The fresh air into the cockpit is fed via a 75mm flexible hose that runs from the front extension panel, up and over the front suspension and into the foot wells joining into the sliding vent. The problem I had with this is the misalignment between the entry hole and the sliding vent attachment. The entry point of the hose was about 25mm forward of the sliding vent making the fit impossible however, the stainless steel heat shield had a fair amount of discrepancy with the chassis but in the right direction allowing me to gring out the chassis hole for better alignment with out touching the polished stainless steel heat shield.
Although I only ground out 10mm, it was enough to allow the flexible tube to conform with the vent and slide over the port.I could then do a temporary fit of the flexible hoses.
Fitting the header tank and over flow tank was a never ending pain because I could not get the bits I wanted and when bits did arrive, they didn't even come close to fitting. There was a change in design mid flight and I was told they had a wizz bang upgrade but after months of waiting and some quite terse words I ended up with something I am not happy with and will be one of quite a few things that will be changed as at a later date. The problem I had was mounting the tanks on the front of the block. Problem 1) the mounting plate fouled the throttle body, 2) the mounting holes that were in the plate did not align with mounting holes in the block due to different casting configerations, 3) the bottles are squashed so tight together that getting a rubber insulation strap between the clamps and tanks is very tight, 4) they look wrong. All that aside, I was able to modify the mounting plate and drill and tap new mounting holes and this will suffice until I get it going.
Once the bracket was modified and bolted in place, the tanks were fitted then it was just a matter of plumbing them.
The radiator hook up was the next job to be done. This was a fairly simple job utilizing flexible stainless steel tubing and silicon joiners and bends. Getting to the radiator in situ is out of the question so all mounting bolts and bushes need to be removed to allow the radiator to tilt back far enough to get at the inlet and outlet tube integral to the radiator. Working the flexible tube around the chassis was quite easy and with the silicon joiners made the task straight forward. The only small issue was removing the thermostat housing and filing the inlet port down to allow the silicon joiner to fit and clamp in place. The inlet port had quite large protrusions in the moulding so with these removed it left a barb to clamp the joiner to.
I was not impressed with the general hook up of the cooling system although the system would suffice, I will be changing the complete system from the radiator connection to the engine connection as a winter project once I get this thing going but here is the finished item.
Well, thats it till next time when we fit the catch can and reroute the heater hoses as I will not be running a heater. Waiting for proper Quick Connect fitting to arrive from the good old US of A.
Cheers
Russell
Hi Russell
ReplyDeleteYou are doing a fantastic job of both building and blogging! Congratulations.
I am very close to buying an absolute pace kit but the one thing holding me back is the sometimes negative feedback I hear about their ability to have good customer interaction and fast turn-around time for missing/wrong parts etc. So I read your comments above about terse words (and waiting months) with great interest... can you elaborate?
So how do you rate them to deal with overall? Do you think some of the issues might be that they have more experience with LS engines than coyotes?
Would love to hear your thoughts. I'm at that critical point of deciding which kit to buy, a tough decision as I'm sure you know.
Cheers
Mike
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words.
Regarding Absolute Pace, they can be categorised in mainly two areas:
1) Firstly, as far as the design and quality of their cars go, you will not find a better build or one with such attention to detail direct from the supplier. The body straight from the mould is sensational, not show quality but requires very little work to make it look stunning giving a massive saving on body prep and paint if you so desire. The gel coat is very much an acceptable finish and will serve you well for a long time and it can be painted some time in the future if you so desire. The aluminium chassis and billet bell crank suspension has people looking on in awe. Although the bell crank/push rod design has been around for almost 100 years, it still looks so hi-tech. The Pace Cobra just looks right.
2) Pace as a company can be quite difficult to get a response from but if you read through my earlier posts you will see where I had some quite serious issues that required factory support and attending to issues on a Sunday was never a problem for them. My issue with the header and recovery tank is something that could easily have been avoided. Being given a promise that took 5 months to fill in a patched up way was not my idea of good service and this led to some heated words and I am still not happy with the outcome and I will put in a proper fix when I get the car going.
Rating Pace over all is difficult. If I was starting again, would I buy a Pace...Yes, because I know that when I am finished, I will have one of the best looking Cobras on the block, they are just that good. I would like to think that the communication and supply issues can be sorted in time because this company deserves to go on to great success and prosperity.
The Pace was built around the Windsor engine which works very well. The "new age" engines such as the LS and Coyote are a great match as you have the best of all worlds with bulk power on tap and able to easily meet emmissions. The LS is an easy fit but the Coyote is so big that it is a dog to fit but it does fit. What made it so difficult is the lack of clearance for the bell housing and starter motor. I had to grind the bell housing to get it in.You can't fit you fingers between the coil covers and the footwells. We didn't know all the issues when we started but now we do so if I had to do it again, it would be a lot easier. I am not sure how the headers will fit but stay tuned for that one on my blog.
Mike, we have a group of Pace builders that share the knowledge they have gained and the purpose of this is to make your build much easier so you have a wealth of experience at your finger tips. The Pace is an easy build it just has some little issues occasionally which others can help you with so just go for it and lay the $$$ down, then wait.
Cheers
Russell
Russell, Love your work : )
ReplyDeleteCheers
Darryl