August 2006
| I didn't get to the stage last month where I can start the engine. I could have, but am holding out until the 2nd of September. The reason why is because I have had many rodders wanting to be present to witness this auspicious occasion. This date coincides with many interstate and country rodders coming to Sydney to attend a fairly large rod run on the 3rd. To work in with this, I am holding a "birthing" BBQ ( also know as the "Start ya bastard party" ) on the day before. So far, it looks like around 20 will be present to witness this event. I promise, this will be the very first start. No trial runs!. It will be primed, timed and ready for the key to be turned at midday, the 2nd of September. I will also video the event as well so all regulars and interested rodders from anywhere won't miss out. Well, you won't smell the fumes and smoke, which I reckon will be plenty, but it's the next best thing. If all goes well, I will drive it on it's first trip around the block on the Sunday. So, on Monday, the 4th of September, I will update my site with the videos ( I hope, as I haven't posted videos before, so I will need to learn ) So, this month it's important to get it to starting stage. I will also put the seats back in so I can drive it. ( how's that for confidence!) |
| Sorry, no pics this week. It would not be to interesting in any case, seeing wires strewed all over the place would look puzzling in pictures. I have drilled holes in strategic locations and laid most out into their respective areas. One thing is I will have to get 2 more relays as the wiring loom only had one for the horn. I will also need one for the thermo fan and another for the lights. It looks like this loom may be suited for a 50s car. I have also solved the problem with the boot latch. I had given up on the remote solenoid and ripped it all out. I then had a thought. Teflon lined cable!. I got hold of one and tied it into a knot and it still had near zero drag. I re installed the solenoid and hooked it up. It worked beautifully!. Problem solved. |
| OK, here is one of the exit points I decided on. This will be used for all the front and rear wires except for the engine wires. That is in the next pic where I made another hole right behind the engine. That feeds out the oil pressure, temp sender, temp sensor, distributor, speedo sensor and automatic choke (when I get it ). |
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| Here is the start of the under dash work. The earth bus bar has the main feed wire direct from the battery, connected on the far left. The cable is fairly heavy gauge and only about 6" long. The main positive feed to the fuse panel is on the right, just above the earth bar. It also is heavy gauge and 6" long. I also made a mounting bracket for the relays and blinker unit. The extra relays are also wired in ( thermo fan and lights ). Next pic is the wires loomed and connected to the ignition switch. There is one more wire to connect and that is hanging behind the speedo, ready to connect. |
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| I pre run all the earth wires and left them
hanging out. This should make the final connection a bit easier, and
quicker. It's all this pre work that takes time. The final connections will
be a lot quicker. Just a note on the battery cables. They are in fact, welding cables which are 35 square mils in area and made of fine strands of copper. They are a lot more flexible than ordinary battery cable and a higher current rating. The only problem is they only come in orange. A piece of red and black heat shrink on the respective ends makes their use a bit clearer. Each cable is only about 18" long, so the loss of cranking capacity will be minimal. Take in account the Optima battery is capable of supplying 700 odd amps at start ( CCA ) and couple that with the high torque starter, I think I won't have any starting issues....but as they say, the proof is in the pudding. Last pic shows the length of the wires that the E.Z kit supplies. They do give you ample length. The only issue I can see, is the loom was made for LHD cars where they expect the loom to come out on the L/H side. Not a real issue, but where they label the lights ( low beam, high beam, parkers etc ) at the front, the section for the L/H wire is to short when its installed on a RHD car. You could just exit the loom out the L/H side in the first place I suppose, but I will just swap them around when I connect them. Since they are commoned, then it's just a labelling issue. Just need to remember that when fault finding. I have also jotted down changes I have made in the instruction manual that the kit came with. That also includes the relay/headlight switch relationship. Scratching that out now on paper means less head scratching down the road. |
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| I have finally completed the wiring and fitted the gauges
back in. Notice the LEDs. They are fitted into small pieces of hollow rubber
( old cowl seal to be exact ) I drilled small holes into the rubber and
fitted the LEDs and 300 ohm resistors into the hollow part. The LEDs are
just held in place by the rubber, and the rubber is glued behind the dash
with the LEDs and lined up exactly with the holes. The holes in the dash are
smaller than the LEDs which are recessed and not protruding out. I
didn't want the look of the dash spoilt with the LEDs. Here you can see the
high beam and left hand blinker. Once they are off, you can hardly see them.
They are bright enough to be seen when they are on though. Next pic is the underside of the dash nearly finished. Just a few more cable ties and spiral wrap should do it. |
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| Here is the view from the left. That button
hanging down on the left is the electric clock time adjuster. It will
eventually be fitted into the side of the glove box when I finally install
it. Later, I will make the cover plate to hide all the wiring. All that will
be visible will be the fuse panel. Next pic is where the rear loom exits the underside and returns into the cabin. This area is suitable for the fuel gauge and boot solenoid/light plus a convenient spot for the rest to continue over the wheel arch. |
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| Here is the front and rear looms heading off
to their respective areas. The front loom is tied up and ready for the rest of the body to be fitted. All the wiring has been pre tested and works well. |
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| Now to get the engine primed for the big start next week end. I have filled the petrol tank ( 20 litres), "running in" oil in the sump and transmission fluid in the gearbox( only 4 litres until it starts ). I destroyed an old points dizzy to get at the shaft so I can drive the oil pump with a drill ( remember Ford oil pumps and dizzies run ani clockwise, so you've got to use a reversible drill ). All was going well for a few seconds until I felt the pressure drop on the drill. Thoughts of oil pump failure and blockages ran through my mind. I removed the oil filter and span the drill and could see oil coming out. I moved onto the oil pressure sender as I thought it may have failed. I removed it and could see oil coming out. I was kinda stumped until I felt the top of the shaft. It was very warm. After a closer inspection, I could see the top of the shaft was spinning like mad, but the lower section was spinning very slow. It looks like the top of the shaft was an interference fit and came loose and started acting like a torque converter. Once the pressure of the oil pump built up, it started slipping, yet allowing enough torque to supply a trickle of oil. I am pointing to the spot (after I welded it up) where it was slipping . Once that was done, it pumped just fine. I got Marg to crank the engine over with the starter while I manned the drill. We done this for a minute or so and now I'm confident the engine is lubricated well enough. Oh yeah, all the gauges work fine, even the fuel gauge, and the oil pressure gauge!;-). |
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| Before I removed the dizzy cap, I marked where number one lead was, so when I place the dizzy back in, I can line it up near to where it should be. To ascertain where TDC was, I used my thumb over number one spark plug hole and turned the engine over by hand until I felt the compression on my thumb. Once I felt that, I looked for the timing marks, which by now are fairly close. I then turned the crank the rest of the way to line up the marks. That is positively TDC and no way it will be 180 degrees out. I can't understand why professional builders stuff that up, but I see it many times. So now I have it near timed, I will use a timing light to set it statically to 10 degrees advanced. I have a healthy spark, so I just got to see fuel in the bowl then all the ingredients will be there for a certain start....well it should, or I'll have 20 plus rodders witnessing an embarrassing moment next Saturday.;-) |
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