Back to the helmet

Like to get the helmet painted before my first event. It's basically red, white and blue stripes with the stars, wrapped around the helmet. To get a idea of placement I cut strips of leftover decal and placed them on the helmet.

With the car just about done, I should have time to complete this.

Last order

What I hope will be the last parts order for awhile should arrive this Wednesday. The seat belts that had been back ordered are on the way with some other small items I needed.

Starting to work on the suspension setup, brake bias and all that fun stuff.

More mufflers

Well, it's sure something that I would not like to use all the time, but I guess for one event it's OK. Started the engine with the mufflers, it is a lot more quite, but they sure are ugly. No problem with the size after all.

Auger muffler insert

Auger mufflers, they slip into the exhaust pipes. Not much to them, I do have to reduce the dia. from 3" to 2 1/2" to fit. It would be nice if they work, I also have mufflers coming this Friday. Between using one or both, I hope this resolves my noise problem.

I've been looking at the idea of taking the car to the local drag strip. There's one about 20 min. from here and they have a test and tune day on Sunday's. This will be my only opportunity to test the engine, gearbox and brakes before my first event in April.

Tachometer

The car came with a Smith Mechanical tachometer. But I replaced it with a electronic Stack with the retro look. My magneto distributor did not have a tach drive. I believe this can be modified to accept a drive, but I can save this project for the off season.

Wiring done

With the arrival of the battery yesterday, I could now complete the wiring.

Also I needed the push rod on the transmission. This rod is connected to a hydraulic cylinder that works the clutch. Terry at Taylor Race Engineering found one in England. So I should have that item by the end of next week.

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.