toedrag

I used freightquote dot com to arrange shipment of my kit. I think it's a lot like shipping a car where, most of the time, you'll work with a broker who will find an available 3rd party shipping company to do the work. In my case, freightquote used Estes Express for the job. Florida to TX for 1200 lbs in a crate that was about 4'x4'x12' came out to ~$500. I didn't bother asking about home delivery when I was setting up the shipment; I got the feeling it added considerable cost. On the delivery date, I drove to the Estes warehouse with a trailer. Sadly, the crate was damaged; I took plenty of pictures and made sure they saw it and that they noted it on the paperwork. I still signed for it since the damage to the contents appeared to be very minor, and I hauled it away in a trailer. When filing my claim with Estes, I submitted a repair estimate from a fiberglass repair shop, and Estes sent me a check within a couple of weeks with no questions asked. Both companies' representatives I worked with were courteous & responsive throughout.

I inherited mine Here's a used set on ebay for $30 with 1 hour remaining: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Progressive-Electronics-200EP-Inductive-Amplifier-and-77HP-Tracer-2http-cgi5-e-/151523452931?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2347806803

Finally had time to start hacking up the engine wiring harness. First up, some changes to the T56 connections: had to add 12" extensions to the Reverse Lockout solenoid & Reverse Gear sensor wires because they simply wouldn't reach where they needed to go. Oh, and this wire stripping gun is amazing. I don't know how I haven't owned one of these before now - $9 at my local electronics shop. It automatically adjusts to varying wire & insulation thicknesses, up to about a 14 gauge GXL. It's so much easier than the traditional wire stripping method, both for wire stripping in situ or on the bench http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28108&g2_serialNumber=3 The Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) connector on my T56 Magnum is a Ford type, so I had to cut off the GM connector and wire in the Ford pigtail, which was included in the transmission box from American Powertrain. It doesn't matter which ECU wire goes to which pigtail wire. Yes, I soldered it :-) http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28110&g2_serialNumber=3 Next, based on my application & wiring design, I made some changes to the fuse panel included with the Current Performance Wiring kit. As I was poking around, I noticed two potential issues: The purple starter solenoid wire had been pinched against one of the legs of the base. The insulation has some slight cosmetic abrasions. I'm not sure if this would have lead to a bigger issue later on. I addressed it by moving things around a bit after opening up the split loom & wiring bundle. There is a 16 gauge wire that feeds +12V to some bussed terminals which then feeds +12V to the Cooling Fan, Fuel Pump, and ECU. With my cooling fan & fuel pump, that's 18 simultaneous amps during normal operation (as read from their respective specifications). I really don't know what the ECU current draw should be, maybe just 2A or less? That's ~20 amps on a 16 gauge wire, which to me, seems like too much load. This ampacity chart identifies that the highest constant ampacity for 16 gauge is 22 amps in open air; I would have expected a 12 gauge on this feed wire. As an aside, I think the currently installed fuses for these items are 30A (fan), 20 (fuel pump), and 10 (ECU pwr). I suspect the feed wire would melt before the 30A fuse blew. To address this, at the very least, I'll just change out the fuses for more appropriately rated ones. I would prefer to add another jumper wire to the bussed terminals, but I can't figure out how to remove those darn things. It's not just a single terminal, which I can remove with ease. In this case, three terminals are connected together. I pulled out the plastic retainer and used my terminal removal tool on all three, but they won't budge. I don't really want to force it. I'll ask Current Performance Wiring about both the 16 gauge feed wire and how to remove these bussed terminals. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28112&g2_serialNumber=2 Lastly, here is a useful tool for finding wires that I've used countless times when running data cables & other wires in my house. It's called a toner or tracer. The transmitting end attaches to the wire and sends a small signal that can be detected wirelessly with the receiver. It beeps louder the closer the tip is to the target wire. This time, I used it to find the Oil Pressure sensor wire in the bundle. Both the transmitter & receiver are battery operated, which makes them highly portable. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28116&g2_serialNumber=3

Glad you're enjoying the experience, Bob. My rear R888's arrived yesterday for my XL, and I started laughing at how comically large they are.

