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| New Seats | Lowered Passenger Footbox | Body Seams |
Body and Aluminum Panels
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This is the body outside next to the shop. Front and rear shots of the frame with some panels on and the bare frame itself after I got it back from the body shop. Mid February 2000, a few of my friends came over to assist in the body test phase. I really didn't do much other than guide them into the garage. I think they were as excited as I was. Don DePontee, "Millenium" Al, Reno and Sir Russ had a great time visiting each other. My other friends had to leave but the thrill of getting the body on was great! Now the pipes can be fitted. Work needed on the right side and as soon as the engine fires up, it's off to the muffler shop for fitting and welding. Next stop will be the body shop for test fit of doors, hood and trunk lid. Thanks to George, Brian, Chuck and Don for installing the body. Last shot is the Cobra outside the garage for the first time. It was suppose to go to the muffler and body shop, but a p/s leak and engine oil problem delayed the trip.
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These are the latest pictures taken at the body shop. Brian is busy with the body while I did the hoop installation for the trunk and lower box. The completed hoops are in and the picture shows what was done. The one that can't be seen here is in the wiring section when looking at the near completed dash pictures. It's located just behind the firewall. By moving the horizontal trunk bar out of the way it will increase the access to the upper trunk area. The battery can now be removed from the top and not under the car. I'm currently planning a new battery mounting system that should be in place after the Knott's 2000 show. Battery modifications are done and the aluminum panels installed. Easy to remove the battery now from the top! The last shot is the maiden "go cart" voyage down the street. I only left a 20' patch of rubber!
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This first shot is the rear trunk hoop I installed to place the "box" for the hidden hinges to attach. Trunk plates were bonded and glassed over for strength. The base was built up and leveled from side to side. The trunk is fitted and the boxes in, and I'll post a picture when I take the body off this next week. It will allow better viewing on what was done. The others are the condition of the body at this time (May 19, 2000). Seat rails for the drivers seat are installed along with a view of the hood frame I made. The Cobra even has a smile!
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These shots are the hinge side posts after I ground down the welds. The right side needed a 3/4" piece extended toward the body. The aluminum is for a heat shield only when welding. The other shot is the template for my glove box which goes above the rear u-joint.
There are a couple of pictures of the door latch assemblies. The right side shows where I had to notch the frame for it to fit and the door to line up properly. The left door shows also how I had to modify the frame work behind the seat for the aluminum panels to fit right.
The last two shots are some of the body prep work that is almost completed. We have done extensive work to the doors, trunk and hood to make a really good fit. The trunk has hidden hinges so some glass work was required to fill the holes from the external hinges. The hood needed some work after I installed my hinge frame. Doors have been glassed as well to make a good fit after I moved the hinge post and cut/re-welded the striker plate. I had to cut-out some of the 3/4" post to make the latch fit right on the passenger side.
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More shots of the blocked body, driver's footbox, glove box and hood support bracket I installed, along with the fuel filler being test fitted. One of the pictures is of the clutch lever at the quadrant (see arrow). I welded more material to this rod because after I changed the quadrant to pull the cable straight instead of at an angle, it change the position of the contact area. It was minimal so I laid some weld beads to have a more complete area for the quadrant to contact. Now I won't worry if the tip would break.
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This is the Feather Fill after being shot onto the body with a blue pigment. The hood, doors and deck lid are being applied for the body to get blocked one more time before painting.
The assembly and finish shots are the colorsanding process on the body with interior panel installation, seats and harness and other items.
New Seats!
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Here are some instructions on what I did to install these in my car. They were installed after the car was finished so it was a little more work but not impossible to do.
They will take you about two good solid days to install them right. I'm going to give you a semi-detailed outlook.
My seats are installed with a 3/4" riser square tube under the front two mounting seat holes. They are metric thread too by the way so you'll need some 8mm all thread and maybe a couple allen head bolts depending on what you want to do for the rear. The front has all thread in them long enough to go through the 3/4" tube and floor plus washer, locking nut and thread into the seat frame itself. This can be measured with an awl after you get it positioned in the car. The reason I raised it in the front was to clear the rear body behind the seat, otherwise it will sit up a bit too high, and like you, I want that "look".
The left rear of the driver and right rear of the passenger seat frame bolt hole will (should) be able to bolt to the 2x cross tube under the car. It is the ONLY hole that goes into any frame work. I made brackets and welded them to my frame in the other areas.
