289 USRRC build in Seattle

[Jphoenix]

Jim
The mounts shown in the manual I did not find in my kit either but there is a cross brace shown in the 289 supplement that goes below the radiator to the body.
Steve

Ah, right! I have that cross brace. Thanks for reminding me - it's here somewhere, probably in one of these boxes.

[lasse2]

Hi Jim,
It seems like you have figured this out but I'll confirm that the 289 kit doesn't have the mounts to the turn signal bracket. Just the cross brace bracket which I think does a better job anyway. I'm curious if you will run into some of the same challenges I had. My body would not fit correctly using the factory drilled front quick jack bolt holes. It would sit too high by about 5/8" and not allow the sides of the body to tuck under the frame. I ended up drilling new holes in the frame for the quick jack bolts a little lower than the original holes and it seemed to fix a few issues including the hood hinge geometry. Fitting my doors required a spacer to shift the hinge of the passenger door back so the hinge could clear the body while the driver's side was okay without a spacer. I had to clearance the body slightly to allow the doors to open fully as well. Awesome to see another 289 being built locally. I'm in North Seattle and would love to meet up at some point in the future. My car has been done and on the road since spring. I really need to post an update to my build thread but the amount of info I need to summarize and time spend linking photos has me putting it off. Compared to the MK4 build threads it seems like very few people are reading this anyway.
Lars

[SteveWorth]

Lars,
What I am seeing is that on the passenger side the body needs to move forward about 1/4" in order to properly clear the door hinge. The body can't move forward because the lower trunk flange is on the body and the passenger side bulb seal is fully compressed so I need to pull the body off again and trim these areas.
As Jim had done I trimmed the lower edge of the body around the fuel tank and this has made it much easier to get the body on and off.
Steve

[lasse2]

I had to trim about half an inch from portions of the lower trunk aluminum to get the cockpit to line up with the dash and rear aluminum and to get a bulb seal in this location. This allowed things to shift forward but didn't eliminate the need to shim the passenger door hinge a bit. In addition to this I had to remove quite a bit of the rolled lip at at the dash and rear cockpit. It looks fine when done but had me nervous. I also needed to trim the lower body at the fuel tank. I thought I had trimmed enough initially but ended up sanding more away with the body in position until it wasn't touching anymore. I used a bit of self adhesive 36 grit paper attached to a paint stirring stick to sand the body where it was still touching until it had clearance. Took some elbow grease but looks nicely fitted now.

Another thing you might want to check... With the body in place and no bulb seal installed, I found a couple locations on the body that were tight to the vertical trunk aluminum that needed to be trimmed slightly. I used a spacer and sharpie to match the other gaps so that the body would be evenly supported by the bulb seal when it was on for good.

[Jphoenix]

Lars and Steve - I spent the day trimming aluminum, body wheel arches and sanding to get a better fit. I’m really good at getting the body on and off now, having done it at least four times now. I trimmed the rear trunk floor to allow the back end to move forward enough to get the rear bulkhead to fit. Also trimmed both fore and aft cockpit edges, that helped a lot, but also had to trim the firewall some. It’s getting closer, but the front is not aligned left and right yet - about a half inch to the left when the front QJs are installed. Been thinking about relocating those bolt holes like Steve mentioned.

The body sits high in front, almost an inch of clearance at the end of the frame rails, one thread I say said it should be a half inch. I’m not sure how much clearance I should have between the top of the front tires and the wheel well arches, might bring it down a bit. In any case I expect I’ll have a few more days of alignment and adjustment. Haven’t started on doors or hood yet.

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I’m glad this is my fun hobby, if I did this for a living, I’d be *****ing!

[Jphoenix]

Lars, I know the local Cobra club meets at the Pacific Northwest Historics, there were a few there last year. I’m always there with my Formula Ford, but next year I’ll likely be running the Coupe-R there, but in any case I’ll be at all the SOVREN and ICSCC races at Pacific if you feel like coming out - always some very cool cars racing, last year there was an original Cobra with a side oiler doing the test and tune, but it didn’t race.

[Jphoenix]

My new Quickjack TL7000 arrived yesterday, bought an open box special they had with a few hundred dollars off, around $1300 shipped. Glad I did this, so easy to raise and lower the car now. Got it up high to remove the left exhaust so I can adjust the angle of the muffler and exhaust exit pipe, required grinding and re-welding, now it's perfect. I have 4.5" of clearance under the lowest part of the mufflers now - so I may lower the body a bit in front to close up the wheel arches.

More body fitting as well, with the QJ's, I can adjust the shock towers to the proper ride height, lower the car and see how the body fits, then raise it up again, remove the body again, trim some stuff and lower the body again. Going to take another day or two to get it situated properly, up and down, left and right - until it's all square and even. I guess this is the fun part of the build.