I sometimes use "allofcraigs" which now redirects to adhuntr dot com, and I frequently have valid results in adhuntr that don't show up in searchtempest...not sure why...

On the plus side, it should resolve that pesky mystery scraping noise

Slight delay in completing the parking brake. The cable bracket in the IPSCO kit had the wrong thread pitch, which I didn't realize until too late. IPSCO sent replacements quickly, but I had to send one of the Lokar sheaths off to get the fitting replaced since it too was trashed. Been working more in my indoor laboratory on prototyping various parts of my dash/gauge design. Picked up my modified seat brackets tonight. These started out life as sidemount brackets from Planted Technology, but since I & wifey wanted a little more recline in the seat, my fabrication guy welded some extensions. The extensions have 2 pieces: the first is butt-welded on the top of the existing bracket, and the second is a lap weld on top of both the existing & new piece on top. Then, he machined the slots like the originals. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28070&g2_serialNumber=3 ECU & ECU fuse panel mounted, along with my template for my chassis fuse/relay panels: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28074&g2_serialNumber=3 Holes cut: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28078&g2_serialNumber=3 Fuse/relay panels mounted: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28080&g2_serialNumber=3

Thx, Jevs. Food for thought, for sure.

Yeah, I went back & forth on the cut-off switch idea, and at the moment, I don't plan to use one. If/when I ever get into an environment that requires one, I'll do it then.

Hmm, I hadn't planned on using one; I always thought they were more for systems with multiple batteries, no?

Ha, sorry about that. Blue Sea is the mfg Terminal Fuse Holders: [/url]https://www.bluesea.com/products/category/Fuse_Blocks/Terminal_Fuse_Blocks Terminal Fuses, these are also known as Marine Rated Battery Fuses (MRBF): https://www.bluesea.com/products/category/Fuses/Marine_Rated_Battery_Fuses

Wheels are finally on the way and should be here next Wed. I got a fantastic Black Friday deal on these; they were the only item I bought on Black Friday, in fact. Vordoven Forme 9, Hyper black color Front: 18x9.5, +22 Rear: 18x10.5, +15 The rear offset is different because the shopping list calls for an 18x11, +20 offset, but with the 10.5 width of my chosen wheel, by going with a +15 offset, it should extend only 1mm further outside than the shopping list wheel. Toyo R888 in a 315 are still spec'd to fit on a 10.5" wide wheel. http://cdn3.volusion.com/5ehx2.gysj4/v/vspfiles/photos/VDFR9-7225HB14-2T.jpg?1416331090 Received & ordered more electrical parts. Started mocking up my placement of ECU & fuse panels. Need to do some minor surgery to the engine harness to adjust a few wires. I also received these little buggers, about which I have to say I'm pretty excited. (Who knew I'd ever be excited about fuses?). They are called "terminal fuses", and they are fuses that attach directly to the battery. I'm also putting one on the alternator terminal. Single & Dual available: They use these little cubical slow-blow fuses from 30A to 300A, and you can't get 'em any closer to the sources of power than right on the terminals: I'm using a 250A fuse for the starter and a 50A fuse for the remainder of the electrical system (one placed at the battery and another at the alternator). The slow-blow nature of these fuses means that they will accept surge currents for a specified amount of time, which depends on how much higher the surge is vs the rated current; a graph showing current vs time is available on the mfg site. For example, the 50A fuse shouldn't ever blow at 50A and will allow ~130% (65A) for 1000 seconds (16 minutes) before it blows. The Alternator in this system can only produce 70A, and if my electrical loads have been calculated properly, I should come in well under 50A during normal operation. I'd barely hit 50A if literally every piece of electronics was turned on simultaneously. For the 250A starter fuse, it'll allow 200% for up to 10 seconds. That should be more than enough time for the engine to start up. -- On the topic of ground distribution, Ron Francis has some good wiring tips here, where he mentions that the conductivity of steel is only about 20% of copper. Being a data driven individual, I had to fact-check this stat, and it's reasonably close to accurate. Ron F's point is that aluminum is a much better electrical conductor than steel, which means that given the choice between using the chassis as a huge ground bus or using the engine block, I'll use the engine block. It will act as my main ground distribution hub with a single large gauge wire going back to the battery. The various smaller gauge ground wires in the system will then terminate on the block or to a ground bus bar in the rear of the car that has an appropriately sized wire back to the block.

