Projects DRAG SNAKE "Vintage Terror!"

Those look great! Nice work.

 

So you you remember this little plate from a few days ago. It bolts to the top two bolts on the top of the belhousing.



It will hold a special fuel pressure sensor and the regulator. However after thinking about it I decided it needed something. So I fabricated a cover that simple goes on with one bolt and hides all the high tech hardware.



So as you can see before the cover is installed the fuel lines enter and exit right together. They both come up from the rear through the tans tunnel area. When the cover goes on the fuel lines will simple appear out from under it on either side.





Anyone recognize the green color? Lol. It is a piece of trim from the Austin that spanned the area between the grill and front bumpers that we didn't run. I told you I never throw anything away. It had a cool shape and fit the area perfectly.



I still have to clean it up, paint it and pop rivet the Holman Moody tag on it. It is going to be pretty cool as it totally covers everything up back there.



With the gauge and pressure adjustment exposed I should never need access but if we do just one short 9/16 bolt and poof there it all is...

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Very nice! Really cleans it up. You sir, are a genius.

 

Pretty long day yesterday in the shop as we start scrathing things off the knock out list. Of course as is par for the course around here everytime we scratch one off, we ad three or four. We started this morning in the trunk with goal of building and running the fuel lines up front. They will be running through the trans tunnel so the first order of business was make sure they are protected from the drive shaft should something goofy happen in there.


We cut and placed a piece of heavy 2.5" square tubing in there and welded it the tunnel cage tubing.


While the fuel tube was cooling off, we decided to go ahead and pull the cell and install the missing fuel level sender unit that I mentioned a few days ago (Speaking of adding things to the list). To do it right, I needed a 1.75" hole saw which out of the entire pile of them sitting on my shelf there was not one to be found. 1.5" was too small and would not allow the aparatus enough room to make in the the cell. 2" made the mounting studs too close the hole to hold anything.


I didn't snap any photos of the process but what we ended up doing was build and inner ring to weld the studs to. We cut a slit out of it (making more of a "C" shape so we would be able to work it in the hole from the outside. Something I learned from the fuel pump installationg ring. The entire process burned a couple of hours but at least it is done.


We installed the cell again and while I started routing all the wires we need back there, Dad worked on welding up some cross members to both secure the cell in place and on the passenger side give extra support for the battery box. We have a direct to battery positive and negative for the FAST and the MSD systems plus the fuel sender line to the guage. I also installed one of the ends on the fuel line and pulled it through. Things seem to be going as planned.


By nightfall we had the rear all plumbed and wired including the ground wires for both the fuel sending unit and the fuel pump. We also grounded the fuel ring of the fuel neck, something the NHRA boys at the Meltdown suggested on the Austin when we ran it through tech. Oh, and you might be wondering about those little rectangle pieces sitting on the fuel sender unit. They are plugs for rectangular tubbing ends. They are sitting there to make sure the aluminum sheet trunk floor can not make contact with the fuel sending wiring.

We dropped the trunk floor and it fit perfectly (you might remember all the sheet metal back here has already been test fit once). The only issue was we could not find the center access plate that covers the fuel pump and filler neck area. Not a big deal since it was originally designed, we changed the routing of the fuel lines. It is hard to see, but in the in the photo before this one you will notice we cut a small arch out of the bottom of the rear fire wall for the fuel lines to exit. So now instead of a flat access panel we need a box or ramp shapped panel to go from the flat foor near the rear and be able to cover the arch on the firewall etc.


Dad was digging around for a while looking for something that might cover the area with out having to be totally fabricated from scratch. He walks in wearing a big smile and carrying the original hood scoop for the car that was too short to clear the velocity stacks. We measured it and cut it down to the pefect size and he got busy cleaning, trimming and cleaning it up.


We test fit the battery and it looks like all will fit perfectly. This morning we mark and drill the "rear scoop" lol....for fuel neck and rivet it in place just like its sister up front. We will also install the sides and get all this area pop riveted together. The last step for the trunk is to run a positive battery cable to the switch on the rear and hook up the ground cable.

