Days 26 => 30 - Big A$$ Update!! (9/4/2014 - 9/7/2014)

A lot has been going on in the garage so the blog took a bit of a backseat. Here's all the stuff from the last few days.

9/4/2014

My homies, Harold and Frank came over to the garage. They helped out on tracing wires for the buzzy fuel pump relay. We went to CarQuest and got a Ford relay and socket. I rewired it based off of TMoss' wiring diagram. After wiring in the relay, we went through all of the fuel pump checks and I attempted to pull codes from the ECM. All of the fuel checks indicate that the fuel pump is good and wiring is good. However, the ECM part of the procedure failed and I couldn't pull any codes from it . . . . DAMMIT . . . I shut the garage down for the night and had a beer or two.

9/5/2014

Today, I dinked around with the ECM. This ECM does not look like it came from an accident damage Mustang . . . more like a water damaged one.

That's, I say, that's barnacles there, boy!

I removed the engine and trans to get after the oil leak. It was leaking in 2 . . . TWO places; the front where it meets the timing cover and the rear where it meets the rear main. I dropped the pan, cleaned up the oil and gasket (Felpro!!) and laid down a caterpillar of Form-a-Gasket goo. After letting it setup for a few minutes, I bolted the pan back to engine.

Not to bad for a first timer!!

Frank came over and offered a hand in reinstalling the beast. I dinked around with the ECM and fuel pump relay for yet ANOTHER day. My determination is stubborn!!

9/6/2014

I spent the today trying to track down an ECM and came up empty. Since it runs by using a jumper on the relay to activate the fuel pump, I decided to manually switch the fuel pump on via a second relay.

The result??




She sounds soooooo MEAN!!

The long nights in the garage are starting to wear on me. I shut the garage down early and went to bed.

9/7/2014

Day 30!!! And the beast hasn't moved under it's own power yet. Mainly due to me fighting with a crazed ECM that does some strange shizzle. 

Today I shopped till I nearly dropped. I picked up a few odds and end to finish this build off . . . Looks like I will be using the slack time as predicted . . .

Some BMW just puked up some parts

Belt setup/routing

Starting to add her face!

New home of the remote oil filter

Mocking up the radiator: Lower

Mocking up the radiator: Upper

Haz room . . .

Face still going

Can't add coolant like that

I can add it now :)

What a pretty face!

Nothing a BFH can't take of . . . 

I cut out the cross bar that the E36 condenser use and mounted a two speed Volvo fan as a pusher.

Tomorrow is adding the fan relays and finish wiring. I'll have the car up in the air (jack stands . . . no lift here) for the suspension install.

So . . . I didn't make the 30 day deadline of the car driving out of the garage . . . but I got a LOT farther that most have expected. Don't worry, it will be ready for the Dragon!!

Here's the count down list:

1. Main harness
1. IAC
2. Temp gauge
3. IAT
4. Reverse lights
5. Alternator
6. Starter
7. Fan switch
8. Neutral switch wiring
9. EGR jedi mind trickery
2. Make some brackets and block off plates
1. PS reservoir
2. ABS pump
3. Overflow tank
4. EGR port block off plate
3. Run some hoses and lines
1. Fuel lines
2. Coolant hoses
1. Heater core bypass for now
3. Vacuum lines
1. Brake Booster
2. Fuel pressure regulator
4. Wrap the driver side header
5. Paint the engine mounts
6. Install engine and transmission
7. Install driveshaft
8. Run the exhaust
9. Mount the radiator
10. Install suspension
11. Fill the engine and trans with fluids
12. Prime the engine
13. Add Gas
14. Add Battery
15. Turn the key!!!

See you cats later!!

-=PJ