You will most likely need to take a BFH to the front inner tunnel area to position the seat a little straighter. No worries, I beat the crap out of mine a little at a time and it fits just nicely. It didn't have a choice on the matter. :) Also, I'm sorry to say, the E-brake handle will have to be moved forward about 2" to clear the seat. Yes, I have mine installed on that side. I just made a longer cable from the handle to the "T" and had the cable end threaded on that side to put a nut on and that helps adjustment.
Now, if you can remove your carpet, it will make it much easier to mark the locations for the holes. I have an insulated pad so that made mine easy as it marks really well with the allthread or pen. This is the part that will take the longest to get it right. You can't see the mounting holes so you need something to guide you. I took an 8mm bolt and cut it just enough to be below the seat when threaded into it. This will leave marks when you put the seat down on the aluminum, carpet or padding. I made the front long enough just to go through the 3/4" bar. If you leave too much showing, you'll get an incorrect placement. Also note that the seat is a steel frame and by raising the front, they are all angled somewhat to the floor. This isn't really to bad unless you don't start all of the bolts when you finally finsih installing them.
Once you get a placement (the short bolts will show you where the seat will sit in realation to the body cowl) you can drill your holes. The two I mentioned earlier should go into the crosstube. You'll have to drill a hole all the way through to access it from the bottom. I used allen head bolts for the two rear seat holes. The front will be allthread cut to length. The two inside bolt holes come through just inside the 4" round tube. These are not hard to get to but are very close. The other outside front ones should come out near the "X" on the seat floor. You'll see what I mean about the E-brake when you fit that side.
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I made some flat plates to fit over the inside the 4" round tube holes and drilled a hole in it so it would be close to the tube when bolted to the seat. I welded that to the tube. I did it on all 4 inside holes. I also made side gussets to fit into the tube and beside the flat plate. This was to make it structurally sound to the frame. Picture these as a triangle with a half moon cutout to fit the frame flat pieces. The ones by the "X" were just a flat piece to fit the area I needed and then welded in. I used cardboard for all my templates and it worked great. You'll have to do the same type of thing for the E-brake floor plate too but it's much easier to deal with and not as dependent on coming loose. If you know what I mean.
Once all this is done the seats should fit fine. Like I said, it'll take you a good solid two days. Maybe not all at once, but time wise be equal. I did mine over a one week period between making plates and getting the right bolts. I would locktite the allthread into the seat (after you make sure the length is right) and use nylock nuts to fasten from below. The two rear holes will be a bolt of some type because it's easier to get them started being the seat is at an angle as I mentioned before.
So, the two front threaded parts will fit through your holes first, then start the rear bolts and then you can complete tightening down. Oh yeah, don't forget to put your carpet back in first. You'll have the seats in and out a couple of times to make sure of the fitment, but when you're done, you'll think you died and gone to heaven.
I'm 6'2", 190 and they are just fine for me. Although they don't move, my wife can drive the car fine.
Lowered Passenger Footbox
After having my wife as a passenger and then me as one, I decided to give her and me more room for our feet when going along for the ride. Lowering the passenger footbox was a must!
I removed the seat for room to work and tore up the carpet and padding I had put down. I was going to install new fancy carpet when done so it didn't matter if it got ruined a little in the process. I started by cutting out the entire bottom section of the floor where the feet are suppose to go. After that was done, I did some measuring and then made a cardboard template for fit. I decided not to widen the box as I didn't think it needed it (it doesn't) and I really didn't want to really tear into it.
Once I had a good pattern, I cut out some aluminum and bent it into shape. I left a piece by the 4" round tube out purposely as it was too difficult to make multiple bends with the break I had. I made a separate piece to fit in the spot. Once covered, you won't see it anyway.
The following pictures show the cut-out floor, new aluminum panel and fill-in piece, temporary fitting, final fitting and then the new carpet installed.
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When I finished, we took it for a spin and the wife commented on how nice it was. As little as 1 1/2" of drop made a big difference. My feet even feel more comfortable with a natural drop. If I was ever to do another one, I would extend the box to be the same as the driver side. I don't think it would be that hard and would give the passenger a much more comfortable ride.
Gee, you'd think we were building a luxury car!
Body Seams
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Here are shots of the seams we came up with when doing the body work. A lot of time went into making them as sharp as we could. The finished product resulted in what you see here. There are pictures of the right door rear, right door front, left door front, trunk left, trunk right, right door top front, right door top rear and right front hood.
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These are shots of the hood front, hood left, complete right door, new door panel on left door and door panel on right door inside view. I had the panels custom made with push in type panel clips underneath the covering so they wouldn't show. The panels are vinyl with a thin foam underneath to give it a padded feel and look. The same people did my complete recarpeting of the car. The panels and carpet were done in March of 2002.