Its been a while

 Its been a long time since I last updated the blog on my Cobra and everything Cobra related, and this has mostly been because i have been hooning around the countryside in it like Toad of Toad Hall. However I thought it was time to give you all an update and show/tell you about some of the creases I'm ironing out... or at least trying to.

The images opposite are from the NE1 motor show that was held in the centre of Newcastle in 2016. This was the second year for the show, the first year back in 2015 had all the display cars on the show with no barriers or restrictions for the public and with a change of plan from the organisers the 2016 show had the cars fenced off from the foot fall. This made it much more acceptable for me as the narrow city street and massive footfall of traffic allowed me to keep people back from my paint. I love to display my car but i get seriously infuriated by the people that show little or no respect for other peoples property and can cause damage by not being careful. The 2016 show was a great success and you can find lots of videos on Youtube if you look... I'm in a fair few of them. The show ends on the Sunday when all the cars parade down the street and merge with the general traffic coming along from the one way system. The crowd that gather are very impressive and its hard not to give them a show in the style of some burnouts, however in my case its normally "pride before a fall" so just lots of noise from me and aggressive accelerating onto the main road.

My car has spent the last few months hiding away from the world in the garage, but as soon as Christmas and New year was past it was fairly obvious that we were not going to get a significant snow fall this year so i started making a list of jobs that i would like to sort out on the Cobra. My list hadn't started getting very long when i started her up after a month of being idle and my throttle cable started jamming, and not returning fully. The cable was originally one purchased through ebay that was marketed towards a Dax Cobra if i remember correctly. And upon closer inspection (see image) you can see how badly aligned the throttle cable is in relation to the fulcrum.

This sure as hell wasn't helping the issue, and I'm almost ashamed to be showing the images of the cable and the crude setup that i had for a throttle linkage and brackets. Something had to be done to help straighten the run out and stop the cable from sticking. After a fair bit of Internet trawling and lots of google image searches, I eventually found a bracket that looked as if it could work and help with this problem. The price was also good as these fancy throttle brackets from America are normally in excess of £100 when you cost in import duty etc... So with mine just £28 of ebay it was worth a pun. The bracket arrived and it looked to be very good really. It has also come from overseas.... but this time from the other side of the globe from China.

The bracket consists of a double spring return pin, along with the throttle cable positioned in alignment with the carburettor. When I was looking at the dimensions of the bracket on the website it was compatible with my Edelbrock so hence why i placed the order. I also ordered a new throttle cable just to be on the safe side, i didn't want to risk the cable i have not being compatible and needing replacing also, so a universal unit was purchased for £12 (hardly breaking the bank even if i don't use it)

 Its not easily visible in the image here but the bracket wasn't as good as I first thought. When the air filter was off and the old throttle cable bracket and ancillaries removed I could see I was going to have some clearance issues with the carbs linkages and the bracket. The mechanics of the carb need to be able to move freely without hitting or touching any part of the bracket which could cause it to stick open along with allowing it to fully shut off and open on demand without restriction. So £28 out of pocket it was time to start trimming.

I measured and masked up a section of the bracket that needed to be removed and then spent a good period of time filing and grinding away with various files and drum sanders, until i was happy with the finish and fitting. You don't need loads of clearance between the carb and the bracket as when the bracket is in position and bolted down it is fixed and doesn't have any flex in it. But still enough clearance is needed to allow the throttle to full sweep from open to closed without the risk of any voiding. I spent a good amount of time getting this right, mostly because my hand files have seen better days and I bought cheap ass drum sanders for my dremmel that disintegrate at only 1 revolutions per hour... lesson learnt, buy cheap, buy twice.

So with the trimming of the bracket sorted you can see that it now has sufficient room to move and not get caught or jammed, so i started fitting the return spring bracket and throttle cable section. The return springs are now fitted to the linkage above the pivot point, as opposed to before when they were pulling on the same side as the cable from below. I have done a little reading about how this can cause damage over time in the body of the carb and give excessive play within the setup and render it scrap. Granted i think this would take a fair few years to occur but, belt and braces as with most things on this build.

So with everything back together i was able to use my existing throttle cable with the new bracket with some minor adjustment to the fitting. I was conscious that i should be setting the amount of travel with in the cable to give full throttle and also full closure when released. With some fine tuning I have managed to get my accelerator pedal to bottom out on the floor at roughly the same time as fully open carb. This will hopefully allow some longevity on the cable as if it was stopping on the carb linkage then the cable could get put under further pressure from my right foot and possibly snap..... which i don't really want.

 All back together now and it was time for a test run, the throttle is nice and responsive and returns quickly when off the pedal. A slightly different feel to what I had previously but these new springs are a greater force then before so a little heavier on the throttle foot is needed, by no means bad just different to what I was used to.

I'm sure your familiar with the saying "two steps forward, one step back"...... Well that's what I've just bloody done. I have gone and solved a problem quickly and effectively but as a knock on effect i have created another....... the air filter.

When I put the air cleaner back on it was fine but because I have now technical spaced the throttle up slightly from its previous position, the bottom of the air filter voids with the swinging of the throttle return cable and only gives about an inch of movement... bugger.

I fitted the air cleaner in its position and rolled up a bit of blue tac, with this on the highest point of the air filter and the bonnet closed the now squashed bit of blue tac should give me a measurement of how much room i have to play with to raise the air filter up.... not much just under 1"
I have now placed an order for a spacer that measures 3/4" and fingers crossed this will give me the clearance I now need. If not its back to the drawing board with the whole bloody thing.

So another update soon..... probably next week when its been delivered and in turn create another problem by fitting that. ha ha