Going to make an attempt to detail my loooong build using this as motivation to keep plugging along.
I have owned this since 83.
Original 318 3 spd floor shift. Power nothing. It did not even have a front sway bar.
Early on I converted to 4 spd with pistol grip and added 340 X heads to the 318, front and rear factory bars, P/S, P/B, bulge hood, fender louvers.
Since then: 318 and X heads are gone. It is now all La360 similar date code. At the time I still had to have it smog checked in California and was having issues getting it to pass the visual. Even with the emissions acceptable car could not pass with a 4 barrel because it came factory with as 2 barrel.
Off with what I wanted and on to 360. This I would swap from 2 for emission testing and then convert back to 4 every other year. Thankfully that is now all over with here.
As I have noted probably too many times end goal is going to be 5.9 Magnum, twin turbos and Megasquirt EFI.
I am not going for the gold with horsepower. End of day I will be aiming for a touch over 500 hp at motor.
All street nothing intended for more than that.
Moldmaker for plastic injection tooling by trade (35 years) so building stuff is in my blood.
Note: All I will be posting is from a few years ago bringing it up to current.
Starting with the car.
Paint is a 20 footer. Most of it remains original.
A (re)change early was to convert power brakes to hydroboost.
Mike
:clapping: :popcorn:
Way to keep your car after all these years and wonderful CA emissions. Keep us posted and keep on it. I found reading other people's build threads to be motivational to the point of distracting me from doing what I should be doing on my car.
Keep the updates coming.
Next...
I made my own custom widened Ralyes.
Actually started them about 20 years ago. then kicked them aside in a pile.
Finished them for spite a couple years ago.
Oldsmobile 15" hoops I split in half around the diameters. Keeping as much of the width as I could from inner and outer halves.
Welded inner and outer halves together. Had some cheap old tires mounted with no centers to pressure test for leaks. Had a few initially. just let all air out and added some spot heat to weld to get it flowing. It took a couple tries but got them sealed. then welded in the centers. This took some creative hammering and clamping. All done at home. Brought my indicator gauge home and borrowed a hardened and flat ground (and round) plate from work to measure from. to set back space correct and also make sure it was running true.
Rears are 8-1/2" wide with 4-3/4 BS. Running 275/60-15"
Fronts remain standard hoop at 7" wide.
Mike
Cool: I have some Oldsmobile wheels at work I think I am going to snag to repop some 450's.
Update for one of the fun items I have made for it.
Gotta advertise the plan to reality.
Designed in Solidworks updated hood emblems that mimic lettering size and style of originals.
Machined with Mastercam.
Cut the top side of lettering out of some plate.
Lettering has vertical sides down at bottom of them that I will eventually be able to clamp in vice for finishing cuts on back.
Lettering on plate shown did not yet have the fine detail machining finished yet.
Held plate upside down in vice.
Machined the 2ea mounting posts using a boring head with cutter mounted in reverse. Started large and kept adjusting it until I reached the diameter posts I was looking for.
Then machined the remainder of backing plate off a little at a time. Took as much off as I thought I could get away with comfortably.
Saw cut the plate into pieces separating the emblems. Clamped them in vice individually and finished machining the backs down to height.
Machined in plate at work but all the removal to finished pieces were done at home with manual equipment.
Mike.
The emblems turned out great :bigthumb:
:iagree: Those are impressive! :1place:
Quote from: Chryco Psycho on January 20, 2019, 09:25:14 PM
The emblems turned out great :bigthumb:
Quote from: Cuda Cody on January 20, 2019, 09:50:28 PM
:iagree: Those are impressive! :1place:
Thanks and thanks. They were tough as the place I worked at the time did not have high speed spindle capability. Small cutters took forever to pencil them in.
On to the engine.
Current in car engine is LA360. I changed the intake and all the front accessories to 5.9 Magnum version.
Reason for this is I want what I want but will not cut the car up anywhere to accomplish this. All changes to car are mechanical. Overall I have had to only drill a few small mounting screw holes. Nothing major.
Magnum accessories are very compact to motor in comparison to the original setup. Water pump is also approximately 2.5 inches shorter.
Compact accessories provided the room for turbos.
Shorter water pump allowed me to relocate radiator off core support closer to engine. This then provided a pass thru for intercooler piping. Of course pics will be provided...
This is what it took to mount a Magnum manifold on LA engine.
General size is correct but the new mounting bolts are vertical instead of angle matching head face.
They basically exit the manifold in same location. Just different angle.
Was not able to redrill on my mill so i had to break out the redneck ingenuity...
Drilled a thick block to the right diameter and also a slight angle that matched the old.
welded the block to a plate I could clamp to manifold.
Used a gasket to scribe for correct locations.
Clamped the block on and drilled by hand. Drill, remove and re-clamp, drill and repeat.
All the new holes came partially thru the vertical screw hole posts. For this i made some 1/2" thick washers that I milled out a partial round for clearance.
All this work to adapt to the LA is only temporary to get to my final end. I already have a Magnum motor that will eventually make it in.
Step by step partials so I can continue to drive and enjoy it.
That was the fun way to do it. Drive it as you make changes. It keeps from getting too bogged down in too much work with no seat time.
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on January 21, 2019, 07:06:10 AM
That was the fun way to do it. Drive it as you make changes. It keeps from getting too bogged down in too much work with no seat time.
Went full tilt on a M-stang years ago. 20 years later I was able to drive it again. Vowed never to let that happen again.
The factory position of Magnum P/S pump mounts high and was in the way so it had to move.
Made a bracket setup to move it lower It is approximately in the same location as original.
This was actually the 3rd go around. I kept trying to piece a bracket together using parts of the factory items so I would only have to make half the items.
In the end I chucked all the piecemeal parts and made a complete new one.
Mike.
Nice work ! :twothumbsup:
Looking at my last pic I saw the 36-1 crank trigger wheel.
Made a round out of square old school with a lot of hand cranking.
Machined the wheel and added slots for infinite adjustments. Welded some tabs to the pulley and turned them on lathe to true them up for mounting. Worked out exactly as I wanted on the Magnum mule. Except the La360 has its large external counter weights and it would not clear them. Cut out the center in disgust and welded it on to the pulley instead.
My mantra. Jump in with both feet, occasionally fail and then find another way. Gotta keep moving forward.
Mike.
How about some headers.
Early on with a lot of heat, and hammering to form the port openings.
Made several bucks out of aluminum and hard wood that were also hammered into tubes for forming.
Unfortunately these were another learning curve that required multiple iterations to get correct.
First iteration was to build headers and place turbos where I thought I wanted them on mockup motor. Close but no good when installed.
Second version I positioned turbos in car where I wanted and built turbos to them.
Third version was a bunch of nipping and tucking of pieces to tighten up locations that allowed for cold piping to have better routing.
Flanges are 1/2" SS plates that were waterjetted. I provided a new gasket and the company programmed and matched cut to that.
Turbos are offset on motor as Mopar gurus know motor is offset in car. All is symmetrical when installed.
Mike.
That is a lot of work! :bravo:
Looking good! That's a steel trigger wheel, right?
Quote from: GoodysGotaCuda on February 03, 2019, 04:32:30 AM
Looking good! That's a steel trigger wheel, right?
Yes it is hot roll. Shiny because it was wet ground flat on surface grinder.
Quote from: Brads70 on February 03, 2019, 03:32:55 AM
That is a lot of work! :bravo:
Yes it is. Gets better though...
Nice job on the headers :twothumbsup:
Eventual plans are to go distributor less with LS coils near plugs.
Plan is while I get my feet wet into the programming I will run batch fire but will eventually switch to running full sequential.
I made a hybrid cam sensor that matches the bottom half of Mopar distributor and top half matches Ford 302 setup.
Out with the old, take a bunch of measurements, cut, start hacking, turning and welding and this is what you end up with.
Mike.
Man, how did I miss this build? I am in SoCal too, small world. I see lots of really nice work here and can't wait to see the final product.
