Building our AC Cobra 289 LeMan

Here’s the Rolling Chassis. The first real milestone finished.

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We had a few small jobs to get done to finish of the rolling chassis.

Change the Rear Axle shims

We realised once we got the wheels on the chassis, that there was too much play in the rear wheel baring. After removing the wheels to measure the end float we discovered the original shims we put in when building the axle back in February (read here) were 0.009 ” too big. So we striped the rear hubs to replace the shim, giving a final end float between 0.001- 0.003

Prop shaft safety loop installed

I’d received the prop shaft safety hoop from Gerry so we thought we’d fit that. It comes in two parts. The support bracket bolts to the chassis with 2 bolts, then four holes need to be marked up and drilled so the hoop can then be bolted to the support bracket.

Rear brake pads

We had the rear pads to put in. This is a fairly simple job. We painted a layer of copper grease on the rear side, this to prevent brake squeal. Then took the retaining pins out to slide the pads into the rear calipers and then secure again with the retaining pins.

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This one was just a small job, but following on from installing the brake lines and our post on 4th June, we decided to upgrade the plastic P clips we used to hold the brake pipe in place with better quality stainless steel, rubber insulated P clips. We also used new rubber sealer washers underneath the clips to properly seal the strew holes and prevent any water getting inside the chassis in the future and causing damage. Less importantly, as you won’t see them when the body is back on the car, but aesthetically the clips also now match the style of the P clips used on the near side for the fuel pipe.

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We put in the handbrake lever and prop shaft. These were quite easy to install. We had to source the bolts for the prop shaft, which we got from a Landrover dealer Mark knows, and are from a Landrover Defender. Next we’ll have to fit the prop shaft safety loop.

The handbrake was installed using counter sunk bolts then we connected the handbrake cable to the hand brake lever. We’ll leave the adjustment until later.

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After the brake lines, we moved onto the fuel line installation. Again, we bought the fuel line kit from Gerry at Hawks Cars which included all of the pipes that are needed to go from the fuel tank through to the carb. We bought some insulated stainless steel P clips to mount the fuel line to the vertical face of the chassis tube, and as we did for the brake pipes, measured the position for the clips 7.5inches apart, drilled the holes and used galvanised self tapping screws to secure them. Also as before, feeding the pipe through the rubber grommets and ready made holes on the near side of the chassis. We used a stanley knife to cut a big enough hole in the grommet for the pipe to pass through.

The Fuel Pump

We weren’t happy with the mounting for the fuel pump, as there were no rubber anti vibration mounts. This, we thought, might cause trouble later on with vibration once the fuel pump was working. Also having read Stuart Clarkes experience on the 289 Register website about his build and installation of the the fuel pump, we decided to make a triangle bracket to mount the pump to the chassis using 3 anti vibration mounts (2 to be secured through the holes in the chassis, 1 lower down as extra support to keep the pump from flopping over). Fortunately Mark found a couple of brackets on a shelf in the shed that were almost perfect, so all we had to do it drill out the holes a little to get them to fit. We then sprayed them up black.
As for the anti vibration mounts, we just went down to a local car parts place and managed to get some rubber cotton reel type anti vibration mounts used for the vauxhall vectra. The threads were obviously different so Mark had to use his tap and die set to make a new thread for the screw hole in the chassis. Apart from that it fitted nicely.

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Once mounted using the rubber mountings the fuel pump is pretty solid although can wobble slightly due to the rubber mountings, so we cut a square piece of rubber and super glued that to the chassis directly underneath to protect the chassis should the pump vibrate too much and hit.

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At this stage we can’t do any more with the the lines as the fuel tank is situated within the boot. We’ll have to do the final fit once the body is back on. We hope very soon!

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We decided to get on with installing the brake pipes. We ordered the brake pipe kit from Gerry with the Hawk kit containing all of the pipe and fittings. The build manual shows the rough route for the pipes.

Running the pipe in

First thing was to run the pipe down the offside of the chassis. We fitted rubber grommets into the ready made holes in the outrigger and piercing holes through them as we ran the pipe through. We then carefully measured the postions for the P-clips to hold the pipe, 7.5 inches apart. We then drilled the holes and used galvanised self tapping screws to secure them. P-clips are provided in the kit to suit the 3/16” pipe. We actually found there wasn’t quite enough in the pack, so we had run around town looking for a place that sold them in this size. In the end Halfords had some.

Connecting the rear calipers

Then we had to connect the pipe to the rear calipers, running the pipe carefully into place. This took a little time and was a bit of a fiddle, connecting and then disconnecting again to get the bends in the pipe just right. We bent the pipe carefully using our hands, ensuring that the pipes didn’t get kinked, but once we had the rough shape we used a vice to get the bends really neat and tidy. We also used a flaring tool to flare the end of the pipe that fit inside the brake pipe unions.

Connecting up the front calipers

Next was to run the front brake lines in. We started by fitting the front 4 way adaptor. This is held on by the small threaded bar that comes welded to the chassis. There is one on both sides of the chassis depending on it being a RHD or LHD car. The offside one is used for RHD cars. We secured it in place with a M6 nut. We then put the flexi hoses in, connecting the front calipers to the 4 way adaptor via a short piece of brake pipe (flaring both ends). The offside was quite easy to connect BUT running the brake pipe around to the nearside proved to be a bit more difficult as the engine was in the way. So we jacked the chassis up onto axel stands to gain access to the front cross member from underneath. In hindsight, this would have been easier to do before the engine was installed, but nevertheless we got there eventually. We actually used the same holes to mount the clutch pipe brackets at the same time making the final job very neat and tidy.

We won’t be able to connect the whole system up yet until the body is back on and the master cylinders pedal box are installed but we have done most of the work now.
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We bought the tyres and got them fitted to the wheels a few weeks ago. Pirelli P4000. Finally getting them on the chassis, makes us feel like we are finally getting somewhere with the build.

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