Features: The Seven Build Diary
Posted On 2003-12-07 16:33:44 by MaryJo |
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anonymous writes "
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Feburary 17, 2003
Place order for car with William from Autocourse Inc. The chassis should be here by the end of March.
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May 22 2003
Stand in line at the DMV(department of motor vehicles) to get a SPCN's (specialty constructed vehicle number). In California
they give out 500 per year. By today, they were down to 87 left. The guy in front of me was there to get a number for his
kit car. They wouln't last long.
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May 27 2003
Recieved my SPCN's number from the DMV!
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June 27 2003
- The car arrives
- take inventory
- lots of things missing, got the wrong brakes
_ order polish
- start to polish - this is messy work - and I am finding that it is more work than I originally thought...
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July 6 2003 - Sunday
- lots of running around today, picked up miscelaneous things that I needed for the build. Spent about three hours polishing
this evening. I am using NuVite polish. Nuvite comes in a variety of grades. I am using the F7 grade with a compounding
polisher (a 1/2" black and decker drill (from Home Depot) with a bonnet). If I had to start over I would probably get a
different Drill. The Black and Decker I have runs at to high and RPM (750rpm). This causes the aluminum to heat up pretty
quickly. I have noticed sections of the body expand, or get loose as I am polishing with the drill on high speed.
Today, I bought a inexpensive automotive buffer ($12.95 from www.partsamerica.com and picked it up at my local Kragen auto
parts store). I use F7 again with the orbital buffer to remove the swirl marks from the compounding polisher. Then I switch
bonnets and use Nuvite "s" to really bring out the shine. It looks really good when it is done However, it is a _lot_ of
work, even with the power tools. And it is dirty work too. I'm not sure I would have taken on the polishing projecet if I
realized how much work it is....
Since this is a small project and I'm cheap, I used my $12 buffer with a 24 pack of terrycloth hand towels from Target. They
don't fit over the buffer head like the made to order bonnets do, but they are _much_ cheaper. I used the foam bonnet or a
really nappy wool bonnet, then draped the hand towel over it. The pressure of the buffer against the car keeps the towel in
place. Note that I only used this method for the final "s" polish. For the F7, I used a standard terry cloth bonnet.
It has also been quite difficult to figure out exactly how much polish to use. What I am currently doing is putting dot's of
Nuvite every 3" in a grid pattern, then using the compounding pad on a very slow speed, swirl the polish around until the
area that I am working is covered with grey paste. Then I'll speed the drill up and start polishing. Where the compouding
pad has been you should see shiny metal (after the 1st pass at ~500 rpm). It will get more shiny with a few more passes as
you remove the last of the polish. Remember to keep "fluffing" your bonnet.
The car came with a brushed aluminum skin. What "Brushed" really means is "lots of small consistant scratches". Once I go
over it with the compounding polisher, it shines right up, but it is somwhat fuzzy because the grain of the "brushed" finish
can still be seen. In a couple of spots I have managed to polish the grain out, or really minimize it, but it takes a LONG
time. I think the finish will look fine with a litle fuzzyness to it.
If I were to do the whole polishing over again, I would first sand the whole car with 600 then 1200 grade sandpaper. For
tough scratches, you can use 400, then move to the other grades, however be carefull not to get too aggressive, or you will
have a flat spot, or depression that is visible when the polishing is complete.
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July 15, 2003 - tuesday
Spent some time with the polisher and got all of the F7 polishing done. Did some of the final "s" polishing, but have about
4 feet on the drivers side to go...
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July 19, 2003 - saturday
I did a fair bit of work today. Finished the polishing, doing the last bit around the front suspension by hand. Reinstalled
the hood latches, and taped up the drivers side so as not to scratch the pretty polished bits when installing the suspension.
Tommy Thorn came over today and gave Mattea and I a hand. Tommy installed the suspension on the drivers side (left) and
helped with the steering. While Tommy was working on those bits Mattea and I installed the windscreen. It is fairly clever
as it has a heated element to defrost it (much like the ones in most rear windows, only the wires are so small you can hardly
see them). Make sure that the two small gromets (one for each wire) are installed so that the wires are not cut by the sharp
edge of the hole.