Intercoolers...
Sticking with theme of not cutting up factory sheet metal. These mount in front of the core support passing thru from the engine side.
Definitely sacrificing flow to accomplish what I want. It is however as thin as air in there...
Purchased 2 intercoolers and promptly cut their chambers off. Then went to town on some 1/8 inch plate. plenty of cardboard cutouts later I had the patterns for the parts.
Bend, weld, trim and repeat over and over. When all was done I cap welded the bottom off to seal it. Made a top cap and thread tapped it for pipe. Put on a gauge and pressurized them to about 30 lbs. Initially I ended with a lot of leaks. Mostly where I ground down the weld to clean up visual area corners and edges. Welded and repeat eventually got them to seal properly. Failures in beginning was that I was not using enough heat with welder. 99.9% of my TIG experience is with tooling steel.
The mounting brackets all mount utilizing existing holes in the core support and center latch support.
Enjoy this round.
On a side note, the workbench for these is a 68 Mustang trunk lid. :stop:
Mike.
The end result mounted.
That is awesome fabrication ! :twothumbsup:
Yes: This is a great build.
Quote from: wingcarenvy on February 03, 2019, 10:47:54 PM
Man, how did I miss this build? I am in SoCal too, small world. I see lots of really nice work here and can't wait to see the final product.
Thanks and cool about SoCal. Orange County here.
Will try and hit a Cars and coffee in Corona in the next Month or so....
Going to try and work something out soon with
@70/6chall (https://forum.e-bodies.org/mlist/706chall_390) member here.
Mike.
Radiator mounting:
Made basic straps to mount an OEM dual fan setup. Tried 2 versions, one from a Dodge and another from a Fo.d.
Neither will function properly with my controller. Variable pulse. Now have 2 Spal fans and will make my own shroud to fit them soon.
Using dual fans keeps the thickest portion of the fans away from water pump nose.
Workaround is manual on and off switch. PITA but allows me to drive it.
As noted earlier the radiator is moved away from the core support. Made 2 "U" shaped adapter pieces for the sides.
They serve purpose of rad relocation and also adapt the larger radiator to the smaller 22" opening.
5th pic shows first version of brackets where radiator was bolted to brackets directly. After an ugly fiasco with a radiator shop (welded on tabs) that was scrapped and rad is now saddled top and bottom. No direct bolting on.
Small attached tabs in center of brackets mount an A/C condenser.
Last bracket pics have bottom saddles welded on. It sits on rubber insulators.
With the mounting changed to saddle mount.
This is the upper brackets. Radiator is isolated and held with nylon blocks. Tried foam but was not dense enough.
Top opening of intercoolers are just capped off for now.
Last pic shows intercooler opening out the bottom.
With every simple deviation from factory there are countless additional changes and fabrications required.
Simple things such as radiator hoses. Lower hose was able to find a suitable replacement. Upper was not so easy.
Radiator cap should always be the highest point to prevent an air trap. Space and ugly kept me from routing hose over the air compressor.
As with usual, trying to be cheap I started with modifying the factory T housing. This was uuugly and quickly ended.
Enter some heavy wall SS pipe. This allowed for turning OD ends to fit hose. A bunch of pieces, welding cleanup later. :)
Mike.
Added electric fuel pump. Back when this was all starting, money was very tight along with kid and her sports. Today I would have just purchased the Tanksinc setup. Still plan on it when buttoning this up for lengthy travels.
Functions for now.
Cobbled a few scrap pieces together to hang pump down low and in front of tank. All bolts to existing holes in the cross member that is there.
Complete with return line included. Current feed line remains stock 5/16 with the return line being 3/8. when FI is working and turbos are on I will swap feed to be the 3/8 and return to 5/16.
For the second line, I used 3/8 SS line. Turned out to be too tough to bend with my cheapo benders. So naturally I made what was needed from some more scrap stock.
When finished the second line fairly closely follows the factory line. Side by side.
Bender worked, but just barely okay. I had to walk it around to get the bends how I wanted them without kinking.
Again in effort to keep being able to drive car, I basically have 2 fuel systems on it. Current feed is to carburetor. The rails are also plumbed via a Y but they are plugged off.
Initially they were made normal with single bar per side.
However, they would not clear the carb linkage. I split them each in 2 with hose connecting the middle. I am sure it is not optimal but will be functional. When all is said and done I will remake them "normal" again.
I tapped the unused Magnum manifold mounting bolt holes to bolt on the rail mounting brackets.
Fuel regulator will work with both low pressure and high pressure with just changing out a spring. Feed is direct from pump and regulator controls pressure on the return side.
For now the injectors are just factory units.
Mike
Functional , nothing wrong with that :bigthumb:
As I was looking at you fabrication skills, I was thinking, "imagine the car you and Brads70 could build". You two should have a show - "Mopar Fab Shop".
:clapping:
Outstanding Fabrication and Engineering to get what you want.
Quote from: oldmoparbuff on February 27, 2019, 01:06:52 PM
Outstanding Fabrication and Engineering to get what you want.
Quote from: dodj on February 27, 2019, 04:43:52 AM
As I was looking at you fabrication skills, I was thinking, "imagine the car you and Brads70 could build". You two should have a show - "Mopar Fab Shop".
:clapping:
Thank you and thank you.
Have thought many times that I missed my real calling for a career. Then again my back thanks me...
How about the plenum. Will be using the F*rd one with dual butterflies.
First two pics are quickly discarded designs when I started. Was trying to utilize a purchased baseplate adapter.
As with everything, bit the bullet and made it all. Base started as 1 inch plate. Not shown is the full welded version of it.
Mike.
Great fabrication work !! :twothumbsup:
Yup: I love seeing this stuff. This is truly your car, self built.
Throttle cable mounting.
Don"t recall what specific car it came off of but it is a FÖrd piece that properly snaps to TB.
The mounting thru firewall had to get creative. Trimmed off part of factory snap clip and made a slotted plate with large hole that tapers to smaller slot that locks it into place. Bracket latch started off as a 1" square tube drilled, slotted and then split to leave the strengthening ears. Again no sheet metal mods.
Then a fully adjustable motor mounting bracket to dial in the proper full swing.
Thanks for listening...
Sweet :twothumbsup:
Posted this redneck engine host on another thread for suggestion options.
I raised my motor to remove oil pan to weld on oil drain back bungs. Also added solid mounts to the motor.
Wanted it to be fairly rigid to the car for what was my initial cold air piping plan. Ducting was going to go straight back from intercoolers to TB.
That idea as with everything else has changed. AC pump is in the way. Piping will come to the drivers side. Will end up going to regular cushioned mounts again with a limit strap attached.
Last two pics are how I find out what exacting space there is to work with for the next piece of the puzzle. Florist foam sliced into less than an inch thick. Mount it and then close hood to crush. Open again and it retains the shape. Now there is the remaining space to work within.
Mike :drinkingbud:
QuoteGreat fabrication work !!
:iagree: I need some aluminum welded. I wish you were closer!
Quote from: Burdar on March 13, 2019, 05:51:59 AM
QuoteGreat fabrication work !!
:iagree: I need some aluminum welded. I wish you were closer!
Jump in with both feet like I did. Eventually something good comes out the other end.
Working on it pulling front bumper in and fixing front brakes. With the lower pan removed it opened up front to see mounting of intercoolers.
All was done utilizing existing holes.
Nice work, I like this kind of a build.
Keep it up. Any chance of making it to the spring fling?
Quote from: nsmall on March 18, 2019, 08:58:31 PM
Keep it up. Any chance of making it to the spring fling?
Thanks and yes I have signed up. Taking care of a few items on it for the trip. Front brakes and moving front bumper in.
Even with all the "extras" on it is still just running on the carb.
Mike.
Nothing worthwhile was built in a weekend , well almost nothing I guess :twothumbsup:
Does your car still look like it does on the first page of this thread? Are you going on Sunday as I'll be looking for you?
