Punch List

January 20, 2017

We are trying to get to the go kart phase - driving it without the body by the time we head out to South East Asia and Spring Training mid-Feb. Our punch list is quite large, but we are making progress. Here are some of the thing we are focused on

- Fuel lines
- Exhaust
- Air conditioning/heating 
- Radiator
- Cockpit floor, trans tunnel
- Seats and seat belts
- Steering wheel
- Bleed the brakes and install new brake fluid lines for the fluid reservoir
- Shifter
- Accelerator pedal
- Grease, oil, and fluids
- Finish electrical battery feeds

To that end, we have started on a few of these.

Exhaust Mufflers Installed

Aircon Evaporator and Heater Blower Motor

Aircon Drier and Firewall Hose Fittings
Black Braided Line is Fuel Line

Wiring 101

January 9, 2017

We have completed the wiring transplant with success! If we knew then what we know now....  this is the epiphany of where all the hours have gone and the rationalization of at least I learned something I didn't know. 

It's worth taking a bit of blog space and showing what we started out with and the steps along the way. 

Almost a year ago, mid-February 2017, we bought a 1997 Lincoln Mark VIII as a donor car for our engine, transmission and rear end for $1600 cash. We would then sell the rest and maybe try to get our money back, making the parts we use free - albeit with a ton of effort.

deconstruction under way

Finally  March 3, 2016, all the wire is out and intact.

By March 15, 2016, we have the engine and the wiring out of the car and on the floor running -we have successfully removed the donor organs!

For the next few months, we cut out wires we know we will not need for example the heated seats, radio and amplifier, power door locks and windows, headlights and tail lights, ...

Now we are left with mostly the wires we need so we can install the engine onto the frame of the 1933 Ford hot rod we are building.

May 15, 2016, the engine goes in  - it will come out a few more times, but at this point; we are thinking it's in for the final time - what little did we know. It will come out twice more to move it forward and eliminate the donor car exhaust headers that don't fit. 

We then go on to zip tie the wires we have  into more organized looms

While looking at the wires we had left, there was still an opportunity to remove more. You can see in the photo above some very big connectors, and the under the hood fuse box. We started to eliminate those and get it running on the ground once again.

Here is the final wire pared down from the original donor car by over 50 pounds.

then wrapped up for final install

some photos of it installed and running in the 1933 Ford Frame

On Second Thought

January 5, 2017


As mentioned in the last post, we have been spending a month of Sundays re-doing some of the work we completed. After completing the placement of the battery disconnect and remote charging terminals in the trunk, my brother Larry had a what are you thinking moment and brought to light that we were installing open electrical connections right next to the fuel tank. If we were in a rear end accident, it could cause a ruptured fuel tank and a subsequent spark from the battery terminals - Ford Pinto in action (a famous engineering failure in the 1970's). So we are in the process of removing it and repositioning it in the engine compartment on the firewall. That leaves the fuel pump computer which we will mount away from the tank near the wheel well where it was at in the donor Lincoln Mark VIII.

The black box in the background is the fuel tank
red and black posts are battery connections

As you can see a real possibility, not sure how I missed this - glad Larry is paying attention. As we are building this car we are reading the many forum posts and build blogs. There are quite a few who put electronics and even the battery in the trunk. It's appealing because there is little room for it anywhere else on the car. They also don't want it taking away from the engine compartment wow factor. We will choose safety everytime over wow factor.