On Saturday, October 10, I did some fuel management ground work.
The fuel pump is wired in the stock configuration. This means the fuel pump comes on when the starter is turning and when the engine is running. If the engine stops, the DME cuts the fuel pump off.
I wired a switch in to override the DME so that I can turn on the fuel pump at any time, if I want to be sure it's working or if I want to pump the fuel out of the tank, which is what I wanted to do in this case.
I popped the end cap off the fuel rail and ran a hose to a fuel jug, and switched on the fuel pump. It emptied the tank pretty quickly. There were about 3 gallons of fairly yellow gas in there. I programmed the Holley fuel gauge in manual mode, letting it know that it was in the "empty" state.
Then I bought fifteen gallons of 93 octane and put it in there, along with some other gas I had around. 21 gallons total. I started filling it gallon-by-gallon to see when the OEM low-fuel level sensor's idiot light would turn off:
It didn't turn off after adding the third gallon. I went to fill a fourth, and when I came back it was off. So I guess my fuel-remaining when the light comes on is somewhere between 2 and 3 gallons.
I filled the tank the rest of the way and programmed the gauge to its "full" level. The low-fuel warning light in the gauge itself is programmable. You can set it anywhere on the dial.
Does anyone have any clever ideas for where I should set the programmable one? From a race / fuel management perspective?
Here's a pic of the fuel being pumped out. It had a LOT of air bubbles in it but I think it was being introduced right there through the threads where I pushed the tubing on. I want to get a proper fitting for that so I can do this with more confidence and less mess.
Then today I made a lot of progress.
I ran a wire from the oil temperature gauge to the oil temperature sensor. And I permanently installed the fuel pump bypass switch on the console panel.
I connected the power to the MYLAPS transponder. It complained, because my subscription is inactive, but it's done and it did what the manual said it would do. The transponder itself started blinking, so power's getting down there, I guess.
Unfortunately as I was stripping the transponder wire's jacket, I must have been using the wiper switch body for leverage, and I broke something on it. It's wobbly now and I don't trust it. So I have another on order.
I dressed about half the wires behind the dash. All are connected at this time, so it's now just a matter of dressing the rest.
I tested the fans by jumping the connection at the thermofan switch, and somehow I got them wrong. Jumping the slow speed made the fans run fast, and vice versa.
It was easiest to swap the wires at the fuse/relay panel's terminal block, and now they operate properly. The slow and fast fan speeds seem OK to me. I didn't do any RPM estimates based on pitch or anything. I just figured the slow speed sounded pretty reasonable, and I'm happy that they both work! After running the slow speed for a while, I couldn't even detect any elevation in temperature in the power resistors. So it seems to be a pretty happy/relaxed/balanced system.
I fashioned some makeshift grommets in a couple spots on the firewall. That is, I took short pieces of the split-loom and double-wrapped the wires where they pass through from the cabin to the battery compartment. It's not perfect but it should protect the wires from the metal quite well.
So there's not much left to do! I put wheels on and I put the seat back into the car. I started it up, took it off the stands, and ripped around the neighborhood for a bit, waving to everybody as I went. Everything works!
A minor complaint: ALL the new gauges have various amounts of condensation inside the crystal. I'm hoping that will just work itself out.
The car is so LOUD! The tires aren't round from sitting, they're covered with stones and OPR, the camber makes it super darty on the crowned pavement in my neighborhood, and everything makes more noise than I remember. Drivetrain, tires, suspension links, etc. Everything is just super noisy. I'll have to get used to it I guess.
But the success of the test drive gave me the confidence to sign up for the last event of the year: NASA Mid Atlantic Region's Fall Finale! I'm going to do Time Trials, because it looks like I'll get several stints on track to shake down the car, and I want to verify my transponder actually works the way it's wired in there.