HM-2040 Build

[Redstang69]

Any updates Kamal?

[Kamal]

Ben,

Guilty as charged.  I've been working on it a ton, as well as skiing like a maniac, but havn't put the time in for updates.  I will make a thorough update tomorrow when I get the car out into the newfound Cali sunny weather. 

In short, the car should be ready to drive, in go cart form, by Sunday afternoon.  Sans seats, of course 

Thank you for checking in.

[Redstang69]

Sunny weather, what's that? No such thing in the Ohio valley this time of year haha.
Sounds good. Get some good wiring pictures, I'm about to start in on that.

[Kamal]

Hi folks,

Posting some pics from yesterday.  Decided to push off the initial start to next weekend, as things got busy, and so I can make it an initial start and cruise around the neighborhood, and possibly have a few people over to either celebrate, or face palm.....

I'm happy to take more detailed pics of anything you would like to see.

Work since the last update:

- Wrinkle finished and installed the inner fenders.  One didn't fit and was interfering with the top of the shock mount, so I ended up making a cutout for clearance, however, if I did it again, I would have simply retained the original curve, and just made it higher.  I also ordered nice soft rubber trim for the edges, as I wasn't happy with the plastic stuff that was provided.

- Completed the lower radiator hose by purchasing a second of the same hose, and using the lower section of the hose on the water pump, and attaching the two pieces with a hose connector.  Both upper and lower hoses just need clamps, I need the source the bypass hose, which I thought I ordered, and a cap for the heater outlet, that I also thought I had ordered!  Install the overflow bottle I sourced. That will round out the cooling system, and ready to fill.

- Installed the coolant temp sensor. 

- Finalized the back of the motor wiring, and ran the Positive and negative feed, as well as the solenoid signal wire, down to the solenoid on the starter. 

- Created the starter cable using the supplied cable, and terminals I got from the auto parts store.

- Installed two ground cables, one to the frame at the battery box bolt, and one to the front of the cylinder head.  I think I should fashion a shield so that the hot air coming through the radiator will not bear directly on the battery. 

- Finalized wiring under the dash.  I created an electrical panel to be accessed under the dash, and installed a heavy duty cutoff switch, a power socket, and space for two switches.  One will be a fuel pump cutoff, and the other....who knows.  I will initiall wire both switches for the cutout, to make it extra tricky to arm. 

- Reworking the steering shafts, as the clearance to the header is minimal.  I think I will need to run the small shaft directly out of the firewall bracket beyond the header, and then attach the universal there.  Not happy with that look, but it will provide the needed clearance for the steering shaft. 

- Installed the newly sealed gas tank.

- Revised the location of where the front harness exits the firewall, and completed it with a grommet. 

- Did a custom mounting for the throttle linkage.  It fits with the theme of simple and minimal bracketry, etc. on the engine compartment paneling, though not the original design.  Just need to cut the stainless tube, grind a flat on the pedal shaft, and snug everything up, and add a spring onto the throttle body linkage.

Tasks before I start the engine:

- Install the dash and connect the wiring, run the rear wiring harness in the location I want, and add some wire clamps.  Connect the fuel pump and sender wiring out back.

- Complete the coolant system bits as outlined above.

- Attach wiring for the battery to fusebox, as well as the electric fan.

- Install the sidepipes.

- Prime the oil pump

- Fill coolant.

- Install the battery

- Initialize the Holley Sniper

- Let er rip!  Should start, as the motor was dyno tested with the distributor and EFI that is on there.

Tasks before an initial test drive: 

- Fit body and determine the placing of the cockpit tub, so I can put a seat in there and not have to re-drill mounting holes later.  Make sure the front wheels are at the track width I want, and the rear wheels are centered in the wheel well, so I don't have to pull anything apart later.   

- Tighten up the alignment, and snug up the suspension components front and rear.   

- Drill out the shifter holes to fit the bolts in the tranny shifter leg.

- Mount master cylinder reservoirs. 

- Create the upper radiator mount.

Since pictures are worth a thousand words......

[FFR428]

Great progress Kamal!! Hope your first start goes well. Always exciting to see.

[Bass And Hot Rods]

Progressing well!  Are you not doing videos any longer?

[Kamal]

You know, I had a lot more time at the beginning of the build, and making the videos was fun.  At this point, I feel my time is limited, and the build isn't super coherent or orderly like it was in the beginning, and the videos have fallen by the wayside. 

I do plan to make a "go cart" update video where I will go through the build process since the previous video posting.  Likely this weekend.

