Rebostar MK4 Build in Gaston Oregon

[Rebostar]

Not sure I can describe this very well but I'll try. If you leave the end of the diagonal brace as it is you'll need to really enlarge the opening in the body to get the Breeze bar in when it's welded together. Obviously the bar is going to drop straight in. If you look at the weldment from the side, draw a vertical line on the end of the diagonal brace and cut that piece out so when you drop it in you don't need as big of an opening in the body. I might have to do a sketch

Mike Everson has trim rings for the Breeze bar.

Mike, Thanks for the heads up. I have a pair of Mike Everson's trim rings. On the rear brace,... If I understand you correctly, I should cut the rear bar parallel with the lower section of the hoop. This would make it appear as a 45' cut on the tube. That would allow the roll bar assembly to come straight up once the slider section is up into the rear bar.
Question: How far below the body does the upper slider bolt live once I drill the two slider holes. I'm concerned about that bolt hitting the body or trim rings.

[Mike.Bray]

Mike, Thanks for the heads up. I have a pair of Mike Everson's trim rings. On the rear brace,... If I understand you correctly, I should cut the rear bar parallel with the lower section of the hoop. This would make it appear as a 45' cut on the tube. That would allow the roll bar assembly to come straight up once the slider section is up into the rear bar.
Question: How far below the body does the upper slider bolt live once I drill the two slider holes. I'm concerned about that bolt hitting the body or trim rings.

You are correct on the cut.

As far as the bolt through the diagonal brace/sleeve I put mine pretty close to the bottom of the diagonal. I don't remember how far below the body it's not close to interfering. I would go look for you but my car is at the photo studio right now. You can get a feel for where the body is by looking at the sheet metal behind the seat as the body sits on that.

Hope this helps.

[Rebostar]

You are correct on the cut.

As far as the bolt through the diagonal brace/sleeve I put mine pretty close to the bottom of the diagonal. I don't remember how far below the body it's not close to interfering. I would go look for you but my car is at the photo studio right now. You can get a feel for where the body is by looking at the sheet metal behind the seat as the body sits on that.

Hope this helps.

Mike,
Sure looks good.....I noticed its BLUE!!!!

On the roll bar. Next time you get a chance can you measure the distance between the bottom side of the top of the hoop just in from the fishmouth cut on the rear down tube, to the top of the rear trim ring. I'm having nightmares about cutting mine to short. I measured mine and tried to estimate where on the body it will be, but without installing the body it was a fools errand. I transfered the the angle of the lower hoop to the rear down tube and it still looks like I'm to short and the 45' cut will stick out of the trim ring. Not gonna cut it till I'm 100% sure. I was thinking I'd give Mark a call on Monday.

Allyn
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[Rebostar]

I finaly have the breeze roll bars mounted except for the cut mentioned above. But the hoop is drilled so I could finish the upper trunk deck with the footbox blowers, the USB port, the cubby, and all the aux lights. I spent $150 for good quality aircraft scatt tube for the ducting but after I installed it I hated it. So I'll use the cheaper aluminum ducts I started with.

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[Rebostar]

I sorted out the emergency brake situation. Before I spent the $500. for an electronic brake I thought I'd see if I could fabricate something that would work. I bought the Wilwood universal e brake cable kit when I bought my rearend housing. This emergency brake system is the Wilwood drum style so the kit works. What I did not like was the FFR system with the cable rubbing the finish off the 4" cross tube. Someone posted a pic of them using pullies to get the cables routed correctly. I used his idea. I expanded it somewhat as I added 2.5 inches to the bottom of the lever where the cable attaches. This gets everything off and away from the mounting frame with a direct shot to the pully then up to the upper cable sheath attach points. I used the two into one block supplied with the Willwood cable kit. I drilled a 3/8 hole in the 1" diagonal frame to mount the pulley. Works great! Three clicks and its engaged, and the cable doesnt rub on anything!

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[Rebostar]

For anyone following my build, you know I had a small oil leak (seep) possibly coming from the china wall/head interface area. Today I broke the engine down and did not find any smoking gun where I could say "yea I found the leak". So off with the heads!! No smoking gun there either. But I did buy new composite fel-pro head and intake gaskets so I re-sealed everything. Heads and intake back on now. Tomorrow should see a test run to see if all the work pays off. If so engine and transmission go in next!!