Of course there are no directions to assist us in assembling the windscreen, so we had a few puzzles to work out, and I ended
up calling William at Autocourse (my dealer) to find out the correct proceedure. I was most concerned with the rubber
sealing strip along the bottom of the screen. I was not sure how long it should be once everything was installed. It turns
out that the correct way to install this is to have the rubber strip come out in the middle of the triangle on the windscreen
uprights. Pull it tight, but not too tight as it will crack very quickly if it is too tight. The extra rubber that is
sticking out of the triangle can be trimmed after the windscreen hardware is tightened.
Another baffling thing was the bag of bolts/nuts marked windscreen. After dumping all the parts out, I found that there were
four ugly machine bolts to attach the windscreen to the car. They looked too small also. So I looked around some more and
found four cap head hex bolts that seem to fit much better and look great...Later on in the build, I'll probably find they go
somewhere else.
It turns out the easiest way I found to install the windscreen, was to attach the upright to one side of the winscreen and
then bolt it loosely to the car on that one side. (careful not to drop your washers, like I did). Then loosly bolt the
second upright to the windscreen. THEN, attach the windscreen to the car with the remaining two bolts. Once everything is
attached and lined up, you can tighten the bolts/screws.
I also asked William if there is a correct orientation for the camfered washers in the front suspension...he said no, just
fit them however they look best.
I dropped one of the large windscreen washers into the space between the inner and the outer aluminum skin. There is no way
to retrieve it, shy of turning the car upside down and shaking...Oh well, that's just another trip to the hardware store.
We also installed the steering rack and the quick release steering wheel.
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July 20, 2003 - Sunday
Straightend up the garage today. Swept the floor and then mopped it to try to get the polish residue off. I kept tracking
polish throughout the house because the garage floor was so dirty. Was not feeling good so did not do any more.
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July 22, 2003 - Tuesday
Unpacked one of the doors to see how they attached...read the manual...looks like you have to fit the hood (convertible top)
before you can fit the doors.
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July 23, 2003 - Wednesday
Mattea affixed the rear licence plate light. Ada attached the fan to the radiator. I ran the fixed brake lines along the
DeDion tube for the rear brakes. This was a time consuming job, as I wanted to make it look nice. I ended up making
templates from coat hanger wire and then bending the lines to match. I used a brake line bending tool, so the bends are
mostly even.
I had my first big oops of the job this evening...I was installing the front anti-roll bar and there is a plastic ball that
gets threaded onto the end of the roll bar. The short story is that I busted one of them trying to screw it on...hopefully
it's not a big deal to get a repacement.
I unpacked the carpets and tried to figure out what goes where. It turns out that the boot (trunk) is fully carpeted. Cool.
However, the cockpit is not. Bummer. There are fitted rubber floormats that go on the floor (and cover most of it).
Looked to see if I can fit the DeDion tube before I get the differential...does not look likely.
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July 27, 2003 - Sunday
Was not feeling too good. Worked on the harv's A/C Saturday, and spent some time in the garage just cleaning up.
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July 29, 2003 - Tuesday
Winds of change...I've decided to go ahead and do everything I can possibly do before the rest of the parts show up. I have
been waiting and trying to follow the manual's recommendations of the correct order of assembly, but it is slowing me down
too much. There are some things I have to wait for, like the rear suspension, but I am pushing ahead with whatever I can.
Trying to determine how to get the flat aluminum rod out of the boot cover (evidently there is supposed to be a slit, but
there is not one on mine!). You only need the rod if you are using inertia reel seat belts. Snugged up most of the front
suspension and steering bolts. Fitted the right cycle wing stay. Ada fitted the radiator all by herself.
Drilled the hole for the FIA roll bar brace in the passengers side of the cockpit. Used a black magic marker to go over the
raw aluminum edges inside the cockpit.