Thanks
Yes for the most part. I relegate it to be a 20 footer now.
With kid ending club travel ball, graduating hs, moving on to college with full scholarship :twothumbsup: I should be able to get on it again solidly.
Trying to knock out a few detail items before April Spring Fling.
Moving front bumper in 2 inches and removing the knee knockers.
I am just milling new slots for two mounting holes. The front one ends up where bracket starts to curve. So I slotted out the center and hammered it flat and milled new slotted hole to match. Will weld some gussets in to regain strength.
Mike.
I think moving the bumper in is a great idea as it looks really slick. I will not tell you how many hours it took me to get my bumpers right but let's just say it's an embarrassing number but I love the modification.
The spring fling is in 3 weeks so get going. :bradsthumb:
Quote from: nsmall on March 25, 2019, 10:19:07 PM
I think moving the bumper in is a great idea as it looks really slick. I will not tell you how many hours it took me to get my bumpers right but let's just say it's an embarrassing number but I love the modification.
The spring fling is in 3 weeks so get going. :bradsthumb:
Yes, that is what is driving this round of "improvements"
I am also having to force myself not to over extend myself and not be able to finish.
Did that a couple years ago.
:pullinghair:
Nice , they always look so much better with the bumpers flush :twothumbsup:
Some of the cold air duct work is in progress as well.
Made a hardwood buck for pounding some tube into submission.
Generally I like the look of it's layout.
My stopper is the 2 curved connectors that will mount to intercoolers. I do not like how they look at all.
I will somehow change them into a single piece. It will look cleaner and at same time open the air flow better. Versions shown get pinched a bit too much where they need to clear hood. A single piece that must seal to two flanges and most likely have hidden mounting bolts. Intercoolers already have o-ring grooves in them.
I will figure something out in due time...
Mike.
I thought you had the headers & turbos on there , are you swapping the whole engine later ?
Quote from: Chryco Psycho on April 02, 2019, 09:40:33 PM
I thought you had the headers & turbos on there , are you swapping the whole engine later ?
On, off, on, off, repeat...
Turbos have not been driven with yet. I know myself...
I am holding off with them until I get it converted over to EFI.
If it gets running on carb with them I won't ever finish EFI.
I have a spare Magnum that will be ready to drop in when current one blows up. Planning ahead as they say. :haha:
Makes sense , you want EFI with the turbos for sure . I just remembered seeing pix with the headers & turbos in place & the last pic shows manifolds !!
Because of another thread I posted about modifier v/s customizer...
With all the changes, boost and EFI comes requirements for a full set of instrumentation.
Tach, GPS speedo, boost, fuel ratio and the normal rest to finish it off.
I have been fabricating an aluminum cluster that will mimic the Rallye version having the curved face.
Typical of me not to take the easy route by going flat or just ploping them into position as is normal.
I really like the factory look, so...
When putting the holes in I plan on making my own tapered bucks to form the lip in similar to the factory. Not sure how recessed i will have them. That will be just a spacer ring providing depth that looks good.
Basically it will be like a dimple die. Punch and Die will have to follow the curve of the face so it doesn't flatten out when forming.
What has been made all mounts where the existing screw holes are.
Still haven't decided on a finish for it. But it will not remain aluminum finish. whatever it ends up i will also finish the door card inserts the same.
Not made yet is the headlight switch and wiper area. it will be dimpled similarly.
Also as with everything I have a simple temporary one under dash on the center hump.
Mike
Very cool , but you have gone from 7 gauges on the dash to 7 gauges on the dash , only the drop down panel to the console adds more .
Nice!
QuoteWhen putting the holes in I plan on making my own tapered bucks to form the lip in similar to the factory. Not sure how recessed i will have them. That will be just a spacer ring providing depth that looks good.
Basically it will be like a dimple die. Punch and Die will have to follow the curve of the face so it doesn't flatten out when forming.
Even with the gauge holes dimple died, you should still be able to put a gentle curve in the aluminum. When I built my dimple died air cleaner cover, it still easily formed around a standard 14" diameter lid/base. If you already have the curve in the aluminum it might make it more difficult. If you form the curve after the holes are dimpled, it should conform easily.
Quote from: Chryco Psycho on May 08, 2019, 09:12:43 PM
Very cool , but you have gone from 7 gauges on the dash to 7 gauges on the dash , only the drop down panel to the console adds more .
But what fun would that be? Also not the look I wish to have. Don't want it (or anything) to look like it was just dropped in by necessity. Fuel level was not shown in provided pics. It will be 8 guages.
Amp guage is bypassed.
Speedo fluctuates.
Clock does not work.
Tach is questionably accurate.
New setup requires 2 wire sending units.
I may even cover it with woodgrain vinyl to keep the same basic look.
Quote from: Burdar on May 09, 2019, 06:13:33 AM
Nice!
QuoteWhen putting the holes in I plan on making my own tapered bucks to form the lip in similar to the factory. Not sure how recessed i will have them. That will be just a spacer ring providing depth that looks good.
Basically it will be like a dimple die. Punch and Die will have to follow the curve of the face so it doesn't flatten out when forming.
Even with the gauge holes dimple died, you should still be able to put a gentle curve in the aluminum. When I built my dimple died air cleaner cover, it still easily formed around a standard 14" diameter lid/base. If you already have the curve in the aluminum it might make it more difficult. If you form the curve after the holes are dimpled, it should conform easily.
As the plate is already curved I will machine the buck and die to have matching curve. Never make it easy on myself...
I would probably do a carbon fiber face instead , I never really understood the facination with woodgrain :alan2cents:
Quote from: Chryco Psycho on May 09, 2019, 11:24:39 PM
I would probably do a carbon fiber face instead , I never really understood the facination with woodgrain :alan2cents:
Carbon fiber look is what I will most likely will end up going with. Door inserts will be the same.
Now for a current update.
There are always plenty of little unintended surprises when adding all these non stock items into the car.
One such is the hood secondary release latch. When closing hood, it makes contact with the top of my intercooler tank. Not by much and as it is spring loaded, hood still closes properly but is leaving a mark on the tank.
Purchased a spare at Spring Fling to cut up and re-weld together with it about 3/8" shorter so it clears.
When done no one will know.
Second part of update is EXCITING.... :cheers:
When all the EFI stuff was starting, I was using another (old at the time also) laptop for the tuning software. Megasquirt connects via com/data port (DB9/RS232 specifically). Old laptop had proper plug in so there was no issue. New only has USB. Went thru several driver iterations that alter USB to Com. None worked and I have not been able to connect. Finally I can now connect using a purchased plug in USB to COM/data adapter.
This makes me soooooo happy... :veryexcited:
When I left off, there was a good signal from crank trigger. The stopping point was I could not get the coils to fire. Even in test mode there was nothing. Checked and rechecked wiring and thought all was correct. Finally, with some on line help I found an error. Corrected that and still nothing... I applied 12V to the trigger wire to fire the coils. Belief is they are burned out.
Soon to test again with some replacements.
First path on the agenda is to get it controlling the spark (LS coil near plug).
Fuel will remain carburetor until I can test and calibrate all remaining sensors.
Mike.
The Efi system I built used an SDS computer system to run the EFI , I liked it because it came with a tuner to connect specifically for the system , no laptop needed
Yeah Mike. Keep plugging along. Glad to hear you are making progress.
Excellant, great fab work! Love the twins.
You'll be so happy when you solve the issue.
Finished the cut and weld. Bit of hand work cleaning up you cannot tell anything happened. All the way to keeping the lip and stamped look.
Painted it all a non descript metal color(non Mopar correct). All clear now.
On to the next.
Perfect :twothumbsup:
Back tracking again to the old update pics.
Usual relocation of the battery into trunk. Made a base frame using some 3/4 and 1/2 square tubing from a backyard fence I removed.
Cheap ass that I am...
