Build thread - Resurrection of an old Contemporary - Page 4

767Jockey · #61 (**permalink**) 03-02-2009, 01:17 AM

The body isn't on the chassis yet, I'm going to install the powertrain in the chassis then lower the body over it all, just like the manual calls for. With the tub style body, it's easy to just wire the body while it's on the cart, assemble the dashboard, then lower the completed assembly into place. At least it's SUPPOSED to be easy, then again nothing has been so far. Hopefully I'll catch a break on that and all will go as it should. The Ron Francis harness I'm using is supposed to be very straightforward to install, and they tell me they will be there to offer support as I go through it. We'll see how it goes.

Right now I'm sort of dreading bending up the brake lines, it's just not the type of work I tend to enjoy. I bought stainless lines for the car and found out later that they are somewhat difficult to work with. I haven't bent up lines before, so it looks like I'm starting out by making things more difficult than they should be. We'll see. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll be bending and cussing up a storm! My kids tell me when I start muttering to myself and curse a bit, that makes it officially a project. I bought a flaring tool and line bender from Eastwood, hopefully I bought decent tools, it seems from what I read that the flaring tool is where all the ease of success lies and with a decent tool the flaring is easy. We'll see......

ZOERA-SC7XX · #62 (**permalink**) 03-02-2009, 02:43 PM

Be aware that any Jag brake parts (calipers & blocks) require a bubble flair. Std steel brake lines are more than adequate, cheap and are very easy to bend and flair. I'm not aware of the degree of difficulty with stainless lines, but they may be less forgiving (costly) if screwed up. Good luck.

767Jockey · #63 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 11:02 PM

I get to play all day tomorrow with brake line bends and flares. I'm going to practice a bunch on small pieces before I attempt the real thing. I bought a bubble flare kit....the problem is I have no idea what a good bubble flare looks like!

I spent much of today on the phone tracking down engine blocks. I think I am going to end up with a cast iron Genesis block with billet caps. There are no Pond cast iron blocks to be found, and I just can't squeeze the money out for aluminum, I'd like to but I'm so far over on money with this car I don't even want to know what the numbers are.

The iron block FE with aluminum heads and intake is really close to the weight of the iron headed Cleveland that came out of the car, so I should be fine. Couple in the fact that I am moving the batteries back to the position behind the passenger seat, the weight and distribution should be just fine. I got the front sway bar installed today, but I'm still waiting for the radius rods to finish the rear sway bar installation. Once that's in I can toss the rear shocks back into the car, and the rear suspension will be complete, along with the front.

Once the brake and fuel lines are all bent up and installed it's time to start the electrical install on the body, this should be interesting. I'm a zero electrically, hopefully the crew at Ron Francis comes through and walks me through the trouble spots. I don't expect it to be too difficult, I expect the problems will arise on the oddball Cobra specific stuff like the indicator lights in the panel, the VW turn signal switch, the wiper switch and the dash indicator light dimmer. The rest of the car is about as straightforward electrically as it gets. My main goal is to get a bunch of REALLY good grounding points chosen. With good grounds the majority of problems in these 'glass bodied cars are eliminated. By the way does anyone have a source for good quality crimp on terminals WITHOUT the plastic on the crimped ends? I hate the way these things look, I want to use terminals that have no brightly colored plastic on them. I want to buy a bunch of heat shrink tubing, and put about 3/4 inch on the end of each crimp on terminal for insulation. I need to find the terminals and a place to buy the heat shrink tubing. Anyone have any ideas? That's all for now. Damn, it's cold out tonight, so the garage is like a meat locker.

elmariachi · #64 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 767Jockey

By the way does anyone have a source for good quality crimp on terminals WITHOUT the plastic on the crimped ends? I hate the way these things look, I want to use terminals that have no brightly colored plastic on them.

I have found you can just twist those red/blue/yellow covers off with a pair of side-cutters. I then use them and cover with shrink-tube, works and looks great. Sorry to hear about your engine. I too had to make a "plan change" on finishing up my engine just yesterday as a result of not being on the same page with my builder. Nothing as catastrophic as your ordeal, but a little heartburn nonetheless. Good luck with it.

767Jockey · #65 (**permalink**) 03-04-2009, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elmariachi

I have found you can just twist those red/blue/yellow covers off with a pair of side-cutters. I then use them and cover with shrink-tube, works and looks great. Sorry to hear about your engine. I too had to make a "plan change" on finishing up my engine just yesterday as a result of not being on the same page with my builder. Nothing as catastrophic as your ordeal, but a little heartburn nonetheless. Good luck with it.

