North Florida 289 Build, #10306

[Chainsaw]

Finally got the brake bias adjuster installed and operational. The instructions were a bit lacking, but Wilwood answered my questions quickly and got me squared away.
Bias adjuster knob.jpg

[ehansen007]

Man Jack I'm so sorry to hear you've had all these problems. I wish I were closer to help out. Hope your achilles is okay.

[Chainsaw]

Thanks, Eric. Achilles is coming along fine. Done with formal PT now. I am getting some time to work on the car some, but not as much as I'd like. Jeff Bell (Jeff's First FFR on this forum) lives 10 minutes away and has been invaluable with his help. I've been working a lot which is good for the bank account, but less so for finding time to work on the car.

The car is getting there. It seems to be running fine, but haven't had time to drive it any distance to get things hot to see if the problem returns. I've got some filler to add to the cockpit edges to clean up some rough spots on the body, spray a little gel coat, and I'll be putting it on.

[Chainsaw]

I will add that building this car is as much about the journey as it is the destination. I get frustrated often, but it's just part of the journey. Up until this project, I've just been a parts-changing dabbler and car maintenance performer. I've learned a ton and I have a great sense of satisfaction when I get things correctly done even if it takes me 3x to do it right.

[ehansen007]

You're absolutely right. You'll notice that after you're done there is a sense of accomplishment and you'll love showing it off and driving it, but for me, and you might find this, I was ready to build again. I miss it.

[Chainsaw]

While I might miss the build, I'm sure my wife will not. Right now, I'm just ready to drive the thing for real, not just around the neighborhood.

[Chainsaw]

Drove the car yesterday down the street and back. I had to move things around to get my Z in the garage in prep for the potential mess from the approaching hurricane. 289 is back under the body/buck in bay #3. Now looks like Helene won't affect us too much in this area.
The car seems to be running okay and didn't die after letting it idle for 5+ minutes after I got it back in the garage. Ran it about 15 minutes total. Someday I might trust it.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qa3sSMR2Ao4

I also got my Heidts valve mounted, but need to buy/build the new flex hoses.
Heidts.jpg

Now that the body is up in the air, I can see the spots in the undercoating that I need to touch up with Herculiner.

[Chainsaw]

So Helene and Milton both missed us, but got more wind and rain from Milton. Fortunately, my friends and workplace back on the Space Coast didn't get much damage as the storm moved very quickly through the area. Friends on the west coast of FL got messed up, but dodged big damage. My heart goes out to those with big damage and flooding.

Been working too much to get any time on the car. I have to go in the garage and get my head around it. I've got a bunch of braided teflon hose that needs to be made useful with some Breeze fittings for connecting the Heidts valve and touch up some spots with Herculiner on the underside of the body. I bought a nice little thermal camera that attaches to my iPhone to look for hotspots behind the dash if the car is still dying when I can get to drive it again. The work I'm doing is eating up a lot of what used to be time I could work on the car. I've really got to do better at retirement.

[Chainsaw]

Got some time in the garage, so I touched up some of the undercoating where I could see light shining through. Then I made my 4 hoses for the power steering rerouting to the Heidts valve.

Hoses.jpg

I hope to get those installed this week while I'm home and not working too much.

[Chainsaw]

Installed the hoses for the Heidts valve. No leaks! I'll have to adjust it once I start driving it again.

Heidts Install.jpg

I love those fittings from Breeze. Thanks, Mark!

[Chainsaw]

Soooo, I think I'm really fully retired now as of 12/20/2024. Trying to get my head turned around and start working on the car again. To that end, i just ordered the Edelbrock ProFlo 4 EFI from Mike Forte. I've always wanted that system, so I went for it. i was never happy with the Sniper that originally came with the engine and the carb set up, while fully functional, just isn't how I wanted to go. Plus, installing the PF4 will be a little easier, from the wiring standpoint at least, before the body goes on. Body on is the next big event.

[Chainsaw]

Committed to finishing the driver's side footbox.
DS Footbox.jpg
I also glued on the carpet to the front-facing wall of the cubby. I'll attempt to make some sort of lockable door for the cubby while I wait for the PF4 to arrive (allegedly this Thursday.)

[mburger]

Hey Jack,
Henry is building my 289 in Port Charlotte with a little help from me.
Just browsing your build thread and it's looking great!

[ehansen007]

Glad to hear you're back and fully retired! Looking forward to hearing more.

[Chainsaw]

THE NEW PHONE BOOK'S HERE! THE NEW PHONE BOOK'S HERE! I'm somebody now. (IYKYK). But really the ProFlo 4 arrived today.
PF4 unboxed.jpg
Started taking things apart in the engine bay to make the swap over.

[Chainsaw]

Glad to hear you're back and fully retired! Looking forward to hearing more.