[Rebostar]

We have a win!! I ran the engine on the run stand today for about 20 minutes. I thought I took a video, but it turned out to be 2 seconds long! Go figure! So no pics or vids. But the run was bone dry! No oil leaks, no water leaks. I replaced all the run stand senders with the units that came with the Moal Bomber Gauges. I also installed the new Carter fuel pump. Tomorrow should have the engine and transmission mated and ready for install.

[Rebostar]

As promised, engine will go in the car tomorrow morning. Today I got the pilot bearing, clutch, pressure plate, & throw out bearing installed on the engine. Seemed to take forever, I had to make alignment dowles to center the pressuer plate, then had to run to the local Ace to get the correct hardware. On the transmission, getting the fork, throwout bearing and pivot installed was tricky. Good thing I had a 7/8 crows foot to tighten the pivot after the fork and bearing were installed. After that it was just adding the engine and transmission mounts and installing the bonding braid. I'm gonna follow AAron's lead and use the engine hoist, 4 post lift, a floor jack, and a couple of tie down straps and install it myself. I'll give a full report tomorrow if I'm not in the hospital!!

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[Grubester]

Yeah, on June 4th Merle and I and Lance saw that damn leak with you while it was running on your stand (did Lance see it first...?), but I guess I would have felt devastated to have to revisit a disassembly/reassembly job! Wait: that's what we builders sign up for... the occasional "backing up" as we reassess.

[Rebostar]

Well the snake has a heart! Now to get it beating! Engine/TKX install went slick as butter. The only snag was a pesky aluminum boss (unused) that sat on the emergency brake attach bracket not letting the right side come down all the way. Luckily I have a pnumatic mini reciprocating saw and was able to cut the boss off in place. I just cut from the center of the hole outward. The boss overlapped the bracket by 1/4 inch. I cut off 1/2". That allowed the assembly to drop right in place. Lots of clearance now. I forgot to order an output yoke. So I cant set the pinion angle yet. I'm assuming Summit will get it to me early next week. For now the engine/TKX is in. I may have to shim the rear mount for proper pinion angle, we'll see. Kinda bummed the mounts set at the top of the allowable mount slots, I would have liked them near the bottom, thinking about air cleaner clearance down the road.

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[Rebostar]

The engine install went so smoothly I had lots of time to assemble some of the accessories. I installed the starter, the 750 cfm Brawler carb, ignition wires, FE expansion tank and altinator. I plummed the fuel line from the regulator to the Carter fuel pump. I'm going to route the pump output to the carb behind the engine where it will pick up the right side fuel inlets. This will keep the front of the engine a little less cluttered. That wont happen untill I get my Forte throttle linkage some time next week.

One thing I noticed about that FE expansion tank, the return hose that will come off it to the radiator will have to go right where the top of the FFR overflow tank is now. In addition there is only 3/8" clearance between the tank and altinator pulley. (not enough!). I'm pretty sure I'm gonna loose the overflow tank and keep the FE expansion tank. In 65 they had FE expansion tanks and they did not have coolant overflow tanks. Though now I believe they are required at every track so I may have to re-design the cooland tank installation.....we shall see! "More will be revealed".

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[F500guy]

looking good!

[Rebostar]

I removed the coolant overflow tank. I'm not sure I'll replace it. I'll look to see if there is somewhere else to mount it or a smaller one once I have the FE expansion tank plummed to the radiator inlet. Todays festivities included running a fuel line from the Carter pump outlet to the right side carb inlets. I decided that it will not interfere with the Forte throttle linkage. Then I ran the wire bundle that will go to all the engine sensors and inputs. The small size grey conduit I'm using is on back order from Summit, so I wont get those terminated for a couple weeks. I also made a couple standoffs so I could secure the altinator wire to the right engine mount with clamps.

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[Rebostar]

The exhaust headers are on just to check clearances.
The Stainless FFR Headers will discolor after just a few hours run time. All the Harley pipes I've used in the past turned straw or blue from heat, thats why they all came with chrome covers!. I watched F500guy's headers turn a light straw on the initial startup and about 15 minutes run time. I will be taking them off and then to the local ceramic coating shop along with the side pipes before running the engine with the headers on.

