New project, Freemont.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,188
Likes: 293
From: woodbine, md
I have been sanding and buffin out the paint, but the shoulder finally said enough, STOP, lol. Prob have a buddy do that. I didn't like the way the front wheels/tires stuck out past the front fenders, so switching back to the stock brakes and shorter lower control arms, diff wheels, tires. You have to use Mustang rims I guess to make the SN95 stuff work. Trying to rush the build stuff still popping up, cheap *** starter died, so replaced with a better one, then went to pull it out of the garage to let it see the sun, fuel prime came on and died a couple seconds later. Of course first thought was the Holley ECU died, why not, lol. Anyway, checked the fuse up front, good, checked the fuse in the back, good, soon as i touched the pump wire it came out of the conn, so did the other end. Great, bad crimp, glad I wasn't on the road. Touched the pump wire to the main power just to verify, no pump. Great, so tested the main wire, no power. Went back up front where the main feed is, find I never tightened the lug. Pretty amazing, been running like this, even drove it around the block, so was pretty lucky it failed where it did. Prob the time to go over everything, front to back, trying to rush a project doesn't always work out, or maybe its old age, I'll be 78 in July, maybe I can blame it on that, lol. Anyway, plan on sand blasting the 8.8 rear today, paint it, install it along with coil overs, prob just keep the 2.73's for now, even. switch to 3.50's. Plan on driving it 170 miles to the beach cruise next month. And the beat goes on.
I hope I have the same passion when I'm 78.
I always tell buddies to look over my car if they are around it for loose bolts lol. I check stuff all the time but still..
I always tell buddies to look over my car if they are around it for loose bolts lol. I check stuff all the time but still..
Really glad I did that before abusing it for the summer lol.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,188
Likes: 293
From: woodbine, md
Took the car to a cruise last night, first time it has been out pasted the neighborhood. Actually ran pretty well, surprised how quite it is inside even w/o a carpet yet. Seems to run hotter than expected, with both fans running it was 218 degs when I shut it off. Might replace the damaged radiator, although not that many tubes were bent shut. The thermostat is kind of a bastard, the F body pump used the one piece housing/thermostat, I used an aftermarket housing and a divorced stat. Wish I had kept the info on the stat, it was smaller than the newer ones, but still the divorced style. Of course on the way home I had to hit it a little, with just the 3 lb spring it jumped to 4 lbs, pretty surprising how peppy it feels just on that. Soon as I get the 4 port Mac valve, I will wire in the dome sensor and set up for more boost.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,188
Likes: 293
From: woodbine, md
Finally finished buffin the paint, got a cort. shot in the shoulder, helps some, but they only last about 3 weeks. Anyway, I noticed when I get a little in boost, blowing smoke out the exhaust. Pulled the comp. housing off, since I am finally hooking up the IC'er, found oil in it. Called VS to see if seal might be bad, they thought maybe not enough crankcase evac. Usually I run a line from the PVC valve to an oil sep, then a ck valve, then to the intake, just haven't done it yet, so ordered the parts. I think my turbo drain has enough downhill to flow, wondering if crankcase pressure would impede that. Maybe rings not seated yet also, I just honed it in the garage with the dingle berry, but pattern looked good. Also got the 4 port Mac valve hooked up, going to use the map sensor as dome temp, worked OK on the Hornet. Goal is to drive it to the beach cruise in 3 weeks, so going to work on the comfort part, new rug, insulation, stereo. Since the waterpump is the orig one, figured its past time, so going to install a new one, they have the updated thermostat hole, so i have a 160 deg going in, see how that works out.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,188
Likes: 293
From: woodbine, md
A little update on the cooling system, had been running pretty hot, fans were barely holding to 218, driving it stayed around 200+. I had the new WP to replace the one that came on the orig engine, so I figured better to replace it in the garage rather than somewhere on the road, lol. Figured I might as well replace the damaged radiator also since the water was drained, didn't leak, but figured could have at any time. Found a 160 thermostat, drilled a 1/8" hole in it, filled it back up with the green antifreeze (had the orange crap in it), always heard bad things about it, who knows. Anyway, decided to build a small air dam below the intercooler, thinking it might direct some air up bet. it and the radiator. Took it for a drive yesterday, pretty shocked engine temps ran in the 170's, sitting idle, only one fan came on and would lower temps. Prod reset the on/off times on the fans see how it works out. Not sure what made the big change in temps, maybe a little bit of everything. Replacing the rear control arms today, so I can run a sway bar, this thing doesn't like corners, so until I change the susp. hope this helps.
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Verdad Gallardo Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,188
Likes: 293
From: woodbine, md
Haven't updated in a while, pretty much just been hitting some cruises, doing a little tuning, was trying to run dome sensor to control boost, but something was off. Joe Simpson suggested open loop for a street car, so I tried that, made life a lot simpler, lol. I pulled the stock converter out and added a high stall conv, now that I know the trans is OK, man, what a diff. With the 8.8 rear and posi, I can burn it all thru first and second, lol. Running about 10 PSI boost now on 93, not sure how far I can push it. Going to add the second pump, try and dyno it, both 93 and E85. I was hoping to make a pass before the tracks shut down, but not sure how these 28 spline axles will hold up with stickies. Really happy how the car runs overall, just a great cruiser, and total build was under 10K-and still looking to get shoulder surgery, it keeps getting knocked down on the list though, lol.