Battery sits on a plastic base from a Lincoln with trunk mount.
I have added 2 fuse and relay blocks to the car as well. Both from the Lincoln.
Main one in trunk will control all addons to the car. Front will be primarily relay box for electric fans and also the headlights when I convert them to powered via relay. By the end the original harness will become less and less relevant.
With the trunk mount, the relay box is in perfect condition as it never sees the under hood temps or light of day.
Front box took some searching to find one in good condition.
Front box fits perfect in the opening in front of core support. Of course had to remove the Ford logo...
All will also be cleaned up and proper after all is functioning as intended. Plan on making a shelf for it to reside on that is up and back in trunk.
Rear is fused with 100A breaker and powered up with a continuous duty relay.
Cool :twothumbsup:
For a long time I have not been happy with the lack of lighting with my dash lights. Purchased a spare light bar/plate and hacked out the old lights, bezels and green lenses. Purchased two 6 inch ish LED bar lights. They are stated as ground effect lights. Purchased from a local Socal electronic store called Orvacs. Also purchased a dimming unit off of Amazon. Pics include packaging but it is generic.
Been a while.....any updates?
Thanks
Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk
That is a slight improvement in the lighting :rubeyes: :twothumbsup:
Lol to see this. I just updated on the "what did you do with your... thread.
Nothing to speak of with it. Pulled a bunch of the EFI wiring to retrace and change some grounds. One of the electric fans seized up. Was a factory Dodge piece from late 90s. Have replacement Spal fans and aluminum to make new shroud. Soon...
Currently knee deep into the top half of engine in a 68 Stang.
My teen daughter wants to drive that. Expecting to finish it this week. So if all goes as planned. I should have progress soon.
Work (temporally now at home) is a medical engineering and product facility. Currently buried with Covid-19 emergency projects.
Well...
Finally an improvement post.
One of the fans seized up on jy fan setup I had awhile back. So it has just been sitting as I continue to keep spinning in the cycle of doom with a never ending Mustang saga.
Made a dual fan and shroud to replace it with a better setup.
Bought a cheap Harbor Freight nibbler and have to say it worked really well cutting the 0.080 aluminum to size.
Dug out a homemade brake. Unfortunately not well cared for but still works.
Bottom is located and contained when pulled up and bolted in place at top. Was able to use the same relocation mounting brackets that holds the radiator. The two cutouts on bottom are clearance for intercooler piping.
The flap holes made with KO punches. The fan openings cut with hand jig saw. The sides are simple 90° bends that are pop riveted on.
Now to wire in. Going to clean up the old mess significantly. There were several wiring iterations just to keep it running. Will wire in the variable speed controller.
Nice job, The pre-made ones never fit just right anyway.
Very nice handy work there :bradsthumb:
Since I got a taste of improvement from the fan shroud. I started back tracing my previous wiring to confirm all is correct. Part of this is because I am now going to have the primary fuse and relay block located in trunk. Original wiring plan was ok but this will end up cleaner in the end.
Also made a directional decision on the custom dash layout.
Knocking the dash out will open up ability to get the pile of floorboard wiring cleaned up as well.
Coils are confirmed now. Next up, crank trigger.
Well... wiring :bricks:.
Previous update I had the coils confirmed correct. NOPE! Turns out I was feeding 12V to the coils signal ground. Assuming now all 8 coils are toast. Will correct and replace them.
Next is to rewire grounding path for the water and air temp sensors. Slow and methodical this time...
Yikes.
That is not cool , you know for sure the coils are toast ??
Quote from: Chryco Psycho on May 20, 2020, 09:15:28 AM
That is not cool , you know for sure the coils are toast ??
Unknown if they are bad. Have read some about testing them. I already have another set from a couple years ago. So I will retest with them instead.
Delving deeper into the wiring I initially was (semi) correct. Grounded but not to the ECU which is proper. The change to bad... came when attempting to correct the non spark. There is a test mode in ECU and I had no spark from beginning. Now with more thorough knowledge I am improving first attempt.
As for no spark during test cycle. I believe I may not have had coil plugged into spark plug wire. No plug ground = no spark. Attempting to have corrected and improved wiring ready by this weekend for testing again :yes:
Starting to make perfect sense now...
ECU driven by relay powered by key on and while cranking.
Injectors and coils on another relay (for noise solation) signaled by ECU relay.
Fuel pump on it's own relay triggered the same.
ECU must be functioning for all to fire off.
Correcting the signal grounds next for IAT, water and TPS.
Then wire in for the oxygen sensor.
Crank sensor has already been providing correct readings.
Power block is from a Lincoln that has trunk mounted battery. More relays and available fuses than i will ever use.
Full plan for it will be to essentially eliminate the factory harness.
Hopeful plan is I will not need to reinstall this cap...
:bradsthumb:
Makes perfect sense
Finished retracing all the sensor and injector wiring. Did some changing on the way sensors were grounded. All now are into ECU first then ECU to engine. The coil packs ground to heads as well.
No pics but ended up making some short buss bars to hold wiring onto heads.
The fuse and relay block is also installed with the redesigned layout.
Nothing this time is neat and pretty. That will happen if thos works as intended. Cut out the partial exhaust to fit the wideband bung. Exhaust pipe will just be clamped back together for now. Will be replaced with 2.5" when turbos are on. Of course I had to mock up for visual...
Have tired of just talking about them.
This was an all day affair 9am to 9pm.
Still hope to test fire coils this weekend.
Family time is looming.
Ha, ha: Yes, your mind has to go all-in working on this sort of thing and family time kind of suffers alright. No interruptions is a huge help when dealing with wiring for me anyway.
Got into the wiring mindset updating the wife's 68 Mustang over the past few weeks. All while working on it I was reassessing the Challenger plan in my head. Stepped straight over from hers to mine and knocked it out.
Full attention is a must when deep into wiring that is full custom.
Had a decent plan when I first started this. Now though, planned layout is much cleaner.
Well it will be when I splice off all the excessive lengths.
Squeezed in the addition of 02 bung this morning.
Added bonus is the sensor still screws in.
Will be just clamping the pipe back together. This will be another one of the "transition" points. Will allow for turbo install first. Then move rearward replacing the rest.
All the engine side is sorted properly for connections.
Tonight I finished all the wiring connections in trunk for fuse/relay block. More first attempt wiring removed as well.
Next up is passenger floorboard to connect the remainder. Along with wiring in the O2 wideband. Not much photo worthy. All individual wiring remains loose. Purdy will come after all is known to function properly.
Coil testing soon now...
Following thru with recent statement of "I have a plan" for custom instrument panel. Revised plan is to just have gauges flush mount as they are intended. Really wanted to flush mount them all below the face similar to how factory gauges are. However, at same time this needs to move forward. One of my biggest problems to overcome is the "because I can" mentality. Skillsets are there but time in life is not. So compromises will continue.
Boring out the large holes went simple enough. Some old school calipers came into play. OD measurement transferred to ID for the holes.
Small ones were not as simple because of the lack of clamping. Off with the vice and in with the 123 blocks and toe clamps.
4 holes down and 3 more to go.
Finishing this to allow removal of temporary guage setup that now resides on trans hump.
Plan is to make a center console that will house electronics.
That will be an improvement you'll notice all the time.
Finished boring out the remaining holes. Unfortunately not without a little drama. Was using a thin tipped cutter to slice a thin slot to drop out the centers. 5 holes in and the cutter failed and grabbed. Because every inch of this thing is curved the mounting was not as solid as it should. It moved and left a nice gash in the face. This was last friday night. Said a few curse words and walked away. Today though I put on big boy pants and welded it up. Happy to say it came out perfect. Probably some of the best aluminum welding I have done. Cleaned and preheated everything. Also took time with same thickness piece to dial in necessary power. :banana:.
Mounted all the guages. Me likes...
Also committed to finishing this change. Removed the old and placed in the new. :).