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[Rebostar]

Its hot!! 102 today near Portland Oregon. Only spent 5 hrs in the shop today.
I did get a shifter made though. I've been saving this cyclic stick handle for 25 years waiting for the right time to use it. As a matter of fact I've built the entire car around this piece (cyclic handle). For those who dont know what a cyclic stick is, its the primary directional contol input lever on all modern helicopters. This one came out of a Sikorsky CH-54 Skycrane rear pilots control station. In a Skycrane there is a second pilot station facing rearward to better see the external load, for presicion picks and sets. The cyclic inputs move the aircraft forward and aft, and side to side around the aircraft Pitch/Roll axis. The collective (operated with the pilots other hand moves the aircraft up and down, increasing and decreasing power input). His feet on the "rudder" peddles increase and decrease the tail rotor blade pitch angle, thus compensating for main rotor torque. This controls the aircraft in the Yaw axis.
But I digress, a friend of mine working for Silver Bay Logging out of Juneau Alaska gave it to me after re-wireing an entire helicopter (CH-54). This is why my dash resembles a
P-51D Mustang instrument pannel. The outside of this car will be as true to the origonal Cobra as I can make it. The cockpit will look and feel like a WWII fighter. I have the carbon fiber sheets on the way to cover the tunnel. And yes, there will be cup holders!! Per the "chief".
The last pic is the FE expansion tank overboard drain hose, in place of the overflow tank that wont fit!

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[Higgybulin]

Very cool!
Higgy

[Rebostar]

While I'm waiting for the transmission yoke to arrive this Thursday, I decided to fit the drivers seat. I read Lance's (F500guy) drivers seat instalation with input from J.K. First thing I did was put the seat in the car and see where it was the most comfortable. I'm 6'2" so its as far back as the footbox blower duct will allow. This puts the seat back a half inch from the rear wall with a 2x2 wedged under the front frame. Then I marked where the seat was on the floor in black. I took J.K.'s advice and positioned the seat adjuster rails parallel with the transmission tunnel in the most rear position then marked those in red. Taking the measurments from the floor I cut a 3/16" 10.5"x13" plate. Then I took a 12" 1x2 1/8" wall rectangle tube and cut two tapered runners and welded them to the plate. Then mounted the seat adjusters to those. This will raise the front of the seat 1.5 inches and when adjusted forward it will follow the tunnel wall while keeping the seat pointed at the steering wheel. Tomorrow I'll mount the seat frame to the sliders, then see how it all works. I'll lay it out on the floor and make sure it fits where I need it to be before drilling though the 3/16 plate and the floor structure. Stay tuned!!

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[Rebostar]

I made the passenger seat attachment frame today. This will not be adjustable. I moved it forward just enough to mount a fire extingusher verticly behind the pax seat close to the tunnel. I made a pair of wedges similar to the drivers seat (see above post) to raise the front of the seat about 1.5 ". I welded nuts to attach the seat to the frame, then just drilled 4 holes to mount the seat assembly to the floor. I primed and painted both seat attachment frames gloss black. These will go on the shelf along with the seats untill I'm ready to go-cart.

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[Rebostar]

Slow day today. Received my Breeze fan shroud, lower hose and support clamp yesterday. Fit, preped, and painted the shroud this morning. (pics when mounted). Spent most of the day dropping off the exaust system at the ceramic coaters and the transmission yoke to the driveshaft shop. I expect to have the exhaust system (less side pipes) ready to install in a couple weeks. The drive shaft will be complete in a week. Then we get to set pinion angles! In the mean time I have lots to do. Tomorrow starts at 7 am in the shop.

[JMD]

Following the build, love the theme...definitely a one of a kind!

[Rebostar]

I got the fan mounted today. All pretty straight forward. I painted the Breeze shroud Summit "carbon fiber grey metalic" the same color as the FE expansion tank. The only difference in the radiator mounting is I used 5ea 3/4" shock mounts to mount the top of the radiator and made my own lower "Breeze" style mount. I clamped the front light wire conduit to the lower mount to cross over to the pax side. The Breeze lower tube was also straight forward. I did test fit the water pump flex line from the Breeze Lower Tube Kit onto the FE expansion tank and it was a perfect fit. So I'll be getting that piece from Mark. I ordered a 2 ft S.S. 1.5" tube for the upper radiator return line. I also ordered a cheap tube beading tool from Bezos. I expect the upper return line to match the lower Breeze line. The line on there now is a test fit. It will not be on long.

I recieved the Forte throttle linkage today and started mounting it. The 3/8 S.S. cross piece is mounted. The carb link is cut and made. Tomorrow should see it done.

