All proper and E36 M3, fuses and relays, second hand switches. The relays and fuse block will be in the cab, close to the battery, which isn't ideal but with no inner fenders I'd be worried about debris and water damaging something.
The fuel pump I have has no markings so I have no idea what it is other than noisy. Gonna start with 10a fuse and see what happens. The factory put a 10a fuse for brake lights, but I can't tell what for headlights or signals. Homework time.
Dad has been working on a dash. That'll give me somewhere to mount switches and stuff.
I didn't get everything I wanted to do today, but I made good progress. Gonna keep plugging small stuff until dinner time.
In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :
That's the goal. Wally World or bust, you know?
The biggest thing is just making sure it works. That takes driving time. It's one thing to roll a car off the trailer and find the clutch doesn't work. Totally different to jam the car together the night before a 2200 mile drive. The worst possible outcome is to get somewhere like Texas and have a major failure.
Im ok with slow. I mean, everything is faster than my daily, so I'll be having fun.
I was planning to do rear brakes and wiring today, but life had other plans. Apparently what I thought was bad Mexican food on Thursday wasn't. No sleep since Wednesday night, gnarly pain, and a concerned wife, so ER this morning. Scan showed kidney stone jammed up in my stuff. Out of OR now, 90% pain free, just lost a work day. More next week.
*edit.
But at least I did my hospital time in style
Damn, Shaun. Glad to hear that you figured out the issue and are on the mend. Rest, recuperate, and heal. The car will wait.
What a garbage week. Missed three days of work. Yesterday saw the end of my kidney stone saga, hopefully. Feeling about 80%, so going slow but making progress.
Fuel pump wiring routed
found a grommet to use. I think it was for the fuel sender before.
Adding weight, but what are you gonna do? Dash is finished, just needs welding.
So now I have somewhere to actually mount all the electrical nonsense.
Also changed the oil because water got in it and this motor sat for a long time so I wanted to check for debris.
Lots of water got in.
Not sure I remembered to drain it before putting oil in when we started it, so I'm hoping the water was just in the pan after the engine sat open outside for a while. If it's a head gasket or cracked head (this is a 400 after all) I'm still not worried as I'm planning to put these beauties on anyway
If the block is cracked I'm not sure what the answer will be. There is a well used but running 350 in the shop, and another that needs rebuilt but it is a roller cam and 4 bolt main, so we have options, but time is a concern in either case.
Off to get tacos, then I'll see what I can get done after.
Glad you're on the mend. Are you welding the dash in? Can you weld a frame and make the top removable? Might make wiring easier.
In reply to hobiercr (FS) :
Welding it in. The bottom is open and it's only 6" tall. The wiring is mostly done and shouldn't be difficult to access.
I don't trust these switches. Gonna order some replacements. Plus, the retaining tabs are broken on 3 of them anyway. And I cant find any screws to attach the block and relays anyway. Slow, not super productive day.
Finished the dash
Finished the fan shroud (still need mounting hardware for the fan)
it slides down on the radiator like this on both sides and I'm planning to use tech screws to make it stay. No shame.
Finished the battery strap
those bolts are captive, and I can't seem to find any 3/8" nuts laying around.
The rear brake line is in, though the fitting on the end is wrong because ford decided to make things difficult. So I'll need a 3/16 flare fitting for the larger thread size, whatever that is. Look at this nonsense
Same size lines, different size fittings. Thanks Henry II. Jerk.
So, need some tech screws, and some switches, and probably a billion other things.
Officially registered. It's on. We may be slow, we may break down, but we'll do our best and have as much fun as possible. Also fingers crossed for a first drive tomorrow.
I wonder if the fittings are an assembly line thing, gm is the same way. I bought an assortment from inline tube and it came with everything i needed.
Brake lines finally done.
Just need to bleed them.
Wiring is done. At least enough to run and drive. No lights yet.
Looks like a bit of a mess but it's not bad. Just needs a couple zip ties to tidy everything up. Even did switches!
ign, fuel, start, fan.