Thru the years I have collected extra switched for lights and wipers. I will use these mounted to the yet to be made section on the left. It will house the 3 switches and also the AFR guage. I chose to separate it from the rest because even though it is same series of guages. How it lights up is different because it is digital.
Removed the stereo and a series of switches will reside there.
May just go with a bluetooth setup to run with my phone. Rarely listen to on air stations anymore. There will be a center console to house ECU, power chargers and hold phone. And of course my coffee...
Feels nice to finally get farther than just talking about it.
Looking good. Hopefully we can connect at the Fall Fling. :whiteflag:
I would like that. I am soooo ready...
LOOS GREAT , BEAUTIFUL WORk ON THE WELDING TO REPAIR IT
Quote from: Chryco Psycho on June 01, 2020, 09:44:04 PM
LOOKS GREAT , BEAUTIFUL WORk ON THE WELDING TO REPAIR IT
Thank you. Was a bit stressed. Have welded a bunch of aluminum along the way for this. But this part is all visual. The others (intercoolers and piping) I can blast away because it has been just functional.
Stepped in further with wiring. With new plan this initial box will now be relegated to powering the ele fans and relays for headlights. Headlight relays will be much further down the road.
AAAAAAH!
I must stop going deeper in...
Again I had a plan in the beginning (years ago). Plan now is much improved with trunk mount fuse block and front mount block. Stripped out numerous wires that were running front to back for power and switching.
Short story is more fusing and relays in 2 places will allow for significantly less wiring lengths.
Initially the main battery positive went to a bulkhead all the way up front, fed front fuse block and then fed back to starter and relay. Main positive was snaked under car.
Removing speedometer cable because of going GPS provided a firewall hole. I will use that for a bulkhead pass thru connection. That then allows the positive battery cable to run inside cabin.
My reasoning for this now is more complete removal of wiring on fenderwell for turbo clearance. Miles of room now.
Probably will only utilize about 10 percent of wiring that is in bucket.
Committing full in now for successful EFI fire up. :rubeyes:
Made a simple bracket that mounts to existing booster mounting bolts to hold solenoid and hub.
Not as clean as envisioned but still vastly improved. Will make a black textured ABS cover shield to hide the busyness. Further cleanup the factory harness gets dropped down along the frame rail. It has already been residing there.
Electric fans and their controller next.
The wiring in bay that powers headlights and blinkie things has been relocated down to side of frame rail. Front relay has been pared down to the current necessities. Electric fans for now. Headlights later. Made a cover to shield and hide fan controller. Orange covering is glued on dense rubber to prevent shorting of exposed contacts. New positive cords run up front and starter. Main from trunk battery next up.
Factory guage wiring is all safely deadheaded. Left and right bulb wiring was spliced to a new plug to mate to new directional indicators. Speedometer cable removed from trans. Installed another cable mounting insert that I tapped and plugged.
Decided to cut the drivers side exhaust pipe also. Going to mock up both turbos again to see placement comparisons. Partially because I want to see them on again. But mostly to guage running the exhaust out and also try and see if I can design the cold air boxes. They are another "I have a plan" item.
Not much really picture worthy. But that is exactly the point. Clean and empty. Unfortunately with the clutter gone the crappy destroyed paint is glaring. 40 years ago before my ownership a battery exploded.
Positive cable connection and fabrication of the left side instrument switch plate next.
Wrapped up and deadheaded the factory dash wiring.
Only splice was for the blinker arrows.
New guages are all wired up and it is now finish installed. Because guages are not mounted the way i really wanted them. I have decided to wrap it in the woodgrain. See pic with small splotch. Will pull guages at a later date for this.
Temporary mount for the switches on the left side whil I work out the face plate for it.
No pics but positive cables are all finish mounted.
Reran all the engine harness wiring. Just with tape and zip ties. All will be finally wrapped when known that it works.
Have to still figure out how I will setup the air idle valve. So a few more wires will be added for that. Unfortunately turbos are off again. The mockup reconfirmed placements are as intended. Also made plans for the cold air intakes. Now to finish connect necessary wiring inside cabin.
Also sprung for a cheapie stereo with bluetooth.
That's coming together quite nice.
Fathers day relaxing for me is to accomplish something.
This allows for relaxing my brain.
As previously noted, all outside cabin connections are complete. Have now completed the main power cable install. Spliced in and mounted is a mega fuse. Another of the "I have a plan" items is mounting of fuse/relay block, continuous relay and resetable breakers. Their mount will be up sideways mounted to side of trunk hinge frame. Will try to have it setup so it slides in and out for access.
Went to junkyard and grabbed Ford and GM idle air sensors and their pigtails. Will see which version is the simplest to adapt. GM version is preferred due to size but adapting appears it will be more difficult.
Started on what will eventually be the center console. Not anything like what will be finished product. Just the absolute basic for now to house electronics. With electronics in position I can/will finally pare down all the inside wiring and get it routed properly as well. Console will end up full length with cup holders. :bigthumb:
Again startup and confirmation of function first.
Basically I have about a 20 connections in cabin. Then coil test fire. Leading to the actual real startup.
Getting closer...
Pic is just because.
It is an earlier one where wiring looks semi organized.
Much uglier now but all related to ECU is now connected complete.
Only wiring items remaining are GPS and Lambda.
Then on to reconnecting the exhaust pipes.
Starting to taste it now.
Finished all the wiring connections required for ECU and related sensors.
Sorted fuses and connected one at a time to test. Happy to say no miscues. Even learned blinkers work. Must have bumped the lever. No engine start yet but did power everything up and all linked up to computer as necessary.
It still remains possible to return to factory ignition if it ends up being necessary. After all this I really don't want to.
Exhaust buttoned up again. While under there I decided to add some trans fluid. Thing took the entire bottle. Did not look but IIRC it is over a quart. This didn't even top it off. :bricks: Time to hit the store for more.
Also made a top cover to house switches and power plug for the partial console. It is ABS with textured surface. I will paint it black to match.
Thanks for sharing your progress. Glad to see you back at it. Will you be at the fall fling? I am really hoping it happens. :fingerscrossed:
Quote from: nsmall on June 29, 2020, 02:21:57 PM
Thanks for sharing your progress. Glad to see you back at it. Will you be at the fall fling? I am really hoping it happens. :fingerscrossed:
Thanks and yes my intention is to be there.
As with everything on this, I have not erased the ability to go back to normal. Hence the reason for the full addon fusing block. Rendering old system obsolete. Unless of course I fail at this again... pull new fusing and go back to old.
Well... unfortunately I have now repeated the same roadblock that stalled this a couple years ago.
No spark from coils. All wiring is exacting to what is recommended and necessary now.
On with the MS forum for some guidance and researching.
:bricks:
Ack! You'll get it.
Tested an IO path that was suggested last night for both power and signal power.
Both powered up as they should have.
This tells me issue is internal to the unit. Basically already knew because I have tested all wiring along the way confirming all is proper. Coils, injectors and fuel pump are relayed with the trigger grounding signal controlled by ECU for safety.
Temporarily bypassed this and the coil plugs powered properly. Reconnect and get nothing.
Hopefully the "helper" replies soon for the next step.
Wife brought home the woodgrain for dash and redoing door inserts. It is leftover from a job her company had.
:idea: :thinking: what woodgrain side panels would look like? Maybe even woodgrain hockey sticks?
Woodgrain butt stripe?
National Lampoon Challenger.... :Thud: :stop:
Reading up on the bazillion iterations for programming of this setup. I learned that the test firing does not work on all coils when setup for wasted spark COP. Switched settings to full sequential. Nothing....
Another many mentioned items is fuel pump, coils and injector relay. There is a grounding wire for their relay trigger that feeds into ECU. Years ago I did not have them tied in to system. Part of my tedious rewiring this time was to set everything up as manual described. On a whim I turned on the fuel pump within the test page (actual fuse to pump remains pulled). Happy to note that after 4 years (on and off) the coils fired during their test. Turn off fuel pump and nothing. Turn bump back on and coils spark.
