Beginning of November i went to the Classic Car show at the NEC Birmingham, second year I've been and it is a cracking show, all indoors so sod the weather and a huge venue for massive amounts of cars and trade. When i was at the show i managed to get some of my lighting which was a nice surprise. So after returning home a nice little job of a quick trial fit of the headlights and indicators.
They certainly make the car look another step closer to getting finished, however they will all be taken off again as the body still needs to be removed for permanent fixing to the chassis.
The back end sees the rear lights fitted and the numberplate light housing. I still need to hinge the boot lid, but this is being done via some customised hinges. AK and a few other kits use standard external hinges that just mount through the body tub and bolt from underneath. I personal don't like them and feel the ruin the look of the back end and look a little cheep. So in the next few posts i will be showing you my progress on my internal boot hinge idea along with a custom boot lock that has never been done before (that i know of) and its little bits like this that will make the car truly mine and unique to me as these are all my one ideas adapted to fit the AK Cobra. watch this space!!!
After some much needed funds as a Christmas present i have also now got my prop shaft, this is 100% new and the only bit off the Jaguar is the end yoke to fit the oil seal and output shaft of the gearbox. This was a bit of a chore to fit as its been bloody cold lately but i wanted to get it done... it would have been a 3 min job if I'd have waited till the body was off again.... but i didn't!!!
Another little job done was fitting the choke cable. Again this has been slightly modified, as i didn't want to be able to see the adjuster on the dash so this has been hidden under the steering column (i still need to get a picture of that bit) then just a simple solder less nipple onto the carb and jobs a good un.
Along with the choke cable i fitted the throttle cable, this was a little more delicate as attention needs to be paid so that the pedal doest stop on the carb but on the body floor. Fitting the return springs so that they didn't fowl any thing was the biggest issue as you can see from the picture the double spring return pulls the cab shut to the back of the engine..i have been told that this can create allot of wear on the butterfly needle and that the springs are best mounted above the pivot point and pulling the carb closed to the front of the engine. This is something that i can change when i have the car finished, as it wont do any damage soon as it would be years of driving that causes the issue.
steering wheel and column... this is totally wrong and will not fit the AK setup. The column needs to be from a pre airbag BMW E34 with the telescopic spline shaft to fit the AK supplied lower link. This is basically not an easy task, as so many of the cars are no more and parts and getting harder to find.
I eventually managed to get hold of one through an eBay "E34 breaking" advert and after agreeing a total of £40 + £10 p&p flipping bargain. I did find one in the highlands of Scotland, but the crazy Scotsman wanted £300 for it....bless him for trying. More importantly i did'nt want to swallow my pride and admit defeat and have to buy that one off him. So a massive tank you to Andy Roberts as you are a real life saver.
Unfortunately when Andy was removing the lower column he cut the shaft from the bottom UJ wich was just a little to short for me to use. So the hunt began again to find a lower spline shaft for an E34... blimey what a chew on just for the steering.
