The Cunning Coupe

[cunningplan]

After two weekends that I was unable to go to Steve & Lesley's, the first was I was snowed in. (Well I did set off just before 7am and only got around the corner when it started to snow, within half a mile the roads were white) so I just turned around and went home.
Then last weekend I had some bug which everyone else seemed to have at the same time, just went home after work Friday and went to bed.
Anyway, back to the car and trailer, one of the last times I went to Steve's, the car got covered in mud from the roads running up to the shed. So I decided to make a cover to fit the top of the trailer to keep most of the dirt off when its being towed, I wanted it as light as I could and was thinking of some sort of vinyl, but searching found that it would cost more than I wanted to pay. A few years ago I bought a awning for the van and to stop the wind and rain blowing from under the van I made a blocker using pond liner from a local garden centre, it was cheap and done the job. Last Saturday I went down the same place but found they had run out and was not expecting it in for a few weeks or so. We called in a couple of other centres and found one that wanted 90 odd quid for a 6 x 2 metre piece, way too much, then I remembered they sold it in The Range in Cardiff, we went there and found it would only cost £40 so I bought some. I ordered up some more screw in poppers for fleebay.
The other day Glen dropped in the finished prop shaft shield and was fitting it in yesterday afternoon when he came in for a test. He asked me what colour I wanted and he suggested red, I didn’t think it would look right at first but said yes, I’m glad I did as it looks good next to the Trans blanket.

The Cunning Coupe

After work we tried to get the car off the trailer, I thought I had solved the problem with brakes; it took 3 of us ½ hour to get the car onto the ramp ready for the morning.
First thing this morning was to try and sort out the brakes again, I jacked the car up on the ramp and took off the wheels and freed off the pads and took them out, I have put new pads in, so got out the old ones and put them back in, at the moment it seems to have solved the problem but I won’t know until I unload the car again. The old pads were hardly worn but did not cover all the disc, they are spitfire callipers and pads and I found Acclaim pads had a extra ¼ inch on the bottom. Don’t know if this was the problem but I will get a few runs in the car and try them again.
With that sorted, we pushed the car outside and put the trailer on the ramp. I measured and drilled where I wanted the studs and screwed them in, I put the liner on the top and fitted the popper parts to it. As I was on my own, (Del was working in the workshop) I could not get it as tight as I would have liked but it looks like it’s going to do its job.

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

When I posted the photos of the brake system the other week, Sam Freeman suggested I put some rubber covers on the threads of the axle bolts; he even got some for me and sent them down (Thanks Sam) I warmed these up and tapped them on, it would be better for my legs to hit these than the studs.

The Cunning Coupe

We had to swap the two around again so we could put the car back on the trailer, then it was home until next weekend.

[Manky Monkey]

I'd hoped to see you & the car at Steves workshop last week Tony. Hope you're feeling better. 

[cunningplan]

First and second start ups (Sorry about the sound)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ17z9xba-8&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5ZpcmHeqrA

update on the other bits we did over the weekend tomorrow

[Manky Monkey]

That's a bit of a beast isn't it Tony! Can't wait to see it on the track.
For a first fire up of a new motor, my brother looks incredibly nonchalent about the whole thing. 

[cunningplan]

That's a bit of a beast isn't it Tony! Can't wait to see it on the track.
For a first fire up of a new motor, my brother looks incredibly nonchalent about the whole thing. 

Even my daughter said that about Steve (brock) he must have confidence in me and thought it would start the first time, I thought it was going to be harder than it was, but then again its only a boat anchor

[cunningplan]

As you can see the engine is up and running and the gearbox/back axle are working like they should. So far the engine is running on the 600 vac sec Holley from the Cunning Plan, as it runs so good at the moment I will be leaving this on until the whole car is up and running. The timing has not been set up yet, but more on that later.
I had a wet trip up first thing Sat morning but the sun came out and it turned into a nice day.
The plan for the weekend was to finish the wiring and get it up and running. I measured up for the brackets for the Master switch/solenoid/fuel pump/Anderson plug and cut them out. I was then down to Steve to weld them in place. Then I wired them up.

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

While I was doing this, Steve was knocking up a new brake pushrod, while the old one worked, people were concerned that it might bend, so after a good look, he came up with this.

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

Its now got a nice straight push and worked a treat when I had the car running.
It was then that I fitted the battery and after turning the engine over to get pressure (50psi) Steve switched on the ignition and hit the starter, it fired and cut out, I turned the dizzy a bit and when he hit it again it fired into life. Quite quickly the paint on the headers just blistered and burnt off (So it will be back to BBQ black) After we knew it worked, I put on the wheels and got ready to bleed (You have to go up and down the gearbox a couple of times holding it each gear for a few secs) and see if the gears worked or not, Steve checked the level and it was by luck on the mark (Good guess) once the fluid had got around the box it worked as it always did.
We normally work until about 9, but as the engine was hot we called it a day early.
The plan for the morning was to get it outside and see if it moved and stopped as it should, but as we was getting to the shed in the morning it started to snow and in a very short time there was about a inch on the grass.

The Cunning Coupe

So we lock ourselves in and lit the fire.
It was also planned to start making the fuel tank, so I got out the mock up and laid it on some card Steve had, we folded it around it and cut it to size for a template, we found some alloy to suit, marked and cut it out then bent that around the buck. We had added a extra strip on one edge and I juggled it so Steve could have a overlap joint and not a butt.
I measured for the front end and Steve made a former to put into the press. While Steve was welding up the bottom seam, I pressed the end cap, this did not full work as it should, so I dressed it up on a bit of pipe help in the vice. This was pressed in from the inside and when fitting as it should welded in.
The back of the tank is a funny shape (Like the original car had) and I have made a template but we ran out of time before we could make it.

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

The Cunning Coupe

The only other thing to do before I went home was to make a slot for the steering shaft to come through on the top panel, this was done, but we still have to cut a couple of holes each side for where the body mounts are welded to the chassis.
I hope to go up again in a few weeks time. To do is to finish the tank, top panel (Including the screen) and making a panel for each side of the engine to hide the electrics.
I will have to order up a few things from Speed Flow before then so the fitting can be welded to the tank (Outlet and breather)
More news as it happens

[tbone]

Quite quickly the paint on the headers just blistered and burnt off (So it will be back to BBQ black)

I thought all that smoke was coming from Brock 
You can see the change in those headers actually happen, lovely.

Well done Tony, you must be a happy man....although you are a tease! You show us the engine firing up, the gears all perfoming as they should and then you tell us it`s still not finished 

[cunningplan]

At just after 5 this afternoon I took my first ride in the car.
We set the timing at 34' for now and ran it through the gears, took it off the stand and "It lives"    (And stops)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kl3QeZwBVk&feature=g-upl&context=G20bef81AUAAAAAAAAAA
another video and photos in a couple of days

[spanners]

real nice .......

[Manky Monkey]

Wow!

[cunningplan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFkHLqPWrI8&feature=share
Sorry about the sound   

[hunter]

Sounds real nice that Tony,Looks good to.

[cunningplan]

Sounds real nice that Tony,Looks good to.

When finished yesterday, I just stuck it back on the trailer uncovered and thats how it still is until after work today. So if you want to pop down somtime today, your welcome 

[merv]

Well done on a great build,
what kind of time's are you hopping to achieve

[hunter]

Sounds real nice that Tony,Looks good to.

When finished yesterday, I just stuck it back on the trailer uncovered and thats how it still is until after work today. So if you want to pop down somtime today, your welcome 

Sorry Tony,Just read this.