Jazzman’s #8745 "Flip Top" Build

[Jazzman]

I removed the dash (yes again!!) and looked around for anything surprising. I checked grounds. I checked the fuel pump wires. I rechecked the inertia switch. All looked fine. I tried to fire up the car, and . . . voila! it fired right up. Fuel pump pressure is holding nice and steady at 58psi. I let it idle for 15 minutes to see if it would die. Nope. I shut it off and restarted it. No problem. I tried both key fobs. No problem. Hmmm. This is a double edged sword. I'm glad it is running, but I had not found anything wrong, which means it is likely that it will occur again.

I returned to the Watson's ignition module. I checked every wire, every connection as far as I could go to make sure it was tight and well sealed. All looked fine untii this one:



I am not sure how or where this got crimped or rubbed, but this just doesn't look right. The insulation on the wire is partially scraped away, and the wire is partially exposed. It is near to some exposed aluminum under behind the dash, so It could ground out. This is one of the three wires that runs from the ignition module to the ignition button. Watson's instructions don't say exactly what that wire does, but it clearly is important. I clipped it to repair the damage, and the car would not start. I reconnected it solidly and then zip tied it to the other wires to keep it from further abrasion. Once again, the car fired right up. I hope that I have eliminated that problem. I guess time will tell.

While I waited for the car to stop running unexpectedly, I did some testing of the effectiveness of the "internal heat shielding" on the Flowmaster mufflers. It turns out it works very well. I tested three times, but only took photos once. Each time the results were basically the same.

First I checked the temp of the headers just outside the engine. The photo just happened to catch the temp going from 289 to 293.



Next I checked the surface temp of the Flowmaster Mufflers:



Yep, that says 80 degrees. I was shocked! I very carefully touched the muffler with my hand. It was about the same temp as my body. I checked again after the engine had run for 15 mintues, and the results were still quite impressive. The Flowmasters never got above 125. I drink my tea hotter than that! I don't know if these results would continue after a very long drive at higher RPM's, but clearly something inside these mufflers are doing a good job of holding the heat inside.

I could finally return my attention to the original problem, the fuel sending unit leak. I hoped that I had used up enough fuel to allow the sending unit to be removed. I took off the retaining ring and found that the fuel was just low enough not to come out. I found that the rubber O ring that was supposed to seal the sending unit to the tank was there and was not cracked, crimped, or broken, but it wasn't sealing either. I carefully cleaned everywhere around the hole and on both sides of the sending unit. I applied liquid gasket maker to the underside of the sending unit, installed the unit, then applied it the outside of the retaining ring "just in case". I will let that dry for 24 hours before I try to drive the car again. I hope that will end my problems with leaking fuel!!