The car is very low when on the ground so the QJ makes it easy to raise it up to do wiring, etc. I also need to move the brake reservoirs - I had them mounted to the 3/4" tube on the left side of the engine bay, but the hood opening interferes. I'll make a plate to mount them on.

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[lasse2]

Interesting that your body is sitting high in front as well. What I used as a guide was the sides of the body where it tucks under the frame. At first I couldn't pull the body in. After I had drilled new holes for the quick jack bolts, everything seemed to slip into place. The new lower holes were very close to the point where the tube intersects the plate with the holes. I had to grind off part of the washers to get them into the "corner" where the new holes were. Another thing you might check once you get the body in place is how much clearance you have between the body and the upper dash support tube. Mine was much tighter on the driver's side than the passenger's side. Neither was touching but I definitely had less clearance than what is typically reported by the MK4 427 builds. I've heard of people bending this down to get more clearance. Unfortunately by the time I noticed, I had the dash vinyl and gauges complete and didn't want to pull everything apart to move where the steering shaft came through so it could be lowered a bit on the left.

[Jphoenix]

Yes, the dash support tube is lower on the drivers side, just as you describe. I tried bending it down a bit as discussed in the manual, but it didn’t move much. So yesterday I removed the dash entirely (I want to replace the padded vinyl anyhow) and now I can try to even that up - but the body is sitting properly now, driver door’s initial fit is fine, needs more work, but surprised it fit at all!

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I adjusted the shock height about a quarter inch and I now have 4” clearance and the wheel arches looking much better.still a bit more trimming in the right rear and other fiddling to do.

[Jphoenix]

With chassis leveled, I checked the height of the dash square tube on both ends and also level - so it appears the body is hanging up higher on the right side because the dash support tube is level and equal height on both sides. I see an area on the firewall that needs to be trimmed down about 1/4" = and that should do it. Keeping in mind the bottom of the body has to fit up against the lower 2" square frame tube and at some point the doors have to fit.

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[Jphoenix]

The body needs to move aft about 1.5", but I think I have the rear wheel arch height good. Still have 4" below the mufflers - getting closer to being close enough... almost. Once I get the body close, I'll start on the passenger door. I lost some of the square nuts that hold the door hinges in place and have some coming from McMaster today, so I can work on the dash while waiting for those.

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[Jphoenix]

I made a bracket to mount the brake reservoirs - moved them down off the 3/4 rail so the hood will close. Then removed the padded cover from the dash, glued on some Hexcel closed cell foam, thinner and more rigid. Smoothed the edge with tape and glued new vinyl to the dash. Gotta make some little brackets to re-mount the dash lower.

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[Jphoenix]

I'm curious if you will run into some of the same challenges I had. My body would not fit correctly using the factory drilled front quick jack bolt holes. It would sit too high by about 5/8" and not allow the sides of the body to tuck under the frame. I ended up drilling new holes in the frame for the quick jack bolts a little lower than the original holes and it seemed to fix a few issues including the hood hinge geometry. Fitting my doors required a spacer to shift the hinge of the passenger door back so the hinge could clear the body while the driver's side was okay without a spacer. I had to clearance the body slightly to allow the doors to open fully as well.

Lars, yes - I’m seeing exactly what you described above. So far I have a .25” spacer between the pass. door hinge mount and the frame, moved the door aft .25”, but not quite enough yet, going to go to 3/8” and hope that gets it closer. I don’t want to trim the front of the door because there is a large gap on the ft edge and the entire door just needs to move aft. Driver side fits fine. Also plan to clearance the body as you did to get the doors to open wider - but without contacting the body exterior skin.

Also seeing about 3/8 to 1/2” high at the front, so will adjust the front QJ holes as you did.

[Jphoenix]

I fabricated some aluminum shims between the door hinge bracket and the frame to move the door hinge aft 3/8". Now the door is much closer to fitting in the body. Still had to trim the front edge of the door a bit, but that's to be expected.

I noticed that the studs mounted inside the door are at the extreme aft position inside the door inner skin. If the door stud mount had been installed inside the door at the most fore position, the door would be very close to center - similar to the driver's door. That would be preferable to adding shims between the mount and frame as I've done. I don't see a way to change the location of the door mounting stud bracket inside the door without some intrusive surgery.

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[FRM]

I didn't enjoy the doors much. Yours look pretty good to me. I got it as close as I could and moved on. I plan to revisit the doors when I get serious about paint, but for now they open and close and fit OK. Pax door went more smoothly than driver's. Will be a future project. I have to say since I got tags I have taken it for a couple of 15 or so mile rides I didn't think about or notice the doors. I probably should care more.........next summer I will.

