Engine In!

After a failed first attempt - a standard engine crane doesn't have a long enough arm (by about 3 feet!) a second crane was hired. The use of an acroprop between the two of them was employed with the engine suspended in the middle. The car was the pushed forward and the cranes lowered accordingly. Very stressful but we got there in the end! Massive thanks to Dad, Russell, Matt, Harry and Andrew for all your help.

Point to note...... Don't spellcheck your blog and fix said problems as it throws out the time line - hence the below post is out of sync!

Lesson learned Jimbo!

Handbrake and other little jobs.....

Bolted in the handbrake and connected it up. Needs some adjustment caliper end but all working as should. I went for the original XJS handbrake as I prefer it to the DAX drilled version. It's also about a third off the price!

Clutch Master cylinder now in place along with pedal box final fitment. I've ordered a brake flaring tool to change the union on the rear brake line to an M12. On reflection I've also ordered a brand new master cylinder to go with the new servo - can't put a price on safety and all that! Reservoir is now bolted in place so final fitment of the lines and hoses will be done soon. I've then got to make a heat shield and bleed the brakes.

Steering Column

Another adventure into the land of "ah this doesn't seem to fit!". In Dax's defence their original design for the 427 was to use a Mk1 Sierra column, as it stands these are now about as easy to find as the perverbial rocking horse sh@t and I have the column from a later model which is an adjustable unit.

I met up recently with a top bloke by the name of Peter Jones. Pete is an active member of the UK Cobra club and has been building these cars for years. Like me he eventually got pissed off with dealing with poor quality, Ill-fitting components from the manufacturer and designed a number of his own along with replicating and improving on other original items. One such bit is the bracket that holds the column to the scuttle hoop. The original Dax item is a woefully thin mild steel affair that frankly you can bend with your hands. Pete's version is nearly 3mm thick stainless and looks like it will survive being sat on by a rhino! Sold!

First issue with the column is that being adjustable it is thicker around the outside than the non adjustable one. This means that the bracket is not wide enough when the bolts are in to clear. Some swearing and later calmer ingenuity resulted in the adaption of the brackets that bolt onto the column. By welding on the horns you can see in the picture the bolts now sit below the column and allow the whole assembly to be fitted. Quite pleased with this one and got to do some welding too!

Trial fitted rear lights. I dont like the huge Lucas 691/2's so went for the smaller glass 488 lamps and i'm pleased with the result. I'll still need the larger ones at the front to get around the IVA issue of the lights having to be at a set height though.

Windscreen is now bolted in......

Finally after spending an age labelling up the loom i ve started to get the front part run. Ive run the entire length in the engine bay through convoluted tubing/conduit for added protection and P clipped the whole thing to the underneath of the bonnet recess. The result is pleasingly hidden and out of site with only the drop outs for the alternator etc being visible which you can just see bottom left of the above photo. The rivets in the bonnet recess will then be covered by the rubber supports for the bonnet.

Relays where mounted on a suitably thick piece of ally and then bolted to the scuttle hoop. Ive also cut the hole in the bulkhead for the fuse box which is then accessible from the engine bay.

Now that the front loom is in I can get the engine in - Happy days!

Boot 2

Finished off the boot handle, catch and striker mechanism. The internal mech was a pain to fit as I don't want a gaping great hole there for everyone to see when the boot is open. In the end I had to use some gaffer tape over the nuts that sit inside the slot to hold them and gingerly get the bolts started. All turned out ok in the end. Just need to lop off the protruding bar from the handle now. I'm also going to put a stainless plate over the back that will fold down over the cutout to neaten everything up.

Fuel sender now in after calibrating it correctly (posh term for bending it to shape so it sits at the correct height inside the tank).

Fuel filler cap in place.....

 Number plate light in..... (Spot the little pice of cardboard Bottom left of the lid to try and push out the warp in the lid - well see how that goes!

Drilled the four holes to mount the dash. I had to cut away quite a lot of the original temporary dash that is bonded in to hold the strength of the body. This now gives me the initial position for the column but that cant go in fully until i get the engine in and right side header (the column extension bar has very little clearance).

Started to fit the windscreen but discovered Mr Hammerite has kept the bolts so have ordered a new set from Brasscraft.

Finally got head lights in too pics to follow.

Bits on the way:

Replacement indicators and rear lights as I dont like the ones that came with the car (too big!)

Horns

Heater ducts for the demister vents

Split conduit and P clips so i can start running the wiring in the engine bay loom prior to engine fitting

Got some of this stuff to shield the brake lines: Thermaflect

Gearstick

Xmas comes and Santa has brought toys!

Nose cone deflector was a present from the children so before its fitted im going to have their names engraved subtly on the rolled edge.

Second prezzie was the loom. Let the confusion begin.......