you know what they say...everything is bigger in Texas

Jeff

[Fixit]

Back to your clutch cable/fork loosening problem...

What's the ty-rap in the picture? As that crushes/wears it'll introduce slop in the adjustment...

As I was thinking about this, the idea of a 1/2-circle/rounded washer (to register in the fork divot) came to mind. Then this came to mind... a rocker arm pivot ball rockerpivot.jpg
I dunno... depending on what engine they're for, they're bored with a 5/16" or 3/8" hole. Maybe this, then the adjuster nut, then the jam-nut (with blue loctite) might solve your issue.

[Pat427]

Advice:

I went out for a drive today and very quickly I noticed a grinding/scraping noise coming from the right side of the vehicle (hard to tell if it's from the front or rear of the car). Obviously, it's hard to pinpoint what is going on while driving. It sounds like metal scraping on something. It got worse as I drove, but luckily I made it back home without incident.

Upon visual inspection, I cannot see anything out of place or any obvious source of this sound.

My question is this: what are your suggestions for where to start when looking for a mysterious noise? Are there any, 'usual suspects' that ya'll can think of?

[Hoooper]

Rock stuck between the pad and rotor is a quick and easy one to check, both for the regular brakes and parking brake

[Papa]

I had some odd metal on metal noise on mine that I ultimately identified as the fuel tank moving around.

Dave

[Pat427]

Updates

So I finally got around to getting into the garage to figure out where the mysterious noise was coming from. I took off the front passenger tire and looked things overs. There was a bolt that had backed out from the brake caliper. See pic below.



I tighten the bolt and put the tire back on.

While I had the tire off, I snapped a couple pictures and wanted to see if I had these bolts in the correct position? Is the red arrow or yellow arrow the correct position?





Then I decided to adjust my steering column. The car was pulling a little to the left, so I took apart the column and rotated the column a few notched and re-assembled things.

Welp, as I was backing the car out of the garage in order to test drive and see if the mystery noise was gone, the steering column was locking up on me and I couldn't turn the wheel more than a few degrees. Crap.

Well, I had to tinker with the column for about an hour before I think I got it working again. No time to go for a drive because the wife is coming home and we've got a lot of house stuff to do.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Those are jamb nuts so that the adjustments don't change. Yellow is the correct location on the control arm and red is the correct location on the tie rod. If you've had the car aligned the guy doing it should have locked them all down---obviously that was not done on the tie rod.

Jeff

[Railroad]

The jam nut, yellow arrow on the tie rod end, needs to go against the tie rod end, red arrow.
Hold the tire rod and tighten the nut against it. You can put a little muscle on the nut. It needs to stay tight.
Check the other bolts on your brake calipers. That should not have been loose or an oversight.

[Pat427]

Mystery Noise Continued

For those of you following along, I've been having a mystery noise coming from the right side of the vehicle. It was a grinding noise and usually only heard when I tugged the steering wheel to the right. I had a tough time localizing the source, but I'm happy to say that it's been solved.

Before I go any further, I would like to take a minute to thank Carl, aka BadAsp427. Carl is like the Cobra whisperer. I texted him the issue and within about 30 seconds he identified the source of the sound. Carl has been instrumental in my success to this point.

Ok, let's get back to the rest of the story. (FYI, I'm not totally familiar with the terminology of wheel alignment, so please bear with me.)

The mystery noise was a result of the spring on the shock rubbing against the inner part of the wheel. Basically, the camber was way off causing the tire to be tilted too much inward thus making contact with the spring. See pic below:



Before I fixed the camber, the tire looked like this:



After I fixed the issue, it now looks like this:




So now there is no more rubbing of the tire on the shock and the mystery noise is gone. Despite this victory, I still have a question for the forum with respect to the Camber adjustment.

When I adjusted the camber, there was an upper and lower adjustment that could be made. I made the majority of the fix by adjusting the upper arm, which basically consisted of my unscrewing the bung on the upper control arm, which made everything more upright. I also tightened the lower control arm a little bit to help in making the wheel more upright, but I didn't adjust the lower as much as I did the upper.

What concerned me was the number of exposed threads on the upper control arm. See pic below.


I'm worried the upper adjustment bung is too far unscrewed and might work it's way out completely, thus causing the upper control arm to fall off the frame.

The reason I think this is because when I look at the other side of the car, the upper adjustment bung isn't nearly as unscrewed. See pic:


The passenger side bung has like 8-10 threads showing, whereas the drivers side only has 4-5 threads showing.

Is this a problem?

Thanks,

Patrick

[cv2065]

Sounds like you are in need of a professional alignment, get a better understanding of what they can and can't do, then go from there.

[BadAsp427]

Please, take it to an alignment shop, asap. You are going to do more damage either to the suspension or your tires. The rear suspension has both camber and toe adjustments that need to be set. The front has Camber, Caster and Toe. Get your ride heights set to what you want, about 4.75-5.00" and then take it to the alignment shop.

[Pat427]

Carl,

Yes, I took the car to the local Firestone today for an alignment appointment. Of course, when I got there, they said it could only be done by their master mechanic who wasn't available today. So, I have to return on Friday.

