Fabricated Temporary Fuel Hoses

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In preparation for running the engine at the dyno shop, I fabricated a couple of hoses. I’m using Fragola stainless steel reinforced conductive PTFE hoses with a black nylon covering. For the dyno run, I just need a supply and return hose, so I cut the 20′ hose in half and installed straight fittings on each end.

Here’s where the supply and return lines attach to the back of the throttle body.

We also received our headers from GP Headers. These are ceramic-coated, stainless steel headers with double collectors so that the O2 sensor can be installed in the engine compartment.

These are really beautiful, especially compared with the ones from FFR. I installed the FiTech O2 sensor in the right side bung since the passenger side of the engine compartment is much less crowded.

The GP Headers have a much thicker flange (3/8″ vs 1/4″), so the 3/4″ bolts that came with the engine bolt kit aren’t long enough. There is only about 1/4″ of thread engagement in the block with these bolts, so I’m going to see if ARP will exchange these for 1″ bolts.

Finished up Distributor Wiring and Fuel Pump Installation

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I received a new order from Summit Racing with some additional wire separators.

I used one on each side to keep the wires organized as they make their way up to the distributor. After installing the wire separators, I slid the heat-shrink wire labels in place and shrunk them down.

Here’s the other side.

I used a two-conductor wire separator behind the distributor to tie the #4 and #7 wires together. For some reason, they didn’t stock polished, two-conductor separators on Summit, so I ordered black anodized ones. This will largely be hidden under the air cleaner though, so I think black will be just fine. I can always sand off the anodizing and polish it if it’s too visible.

Here’s a shot of the whole engine with the distributor wiring all wrapped up. Only a few remaining details to wrap up before I can get the engine to the dyno shop.

I also received and installed the Classic Instruments tube type fuel level sender. This is a 0-90Ω sender that is compatible with the gauges from FFR. The tank is 10.75″ deep here, but this sender is only 10″ long below the flange. That leaves 3/4″ of unmeasurable fuel below the sender; given the taper of the bottom of the tank, that’s probably only 1-2 gallons of fuel. I’m fine  with a 1-2 gallon fuel reserve below the empty reading on the fuel gauge.

Installed Distributor

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The FiTech EFI system controls the ignition advance, so the mechanical advance has to be locked out. I started by removing the springs and weights.

The roll pin on the retaining sleeve has to be driven out so that the shaft can be pushed up in the distributor.

With the shaft pushed up, it can be rotated 180º so that the advance stop bushing pin can be dropped into a hole in the advance plate which locks the two pieces together. Afterward, the retaining sleeve can be slid back in place and the roll pin reinstalled. Now there are no moving parts in the distributor (other than the shaft and rotor).

In order to install the distributor in the engine, I needed to reset the engine to 12º BTDC on the compression stroke of the #1 engine. I installed the air fitting in the #1 cylinder so that I could tell when it was on the compression stroke.

I rotated the engine until it was 12º BTDC.

I then stabbed the distributor into the block. I needed to adjust the oil pump driveshaft a couple of times until the distributor dropped into place.

I then installed the distributor hold down clamp to lock the distributor in place.

The cable from the FiTech unit leaves a bit to be desired. The cable is surprisingly short and for some reason comes out of the back of the unit. Without extended the wires, it really can only run around the left side of the throttle body or over the top. There is no way to run around the side without interfering with the throttle linkage, so I run the cable over the top. I really don’t know why FiTech doesn’t have this cable coming out of the front of the unit to avoid this problem.

On the right, you can see the distributor control cable coming down from the top of the unit and secured with an Adel clamp to prevent it from moving. I pulled the coolant temperature cable out from underneath the intake runners and coiled up the extra on the front of the throttle body. I also installed the secondary coolant temperature cable that connects to the dash gauge. Since we’re installing a fairly long air cleaner, virtually all of this wiring will be somewhat hidden.

I also cut the cable going to the coolant temperature gauge and installed a weatherpak connector at roughly the same position as the other connectors. I want to easily be able to disconnect the engine from the car without having to pull wires through the chassis.

I cut all of the ignition wires to length and crimped terminals on them. I still need to order a couple of wire separators to neaten the wires up a bit and then I can shrink the wire labels onto the wires.

Powder Coated Fuel Tank

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We’re going to need the fuel tank for the engine dyno run since the dyno shop is not set up to run EFI engines. The simplest solution is to bring my own tank and let the FiTech unit drive the integrated pump. Before I put fuel in the tank though, I need to get it powder coated since I wouldn’t want to put a tank with fuel vapors in the powder coating oven.

I pulled the fuel pump so that I just have the bare tank and then used some scotchbrite pads to rough up the surface to give the powder coating a better grip. After cleaning the tank thoroughly with solvent, I hung it from a couple of the trolleys in the loading rack.

After giving it a thorough coating of powder, I transferred it into the oven.

After 30 minutes or so at 400ºF, I transferred it back to the loading rack and set it in front of the exhaust racks to get some cooling airflow.

After bringing it home, I reinstalled the fuel pump and fuel outlet fitting.

I also installed the fuel vent fitting and capped it until I am ready to hook it up.

I purchased a 90º angle for the fuel return, but unfortunately it won’t work since Boyd put the boss too close to the side wall of the recess. A straight fitting would obviously thread in fine, but I think it would push the hose up too high since the top of the tank will only sit 3/4″ below the trunk floor. I’ll have to figure out another solution here.