 

This morning I got all the sheet metal in place and riveted good and solid before missing one of the last rivets in a cross member and drilling a hole in the top of the fuel cell. Nice! So I had to drill all the rivots out and remove the floor to patch it. But no harm no foul and it is all back together again. However I was looking at the battery situation. It needs to be in a box but I don't like the looks of them. So I got off the knock-out list (surprise surprise) for a while this morning but I think it was worth it!

I had an idea about maybe using an old school tool box and maybe creating some vintage looking racing decals for it or something. We hit Lowes but all they had was big bulky plastic units. Then we stopped in our local farm store for grins and poof...there it was...an old school looking metal tool box!


The only problem it was a bit too long to fit comfortably in the tiny rear compartment so I made few edits to it. I used the lift out tray that was in the top to reinforce the bottom and then moved the handle and the latches to make it look realistic. I have not mounting it yet but it fits really nice and looks pretty cool.

 

Spent most of the afternoon cleaning up the dash wiring and sensors for the gauges. Almost ready to close the dash up.

We also built the fuel lines for for the eight stack units.



Man this little jewel is worth its weight...it slips the fuel lines on like butter.



Just before I came in I installed some of it.







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Boy could I have used that a time or three, one time it was a real bugger, the next day my arms and shoulders felt like I had wrestled a gorilla.

 

Man we really killed it Monday. Nothing huge but a crap load of little things that simply had to get completed including: Finished a ton of wiring loose ends (no pun intended), installed the fuel filler neck and gates filler tube, several chassis grounds installed, alternator belt, all of the fuel lines, Tremec speedometer sensor in and wired, reverse lockout sensor in and wires ran just waiting for the pressure brake switch, oil pressure sensor wire ran but not installed yet, coolant sensor in and wired, fuel sender unit wired, (basically dash is complete). We also laid out how the starter button and Joe's Racing toggle switches will work and ran all the wires. Figured out the neutral safety switch situation and wired it plus: figured out a safe area for an air temp sensor and mounted it, installed the radiator fan relay and wired it, and figured out a seamingly very simple auto cancelling turn signal unit that turned out to be sort of a pain in the backside!

It has a three way momentary toggle switch (that came with no directions). It really should have been pretty straight forward. Just wire the unit between the toggle switch and the lights using the turn signal power from the flasher. However the switch had two terminals on each side and I assumed the the power on either of the middle terminals supplied the power to the entire switch. It didn't. It only supplied power to one half. To make the other wires work you had to jump the power over to them etc.

The first time we wired it I unwittingly powered only the indicator lights in the dash. However they did not have enough draw to make the system work. I finally figured the switch out and what had happened and when I moved one of the actual turn signal light wires to the hot terminal it worked like a charm. So I simply wired the other side up and poof, no matter which side you flipped, all four lights flashed and would not stop. It was fairly frustrating.

I have to admit, it took a bit to figure it out. If I took one of the sides off, the other worked fine. Hook them both up and all four lights again. Finally after tracing all the wires down, I figured out that I had accidentally wired both the indicator lights to the same dash light, this created a loop that flashed both sides or all four bulbs. After cutting one of the indicator wires, it worked perfectly. You just flip the toggle left or right depending on which way you want to turn. The lights flash 10 times and then stop. There are several modes that you can elicit by the number of times you flick the toggle etc. But each time no matter what, they turn themselves off automatically!

 

The headlights and running lights came on with the first try and the dimmer switch worked as well.


We finished all the fuel lines and double check all fittings were tight etc.


The fuel filter will not be there and the line is already built to simply come up and match the other side. However with the first fire looming I simply stuck it in there before the 8 stack units. After we get it running it will be relegated a bit further back in an easy to get to location.

 

We also chose the spark plugs for it...Autolight AR3911
Good through 700 hp and 13 to 1 etc. That should just about do it....LMAO!

 

Quit laughing your ass off and FIRE IT ALREADY!!!!! LMAO! Larry

 

Saturday...lunch:30 or so!

 

I had previously committed to being somewhere else Saturday, helping a group of friends get a long-derelict first gen Bronco back on the road. If I had not, I would have loved to come by and see this thing light off and meet you guys.