[Pat427]

Lifts

Any recommendations on a good car lift?

I'd really like a lift that can also allow me to store a car longterm. I know Papa has the Bendpak, but I was curious if anyone has other recs?

[460.465USMC]

Hi Pat. I also have a BendPak, but the four-post version. I bought it in 2016. It has a 9,000 lb max capacity (not that I will put 9,000 lbs on it). To me, the most important question to help narrow down your choices (other than safety) is how you plan to use it. You mentioned storage. If that's your primary intended use, then I highly recommend a four-post, as it will be the most stable (safety), and gives you area underneath it to store another vehicle. If your intention is mixed use (i.e. storage and vehicle maintenance), then I would recommend a two-post lift). Both types have their pros and cons, again, largely depending upon how you intend to use it. Feel free to PM me if you want any more info.

Another consideration is the AC power source. Many require 220VAC. If that's an issue in your situation, then look for one that will operate on 120 VAC (mine does - though Bendpak recommended 220 VAC). Running 220VAC to the lift location can be pretty expensive depending upon location of main electrical panel in relation to the lift, obstacles (i.e. attics, going underground, etc.), and whether you would run/wire it yourself.

P.S. Back when I was researching, my runner-up choice was Eagle lifts.

Hope this helps.

[nucjd19]

Lifts

Any recommendations on a good car lift?

I'd really like a lift that can also allow me to store a car longterm. I know Papa has the Bendpak, but I was curious if anyone has other recs?

I have a challenger 2 post 10000 lbs lift CL10V3 (ALI/ETL certified.) with the extensions at the top to give more clearance. They are a little more than Bendpack but are built in the USA ( Kentucky ) and have a killer warranty and service. They did an amazing job installing mine. I could not recommend them more. They do a four post and many variations
https://www.challengerlifts.com/

[Pat427]

I'm still here

I'm still here. It's been awhile since I've been active on the forum, but I'm back.

Life has thrown more curveballs at me. My wife and I moved to Nebraska. That makes three moves since I started the build, which I strongly recommend against anyone doing.

I'm just now getting back into working on the car.

I've discovered a squealing noise coming from the serpentine system. It sounds like it's coming from the alternator pulley, but I'm not sure. Plus, it looks like the power steering pump pulley is wobbling. Any advice would be appreciated!

Cheers,
Pat

[BadAsp427]

Pat, welcome back. First, check to see if the belt is tight. It should feel very tight. Push down on the longest stretch and you should not be able to move it more than about 1/8-1/4" and also in another good way to check the tension in a the serpentine belt is that it should not deflect more than ½ inch when twisted either way from the middle. If twisted more, the belt is loose, and if twisted less, the belt is too tight. If it is loose, try tightening it a bit and see if that takes care of the squeak. Also, did you have to jump start it after all this time? If so, you may just have a case of the alternator working hard and causing the possibly loose belt to slip a little. If you still see the pully on the PS wobbling, start by releasing the tension on the belt and see if you can feel/find any play in the pully you think is loose. Then (I'm guessing it wont be loose) Put the belt back on and be sure that the grooves in the belt are all in the correct grooves of the pully and retighten. This will get you started....

Now, when are you going to get it painted? How's the baby,,,, in college yet?

[Pat427]

Hey Carl, good to hear from you. I'm excited to get back into the build. I've missed being in the garage and talking with people on this forum. No paint yet, but hopefully I can get that arranged this summer.
The kid is good. Growing like a weed.

Thanks for the advice on the belt and pulleys. I have some time tomorrow morning, so I'm gonna take a look at what you mentioned and will post my findings.

[Pat427]

Squealing and Ceramic Coating Question

I replaced the serpentine belt, tightened it and the squeaky is still there. It's not a constant sound, instead it sorta comes and goes in a crescendo-decrescendo fashion. I'm taking the car into a mechanic in a couple weeks to have the alignment done again. The guy said he can look at what's causing the sound, so I'll likely just defer to an expert at this point.

Also, I was considering having my headers ceramic coated. Does anyone have thoughts on this move?

Thanks,
Patrick

[Railroad]

Did you turn the individual pulleys while you have the belt off? It sounds like a bad bearing to me. Could be in the alt or an idler pulley.
I had an alt pulley that actually rubbed the alt case. It generated a squeak and a lot of heat on the alt case.
good luck,

[Pat427]

So I ended up taking the car into a professional mechanic who played withe belts and got the squeaking to stop. He said it was too tight at the power steering pulley. I also had the alignment on the car re-done and had the oil changed.

I'm slowly getting back into the build.

More to come.

[BadAsp427]

So I ended up taking the car into a professional mechanic who played withe belts and got the squeaking to stop. He said it was too tight at the power steering pulley. I also had the alignment on the car re-done and had the oil changed.

I'm slowly getting back into the build.

More to come.

That is great news... FYI Pat, I'm going to be transporting a kit down to Katy TX from NY next week. Have you scheduled your paint work yet. Too bad I couldn't pick your up to take to GA with me on the way back. Either way. glad to see you are back at it. Carl