- Time for an update! Well, after a week of waiting, I finally mananged to get the tranny reinstalled with the 'fixed' throwout bearing. Bob Weir took mine apart, replaced the seals and fixed the welded seam problems. No more leaks as far as I can tell. Bob also made me a spacer to position the bearing close enough to the diaphragm to fully release the clutch when the pedal is pressed. So far, things seem to be working much better!
- I've done several little things over the last few weeks. First, I mounted the console in place. Since the car didn't have the floor brackets, I just mounted the console directly to the tranny tunnel. Worked great! Then I installed my new power windows switches and relays. I am going to custom make a plate to mount the switches and also cover the shifter hole soon.
- I disassembled the front suspension and adjusted the Martz a-arm end links to allow for more adjustability the next time I attempt an alignment. I also regreased the bushings for smooth travel. Seems to be working great.
- While I was working in that area, I decided I needed to remake the bracket that was supporting the steering linkage. The original bracket was allowing the rod end to touch the header tube. Also, the u-joint was slightly binding while turning, and that you could feel in the steering wheel. So I made a new bracket and mounting point lower on the frame to try and fix both problems. Well, the bind is definitely gone, but I managed to miss on my mark for the rod end, so it still slightly touches the header tube. Hmm... Oh well, I'll make a THIRD bracket I suppose. :\ I shouldn't have to move the mounts points again though.
- One last annoying little problem. For some reason, the bracket that connects the primary and secondary throttle blades on the throttle body is sticking. Ugh! I found out the hard way when I started the car and it literally revved to about 6000rpm! So for the moment, I have the bar removed, and all driving/tuning is with only the primaries opening.
- So, after all this, last weekend I finally had some weather good enough to try and get the car out of the garage again. I got brave and took the car out aroundthe neighborhood! I can't begin to tell you how good it felt just going the 300 or so feet up and down the street! Wow! I've taken it on several trips up and down the street, and ventured out onto other streets even! :) It feels great, but as anyone who has built a car before knows, I'm being super anal/careful right now. I hear every funny sound the car makes. So I have a lot more shaking down to do.
- One thing I worked on a lot the last few days is the FAST ECU base fuel tuning. I've been recording lots of data and trying to analyze it. I quickly discovered that the process of using the wideband O2 sensor to adjust the VE tables was something that could/should be processed by a computer. So, I spent the better part of last week writing a computer program to analyze the log data and the VE table, and create new VE entries based on the data in the log. It seems to work great! After about 3 or 4 < 10 minute test drives, I have the areas where the ECU spent time adjusted so there is very little O2 correction. Now, I just need to figure out exactly what the ideal A/F ratios for this motor are going to be, and I can do the final tuning.
- Yesterday, my best friend and his family stopped by while I was working on things, so I took them out for a 'test drive'! :) I ventured out onto the main road outside of the neighborhood for about 3/4 of a mile. I managed to get the car into 6th gear, and it's amazingly stable even under load. No surging, no stumbling. I was really impressed! The FAST ECU has really tamed down my BIG cam! :) Oh, and the car was SO MUCH FUN to drive during that short distance! My friends got out all with big smiles on their faces! :) It's such a good feeling...
- Of course, all this excitement couldn't come without a cost... Yep, a new problem. After the first couple of drives, I started noticing oil on the floor under the car. Well, it turns out that I didn't seal up the 3-piece timing cover very well. Because of this, I spent yesterday afternoon pulling off the front of the motor (alternator, power steering pump, AC compressor, water pump, and harmonic dampener!) just to get to the cover. All things considered, the job went pretty quickly, and I managed to pull the cover and seal it back up such that I think it won't leak again. I haven't restarted the motor yet though, so only time will tell. Everything is back on the motor, and you can't tell it was ever apart again! :) I even found a few little things to clean up while I was at it.
- Ok, that's it for now. This week I'm going to try to do a little more ECU tuning, make certain that my oil leak is gone, and work on the interior some more. I plan to run new power wires to my power window relays to see if I can speed them up a little bit. I also want to finally mount the ECU up in the dash so it doesn't have to sit in the floor. And finally, I am going to establish the insurance on the car and get a license plate on order. Any suggestions for a good one?! :)