I'll be cheering you on from afar!

 

I am racing with the Nostalgia Gassers at Rogersville on Saturday. Maybe I will hear it fire up from there! Good Luck!

 

I can't tell from this angle, but is there enough clearance to open the lid of the battery box and install/remove the battery? I'm sure you already have it sorted out, but didn't want to leave it to chance!

 

So let's talk about fuel. We are very fortunate to have a killer fuel supplier here in Springfield. In fact, I can just about throw a rock from where I work and hit them. The Oil & Octane Shop is their name and back when we were running the Austin they custom mixed our E-85. Actually I shouldn't call it that as they started with E100 and added some really good clean 93 etc. So it was "E" something and all I know is it made the Austin run like a striped-ass-ape!

I popped in yesterday to see about snagging some of the really good 93 and after talking with the owner, I am super pumped (no pun intended) with what he has to offer.

He shared with me his experience working with Mercury Marine and their engine supplier here in Springfield SRC for the past three years. They have been developing a fuel that the boats (small and big blocks) could use that was ethanol free and but still met the ever harshening guidelines set by the Department of Energy for cleaner fuels. What they came up with he calls 95 and it is quite the blend.

100 percent ethanol free. BTUs of around 105,000 and shelf life of five years. It burns super clean and is safe to use with all types of sensors etc. He says it is called 95 but its octane is closer to 100 or so. He said since he started talking about this fuel to racers, his 110 sales has dropped nearly 40%. The racers are loving this stuff and seeing no drop in performance at all from the 110. It also burns about 20% cooler and get this, costs just over $5.00 per gallon. Now I ask you, how can you beat that?!

I have my fuel jugs in the truck and headed by there after work today!

 

Nope. Your are correct it would not open. So I cut the piano hinge out of the rear and fabricated a couple of slip latches and notches back there. The entire top of the tool box comes off when it is unlatched from the front.

 

Well you are likely to hear something: It running or me cursing. Either way you will know how things went!

 

I have the wire ran for the oil pressure gauge but there was no room to install the stupid thing in the designated area. I am sure there other styles of sending units that might work but this is the style that came with the gauges. Being in a bit of a bad mood yesterday I actually Googled: "How in the wide world do you install an oil pressure sending unit on Ford Boss 302?"

And as always, Google had the answer. LOL. The above oil pressure extension tube. So there you have it.

 

I knew that.

 

One of Fords Better ideas?

 

It is kinda standard on those small blocks.

 

You guys are eat up with “ Chevitious”, no problem..... just a little extension......

Lol




Bones

 

Bones,I see them all.

 

Bones[/QUOTE]

 

There’s not but about 16 different lengths of that extension made, or it seems like it anyway! I had to have one for my 302, but I wasn’t going to pay the $30 or more that most places wanted. Lucked up and found one on eBay for $5. Will it still ground with that Teflon tape on it? I used the Teflon paste pipe compound.

 

YES I did a bunch of testing of all kinds of "Sealers" including teflon tape on my OT website and they all ground correctly. Looks like the threads are cutting through the "Sealers" when they screw in making for metal to metal contact.

 

It has been a couple of pretty busy days around here. I can not list the stuff we have knocked out getting ready for tomorrow. We are still planning on firing the crazy outfit despite our share of adversities. I will have to catch you up on all that later...and I will...




We just closed up shop a few minutes ago with a short laundry list for the morning.
1. Wrap the driver's side header and reinstall it.
2. Install the spark plugs and rehook up the wires
3. Put in the transmission oil
4. Fuel the car
5. Make a few updates to the computer start up progam
6. Put the bolts in the driver's side valve cover
7. Fill it with water
8. Change out the oil pressure sender (not reading correctly as we primed it today)
9. Put the wheels back on and get it off the stands (5 minutes, we are pretty good at that now) lol
10. Eat a burger
11. Turn the key
Easy breezy lemon squeezy!

 

Heading out in the morning with the gang, be packin a mighty thirst and appetite.
I'll bring my tool box.

 

Good luck today. Hope all goes well.