Eleanor Update

After a little wait we have got our custom designed and bespoke engine mounts finished and sent back to us from our supplier. As a result we were able to fit them and mount the engine properly for the first time. The engine dropped in almost perfectly with only a tiny adjustment for the perfect fit we were after. The Engine is now sitting where we expected it to be, with definite locations we can now make the bespoke air intake plate that will allow the hood to close properly. Even with the big bulge on the hood there is only just enough room. The intakes made for a fairly unusual picture, almost as if this beast is watching us!

Engine in place

different view

butterflies removed

the open flood gates!

standard fit

The angle we will need to move the intake down

slightly different angle

The engine itself we mounted close to the firewall as possible to get the weight of the engine just behind the front wheel axles as it were. The weight distribution was a consideration when this car was in the development stages. The fire wall was moved backwards and the tunnel had to be re-engineered to take the transmission and the engine.

bespoke engine mount right

close to the fire wall as we dare

bare fire wall

Aircon will now be on the left and you can see the custom steering link

Front view

bespoke engine mount left

The measurements for cooling now mean that we had to take a small cut out from each side of the chassis to allow the radiator to fit correctly as shown by the arrow here.

Radiator cut out

The pedal proved to be a little bit of a challenge as the standard fittings would not fit obviously. To get round this and to fit the customer we built a custom mount for the pedal. The floor was also covered in sound proofing, heat shrunk in place to the floor as well as the fire wall. Final tidy up and sound proofing will be done once the brake and clutch pedal goes in.

sound proofed floor

rear proofing

bespoke crafted gas pedal mount

different angle

The steering column had to made to fit the new rack and pinion steering control. The UV joint and steering column mounting are all bespoke. We went for the smooth engine bay look, so we filled the chassis fronts in under the fire wall to make it a smooth finish, (see arrow).

The upright metal posts are still in place just in case we have to lift the engine out for some unknown reason. Due to the tight fitting of engine to the engine bay, we only want to do this the once.

custom steering fitting

custom made chassis fillers

rack and pinion in place

The final part was the transmission. As we already cut the bespoke holes for the shifter this mounted pretty well and married up cleanly.

Front

centre

gearbox to prop

Quick link:

The rest of the updates can be found under the Customer Cars – Project Eleanor or click here for the link

For Sale:

We also have for sale a 1966 Coupe that has just arrived over from the states.

clean inside

colour co-ordinated engine bay

Trunk

Competition results:

There were a couple of close guesses for a vent, but nobody managed to get the correct year, so here is the answer…

1969 GT500 Front fender air scoop.

’69 GT500 front fender vent