DuPuis Family Cobra Build

Ted said:
Over the weekend I managed to get some more wiring work done on the Cobra. I ran out of two gauges of wire that I needed, so that stopped me. However, that didn't stop me from running some more of the remaining wiring/circuitry, including for the rear lights.

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That's the spirit! Use a smaller gauge and it'll double as a fuse! Lol
 
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Ted said:
I just ran what I could with what I had.
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I'm finishing cabling a data center cabinet today. Badly. Lol. The wrong size cables were ordered so I'm making spaghetti. It'll be lovely to rip it all out and do it over again later. Lol
 
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I also did automotive stuff! Okay barely.

Burnt out a map light in the Subaru so swapped all the halogens for a cheap LED kit.

In a Wendy's parking lot. Why not? Lol
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This afternoon I spent a few hours working on the Cobra some. After the first start there were a few issues, which I had thought I'd more or less taken care of. I had a few minor wiring items that I needed to do in order to finish up the front to rear wiring that goes through the transmission tunnel. This was important since it's one of the bigger steps required so I can loom up the wires and keep them out of the way of the driveshaft, and get the car ready to actually drive. Those remaining wires were power for the horn and lights coming from the back, plus running power to the back to activate the AC compressor when I want it turned on.

Once that was done, I pushed the Cobra out and ran it for about 15 minutes in the 1500-3000 RPM range (peak I got was 4000 or so at one point) to finish the cam break-in and make sure that the minor changes I did seemed to be working, plus pay more attention to how the engine sounded and ran and see what details I may have missed the first time. This second run went very well. No oil leaks, only the expected smoke coming off of the header wrap for the first time that the engine was run with it on. All the functions worked as intended. The cooling fan came on when it was supposed to (190-195F, I forget the temperature I set). The fan then blew the 25 amp fuse (should've been a 30 - oops). The coolant temp went up to 215-220 with this, which is warmer than desired but not warm enough for me to be worried about it. I put the new fuse in and kept it running, and the temp then dropped as it was supposed to. I also had the heater turned on for a little extra cooling (and to see if it worked) and it sure enough did work.

Somewhat to my surprise, there was a bit of water that came out of the overflow tube. I had planned on buying an overflow tank and just hadn't gotten to it yet, but now that's a definite requirement. So I'll find something shiny to put under the hood that will match and get that ordered.

I drove the Cobra back into the garage, which was pretty awesome. The clutch feel is very good, the transmission goes into gear smoothly. Really nothing to complain about. Granted I only drove it 20 feet, but still, that's a nice thing to see.

At this point I need to change oil on the car now to get rid of the break-in oil, and then I could just clean up some of the wiring and drive it. I'll have to think some more about just how much I want to accomplish before first drive, but hearing it run sure is a motivator. :)
 
Someone make a 'this thread is useless without vids' smilie.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Someone make a 'this thread is useless without vids' smilie.
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Yeah, I’m behind on videos. I need to do some more video editing and uploading to YouTube.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I thought it went surprisingly well, all things considered.
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I agree. A lot of people have major issues before they ever get the car to start. My issues were minor and not surprising.
 
SoonerAviator said:
I was kind of hoping she would have emptied the fire extinguisher, just for dramatic effect, lol.
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That wouldn't have been very useful. It might catch fire again later!
 
denverpilot said:
More YouTube views that way.
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Yesterday as part of my motorcycle Googling I looked around at reviews of the BMW R9t. In doing so, I made an observation as to what seems to get the most views. A quick view of this screen shot should make it obvious:

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Ted said:
Yesterday as part of my motorcycle Googling I looked around at reviews of the BMW R9t. In doing so, I made an observation as to what seems to get the most views. A quick view of this screen shot should make it obvious:

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Fickle internet. You need a cat in your videos. It's truly what the internet is best at. Lol. And memes. :)
 
Sac Arrow said:
I would have bought ever single last one of those. I'd be a rich man right now if I did.
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That's $350 in 1946 dollars, sooo, $500 today?

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I looked it up:

1946: $350
2021: $5000

Original list price: $14,500
2021: $207,500
 
Matthew said:
That's $350 in 1946 dollars, sooo, $500 today?

