Car just completed...What things should go wrong in the first few trips?

[Buzz]

If you look at the pictures, the nose/chin of this car will clear a low wall, never mind a curb bumper. It definitely needs lowering in the front.

[PatBuckley]

After you have checked "everything" and go on your ride, keep an ear peeled for any loud clunking noise that sounds like a bolt has fallen out and is bouncing off the road into the bottom of your car.......when you get home make sure to replace that bolt.

Put it this way, if you hear the kind of noise I described, don't be delusional and put it off to something that you ran over......

Not saying this has happened to me or anything.....just saying.

[YerDugliness]

Loud "clunking" noises from under the car can be very disconcerting, but they don't always mean loose or missing parts.

If you have a "TractionLoc" differential, and it is low on lubricant, it will "grind" or seem to make "clunking" noises, most often when you are turning a corner. Check the grease level in your differential and fill it up if it's not full already, and don't forget the special "Limited Slip" treatment that is needed.

Cheers from Dugly

[LRRCobradreamer]

Do not use the "go" pedel too much when in first gear unless the wheels are pointed straight ahead!!! It is called "snap spin".

Carry some tools, WD40, duck tape...... is the trunk to small, oh well.

Good luck and enjoy.

Lee

[lnfletcher]

Don't forget along with the cell phone, to have the number of someone that is home and able to help. (Or a good tow company.)

[Arch F]

I drove a few miles, put it up on jack stands and spent a couple hours under there checking everything.
Repeated this maybe 6 or 8 times. Then with about 250 miles on the clock, I made a 3,000 mile trip from Seattle to SoCal and back. Two very small problems (mine is a Factory Five) 1. Passenger side pipe needed to have the bolts between the header and pipe tightened. 2. A bolt on the throtle linkage (carb) needed tightening. Thats it.

So, check everything until you feel secure, then trust your skills and have some fun.
Arch

[Richard Hudgins]

Folks,

There is one piece of equipment that is absolutely critical in any build. And it is a paint marker.

See Sharpie paint marker for an example.

As you build and do final assembly and a fastener is torqued to spec the last time mark it as such with the paint marker.

Then before you take the car out for the first time look at every nut and bolt.

If there is no paint on the bolt/nut/joining device then you need to fix it.

This method works for any connection even AN oil and fuel lines.

After all connections have a paint mark then you can drive the car for the first installation lap of your test area.


Now I know that a lot of you will think that you do not wish little spots of paint on all of your pretty grade 8 bolts and in particular not on your gleaming ARP bolts that you spent too much on.

Believe me, it is better to have the paint on the connection then it is to have the left front upper A-arm fall off. Or Lower for that matter.

Every A&P mechanic I know uses this method as self QC.

Also next time you are looking at an F1 car notice the little yellow marks on every connection. You will see these marks on the inside of the engines as well.

[ratsnst1]

this is one that most everyone misses, and its the embedding process of the brakes,all that going around the block going 15 miles an hour or more is fine but when you get to where you think you can really start driving it, scuff your roters and pads and do some hard stops at about 50 mph do 4 or 5 of them , basically get your brakes nice and hot that will let the material on the pads start transferring to the roters giving best possible braking. that is the bigest problem that willwood and bear brakes have with customers, saying there brakes are not working very good, then the rep askes did you do the embedding process, and almost every one says oops no I didnt, then the rep says well there you go then, and then almost never hears back from them.I know this cause it happened to me lol.

[vector1]

there's a good idea from richard! some use paint marks also.

i carry a tow strap in the floor board long enough to wrap around the roll bar and hook to a tow vehicle or to be used by the flatbed operator. use it also to pull (back) the car into the enclosed trailer with the winch.

[SF_SN888KE]

I'm assuming you have insurance?

[jmimac351]

Fleiss, small world, I live in Apopka as well. Drive it over to my house and we'll put it up on my lift and check it over. If you've been looking at it for 8 years there's a decent chance you could be staring at something and not see it.