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[Mike.Bray]

I ordered a 2 ft S.S. 1.5" tube for the upper radiator return line. I also ordered a cheap tube beading tool from Bezos. I expect the upper return line to match the lower Breeze line.

Curious to why stainless steel for a radiator line? Aluminum is more than strong enough, polishes up nicely, and is a lot easier to work than stainless which you know. I have quality tube beaders from Earl's and they work like a champ on aluminum but won't bead stainless.

[Rebostar]

Curious to why stainless steel for a radiator line? Aluminum is more than strong enough, polishes up nicely, and is a lot easier to work than stainless which you know. I have quality tube beaders from Earl's and they work like a champ on aluminum but won't bead stainless.

Mike
I have a nice peice of 1.5" aluminum I bought from Mcmaster Carr to use for the upper hose. I just wanted to have my upper hose match the lower Breeze hose if I can. Purely estetic!

[Rebostar]

I finished up the Forte throttle linkage today.
IMPORTANT NOTE: For those going to install the Forte throttle linkage. After drilling the 1/8" holes through the lever arms and shaft, it might be easier to install the outer (left side) roll pin through the lever and shaft before installing shaft. You'd have to feed the shaft in from the left. Very hard to line up the holes in the lever with the hole in the shaft, and nothing to back up the lever while tapping in the roll pin. I had to use a bucking bar with a 1/8 peice of steel taped together resting on the 3/4 tube in order to drive in the roll pin. I did not have the fuse box/buss bar mounted in the FFR location so I could get my paws in there. If your installing the shaft with the fuse box/ buss bar installed good luck! The inner lever is a no brainer as it will be supported by the inner shaft support. Also, saftey wire the roll pin. I've seen em' back out after a lot of wear and use.

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For the trans tunnel cover I'm making a carbon fiber cover. I cut the carbon fiber today. Assembly over the weekend.
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[Rebostar]

I epoxied the 1" carbon fiber strips to a 3/4x 1/2" aluminum angle. When that set, I epoxied those to the tunnel cover. I made the cover 3/4" wider to allow for the 1/4" Duramat and carpet. I looked for carbon fiber 1" angle 31" long but all I could find was over $300 each. That wont happen, so I'm using aluminum angle stock with the carbon fiber attached. We'll see how it turns out.

I also picked up my custom made drive shaft this morning and painted it "Carbon Fiber Grey Metalic". The same color as the rear end housing.

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[Rebostar]

well...crap! Reading a post concerning engine fitment it was pointed out that a fellow had his brake and clutch resivoirs to far forward to clear the left hood prop rod. So do I!!! J.K. and another poster gave a couple dimensions. 13" fwd of the footbox or 12" aft of the hood mount. So now I get to move the brake resivoirs aft and lower the E-Power Steering control box a couple inches. Not to bad an issue, glad I found out now though. Would have been nice to read that in the build manual! Two steps forward , one step back! If there were two more of me we'd give Larry, Curley, and Moe a run for their money.

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[Rebostar]

I finnished the console/tunnel cover with the exception of installing cup holders. I had a set that I returned to Summit. They were to deep and to big. I have a smaller 3" diameter and 1.5" depth set coming. I will have to get them powder coated but I'd rather do that than have those giant ones. The cover is made from 3mm matte finnish carbon fiber. I got a 48"x19" sheet from Summit. I used my table saw to cut two 1" strips and cut out the tunnel shape. I could have used a wrap, but decided I've made several other parts with carbon fiber to match the dash, so I'd give it a go. Turned out pretty good. I'll be happy with it.

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[Rebostar]

But wait! There's more!

I had a driveshaft made localy and painted it the other day. After wrapping up the console cover I attacked the driveshaft. First I set all four corners of the chassis 4" tube to 4 inches off the ground. To get that on the rear I had to move the shocks upper mount to the top hole in order the get the 4". Using the bottom hole I had the adjuster maxed out at the top and still had 4.75". Raising the shock to the top hole put the adjuster in mid range. I put the car square and level car on the ground. Measured engine/trans angle and dif input angle. Put all wheels on ramps. Not level front to rear but does not need to be. Trans angle 2.3' down with 3/4" shim. Diff angle 0.0'. Adjusted upper and lower control arms to get 2.1' down on the diff, this gives me .2' differance from A1 to A2 well within the 1' max. Driveshaft angle 1.4' down, gets me inside 1' operating angles on both ends. So good to go! I now have a complete drive line!