Hey, good idea with the nylon covers, I'll give it a shot. You have engine grief too, huh? Don't let it get you sidetracked, plow ahead and get that car done!

cobrarkc · #66 (**permalink**) 03-05-2009, 09:45 AM

Doug
You can get heatshrink tubing from Radio Shack or from Grainger, or you can do a search on line.

767Jockey · #67 (**permalink**) 03-07-2009, 07:53 PM

Well, I had a terrific day today and I didn't even turn a wrench on the car. The first visitor to my house was Nick Acton (Mickmate) and family, we had a great time, my wife cooked up dinner for all, and we were able to look at a few things on the car and talk about future projects. Nick had to run quickly as he was just stopping in on the way to New Jersey to install one of his beautifully crafted 40+ gallon custom gas tanks in an aluminum Shelby car. As he and his family were leaving, Rich (Cobrarkc) and John (ERA174) arrived. I formerly had a 351 Cleveland engine in my car, and replaced it with an FE. I had some header pipes left that were in good condition and gave them to Rich to use on his 351C Powered Contemporary. It was great meeting Rich and John, along with their friend Al, a Corvette owner. All in all a very nice day, meeting new friends and seeing old friends again. Thanks to all of you for stopping in, it was great to see you all. Tomorrow, it's back to turning wrenches. All who saw the car seemed to think it was decent looking and going in the right direction, the encouragement is much appreciated.

mickmate · #68 (**permalink**) 03-07-2009, 09:49 PM

That car of yours looks fantastic! I thought you'd been BSing and blogging but you've got a lot done. That means I need to get back to work. Great seeing you and the fam, awesome feed. We need to lift the CSX about an inch and we'll be fitting the big 42 in the a.m.

FatBoy · #69 (**permalink**) 03-08-2009, 01:58 AM

Hi,
I've enjoyed reading your build thread so far. I used to have a Contemporary myself and I made a few modifications in the name of "originality".
One thing you might want to consider doing is cutting the rear bulkhead out to move it back behind the roll-bar tubes so that they are visible behind the driver's seat.

It is actually pretty easy to do. Cut the bulkhead vertically down from where it meets the underside of the body at a point just outboard of the outside roll bar leg down to level with the top face of the trunk floor. You will find that this breaks through into the wheel well, but don't worry. Make the same cut in the same place on the other side of the car Then cut horizontally level with the top face of the trunk floor to join up the bottom ends of the two previous cuts. The bulkhead won't come out yet because it is still fastened to the underside of the body and the trunk sides. I was able to peel these joins apart, but try no to damage the bulkhead panel in the process.
Once you have the bulkhead out, you will need to cut back the trunk side panels to allow the bulkhead to be positioned behind the roll bar. This will be in the order of 2". Try to cut a neat strip off the trunk sides because they will be useful later on. Position the bulkhead in its new location and check that the rollbar sits okay in front of it. The small strips that were cut from the trunk sides can be positioned to fill the gap between the new and original bulkheads. You will need to fabricated a couple of small 2" squares to fill in the small holes at the outer ends of the new step you have just created in the rear bulkhead. Bond everything in place with matting and resin and the job's done.
To my mind it was well worth the effort because I really didn't like it that the roll-bar couldn't be seen behind the seat.
The step in the bulkhead is higher up that original, but don't be tempted to lower it, because you will foul the rear chassis tubes if you do.
Please let me know how you get on if you decide to do it.
There are a few pictures of my car in my gallery. They are the ones beginning "CSR....."

Paul

1985 CCX · #70 (**permalink**) 03-08-2009, 07:02 AM

Paul

In my case I have a rear sway bar which is in the way for a change like you said. I don't think Doug has a sway bar so it might be possible.

Jeff

767Jockey · #71 (**permalink**) 03-08-2009, 09:59 AM

I do have a rear sway bar now. I'll have to print out the directions and take a look out at the car. Thanks for the info Paul. Having the rollbar downtube hidden in the trunk is one of the things that really bugs e about the car. If I can easily repair that I certainly will.

FatBoy · #72 (**permalink**) 03-08-2009, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1985 CCX

Paul

In my case I have a rear sway bar which is in the way for a change like you said. I don't think Doug has a sway bar so it might be possible.

Jeff

I also had the rear sway bar so it is still possible. Go on, you Know you want to.

Paul

767Jockey · #73 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 12:23 AM

OK, I admit it - I'm a quitter!

