Keeping My Guard Up

So a while back I ordered some headlight stone guards which is something I really wanted on this car. They are fairly generic items that are readily available for all 7” headlight units and “normally” fit with three brackets onto the plastic headlight back bowl, under the main chrome bezel. Now on my headlights this fitment method is not going to work because I’m using the stainless steel headlight bowls mounted horizontal as opposed to vertical like they are intended (which I covered in an earlier post) 

I have had my brain thinking as to how I can now fix these guards onto my headlight units and keep them looking professional and look like they were intended to be there and not a stick on after thought. 

I order some more stainless steel M5 button head machine screws but only 10mm long this time along with some lovely M5 knurled blind nuts which are going to work a treat. 

This whole build process on this car has involved some serious fabrication of parts and brackets etc… something I’m really enjoying doing, as it will make the finished car 100% unique and tailored to my taste and style along with hopefully making it interesting for people to look at when I’m out and about in it. The pleasure I get with my Cobra is looking at other cars the same and seeing how other people have solved the same issues but in a different fashion. 

So let’s start making or changing the brackets that came with the stone guards. I started off flattening out the bracket and then shortening them slightly. I had to cut them just behind the original hole and then clean it all up with a file. Once that was done I needed to drill another hole for the M5 machine screw to pass through so this was just measured and centre punched then drilled through. I could have done all these brackets at once, but because I was not following anything other than my own idea I just did one bracket at a time and that allowed me to make minor adjustments with how I had to bend and manipulate them slightly for a better fit. 

I then masked off the main polished stainless bezel of the headlight bowl and after some careful mocking up I marked the hole I needed to drill to push the machine screw through. 

This all worked out really nicely and after I had drilled the main bezel I was able to fix the first bracket and then move onto the next one. Because I’m fitting tripod headlights I want the fixing brackets and knurled buttons to mirror the symmetry of the tripod bars in the headlights, so the first one was in the top centre and the other two at around 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock position. Then after a little fettling with bending the brackets accordingly I was able to refit the headlight within the bezel and then back onto then bowl.

I was a tad concerned that when refitting the bezel onto the bowl, that the now head of the machine screws would void the lip of the bowl and I would have to cut some notches out. However I was pleased to see that the machine screw button head, even with the added depth of a locking spring washer, did not effect the fitting of the outer bezel at all and they fitted back on perfectly as intend and the now overall finished effect and look is absolutely awesome (in my opinion) they look really period for the car and certainly not a stick on component…. All for about 4 hours work in my garage and a total cost of around £24 total… happy with that!

Louvre Myself and Bozzeye Solution

Been a while since I have had some garage time and made some progress. But here’s a little update to keep you entertained. You will possibly recall that I have fitted my headlights and had to fettle the mounting height to get them level and aesthetically pleasing. A tad more fettling has been required to get them to my standard. You can see pictured here how the headlights are not projecting at a ninety degree off the centre line and as shown with the yellow line they would both be directing their emitted light beam slightly bozz eyed as such. I need the light pattern to be more parallel to the centre line as displayed with the red line. 

The headlight bowl is held in place with a hollow bolt spigot that is fitted through the bowl itself with a captive washer. In order to solve my cross eyed effect I’m going to have to just extend the opening of the elongated hole. This is needed because I am not using the headlight bowl as they were intended, my fixing position is horizontal as opposed to vertical as these were designed for. The curvature of the body nose cone accentuates the projection of the beam and hence some custom modifications are now required. 

So I started off just marking up my desired cut lines to give me some further adjustment when fitted. Then using my dremmel and a drum sander, slowly opened up the cut keeping it all neat and tidy. Once this was sorted it gave me significantly more adjustment of the headlight bowl and was hopefully going to solve a little snagging issue. You can also see in this picture the small gap between the captive washer and the headlight bowl, just to the right of the washer. This whilst not noticeable when fitted will allow a small amount of water ingresses and because they are mounted horizontal as opposed to vertical this water will not be able to drain out. This problem is easily solved by simply drilling a few small holes just in the lower lip of the headlight bowl. They originally did have a drain hole, but again remember these have now rotated 90degrees out of position because of the change in the mounting orientation….. solve one problem, create another. These new holes are not visible, unless you were to lay with your head on the ground, so jobs a good-un. 

So comparing the new position/projection of the headlights now to how they were before, you can see they are significantly improved and they should give off a much better light pattern to how they were previously…. Next up body work. 

Part of the journey with kit car building is reusing and recycling items and parts that you accumulate during your life…. Aka hoarding bits that you think will be useful for something or other at some point. So Christmas Eve about two years ago saw my oven go pop and was beyond repair so it was naturally replaced. However before it went the distance I took many good components and parts from it…. Because “you never know” eh!

 In this case the rear panel of the old oven is a good steel sheet with many louvres cut into it…. Louvres are for venting…. Engine bays need venting. The thought process started and is now getting put into practice. 

The bonnet and body of my Spyder are fibreglass, which you can’t just cut bonnet louvres into easily as you can with a steel panel, so some further fabrication is going to be required.

First off was to cut two sections of the louvres out of the panel, which was easily done and then they were fine tuned to make them both identical in shape and size. Then I needed to start planning my fitting position for them, which actually took longer then expected because I’m indecisive basically. However after a while I decided that I wanted them further back on the bonnet as pictured here. So now I needed to mark the positions and check basic symmetry off other features such as the bonnet scoop and hinge positions. I specifically wanted these louvres to blend in with the bonnet as opposed to a bolt onto the top, so I’m going to need to bond them in.

I marked the position of the louvred panels with pen then marked a cut section with masking tape. The cut section is about a quarter inch smaller than the overall size as I need a lip to bond the louvred onto. I used my multi tool to cut the section out the bonnet then went around the perimeter cutting down/thinning the lip as so when the louvre is bonded it will be flush with the bonnet and look seamless. 

 The louvred panel was bonded on using a high strength PU sealer and once cured off overnight has allowed the bonnet to regain some strength after cutting two whacking great holes in it, which was a concern. 

The next step was to start blending and filling the perimeter seam as so the panel looks blended with the bonnet. I started off cutting excess PU sealant off then skimming around with a fine body filler. This is a tedious process really as it takes two or three passes with the filler to make sure the panel is flush and to eliminate any risk of high spots or low spots. I have dusted over with a primer which helps identify the areas that need more work and once I’m relatively happy I will just throw down a guide coat with a gloss finish so that will show any further snagging areas that are needed. Overall I’m really happy with how this little change is working out and will look really period when all done. One secondary issue from now having holes in the bonnet, specifically the offside, is that they might drop water directly onto the carburettors. This I have already got an idea in mind to create a baffle plate that will be mounted underside the bonnet. This will channel any water down away from anything important and also allow the louvres to still vent and draft the air through. So I have made some progress, I just need to keep chipping away.