So according to my social media it was the 2nd of November 2011 I fitted the handbrake to the Cobra during the build… and by pure coincidence guess what I have fitted today on the Spyder, yep the handbrake. When I stripped the chassis all those months/years back I should have took a couple of extra cuts off of it to help me… however I got very good money for the rotten shell from what I recall so this has hardly been an expensive purchase. I was in contact with SpitBits again and they had a prop shaft tunnel with hand brake mounting on the shelf and this was quickly dispatched to me after I had paid. Unfortunately having no control over the removal from the body I have not really had the exact cut I need. The lower lip section as in this photo is perfect, as it will return down in a vertical position when sat on the chassis. However the other side has been cut a tad short, so I will need to fabricate and adjust it slightly to be of any use to me.
With some measurements taken from the seatbelt mounting points I set about with the grinder, cutting the panel to my requirements. I had to also weld in some additional metal in order to get a good fit. The additional metal was simply the off cut of the other side shaped and welded into place as shown here on the lower front of the panel. I then marked and drilled two 8mm holes towards the front of the panel down through the chassis which will become my front securing points. The chassis holes were opened up further to a 10mm to accept a riv-nut and then the whole panel can be fixed to the chassis with the two new bolts at the front and two seat belt bolts at the back. I have some strips of neoprene self adhesive to stick onto the chassis top to creat a seal between the prop shaft cover panel and the chassis, and I intend to just put some rubber seal on the back end to seal off against the bulkhead. It shouldn’t get much weather abuse when in use as the road spray will mostly be on the outside of the car as opposed to the centre from underneath.
With the new panel in situ I was able to fit the handbrake and with a little adjustment here and there it was functioning very well…. Considerably more effective than on the Cobra and i haven’t even fine tuned it yet or bedded the brakes in… so I’m really confident this will be more than acceptable for the car once finished.
Now this is done I can really start to make some fixings and seat positions which I’ve been holding back from, knowing this “might” have an effect on how they finally will fit. So that will be relatively easy I hope when I do that.
I don’t have the materials to fit the seats yet, so next up was to seal the engine off from the elements from the underside at least. I have cleaned up the sump and give a good covering of bedliner paint (still left over from the chassis painting) and with a new gasket, sump plug and fixing bolts I was ready to fit it all into place. Just prior to that I had to fit the oil pump. This has been checked using a feeler gauge to check the wear tolerance and I have decided that the original unit is still extremely usable as opposed to risking a replacement third party unit that will probably have a worse tolerance than this one, this was put in place using plenty of engine assembly lube but this is where the brakes were put on the task. The three fixing bolts need to be tightened to 11Nm torque and the lowest my torque wrench will go down to is 30Nm. With this being internal to the engine I’m taking no risks with the installation and will hang fire until I can torque up correctly and the same for the sump bolts.
I have also done some bench testing of the starter motor and with some light cleaning and servicing it is also now ready to be fitted to the engine. This allows me to possible turn the engine over a bit using the battery so I can generate some oil pressure and make sure everything is turning freely and how it’s supposed too, however I still need to get my rockers and push rods before I can set the valve lash and see the valves open and close. I will probably video that when I do it, but I want to familiarise myself with the cam shaft break in procedure first as so not to risk any damage.