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[Rebostar]

As I mentioned above, I had to move the front brake resivior behind the rear one and move the E-Powersteering control box down 2" to allow for the left hood gas rod. I had welded the brackets on in the very begining of the build. Today I welded on a new bracket for the brake resivoir to match all the other brackets and made an extention out of .125 aluminum for the control box. The only bummer is the Summit Platinum Silver paint does not match. Different batchs of the same color paint....go figure.

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[Rebostar]

Another couple of loose ends I wanted to get to got done today.
1st I needed to mount the tach and speedo set-up push buttons. I wanted them out of the way, not visible from the seats, but easily accessible. I have the dash off waiting for two more aircraft press to test lights to arrive. These lights I'll use for my oil pressure warning light and a cooling fan "on" lamp. So, dash off, push buttons mounted to the center dash support.
2nd was the side extension for the right side firewall. I wanted to be able to remove the extension to make it easier to install/remove the right windshield bolts. I just added a couple nut plates and 4 rivnuts. Because I have a 1.5" firewall forward mod, I now have a 1.5" gap between the extension and the firewall. This gap is right in front of my defroster inlet. I'm concidering making some sort of door or flapper valve to allow warm engine compartment air to help feed the defroster, but be able to close it off on hot days. I'll let you know how that turns out.

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[Rebostar]

Hey folks, you'll be happy to know that the $48. Bezos tube bead roller works great on .040 Stainless Steel 1.5" tube. I picked up a couple of 2' pieces of 1.5" thin wall SS tubing from Colorado. I have an aluminum tube as well from Mcmaster Carr in case the cheap beader did not work on the stainless. But no need. My top radiator tube now matches the Breeze bottom tube. I know....a small win, but they add up!!

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[Rebostar]

Now to get really deep in the weeds! In 2 posts back I mentioned that there was a 1.5" gap between the new forward mounted firewall and the origonal RH firewall extension. A sane person would have just rivited in a blanking plate, but my pointed little head dose'nt work that way. The large "air leak" is directly in front of my defroster inlet.....mmmmmm. What to do? If I need a defroster then I dont need to prevent all the warm engine bay air from getting in. So I'll use some of that unwanted warm/hot air to feed the defroster. Ah, a little voice in my head says "a flapper valve is in order my dear boy"! So 6 hours later I have a working valve, complete with a new 1970 Mercury Cougar defroster cable that I found lurking in the dark depths of my shop. push the cable in and warm engine bay air feeds the defroster on cold mornings. After lunch when its 80' I pull out the cable and close off the valve. No more hot engine bay air entering the cockpit. I'll just need to add a few bits of felt to get a good air tight seal. If I get really bored I can design a lever actuated handle complete with a return spring. But thats for later.

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[Rebostar]

Slow day today. I'm still waiting for my last two press to test lights I bought off E-Bay. So far 10 days in the mail from Ill. No joy at the post office this morning. These are for my two idiot lights, one for oil and one for temp. When I get those I can re-install the dash.
I did make an aluminum air shroud for my defroster inlet. Just busy work! I also got my new cup holders from Summit yesterday. So today was off to H.F. for a 3" hole saw. Try as I might I could not find a spot on the console where I could mount the cup holders even with eachother. All the diagonal bracing has them offset. A small price to pay but "the chief" wants cup holders! I'll let her decide if they need to be black or remain clear powder coated over billet aluminum.
I also did some small wiring projects. Wired in the clutch safety switch. Added water tight connectors to the headlight and turn signal pigtails.
I expect my headers and 1 to 4 adapters to be done at the ceramic coaters next week. When those are on it will be time to "light it up"! If all goes well there it will be "go cart" time.
August 17th will be the Wapato Showdown. That's a great car show in my home town. We average 300+ cars. It's accross the street from my shop! I plan to enter my 70 Cougar Eliminator clone with 427FE, My 47 Merc Coupe with 427W, my wifes 29 Chevy Pick Up with 283 and the Cobra as an "under construction".
Tomorrow is a golf day, back in the shop on Monday.