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July 30, 2003 - Wednesday
Did not do too much, fitted the left cycle stay. Snugged the rest of the suspension. (it does not creak and pop now when
you turn the wheel). Got the aluminum rod out of the boot cover. Searched again for the durable dot tool...it is not here.
Tried to fit the rear back up lights, but am missing the bolts. Need to visit the parts store/home depot for supplies
sometime soon.
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August 2, 2003 - Saturday
Remember that pesky windscreen washer I dropped earlier...well it has now been retrieved, with the help from a powerful
magnet. Tightened the windscreen, glued the seat back carpet in place (just at the top, where it goes into the boot).
Drilled out the rivet so I can attach the hoodstick, strap. Find out that now the hole is too big and I'll have to get a
bigger screw. Clean up the garage. Attach the stone guard to one of the fenders. Pop rivets are fun.
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August 3. 2003 - Sunday
Fitted the other stone guard, with Ada's help. Fitted the indicators to their mounting bracket. Tried to fit my head under
the hoodsticks...seems like it really is too small for me. Sometimes it's a bummer being 6'4". Bought an air compressor.
Worked on the Suburban's air conditioning problem a bit. Placed the driveshaft in the transmission tunnel (so as not to
forget it later).
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August 4, 2003 - Monday
No progress on the seven...worked on the suburban a/c problem.
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August 5, 2003 - Tuesday
Worked late on the suburban a/c. Got it all put back together. Now all it needs is a charge.
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August 6, 2003 - Wednesday
Finished the suburban a/c repair. It works! Now off to more fun stuff...
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August, 8 2003 - Friday
Cleaned up the garage. Drilled out rivets and fitted the hoodsticks.
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August 9, 2003 - Saturday
Wired up the windscreen, tie-wrapped the wires under the dash. Fitted the hood and the doors (wow, I actually fit with hood
up). Fitted both headlights/indicators. How the heck do the horns mount?? (horizontal or vertical?)
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August 10, 2003 - Sunday
Not much progress today. Popped some rivets into the cockpit and glued some carpet into the boot.
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August 11, 2003 - Monday
Added more rivets to the cockpit. Drilled holes to mount the heater (it's a real tight fit, I almost pushded the car off of
the jack stands trying to shove it into position). Cut left rear fender welting. There are two unconnected wires under the
dash. A solid green one and a black w/red stripe. It looks like both of them go into the engine compartment.
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August 13, 2003 - Wednesday
Mounted the heater, riveted the "cheese wedge" in place (which by the way, was a PITA, because I had to remove both the
clutch and brake master cylinders), trimmed the other rear wheel arch welting. Decided not to use the knee guards (which
will add a bit of room to the cockpit, and they did not fit that well anyway). Finished putting rivets/screw into the
cockpit to secure the sidepanels. Fitted handbrake, am missing clevis pin/cotter pins for clutch master cylinder.
Really being heldup waiting for the delivery of the rest of my parts. If the differential was here, it would help a lot as I
could install and bleed all of the brakes. Put the wheels on and I could roll around!
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August 22, 2003
Got tired of waiting for my parts to show up...Drove to LA and back in a single day - to pickup the parts from William - left
at 6am got home at 11pm. Long day.
Picked up engine, differential, transmission, exhaust, engine harness, ECU, induction, parts for the motor mounts (I'll have
to weld them myself as William has only done SV models so far(mine is narrower than the SV)), loaner 14" wheels/tires(until
my 13" wheels show up). Got a Tonneau. Did not get the throttle linkage, MAP sensor, spare tire hardware or lugnuts.
Took lots of pics of Williams installations.
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August 22, 2003
Rented an engine hoist and removed the engine/transmission from the back of my truck. This rental hoist is a piece of junk
though and I'm not going to be able to install the engine with it. SO the motor/transmission sits on my garage floor.
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fitted the differential and propshaft
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Ordered engine hoist
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Put togehter engine hoist
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engine in the car! With help from Mj and Isaiah put the engine/transmission into the car. The front motor mounts are not
installed yet, so the motor is hanging from the hoist and resting on wood blocks.