Rear Brake Flex Lines

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I installed the fittings in the rear brake calipers with some high-temp thread sealant and then spent some time determining where to mount the tab that holds the fitting the other end of the hose screws into. It needs to be in a location that won’t cause the hose to rub on anything as the wheel moves up and down and also provides a convenient location for the hard lines that connect to the other side of the fitting.

I ended up deciding to weld the tabs on the front side of the mount for the rear side of the upper control arm (the other side of the mount from where the remote reservoir is mounted).

Here’s a shot looking backward toward the front side of this mount. The tab is welded flush with the face you see here. The hard line will curve immediately upward from here (to miss the CV joint boot) and follow that angled tubing upward to a point where the hard line can cross to the other side of the car.

Mounted Rear Strut Reservoirs

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I welded on the mounting brackets for the rear strut reservoirs. I ended up deciding to mount them to the side of the upper rear control arm mounting bracket. This puts it well out of the way of any moving parts and provides nice routing for the hose that connects the strut to the reservoir.

The hose follows an ‘S’ curve from the strut to the reservoir. I’ll anchor it to the lower control arm near the middle with a couple of adel clamps so that it can’t rub on anything.

Fabricated Mounting Brackets For Strut Reservoir Brackets

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The strut reservoir brackets that I fabricated a couple of weeks ago need to be bolted to the chassis. To allow this, I fabricated some steel mounting brackets that I’ll weld to the chassis. I started with some 1/8″ thick 1.5″x1.5″ steel angle and cut down both legs a bit and match drilled it to the reservoir brackets.

I then clamped the mounting brackets in an angle vise to bevel the ends to match the reservoir brackets.

I then flipped the brackets over to bevel the other end.

With a drill bit used to line up the holes, you can see how the mounting bracket matches the angle of the aluminum reservoir bracket.

After cleaning all of the burrs off with a scotchbrite wheel, I used the media blaster to clean them up so that they’re ready to weld to the chassis.

Fuel Injection Wiring and Fuel Tank

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I picked up some stainless steel cushion clamps and used a few to secure the FiTech throttle body wiring. There are three bundles of wires coming off the front of the unit (including the one that drops under the intake runners and connects to the coolant temperature sensor).

The remaining two, plus all of the wire bundles that come off the back of the unit are collected into one cushion clamp that is centered behind the throttle body. Fortunately, there are a couple of unused threaded bosses on the back of the throttle body that can be used to secure things. Once the air cleaner is installed, these should be nearly invisible.

Our Boyd Welding fuel tank showed up today. This is a beautiful piece of work and comes with an Aeromotive 340 Stealth fuel pump pre-installed.

The right side of the tank contains fittings for the fuel return and vent (the small fittings at the top) and the fuel level sender (the large fitting at the bottom). I’ll need to determine which fuel level sensor should be installed here since the one from FFR doesn’t look like it’s compatible.

The fuel pump is installed behind a custom machined mounting plate that has the fuel outlet fitting and electrical connections.

Alternator Ground

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Work is going to slow down on the car over the next week or so due to family commitments, but I did manage to get a little time on it today.

I moved the grounding tab on the alternator to the lower left bolt so that I could run a short grounding wire over to the block. The alternator came with a pretty long wire that I just cut and crimped a new connector on. This should be out of the way of everything.

Air Cleaner Spacer and Steering

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When I ordered the hold down kit, I decided to go ahead and pick up an aluminum spacer for the air cleaner. I really need a 3/4″ high spacer, but the only options were 1/2″ and 1″, so I picked up the 1″ and removed 1/4″ from the height on the lathe.

I then cut a new recess on the inside 1/2″ down from the top and opened it up a few thousanths wider than the air filter base flange.

I test fit the air filter base and it’s a nice, snug fit onto the spacer.

On the other side, you can see that the spacer doesn’t sit flush on the bottom of the air cleaner base. The problem is that the air cleaner base is a stamped steel part and there is a radius around the flange.

I machined a bevel on the inside corner of the spacer to allow space for the radius.

Now the spacer fits tight against the air cleaner base.

I installed the 1/4″-20 to 5/16″-18 adapter in the throttle body.

I had to cut down the shaft a bit so that it is the right length for the air cleaner plus spacer.

I did a final test fit of the air cleaner and everything looks great.

There’s now about 1/4″ of space above the throttle body which is plenty to prevent anything from touching and to clear the fittings that will thread onto the fuel connections you see here.

With the test fit complete, I used some black RTV to adhere the spacer to the air cleaner base. This seals out any leaks and means we don’t have to install the spacer separately. You can see here that the spacer also has an o-ring installed in the base so that we don’t need to use a gasket when installing the air cleaner.

Our steering rack wasn’t centered before, so you could turn the wheels farther one direction than the other. You can compensate for this by using different thickness steering spacers on each side, but the right fix is to center the rack in the car.

My order from Breeze Automotive arrived today with their offset rack mounting kit which let’s you shift the rack from left to right and also lower it a bit which helps reduce bump steer.

I installed the rack and some spacers and then adjusted the offset bushings until the rack was exactly centered in the chassis. One additional advantage of using the Breeze kit is that the steering rack is rigidly mounted which means it acts as a structural member of the chassis and increases its stiffness.

The rear hole on the passenger side needed to be elongated vertically since it wasn’t quite aligned with the front hole. It wasn’t really a problem with the polyurethane bushings since they could flex a little, but the rigid bushings require the holes to be aligned.

I also picked up a bump steer kit from Mike Forte. I threaded it in all the way on both sides and then loosened it until I had some adjustment available. With the steering rack centered and the wheel roughly aligned, it looks like the tie rod is nearly 2″ too long. I’ll confirm with Mike Forte before cutting them though.