May 2002 Archive

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May 9th, 2002

Started the day off by removing the castor/camber plates and installing the spacers on the struts. Took about 10 minutes for both sides. I then secured the drive-shaft bolts with Loc-tite, as I've heard horror stories about the bolts working their way out.

Vacuum lines were a piece of cake, as I only needed to connect the hvac line and brake booster, although I did have to carve out a bit of the throttle cable bracket in order to tap into the intake manifold. Dremel came through again.

Cleaned up the starter solenoid wiring a bit, although it probably still requires a bit more of "cleaing up". I also polished up the air-filter assembly, valve covers, and various rubber hoses.

I finally hooked up the oil-pressure and water-temp gauges, and they work wonderfully. The car idles around 50 psi oil pressure, and I only got the water temp up to 150°F but expect average operating temperature to sit at 180°F.

Took the car out again to test the brakes... They work REALLY good now the they are vacuum assisted. If I had a seat and had an interior without loose boxes everywhere, I'd really try out those brakes... My bad alignment will probably prevent me from driving again, as they front tires squeal constantly.

Tomorrow I'll start early and pick up a few more peices, and try to get some work done on the car before I start work at 1:30. Any further work on the car will be delayed until after the weekend...damn.

May 8th, 2002

I put off doing any further work to the car, and decided to attempt a drive around the block. I mock up a seat out of three tool-boxes, and go for it. Wow, it's nice to have power-steering again...as the Escort's is fucked. Steering is EFFORTLESS. Braking however, is just fucking dangerous. I return after one trip, and make a few adjustments... Mainly upping the idle so the engine won't stall, and adjusting the clutch. Hmm, the electric fan works too... Turns off when the temperature drops below a level determined by an adjustable knob. SWEET!.

I take it for another lap, then another, and then a few more just to make sure. This car feels VERY fast, and I can't even begin to push it's potential. I then throw on the license plate from the Escort and take few small tours of Sundance. I notice how effortlessly the car makes it to 70km/h in 2nd gear after only several seconds, and I didn't even get on it. I can easily peel out in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, pretty much at any speed. This car is LOUD, especially when I stomp on the gas. I get EVERYONE's attention, and I only wish I had this thing finished.

I take it home and think about taking it out again. I wonder what using the nitrous will be like. I really want to play some more, I wish I had my own track to play on. I notice a few glitches in the assembly though.. The struts are sticking through the c/c plates, and I'm afriad I did something very wrong. [UPDATE!] - Apparently the c/c plates came with spacers, which I found, six of them, are needed to make the struts work. That's why I love mustangworks.com, always a quick answer for any question. I'll have to install the spacers tomorrow then. [/UPDATE!]

The fuel-pumps and the mount are now WAY too close to the sway bar, even touching...they will need to be changed. The fuel pump is LOUD, very loud. Rattles the entine car..perhaps I can figure out how to isolate that noise better. I want an alignment...the front tires squeal constantly as they try to steer the car towards its self.

Anyway, today was ridiculous, hopefully tomorrow I can really nail down some tasks. I might even take it in for that alignment.

May 7th, 2002

After a few quick wiring adjustments, and filling the tank with premium fuel, I made my first attempt to start the car. SUCCESS! First attempt and the car starts. Idles a little rough, probably needs slight adjustment. I FINALLY bought the correct length belt, 74.5 inches. 74.7 inches was too long... 73.5 was too short.. WTF. Anyway, added a 40/60 mix of coolant/water, and filled up the power-steering. I throw the wheels on and drop the car down off the jack-stands. I decide to drive up and down the drive-way. Scary, but it works. Very difficult to operate the car without a seat, especially with how stiff the clutch is. I take note of just how bad the front end alignment now is. The top of the wheels are obviously tilting inward, and the wheels are also pointing towards each other at the front.

May 6th, 2002

It's still miserable out. It's May, and there's friggin' 20cm of snow with another 15cm expected. I've been working pretty solid since the 2nd, but I do have the next three days off starting tomorrow, so I will DEFINATELY get a lot accomplished. I'll have the engine running by Wednesday, and the car drive-able by the end of Thursday...FOR SURE!

May 2nd, 2002

Yeah, I know this update is actually May 3rd, but the consistant power-fluctuations prevented me from completing the update and uploading it last night. Here's a quick break-down of the last few days.


Tuesday : Nothing car related, slept-in, worked at Coop eight hours.

Wednesday : Spent a few hours in the morning running around the city picking up various parts. Also rewired the alternator. It required about another foot in length, as well as a new connector/plug which was highly recommended to avoid an ELECTRICAL FIRE!.

Today I spent about 10 hours outside working on the car, more specifically, leaning over the fenders, under the hood. Not the most comfortable position for extended periods, but hey. I accomplished quite a bit of what I had planned, especially considering the time and effort that each little wire required.

Wired up the starter, which wasn't difficult in theory, but actually getting to it was a whole other deal. The headers pretty much act as a cage, wrapping themselves around the starter, preventing access. Probably took me about 30 minutes JUST to bolt on ONE wire, and attach one tiny wire to a terminal on the starter.

Bolted in the starter solenoid, attached the wires, as well as bolted up the new battery cables and engine grounds.

The majority of my day was spent on routing all the the wires, taping them, protecting them with wire-loom, then applying more tape, and finally zip-tying them in place. I also redid most of the original wire harness, and it now looks like new. For the most part, there are no wires exposed, looks factory.

I used the old screw-driver across the starter solenoid terminal trick and the MOTOR TURNED OVER. That's the first movement that car has made on it's own to date. I had the fire-extinguisher handy just-in-case.

I also managed to test the nitrous fuel pump, pretty loud.

Tomorrow, I'm working on wiring in both pumps, the primary fuel pump requires a little wiring, the nitrous fuel pump requires a relay, a fuse, and a switch. I also need to take apart the dash...again... and wire in the key ignition wire, which was over-looked...DAMN!. I'll probably also install that second fuel filter for the nitrous pump.

Archived last month's updates, as well as updated the Conversion Tech page.