Bren's Build Thread

[Bren]

It's not laziness, I just don't have time to write up a description every week any more. Time is getting short.

Basically, I'm waiting on a transmission plug before we can try to start it and get it running. I'm working on insulation right now.

[Gmcole92]

Looking good....you have made a lot of progress in a short time. When do you head off to work?

[Bren]

Looking good....you have made a lot of progress in a short time. When do you head off to work?

Work starts the second week of October, so I'll probably be here until the first week in October.

[Bren]

FYI, first start was tonight. I'm a bit too excited and exhausted to post right now, so I'll post the details in the morning.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Sounds like it was a success! Looking forward to a full report

Jeff

[Mslone]

FYI, first start was tonight. I'm a bit too excited and exhausted to post right now, so I'll post the details in the morning.

Lets see a Video of that Fire Breathing Dragon!

[Bren]

Since the headers were sent off to get clearance in the flange for the spark plug holes I've been working on the "luxury" items like carpeting, roll bar, headlights, hood, trunk, doors, etc. I'm very nearly done on getting everything onto the car. I'm not doing any body work, so I'm just trimming enough of the doors and hood to make it fit, not necessarily look good or setting panel gaps.

The header guys received the headers last Monday and got them sent back out on Thursday. Based on how long it took to get there, I was expecting to get them back around Tuesday. Tuesday is about as late as possible to be acceptable. Dad had to go out of town early Wednesday, so if we didn't get the headers on Tuesday, we couldn't start it before he left. That would mean either starting it without him or waiting until the next Monday. Both of which were not good outcomes. Luckily, the headers did come in on Tuesday. I promptly installed them and then started on the mechanical throttle linkage kit that came in on Monday (why I didn't get started earlier, I don't know).

Tuesday morning we took the body off in preparation for the headers that we hoped would come in. Once the body was off, I wanted to fix an electrical problem (the running lights don't turn on). Doing that, I noticed that I accidentally left the ignition key and cut-off switch on. Dead battery. So, I put the charger on it and went back to work.

By the time we were ready to hit the starter button, the sun was already setting. We rolled the car into the driveway (without any side pipes) and hit the go button. She didn't really go right away. In fact, we ran the battery back to dead before we could get it to run for more than a second.

Welp, time to put another charge on the battery and have a steak sandwich.

After a late dinner, we headed back out and quickly drained the battery again. Luckily, my sister, Ash, was there so we backed her car next to the roadster and we used her car for a jump. It took a bit of turning the distributor to determine that we were a notch off on the distributor. But, finally we got it to start. By this time, it was getting late (a bit earlier than 10 o'clock). The neighbor kid poked his head out of his bedroom window that overlooks our driveway and said he liked what he heard.

So, we pulled the distributor and reinstalled it. Hit the starter button and the car started right up. Man, that thing is LOUD. One thing we learned was that we need a much bigger spring on the throttle. It is way too easy to accidentally keep your foot on the throttle. The force of the exhaust blew out some wood separating the concrete pads on in the drive way.

Another thing we learned: we've got an oil leak around the thermostat pancake and a water leak around the heater. Next step, put the exhaust on so we don't bother the neighbors as much, get her up to temperature, and check for leaks.

Last night was really a momentous occasion. I'm really glad Ash was there. She had ear plugs on, but had fun anyway. Even Mom came out to watch. I don't think I've ever seen my dad so excited before.

[Bren]

Lets see a Video of that Fire Breathing Dragon!

My sister was filming it on her phone. I'll post a video when I get it off her phone.

[Bren]

Well, like it or not, I'm flying back to Wisconsin Oct. 6. So, done or not, Oct. 6 is it for the build. At least the big parts.

But that's alright! The end is in sight not only because I have a flight to catch, but because the build is genuinely coming to a close! The car is running a lot better than when we first started it, even if we haven't figured out the timing yet. We put the body on a few days ago, and I've been working on the final touches like mounting the hood, fitting the bumpers, and we mounted the windshield today! It's starting to look like a real car. And the best part is, this stuff is on for good! Or at least until the body guy has to deal with it. So, from now on, things are going on and not coming off.

(I hope I didn't just jinx myself...)

[WIS89]

Very very exciting! Congratulations on nearing the finish line. I am sure it feels great.

Good luck wrapping her up, and getting ready for the new job.

Regards,

Steve

[Bren]

I suppose an update is long overdue.

Dad and I finished up all of the mechanical stuff and everything else needed to make her a driver. Then we loaded up all of the tools, spare parts (of which there were a lot), extra fluids, etc. into the car and shipped it up to Madison. I rented a storage locker and parked the car in its new home.



I applied for title and registration in October and finally got my tags in late November. By then, we already had snow.

But, the weather lightened up for a couple of days (got into the upper 40's F) and I couldn't resist. Over the winter I got out in two drives. Aside from being a blast to drive, I learned that the oil cooler I have is completely unnecessary and may actually be doing more harm than good. I wasn't able to get the oil temperature to even register on the gauge. So, off it went. Now it's sitting on the garage floor.

Without the oil cooler I'm able to get the oil temperature to read on the gauge, but not where I want it. Ideally, I'd like the oil to be about 100 C (my gauge is in Celsius, so that's my reference), and at best it's up to about 80 C. On cold days (like when it's in the 50's F), it's even lower. So, I've purchased a higher temperature thermostat (205 F - the old one is 185 F) and a higher fan switch (215 F - the old one is 195 F) that I will be installing as soon as the fan switch arrives (it's on backorder). Hopefully that'll raise the oil temperature a bit.

Another thing that I've noticed is that the oil cools down a lot just from air swirling around the oil pan. Once I hit the highway, you can watch the oil pan temperature fall. When I stop, you can watch it increase, although it's very slow.

I did have one incident last week that was quite embarrassing. I was driving my friend around and I heard hissing from the engine compartment. I pulled over, opened the hood, and found myself engulfed in steam. As it turns out, the coolant overflow tank that I have is pitifully too small for my engine (Dart 351W block). What this means is that when the engine gets hot, it spits coolant onto the road (or driveway) when the coolant expands. Then, when the water cools down and contracts, instead of sucking up the water from the highway, it just sucks air. So, I've been draining my coolant and filling my cooling system with air (not good). I'll be replacing the upper radiator hose to better situate the radiator cap to be in the highest point in the system. I'll also be replacing the small overflow tank that came with the kit with one that is about 3 times larger (2 quarts - the one that comes with the kit is 26 oz.). And it comes with a sight glass! Ooooh.

All in all, a pretty successful build so far! I just put 500 miles on the car and gave it the first oil change! (I'm using Mobil 1 0w-30.) That with the coolant system upgrade and it should be good to go! I'm still tracking down all of the little gremlins (blown fuse for the seat heaters, adjusting brake light switch, etc.) but I absolutely love this car.

[RCJones]

What oil pan did you use?

[Bren]

I don't remember exactly off-hand. It is a Canton. Whatever the norm on these builds is, I think it's 0.5" taller. My pan sits just below the main rails, and I've already scraped it when I hit a bump in the road. No damage, but still.