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I'm over the interior... Im Ready For it to RUN!!!!!!! Lol :hide::runaway:
Just Kidding
I'm over the stinkin' interior too, but I have to have a mount point for all of the electronics. I think that I've got that figured out to a point where I'll attempt to build the sliding trays for that stuff today, and mount the structure to the dash skeleton.
 
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Well, finally the weather is decent enough, and I have enough time to actually make some more forward progress.

I made a few decisions, and consequently made purchases to support those decisions. There is a leather store down the street from me, and although I don't buy leather to have a reference for what it's supposed to cost, Today I bought my first full hide that will end up on the dash top, the door panels, and the headliner. While it seemed like alot of product at the time of purchase, I laid it out on the tonneau of my ranger to see just how much I have to work with. There is alot there, and It drapes off equally on the other side.
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The brand that used to be on the cow testifying to the fact that this is the real stuff:
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The good part, and the motivator for making the leather purchase was the price. 99.00 for that hide is all I paid.
I think that it isn't enough to do the headliner too, so It looks like I'll have to buy another hide to get it all done, but even at 200.00, I think I'm in good for that.
This Cream color will be one of 4 colors that will make up the interior. The carpet is Saddle, the seats black, the bars will be gloss black, The bottom of the dash will be painted the same color saddle as the carpet, and the top covered in this cream colored leather, The mesh that runs down the middle will be gold (the same color that the wheels will be, and the gold stripe that will separate the Competition Orange from the Hot Rod satin black that makes up the external paint scheme).

Although this update is little more than a tease for what progress I hope to realize tomorrow, I was able to get the electronics mounted to the dash skeleton, that is up until the 8/32 tap snapped off in one of the mount holes. So tomorrow before I can finish that, I have to go in search of one of those before I can move on. So the goal for tomorrow is ambitious, I hope to have that damned dash completely mocked up so that I can prep it and paint/cover it and move onto the wiring phase which is between now, and turning the key.

I also bought the AC hose kit so I can finish the lines, a defrost vent kit from Vintage air, and the steering wheel that'll replace the old 2 spoke stocker. All that stuff coming from Summit, should be here around Tuesday.
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So, Tomorrow then should be the update that I hope to have
 
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I got up this morning at 6:30. I promptly get dressed and into the car to be sure that when HD opened, I could be there at 7:30 so I could get as much done today as possible.
Unfortunately, on Sunday, HD doesn't open till 8:00 AM. So I sat and waited.

When they opened, I went in and got the 8-32 tap that I snapped off last night, and went back home to finish the mount brackets for all of the engine electronics.

I managed to get all of the brackets built by about noon. I moved on to building the mount structure for the center mesh, that will hold the AC vents. When that was done, I carefully cut that mesh for those three vents. I popped them in only to be sure that everything fit.

I had the dash skeleton in and out of the car about half a dozen times today as I built the side end caps supports that will allow me to put the cover plates on those sides.

For the sake of todays' update, I loosely bolted all of the engine management stuff to their mounts.

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The MS II ECU that I built from a kit and the relay board sit on the passenger side.

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The Ron Francis fuse block, and the Motorcraft EDIS-6 module sit on the other side. (The module mounted to the back side of the fuse block)

I thought I'd throw in the center vent mesh for good measure.

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I still have to decide whether or not I want to use (and mount) the polished alum light switch that came w/ the RF fuse block, or use a rectangular toggle to act as one instead, so the center is still in flux.

The side caps are also not definite as to how I want to do them, so I just held at this point.
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Now that the electronics are roughed in, I'll be able to finally prep that dash structure and paint it. It has to be there obviously to hold all of the engine management, so it will be the first part of the interior to be finished
 
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I sure have missed a lot here. The project is really coming along Mike, holy cow did I underestimate the fabrication that you were truly taking on. I like the dash structure and am curious to see how the side panels and doors turn out as well. I don't have any experience working with leather and can't wait to see what exactly comes out of an entire cow hide. Lets get this thing wired up so we can hear that killer power plant roar!!
 