Starting from the tank, here's the fuel-rated ball valve, then a 100 micron pre-pump filter: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28064&g2_serialNumber=3 Side view, looking from the passenger side wheel well (half-axle removed). Note that there is still room for the components to move a bit; I'm not worried about stress cracking. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28062&g2_serialNumber=3 View from the cockpit, looking backwards with the seat back panel removed. The inlet to the Canton Racing canister filter is on the bottom. The outlet is on the side, facing to the right in this view. The hose then travels up to the pressure regulator. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28056&g2_serialNumber=3 View from the rear of the car, standing behind the fuel tank looking downwards. The return hose is the bigger one in the center. The hose going from the regulator to the engine is obstructed from view; it exits the bottom of the regulator with a 45-degree fitting to transition smoothly into the tunnel. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28060&g2_serialNumber=4

Quoting myself...seems odd...anywhoo. As it turns out, the box of fittings I received a few days ago from Canton Racing (yes, I ordered them directly from Canton Racing) was identical to the box I received from Summit. Yes, that means another set of blue Fragola fittings. After a quick email exchange with Canton Racing, it turns out that Canton Racing doesn't shorten/customize/create the ORB-12 to AN-6 fitting like they do with the ORB-12 to AN-8 that jevs is using. Canton Racing just orders the ORB-12 to AN-6 fitting like everyone else does (and charge more for it might I add...I've already sent it back). The guidance I received from Canton Racing was to just grind the fittings down....Obviously!:banghead: I wasted probably 2-3 weeks waiting for the proper fittings, which apparently don't exist. 20 minutes later on the bench grinder, and I was all set. I took off about 1/8": http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28052&g2_serialNumber=3 Here's a picture of it installed in the canister filter. The filter is easy to remove and has plenty of room to wiggle around. Btw, only one of the fittings needs to be shortened (the outlet on the side of the canister). The inlet on the bottom doesn't need to be shortened at all because there is no interference with the filter media. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28054&g2_serialNumber=3 Since those two fittings were the last open items on the fuel system, I was able to finish assembling my hoses and get everything connected. Pictures to follow....

Been head down for the last week+ working on the electrical system design. After finalizing the plan, it took another long while to shop for the right components. My lighting choices are pictured below. My wires, fuse panels, terminals, and other bits are on order. More to come when they show up. So - lights, starting from the top of the picture: -Halogen headlights with amber LED ring used as a turn signal -Side view mirrors with turn signals (both on the outside and hidden in the mirror) -Maxxima 3rd brake light (Stop & Tail) -License plate LED light -Maxxima LED lights (Stop/Turn, Tail, and Reverse) -Trailer harness http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=27990&g2_serialNumber=4 In other news, my seat brackets didn't quite give me enough recline in the seat, so it's with my fabricator to add some extensions to the front to raise the front of the seat about another inch. Will do pictures when I have them back. Back to the Parking Brake, the first parking brake caliper bracket is finished, and I should have the other one back in the next day or so: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28011&g2_serialNumber=2 When I walked into my fabricator's shop today, I noticed a familiar shape under a car cover...it happened to be a Lotus Type 41 to which he's doing a roll bar modification. I'll grab a picture when I go back in the next couple of days. I started working on assembling fuel lines and am currently doing a 60 psi pressure test on the first line I assembled. I'll have to wait before I can finish assembling all of the fuel lines, however....because of this shipment from Summit Racing: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28007&g2_serialNumber=3 What's wrong with that picture? Couple of things...first off, Canton's fittings aren't blue. After opening the package, I noticed that the fittings had some stamping showing "FPS" which is the mark of Fragola Performance Systems. After talking to jevs and eyeballing the ones I have, I bought these Canton ones because they are a little shorter on the ORB-12 end so as not to interfere with the fuel filter, but as you can see, these blue ones are the same as the black Fragola ones I had originally purchased: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28009&g2_serialNumber=3 If you want to see what they should look like, look at jevs picture here. There's about 2 less threads: http://usa7s.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=7353&d=1416489758 So, I'll be returning these (and a great many other items) to Summit, and I went ahead and ordered the fittings directly from Canton Racing.

