The Cobra Adventure
Discussion
Ordered some parts from the USA.
Full engine gasket set inc sump, so I can finally sort out that oil weap I have.
Along with some black HT leads to get rid of the horrible red ones.
Also some new pulleys so I can run a 6PK serpentine belt and sack this s**t v belt off.
My car suffers from wheel shimmy over 60mph due to the rack and column being solid all the way from the rack to the steering wheel along with 245/60/15 tyres notoriously not being round.... Road vibrations just end up being additive and it gets annoying real fast.
Luckily someone in the USA decided to fix this, by partnering with a company that makes the racks and columns for the Indy car series. So I've ordered a load of fancy universal joints and mounts that should cure it totally.
Wasn't cheap though, but if you mess with steering, may as well do it right.
Full engine gasket set inc sump, so I can finally sort out that oil weap I have.
Along with some black HT leads to get rid of the horrible red ones.
Also some new pulleys so I can run a 6PK serpentine belt and sack this s**t v belt off.
My car suffers from wheel shimmy over 60mph due to the rack and column being solid all the way from the rack to the steering wheel along with 245/60/15 tyres notoriously not being round.... Road vibrations just end up being additive and it gets annoying real fast.
Luckily someone in the USA decided to fix this, by partnering with a company that makes the racks and columns for the Indy car series. So I've ordered a load of fancy universal joints and mounts that should cure it totally.
Wasn't cheap though, but if you mess with steering, may as well do it right.
Edited by Waitey on Monday 19th June 11:40
Took it for a little drive yesterday.
Still have a vibration at big speeds. So today it was time to find why…..
I’ve always assumed that if you had wheels made for a car, then well, they’d be the right spec. On measuring though, the centre bore is 75.1mm and the BMW hubs are 72.6mm.
So the vibration is come from misalignment on tightening.
Weird that it’s never had spigots though, best look at the old spacers it had, so see if they were actually 75mm….
Ah hello mr spigot ring…
I am a Bell end.
Still have a vibration at big speeds. So today it was time to find why…..
I’ve always assumed that if you had wheels made for a car, then well, they’d be the right spec. On measuring though, the centre bore is 75.1mm and the BMW hubs are 72.6mm.
So the vibration is come from misalignment on tightening.
Weird that it’s never had spigots though, best look at the old spacers it had, so see if they were actually 75mm….
Ah hello mr spigot ring…
I am a Bell end.
Edited by Waitey on Monday 19th June 11:49
On my last test drive the alt belt was still a bit squeal'y on accel.
So I bought myself a set square and actually measured the alignment properly.
The alternator pully was 2.1mm too far forward. So with a bit of massaging of the mounts with a bench grinder, they now are bang on.
Hopefully this cures it for once!
Also I've ordered some period correct 1964 'B' number plates. 64 was a bit of a cross over, with black and silver, black and white and flat plates going about. Up north though most were black and white with raised letters in the 60's font. So that's what I've gone for.
Should look like this:
So I bought myself a set square and actually measured the alignment properly.
The alternator pully was 2.1mm too far forward. So with a bit of massaging of the mounts with a bench grinder, they now are bang on.
Hopefully this cures it for once!
Also I've ordered some period correct 1964 'B' number plates. 64 was a bit of a cross over, with black and silver, black and white and flat plates going about. Up north though most were black and white with raised letters in the 60's font. So that's what I've gone for.
Should look like this:
Edited by Waitey on Monday 19th June 11:52
Another random issue I have is fuel slosh showing up on the gauge. Acceleration can take it from half full to empty etc. Round abouts cause it to dip by 1/4 of a tank.
So to get around it I've bought one of these:
https://ebay.us/rCASQH
Its a little box that will match the sender and the gauge more closely. As well as acting as a damper for the movement.
https://youtu.be/uuwpVvwYfR8
Pretty cool. Saw it on a US forum but is actually made in the UK.
So to get around it I've bought one of these:
https://ebay.us/rCASQH
Its a little box that will match the sender and the gauge more closely. As well as acting as a damper for the movement.
https://youtu.be/uuwpVvwYfR8
Pretty cool. Saw it on a US forum but is actually made in the UK.
Sf_Manta said:
Would suggest if that's the case, it'd be prudent to check fuel pressure when driving, as that dip on the gauge would suggest you're getting fuel surge and can cause the engine to run lean, moreso if you decide to stretch it's legs on track or some spirited driving.
A thought would to install a surge tank if there's not one already fitted. Edelbrock do a complete self contained unit that'd probably work with your EFI setup.
https://www.edelbrock.com/adjustable-universal-efi...
The main tank feeds a 2 litre surge tank in the boot where the high pressure pump lives. A thought would to install a surge tank if there's not one already fitted. Edelbrock do a complete self contained unit that'd probably work with your EFI setup.
https://www.edelbrock.com/adjustable-universal-efi...
The main tank is baffled too, its just very shallow, so any movement is a big swing.
So I took it to the garage with it showing just over 1/4 tank, I got 27 litres in it... Filled it to a point where it blowing fuel back out but it was only just showing over 3/4 or a tank. So I'll have to see if I can get more in it another time. The tank should be 70litres, so 27 wouldn't be far off the half it went up.
Then there's the vibration. I've reduced it by a good 90% which is great but not perfect.
Only thing it can be is the tyres now. I took the wheels to a local place which can check the 'roundness' of a rotating body and the result is, that the front tyres are really out of round. Sadly it looks like it sitting for the last 4 years have killed the tyres.
So that leads me to finding new ones, I want some Avon CR6ZZ's as they are best ones but they are £1400 a set. A quick google finds that what I think is Lotus Historic are selling some rears that had done 400 miles for £450. I made a cheeky offer of £200 and it was accepted. So we'll see if they are knackered or really old when I collect them on Saturday.