Massive sigh of relief. Finally... :cooldance:
When they are firing they can be heard. Except by me... unfortunately my hearing is toast. So I am using g a test light to see. Something is still not right because randomly the light was not flashing until I messed around the coil wire.
Test light is 30+ years old and could possibly not be picking up signal correctly. Going to purchase a new one with adjustable advance. Good excuse to upgrade.
Cautiously optimistic at this moment as this is further than I have gone.
New timing light came in and confirmed my suspicion. Old one was good for a few rounds then would blink out. 30+ years was a good run.
Second was I wrote up a reference tag to match firing order to the controller letter designation. And promptly mixed up a few. :dunno:
Corrected that dubass mistake and all 8 coils tested out properly.
Reswitched settings to COP wasted spark and semi sequential. They all tested correctly still.
Will run wasted spark until I get proper signal from cam trigger. Then switch settings back to full sequential.
Along the way I will start configuring all the sensors.
Exciting times at the moment. This success writing has been over 3 years in the making.
:cheers:
Great news. Logic and time create magic.
Congratulations. Getting closer. :bradsthumb:
Challenger is officially (finally) running on spark distributorless with the LS coils.
Again not without a bit of stupidity...
Tried to start it and would not fire. Cranked a bit until I could see carb was supplying fuel. Been sitting for awhile.
No fire...
In disgust I pulled the keys and tossed them onto passenger seat. Right next to the ECU box sitting there not plugged in...
I pulled it apart to make some adjustments for cam trigger and never plugged it back in.
When connected, it fired right up. 4 years since the start of this transition.
I had to sit, drink a beer and let success soak in.
:twothumbsup: celebration time.
Sorry: I had to laugh about the ECU on the seat! That is funny!
I had a similar experience , I converted a RR to Multiport EFI with crank trigger & & computer controlled ign system while testing it to make sure everything was working it fired up& ran which surprised me as I was only testing the circuitry !!
Congrats on getting it running !!
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on July 12, 2020, 07:51:51 AM
Sorry: I had to laugh about the ECU on the seat! That is funny!
Was written exactly for a laugh. I was able to when it fired.
Quote from: Chryco Psycho on July 12, 2020, 08:13:59 AM
I had a similar experience , I converted a RR to Multiport EFI with crank trigger & & computer controlled ign system while testing it to make sure everything was working it fired up& ran which surprised me as I was only testing the circuitry !!
Congrats on getting it running !!
Thanks it does feel good. Have to say I noticed immediately that it was idling smoother.
My only "on" suprise was the blinker working.
Back to bathroom remodel today. :'(
Avoided the bathroom remodel again and spent some hours cleaning up the wiring. One by one cut and soldered them to the new plug. Digging out each strand from the birds nest.
Was not initially expecting to get this far but got on a decent rythm.
This is the first time I have had a passenger floorboard in 4 years.
Will now mount ECU in the partial center console so wiring will clean up further.
A few more wires will need to be added soon for the idle air valve.
For now I will get the timing table set and drive it.
Removed a few more unnecessary items, sealed and tied of the wiring.
Took it out on its maiden voyage with the MS in control. Very basic timing table keeping it conservative. Wideband remains off. The thing runs pig rich and don't want to ruin it before I have time to try and dial that in.
MS drive portion was uneventful.
But primary start to this round was a bad cooling fan. Wiring that had been patched and patched again.
New wiring and new fans as well. New PWM controller did not work. !@#$%. $160 piece of junk right out of the box.
Anyone have a brand controller they would recommend?
Let's get some video for us. We have been waiting for awhile now.
Quote from: 7212Mopar on July 26, 2020, 10:49:58 AM
Let's get some video for us. We have been waiting for awhile now.
Guess I could work on that. Don't have a YouTube account so it gets cumbersome.
Now for the idiot award for the day.
PWM controller is now functioning properly.
I had 2 fuses. One was blown from original fan issue. And the replacement good one. Yep mixed them up and put in the already blown one. :bricks: :bricks: :bricks:
Took another test ride today and all worked well as it should.
Next plan it to dial in cam trigger.
Oh... and drive it.
Nice progress.
You have made great steps. Can't wait for more updates
QuoteIn disgust I pulled the keys and tossed them onto passenger seat. Right next to the ECU box sitting there not plugged in...
That totally sounds like something I would do. :yes:
Still basking in some functional glory. I decided to hack up the plenum. One of the struggles has been how to make a tight connection while making a quick turn towards the front. Plenum has to face sidways because there is no room forward. Magnum accessories are in the way.cutting the face off and milled housing. Will be about an inch shorter and will allow for a silicone adapter reducer.
I used this on my old turbo project. Easy starting point for what you need. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200729/fd8baa777fe984498754043166681128.jpg)
Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk
In hindsight that would have been a simpler approach.
Already have the TB for it. Have made the mounting brackets and cable setup for throttle as well.
Sticking with my "vision" but will definitely opt for another change if this becomes a stalling point.
Current mod is just another bit part of many open items on the list.
Took it to work today. Suprising how much smoother it runs on the coilpacks.
Parking is no issue.
Cool. It is running. :bravo: Next can we see some rubber burning videos, blow off valves noises soon? Hope you got a cover plate at where the distributors used to go.
Quote from: 7212Mopar on July 31, 2020, 03:14:40 PM
Cool. It is running. :bravo: Next can we see some rubber burning videos, blow off valves noises soon? Hope you got a cover plate at where the distributors used to go.
Yes...
Custom hybrid I turned and welded up. Bottom half is Mopar base. Top half houses the VR sensor from a Ford 302 for the sequential.
Worked on cleaning up the wiring further.
Later bit now will be to wrap the loose wires in back and down inner wheel well face. Behind side panels.
Will paint the board black when I get around to replacing the 'temporary" house carpet. Will be nice to have a trunk again. Lawn chairs for all the shows I cannot attend.
Spent more time on finding my trunk.
Made made a cover for the exposed bulkhead wiring.
Cut to shape and bent a flat sheet of PVC that has textured face. Painted it black and installed. Before and after pics.
Also narrowed down what version/brand of AIC valving.
The 4 wire Jeep I6 is a good match. Small compact housing that will be easy to make small adapter plate. So... out comes the wiring mess to extract the correct wires to connect it.
More boring wiring...
Started to make and layout an adapter block for the Jeep IAC valve.
Will end up being a simple square block with a few connecting holes.
Ran the 4 necessary wires thru firewall plug. Waiting for it to cool down some so I can pull out car and solder these into the plug.
Hindsight I should have figured these out before buttoning everything up. Still progressing though.
Also adding one more spare wire for possible power if I find it necessary to change crank trigger to Hall sensor.
Mike.
Removed some more unnecessary factory wiring. Reason the wires are all black as they were extensions that connected to factory wires when I initially just relocated the switch.
Also plugged in the clutch safety switch. This has been bypassed for the full 38 years I have owned it. Happy to state the switch is still working. Gonna see if I can live with it being "proper".
Added 4 new wires into the mess for the IAC. With the help of my big headed buddy.
Wiring under hood remains just tied off for now.
Finished the adapter block. Mounted it and the valve onto plenum.
When it cools down I will get to welding the face back together.
Step by step by step by step...
Hopefully I can do some of the previously mentioned welding this weekend.
Have started to work on the full length center console.
Laying out some boards and gluing pieces together for the different directions necessary. When done all the lap joints will be cut down to consistent width curves.
It is now sitting stable on the floor. Also trying to decide on the extensions final height. The center portion will be recessed from the side heights. Unsure of finish for it all at this point. Like everything else. I want the end result to be somewhat indiscreet. Cross between A body and the Charger style is in my head.
Will have cup holders :bradsthumb:. Along with USB char gf ers. Also going to incorporate a non contact phone charging pad.
And you cannot have too many clamps.
