March 2006
03/30/2006- Brake lines arrived today. Look really good! Rear points need to be adjusted because of a tire clearance issue. Very irritating because it is entirely my fault for not thinking 3 steps ahead. I almost finished the front section except I don't own a flare nut wrench and the tube nuts started to disfigure. I bled the fronts master cyl and it made a mess, wonderful! I took the radiator and started playing with ideas. I need some 1" strips steel to mount it. After looking at the quality of this radiator, cheap is cheap!
03/29/2006-Not much to report. My radiator arrived, its very cool (thanks Locost NA list!) and even has radiator fittings that I do not need. I suppose I will just disconnect them. Yesterday I welded the body panel mounts to the car. Terrible welds which proves you cannot weld thru POR 15. I also went to buy some flat bar and came home with a sheet of 3003 .040 sheet metal to make the body panels out of. I grabbed butchers paper from the uncles bakery and should be making templates soon. Still waiting for gas to test the fuel system. I do need 2 hose clamps for the high pressure side. Next task will probably be to mount the radiator.
03/27/2006- Tonight I decided to try finish the fuel system. Speedway Motors overnighte'd me some AN fittings but they took 4 days thanks to the weekend. Not a problem. Weekend was spent with that stupid Accord. After much frustration, LOTS of blood thanks to those stainless steel wires poking out, I managed to get the fitting on. The trick was to get the fiber reinforced tape from Home Depot. Fuel system went together fine after that. I moved the fuel filter to in front of the Pump mainly because the pipe wanted it to be there and it worked better. The inlet on the Mercedes fuel pump was much larger than the rest but the filter provided a good transition. So the fuel systems complete. I need to check I got the lines connected right and then I can energize the system and check for leaks. If I had gas I would have but I threw it all in the Yukon Xl the other night.
I then took a brake line that had been on top of the gas tank and tried it. Apparently I put the bulkhead fittings in a stupid place on the rear because it may limit my tire size. I will have to see what I can do here. I don't really want connector in this section. I may just redo the rear lines. At any rate, I don't have the flex lines yet and have not ordered them.
03/24/2006- Its coming along nicely, The fuel parts from Speedway-motors were poorly spec'd and they have sent out replacement AN fittings. For the life of me I could not get them near the hose. Reasoning was apparently they were undersized.
After breaking a flaring tool, yes! I broke it! I swapped it out and the new one isnt as good, but may work better. We shall see who leaks. The front circuit is complete. I need to bench bleed the master once I have lines from the bulkheads to the wheels. I haven't even ordered those yet. Rear circuit is almost finished as well Basically the same problems. John Holtz, a buddy of mine, said I can use his brake anytime so body panels are not too far off into the distance!
The wiring harness is in, the body pieces have their Dzus fasteners on, several things need welding and most of it will happen fairly soon. Until then I am hesitant to pull out the welder. The work load increases to the point where it is essential! Hood clearance was checked and I have over 2" between the oil cap and the hood line. That may just mean the engines sitting too low.
Thanks to the North American Locost mailing list I have a $3.95 radiator (brand new) on its way! That should help even though I intended to start the car without the water pump connected! Progress is brilliant! This monster should start very soon! (no headers)
Current holdup-AN fittings, FedEx shipments, time and money
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