I just need to order the fronts now.
Then there's the vibration. I've reduced it by a good 90% which is great but not perfect.
Only thing it can be is the tyres now. I took the wheels to a local place which can check the 'roundness' of a rotating body and the result is, that the front tyres are really out of round. Sadly it looks like it sitting for the last 4 years have killed the tyres.
So that leads me to finding new ones, I want some Avon CR6ZZ's as they are best ones but they are £1400 a set. A quick google finds that what I think is Lotus Historic are selling some rears that had done 400 miles for £450. I made a cheeky offer of £200 and it was accepted. So we'll see if they are knackered or really old when I collect them on Saturday.
I just need to order the fronts now.
Went to collect the tyres I thought I’d bought from Lotus Historic….. well it was the right industrial estate, I’d actually bought them from AC cars haha.
So these had come off a test Cobra for the Superblower one they now sell.
They were used on it in September 2019 and did the grand total of 453 miles, before been swapped for some custom 325 width ones.
So for £100 each I’m well happy, considering these are £420 each normally!
Tread wear 80 though so can’t see them lasting long!
So these had come off a test Cobra for the Superblower one they now sell.
They were used on it in September 2019 and did the grand total of 453 miles, before been swapped for some custom 325 width ones.
So for £100 each I’m well happy, considering these are £420 each normally!
Tread wear 80 though so can’t see them lasting long!
Edited by Waitey on Monday 19th June 13:03
Ordered some front tyres to match the rears I got - £668 delivered. That hurt the Yorkshire man in me.
Then got onto addressing the front brakes. Currently it was 300mm discs on the front from a E46. Which technically with the calliper carrier give me a -2mm clearance to the wheels. Which is why the calliper is ground down and why I can’t run any balancing weights where it actually needs them. (You can get them balanced cleanly but with weights in the wheel spoke face, which I hate!.)
So I’ve got some 286mm discs and calliper carriers coming, which will nicely clear the wheels and wheel weights. They use the same calliper so will be an easy swap.
Calliper carriers were £20 and new Brembo discs were £50 from ECP.
Then got onto addressing the front brakes. Currently it was 300mm discs on the front from a E46. Which technically with the calliper carrier give me a -2mm clearance to the wheels. Which is why the calliper is ground down and why I can’t run any balancing weights where it actually needs them. (You can get them balanced cleanly but with weights in the wheel spoke face, which I hate!.)
So I’ve got some 286mm discs and calliper carriers coming, which will nicely clear the wheels and wheel weights. They use the same calliper so will be an easy swap.
Calliper carriers were £20 and new Brembo discs were £50 from ECP.
Edited by Waitey on Monday 19th June 13:04
Mars said:
greed. In fact, when you come to replace the rears again, work out the £££/miles. I'm interested how they compare to ACB10s on my old Caterham. Cheaper tyres @ ~£150 each but only about 3000 miles for a set of rears.
With then been 80 tread wear I can’t see them lasting long…
Sf_Manta said:
Good effort with the wheels and tyres.. though only 2 sets? 
I managed 16 wheels with tyres, though they were 13inch wheels with Avons
Still, loving this project, glad the fuel injection setup is working well too!, Would be interesting to see power runs pre and post change over, I can imagine fuel economy has improved as well.
Haha have you seen the size of a 295/50/15!!I managed 16 wheels with tyres, though they were 13inch wheels with Avons
Still, loving this project, glad the fuel injection setup is working well too!, Would be interesting to see power runs pre and post change over, I can imagine fuel economy has improved as well.
Fuel injection is brilliant. Mainly just for the fact it starts straight away!
Successful trip to the breakers. One thing of note is how few E46’s are left in breakers yards. There was only two and about 50 E90’s.
Anyway, found a 320i that looked like it lived under the sea, but it had all four carriers I needed.
Part way through a clean up:
Fitted after a lick of paint along with the new discs.
Anyway, found a 320i that looked like it lived under the sea, but it had all four carriers I needed.
Part way through a clean up:
Fitted after a lick of paint along with the new discs.
Edited by Waitey on Monday 19th June 13:07
Timing.
Or control of timing.
Always the big weak point on old stuff. You either have set timing, vacuum advance (and hope it works) or a box like I have, MSD 6AL, which basically says, you aren’t idling anymore, here’s 20deg extra timing.
I was going to buy all the Holley Hyperspark gear to make my car have the ability to use the Holley Sniper ECU to control timing. All the gear is about another £600.
When someone said on a US forum, Holley own MSD, so all your current gear will work, just get a adjustable rotor for the distributer.
So £50 on eBay later, I have a new rotor coming. After that it’s literally, 4 wires to fit and my distributer to lock out and phase and I’ll be good to go.
Having some timing control will be great for totally nailing the idle stability along with being able to lean the cruise out even more for a bit better drivability.
Or control of timing.
Always the big weak point on old stuff. You either have set timing, vacuum advance (and hope it works) or a box like I have, MSD 6AL, which basically says, you aren’t idling anymore, here’s 20deg extra timing.
I was going to buy all the Holley Hyperspark gear to make my car have the ability to use the Holley Sniper ECU to control timing. All the gear is about another £600.
When someone said on a US forum, Holley own MSD, so all your current gear will work, just get a adjustable rotor for the distributer.
So £50 on eBay later, I have a new rotor coming. After that it’s literally, 4 wires to fit and my distributer to lock out and phase and I’ll be good to go.
Having some timing control will be great for totally nailing the idle stability along with being able to lean the cruise out even more for a bit better drivability.
Edited by Waitey on Monday 19th June 13:09
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