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So about 5 years ago I built my own harness to run my Ramcharger dual speed electric fans. The harness worked okay but I chose the wrong temp switches and once it came on it would never shut off again until the engine cooled way down and I never finished hooking up the switch to make it come on automatically when the AC was switched on.
Since I'm redoing a bunch of wiring under the hood while taking the CCC system out, I figured it was a good time to upgrade the fan harness and do it right. This is where Jabin ( gbodyparts1234 at yahoo.com ) comes in. Here are a couple of pics of the Lance built harness I just removed. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V...0225151842.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-D...225151842a.jpg And here is what you get when you purchase a harness from Jabin. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-D...0225151843.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0...0225151846.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4...225151846a.jpg Every wire is labeled so you know exactly where it is to hook to https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-D...225151846b.jpg Look at how it all just oozes quality. The relays, the connections, the wire... I wanted an override switch and told him where I would put the relay bank and he built all of that in with plenty of wire to customize for my application. He also include enough wire crimps and heat shrink to complete all of the hookups to the car. I don't see why anyone putting fans in their car would do anything other than having Jabin build a harness for their application. Thanks Jabin!! |
Cool!! Uh... pun slightly intended. :)
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It made heat!!!
Removed ECM, distributor, carburetor and all associated sensors and wiring...installed new MSD ignition box, MSD distributor, Innovate Air Fuel meter and a Bob Built carburetor...and rewired a TON of stuff under the hood and under the dash. I poured some gas down the vent tube in the carb to help with startup, pumped the gas twice, turned the key and I swear...it fired on the very first revolution and jumped right to 1500 RPM high idle until it warmed up a bit. Had a bit of a fuel leak at the carb so I shut it down to work on that. Every time after that it fired right back up and idled great. I need to learn how to time things a bit better with the ignition box, it is completely programmable box and I think you are supposed to phase the distributor in and then set the timing tables from there. I can barely move the distributor and it drastically changes where the idle timing is...but it's a PITA to see the timing mark on my engine. I'll get to that though...it's pretty damn good where it is right now considering everything I changed. AFR bounces around 14.3 to 14.7 at idle once warmed up and jumps down to 10-12 under quick revs...and it never stumbled once. Granted no load on the engine but so far so good on the carb end. The fans kick on when it gets to around 210 degrees or so and then kick back off after a minute or so of idling...they NEVER did that before. They also kick on when the AC is turned on. Overall, I'm VERY happy...now I can settle down, schedule a trip to the cage builder, and work on fine tuning things a bit. Here's a short crappy cell phone video... |
Congrats on the winter work!
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Thanks Patrick, trying to figure out ways to keep up with that Poncho on my limited budget! `
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Congrats Lance! I'm glad this is all coming together for you. Your one of the few rare guys on here that is working on an actual drivable car. I'm looking forward to more videos, and again, your car sounds killer! :thumbsup:
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Good job, Lance! Glad to hear all the work is paying off.
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Awesome Lance!! :thumbsup:
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Sometimes you have to take a step backward in order to make another step forward...
Ready to go see the cage builder... https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-T...0304150833.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9...304150833a.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D...304150834a.jpg |
Looking forward to seeing how you and they work out the design. Are you going for the legal type side bars or the more entry friendly pro touring style?
I did all of my chassis boxing, bracing and roll cage at the same time so I have no way to quantify the changes. I'm real curious to hear how the cage changes (or not) your car since you already have so much seat time already. Keep the pics coming! |
My plan is to do a 4 point roll bar made out of 1.75" chromoly, the main bar base plates welded to the body bracing at the bottom of the B pillar, straight down bars to the area above the rear axle with plates welded to the floor again right above body bracing, a diagonal support bar through the main bar and harness bar intersecting that diagonal bar.
See the passenger side seat and armrest on the door in this picture? https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y...0221151503.jpg The armrest is only an inch or so away from the side of the seat so if there are any door bars put in, they'll have to go below the armrest on the door panel and up the rocker a ways. that is a sturdy place on the body to weld too, but I'm not sure if the effort to put that bar in will be worthy in the long run. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H...221151503b.jpg This is still going to be a street car, I'm not pulling the door panels out to get door bars in that I'll have to crawl over to enter and exit the car. It is hard enough just crawling out of these seats to exit the car. The bar, seats and harnesses will be built enough to let the car compete in any time trial, track day, solo trial and the rest of the events I plan on running. Only thing it won't be legal for is actual door to door racing which I don't plan on doing with it anyway. |
Sounds cool!