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[Rebostar]

Another day, and another day our glorious Post Office cant get a 3x8 padded envelope from Portland Oregon to Gaston Oregon, a distance of all of 18 miles. 4 days tracking says the same thing "on its way to the next facility". So, the dashboard remains off waiting for me to drill two 7/16" holes and install 2 warning lights. To add to this fustration, I drove over to the ceramic coaters to drop off my side pipes and pick up the headers. Turns out their burnishing machine has been broke for a week. So the headers wont be done till Friday. So much for running the engine this week!
On a positive note, I did get the Dorman Seat Heaters installed in the seats. So I can install the seats for the "go-cart". I also terminated all the engine sensor and input wires. When I get the headers on Friday I'll be able to put the key in and start it!
Tomorow will be making carbon fiber fuel pump and sender access covers, then installing all the Duramat heat and Sound Insulation in the trunk, while waiting on the Post Office.

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[Rebostar]

While waiting on the Post Office to put up the mail, I decided to take apart the trunk and finish laying in the Duramat insulation and sound deadner. I also made a couple of carbon fiber access covers. I'll reassemble the trunk till I'm ready to install carpet and that wont happen untill the body is painted and ready for final install.

The press to test lights finaly came in....less blubs! Go figure! I ordered a box from Bezos. I'll mount those and then re-attach the dashboard in the morning. Missing pic from yesterday is below.

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[Rebostar]

Well now, I was able to put the dash back on with the low oil press light and engine temp warning light wired in and installed next to their respective gauges. I thought about puting them with the high beam and turn indicators, but thought better of it. So the dash and console are done. I painted the cup holders the same color as the grab handle and glove box latch, so it will all match.
Tomorrow will see the Duramat installed on the cockpit floor, the seat attach brackets and seats installed, the trunk area re-assembled, and cup holders mounted. If my headers get done on Friday as I was promised I should be able to run the engine and test all the systems on Saturday.

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[Rebostar]

Busy day today. I got the trunk re-assembled. The only thing left to do there will be installing the grey carpet, and that wont be done untill just before the body goes on for the last time. I installed the Duramat on the tunnel sides and cockpit floor. I bought the Duramat tape from Summit, and was disappointed in the amount sold for $12. a roll, about 25 feet, three times the price of aluminum tape from Ace Hardware. I wont make that mistake again.
I mounted the seat brackets on the seats, then installed the seats. They wont stay in there. I just want to be able to get a feel for the clutch adjustment and brake peddle feel, then there is the whole "go-cart" thing that might take place next week. After the "go-cart" I'll remove and bag the seats till all the body work is done.
Hopefully the ceramic coating on my headers will be done tomorrow. If so they will get permenently installed in the afternoon. Saturday should see a testing of all systems and firing up the engine if they deliver on the headers as promised.

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[Rebostar]

Well, Horse Feathers! The ceramic coaters called to let me know they will be late on my headers. Most likely on Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest. So today was spent installing Duramat in the footboxes. I thought it would take a couple hours. HA! 7 Hours later both footboxes and the under door areas are done. Tomorrow will see the cockpit rear wall done and that will finish all the insulation.

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[Rebostar]

While awaiting the headers I finished installing the remaining Duraliner insulation and sound deadner on the back wall. I put the seats back in to adjust the clutch cable. I read or saw somewhere that you cant use a firewall aduster with a cable that has a lower end adjustement. Well I needed to make sure, as that is what I have installed. Right now I have 2/3's adjustment remaining on the firewall adjuster and over half on the bottom side. So plenty of future adjustment availible. Clutch peddle throw felt correct. In 1st gear the clutch releases at about 2/3 of the peddle travel. I have the LH side panel off and can depress the clutch from outside the car while rotating the rear tire. With the peddle released I have just a bit of free play on the cable end at the quadrant so the throwout bearing will not stay engaged. Untill I have the engine running and can test the adjustment for full release while shifting through all the gears I'm gonna call this done for now.

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[Rebostar]

Still waiting for the headers so I had a little project I wanted done before the body went on. It seems there have been a few issues on some builds with the Forte throttle linkage LH adjustable lever clearing the top sheetmetal of the LH footbox. Sure enough, after making all the throttle adjustments I wanted, I cleco'ed the top sheet metal in place. The lever sticks out about 1/4 ". My solution was to cut a slot that allowed the lever to move freely full travel plus a scosh extra. (a scosh is somewhere between 1/16" and 3mm depending on if you have both eyes open or just squinting). Then make a nice looking cover for the slot that the lever will passes through. I started with an origami project, translated that to .020 2024 T3 Alclad aluminum. Then made the appropriate bends sealing off the large end. Then just a matter of riviting it on with (460-3) rivits. While I was at it I installed #6 aircraft nut plates on the access panel.

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