Quick Jacks.

Well another job ticked off the list with the fitting of the quick jacks. These are cosmetic only and will be fitted post IVA as i don't want to take the risk of them failing the radius or sphere test. Lots of Cobras have them fitted for a period look to the cars and they really finish the front and back end nicely in my opinion. They replace the nudge bars and overiders and just generally look nicer keeping the car looking smooth and less cluttered.

Quick Jacks are basically two brackets fitted front and back and back in the vintage racing days they would be used to jack the car up for service or tyre change. They are purely cosmetic in my case as they are only bracket mounted onto the body (which is fibreglass) so they would never have the strength to support the car.  

I purchased mine from Chris at Brasscraft and lets say i didn't see much change from £250 for a set of 4 brackets, 2 x 10mm bar, 2 x stainless steel tubing and 8 x dome nuts. However  like everything i have had from Chris so far they do have a quality feel to them. They are made from 8mm stainless steel with a high polish finish.... naturally.





So pictured above you can see one jack with a section of 10mm studding and stainless steel tubing. These need to be cut to your required length and fitted to the car via its bracket. AK supply with the chassis two front mounting brackets, simply just a section of right angle steel and in my fitting (front first) i just cut some studding to a rough length so that i could make a final fitting component (pictured right) then i could provisionally start making some holes in the body for fitting. I deviated from suggested fitting slightly by putting a M10 nut either side of the cover tubing as so the mounting bracket and quick jack would then be torqued up to them rather than the tubing itself.

So with a one fitting made up i started to make some holes in the body tub. The front jacks are fitted to the inner wing via the AK supplied bracket. The inner wing is just roughly 6-8mm of fibreglass with a 1-2mm stainless steel sheet cladding, so you can see why these would not be structurally sound for lifting the car. AK did provisionally make some markings for the holes but mine were long gone so it was down to careful measurement and cutting slowly then opening each hole with a file for a better fit. The trick i found was to remove the lower studding and tubing of the bracket and just concentrate on the top one. Then when this was done i could adjust the rotation of the jack so that it sat vertical and true to eye and not cock-eyed. Although the body tub looks all symmetrical you will find that nothing is 100% accurate and that a large tolerance can be needed if measuring direct off the centre line.

 So with one provisional fitted i took it all out again and cut more 10mm stud and tubing to match for the other side. Fitting the other side again is the same as the first but lots of attention to making the first cut into the body as they need to sit level either side and look good. Some adjustment can be had from drilling the hole's in the bracket oversize 12mm for 10mm studding that then gives a little adjustment all round for a perfect fit (Another reason to add the additional M10 nut as so you can secure the studding in the correct position) 

 To finish the fitting and to save the body from damage after painting, you need to fit some rubber grommets onto the body to surround the stainless tubing. These can be tricky to find and i was advised of some available from America for a pricey sum. But with my brain in overdrive and a quick rummage around and i found a number of 25mm grommets for electrical cable boxes (pictured below) these cost just penny's from DIY stores and fit perfectly. They can be cut and shortened to fit the diameter of the tubing perfectly and then give a superb neat finish to the jacks without any stress to the body.





Better still for me is you can these grommets with a blanking cover (semi blind cable grommets) and these will be spot on for IVA as they will fit the body perfectly and leave a smooth finish thus be IVA friendly.

 Moving onto the back brackets and fitting is exactly the same as the front, with one difference. The mounting bracket is bonded into the body tub so this just needs to be drilled through for the studding. On the off side this provides a good place for the earth point for the battery also.

The rear jacks need much shorter studding. However how far proud of the body they sit is personal preference when fitting, along with if they are fitted left hand or right hand offset. I just goggle image some pictures and went with what i though looked best.

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As you can see the rubber grommets fit the holes lovely, all i did was thin out the fibreglass slightly to create a lip for them to sit in and job done. 

So the back end looks almost finished now with the exception of paint and numberplate. I'm revising my boot lock idea again, and hopefully will have some updates on that within the next month or so. So still saving for wheels and tyres, paint and interior... donations welcome!!