It's Alive!!! ........ well almost

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

A milestone reached today after two weeks working on the car (solidly for this week).
I hooked up the battery and it didn't make any weird sounds or start smoking etc. Then I turned the key over an knock me down with a feather if the bugger didn't start cranking. Nice and healthy too, with a hint of the straight-cuts to urge me on.
The goal now is to finish putting the motor back together to get it running proper and finish off the wiring.


Fuse panel in near enough to the stock location.


Lost count of the times I routed and re-routed these wires and I am still not 100% happy.


Cleaned out/up petrol tank and boot wiring, being an american kit, the wiring is a bit arse about.


Bloody dash and gauges has been a source of frustration, at the moment the oil and water gauges go spastic with the battery connected and ignition off, grrrrr.


Spaghetti ala Stinky!

BTW, I gotta thank the person who passed on the tip about using a battery charger as a power source to test wiring, I am sure without this advice I'd be posting photos of charred FE remains  ;D

[Ed]

Hey Stinky,

well done mate, that scene sure is a familiar site!

No matter how well you plan I reckon it's inevitable the wires get re-routed.  My latest saying for my car is "third time lucky!" since every job I do seems to be completed third time round, despite endless planning.

make sure you have really good earths from motor to chassis and battery to chassis.  I ran an extra earth lead from the dashboard to ground to ensure no strange electrical things happened.

I also used the air-ride kit and reckon they are pretty good... being US suited me as my fuses are in the glovebox.

Cheers

Ed

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Heh, heh, heh ..........DOWH!!!
Funny you should mention good earthing, I thought I had it all sorted, but the gauges were playing up because I did not earth to the body, only the motor. One thick piece of wire later and all was sweet, the oil pressure gauge was a worry for a while but it came good eventually.

[Phantom]

Looking good Stinky,cant wait to see her at the nats mate
                                      Cheers Rusty

[fc_1958]

Hey Stinky

The instrument cluster looks interesting, how about a photo of the front and some details.

Thanks
Andrew

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Others saw the build-up of this ages ago, but never the completed piece. Unfortunately I didn't do a complete mockup before cutting gauge holes and paint, as a result I had to file a few mms of the plastic surrounds.
Speedo was almost made for this, an MDF adaptor was needed though. LED indicator lights are 12V from Jaycar, although your normal LEDs can be used with resistor (? or something like that).

[fc_1958]

Looks great!!

Job well done :)

[Martin]

Good onya, Stinky.  Keep plugging away.  I want to see the finished job.

Martin

[gp]

Those instruments look fantastic! Can't wait to see the real thing at Phillip Island!

 :D

[4hammers]

WHoa.
They look GREAT! Man, I think there may be some VERY cool cars at the next NATS. Can't wait.

Rob J

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Got oil pressure today, after fixing gasket "issues", I had managed to stuff up the rear sideplate gasket and lost a litre of oil to the garage floor! >:( A blessing in disguise as when I removed the dizzy to fix, I found that I hadn't put the dizzy gasket on at all. A few more bits and pieces to finish and check, a bit of water in the radiator and petrol in the tank, then I should be able to fire her up properly.




Thermo Fan and trans cooler bracketry.


The old echlin coil doesn't really match the decor, but at least it was cheap  ;D (pulled out of the old torrie when the motor came out)

[Ed]

Hey Stinky,

looks like good progress is being made

does that velocity stack have a re-useable filter?  

I am considering using the K&N short stack which just fits under bonnet (or at least  the 4L paint tin I dummy set up did at 8.5 inches tall).

are your brakes and everything working as well?

my car is at a very similar stage.. I hung the front panels and fit the grille on sunday.

Cheers

Ed

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

The velocity stack has a washable foam filter held in place by another perforated metal plate on the bottom, kinda like a foam sandwich  :P

Brakes are next on the list.

Almost had it started last night if not for a flat battery. Flattened the first one before I realised there was no rotor button in the dizzy. I think the Holley is having a bit of trouble too, so I have downloaded the tuning manual and have a go tonight or tomorrow night.

Progress slows down again now as I am back at work.

[Bent]

Gday Stinky,
        Love ya work. What is your booster and master cylinder out of, and what sort of brakes are you running?

Scotty

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

LC/LJ Torana booster and brakes, the booster required some firewall mods and a bit of modification to the bracket inside the dash that the pedals swing on.
There's so much Torana gear in this car it should be called an FE Torana  ;D.
As I had plenty of Torana bits lying around, they made their way onto the car.

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Long time between drinks.
I hadn't realised it had been so long since I worked on the car. The bumpers are now on, but the front passenger corner will need to come off again  >:( . Fitted everything up, hit it with the metal polish and nice big chunk of chrome plate came off!

Other progress and disasters include,
- Rear parcel shelf and speakers in  ;D
- Test run of the motor revealed exhaust gasket leaks and top radiator hose problem  >:(
- Finished one of the kick panel speaker pods and it looks "the business"  ;D

Brakes should be happening soon, but I said that last time  ;D



..... and no, I am not as fat as the bumper reflection would have you believe.

[COL58FE]

g'day stinky,
                   i'am still in love with that racing dash, it's coming together real nice. but the front pic look's great.
go the black paint. ;)
                                 cheer's col.

[minifcvan]

hi stinky, love the dash wanna build me one lol ;D ;D

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

hi stinky, love the dash wanna build me one lol ;D ;D

Sure, anything is possible if the price is right  ;)

Wanna sub box too?


Just finished it on the weekend, amongst other things, trying out some new trimming ideas.

[minifcvan]

HOW MUCH ?? SEND ME A PM ;D ;D