DuPuis Family Cobra Build

Half Fast said:
the navigator needs to see the speedometer clearly.
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What kind of amateur operation do you think Ted is running here?:eek:

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Or you could just... look at the speedometer I guess. But I'm lazy.

I mean hey, if you claim you are using the speedometer as a crosscheck to the tachometer in order to detect clutch slippage, I promise I won't yank your racerman card.
 
Rookies....hmmm... in the round track cars we didn't need a tach or a speedometer.

With a known track size, engine rpm and tire size we used a math formula (which I still have in my safe) to get the rear gear ratio we needed.

Then after a few hot laps we would get together and argue about which way we needed to go with the rear gears....
 
Zeldman said:
Rookies....hmmm... in the round track cars we didn't need a tach or a speedometer.

With a known track size, engine rpm and tire size we used a math formula (which I still have in my safe) to get the rear gear ratio we needed.

Then after a few hot laps we would get together and argue about which way we needed to go with the rear gears....
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Ok, I give...is this formula a trade secret? Why is. It in a safe?

I was lucky enough to have a tach. 3.58 in 4th gear or a 4.10 in 5th was the great debate at my home track.
 
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Now that the V8 is nearly on the road, it's surely about time to start Thinking About upgrade paths?

 

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Spring Ford said:
Now that the V8 is nearly on the road, it's surely about time to start Thinking About upgrade paths?

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I'll bet I've spent more time working on Jaguar V12s than anyone else on this forum. I do love the engines, but if I got another one, it would be in exactly the form I was normally working on them: in an XJ-S. I would like another one as I never finished some of the projects that I wanted to do to one (and now I have the know-how and experience that I could do those things with relative ease). But whereas 20 years ago I was literally being given the things, now they've gone up quite a bit in value and it's gotten even harder to find good ones. So, I suspect that it just won't happen.

If I were to put a different engine in the Cobra than the 351W I went with, it would be a 302 to remove more weight. But I think the 351W/TKO will still be good in the car. A 700 lb Jaguar V12 would be way, way too heavy and completely screw up the balance of the car. You just can't get those engines light no matter what you do.
 
Ted said:

A (brief) Cobra update!
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Being a biker, surely you have a cable luber?

Where are those lower vents aimed? My Suburban had a vent you could aim right at your ballbag, and it was awesome. Nice, cool air blowing up your shorts in the summer is a luxury I wish more vehicles had.
 
My plan for tomorrow is to get a day working on the Cobra. But today we spent a few hours in the shop and the girls wanted to help work on it. So, we put sound deadening in the cockpit.

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To my surprise, they remember helping paint all those aluminum panels before they got riveted in. They don’t remember doing the clecos or riveting themselves (they did some). But seeing as they were barely 4 when they were doing that, that’s pretty neat to me.

Hoping this will be driveable soon.
 
Ted said:
My plan for tomorrow is to get a day working on the Cobra. But today we spent a few hours in the shop and the girls wanted to help work on it. So, we put sound deadening in the cockpit.

View attachment 116760 View attachment 116761

To my surprise, they remember helping paint all those aluminum panels before they got riveted in. They don’t remember doing the clecos or riveting themselves (they did some). But seeing as they were barely 4 when they were doing that, that’s pretty neat to me.

Hoping this will be driveable soon.
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We hope so, because both @RyanB and myself are itching to drive it.
 
At least rumble it past my house. I get tired of listening to EVs, those little mini economy things, and all the rattles from my own car. I need to hear something with juice every now and then.
 
Matthew said:
At least rumble it past my house. I get tired of listening to EVs, those little mini economy things, and all the rattles from my own car. I need to hear something with juice every now and then.
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I will, and you’ll hear it when I do.

You might even hear when I start it at my house. :)
 
Ted, if you don't quit playing around with that snake you'll never make it to a race. ;)
 
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Half Fast said:
Ted, if you don't quit playing around with that snake you'll never make it to a race. ;)
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First track night of the year is Thursday. :)
 
Ted said:
First track night of the year is Thursday. :)
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Great, but it's time to commit to a race. Track nights compare to wheel-to-wheel racing like target shooting compares to a gunfight. Get out there, brother! :D
 
Half Fast said:
Great, but it's time to commit to a race. Track nights compare to wheel-to-wheel racing like target shooting compares to a gunfight. Get out there, brother! :D
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Yes, that I fully agree on. Really the only reason I haven't done that yet is that my local track really doesn't have any races that this would even remotely qualify for that I've found, just the track nights. I don't really understand why, it's a good road course.

So, that moves things further out. Lemons still is the best fit for this, and I'd put 4 or 5 races on the calendar with the team. The first one (and the closest) is in Oklahoma beginning of May, but I wasn't able to test drive the brakes and running issue before that. Really, this track night will be the car's bigger test after winter work. And from there, we can then put something on the calendar and commit to it.

I'm also going to go through the car with the 2023 rule book and make sure there's nothing missing (besides the known fire system that I need to order).
 
Ted said:
First track night of the year is Thursday. :)
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Since there's still no sign of an allocation for my Porsche, I bought a 2017 GTI to use as a track rat and grocery getter. My first Track Night of the year is May 31, at Road Atlanta.

Here's a picture:

GTIShifter.jpg

That's the important part.
 
FormerHangie said:
Since there's still no sign of an allocation for my Porsche, I bought a 2017 GTI to use as a track rat and grocery getter. My first Track Night of the year is May 31, at Road Atlanta.

Here's a picture:

View attachment 116830

That's the important part.
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GTIs are fun little cars. But the engine and drive wheels are in the wrong location ;)
 
I managed to make some more progress on the Cobra, and getting it close to first Go-Kart drive, and close to ready for the body to get put on.

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It's hard to really go into what all was done, as it was a bunch of tidying up details. Making sure that wires and hoses are properly secured. Some of the routing isn't ideal, but also can't really be changed at this point without removing and redoing a bunch of wires going from front to back of the car. Overall, nothing too problematic.

Carpets and seat belts are in (although I need to adjust the shoulder harnesses some). I've got the driver's seat mocked up but need to actually bolt it down. I might put it on a slider, haven't decided yet. I've figured out mounting locations for the seat heater switches and the USB charger/voltmeter, but I need to drill those in. I figure I'll get some drives in before I actually cover up the trans tunnel, after making sure everything is working as intended.

Really, just a bunch of little details. But a first drive should be able to happen soon.
 
Woooooo!
 
Ted said:
I managed to make some more progress on the Cobra, and getting it close to first Go-Kart drive, and close to ready for the body to get put on.

View attachment 117139

View attachment 117140

It's hard to really go into what all was done, as it was a bunch of tidying up details. Making sure that wires and hoses are properly secured. Some of the routing isn't ideal, but also can't really be changed at this point without removing and redoing a bunch of wires going from front to back of the car. Overall, nothing too problematic.

Carpets and seat belts are in (although I need to adjust the shoulder harnesses some). I've got the driver's seat mocked up but need to actually bolt it down. I might put it on a slider, haven't decided yet. I've figured out mounting locations for the seat heater switches and the USB charger/voltmeter, but I need to drill those in. I figure I'll get some drives in before I actually cover up the trans tunnel, after making sure everything is working as intended.

Really, just a bunch of little details. But a first drive should be able to happen soon.
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Izzat a TR-7?
 
bluerooster said:
RX-7. :(
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@Half Fast and I take issue with your choice of emoji. ;)

I love Triumphs, but as Jeremy Clarkson once said: “Triumph took the TR-6, a car everyone loved, and replaced it with the TR-7; a car that made the whole world stand up and declare as one: ‘I want to buy something else.’”

:D
 
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