AK Wiring Loom Started, Power Cable Run, Front Splitter Installed, New Dip Stick, plus a few more jobs completed...

So it's little over a week to go until my Cobra goes to the paint shop and there are a number of jobs I want to do before it goes. Here are a few I have been working on....

I swapped out all of the washers on the body/chassis bolts (the ones that hold the body & chassis together) for larger style penny washers, just to spread the load a little, all are now fully tightened.

I took the dashboard back off and filed down the left hand side edge to make it a better fit. I will also be filing another 5mm off where the steering wheel is located as the top section needs a bit more space for when it goes to the trimmers. 

Whilst running the various legs of the AK wiring loom around the body I also run the large power cable (Current rating 345amp 50mm²) I placed an O Ring connector on one end, soldered this and added heat shrink. I also added terminals to the 3 cables running from the AK Loom that connect to the starter motor. These were soldered with heat shrink placed over the top, I am going to solder all connections for piece of mind... I decided to do these particular connections now as it will probably be easier to fit these prior to fitting the j-pipes..

For the rear leg of the loom I drilled holes in the drivers side rear wheel arch and fed the power cable and AK loom through leaving the run of cables for the electric handbrake inside the car as the connector box for this is fitted by the drivers side door. I ran the power cable and the AK loom around the rear drivers side wheel arch adding rubber grommets where it passed through the body and cable tying it all in place. I drilled extra holes for the cables running to the rear number plate light and fuel sender unit so they drop down close to where the wiring needs to be connected.  

For the electric handbrake there are two cables that need connecting to the electrical wire connector provided by AK. This then plugs in to the connector already attached to the handbrake motor (hopefully that makes sense!) I decided to run this cable through flexible conduit and join it to the conduit on the AK loom where it runs around the rear wheel arch. I then fed the cables back through the AK loom conduit and in with the rest of the wiring for the electric handbrake. This seemed like the most suitable solution and it keeps all of the wiring neat and tidy. I added additional cable ties where necessary and also fitted a bracket under the rear wheel arch to ensure all of the cables stay neatly in place.

I opened up the holes in the windscreen and heater escutcheons as I’ve changed my mind on using self tapping screws. I have decided to use slotted raised countersunk screws with nylocs instead which will help me secure the heater vents underneath. Hopefully I don't regret changing this...

I had been waiting for the front splitter from AK and it turned upon this week. It looks pretty good however my quick jack support brackets are slightly in the way, which is a real pain! I trimmed the quick jack brackets down a little at the top however the splitter still needed to be slighter lower to get it looking central. I ended up fitting the splitter from underneath the bracket and making up additional plates to pack out one side so as to level the splitter out. A bit of a faff to say the least and somewhat annoying, but I am now happy with the look

So it seems extremely difficult on the AK Gen3 to get the dipstick in place and fitted correctly, well it was for me anyway! After a number of attempts to fit this the dipstick failed and separated where the rubber washer is located. I decided to chance my arm with a different type, a flexible one (Stainless Steel DipStick Oil flexible Tube For LS Engines). It finally arrived and luckily the fitting was the same. I did have to swap over the rubber washers as the one supplied seemed too tight. I will need to make an additional oil level mark on the dipstick as this is in a slightly different location to the original. The dipstick sits away from the engine and needs some form of bracket to hold it in place. I used a piece of stainless tubing with a bolt through it to bridge the gap.