Still More Electrical...

Lots of progress this week on the electricals, though you wouldn't be able to tell from a picture of the Coupe. Instead, I'll post a few pictures of the schematics I'm working on to document the maze of wires that are going into the car.

I dreaded the electrical work, but I'm starting to like it!

Much of the wiring inside the car is changing from the donor wiring because:

-we don't use a single instrument cluster with a series of "idiot lights", instead each gauge or light must be wired

-we aren't using most of the creature comforts wired into a modern car, so many of the original wires are going

-we have all new systems for air conditioning and windshield wipers, plus a remote-controlled door release (you may have noticed the car doesn't have door handles! :-) )

Creating the schematics gives me a way to check my logic and improve my layout without throwing away wire and expensive connectors. It also gives me something to use later if I have to troubleshoot a problem.

My immediate goal is to document the circuits needed for the ignition, then finish the fuel lines, install the battery, perform a complete test of the electricals, and start it up!

Plumbing!

The kit has been here for almost 90 days now. We're pleasantly surprised by our progress, even though the last few weeks have been slowed while working on the wiring.

The radiator arrived this week, and we didn't waste any time getting it out of the box.

I managed to wire up the starter relay and the starter itself. I also built circuits for the blinkers and hazard lights, and for the headlights, hi-beams and fog lights.

I still need to wire up the ignition and double-check all of the circuits before I'll be ready to put any power to it. Rather than risk burning out any of the components, we purchased a 12V power supply with a built-in circuit breaker. That should allow us to test all of the circuits before installing the battery.

Progress on Many Fronts This Week

We seem to be moving from one major system of the vehicle to another, always returning to work a little more on the wiring. Could it be that I'm intimidated by so many wires? Perhaps...

We received our driveshaft and installed it. The donor driveshaft is almost four feet long. An indication of just how small the Coupe will be is that the driveshaft on it is just over a foot long! After seeing how big the u-joints are, we may have to change or eliminate our plans for a second cupholder for the car. The cupholders are for things like cell phones and sunglasses since there is no storage within reach of the driver.

A neighbor's friend volunteered to weld up a custom accelerator cable bracket. The original bracket stood too tall with the replacement of our stock intake manifold. I think it looks great! We finished installing the cable right after this picture was taken.

We installed the ignition coil and the starter relay on the driver's side of the engine compartment.

We did make some progress on the wiring. We've pulled together many of the wires needed for the switches and gauges on the dash, and we have a rough plan to organize them. Of course, the plan might not be evident just yet...

We ordered and received a new ignition lock (the donor was a dud), a windshield wiper system, and a set of floormats. The radiator whould be here this week, and we continue to wait for the wheels.

As for the surprise? Well, we were expecting a visit from the owner of a Cobra Roadster this weekend to pick up some parts we didn't need. He decided to ship the parts rather than make the 800+ mile round trip to pick them up. I can hardly wait to drive my first 800 miles in this thing...

Steering and starting electricals

This week we installed the steering rack and the steering column.

We also started running wires... lots and lots of wires. Since we bought the donor parts on a pallet, we did not get a chance to see and label each electrical connector as it was removed from the car. As a result, it has taken some detective work and several wiring diagrams to figure out what goes where.

Making matters a little more challenging, the donor was a convertible with all of the bells and whistles. The Coupe won't need many of the items wired into the donor, and I will be removing many of those wires in the upcoming weeks. The process is called a "wire diet" and should result in having far fewer wires to cram under the dashboard. Space under the dash is at a premium since we purchased the air conditioner kit.

This is the dashboard aluminum. It came with the holes for the gauges already drilled. There is a smaller switch panel that sits below the center guages and above the transmission tunnel. We will need to mark and drill it for the various toggle switches that go there.

Next week we will have a special surprise in our update! Stay tuned!

EXTRA EXTRA!!

I couldn't wait to post this update. Dropping the engine in the car is a big milestone. It is nowhere near ready to start up, but it feels good to see such a big part of the car in place.

My 20-year old 3rd assistant builder dropped by today, and we took advantage of some beautiful weather and 2 hours of annual leave to drop in the motor.

As for the wheels, those are not the wheels and tires I bought to use on the car. I picked these up at a salvage yard to use so we could put the motor in. We've been pushing it from one end of the garage to the other just because we can! :-)

ENGINE + TRANSMISSION = ONE LONG WEEKEND!

This weekend we pulled together all of the new parts we purchased to refurbish the clutch. Everything between the engine and the transmission is new: starter, block off plate, pilot bearing, flywheel, clutch plate, pressure plate, release bearing, and clutch fork.

We remounted the old exhaust headers so we could attach the engine hangers. We removed the engine from the engine stand and started adding cutch parts. Except for a hammer-smashed thumb (mine), this went smoothly. Next it was time to lift the 50+ pound transmission and hold it with millimeter precision while pushing it through all of the clutch parts towards the engine. It was as hard as it sounds, but it is done!

We also completed the modifications to the firewall needed to install the air conditioner. I didn't take a picture of it before tearing it back down, but you can see the hole created in the firewall anticipating the re-install once the engine is in.

One last shot of the kit for this week. We continue pulling pieces out of boxes and bolting them on. It's only a matter of time before we run out of boxes! Til next time...

Lots of Little Things This Week

We tackled a ton of little things this week as we draw ever closer to installing the engine. We installed the new air conditioning compressor with its custom bracket. We also installed several replacement wheel studs as the originals were damaged.

The brake master cylinder was installed. We'are awaiting a "final answer" on the proper way to plumb the brake lines before we connect all of the lines. At that point, we'll be able to bleed the brakes! Speaking of brakes, I finally figured out how to attach the flexible rear brake lines. We bought parts for the '93 Mustang that are new, but I needed to figure out how to attach them to the axle itself. We cut the bracket a bit and drilled a hole in the axle bracket; now it looks like it belongs there!

We installed the back of the transmission tunnel cover and fitted the cockpit rear wall.

Our wheels are another week or two away. Otherwise, the only part we're still waiting for is the radiator! We ended the day Sunday fitting and cutting the firewall to accomodate the air conditioning system. This week we have to find some aluminum and figure out how to bend it to create a "bump out" for the firewall.

We are also pursuing a few parts: grippy brake pads since our car won't have power brakes, one last brake line connector, and an intake manifold bolt that I broke weeks ago.

Once the air conditioning systen is installed in the firewall AND we receive the wheels, we can put the engine in the car. The engine install is probably 3 weeks away. Til next time...