I'm actually ready for it this time, but I would have liked to be with my old team at Blue Origin for this upcoming launch. Hopefully it happens early Thursday.

[Chainsaw]

Got everything pulled off and out of the way except the manifold itself as I ran out of time yesterday. I don't want to pull that until i have time to get the new PF4 one in place, too.

I'm thinking of using Ultra Gray as my RTV and stickem on the gaskets. Any recommendations to the contrary?

[Chainsaw]

ProFlow4 work on-going. Current status in pictures.
BP manifold out.jpgPF4 install.jpgECU Location.jpg

[Cutter 54]

Do you honestly think you will use the cruise control? The Roadster is NOT a corvette. Just my own observations.

[Chainsaw]

Do you honestly think you will use the cruise control? The Roadster is NOT a corvette. Just my own observations.

I removed all the cruise control hardware.

[Chainsaw]

i got most of the PF4 harness hooked up yesterday. I still need to drill out the air cleaner housing for the air temp sensor install, remove or relocate some of the wiring that was used for the Sniper or carb set up, and tie up or tie down all the harness and wiring. I also need to figure out the fuel pump wiring. I'm also waiting on the last fitting needed to make a new fuel line from the reg to the fuel rail. There's probably something I'm forgetting.
PF4 harness installed.jpgECU wiring out.jpg

[Chainsaw]

Almost done with PF4 install.

Top view no air cleaner.jpgFront view wide.jpgFront view of PF4 install.jpgDS view of PF4 install.jpg

Yesterday and today, I did some clean up work on the wire routing and tied a lot of them down. The big success was wiring the PF4 fuel pump harness into my existing fuel pump relay. Routed the PF4 harness through the firewall and then made some wiring to attach the harness fuel pump positive wire (orange) to pin 86 where I had previously attached the Sniper positive wire. Then I attached the harness ground wire (tan/white) from the harness to the upstream (inertia ground) side of the inertia switch. I used a 2-pin weather pack connector (provided) to attach the new wires to the PF4 harness. To test the wiring, I turned the key to run to see if the fuel pump would trigger. No go. I suspected the ECU wasn't getting power as I couldn't see the ECU on the Edelbrock PF4 app on my phone and I was right. I swapped from the EFI power wire (light blue) to the coil driver wire (orange) from the F5R wiring. Turned the key to run and success the fuel pump triggered and ran for ~8 sec as advertised. I also connected the phone app to the ECU. I had already capped the regulator output, so I set the car to run again and checked the fuel pressure - 40+ psi. I'll need to adjust that when I get the fuel line built.

After all this, the Breeze 180-deg fitting arrived in the mail this afternoon, so I'll make that fuel line this weekend sometime and I should be ready to fire it up. I did a test fit of the 180-deg fitting and determined I should move it back to the passenger side of the engine. It's slightly shorter run and there's less interference between the fitting and the plug wires. I also had to buy some air cleaner spacers on Amazon as the throttle arm was hitting the bottom of the air cleaner. Those should be here tomorrow as well.

[Chainsaw]

Engine runs with no leaks currently. There's a few clean-up items with the wiring and tie-downs I'll probably get to and i need to bleed the cooling system tomorrow. I originally started the engine up Saturday, but couldn't get the IAC sorted out. Came back this morning and started the car. It was backfiring out the exhaust. I messed around with the timing and got it to settle down some but was at about 24 deg. No-go. After some research on here and elsewhere I figured I had installed the distributor one tooth off. Reset the 12deg BTDC (again), lifted up the dizzy and advanced the rotor by 1 tooth. Started it and checked the timing again and got it back in around 12 deg at idle. It wasn't backfiring anymore at least, but still seems a little rough. I then adjusted the idle screw to get the IAC % in range. Seems to be okay at the moment. I do like the PF4 app as it's informative and relatively easy to use. I hope to get the neighborhood's most expensive golf cart on the road this week to get some learning started in the ECU.

[Chainsaw]

Took the car for a drive yesterday. Running a little rough at the start. Drove to the end of the cut-de-sac, and it didn’t seem totally well, but idle was steady. Then I took it around the block and it started backfiring again and stumbling a little. I got back to the house and it stalled when I paused before going into the garage. I got it restarted (not an easy start) and it surged and then settled down and I got it back in the garage. I think the timing is still off. I checked to make sure the distributor was still locked down (it was). I’ll get back on it tomorrow and check the timing again.

[Chainsaw]

Started the car to check/reset the timing this morning and found a fuel leak at the fuel pressure sensor fitting. Took all of that apart and applied new thread sealant to the NPT threads on the sensor fitting and reassembled everything. Letting the sealant cure a bit before I run the car again. Before I saw the leak, the timing was way off, but I’m not sure if I bumped the distributor after I loosened up the hold-down bolt. Got the timing reset to near 12 degrees before I saw the leak, so I locked the distributor down until I restart the car.