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I looked it up:

1946: $350
2021: $5000

Original list price: $14,500
2021: $207,500
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Well, I am doing some time traveling here, so it's reasonable to assume I'm paying for 1946 prices using 2021 dollars. But even if that weren't the case, if I bought the engines at $5,000 apiece, they are probably worth at least $250K in new running condition. I'm seeing clapped out cores running 25K - 35K on Ebay.
 
Ted, I really enjoyed the first run of the Cobra engine. There are a lot of items that must be right or the engine does not run. Our first run, we simply put a teaspoon of gas down each throat of the two throat carbs, and cranked. We wanted to see if we had the plugs right before we added gas to the system. 10 minutes later, with gravity feed from a 2 gallon can, we were running smoothly, and our exhaust note pleased us as much as yours pleased you.

I have been around a few first runs, and yours went great! One thing, though, I always have one of my CO2 extinguishers handy, so there is no residue to clean up, My big one is 20#, the small one I think, is 5#.

With fuel injection, fuel fires are less likely, but if the high pressure line from the electric pump comes loose, like the water line did, the results are even more spectacular than a carb fire.

My friends kid me, but my array includes a 5 gallon water and a 10# dry chemical. All of these are in the garage, and moved out to the car when firing up for the first time. I haven't had a fire in 20 years, but..........

I envy your option of running on the public roads without a body out in the country. My brother and I did that a little with his '34 Ford coupe in 1954, before the body went back on, but stuck with parking lots.
 
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By the way, Ted, this might be a good time to mention that you'll need a nomex suit for the racecar anyway, and it might be a good idea to just go ahead and buy it now..... :D
 
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@geezer good points on the fire extinguisher. We only had the small one, perhaps not how we should’ve done it, but I agree I should have more than the small one which we pulled out of the RV before first start. I had tested all the individual systems I could beforehand, so I knew the fuel system was tight (after addressing a few leaks) etc. But good points.

@Half Fast you're right, I should get a nomex suit now. Besides, I’ve outgrown all my other suits. Or someone shrunk them while I wasn’t looking. :)
 
Ted said:
@geezer good points on the fire extinguisher. We only had the small one, perhaps not how we should’ve done it, but I agree I should have more than the small one which we pulled out of the RV before first start. I had tested all the individual systems I could beforehand, so I knew the fuel system was tight (after addressing a few leaks) etc. But good points.

@Half Fast you're right, I should get a nomex suit now. Besides, I’ve outgrown all my other suits. Or someone shrunk them while I wasn’t looking. :)
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Nomex Maximus? :eek:
 
Oh I was going to aks you Ted, I see for now you're running straight headers. Do you see any valve burning issues due to lack of back pressure?
 
Video of the second start:

 
Well that was enjoyable to watch! Can't wait for the drive.
 
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Bill said:
Still love that lumpy idle, this thing's gonna be bad ass when it's done!
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I’m really looking forward to it.

Interestingly, there’s a Comp Cams “Thumpr” series, designed to make that lopey idle specifically. It has a 107 degree lobe separation angle instead of my 108, but I passed on it because it was a hydraulic cam and I wanted solid. On an episode of Engine Masters I was binge watching while recovering from surgery, they took that exact cam (for a different engine) and ran it with solid lifters, which worked fine. It makes me think that may be an option to consider, although the dedicated designed solid cam is probably better. And I like Isky cams. We’ll see how she does...
 
P.S. The Avalon has a leaky steering rack. Standard Toyota Avalon issue. Was hoping it didn't but... It does. Ha.

Ohhh well. That and a new pump (apparently it's leaking also which is uncommon and annoying) will add an AMU to the rest of it (valve cover gaskets, it's time for the timing belt, etc... They even noticed a nail in a tire...) and it'll be ready to go another 100K.

Forget if it was here or elsewhere when I said we picked it up at 123407 or so on the clock, that I needed to make sure to get this photo... Heh. Done.

If that rack is anything like most, I don't wanna get in there and do that job anyway. Money is quite alright as a substitute for that! Ha.
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