What authentic component costs- under £5?

 

 

 


Well, one item that most cobra replica’s do not have “Dash board Chassis Struts”, what?

Look at diagram above, the arrow points to the chassis brace. How did we make this well the following, three easy steps below and you can have the same for £3.97.

Step 1 – Marking out the Shape

Obtain a piece of wood (400mm*300mm) and follow the plan below, next to the plan is a picture of my plan.

 

 

 

 

 


·        Full Height; The height from the bottom to top of dash is 330mm;

·        Bottom Width; the width of the metal plate is  220mm and 30mm across

·        Top Width; the width at the top used to obtain angel

·        Pipe Width; Use 20mm width pipe and measure from the middle line drawn from bottom to top

·        Pipe Length; The length of the pipe is 115mm.

Step 2 – Cutting the pipe

 

 


The following is a trick to get the angle on the pipe correct, use tape to mark the angle then cut a straight line, the following figure shows the tape marking the angle before cutting.


Step 2 – Weld Pipe

Now this may cost very little if you can weld, or about £5 pound if you can not. I do welding, so I just did it. Make sure that the pipe is against the metal cross member and the pipe is hanging half way over the cross member as in the picture in section 1.

Tip : So the two pieces do not moving during welding. Use some nails to hold the three metal pieces in place, I have always done this and it will not move.

Step 3 – Finishing

 

 

 

 

 

 


The last few bits drill two holes in the metal plate and paint the item using black paint. The picture below is when fitted in car, some cuts will be required in the carpet.

 

 

 

 

 

dividing cylinder

 

 

 

Dash!

 

Like many enthusiasts, winter is the time of year when I catch up on all the jobs on the car I have been putting off.  One of my projects last winter was rebuilding my 289 dashboard to give it a more authentic look and feel.

Many of the parts, such as instruments, are readily identifiable and available, others less so.  One that fell into the latter category was the headlight dipswitch.  I had a few photos of dashboards from original RHD Mark 2’s but it was not clear what the switch itself actually looked like nor how it functioned.  Luckily, Gerry (as so often is the case!) came to the rescue when one of his many contacts remembered that the switch was taken from a Rover that was in production in the early 60’s. 

A few hours research with the reference books and the internet revealed that, indeed, the switch was taken from the P6 Rover (I thought it looked vaguely familiar, I used to drive one!) though, in that application, it was mounted on the steering column rather than the dash. 

 

 

Armed with this information it was then a simple matter to track down some specialist Rover parts dealers on the Internet and source a switch.  I actually bought two so I could experiment – one from Wins International in Lingfield and one from JosephP6 spares in Doncaster

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The part in question is Lucas 39614 and it comes in two variants, the difference being the type of electrical connector block used.  As I have already mentioned, in the Rover it was mounted on the steering column so the next question was how best to mount it in the Hawk.  On the original Mk 2 Cobras, the switch stalk protrudes through an aperture in the dash, approximately half an inch in diameter, in line with the circumference of the steering wheel. 

I thought about, and tried, a couple of alternatives ways of mounting the switch - incidentally the end of the stalk is splined and the knob is simply an interference fit and so can easily be removed using a suitable drift and a small hammer.   In the end I settled on a simple 2” L-shaped bracket firmly bolted to the “lip” that extends backwards under the dashboard. 

I also used the barrel from an indicator lamp to provide a neat aperture through the dash.  One word of caution, you do need to be a little careful in positioning the switch to ensure that it doesn’t interfere with normal operation of the steering wheel. So, hey presto, no more fumbling around trying to find the dip switch on dark cold nights.  Now, what’s the next job on the list….?

 

 

dividing cylinder

 

 

The Most Expensive Luggage Rack in the World?

Iain Henderson

I recently fitted a ”period” luggage rack to my Geraldo. Gerry saw it and approved and suggested that I provide some details for the Newsletter.

Photo enclosed – in essence it is a stainless steel ”Mille Miglia / suits MG Midgets” rack from Europa Specialist spares, 38 x 70 x 10cm, part # R9005 and cost £66 delivered.

It was dismantled for chroming to match the other bright work and reassembled. The original finish was good so it did not need polishing, but the chroming still cost another £52.

It is mounted on the boot lid using four of the hollow aluminium ferrules Gerry supplies to fit the side screens to the doors. The threaded legs of the rack project through the ferrules and are secured inside with domed nuts, so the thing can be removed and the holes blanked off if required. Crummy sketch enclosed. It looks fine with brown hide straps to complete the vintage effect – but rubber bungees are probably safer and cheaper.

Having squandered so much on this fitment I cannot now carry anything on it except the finest monogrammed pigskin valises and cases of bubbly: consequently it remains unused.

Iain Henderson

(Another ed’s note:  I was once told by an MOT inspector (the guys who inspect the testers) that bootracks should be fitted the other way round from shown here.  Apparently, and it makes sense if you think about it, if things are tied on properly they’ll never fall off the back.  But in an accident, that nice suitcase will break its straps and take your head off from behind.  Just a thought…  ed.)