I played all day yesterday trying to flare stainless brake lines, and I ran out of either talent, equipment, patience or all three. I give up, I'm using standard brake lines. For the way I and anyone else will use the car, they'll be more than fine. The stainless look better, but they are impossible (for me) to flare. I have a pretty good flare tool, it's not some Harbor Freight $20 cheapie. It's a $100 KD Tools unit, and it works wonderfully and effortlessly on regular brake lines. On stainless, it's an exercise in futility. I give up! It's going to be regular brake lines for the car now. This is the first thing that I have "skimped" on, everything I have put into the car so far has been the best available, I feel very guilty!

I have never bent brake lines before and I was somewhat apprehensive about it. I was telling this to someone the other day (maybe it was Nick) and he told me that it's the kind of thing that once you start you'll actually enjoy it....WRONG !!!!

I don't like it at all, it's a royal pain in the a$@.

I'm not thrilled with how they're coming so far, but it's passable. I'll post a picture or two here, I would be interested in your comments, since I don't know if I've done anything wrong here. I thought it looked OK at best, but I want to make sure I didn't break any common rules of the job. Please be honest if it look bad, I don't want anything bad to go through on the car. Let me know what I can do better and I'll try it. It's my first time doing it, so I imagine that you all will have helpful tips for improvement. I got the front wheel lines bent up. I had the front wheel feed lines done as well, and then found out after they were all bent up and flared that I had put the wrong fittings on them. Out to the garbage they went, I'll re-do them tomorrow. Did I mention that this is a frustrating job for me?

I have the rear sway bar just about done, it's all mounted up. I ordered some radius rods and teflon lined heim joints for it, I ordered the radius rods just a touch too long, I have a new pair coming tomorrow and that'll be hooked up by nightfall. Nick is making me a set of custom radius rods for the front sway bar, once he ships them in the front and rear suspension will be complete! Once I get all the brake lines done, it's just a matter of the fuel tank and line, and the chassis is done. Then it's off to the body for trim and electrical. I'll have LOT'S of questions for you guys once that starts, I'm the biggest electrical zero you'll ever meet. Slow and steady, I'll get it done, and it'll be done right, I assure you of that. That's it for tonight, I hope I'm not boring you guys, here are some pictures of the rear sway bar and brake lines to follow. I'd appreciate any comments you have for improvement.

Rear sway bar:

First try at bending brake lines:

RICK LAKE · #74 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 05:02 AM

767Jockey Doug don't get mad at me but those are not safe connections for the hard line going to the stainless. You need flare fittings on both sides like is what's on the caliper. That nut setup with the flare could slide off. The line looks fine for the bends. That brake line will get for 1,500 lbs to 2,000 lbs of pressure depending on your master cylinder and size of bore. IMO that is a weak connection and is use on low pressure applications. The steel lines will look fine with a couple of coats of silver hi temp spray paint on them. Tape the fittings and spray the lines and let dry. Rick L. Ps you are not a QUITTER, you sometimes have to find another way around a problem. If it was easy and simple EVERYONE could do it.

767Jockey · #75 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 05:59 AM

Rick, thanks! Those are flare fittings inside those nuts. They're regular double flares, I just found those nuts in a catalog somewhere (I can't remember where). They're standard double flare nuts, and I made the double flares. The nuts just just look nicer! Thanks for keeping me on my toes, though.

cobrarkc · #76 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 07:27 AM

Doug
I'm not sure how you change the brake pads on your calipers but you might need a flexable stainless braided line going to the caliper. Otherwise you will have to diconnect the caliper everytime you need to change the pads and then bleed the brakes again. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

FatBoy · #77 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 08:07 AM

That thought had occured to me.

Paul

767Jockey · #78 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 08:20 AM

The pads slide out of the back of the caliper after the large cotter pin is removed.

Fastz06 · #79 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 10:02 AM

Doug,

One thing you might want to do is ensure that the swaybar can be removed wirh the body in place. Mine was inpossible to reinstall until I slotted the attaching slots on the brackets so I could slide it on and off with the bolts attached. Also, use the shortest bolt possible . On my Contemporary the bolt had a hard interference to the body that prevented reinstallation until I went to a shorter bolt. Obviously the swaybar was installed prior to body just like yours.

BTW you have a PM

Ray

767Jockey · #80 (**permalink**) 03-10-2009, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fastz06

Doug,

One thing you might want to do is ensure that the swaybar can be removed wirh the body in place. Mine was inpossible to reinstall until I slotted the attaching slots on the brackets so I could slide it on and off with the bolts attached. Also, use the shortest bolt possible . On my Contemporary the bolt had a hard interference to the body that prevented reinstallation until I went to a shorter bolt. Obviously the swaybar was installed prior to body just like yours.

BTW you have a PM

Ray

Ray, that's a great call with the bolt length, I never thought of that. Thanks for the heads up, I'll go buy shorter ones right now! Got the PM, thanks!