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Worked a lot to position the engine in the chassis and figure out where the exhaust will come out of the chassis. The
cooling system is also a problem. The hoses don't quite fit correctly
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Worked on the rear suspension - bolted in roll bar
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finished roll bar and the right suspension. Had trouble with the axles going into the differential. Had to beat on them
with a rubber hammer quite a bit. Also had trouble getting the lower shock mount on the dedion tube to line up with the
lower shock bolt. Ended up removing the point of the "A" frame so I could rotate the dedion tube to match the shock.
made hole for mounting the exhaust out of the lower seatbelt mount.
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Completed the rear suspension. fitted the boot cover, 4pt harnesses, and started to fit the tonneau cover.
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Sept 24 2003
I've been remiss and have not updated for a while. The engine is in the correct position. It is centered in the chassis (
side to side), it is vertical (measured at the motor mounts and from a centerline of the motor [crankshaft bolt to centerline
of the sparkplugs]), it is as high up in the chassis as possible w/o the oil filler hitting the bonnet.
Cut hole in body for the exhaust with a jig saw (this was a bit nerve racking!). I have fitted the exhaust headers, which
don't fit exacty correct. The headers were built for a SV so they were about 2" too wide and I had to cut them down to fit.
They are hitting the right fender when the wheels are turned all the way to the right. I have a justed the toe-in and this
helped, but they still just barely touch.
Wiring harness is on the right side of the chassis next to/under the exhaust. Started re-routing the wiring around the left
side of the chassis.
Worked on undercoating the fenders with expanding foam and rubberized undercoating.
Welded one end of the motor mounts and am now cutting them to length.
Put the drivers seat in
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Sept 27, 2003
Ash came over and we made some decisions about the installation. After consulting with him and some other folks on the www.
duratecperformance.co.uk forum, I decided to put the ECU in the engine compartment. I could not figure out how to mount it
inside the car and have the harness fit correctly. We mounted the ECU behind the pedal box.
Undercoating the fenders. One of the guys on the usase7ens list undercoated his fenders with that "great stuff" expanding
foam from home depot. This is to prevent cracks from stones hitting the underside of the fender at high speed. I had
previously sprayed the fender with foam and smoothed it out with an ice cube held in a pair of pliers (they are too cold to
hold in your fingers for very long!). This ended up not working so well as the foam expanded a LOT after I smoothed it. And
the "smoothing" really did not do too much to make a nice surface, it was still quite lumpy. After it was dry I ended up
trying to cut it with a nicrome hot wire foam cutter, but that kind of foam is not made to be cut like that. WOW, that's
some toxic stuff. Don't try to cut it with heat! I ended up cutting it with a bent broken hacksaw blade. Which took a fair
bit of elbow grease and was pretty messy, but the resulting foam was pretty flat. Then I undercoated the foam with a can of
spray rubber undercoating. Unfortunatly when I cut the foam, the resulting surface is not as waterproof as the original
surface of the foam and a lot of the undercoating was absorbed into the sponge that is now the underside of my fender.
I used the "minimal expanding" foam on the other fender, smoothed it out with the ice cube and left it to dry.
Ash also helped with the coolant hoses. One of the aluminum tubes that William made rubs on the body. Ash pushed a piece of
hose down outside of the tube to pad it. Great idea!
I also started to rework the battery hold down so it would not hit the washer slosher bottle.
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Sept 28, 2003
Lots of work done today. I bolted the left rear fender on and installed the tail light. I used nylon bolts, so if the
fender is hit by something it will just come off and not damage the aluminum bodywork. The second fender did not turn out
so good. The foam had lots of cavities in it and overall had much larger bubbles in it. I hacked at it with the saw blade
for an hour or so and decided to bin the foam. It was pretty easy to remove with a putty knife. I'm not sure if I'm going
to try again or have it undercoated with that spray in pickup bed liner material.
