I reached the point in the build where I needed to put
the motor and trans in the car, so I did.
The transmission bolted up to the bell housing very easily. I had The Engine Factory ship me a complete
transmission so the clutch plate, throw-out, bell housing, etc. were already
installed. I chose to remove the
temporary rubber plug they ship the transmission with , although their
instructions say it is okay to just leave it in place and it will push forward
with the transmission input shaft. I
swung the motor with the engine hoist I bought at Northern Tool &
Equipment. I chose not to use the Harbor
Freight option as it had too many complaints.
The NTE one I bought bolted together quite easily all things considered
and works very well. It came with an engine
leveler as well and that thing was worth it.
I bolted the transmission to it and lifted it in as a single item. I put the wheels and tires on before I did
the motor as I wanted the car to be fully supported by its own suspension
before adding the lump in the front. A
car without wheels and tires is a front yard "objet de art." With
wheels and tires it looks most excellent, like someday it will actually move
under its own power. The wheel dollies
worked very well and I am still able to move it around as need be in my
smallish garage. The engine hoist fit
very well between the dollies and the frame.
Scott helped guide the trans in and between the two of us we had it done
in less than 30 minutes. The
motor mounts supplied with the kit fit perfectly and landed on the frame with
no additional effort. The trans mount
fit like a glove and required no adjustment.
I figured this would be a weekend long project with lots of swearing.
Most of the time since my last update has been spent
continuing to work on small things. Like
I "assumed" the motor used an attached fuel pump.
So when I originally ran the fuel lines I didn't think
about needing to plumb in the electric fuel pump Engine Factory sent. I finally figured it all out this past
weekend and the fuel lines are complete.
I mounted the pump to the passenger side main chassis tube as it is the
only solid hard point below the gas tank, a requirement for this pump otherwise
it can become air-bound. I had to rewire
the Ron Francis harness which uses a standard Mustang wet electric fuel pump
for an injected engine inside the tank.
It worked well other than needing to elongate the wires which I spliced
in the middle to keep the markings correct neat the terminal ends.
A lot of time spent on other wiring projects like the
neutral safety switch, more engine wiring, dash wiring, a/c wiring, etc. Lots more to do though to make sure it is all
neat and clean.
I decided to mount the brake fluid reservoir to the
engine compartment side of the driver's footbox inside panel. I added a stiffener made from 1.5 inch wide
AL flat stock and mounted it on the interior side of the panel. The supply line will need a grommet to keep
it from chafing and keep hot engine air out of the people compartment. I am not installing power brakes (yet - wait
until I'm too old to push it and have enough money to buy it). I do wonder how long it will be before the
Great Parent of All of Us (government) decides to require little black boxes in
all cars. Thus far the kit cars don't
require them but it likely won't be long until the Great Parent decides to
ensure our safety for us.
My big delay now is it is too humid in FL to paint any of
the panels so I can start installing them.
I'm finally at the point where I need to affix things permanently but
the paint I am using, most notably the undercoat for exterior exposed panels,
doesn't like to cure in 90% humidity. I
can only hang so many curing car parts in the kitchen before my wife starts reminding
me of the time I rebuilt my old Honda 750's four carburetors in her living room
in college. I'll never live that down.
I plan to spend the next few weeks cleaning up a lot of
unfinished electrical and plumbing work, measure (twice), and cut the a/c
supply/return lines and have them professionally crimped by a local shop.
Finally, a huge thank you goes out to Bruce and
Vicki. That was a fantastic dinner and I
can't thank you enough for the excellent poster. They gave me a very cool art poster of a Cobra Coupe done
up like a movie poster. It was done by
the Shelby American Automobile Club a few years ago and has all of the names of
the drivers for the original cars on it.
It will have a place of honor in the garage as soon as I get it
framed.