[Jphoenix]

I didn't enjoy the doors much. Yours look pretty good to me. I got it as close as I could and moved on. I plan to revisit the doors when I get serious about paint, but for now they open and close and fit OK. Pax door went more smoothly than driver's. Will be a future project. I have to say since I got tags I have taken it for a couple of 15 or so mile rides I didn't think about or notice the doors. I probably should care more.........next summer I will.

I agree, not going to worry about perfecting the door gaps until I take it to my sister's in Montana for paint. My brother-in-law is a master at gaps, and many other body related tasks. They are considering giving up insurance work and just go to all custom work, like Cobra's, etc.

Now I'm trying to figure out the door latches, the manual is useless on the latches, my latches look nothing like what is described in the manual, also, no rivnuts in the kit, etc. I see the 289 supplement talks about the strike plate, but not the latch mechanism, should be able to figure it out, and I have plenty of rivnuts if I go that direction, but it appears they want to me to install the latch mechanism with countersunk sheetmetal screws into the fiberglass door?

Got all the lights working properly now, so that's a milestone done.

[FRM]

I think the supplement has door latch info. Is very different from the manual. The parts simply bolt to the frame and door. No rivets. Also there's a build by an individual named Wayne who describes using lag bolts to keep the latches from separating. I'll try to dig it up.

[Jphoenix]

I think the supplement has door latch info. Is very different from the manual. The parts simply bolt to the frame and door. No rivets. Also there's a build by an individual named Wayne who describes using lag bolts to keep the latches from separating. I'll try to dig it up.

Thanks, I've got it figured out now, there's a steel plate behind the door skin I can either screw into or use some rivnuts.

Got the fuel filler located and installed.

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[FRM]

Here's the link to the door latch fix that prevents the lever from popping off the pivot.

https://www.linger.com/cobra/DoorLatchRepair.htm

It is from an individual named Wade.......not Wayne. My apologies. One of my handles was disengaged when I opened the box. I'm glad it was as I applied Wade's fix and think it won't happen while attached to the door. I used some of the lag bolts in the kit that were extra. I hope this helps.

[Jphoenix]

Here's the link to the door latch fix that prevents the lever from popping off the pivot.

https://www.linger.com/cobra/DoorLatchRepair.htm

It is from an individual named Wade.......not Wayne. My apologies. One of my handles was disengaged when I opened the box. I'm glad it was as I applied Wade's fix and think it won't happen while attached to the door. I used some of the lag bolts in the kit that were extra. I hope this helps.

That’s a great tip, thanks.

[Jphoenix]

Got the door latches installed and adjusted, working very well. Then I installed the windshield, only took a couple of hours of fitting, trimming, twisting the windshield frame side brackets a bit.

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[FRM]

Nice work. I had difficulty getting the windshield right. Fortunately I didn't strip the brass fittings along the edges, but went and ordered the Whitby Motors steel inserts for when I do remove it for paint. The driver's side bolts were especially troublesome reaching past the fuse block. I think next time I work that I'll detach the fuse block and get a better grip on the bolts attaching the windshield frame to the chassis. Looks like you aren't having "Cobra weather" in your part of the world right now. Fall in DC has been ideal, but winter is coming.

[Jphoenix]

Nice work. I had difficulty getting the windshield right. Fortunately I didn't strip the brass fittings along the edges, but went and ordered the Whitby Motors steel inserts for when I do remove it for paint. The driver's side bolts were especially troublesome reaching past the fuse block. I think next time I work that I'll detach the fuse block and get a better grip on the bolts attaching the windshield frame to the chassis. Looks like you aren't having "Cobra weather" in your part of the world right now. Fall in DC has been ideal, but winter is coming.

Windshield is a bit of a puzzle, in and out three times, but I needed to get it located so I can mark the defroster vent locations. With that done, I can remove the body to finish up some bulb seal, rear bulkhead trim, etc. - hopefully for the last time before paint.

It was a bit breezy here Tuesday, but in Bonney Lake we missed the worst of it, never lost power. 10 miles down the road in Enumclaw they got slammed pretty hard.

[Jphoenix]

Got the radiator lower mount in along with the radiator side panels.

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Been struggling getting the trunk trimmed and in position. I could not figure out how to get the trunk seal to contact the trunk lid. Looking at the Roadster manual and this video: https://youtu.be/QTEoSe0mlwA

My trunk has a return flange around the edge, essentially makes it an "L" angle - the manual and the video show that edge lip coming straight out, so it appears I need to trim that return flange off to get the seal to be properly positioned?