[Grubester]

Seeing good work everywhere! Congrats!
A question, a favor, really. I'm running a similar setup in my Mk 4 (started kit in Aug '24), BPE 347 with reversed BBK shorty headers (engine not installed yet),
but I also pushed the wall of the driver's foot box into the engine bay a bit. It's about 1.25" (in the lower half) closer to the engine and the top half tapers from that to 3/16" "kick-out".
If I could ask, how much clearance does #8 cylinder's header branch have to the footbox wall? That panel already (by design) has a "kick-out" in it, but I'm not even sure if the header branch is at -- or above -- that kick-out.
Thanks for anything you're able to comment on. (nice to see yours "fired up!")

[SteveWorth]

I have a 289 with a Blueprint 302 using BBK shorty headers under construction with standard foot boxes. Here are a couple of pictures showing the clearance to the foot boxes.

IMG_0629.jpgIMG_0627.jpg

Hope this helps!
Steve

[Grubester]

Great pics -- thanks! Just a quick question, is that header branch for a #8 cylinder just slightly above the outcropping on that side of the driver's foot box?

[Chainsaw]

Seeing good work everywhere! Congrats!
A question, a favor, really. I'm running a similar setup in my Mk 4 (started kit in Aug '24), BPE 347 with reversed BBK shorty headers (engine not installed yet),
but I also pushed the wall of the driver's foot box into the engine bay a bit. It's about 1.25" (in the lower half) closer to the engine and the top half tapers from that to 3/16" "kick-out".
If I could ask, how much clearance does #8 cylinder's header branch have to the footbox wall? That panel already (by design) has a "kick-out" in it, but I'm not even sure if the header branch is at -- or above -- that kick-out.
Thanks for anything you're able to comment on. (nice to see yours "fired up!")

My header clearance is pretty much like Steve's shots above. I didn't measure, but I'd say the clearance is 1.25"+ to the vertical foot box wall and about 1.5" from the diagonal surface.
Looking down.jpgfirewall looking forward.jpg

[Chainsaw]

Reran the wizard again today. No backfiring, but I still have a miss which could be a contributing factor to backfiring when the pipes get hot. Most of the backfiring previously came from the passenger side pipe. I tightened up the strap that is helping hold it up in case I was hearing the bracket under the car banging on the floor. I'll pull the plugs tomorrow and check them.

[Chainsaw]

pulled the plugs today and 3 of them (3, 4, and 8) were wet and less sooty than the other 5 plugs. Maybe an intake manifold leak? Maybe, but I sprayed around those areas with no effect. It's possible the plug wires weren't seated well on the plugs, so I snugged all of those back up (twice). Restarted the car and it was still running like crap and missing. Once again I pulled the distributor and reinstalled it and was able to get it in slightly different position. Started the car and dorked around with the timing and seemed to get it running better with no missing. Revved it up some and got a back fire on the wind down. Ran out of time today. I'll play with it some more Thursday or Friday. However, none of this is preventing me from having a body installation party, so I need to quit procrastinating on that. I am concerned that, while I have the radiator at 41 degrees, I think it's too far forward as it sticks out 2" in front of the quick jack mounts. I think this is going to cause an interference with either the cowl opening or with the aluminum trim panel. I'm going to take some measurements on Jeff's car to see if I'm already in trouble here.

[mburger]

Jack, apologies if you've already seen and have worked through this.
https://edelbrock-files-v1.s3-us-wes...or-Install.pdf

[Chainsaw]

Jack, apologies if you've already seen and have worked through this.
https://edelbrock-files-v1.s3-us-wes...or-Install.pdf

Yes. Thanks. I was using that as well. Just a bit of pain getting the dis in the right/best position. Based on my quick run yesterday, I'm encouraged that I have it correct now. Been crappy weather here today, so I wasn't able to work on the car (have to move the body outside to be able to work on the car.)

[Chainsaw]

I was going to trial fit the body on Thursday, but had to abort due to a scheduling snafu. But on Wednesday, I did get the lights installed. As my friend said, the headlight cutouts are a suggestion. Had do do a bit of work on the passenger side hole and got to use my new high speed air saw. I used that for the gross cuts on the PS cutout and finished up with the Dremel tool/sanding wheel. Had to also do a little work on the DS cutout, too, but only had to use the Dremel tool on that side.
Headlight hole way off.jpg Front lights in .jpg
Thursday, I did a lot of measurements and eyeballin' to try to locate where I should make the cut out for the fuel filler cap since there weren't any markings from FFR. I made a small hole to try to get better sighting once I get the body on for the first time. I think it's close enough I can make it work.