Lol! -Getting out of the seats is hard enough... I once "climbed" into a friend's 84 Corvette that was getting set up for drag racing. Ugh. Getting out was a real challenge. The only way I'd do a cage like that is with slide out side bars. Good luck! |
I never really paid much attention to the tach when making spirited runs since the engine was so slow to accelerate from 4000-6000 RPM... Now I must pay much closer attention... :D
This morning I tidying up a few more things under the hood, marked the balancer and timing tab better and set the distributor at 32 degrees advanced and locked it down. I then hooked the vacuum gauge and laptop up and started messing with the timing retard curve. I was able to get it pretty dialed in I believe for now. I have to say, being able to grab a dot with my mouse, drag it across the screen and watch the engine change idle to the new setting is pretty effing cool. With it at 7 degrees advance, it idles at about 850 RPM and pulls 20 inches of vacuum. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V...0307151129.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-s...307151129a.jpg The timing advance makes a linear line from 1000 RPM to 3000 RPM, 7 degrees at 1,000 to 32 degrees at 3,000 RPM. I believe it would like a little more timing as I could not get it to ping anywhere, anyhow during my test runs. My issue is, it appears that the box won't accept a timing retard curve of more than 25 degrees and I think it would like just a little bit less timing at idle. It's pretty dang good like it is though. The carb is nuts on, Bob did a FANTASTIC job setting it up and dialing it in. I haven't touched a screw on it and it drives out perfectly. No nozzle drip, idles perfect, not a hint of a stumble anywhere, it just flat out runs. I've taken the wideband back off for now because I haven't hard wired it in yet and I don't want the guys at the fab shop to worry about waiting for the O2 sensor to warm up each time they move the car around. Once I get it back I'll put the wideband back in and finish fine tuning both the carb and the timing, but it's plenty driveable as it sits now. Check it out. I tilted the driver seat back one more notch and I like it. I think before I was trying to force myself back into the seat too much, if I just sit in it naturally, it feels pretty dang good. Even works real good with my factory 3 point belt. Sorry Aaron... ;) |
20"!!! I could vacuum my shop with that compared to my 11.5 at 1K. LOL
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It was at 23" when it was idling at 1100 RPM with 10 degrees of timing in it. :D
#truckmotor |
Did you clean out the cup holders & charge the A/C ?
:poke: |
Tuning with EFI is no different than tuning a carb -- you want the motor to make MAXIMUM vacuum... Vacuum is a good tuning tool at idle.
Does you car really have cup holders? LOL |
Not right now Greg...It couldn't have felt more racecarish than it did yesterday...
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v...308150805a.jpg I haven't touched a screw on the carb yet. I couldn't run any smoother than it does right now. I'd like it to idle just a bit lower still and would like to try a bit more timing on the top end, my guess is I'll have to start tweaking on the carb to get the idle down with the timing advanced at idle. It runs so freaking good right now though I almost hate to mess with it. Can't believe a guy 1500 miles away built this carb for me basically from scratch and it runs this well straight out of the box with no tuning. |
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Well, the roll bar builder put me off until this week, and then informed me that it'll take him up to two weeks to get it done once he starts on it...so I rearranged some things and got back onto tuning a bit more on the car.
I won't bore everyone with everything I've been through, but lets just say I now understand, timing advance, vacuum advance, and air fuel ratios MUCH better now and the car is working fantastic. Every change I've made to the car has only improved it more. It's now idling at 9* advance and has a steady curve up until a total of 34* at 2800 RPM. The idle air bleeds in the carb are a little large so it's idling at 950 RPM which doesn't really affect anything although I'd like it to idle slower. Bob will fix that up as soon as I get a chance to ship the carb back to him for some fine tuning. For now though, it's golden. Air fuels are low to high 14s at cruise and idle and high 11s to low 12s at WOT. I really think it'll take even more timing as I have yet to hear it ping. The power increase it has over before is tremendous, especially between 3000-6000 RPM and the driveability hasn't been affected whatsoever. I wouldn't be afraid to let my wife get in it and drive it anywhere. Being able to time and tune it by watching gauges and computers and making adjustments with a flick of the mouse is COOL! When the car had a stumble at low RPM cruise, one glance at the AFR and vacuum gauge told me it was loading up with fuel. Adding just a bit of timing at that RPM range cleared it right up. Can't wait to get this thing back on a dyno now to see just how much more it makes, might happen this Tuesday if all goes well. |
:thumbsup: sounds like the progress is winning, and learning new stuff is a good thing!
