Progress still terriby slow

I did not work much this week on the car. I spent some effort trying to acquire the transmission, and did a little bit of unrewarding polishing of the aluminum panels for the firewall. And that is about it.

PS pump part

Jerry got the part done for the power steering pump bracket that we ended up needing to fabricate. It turned out great, though we did have to file off a little on one corner. Here is a picure of the part before putting it on the engine...


I still need to get a different bolt to get it mounted, and Fastenal seems to be the only place that carries such an unusual size. Sadly, they are not open on weekends, so it will have to wait til Monday. Then it will be on to making the engine fit perfectly in the engine compartment, test fit the exhaust headers, and continue the search for a transmission.

Nothing done

I did absolutely nothing on the car this week. I made turkey soup and did all kinds of preparation work for several days of work at Wash U for an offering of Tycoon. I should be getting back to wrenching by late this week.

Nothing new

Still too much other stuff going on to get anything done on the cobra. Jerry said they are close to making my PS pump bracket. I have done nothing on the tranny, the paperwork, or the aluminum panels. This week may not be good either with preparation for a couple of days of TYCOON the following week. Sorry to be so dull.

Slowing down

For lots of reasons, the build has slowed down. Colder weather, approaching holidays, upcoming work assignment, other personal stuff. Anyway, my brother-in-law, Jerry, came out and helped me work through the PS pump bracketry troubles. I hope to have that solved very soon. We were able to test fit the engine in place and it will fit, but will take a tiny bit more coercing.

A potential problem has come up with my paperwork. I visited the Highway Patrol office trying to make sure I was okay to proceed and it is not completely clear. I may have to rethink some of my assumptions about what way to go on the transmission, and even possibly the engine.

Herculiner

I have just finished applying Herculiner (a pickup truck bed liner) to the underside of my fiberglass cockpit tub and trunk. This stuff is like a polyurethane paint with rubber granules in it that sticks to the fiberglass and provides some surface and noise protection from little rocks and things hitting the underside of the car. Here are some pics...

Trunk before...


First step was to scuff sand and clean with acetone. That was some potent stuff. You are only really supposed to do about 10 sq ft at a time, but I did about 100. Mistake! Despite being well ventilated in the garage, I did end up with a nasty headache from the fumes for a couple of days.


Here are a couple of pics after applying the Herculiner...



Here is a link to a cool video (over 9 minutes) of a similar product called Rhinoliner. They blow up 2 pickup trucks from below, one with and one without the bedliner. Amazing results. Makes me glad I went ahead and applied this stuff. Now I should be safe to join the Leisure crime family.

Next up is returning to the power steering pump bracket problem. I have decided to make my own bracket now. I bought a raw steel plate and will fabricate something on my own that will give me exactly what I need. And I will also get back to polishing aluminum at some point.

Promised pictures and midweek update

Here is a nice picture of my engine (dangling from my engine hoist) as it was when I tried to install it.

Pay particular attention to the problem item, the power steering pump on the far right. It is the part blocking out the creeper seat in the background. You can see how far out it is hanging, due to the bracketry involved in attaching it to the water pump.

Here is a closeup of the power steering pump after I took it off of the engine. It is actually a pump from a Ford pickup, but should work if I can get it to mount up and inboard.

The pump is belt driven by the pulley located on the front and eventually, I will plumb some hoses from the pump to the steering rack.

I have ordered a special bracket from my local Ford dealer that should allow me to move it in and up. It actually relocates the PS pump to where the air conditioner pump normally is on this engine. It should get here Friday. Hopefully that will work. My engine builder has even offered to share this cost.

I've been tidying up a few minor things and will start polishing some of the aluminum firewall next. Also, I hope to get working on undercoating the fiberglass tub soon too, but first I need to get it out of my living room.