No UPS

Had a few more items including the race battery on order. Schedule for a Friday delivery. With the adverse weather their where no delivery's. I'm sure it will be here Monday.

Snow...Snow...Snow

More snow, 18-24 inch's. Getting tired of the snow. On a more positive note, retrieved the parts that Brian had fabricated from the platers the other day. Paul's Chrome(Bill) did a very nice job on the nickel plating(as always).

With these parts back I could now measure and shorten the 8 stacks that mount on top of the carburetors. The stacks are 1 inch too high and I could not mount the air intake box on top.

Had to shorten all the stacks 1 inch.

Now it fits perfect.

Mufflers...Oh No!

The first scheduled event I'm attending has a noise limit of 104 db's. That means mufflers for me. I would skip it because it's the only race this year requiring mufflers, but it's a low key event that makes for a good first race and test session.

The mufflers I need are 5 inch's round

and 18 inch's long. I'm using oatmeal containers as a template,

their the same diameter, but shorter.

As you can see they touch each other.

Won't know the final result until I

get the mufflers and see them installed.

Wiring

Running wiring can get somewhat disorganizing, but this wire loom product works really nice. It's like a plastic snake skin, that remembers it's shape. Retaining the wires in this plastic sleeve cleans up project and should make the car more dependable.

Fuel pressure gauge done.

The fuel line that runs from the carburetor to the fuel pressure gauge are done. Most of the battery cables that go from the battery to the master switch and then to the starter are done. Plus the external battery hookup cables are done. My last order shorted me 4 feet of battery cable, plus back ordered some wire loom cover. Looks like next week for that stuff.

Throttle cable completed

Throttle cable can now be checked off the list. The only real issue was making a bracket for the return springs. UPS will be dropping off a box today containing a new slave cylinder for the clutch, some lines and fittings for the fuel gauge and battery cable and fittings. A busy week ahead.

Catch cans

You'll find catch cans on just about every race car. Used to contain fluids such as oil or water from going onto the race track.

The original location for the catch can bracket was on the support for the wing. But I'm not using that support so I make a couple of brackets and mounted on the right side of the transmission. Now to find some cans(plastic) to fit.

Safety panel

This panel separates the cockpit from the engine. Most likely fabricated by Zeke Justice. As the series evolved, so did the rule book. The panel serves as a barrier for liquids and fire not to penetrate the drivers cockpit.

Now that the smoke has cleared

It's back to work. My ebay purchased fuel pressure gauge came yesterday. It's a perfect fit and match to the oil temp gauge next to it. The gauge came from a marine salvage yard in FL. The slave hydraulic cylinder for the clutch is to far gone to rebuild, so I'm making up another list of parts I need.

Paul's plating called, all the parts are done, so next week it's a trip out to Pittsburgh.

The Big Day Has Arrived!

34 years later, it runs again. Started it up today and runs good, no leaks so that's good news. Could only keep it running for a short time. My work space is very small and after just a couple of minutes my eyes we're burning from the exhaust fumes. But sounds good and one big item to check off on my to do list.

Here's the video. Click on the arrow to start.

Or try this link http://www.myf5000.com/lola_engine_run.html

Cooling system now complete

Wrapped up the cooling system yesterday. I'll add water and pressure test it today. Little bit of work to do on the throttle cable system. Need to add a couple of return springs.

Oil tank---water lines

Worked on the coolant system plus mounted the oil tank and connected the lines. So, at this point the oil system is complete, coolant system is 85% done and the fuel system for the most part is done. I think next week I have to locate 5 gals of race fuel, add some oil and start her up .

Coolant line from the radiator to the water pump

Getting closer

The exhaust headers are back on. Oil cooler mounted, oil gauge line completed and installed. Needed a low pressure fuel gauge and found one on ebay, that will arrive next Monday. Next is to reinstall the water lines and work on the throttle cable.

Snow!

The forecast is 12-18 inches of snow today. Spring can't be to far away.


With the oil lines cleaned, I could place them back on the car along with the fuel lines.

At last, a completed oil pump with lines in the right location. It's such a simple picture, but what a long journey.

Valve cover breather vents done

Venting for the engine is complete. Using steel braided lines, I had a lot of extra #12 hose, so I used it for the valve cover fittings and lines that run back to the oil tank. Removed all the oil and fuel lines so I could run parts cleaner through them and make sure all debris is removed.

Starter motor works

Really had not idea up to this point if the starter motor would fit properly and spin over the engine. Two oil pan bolts need a small modification. But the starter motor works just fine, this is the one I got from St. Louis, it's got to be at least 40 years old.


Needed to grind these 2 bolts, the starter motor was rubbing on them.


Starter works fine.

Oil lines completed

Received the necessary parts yesterday to finish the oil lines. That's done now. The parts for the oil pressure gauge are all correct. The back order fittings for the valve covers also came. So the next couple of days should be busy ones.

Wired

The nice part about working on the wiring is, it's very straight forward and all the supplies can be purchased at your local auto parts store. Instead of using the solderless wire connectors, all my connections will be soldered. It's a little more work but much more dependable and this is the way it was done in the 1970's. The one thing that is added that wasn't used in the 70's is a fuel pump emergency cut off switch. It's triggered by a sudden stop. Cuts electric to the fuel pump.

The blue connector is the solderless type.

Fuel cutoff switch. It's the one with the red button.

Rain light, hey it works!

Electrical

While I wait for parts, started to work on the electrical. All this old wire needs to be replaced.

I'm trying to use what the car came with to keep it original, but this stuff is just to dangerous to use again.

2 months to go

My first event is in just a couple of months. I'm not in panic mode yet.

Additional parts will arrive this Friday. This should complete the oil lines, a small water line that runs from the radiator to the swirl pot and some fittings to convert metric threads to US for a replaced oil pressure gauge.

Next is to modify the valve cover breather vents to accept lines that will run to the oil tank.

Transponder

That red devise is a transponder. Mounted on the nose of the car, it electronically sends out a signal and every time you do a lap at a race track it's it records your lap time. This can be followed live at mylaps.com

I bought this one from Eric, somehow he ended up with 2 of them.

Fuel system completed

A productive weekend, but a cold one. 5 degrees outside and 35 degrees in the shop. I use 2 small space heaters and it takes about 2 hours to get warm enough to work in.

Anyway, for the fuel system I needed to fabricate 2 brackets to mount the electric fuel pump. I'm sure the car original had a mechanical pump that was driven off the engine. But I don't have fuel injection and a electric pump will be more than adequate. Had all the parts I needed, thought it would take a couple of hours and ended up taking all day, but its done.

Mounting the fuel pump behind the seat.

Brackets for the pump.

Completed system