Started to have odd electrical issues and so far it has me stumped. Both the left and right dash signal lights are illuminating along with voltage staying at only 12v.
Swapped out the vreg. Knew was a futile exercise. But I had a new spare. No change.
All addons are their own isolated circuits next to factory. Not intertwined.
With that said, I can shut it off separately with its own breaker.
Turn off breaker and the erroneous lights no longer light up. Car won't start with ECU off but will still crank with breaker tripped.
So... WTH.
The only "link" from factory wiring to the new setup is a single wire pulling from fuse block that is powered with crank and run.
This signal is only used to trigger a continuous duty relay.
That relay feeds every thing new.
Multiple weeks and many miles of setup finally working perfect. So I have to assume wiring "plan" is sound. Gonna pull dash next to see if I can find something that has gone amiss.
Joy joy joy...
Could it be feedback from a light bulb socket?
Something rubbing etc.
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on September 03, 2020, 07:00:01 AM
Something rubbing etc.
This is what first came to mind for me. But also maybe a ground? Connection, not a short. So it's finding a ground through another light? :dunno:
Quote from: JS29 on September 03, 2020, 05:58:40 AM
Could it be feedback from a light bulb socket?
This was my first thoughts as well be cause had same issue on another car years ago.
Checked and all lights will go on properly.
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on September 03, 2020, 07:00:01 AM
Something rubbing etc.
Yes I am thinking this. Although I have tied everything safely.
Quote from: dodj on September 03, 2020, 10:29:34 AM
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on September 03, 2020, 07:00:01 AM
Something rubbing etc.
This is what first came to mind for me. But also maybe a ground? Connection, not a short. So it's finding a ground through another light? :dunno:
Yes erroneous grounding...
Fuses are not blowing. Signals inside and out still work.
I did notice the dimmer switch would make glow brightness change. Switch has been mostly junk for awhile. New dash lighting is plugged into this power. Unplugged new dash lights from circuit and same thing. Also unplugged the factory dimmer switch. Still same thing.will start pulling the add on fuses 1 by one to see if I find a culprit. Then new dash.
So I have found this ground wire just hanging out.
Obviously must not have been tight when I tucked everything in neater. Charging appears all good now. The regulator signal wire now comes from a trunk fuse.
Voltage is good again. However the blinkers now just have a small glow. Will continue to trace further for that. At least it's a step forward.
After a couple months of sitting because I am deep into the Falcon assembly.
I fired it up a couple days ago. Let it run until the fans kicked on. Zero doubts of where my loyalty lies with vehicle of choice.
"Since I was in there" I sidetracked and worked on center console more. Really like how it is turning out so far.
Also you can never have too many clamps and straps.
Finally an update. Small but is something.
Started to finish the switch side of custom dash.
No pics but did try cardboard mockups. They all failed so I moved on to the real stuff.
Start big and wittle away until happy.
Getting close for the face. Backside will get welded on tabs for the mounts.
Single hidden screw holding it now. Will also get the top cap like the guage side. Top facing down will all be painted black. Face will get the woodgrain wrap as can be seen on right of new piece.
Challenger build remains on temporary hold due to another project.
Fortunately I am on the tail end of it's build. Fortunately I also already have it sold. 64 Falcon Sprint.
Some of its funds will benefit Challenger.
Already drifting towards what will be its next priority.
Also have these in process. Plan is to replace the 15" Rallyes with these. Original center caps fit well but will be making the trim rings special. Along with the Rallye triangle (ish) holes and raised surface features surrounding them.
Where to start....
Been a year and a half since last update. Sadly enough I had to go back and reread my own project to get caught up.
Falcon distraction project completed and has now been shipped up to Washington St.
Slowly have been drifting back into Challenger.
Ordered in a builder kit of SS exhaust tube.
Not ready for turbos yet so I will build it from rear forward. Existing mufflers and back half has rotted holes in it.
Need to stave off asphyxiating myself.
Same mantra of building and keeping it drivable for as long as possible.
Purchased a new shifter to replace sloppy old one.
Remade the cam sensor setup for a hall effect version. Should be able to pick up signal easier.
Started up again on the custom machined wheels that will mimic the Rallyes.
Picture is alignment setup for wire EDM start holes.
Round holes will be wired to similar triangle (ish) Rallyes.
Drilled hole is for "C" shaped wire cut that will define the profile for the raised bump surrounding hole.
Hopefully the vision turns out proper. Initially they will be 17" x 7" then will widen 2 to be probably 9" wide.
Have and will install rebuilt door hinges.
Finally on this again...
Nice to see you back on the Challenger. How will you make the raised bump around the holes? Welding? Make a die?
Quote from: Brads70 on August 05, 2023, 05:20:04 AM
Nice to see you back on the Challenger. How will you make the raised bump around the holes? Welding? Make a die?
Will wire a slot above the hole that mimics the transition line of the bump and face. Probably will have him wire out a buck with same profile. Will bend up the bump from the cut slot and then weld seam closed again. Hand working tje face to eliminate sharp edge.
That's current plan. Hope it works.
Will also have to make my own beauty rings.
This was my test piece getting familiar with the bead roller and tipping wheel. Will shrink/stretch the face once lip is bent.
This is just fun stuff for now. Already worked on the cam trigger piece today as well.
Wow seems like a big effort /lot of work. :worship:
Maybe consider a couple spares while you have access to the equipment, wire edm etc... just in case you damage a rim ( pothole etc... down the road -pardon the pun , lol) I miss having access to more equipment. But manage ok with the manual machines I have, just takes longer.
What is the donor rim from? Are they plentiful and cheap ? I ask as I'm sure you know the 17" aftermarket ralleys are available, look good and are cheap enough? Just doing it for the challenge?
Quote from: Brads70 on August 07, 2023, 12:22:06 AM
Wow seems like a big effort /lot of work. :worship:
Maybe consider a couple spares while you have access to the equipment, wire edm etc... just in case you damage a rim ( pothole etc... down the road -pardon the pun , lol) I miss having access to more equipment. But manage ok with the manual machines I have, just takes longer.
What is the donor rim from? Are they plentiful and cheap ? I ask as I'm sure you know the 17" aftermarket ralleys are available, look good and are cheap enough? Just doing it for the challenge?
Rims are from all the big Chryslers with hubcaps.
Yes on knowing about the Yearones.
Yes x2 doing it because I enjoy this. Basically fill in fun (not a focus) in between the main build focus.
Will be making 6 of them. 4 to immediately mount, leaving 2 to eventually widen. Width to be determined by available tire size.
Already installed the hall effect sensor. Will be wiring it in soon. Reading up again on how to un-adjust the main board for this style sensor.
Was given free reign over the past couple years to finish the Falcon.
Now there is the necessary balance between house and Challenger.
Fixed gate latch - fixed sandblaster.
Worked on jacuzzi - worked on transmission.
Replumbed air compressor lines and added filters to eliminate water issues.
Started to blast the wheels in preparation for wire EDM work.
Purchased som A/C vents and promptly took one apart. Reviewing them for possible remanufacturing of the components. Will work on cost for tooling of the actual housings as well.
Committed to replacing exhaust so I got it up on stands.
Opened up the OD 833 to inspect inside. Everything looks clean. Even the synchro's look perfect. Willing to try it out.
Set up in mill now to drill shifter mount holes.
OD cover has pretty slick lever setup to switch the gearing around.
Not sure when I will install it. It is possible I will drop entire drivetrain soon.
Purchased a new bolt on style shifter to replace current one.
Unfortunately I have the earlier version... :Thud:
Current one works but is very sloppy. What to do now... :notsure:
"Constrained" project creep in effect...
Exhaust still in process but have decided to finish more items since I am already under it.
Trans swap is on hold for now.
I removed the interior to allow welding in of frame connectors.
Also have decided to fully complete the turbo manifolds, hot side and wastegate plumbing.
Turbos to intercooler plumbing has been mocked up.
