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Bob,

Everything was pre-cut with the edges faced.  I only had to do minor trimming... I was very surprised at what little effort it actually took to do the whole interior!

By the way, I took my first go-cart ride today!  The only thing I can think of that even compares is when I drove a winston cup car around charlotte motor speedway.  These cars are so well balanced it literally feels like a race car.  Oh, and Jack was so excited.  When we first took off and I nailed the loud pedal, he was speechless (and so was I), until I let off... now I know what people mean when they say the rear end comes loose so easily, and I just have a peppy 302!

-Chris

I re-installed the belts and seats to get an idea of what the finished car will look like inside and in preparation for go-carting.  

I was all set for my first go-cart drive today but we had thunderstorms in the area... so, I worked on the interior instead.

I used the upgraded carpet kit from Hurricane and I must say, it's very nice and everything has fit perfectly so far.

I used cool mat from Jegs as the first defense against heat and noise (as if I'm really worried about noise).  It has a sticky backing and was very easy to cut and stick after sanding the entire interior with 80 grit sandpaper.

Then I used 3M spray adhesive to lay down the insulating foam included with the upgraded carpet kit from Hurricane.  Finally I glued the carpet down... starting with the transmission tunnel/firewall, then working my way through the driveshaft tunnel, wheel well humps, trunk wall, and finally the floor.

... and then I overtightened the bleeder screw just as we were getting all the air out of the clutch line and broke the fitting it screws into... so, all the fluid leaked out!

Well, I guess the ride will have to wait until next weekend because no one in the area had the 2-piece bleeder fitting for the slave cylinder...

But as you can see, Jack wasn't too disappointed and neither was I... hey, it started on the first... er, second try and sounded great!  Our spectators (neighborhood kids) stood around with their ears covered as we reved it, listened to the rumble and dreamed of driving it around the block... look how excited my cobra buddy is!

As you can see, I was able to get the broken fitting out of the block with an extractor.  I replaced it with another one and all was well again.

Then I realized my clutch slave cylinder wasn't bled well enough to allow it to travel fully.  So, I went to bleed it and during one of my hand's trips down behind the header to reach the bleeder screw, I made contact with the hot header pipe... and the cobra chalked up its first burn victim (hey, at least it wasn't my leg on the side pipe)...

I was sure to constantly remind Annette, Jack, Eden and the hoard of neighborhood kids to stand clear of the hot exhaust pipes... but in my eagerness to go-cart, I got careless when it came to my own hand and the header...

Unfortunately, I had a couple of problems that wouldn't allow Jack to experience that first ride just quite yet.

We developed an oil leak at the oil pressure fitting by the oil filter... and somehow the fitting cracked and then broke off in the timing chain cover  

that sucks!

This past weekend we were able to start the cobra up.  At first, it wouldn't do anything when I turned the key... but after going over all the wiring for the ignition, starter, etc., I realized I hadn't hooked the neutral safety switch up yet.  Let this be a reminder to everyone - DON'T FORGET THE NEUTRAL SAFETY SWITCH - or you'll end up going over wiring needlessly!

So, it roared right to life.  I adjusted the timing and idle and it sounded great!  Jack was all ready to go...

Here's Jack double checking the wiring on the electric fan...

Sure he bent some of the cooling fins on the radiator, but it's worth it... everyone should have a cobra buddy!

Here I am fabbing up the side pipes...

This is what Jack, my cobra buddy, did when I told him we were almost done with wiring and we'd be starting her up soon... I know the feeling little man...

Here's Jack again posing with muscles bulging... this was taken right after dubbing himself my "cobra buddy"

It's good to have cobra buddies around to help!

Here's Jack in his best cobra working gear tightening my alternator connections...

Electric fuel pump mounting and wiring...

master cylinder heat shield I fabricated out of sheet metal and sticky backed heat resistant material I got from Jegs...

Man, it's been a while since I've given an update on the build... so here we go...

Here's a picture of the trunk pan in place...