Looks great, jevs!! Nicely done!

Thx, Shane. I'm hoping to have it done a little before then so that I can get the break-in period completed before track season hits.

Has either of you talked to Brunton yet about this alternative design?

Wow!! Nicely done! Looking forward to the final results. :cheers:

Great video, Shane! Sorry about the poor conditions. I like how you edited in the rear-facing views near the turns. What a glorious sound!

The elbow is a little big for the 12mm barb, and if I think about it the next time I visit a parts store, I might look for a slightly smaller reducing elbow. On the 1/2" hose side, it fits fine. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=27955&g2_serialNumber=4

Took care of some small jobs this week due to limited availability: -Cut the shifter hole in the tunnel top -Received & installed the check valve for the brake booster vacuum line -My seats & slider arrived, but I'm still waiting on the side mount brackets. Test fitting of the seats has gone well, and I really like the seats. Pictures later, once I have the side mount brackets. Parking brake calipers arrived. I took some measurements to make sure the Lokar lever & cables would play nicely with the IPSCO calipers. I'm happy to say that the Lokar lever can produce more cable travel than the calipers require, so it *should be* easy to make the two work together. Did some test fitting and then promptly delivered them to a local shop to fab some brackets to attach them to the spindle. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=27947&g2_serialNumber=2 http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=27949&g2_serialNumber=2

Hood latched closed. Hood fitment is still not complete, however. I need to do a little more fine sanding on the hood edge at the scuttle. I'll also add weatherstripping in various places later after painting: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=27942&g2_serialNumber=3 Hood open (no prop rod yet) http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=27944&g2_serialNumber=3

Now that my engine bay is mostly full, I decided to go back to hood fitment, specifically installing the hinges & latches. First off, I found an easy way to lift the scuttle upwards, which had eluded me on my last round of hood fitment. With the sides cleco'd in place, I used a couple wooden shims to lift the front edge of the scuttle to mate a little better with the hood and then screwed it in place: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=27940&g2_serialNumber=3 Hood hinges installed: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=27938&g2_serialNumber=3 Locking latches installed: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=27934&g2_serialNumber=3

I see; thx for clarifying. --- Worked on the Alternator (Remy 14809) today. Couple of items to note: The ends of the long steel tube spacer that you see in the view below weren't quite perpendicular to the axis of the tube, which resulted in a noticeable angle of the alternator when installed. Some light touch-ups on the bench grinder were required to square up the ends. The 'hockey stick' bracket for my catch can shares the mounting hole for the long bolt that goes through the long steel tube spacer, which meant I needed to trim ~1/4" from the long steel tube spacer so that the alternator would remain aligned to the other pulleys. The bolt is also about 1/4" longer than necessary. I trimmed it to fit instead of using a bunch of washers under the head. My final measurement was 205mm under the bolt head, which allows 20mm of thread engagement. The threads in the cylinder head are about ~23mm deep. Side view: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=27921&g2_serialNumber=2 Front view with the air intake tube removed: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=27924&g2_serialNumber=2