Long time since update

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated this site. The car is almost done. We've been too busy driving it and having fun with it rather then finishing the last of the little details. We have over 2000 miles on the car already. We drove the car up to Monterey for the Cherries Jubilee car show. We had a blast and even got an award for the car! See below for pictures.

Dad and I working on the car.

Driving the car + more detail work

I've been driving the car a lot on the evenings. I probably have put close to 100 miles on it since getting it on the road. I did manage to get some work done on it though. Now is the big push to get the required stuff thats needed for the CHP and DMV BAR inspection. The CHP inspection is on August 10th, hopefully everything will go well.

Some of things that have been completed:

• Both rollbars have been installed
• Seats have been bolted in including driver side adjustable seat tracks.
• Fabricated a lower radiator mount - This will give additional support to the radiator.
• Aligned and did permanent attachment of sidepipes
• Front end alignment performed at local shop to FFR specs.
• Fabricated removable bracket for temporary reverse light (needed for BAR inspection)
• Mounted license plate light and bracket, also wired up light.
• Found bracket to fasten lower radiator hose up against frame.
• Went through and retorqued all suspension bolts on the car.
• Adjusted ride height.
• Installed new Alternator.

See below for pictures:

Rollbars installed.

Custom rollbar trimrings installed.

License plate light and bracket installed.

Seats installed.

The lower radiator mount I fabricated. You can't really see it, which is good. Once the aluminum is installed around the radiator you won't see it at all.

My $5 reverse light. The story behind this is that a reverse light is sometimes needed to pass the Brake and Light inspection with the DMV. This is a cheapo light that will be installed the day of the inspection, then will be removed afterwards.

Turn Signal/Hazzards wiring diagram

Below is a drawing I made when we were wiring the turn signal and hazzard circuit. I found this to be the best way to use only one flasher and no diodes with a single indicator light. I'm posting this as a reference to other builders. Please excuse the rudimentary drawing.

Old updates - DONE

UPDATE: All updates are now done. The complete build history can be viewed from the Blog Archive section.

I'm still working on back feeding the old updates onto the new website. You can get to some of the older news from the right column in the Blog Archive section.

We have paint!

Dad came down for the weekend again. We drove down to Temecula to the have the newly painted body mounted to the car. The paint turned out perfect. The color is awesome and the paint job is truely flawless. Thanks go out to Jeff Miller Customs for the great job they did on the paint.

Car loaded up on the trailer on the way to Temecula.

Car loaded on the trailer. Notice the dash is now covered and finished.

First look at the painted body.

Body mounted to the car.

Jeff aligning the trunk.

Mounting the doors.

Car loaded up and on the way home.

The next morning we installed the windshield and custom trim plates.

Andrew thinks I'm going to let him drive the car.

More wiring and exhaust

Dad came down for the weekend. We worked on the dash wiring including the turn signals and hazzard wiring. We had a tough time trying to figure it out but we finally got it.

Testing the turn signal switch and flasher wiring.

New ceramic coated headers from Ford Racing installed.

We borrowed some wooden light holders that we used to mock up the lights and run the wiring.

New Build Site!

Yes that's right - Another day, another build site. I decided to ditch my home internet cable connection for something a little faster. This means I lose my free webspace with Roadrunner. No worries. This Blog type setup will work better for a build site anyway. Hope everyone enjoys the new setup.

Lot's of updates

OK, I finally had some time for an update. Lots of progress has been done on the car. To recap, this is what has been done:

- The wiring was installed, and mostly in place.
- The car had it's first start of the motor.
- Driveshaft and more wiring work
- First time Driving the car
- More work on the electrical and dash guages
- Body temporarily installed for fitment
- Body delivered to painter, will hopefully return in 6-8 weeks.

Here are the pictures and videos of our progress:

This is what the wiring looked like after it had a "diet". Basically everything was stripped out that wasn't needed for the Cobra.



Started doing a rough install of the wiring. Basically getting the wiring in the hooked up enough to start the car.

More shots of the wiring roughed in. The car was running and driveable at the point this picture was taken.

Dash temporarily mounted. Most of the guages are hooked up and working.

Dad and my brother Taylor came down to install the body on the car. This is Taylor working on the trunk aluminum and rear seal.



Dad and Taylor uncovering the Cobra body for the first time since we received the kit.

Taylor and I. We are about ready to install the body.

The body is on the car!

Dad and Taylor working on fitting the fuel filler neck to the body.

Here I am aligning the side pipes.

Dad with the car.

Shot of the interior after the body was installed. Notice the battery and engine kill switch mounted on the rear of the transmission tunnel.

Me giving Angie her first ride in the Cobra. My brother Brek and Angie were visiting.

The car is loaded and on it's way to the Jeff Miller Customs in Temecula for paint. This picture was taken in Upland, about halfway to Temecula. I had stopped to get a drink and check the straps on the trailer.

Arrived at Jeff Miller's. Jeff fits and adjusts the door gaps with the body on the car. Then the body comes off and gets left at Jeff's while the car gets taken back home. Once the body is done being painted, we will bring the car back down to have Jeff fit the newly painted body back on the car. Notice all the other Cobra bodies being worked on.

Here is a video of me giving my brother Brek his first ride in the Cobra: