Not a lot LOOKS different from when last posted, but a lot of work has taken place. And it definitely SOUNDS different since I last posted.
Here's an example of how building a car for the first time works. You'll probably notice this trend throughout the whole build. After installing the 500 miles of wire behind the dash, I discovered that the fit was so tight that there was NO way the heater and defrost ducts were going to fit in there too. What a great opportunity to try it again! As always seems to be the case, wiring the dash for the second time was much quicker. I moved the terminal blocks to a new location and secured them with stainless steel bolts and nuts instead of the epoxy I used the first time around. The thought of the epoxy breaking away behind the dash (where it would be impossible to get at later) had always bugged me, so I was happy to get a chance to improve this potential problem. The new wiring layout is much more streamlined, making room for the air ducts. And I took the opportunity to include insulated quick disconnects and labels on all wires connecting the dash to the wiring behind the dash. This way the dash can be completely separated from the car in the future should it ever need repair or modification.
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| First try and wiring the dash. It worked, but didn't look great. |
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| Reworked wiring with relocated terminal blocks onto firewall. |
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| Finished rework of wiring with heating ducts. |
After completing the wiring, I went to work preparing the connections to the headlights, tail lights and turn signals. All of the connections are water proof quick disconnects so any of the lights can be removed for future repair. I was new to this type of connection, so of course there was quite a bit of trial and error to get it just right. And of course it required a special little crimping tool that I'm positive Brad will find extremely handy when installing waterproof connectors onto everything in the future. Anyway, long story short after about 50 of these special connections.....headlights, parking lights, turn signals, brake lights and hazard lights all work!
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| Connecting all lights. |
Next step, installing more aluminum in the trunk and on the transmission tunnel. Not a lot to say here, but I'm slowly running out of aluminum that still needs to be installed. A good bit of the remaining aluminum is not to be put into place until the body is installed because they'll need to be slightly shaped and shifted to fit the particulars of each body's slightly unique shape.
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| Installing more trunk aluminum. |
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| Transmission tunnel top aluminum. Also the finished dash installed. |
And finally engine wiring cleanup, initial timing setup, and IGNITION!! The process of routing all the wires through the engine compartment and making it look nice is quite an art. After studying a lot of options, I think I have a plan to get the wires where they need to go and still keep the engine compartment neat and tidy. I may change my mind a few times before it's all said and done, but at least I have a plan for now. After finally getting ALL the wires in the car connected, we decided to start tackling the challenge of setting the engine timing in preparation for a first start. This is the part where I really need to thank all the great friends I've met through this process. There are a lot of great people out there building these cars, and every one of them seems happy to help out whenever needed. Eric and I both had hectic schedules this past weekend with basketball games, football parties, etc... but we set as a goal to try and fire this thing up before the weekend was over. We started on Saturday afternoon by roughly setting the initial timing and ensuring that all the spark plug wires were in their proper places. By the time we wrapped all this up it was way to late to give it a try. I wasn't quite sure how loud it would be and I was pretty sure my neighbors wouldn't appreciate the noise. We reconvened on Sunday right after noon for a couple of hours between basketball games to give it a go. Eric brought some gas and we wheeled it out into the driveway. In all honesty, my primary purpose for wheeling the car into the driveway was to protect the house in case the car blew up. Keep in mind that I've never done this before, so I had no idea what might happen. After a few tries, all we could get was about a second of VROOM before everything would stop. We tinkered until we unfortunately had to head off to various kids' events. Fast forward a few more house and we all assembled to try it one more time before the end of the weekend. The is time Eric brought along another friend, Brian (mechanic with Delta Airlines). Brian obviously knows a lot about engines, albeit the jet type, but also rebuilds and restores his own cars too. After a little bit of evaluation Brian determined that we had everything where it needed to be. Then he asked for the instruction manual to the Electronic Fuel Injection system. Instructions? Who needs instructions, we're all guys here! After a quick read of the instructions, Brian asked if I had installed the software onto the laptop and programmed the EFI system as instructed. I'm ashamed to say that I had not read that part of the instructions. But even if I had, they might as well have been written in Latin. The terminology meant nothing to me. Anyway, we installed the software and followed the instructions to set up a lot of little settings on the computer, which then programmed the EFI system on the engine appropriately. And at about 7:00 on Sunday night, with everybody standing around the car (including a neighbor), it roared to life!! The video I have shown around makes it look like everything started up perfectly on the first try. In all honesty, I deleted about 20 videos from throughout the day that showed failures. The kids came running out of the house when the car did finally start because they thought it was thundering outside. Apparently stuff in the house was actually shaking. Does that mean you have enough engine when it makes the ground shake?
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| Wheeling it out of the garage for the first start. |
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Brian decided to read the instructions. I hadn't noticed this earlier,
but apparently I'm praying at this point as well. |
Next up....more aluminum, installing cockpit insulation and carpeting, and trial fitting the body with components before sending it away for fit and finish work. And just to continue the trend I mentioned earlier, I think I'll be rerouting a short portion of the hard brake lines that are passing too close to the header for my comfort. We're actually getting close to the end.