Next fireup will include the turbos. Even if they just blow air to nowhere.
Attempt is to push me into finalizing the EFI conversion.
Wow man, this is such a cool build! Can't wait to see it running.
Quote from: daaboots on October 06, 2023, 06:56:58 AM
Wow man, this is such a cool build! Can't wait to see it running.
I agree, hope he gets rid of the Ford soon so he will be able devote all his time to the Challenger..... :D
It's hard to look past the cool fabrication but damn! That floor is like 1974 nice!
Passenger header is now 100% welded. As is the mount flange and tube.
Both the turbo flange and header flange warped. Had to mill both flat again.
Wastegate mounting in process.
Charge pipe is also moving forward. One pic has the green florist foam left tall enough to crush when hood is closed. This leaves imprint for where piping has to avoid.
My welding is ugly but functional.
Wastegate layout for both banks have been decided.
Passenger side in process.
Moved on to further the ducting from intercoolers to tb.
They are ovaled/flattened so everything clears hood structure. Roughly 1/4" to spare.
Cut up finished plenum to allow relocating tje throttle body rearward. This move provided necessary clearance between pipe and header.
Nice to finally see some reality of what has been in my head for 10+ years now.
Passenger side is now 100% fully welded.
On to drivers side.
Incredible work man! Can't wait to see this thing rip!
Quote from: daaboots on November 29, 2023, 11:58:45 AMIncredible work man! Can't wait to see this thing rip!
Thank you. Me as well. This has been a lengthy path.
Oooh more....
Drivers header full welded.
Had to sand flange face to remove weld warpage.
This makes me want to run a turbo on mine so bad!
Mundane item update.
Oil feed and drain lines are now sorted. Will need to insulate the feeds.
Finished welding the turbo to intercooler piping. Top tube is what I started with. JY sourced tubes from a Volvo. Will clean up and repaint them later.
Moved on to the (I'm too old for this sh..) underside location. Cleaning and stripping the floors for weld.
Plenty of grinding necessary for proper fitment of the frame connectors.
Next up before welding them in will be removing the 5/16 fuel line replacing with 3/8" feed and return.
Also measure proper locations of e-brake cables to add clearance thru the new rails.
Frame connectors fit, surfaces stripped and ready for weld.
Also happy to say, properly located clearance holes for the e-brake.
Tic tic tic...
Work was several weeks ago.
Slowly getting over being sick.
Replaced fuel lines to now have both feed and return lines 3/8 diameter.
Replaced sending unit because previous new(ish) one was already bad. Float had fuel in it and the resistor coil had several dead spots what would cause irratic guage readings.
Unfortunately I had to drop tank because the float popped off when installing unit. It is tight because of the added return line.
When/if you get sick of those aftermarket sending units you might consider one of these? I have one in mine.
https://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=478/category_id=68/mode=prod/prd478.htm
Quote from: Brads70 on February 10, 2024, 06:24:18 AMWhen/if you get sick of those aftermarket sending units you might consider one of these? I have one in mine.
https://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=478/category_id=68/mode=prod/prd478.htm
Yes, the path I will be going with. Current is just to keep marching forward because it is still functional.
Last on the list will be replacing rear and gearing along with fuel tank and pump.
Still not feeling good enough to be crawling and welding on underside, I changed focus to top side necessities.
After what was probably 6 different ideas and partially made iterations for relocating coils, I finally decided on space between valve covers and intake would be the best.
Other locations all had space constraint issues. Others had the coil wires being vastly too long.
L bracket mounted to fuel rail brackets. Screw on tabs to hang the coils from.
Functionally complete. Now for further refinement to clean it up.
Passenger side required relocation of tab on the coil to get them clocked to fit proper.
Nothing like hacking up a rare M1 manifold to suit your needs.
Removed the 2 mounting posts to allow rotating the injector connections inbound. Outside real-estate will now be filled with coil brackets.
Awesome build. My next engine build will be a twin turbo Hemi (last 3). First 3 are the current build.
Coil mounting 4.0 (first 3 iterations all failed for various reasons).
Using the fuel rail mounting bolts to hang the coil brackets.
Basic angle steel cut and cleared where necessary.
Drivers side was easiest.
Passenger side I needed to cut tabs off coil brackets to clock them in a different rotation for clearance.
Functional now. Ugly will remain until EFI and motor swap is complete.
Focused drive to end goal.
Only what matters is what matters.
Removed the old chrome covers. Believe they are 273 originals.
Frankensteined some newer ones to add more clearance. Will be welding on tabs to mount heat shielding along with containment tabs for plug wiring. Will dress them up a bit. But most of the ugly will remain. They are only temporary until the 5.9 Magnum is swapped in.
Great progress!
WOW!!
I've not read this thread in full until now.
All I can say is WOW !!!
I am very impressed!
Thank you for sharing with us.
Quote from: cuda hunter on February 24, 2024, 09:34:01 AMWOW!!
I've not read this thread in full until now.
All I can say is WOW !!!
I am very impressed!
Thank you for sharing with us.
Thank you.
Manufacturing is in my blood.
40 years in the plastic injection mold business. Don't build at work any longer. The home building feeds the need.
Valve covers complete. Annealed som 1/8 aluminum and formed heat shielding. Coil brackets now complete. All coil wires finished with added heat wrap protection.
Pleased with how it turned out.
Miserable weekend welding underside connectors in. Along with grinding to clean up areas that are visible.
Glad that is done.
Not much picture worthy.
Work continuing with building of the exhaust.
Mock installed the engine side for what feels like the 200th time.
Tail pipes started and hung.
Mufflers are hung.
Over the axle and forward up to X pipe.
Unfortunately ran out of bends. Need to order a couple more.
Roughly 3 feet remain to fully connect both pipes.
Fun times also dealing with miserable sunny Ca. weather.
Looking great! I just added some custom subframe connectors on my car, however, I was on a rotisserie so no upside down welding :)
Minimal progress as I filled argon mix for Mig welder but then promptly ran out of argon for the Tig. Tig handle started leaking Coolant also.
Moved on to brackets and then band saw broke its drive belt.
Home shop with antiquated equipment has its down days.
Exhaust continues.
All the hangers are complete.
Gotta love the torch. Also known as the (I am not asking) tool.
Full lengths of pipes are now all tack welded in proper place. Will drop and full weld next.
Moved on to the rear to layout where and how exhaust will exit.
Starting with new bumper brackets to tighten up its alignment to body. Mounting tabs welded to bumper and all bolt holes are welded closed. Will be properly smoothed out later.
Split a spare rear tail pan to customize it.
Center portion is raised to tuck tight to bumper. It will house the dual exhaust outlets. Center exhaust tips are the only non factory visual I want for the car.
Left and right sides of the tail pan will be extended upward to match raised center. Bottom lip will remain same level as original. Blending fillers will be made to merge pushed out center with outer pieces.
Lowest portion of pan will remain original level. Tips will not sit any lower than pan.
Tips will be shortened closer to the panel and the opening faces will be angled inward.
This will remain only mockup only to define exhaust location for the pipe exits.
Main focus is to get it running and on the ground again to finalize conversion to the EFI.
Methodical steps.
More pics
More heat shielding.
All my add on wiring passes thru firewall where heater motor used to pass thru. This covers from there towards engine. Mounts to an existing bracket for catch can.
Insulted and cushioned back face with rubber to prevent chafing.
Exhaust continues...
Main pipes now 100% welded. No new pics.
Repair to 30 year old welder completed again to fix a new coolant leak.
Frame connectors and exposed metal covered with chassis saver protection.
Heat shield added to protect master cylinder and brake lines.
No pic but fuel lines near exhaust wrapped in heat shielding.
Keeping it muted but project creep is happening.
Needed to rebuild the coupler and also had some light rust at the firewall pass thru. Pulled column to correct.
Then the "well since I am in here" kicked in.
Will repaint column.
Pull custom dash cluster and finally finish it as was planned many years ago.