I would start by checking all of the stuff that will kill you and then work down the list from there. Spindle nuts, ball joint nuts, end link nuts, steering knuckle set screws, rear axle nuts.... like was mentioned - suspension, steering, brakes.

[Voyager]

As everyone said, do several short, local trips.

Within the first couple months of ownership, I had issues w/ overheating, plus leaking oil, coolant and brake fluid.

Just give it a thorough inspection after each short ride and fix whatever comes up. Continually go over all the bolts.

Be careful pushing the loud pedal. It will snap around in a heartbeat.

[Donunder]

I like Richard's paint marker tip.
No second guessing and no unnecessary "double handling".
Simple.

My other tip is just to stay cool when the first highway patrolman pulls up beside you at a traffic light.
Your car is not too loud (is it?), it's not rocking from side to side with a top fueller idle (is it?) and that personalised number plate that you agonised over for weeks before deciding on that killer combo is not too ahem, suggestive, for the more conservative members of the law enforcement fraternity (is it?)
Just give the nice man a friendly smile (wetting yourself is not a good look, or feel for that matter) and try to move off without stalling or frying the tyres. Somewhere in between is nice. Relax -- all will be well. Because you know, some highway patrol guys appreciate Cobras too!

[fleiss75]

As soon as the clutch is replaced...UGH $1200 into something I did not expect..The smile is off my face LOL

[mic n gill]

snake bite rings a bell

[IMLost]

Anything and or everything; that's part of the fun.

[fleiss75]

Drove it yesterday for 51 MILES and it ran great! It felt exactly like I thought it would, the looks, the thumbs up, the power! AWESOME.. Im hooked.

[AL427SBF]

Originally Posted by Richard Hudgins

Folks,

There is one piece of equipment that is absolutely critical in any build. And it is a paint marker.

See Sharpie paint marker for an example.

As you build and do final assembly and a fastener is torqued to spec the last time mark it as such with the paint marker...

Richard is right on as usual. In the aerospace biz we call that torque-striping. Anything that gets torqued gets a torque-stripe, and it is applied right across the mating surface boundary. We then shake, rattle and roll the hardware to simulate the ride up - early shuttle vids show those guys being bounced around like they're on a circus ride. We then inspect those fasteners afterwards and see if we have a broken torque-stripe (rotational slip). If we do then we know it wasn't torqued properly or the torque spec was too low. You can do the same thing after your 1st cobra indoctrination on pavement. Just because it didn't break on that 1st trip doesn't mean something hasn't loosened up.

[lovehamr]

Hmmmm, the name "Fleiss," you drive a purple Cobra......................... Your name's not Heidi is it?

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Originally Posted by Richard Hudgins

Folks,

There is one piece of equipment that is absolutely critical in any build. And it is a paint marker.

See Sharpie paint marker for an example.

As you build and do final assembly and a fastener is torqued to spec the last time mark it as such with the paint marker.

Then before you take the car out for the first time look at every nut and bolt.

If there is no paint on the bolt/nut/joining device then you need to fix it.

This method works for any connection even AN oil and fuel lines.

After all connections have a paint mark then you can drive the car for the first installation lap of your test area.


Now I know that a lot of you will think that you do not wish little spots of paint on all of your pretty grade 8 bolts and in particular not on your gleaming ARP bolts that you spent too much on.

Believe me, it is better to have the paint on the connection then it is to have the left front upper A-arm fall off. Or Lower for that matter.

Every A&P mechanic I know uses this method as self QC.

Also next time you are looking at an F1 car notice the little yellow marks on every connection. You will see these marks on the inside of the engines as well.

+100..........been doing this for years, I also use some of my daughters finger nail polish in contrasting color to mark stuff along with a Sharpie......that way I know it has been torqued/tightened down....when building something over time, it's easy to forget what you have tightened and need to tighten...one quick look and you know.....
Again +100...........

David