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It's the little truck engine that defies Hot Rodding logic...but I like it!! :D
I strapped Barney to a chassis dyno once again yesterday and made some pulls to test and verify that the changes I made this winter helped...and I'm happy to report that they did. The peak HP and Torque numbers didn't change that much since the last time I had it on the dyno 2 years ago, I lost a couple of peak Ft Lbs and gained about 15 peak HP. The big difference though is between 4000-5000 RPM I picked up around 25 HP and around 15 Ft Lbs and the overall Torque and HP curves are much flatter and more consistent completely across the board. This backs up what my butt dyno had been feeling since the upgrades. To catch everyone up, what I changed to accomplish this was pull the 30 year old carb, distributor and CCC ECM from the car and replaced them with a mechanical Q-jet, MSD Billet Distributor and a MSD 6AL Programmable ignition box. The new parts help feed and spark it better on the top end which is an area it sorely needed help in. What was interesting to me was the timing changes we made during the 6 pulls. We started out with the total timing at 34* all in at 2800 RPMs. We made 2 pulls and liked what we saw, there was no pinging and the engine pulled strong all the way to 5500 RPM. Just to see what would happen, I took 1 degree of timing out...and it picked up about 5 HP across the board!! So I took another degree of timing out (now at 32*) and made another pull...this time it picked up another 2-3 HP across the board. What the heck, lets try one more...put it at 31* still all in at 2800 RPM and it picked up another 1-2 HP once again across the board. Air Fuels were steady at 11.75-12.25 all the way through every pull. We left it there at 31*. That's where it made the most power but more importantly, it's a very happy engine there...and safe. We made 6 pulls within a half hour stopping only to examine the chart and adjust the timing between each pull and the engine never got hot enough to kick the electric fans on (we did have the floor fan pushing air into the front of the car). What I have here is a rock solid stump pulling engine that puts 300 HP and 400 Ft Lbs to the rear tires just about across the board that is very comfortable in daily driving situations and can light the tires up at will or run great times on course...without skipping a beat or getting hot. I love it. The dyno printer was malfunctioning so I didn't get an official printout of the graph, so I took some pictures of it with my phone. This picture shows the whole screen but has flash glare right in the center of it. The blue line was the best pull from 2 years ago and the red line is the best pull from yesterday. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-w...0318151323.jpg This one shows the curves a bit better https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-S...0318151324.jpg Here's a video of the last pull of the day. I the left the shop and took the car to the fab shop to let them get started on the roll bar installation. Hopefully in a week or so I'll get it back and can start putting the interior back in the car again to get it ready for our first event April 11th... |
That's some good figures there for a not so radical motor. Nice.
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You should notice a nice difference on the course with the improvements.
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Thanks Ben, I agree... It also got 14.8 mpg on the first tank after upgrades...with me beating the snot out of it just about the whole time.
I agree Wayne, I can already tell where it helped the most just by street driving it. I still have a set of 1.6:1 roller rockers to put on it as well which should help a little bit more across the board. |
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A year with over 4,000 street miles, several races and road trips in heavy rain, even a day on wet roads with salt residue on them...and the only maintenance has been the occasional rinse off at the car wash and wipe down with a microfiber towel. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n...0404151048.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l...404151048c.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i...404151048d.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-G...404151048e.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V...0404151049.jpg They aren't perfect...they've got some crust in the nooks and crannies and some surface scratches in them...but ZERO water spots and still look pretty damn good considering the abuse I put them through in the last year. Yes...I'd use ShineSeal again on any billet rims I own. |
Nice! I'd be happy with those results, too.
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Yeah Lance they do still look great. I'd def go this route if i'd kept my Billet's (if only they were wider....lol).
So this is a very similar technology (nano-coatings) we use in the shower door coating biz....works very well...i had never thought of putting a "coating" on the rims (although i've been putting rain-x on autoglass since the 80's).... :thumbsup: |
While I'm certain there are pro-touring or street cars out there on the road with roll bars or cages that are more significant than this one turned out, I'm also certain that there are cars out on the road and track today with roll bars\cages that are not as safe and secure as this one turned out. There are also other cars out there that are doing track days and such that probably should have a roll bar or cage in them...but don't because the owners don't want to make the changes necessary to put a safety device such as this in their street car. I respect all of those owners decisions...it isn't easy making a modification this drastic to ones car. In fact, I had planned this whole thing out...and then promptly bailed...deciding to not make the change myself. I then stumbled on a great deal on the seats you see here...and it was on again.