I installed the rest of the items into the gearbox, the reverse switch (whats the brown/black wire for?), the speed sensor
and the shifter. Then I fit the rest of the interior parts. It's starting to look like a real car! The only thing left to
do is to bolt in the passenger seat and the lower outer seatbelt. That has to wait until the exhaust mount is ready.
I fit the washer bottle, ran the washer hose (wow, is that stuff hard to push on!). I test fit some of the heater hoses.
Put a lot of tie wrap hold downs in the engine compartment to secure the wiring harness. I Velcroed the ECU in place. And I
test fit the fuel pressure regulator. I'm waiting on William to send me some more parts including a new fuel rail which has
A/N fittings so I can't fit the regulator just yet.
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October 1, 2003
Worked on the alignment of the front wheels again.
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October, 17 2003
Attached the throttle linkage. Had to get a adjusting ferrule from the local bicycle shop, to fit on the pedal box.
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October 21, 2003
Borrowed a wirefeed mig welder and tacked the engine mounts. I ended up using a combination of the bench grinder and a belt
sander to trim the mounts to fit. The mig was pretty easy to use, but I ended up with some spatter on the headers...I should
have put a shield in place to prevent that. It should polish off.
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October 30, 2003
Reworked the battery hold down so it does not interfere with the washer slosher bottle. Made my own battery positive cable.
It took me a few tries to get the hang of soldering the ends on such a fat wire. I ended up using a propane plumbers torch
which worked pretty well.
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November 1, 2003
Started to rewire the engine compartment - wired in the left headlight. Spent a lot of time tracing wires, because none of
the wiring diagrams I have match the chassis. Unfortuatly the information I got from William on the engine to chassis
harness connections did not match.
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November 2, 2003
Finished stretching the wiring harness (I changed the harness from running down the right side of the engine compartment to
the left hand side, near the induction).
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November 4, 2003
Sent numerous emails to William, the se7ens lists and caterham usa to try to find a wiring diagram for my chassis. Caterham
USA says one does not exist, but were helpful in answering my specific questions for the 13pin engine to harness connector.
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November 18, 2003
Marshall welded the motor mounts for me while I was gone! You rock! They look great. Bolted them to the car and everything
fits! Yay! Put the floor jack under the car and lowered the car to the garage floor. I now have a rolling car!
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November 23, 2003
Attended sevens festival at Infineon raceway. Met a bunch of nice folks and saw a lot of sevens.
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November 24, 2003
Cleaned up the garage. Jacked the car back up so it is easier to work on. Started working on a bracket for the fuel
pressure regulator (made from aluminum angle). Removed the right rear fender and stripped out the foam and undercoating (
messy job). Tried to determine how to wire the alternator (do I need to wire the 3 connectors marked: D IG L?). Added large
washer under right rear 44mm axle nut. I had forgotten this earlier.
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November 25, 2003
Finished fuel pressure regulator bracket. Wired in passenger headlight. worked on engine compartment wiring/routing. Made
a wire for the H2O temp sender. Figured out where to attach the grounds (or earth's as they are refered to in my manual).
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November 26, 2003
shopped for parts today. Gathered parts from the fastener supply house and ordered looming tape (this is vinyl electrical
tape that does not have adhesive. It is quite hard to find. I ordered it from the eastwood company: www.eastwood.com ).
Worked on my build pictures and website.
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November 27, 2003
Completed the wiring. Made sure there were clearances and that things are not going to get too hot, from the
exhaust. Plumbed in the fuel pressure regulator. Mounted the ground wires, put the coolant hoses in place to see what else
needs to be modified. I'll need to have a custom bottom tube made as the factory one is too long. Mounted the coolant
expansion tank and plumbed the fuel vapor line to the charcoal canister. Made or modified various clips to make everything
look tidy.
