Finishing the racecar blog. Yes?

[at8tc]

I'm with Tony on this one too (a second vote of confidence!). You have lots of time - after all, I re-assembled my car in less than three months from just a bare, freshly-painted shell.

So get 'er done! And take lots of pics along the way.

Yeah, but she doesn't live with me anymore.

Or were you talking about a car project? Been there, done that too - it's part of the "fun". It's part of "learning" for the next project. It's what you don't talk about with the interviewer when he asks "What would you do differently if you did it all over again?"

hey Mike, is that roll bar custom made or did you buy it in a kit??

[Horsewidower]

2 days equal 12!!

Well, after the 2 days that the wiring/computer guy said would take to finish the car turned into 12, we are a little behind. And it still doesn't fire.

Not really the guys fault, he couldn't get an oil pressure reading so wisely decided not to fire it up. Unfortunately, when we got it home, spun the oil driveshaft with a drill, we still couldn't get much of a reading. With the addition of the remote oil filter, cooler and attendant lines, we are at 9 quarts and counting. We did finally get some oil out the oil pressure gauge line, but it isn't at much pressure .

The other problem is that either the battery or starter are just about dead. We bought a brand new odyssey light weight battery, but the 1 and 1/2 years it sat around may have killed it.

The good news is that the computer and ignition are talking to each other, the switches work, the fuel pump pumps (although we can't seem to get more than 20 psi when first switched on.

The new axle came in and has been installed, Rog came over and built the radiator box and we squared up the front fender mounting.

So keeping track of the list:

Finish the fire system. need to flare two tube ends

Finish the brake system Trying to finish today and tomorrow, waiting on pads

Mount the windows Not yet

Fabricate the radiator ducting DONE

Mount the seat, and harness Not yet

Nut and Bolt EVERYTHING
Cornerweight and ballast as necessary Not yet

Fix the tierod ends (can you say scrub with a 1/4 inch toe-in, I don't even want to talk about 1/4 inch of toe-out!) Interesting conversation with Griggs. Bruce stated that they did not build them like regular racecar tierods with right and left hand threads, instead you have to turn the inner rod like you do with stock mustangs. His reasoning was that they didn't want to confuse alignment shops becuase most of the parts were being put on street driven mustangs.

Lower the rear shock mounts. Half way there, we mocked it up yesterday, I need to fab a couple of things.

Finish and mount the fenders and the bumper cover. 90%, we are satisfied with their mounting positions, because its easier to work on with them off we will wait until one of the last things. Its just a bunch of rivets.

Trim the new carbon fiber hood to fit. Cleaned it up last night, marked the first couple of cut lines. Probably have it done this weekend

The immediate need is to try and get it fired. I called a buddy that has a shop, dyno and experience with the Haltech and will take it to his place on Tuesday if its not running. June 6th is gone. I just hope its running by then.

We have some connections over at the CHP Academy, so we'll go over there to shake it out. Our long term goal is to run it in an SCCA double regional on Labor Day weekend. We should have no problem with that. I knew June 6th would be difficult, but having an early date would help everyone focus, including me. I just wish I could get those 10 days back!!

A couple of pics of the cars and tow rig.

1. GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT!!

2. Sunshine feels great.

3. One car out of the trailer. That's my partner on the car, Geoff. We keep it at his garage.

4. Roger's car. SCCA regional super production class.

5. Tow rig. We couldn't get Geoff's pickup's electrical to work with the trailer's, so we used the Peterbilt. A little over trucked!

Bob

[Horsewidower]

Thanks for the info on the battery. I'll charge it overnight and see how it does.

Double regional is at Sears Point (can't seem to get used to calling it Infineon)

[CP86SVO]

Thanks for the info on the battery. I'll charge it overnight and see how it does.

Double regional is at Sears Point (can't seem to get used to calling it Infineon)

Watch the charging voltage...make sure it doesn't go above 15 volts!

HTH WS

[Horsewidower]

I'm starting to think starter. The battery is showing good on the charger, but now we are down to just a click. I'll yank it and have it checked. Even using the "engine start" on the charger, nothing.

Bob

[CP86SVO]

Food for thought...

http://www.odysseyfactory.com/documents/US-ODY-OM%20(2602-0232,%20Rev.5)_1206.pdf

HTH WS

[Horsewidower]

Thanks for that link. I didn't get anything but the battery when I bought it. The starter is coming out.

[Horsewidower]

Excellent day at the shop, started at 7:30 am , just got home at 11:00 pm.

Completely finished the rear end of the car with the exception of filling the pumpkin with gear oil and friction modifier. After lowering the shock lower mounting points about 1.4 inches, we rechecked bump. Everything will bottom at about the same time, axle to frame, shocks, coil bind, subframe connectors etc. We had to shorten the panhard rod almost an inch and a quarter, because the bracket that we used changed that mounting point. The panhard is now also about 1.4 inches lower, which results in a lower roll center for the rear.

Rear brakes are done except for the flex lines and the new pads. Should have both those in shortly.

We then turned our attention to the problem getting the car to turn over. Changed all the starting cables from 2s to 00s, while doing that we discovered that one of the old cables had not been crimped properly and the wire fell out of the cable end. Also, I changed to a '93 starter, big difference. I love the search function on SVOCA!!

With the car turning over easily, we built real oil pressure for the first time, primed the fuel pump, and tried to get it to fire. Unfortunately, the MSD DIS 2 was not showing any spark on its trouble shotting LED. We then tested it per their directions, and it sparked when grounded. Hmmm. We figured we were having problems on the trigger end and fiddled with the EDIS wheel and sensor. That gave us a reading of "intermittent trigger" on the MSD box. We finally called it quits for the day.

Oh, also, Rog finished the bumper cover, so now its time to size the hood and finish the exterior painting.

Heck of a good day.

Bob

[Raven855]

Dang, I'm tired just reading about everything you got done. Great day! Thanks for the update......

[7t9cobra]

my god! that is the coolest s*** ive ever seen!

[Horsewidower]

Well here are a bunch pics from the thrash:

1&2 completing the front bodywork. Needed to cut down the hood.

3,4&5 radiator ducting

[Horsewidower]

Yet more:

Getting the right rear rotor centered in the caliper.

1. Mounting bracket

2. Measuring for equal spacing.

3. It only takes about 60 to find 16 the same thickness.

4. putting it all together.

5. Done!

[Horsewidower]

Out with the old in with the new:

Here is the cable we replaced in order to get the starter to spin better. I think I've seen larger cable for speakers!!

[Horsewidower]

And finally for this evening:

Here are pictures of the three link and the change in the shock mounting location.

[7t9cobra]

you wanna spend some of your time on my cobra dontcha? lol