This is a 1.75" dia, 0.120" wall 4 point roll bar with a diagonal cross bar and a harness bar. The feet of the main hoop are welded to plates that are welded to the floor of the car directly above a structural floor brace that is also right above where the #4 body mounts connect the frame to the body. Here is one of the main hoop base plates https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-o...o/DSC06135.JPG and in this picture you can see where the welding burnt through the paint on the bottom side of the floor in front of the brace. This shows the location of the base plate directly over the body mount area. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-h...o/DSC06128.JPG The down bars are straight and go back to the rear seat back area where they are welded to plates that are welded to the body structure directly in front of the #5 body mount. It's harder to get clear pictures here, but the body structure behind the plates is where the trunk floor meets the seat back brace and is directly over the frame just in front of the body mount. Here is the base plate https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-J...o/DSC06138.JPG And it this picture from the inner fenderwell you can see where the weld burnt through the paint not only on the fender well but also the bottom of the body just in front of the mount. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v...0405151044.jpg These cars are built with the body being the main support for the somewhat flimsy frames, not a whole lot different than a typical unibody car. What this bar does is just strengthen that unibody significantly while providing rollover protection as well as a proper shoulder harness mounting location. I'm very happy with how it turned out. Here are some pictures of the inside. My good friend John bent up some sheet metal based on some cardboard templates I gave him to build a package tray with. This picture shows them in place. I'll eventually have matching carpet that will go from the rear speaker tray down to the floor finishing this area out nicely. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m...0405151407.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q...405151407a.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-z...405151407b.jpg And also a few with the seats reinstalled once again https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-w...405151606a.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x...0405151606.jpg Just got the interior all buttoned back in place a few hours ago. I'm having some packaging issues getting the 5 point harnesses mounted the way I want...but there is now a plan in place and that still might happen before my two autocross events next weekend. If not, the factory 3 point belt actually fits me very well in these seats. BTW, I've really grown to liking these seats. You fall down into them and don't move once there and they are very ergonomically correct which makes them very comfortable for a one piece fiberglass seat without a ton of padding. Eventually I'll look into getting them recovered a burgundy color but they'll do like this for now. Now, crawling back out of them, that's another story... :D I need a grab bar or something to help pull me back out of them when exiting the car. |
Great build, sir. I love that you are doing it right (ie. working with Ron Sutton). And the progression in stages with the results of the season at each stage is awesome. I also really like how you and Ron explain the changes you made, and you can verify the benefits with seat time. Thank you for such a thorough build thread.
Nice rollbar, by the way. Car looks really good. |
Thanks for the kind words David... I enjoy sharing my adventures with the class, before, during and after my projects. It's a great way to learn while at the same time maybe helping others learn something along the way as well.
Ron said in his radio podcast interview the other day with Jimi Day and Rob Kibbe that is what has drawn him to the Pro-Touring crowd most of all, the camaraderie, willingness to share...and most of all the way we help each other out any way we can. That feeling doesn't exist in most other motorsports arenas...it is special to us. |
It's funny...this whole interior re-work project was done basically so I could run 5 point harnesses... New seats, new roll bar, everything...and the last thing that is going in is finally in...the harnesses.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h...0407152131.jpg I ordered some Flanged Alloy Socket Cap Screws, M12 Size, 50MM Length, 1.75MM Pitch and some Nylon-Insert Nonmarring Flange Locknut, Zinc-Plated Class 8 Steel, M12X1.75 Thread Size nuts and was able to use them to fasten the new lap belt brackets and the factory seat belt brackets to the factory holes in the floor. The bolts were long enough that I was able to put the lock nuts on the back side of them to prevent any loosening and give an extra sense of security for the driver. The hole in the lap belt brackets was just big enough to let the bracket swivel on the bolt to desired proper angle. This is the driver side rocker panel attachment of the harness lap belt outside the carpet and the factory belt bracket under the carpet. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z...0407152128.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-o...407152128a.jpg Bad picture but here is the trans tunnel attachment, you can't see the factory belt because it's behind the black harness lap belt. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-o...407152127a.jpg And the shoulder belt attachment points. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1...407152129a.jpg One of the brackets I needed for the submarine belt is on backorder so I haven't installed them yet. I can see the need for them though as I noticed when I was sitting in the seat and pulling the shoulder belts tight, the lap belt pulled up from across my hips into my abdomen. I'll get those in when the bracket gets here...shouldn't be a big deal. Can't wait to see how the new belts and seats hold me in position better when out on course...this Saturday!!! |
Ah --- all that we do in the name of "racing". LOL Nice work Lance!