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November 30, 2003
Finished the exhaust hole. This was a bit tricky but was a good use for a dremel tool. I made a cardboard template from the
exhaust hole on the other side. I had to level the car so that I was sure the bottom of the hole was level. I used a thin
cutoff wheel on high speed to trim the hole to the approximate final shape. Don't slip! The dremel can catch and cut out of
area you want if you are not REAL careful. It worked best to slowly plunge the tip into the aluminum then pull it out and
plunge it in a few centimeters over. This worked really good for the corners. Then I used a rotary sanding drum on the
dremel to round the corners and smooth the edges. Finally I sanded the whole thing with 400 grit sandpaper by hand. Once I
was happy with the shape, I polished it using Nuvite "F7" with a compounding polisher. Mineral spirits to clean off the
polish and did a final polish with Nuvite "S". It looks really super!
Measured the exhaust so that I can have it cut down to fit. The one that I was supplied with was 61mm too long because it
was made for the SV model.
Found that one of the intake manifold bolts was missing...and the reason it is missing is because the threads were stripped
out of the hole. Now I have to take the entire induction off to helicoil this stupid hole.
Still have questions about the alternator wiring. William says I only need the main wire that goes to the battery (the
charging wire), but this means that the warning light on the dash will not work. He says I can install a gauge, but I really
don't feel like cutting a hole in my dash and running the wires for it. The alternator has the markings on it.
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December 1, 2003
Dropped off fenders for undercoating with Line-x spray in truck bed liner. Hopefully it will work better than the greatstuff
foam.
Dropped off muffler at welding shop to have it shortened by 61mm.
Went to Olander and bought a bolt and capnut for the passenger seatbelt/muffler hanger. The guys there are great.
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December 2, 2003
Got the fenders back from Line-x. They look nice. We'll see how they perform.
Got the muffler back from the welding shop (S&S welding in San Jose). Can't say I'm happy with the welding job or the cost
...but it should be functional.
Mounted the fenders with nylon bolts and washers. Test fit the exhaust...looks like a go, but I'll need to bend the exhaust
hanger (the stock one has a 30' or so bend in it.)
Talked to Larry at BirkinAmerica for info on the sumbarine coolant tube the Zetec Birkin uses. This seems like it would fit
my car just great. Larry said that part comes with the kit but perhaps he could make me one.
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December 4, 2003
Picked up parts from the auto store, oil, gear oil, radiator hose, fuel line, etc. Talked to Virgina from Autocourse today
...there is a box of parts on the way! Will the oil filter be in there? Will it fit? Will the rest of the parts be in
there? Stay tuned...
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December 8, 2003
Recieved package from William. It had the raceline oil filter adapter and a 1bar map sensor, and the A/N fuel rail (with A/N
to NPT fittings for the fuel pressure regulator). Yay! The oil filter adapter is very nice and will allow the oil filter to
clear the chassis by quite a bit.
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December 13, 2003
Shopping at auto parts store and hardware store to get fluids and an adapter for the oil pressure sender...the raceline
adapter has a threaded port for the oil pressure/temp sender. It took me a while to figure out that it is a 12mm thread.
The hardware store could not help with an adapter, however Autometer makes on (part Autometer 2266 12mmx1/8"npt).
I filled the differntial (75w90 is what quaife suggests). Finished off the boot, using velcro to secure the side carpets (
where the fenders bolt on. Torqued the front suspension (this was a PITA, it would be MUCH easier if the engine was not in).
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December 16, 2003
Glued front fenders on using dow 933 silicone adhesive (Thanks Tony!). Ordered the Autometer adapter and am trying to source
a 41mm socket. Hooked all of the coolant lines up.
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December 18, 2003
I'm trying to figure out how to mount the oil pressure switch. The raceline oil filter adapter came with a 12mm x 1.5 thread
pitch. Unfortunatly the autometer adapter I special ordered is a 12mm x 1 pitch. I need to come up with a new plan. I'm
now thinking of drilling and tapping the hole in the raceline oil filter adapter to 1/4"NPT. I have a 1/4"BST male to 1/8"
NPT female brass adapter that came with the car which would then fit nicely.
