JUST PICKED UP THE NEW CAR - KCC COBRA

[paulmj]

Guys,

Tonight I am a happy man. After a great deal of time trying to work out how to make enough time to build a Cobra, I gave up! Instead I have bought a car which is effectively the fruits of someone else's labour, complete and on the road. And what a car. It is a 1993 KCC, pro built in South Africa and imported here a couple of years ago. It has the usual Jag running gear and a Chevy 350. The 350 is anything but standard. I was a little sceptical of the owner's claims of 380hp. But having done a good few miles in it it can't be far off. It is certainly a fairly highly tuned engine (I used to tune racing cars for a living a few years ago so I sort of have the feel, if you know what I mean) and it goes like stink. I was also sceptical of the Borg-Warner T4 auto box too, until I drove it. I have always been a proponent of the manual box (except on big powerful saloon cars) but I have changed my mind. The box is fantastic, if you manually shift the gears, the change is instantaneous, there is no lag what so ever. But you don't need to as the shifts are perfectly swift and smooth anyway. Fantastic. What this also results in is a car you can thrash about at very high speeds or cruise comfortably round town or on the motorway - even with a lumpy race car tickover. In essence I am a happy man. I know that there is at least 1 other guy running a KCC out there, are there any others???????

Also, I have been reading the threads on oils. When I used to work on racing cars they were always (well usually) turbocharged 4 cyl jobs which we never put anything other than Valvoline fully synthetic in. It will take a bit of getting used to putting non-synth 20/50 into cars again. The question I have is, as I need to top the oil up and don't know what is in there already, can I put some good quality 20/50 in there for the time being until the oil is changed?? Then I'll obviously know what is in there. The car has been looked after by Thunder Road recently. I'm going to give them a call tomorrow to see what they would put in as a matter of course - does anyone use them and already know?????? I'd really appreciate it if you can help me out.

Thanks guys. Any help will be very well received. See you at Donnington next week end?????

Paul.

[paulmj]

Doh, I forgot!!!!!

Also, the car is difficult to start when hot. Basically the starter struggles to turn it over. Once it cools (not very much) things are fine again, but when hot it can take several turns of the key to get the thing cranking. I reckon that this could be 1 of a few things:

Bad connection - the first thing I'll check.
Perished wire to the starter as this runs over the bellhousing and must get damn hot.
Knackered starter motor.
The starter motor is simply not up to turning over what I suspect is an engine with higher than normal compression.

I have a sneaky feeling that the answer is going to be the last one. Has anyone else experienced similar problems? If so does anyone know where I can get either a heavy duty starter, or a geared down one???

As ever you help and thoughts are really appreciated. Thanks.

Paul.

[robert]

Paul

Knowing Cheng, and if it is one of his engines, then it will probably be Vavoline Racing 20/50, although if you cannot guarantee it then it would be best to just change the oil, as it is never good to mix oils.

The possible problem with the starter motor is that it is probably one of the old large starter motors, which when hot doesn't crank very well. There is no real way to sort this out, other than to buy one of the small high torque starters.

HTH

Robert
Forum Admin

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PS, congrats on the new arrival, hope you have bags of fun!!!

[dave]

Just a thought.
Could your timing be too far advanced?

[paulmj]

Gents,

Thanks for the advice. I thought as much reference the starter. Can you recommend a good place to pick one up. I live in Uxbridge, so my first point of contact will probably be Real Steel. Also, the thoughts on oil are well received. I intend to do an oild change asap as I have no way of KNOWING what the condition of the oil is. It is currently about a fifth of the way up the stick between the ADD and FULL marks. So as long as it doesn't drop any further I'll let it run as it is. I'm not planning to trash it around at the moment anyway.

As for the timing, thanks for the tip I'll give that a check. But, can anyone recommend a good Haynes or equivalent manual for the Chevy 350 as I need some reference data for it and no doubt will do in the future?

Lastly, I noticed something odd last night. The passenger side wheels stick out from the wheel arches slightly (about 10mm) more than those on the passenger side. It is almost as if the body should be moved about 5mm to the left on the chassis. Has anyone experienced this kind of thing before?? As far as I can tell from a look (rather than accurate measure) nothing is bent chassis or suspension wise or out of alighnment.

Lastly still, I have a slightly annoying squeek in the front suspension. I need to get hold of a Jag XJ6 Haynes manual (does it matter which year - was there much change between models as I don't know the year of the donor) anyway, but can anyone enlighten me as to the likely culprit. The car has barely been used for a couple of years so it could just be that the front end needs a good grease, which I will give it soon anyway.

Once more thanks for you advice on this - it is really appreciated.

Paul.

[osgood]

Paul, yes I use Cheng top block until he gives me the bill!! Infact going round there tomorrow for some work hopefully. Castrol GP50 is the one to use, which I use in my Rover for the older sports car & vintage engines. A great improvement in oil pressure 10 to 15 LB at all tempretures.

Fully synthetic is not the oil for older engines in my oipinion, but some use it!!?? Regards Eric.

[165]

Just a thought,I looked at a friends car a month or two ago with a similar problem,Would turn over fast when cold(when you would think it would struggle if a bit weak and cold oil,Then turn over slow when everythings hot......
We noticed the exhaust downpipe was close to the starter and warming the starter up,And braking down the internal insulation.....We made up a heat sheild and HEY PRESTO....Fast turn over hot or cold.......its a try....:7