[Redstang69]

I missed responding. Looking good, lots of wiring. The radiator hoses came out good.
Looks like your shifter hole in the tub needs opened up like the rest of us. I like the concealed master shutoff switch.

[Kamal]

Well looks like the forum is getting lively, so I'll update as well.  I postponed the starting ceremony as I had inadvertently scheduled it during the super bowl! But, here is the progress:

Installed the body, got it properly centered, marked off the cockpit tub and removed the body.

Measured the front and rear track.  The front tracks 3" narrower than the rear.  The fenders protrude about 1" from the sidewalls front and rear.  So I think to complete the look I like, I'll need to pull the lower control arms, adjust the heim joints, and get the sidewalls flush with the fender edges. Possibly add a spacer in the rear to also take up some of that space.

Tested all electrical circuits, everything worked the first time. Surprised at how much wiring there is for a simple system.  The MSD box lit up, the Sniper initialized, and appears to have remembered the settings from the initial run in at the engine builder.

Ran the fuel pump, snugged up the fittings, and verified no leaks and proper pressure at the throttle body.

Installed the driver seat.

Installed the side pipes. That must have been one of the easiest things to build lately!

Completed and loomed the front and rear wiring sections.

Completed the cooling hoses and installed a thermostat.  Attached the catch can to the front if the driver cylinder head, next to the coil, using the same bolt.  Yet another thing I avoided mounting to the engine compartment walls.

Just need to complete the baffle mod on the remaining valve cover, fill coolant, attach the battery, and fire it up! 4.5 months in the making, with more idle time and doing other things than I had envisioned.

Thanks for all the help this far, and to what I think will be trickier work up ahead, getting the body installed.

For now...jumping on a flight to Japan.  To be continued!

[Kamal]

Blurry pic of coolant catch can.

[NTX-CLANK]

Wow!  Excellent progress.  I am enjoying watching your build.

Jim

[Redstang69]

Kamal did you get that thing fired up?

[Kamal]

Not yet.  Haven't been working on it, just doing a little traveling and skiing.  I plan the startup and drive this Sunday.  Have been building a garage addition for it, as well, now that it's close to rolling.  Going to start the dmv process. Stay tuned.  Calm before the storm.  Thanks for asking.

[Kamal]

Hi all, just wanted to give another non-update.  We've had historic rains here in California, so the cobra has just been sitting, only a few hours of finishing bits to get it started and first drive.  Not much done in the last 1.5 months.  I figured even if the car was done, the weather would keep me from driving it.

Updates:

- Got the Registration started, mainly to light a fire under me to get the car running.  Part of the initial registration process is two inspections that I get to drive the car to, and they provide a one day moving permit for each.  The permits expire 60 days from date of issuance, so that gives me until May 10 to get those two inspections.  One is brake and light, and one is VIN verification at the highway patrol.

- completed the upper radiator mount.  I cut the upper steel bar mount in half so it was lower profile, reimagined the top sheet metal piece and mounted that, and did preliminary mounting of the hood hinges. 

- mounted both seats.  The provided slider rails for the driver seat are junk, and doesn't operate smoothly.   Does anyone know of an alternative that would fit with the supplied seats?

- Removed the lower control arm and extended the heim joints by about 3/4", widening the front track.  With the initial setup, the front tracked 3" narrower than the rear.  Now the front tracks about 1.5" narrower.  This is close to original spec, and the look of the tire/fender spacing is much better.

- Installed the body. For the rear I widened the factory drilled holes, slid a small piece of fuel hose over the 3/8" bolts, and used rubber washers on either side of the body to clamp the body but still have it totally rubber isolated. Ordered the proper oval bumper grommets for the front, and will try to omit the
bolts that go through the air duct.   I notched the body at the rocker panel area where it rested on the side pipe mounting bracket, to make sure the body would sit as low as it needed to.

- cut the floor of the trunk tub to provide access to the fuel pump and fuel sender. Will need to fashion a cover.  Ordered some bulb seal that will install onto the edges of the top of the trunk tub, then will compress the tub upward to squeeze the seal against the body, and will place spacers under the tub and bolt it down. 

I've given up on a starting ceremony with friends, as the weather and peoples' schedules have become too complicated to coordinate, so I will likely start it this coming week or next, weather permitting.  This will require connecting the battery, completing the body mounting, priming the oil pump, and getting ready with the fire extinguisher 🤣

In other news, I'll be getting married on my skis on April 20, so life has been quite busy with great things happening in every corner.

[Redstang69]

A few of us have found that a metal electrical box cover plate (the metal cover plates) work pretty well for covering those access holes. They a heavy gauge, nice square cut and predrilled, cheap also.