Gonna try to drive it as soon as I bleed the brakes and put gas in the tank.
Bled the brakes
installed the fan, in a pusher configuration because easier.
Loomed all the wiring under the hood using leftovers from the engine donator.
Grabbed the gas can
empty. Apparently my moms car ran out of gas the other day so I didn't have any on hand today. Oh well. Got a date with the wife tonight so probably better I get home on time. I did confirm the fan and the fuel pump both work when I flip the switches. Hopefully Monday I can find a few minutes to get some gas and air up the tires for a test drive around the block.
In reply to barefootskater :
I came back this morning expecting a first drive report.......
Did it happen?
In reply to Indy "Nub" Guy :
Not yet. We're planning to go up there for dinner later but I don't fancy hauling a stinky gas can in the van with kids. Monday though, work permitting.
Something happened.
over a year ago when we first pulled the engine from the van, that night I rebuild the carb and it's been sitting on a shelf until we fired it up briefly a month ago. Well today I put gas in the tank and flipped the switches. It started right up but on my walk around I noticed the carb was dripping fuel. Luckily it turned out to be a few loose screws. Tightened them and triple checked for no more leaks.
Then I tried to fire it up again and as soon as I hit the starter button everything died. Turned out to be dirty battery terminals/cables.
Then I flipped the switches, depressed the clutch and put it in first.
And immediately scraped the bottom pulling off the concrete slab. oops.
The loud pedal is LOUD. And it hauls. About two minutes in I started to get sprayed on the face. Radiator leaks a little but is easily fixed.
And I desperately need wheel spacers, because it rubs the upper arms pretty bad.
Still riding the adrenaline. A little shaky.
It drives! Even though the timing is just a guess right now. Lunch break.
Indy "Nub" Guy said:
BERK YEAH !!!!!
This! All of this!
It's moving under it's own power, berk yeah, wait I'm getting sprayed by something.....
I love this. Congrats on making it move!
In reply to gumby (Forum Supporter) :
Turns out it was coolant dripping onto the alternator fan. Probably wouldn't have ever found it if we had a hood and windshield.
Also apparently I didn't get #5 plug wire on well enough because it came off on the way home. Fixed that, and the radiator will need to come out again but that's a minor issue.
next big priorities are brake lights and license plates so we can put some real test miles on it. Hopefully this week I can manage both. Any maybe start mounting the harnesses. Not sure what to do for a harness bar yet.
And I need to pull the diff. And replace front brakes. And make front sway links. And install gauges. Even found a fuel gauge in the pile. And decide if we're actually swapping heads (would need to buy an intake). Gonna be in the mountains this weekend. Time is running out. Challenge is next month!
Dad is starting to talk crazy.
As the car sits, were a little under 1/2 budget. We have heads and could do a vortec swap for a good power bump @ $300. It's not a small amount of effort, but tried and proven. That's what I want to do.
Dad slid the summit catalog over to me at dinner on Sunday and it was open to the nitrous page.
I don't have any experience with the juice. But I'm fairly confident this big engine could take 100 or even 150 and just shrug it off. The vortec stuff wouldn't even be close (especially with time ruling out any cam swapping)
Is it really that crazy?
Theres a reason why some many people love nitrous, and others regret it. I love this build and with I could drop that engine stuff off at your house tomorrow. Please tell me "tetanus shot" will be incorporated at least in your concours
In reply to Justjim75 :
I doubt we'd regret it. Time permitting, I wouldn't hesitate to swap heads cam and intake and that's an honest 100-150hp improvement on a stock smog era motor. So the bottom end should easily take a 100 shot of nitrous. At least that's my theory.
Just make sure your carb is set to the rich side. I've never setup NOS but I know a lot about it from friends and my own research. Nitrous only provides more oxygen in liquid form to allow you to burn more fuel than the air going into the engine will allow, so if you dont give it enough gas, it will lean out and kaboom
In reply to Justjim75 :
We'd be using a wet system