If I do that, then the trunk lid will rest on the seal as intended. What have you guys done? What am I missing?

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[FRM]

I did it the way you have it. I haven't tested it by driving in the rain or squirting with a hose, but it feels like it creates a seal.trunk seal 1.jpgtrunk seal 2.jpg I should add....no trimming of the fiberglass for me.

[lasse2]

I trimmed off the flange so it matched what was in the manual and would work with the seal. I also found that the seal that F5R provided would not provide a good seal when the trunk was closed. It also caused the trunk lid to sit lower than the body. To correct this, I ended up ordering a 3/4" bulb seal which turned out to be too tall and settled on a 16.5MM or 21/32" seal which was a little tight at first but now seals very well. The one I purchased was from Amazon and isn't quite as high quality as the one provided in the kit but should work fine and is cheap to replace if necessary in the future.

These were the specs for the bulb seal I ended up settling on:
Height: 16.5 M.M Width: 14 M.M Edge thickness: 3.5 M.M Grip range: 1.0 : 3.0 M.M

[Jphoenix]

Thanks FRM and Lars, after much investigation and digging through building threads, I decided to cut the flange off (as you did Lars) and now the seal fits fine. Haven’t done a final trim and fit yet, but it’s much better than it was.

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[FRM]

Hmmmmm. Maybe I should reconsider. What did you use to cut the flange off?

[Jphoenix]

Hmmmmm. Maybe I should reconsider. What did you use to cut the flange off?

Fred, I used my air saw, then 80 grit on a DA to reduce the thickness of the flange to about .156" so the seal snap in nicely.

[Jphoenix]

The throttle cable(s) have defeated me. First one I left lying on the headers while running the engine - forgot to properly secure it, so it was toast. Then I installed a new one from the Coupe-R that I'm not going to use because I'm using a mechanical linkage on that car. Nice to have a handy spare. So, I installed it and promptly twisted the threaded output end off while tightening the nut because I've been retired for almost a year now and I've completely forgotten how to properly torque a hollow thread tube. Some days I wonder if I'm getting old or getting stupid - don't answer that.

So, some digging around to find an old thread I remember someone had posted all the McMaster parts needed for a mechanical linkage setup, found it (forum member skidd) and McMaster had the bits here within 2 days, as usual. Only took a couple of hours to get it all in and adjusted, easy with the body off and the driver's footwell not riveted yet. Just need a couple more springs and it's ready, then I can reassemble the footwell aluminum and drop the body back on. Almost ready for fill, sand and paint.

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[Jphoenix]

Finished up pedal adjustments, brake bias setting, put the driver's footwell carpet in and riveted the driver's footwell aluminum in place. Then I re-covered the dash (again) because the thin foam I used is too thick, so just cut another piece of naugahyde and re-did it again. Gonna have to go hunt down another nauga as I'm out of my stock now. Like Wayne on the Ol'2stroker YouTube channel says: "We do it nice because we do it twice". I would modify that a bit to thrice instead of twice. But it's raining and what else have I to do on a Saturday?

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[Jphoenix]

I set my initial brake bias setting same as how I do it on the race cars:

Get the bias bar set up per the instructions in the manual.
Bleed brakes really good - which means do it twice, then wait a week, do it again until the pedal is firm.
I use an adjustable clamp to put just enough pressure on the pedal to lock the front brake so I can't turn it with my 4' steel bar/strap wrench around the front tires. I can also check that both front brakes are close to being the same lockup.
Then I go to the rear wheels and see if I can turn them with the bar, typically I can if I've set the bias up properly initially.

I want the front brakes to lock up just before the rear brakes lock up.

To adjust the front/rear bias - release the pressure on the pedal, turn the bias adjuster until I can get the rear brakes to lock up just after the fronts. Takes a few iterations and a couple hours to get it how I like it, also sometimes gotta bleed the brakes again because left side locks before the right side, always going to be some difference, but it's a good way to see if I still have air in the system somewhere.

That's the initial setup, final setup is on the skidpad, parking lot, whatever, even better if the road is wet, you find out real fast if the rear locks up first as you enjoy that merry-go-round ride. This being solely a street car, I'll adjust the bias to the front and leave it. On the race car I adjust often with the knob, dial in a bit more rear when it's raining, but not so much that I lock up the rears and spin - I can easily spin in the rain with poor downshifting technique, don't need help from too much rear brake bias!

[Jphoenix]

Car is all back together, just carpet, bodywork and paint remaining. Loaded up and headed to St. Ignatius, MT where my sister and brother-in-law have a body shop.

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I brought the Coupe-R back in to finish building it.