In the Mustang --- I have to be very careful where the connection/release point is in relation to my belly and the bottom of the steering wheel! I have short legs (only my legs! LOL) and have to sit pretty close to the wheel.... if I'm not careful with the sub belt length -- and pull the shoulders tight - it puts the release in "interference" with the bottom of the steering wheel and I've released the belts while cornering! That's not a good feeling on the road course -- you have to come in because you just can't continue being loose in the seat. |
Maybe sneaking in a salad every now and then and laying off the cheeseballs might help with that Greg! lol...
I think I'm alright in that scenario, I'm more concerned about having room for my elbows flaying about... I used to run my GTO seats up pretty close to the wheel basically to make sure my right foot could get up on the gas pedal to make sure I was getting full WOT. If I try to run these Recaros up that close, I run out of room for my left elbow as it hits the seat bolster and door panel. I've reconfigured the gas pedal a bit to make it easier to get WOT without having my foot way up on it and I'm hoping that is my cure. We'll just have to see how it all fits once I make a run or two. The lap belts are a mo-fo to adjust...for some reason I can't pull up on the adjuster to pull them tight without having a bit of slack in the lap belt itself. What I ended up doing last night was to unlatch the belt, snug it up, then suck my gut in while relatching the belt. I got it tight and centered that way but if I have to reposition the seat for any reason, I'll have to readjust the belt again. That is not going to be fun when hopping in the car for another quick run on the autocross course. That's what the test n tune the day before is for I guess...to get all of that stuff set. It is going to be more of a pain for any passengers I take for ridealongs. Getting them strapped in (people who most likely aren't accustomed to harnesses anyway) might be cumbersome because they all might be different sizes... |
Barney
I still use the old latch type belts.. still 5 belts- and new to date
I have had a few people tell me they have accidentally unhooked everything just moving around.. not for me Plus I am still old school... but mostly old Bob |
I fixed that whole strapping in thing with two mods...
#1 - removed passenger seat completely #2 - Hired Sutton... he helps me get organized LOL ######################### You're spot on with the gut comment..... and I've started to work out again with a trainer 3 days a week. So that's FIX NUMBER 3 |
This weekend all of the off season prep was put to the test. It's where the rubber meets the road as they say. Our local SCCA test n tune was Saturday, and our Event 1 was Sunday. Weather was perfect for Saturday, couldn't have been any better...Sunday...not so much. Huge thunderstorms and rain all morning long, we finally got our first car off a little after noon and the track dried pretty well, but was still cool and damp and the conditions made us have to improvise on the course making it much more choppy and technical with no high speed zones at all. But hey...it was still racing and that's better than not racing.
Here's my best run from yesterday taken from the GoPro behind the seats. And here's the same run showing how well the new Recaro seats and Simpson belts are holding the driver in place. Had a great weekend, car did great, driver did okay once the rust was shook off... Had a half second lead in class through 4 runs yesterday and on the 5th run Patrick picked up 7 tenths which is huge...and clipped me by a tenth for the class win. We were about a tenth apart on Saturday as well at the test n tune. So much fun racing with someone right at the same speed you are...had a blast. Here are a couple of runs from the test n tune on Saturday, was a much more open course...got well into the 5,000 RPM range where the new power kicked in several times during a run. |
Oh yeah, I forgot the best part...
Noticed the rear axle bearing gone bad vibration yet once again on the way home yesterday. :ohsnap: :waveflag: :mad: |
I think it might be time for a new axle. Maybe a Ron Sutton decoupled 3-link, as well. That should end this axle bearing nonsense once and for all. Then again, it's really easy for me to spend other people's money.
I'm glad to hear your fancy carburetor is working well for you. |
While I agree a decoupled three link would be awesome, you have to remember that this is a budget build that I race for a hobby. I am not racing this car for a living! :D
I basically have the same three choices that I had last year when it started eating axle bearings. (1) keep replacing them as needed (getting good at it and they are cheap) (2) upgrade to tapered bearing axles (about $300 with a slightly better bearing setup) (3) convert axle ends to full floaters ($$ not only for the ends, but also the new rear brake package that has to come along with the new floater ends). Then, if going that route...it only makes more sense to upgrade the front brake package similarly at the same time so they remain a balanced brake setup. $$$$ I just don't want to spend the money to do a full brake upgrade to resolve a problem that costs me $25 bearings a couple of times a season. I'm pretty certain the left bearing is failing this time and it was replaced before the Optima event last July...it's had a BUNCH of abuse on it since then. The tapered bearing axle setup might be the prudent choice here but I'm not sure just how much better they'll be than the current bearings are considering what I do with the car? Need to sleep on it and check out my schedule...then decide. |
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