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December 19, 2003
Filled the battery with battery acid and charged it with the battery charger. Went to the hardware store to get some 1/8"
NPT fittings for the oil pressure sender.
Won a 41mm impact socket and a metric allen wrench set on ebay.
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December 20, 2003
Spent the day fixing problems with the electrical system. It turns out that I did not wire the headlights correctly. I
needed to run a ground wire from the turn signal to the headlight bucket. I ended up putting a wire from one of the mounting
screws on the turn signal up through the headlight and soldering it to the ground wire for the headlight. Works fine now!
It also took me a _long_ time to determine that I had placed the flasher relay in the wrong relay socket. I could not figure
out why there was a relay there that did not switch to anything!?!
I had the wrong wire for the fuel pump (the yellow/green is the correct one). Since I wired this into the AMP connector (
between the chassis and engine harnesses) all I had to do was switch the pin location.
The horn kept blowing fuses. I thought I had a short in my wiring (It turns out that the wiring was ok. whew), but that I
had turned the tone adjusting screw all the way in, shorting the horn itself. Easy enough to remedy, I just backed the
screws out and volia, horns are functional.
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December 21, 2003
Finished plumbing in the stupid oil pressure adapter. I have mounted it directly to the raceline oil filter adapter. I
ended up rethreading the Autometer adapter to a 1.5mm pitch. It seems to have rethreaded just fine. I did use some thread
sealer on it just to be sure.
Filled the cooling system. Bought a small gas can. Bought some gas. Filled the tank and VROOOM! Fired the engine up for
the first time. It started on the first try, and pretty easily too. I just let it idle for a minute and then shut it down.
It idles pretty quiet. I'm running 37PSI in the fuel lines. I checked with William and this is correct.
It appears to run pretty rich. And I got some condensation dripping from the exhaust tip when it was first started. I
panic'ed and thought it was coolant! But it was just condensation. Whew.
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December 22, 2003
I ordered a mitivac brake bleeding kit and a helicoil kit.
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December 24, 2003
Happy birthday MJ!
My 41mm socket showed up.
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December 25, 2003
Bled the brakes and the clutch. I just used a dot 4 fluid, I can change to a 5.1 later. The clutch seems to work fine, but
there is still air in the brake lines. I also had a leak at the left front caliper. The end of the stainless steel hose was
not on tight enough. I also replaced the adapters in the caliper itself with ones that had a larger flange and a new set of
copper crush washers. The old ones had a smaller diameter and looked like they would not seal correctly. When I took them
off and inspected the crush washer this was certianly the case. Brakes are not something I like to have marginal components
in.
Worked on making a cardboard pattern for the airfilter hole that I need to cut in the bonnet.
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December 26, 2003
Cut down the 10mm allen wrench and filled the transmission. The allen wrench did not fit so I ended up using the piece that
I cut off with a 10mm box wrench. With this combo I was able to get the plug out.
Really just topped it off since it was already full. I just spilled some getting it into the car. What a huge PITA the fill
plug is. There has GOT to be a better way to do this. I can't imagine having to drain and refill this thing on a regular
basis.
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December 27, 2003
I got to drive mine out of the garage today for the first time. I blasted
up and down the block a few times. It is very quick and has LOTS of torque.
The rear end kept breaking away if I was too aggressive with the throttle.
If you have not read the duratec rant here:
http://www.jackals-forge.com/lotus/
...do so, it sums up my feeling about the quickness of the car. "Stupid fast."
Unfortunatly, the cooling system did not appear to be working and I shut it
down after a few minutes. The heater hoses were warm but the radiator hoses
were cold. I took the system apart and found the thermostat full of gunk. Looks like milky white gummy stuff.
There is no way the thermostat could have opened with all this crap in there. I can
only guess that it gunked up from using the wrong kind of coolant, or from
mixing coolants...or??? My motor was a "prototype" and had been run before
I took delivery of it...I suspect whatever coolant they used was not
compatible and it has sat with this stuff in it for ~6 months while I
finished the build. I'll have to call Ford on Monday to see what they
specify as far as coolant.