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I sure have missed a lot here. The project is really coming along Mike, holy cow did I underestimate the fabrication that you were truly taking on. I like the dash structure and am curious to see how the side panels and doors turn out as well. I don't have any experience working with leather and can't wait to see what exactly comes out of an entire cow hide. Lets get this thing wired up so we can hear that killer power plant roar!!

The whole starting the engine thing intimidates the hell outta me. Leaks from a copper HG, washing the cylinders down ala Scott from a F.I. startup map that's way too fat, (or that I can never get started at all because of the fact that the entire ECU was once a bunch of doo dads laying on my kitchen table) Weird assed vibrations directly attached to the fact that the balancer is supposed to be on a 302, Roller lifters that may or may not block the oil galley passages,Oil leaks from that stupid assed side cover plate that's now buried under a ton of s hit, or that Frank-N-Pan oil pan, a "home built" 4R70W, that may or may not howl like a pig when I start it, if it even goes into gear.........are only a just few of the "concerns" I have when that day comes. :thinking:

If there was anybody I wished lived right down the street, you can bet it'd be you. (And you'd have me on your blocked calls list)

I think in the end, I'll just save myself the worry, and just keep the car sitting,....unstarted. Then none of that stuff I'm worrying about will happen.:rolleyes:
 
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The whole starting the engine thing intimidates the hell outta me. Leaks from a copper HG, washing the cylinders down ala Scott from a F.I. startup map that's way too fat, (or that I can never get started at all because of the fact that the entire ECU was once a bunch of doo dads laying on my kitchen table) Weird assed vibrations directly attached to the fact that the balancer is supposed to be on a 302, Roller lifters that may or may not block the oil galley passages,Oil leaks from that stupid assed side cover plate that's now buried under a ton of s hit, or that Frank-N-Pan oil pan, a "home built" 4R70W, that may or may not howl like a pig when I start it, if it even goes into gear.........are only a just few of the "concerns" I have when that day comes. :thinking:

If there was anybody I wished lived right down the street, you can bet it'd be you. (And you'd have me on your blocked calls list)

I think in the end, I'll just save myself the worry, and just keep the car sitting,....unstarted. Then none of that stuff I'm worrying about will happen.:rolleyes:


My number one thing I learned from my turbo build that I was completely unaware of, was the amount of crankcase ventilation required.. My tuner put me in the know- I needed TWO (2).. yes, two -10 AN hoses going to catchcans with a minimum of 1 1/2 inch outlets for breathers. Those are 5/8 diameter lines.. with out that, the crankcase will pressure up and not allow the oil to drain out of the turbo.

Thought I'd toss that out there..

Oh, and I saw a cool V8 fairmont wagon for sale this weekend that I really wanted to pick up, but the guy was too proud of it.
 
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My number one thing I learned from my turbo build that I was completely unaware of, was the amount of crankcase ventilation required.. My tuner put me in the know- I needed TWO (2).. yes, two -10 AN hoses going to catchcans with a minimum of 1 1/2 inch outlets for breathers. Those are 5/8 diameter lines.. with out that, the crankcase will pressure up and not allow the oil to drain out of the turbo.

Thought I'd toss that out there..

Oh, and I saw a cool V8 fairmont wagon for sale this weekend that I really wanted to pick up, but the guy was too proud of it.
I have one six cylinder, w/ one head, w/ one -12 going to a breather tank. On that, I think I'll be OK.
That's the problem with theory and reality. Theoretically, it should all work just fine. Reality is a tough b*tch to keep in check.

Unfortunately, there is way too much "theory" in my engine. The reality is that it should work, but in this particular build, there are a whole bunch of other "realities" that I am all to familiar with that most guys that have their engines built for them never have to worry about.

i.e. when was the last time you had to grind on the block to clearance for a pushrod that was hitting...................while the entire engine was assembled?

The right side of my brain had all kinds of rags, masking tape, and suction going to make sure that any dust/debris would get stopped/trapped/or sucked up before it could find it's way down into the engine. The left side...( The one w/ the little red version of me) pops up and reminds me of all of the potential carnage that could take place if even a tiny bit of that sh it got past me.

And it may be there, sitting on the crank, or cam lobe suspended in red assy goop.
 
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