As I’m sure most AK owners will attest to, the handbrake is about as much use as a chocolate teapot! So after three years of motoring (and parking it on the gears), it’s time for an MOT. I spent a good half day adjusting the handbrake shoes and cables and had the brakes at least biting. Then, having dropped the …
Finished Cobra
After c. 3 years of build time, i finally “finished” the Cobra build (well, you never really finish do you!).
Sump Guard
After grounding the bell housing several times I started to worry a little about the sump and stumbled across a post on the Cobra forum. After taking Charlie up on the offer, the guard arrived the a couple of days later and is really well made bit of kit. I had to notch a small amount out using an angle …
IVA Day
The Big Day finally arrived starting with a super early start to get down to Anthony’s (Absolute Horsepower) with an air temperature just above freezing – not ideal cobra weather! We loaded up the car and headed down to the Exeter test centre. I’m writing the post far too late so sadly I can’t remember too much of what when …
Leaky Power Steering Rack
So, 500 miles in I appear to have a small leak from the bolt on the bottom of the power steering rack. No idea what it’s for.. time to investigate. Updates to follow
Steering Wheels and feeling Horn-y
Time to sort out the round grab handle at the front! I have a BMW E36 air-bag steering column so I was a little worried things weren’t going to be too simple. Turns out I was right. I decided to follow in the footsteps of others and went with the excellent advice from this post on the Cobra club forum. …
Headlights and Taillights
SVA I’ll try to summarise the SVA requirements in time, but for now i’d say read the SVA manual carefully – lights aren’t that easy to move once the car has been painted! A further word of warning – I’ve not been through the SVA test yet, so what you read here is un-tested! Headlights These are pretty easy really, …
Time to Rebuild
She’s back from the paintshop and boy does she look good! Now it’s time for a very careful re-build of the brightwork, lights etc. I also need to modify one of the exhaust headers which won’t seal properly so there’s going to be some very careful engine bay work coming up, GULP. I used Darren from 355 Peterborough (AK’s paintshop) …
Fuel Filler
For the fuel filler I splashed out and went for a 3 1/2″ Aston replica from Cris at Brasscraft and as normal, they were beautifully made and a real work of art (but not much change from £400!). The Brasscraft kit is fantastic though. So, I ordered from Brasscraft: Aston Fuel Filler 3 1/2″ IVA Compliant Lockable Flange plate Unleaded …