FYI, I did some research today to try and determine where the thermostat is
located (in the side inlet next to the water pump) and found that the
duratec uses an electric thermostat. Evidently the thermostat has an
electric heating element in it that is used to help fuel economy. I don't
know how the thermostat is affected if you don't wire it up.
*****************
December 28, 2003
Cleaned up the garage. Did some research on the duratec cooling system to try and determine why the system was not working.
Made a diagram of the cooling system. Read that different metals in the cooling system can cause a galvinitc action to
occur. I assume that I was either seeing the results of this or of different coolant reacting with each other.
*****************
December 29, 2003
Stood in line at the DMV to get a temporary tag. I made an appointment with the CHP (California Highway Patrol) to have my
VIN verified. I also made an appointment with the smog inspectors to hopefully get an emissions wavier.
*****************
December 31, 2003
Went to the Ford dealer and bought a new thermostat for the sum of $58! Boiled it on the stove. It opens but not much,
about 3/16". The thermostat also has a high opening point, 98'C.
*****************
January 2, 2003
Went to the hardware store and got some CLR (calcium, lime, rust cleaner). I tested the old and new thermostats electric
heater, the new one opens the same 3/16" with the electric heating element.
I put the old thermostat housing (sans thermostat, so it would "really" flush) and I used the CLR to flush the cooing system.
What a PITA! I started out working on aircooled cars (beetles and Corvairs) and still can't get used to this "coolant"
mess. I let it sit in the engine for about 30 minutes and flushed it out with lots of water. I then put the cooling system
back together.
*****************
January 5, 2003
Bled brakes again. Still feel funny.
*****************
January 7, 2003
Filled cooling system using Dex-cool orange coolant. It uses OAT (organic acid technology) that is good for cooling systems
with aluminum components.
*****************
January 8, 2003
I got to go in my first blat on Thursday. Drove the car to work! It's first real road test, and only the second time it's
been out of the garage. It was quite a rush. The car is just plain MAD! The engine idles nice a quiet, but gets pretty
angry as soon as you blip the throttle. With the LSD it is quite easy to break the rear end loose, as some folks from the
office found out when I took them for a ride! The acceleration is just animalistic. The noise is fantasic, even with the
EFI, it still burbles and pops, just like a proper sports car should.
The handling is quite sharp but not darty. The car is very recoverable if the rear end starts to get out of control. It
created quite a scene wherever I drove it. I drove in my socks because I don't have a pair of shoes that are narrow enough.
It took me a long time to calm down afterwards. I was nervous that something would break or fall off. I was nervous that I
had forgotten to tighten some fastener somewhere. And I was nervous that someone would not see the little car and run me
over, or pull out in front of me. Overall it held together just fine. I did develop a "clunk" in the differential (very
noticeable when coming off the throttle).
*****************
January 10, 2003
FOUND a fuel fitting that looks like it will work! This site details the connector I have and how to plumb around it with an
easily available earl's part (9894DBH).
http://www.stealth316.com/2-fuelfilter-upgrade.htm
I have ordered one from a local shop. I'm pretty excited to see how it fits.
*****************
January 14, 2003
Ordered a bunch of stuff from Pegasus, braided fuel lines and other goodies. Won a socket adapter on ebay (I need something
to ramp me up to that huge 1" drive socket!).
*****************
January 16, 2003
Removed the engine mounts to have the powercoated and removed the air horns so I can rivet in tie wrap anchors for the wiring
harness. Started to remove the differential but did not get it all the way out.
*****************
January 16, 2003
Removed the LSD and shipped it back to William. There were metal filings on the magnetic drain plug. Also removed all of the rubber fuel lines and the old fuel rail. Started fitting the new AN -6 fuel rail and the injectors. Took the intake manifold off to see if I could helicoil the missing bolt hole. It is pretty shallow and I don't have the right size drill
bit.
*****************
January 17, 2003
Cleaned up the garage.
"
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