When I received my body, the gelcoat was in excellent shape. But as I began to work on it, I learned although the body looked good, the edges were horrendous. The glass cloth had separated, or wasn’t filled, there were all kinds of voids. No where near ready for final body work. I chose to correct these. Period Correct I wanted the car to appear as an aluminum car. We have all seen persons come up to a car and put their hand under the edge of the fender well, trying to feel if it is fiberglass or aluminum. I wanted to pass this test.Read More →

Pieces are beginning to come together. Installed cooling system and hydraulic reservoir system Hydraulic ReservoirsThe original S/C cars came with Girling hydraulics, which incorporated  remote reservoirs, mounted on the engine compartment wall. The originals ued two larger reservoirs for the brakes and one smaller for the clutch. Incorporating this into the build presents a number of challenges. The taller reservoir cans were also used on the 3000 series Austin Healy’s. But those also are almost impossible to find. The smaller can is the same size as is commonly used for PVC solvent cans.  It is common place to use three smaller cans due to theRead More →

Posted info on pedal modification to fit AC style pedals onto Wilwood clutch/brake assembly. The Hurricane kit comes with Wilwood brake and clutch pedals. One of the first mod’s everyone goes to is to incorporate the AC pedal into your car. Just makes it look better. Pedals purchased from Finishline Accessories come “un-machined” on the back boss. It is approximately 3/4″ thick. I mounted mine by machining a 3/16″ slot thru this boss, cutting the pedal arms on the Wilwood assembly to make a lever end, then cross-drilled for a 1/4″ bolt and nut. Hopefully the pictures will show how it was done When IRead More →

While working on the steering, I decided to incorporate the self-cancelling turn signal mod. Update to current design The kit includes a VW turn signal lever. It has the self-cancelling mechanism built into it, it only needs an actuating cam to make it happen. But whoa, little buddy, it requires a little more attention than that. The cancelling cam is a 3/4″ shaft collar, with a couple bumps on it. I placed two welds, 180º apart and then sanded the profile. The PDF file shows the finished dimensions. You need to be fairly accurate in making this. Too small and it won’t cancel properly, tooRead More →

Tweaking the throttle pedal/footbox bracket. While installing the steering shafts, I learned my work isn’t done. The bracket keeps the shaft from turning. Little bit of work and all is well. Posted info, pictures and drawings of throttleRead More →

Polished firewall and installed cockpit tub permanently. Well, not exactly polish. Having had polished aluminum pieces in the past, I knew of the amount of maintenance they require. So I chose a satin finish. Scrubbing with ScotchBrite pads and WD40 makes a surface that doesn’t show corrosion, weather or waterspots and can be easily cleaned up with more scrubbing and WD.Read More →

While I had the body on, I checked the underhood clearance to help clear up some questions about the FE coolant tank. The FE uses a coolant reservoir mounted on the front of the manifold. Tanks available exit on the passenger side of the vehicle. But the original Cobras had an exit on the drivers side. I purchased my kit with a drivers side inlet on the radiator, so the upper line would appear period correct. I chose to use a double path radiator, with the lower outlet also on the drivers side. This would allow a more direct path to the FE’s waterpump inletRead More →

Foot Box Drop Frame Mod Cutting the drivers side footbox on an angle not only adds additional room for your left foot, it helps transition the carpet nicely to the sidewall. This seemed so minute but every inch counts when you are trying to get your feet into the footbox. Cut the top (1″) and inner side (2″) on a slight angle to accomodate a new piece of 10 ga. that will run on a diagonal. Box the ends closed with scrap and tack weld the diagonal filler. Add a piece of 1″ x 1″ x 1/8″ angle from the front of the box backRead More →

Sway bar

Installed front suspension, modifying lower A Arm to mount sway bar. The Hurricane kit does not include a sway bar in the build, relying on the coil-overs to manage body roll. They do a spectacular job but for additional handling, I decided to add a  swaybar. I wanted a bar that would not require welding the lower arm. My welding isn’t bad but don’t have the confidence in it yet to be welding on the suspension components. The width of the frame rails dictated the distance between the arms. The distance between the coil-over mounts dictate the distance between eyes. I learned a Miata bar isRead More →