F40 replica aka "operation turd polish" (Page 57/62)
shemdogg DEC 01, 07:42 PM
Going thru the details I hit a snag on the alternator battery hookup. How to mount a megafuse so its not grounded, thingieverse came thru!

Mounted and wired, I now have a working charging system.

The that dang ignition switch. I made an overhead switch box ages ago and never got around to it till now. Made a bottom, cut the holes out, wrapped it in pleather and ran some wire

Turn the key on, hit a few switches, and press start n it fires right up!

Cant get the front brakes bled, the gasket is loose on the reservoir now and the top lets out pressure. Got some brakes tho, need it too. This thing freakin LURCHES hard outta the garage. Clutch is kinda an on or off kind of clutch, but can wait to put some power down. Gotta stop first lol. Been starting out in second lately. Made an extension for the select cable so I got 2nd n 4th back. No oil to the rockers, so gotta figure that out. Didnt have a whole lotta faith in the boneyard motor, car wasnt wrecked and looked abused. The other motors there were in pieces so I took that one. Not opposed to getting a new motor. Kinda wanna pull the motor out again anyways to install a heat shield, redo some hoses, and other firewall stuff, move the battery, and make more room around the motor to work on. Then thinking about a different trans long term cuz the granny gear in this 4 spd wont be very streetable, so I have a 3 spd basically. Also thinking of rewiring the car since its a butchered mess, start w a fuseblock and go from there. Decisions decisions, as if I dont have enuf on muh plate.

I coulda just painted the turd when I got it but it woulda looked like crap. Im always looking for other ones to justify all my work. They pop up from time to time. Heres one on fb
https://www.facebook.com/ma...rral_story_type=post
that pisa dash is pretty coo, I plan on making something similar wraparound style. Someday......

shem
shemdogg DEC 11, 10:27 AM
Workin on the nio oil to rockers issue, I pulled the lifters and they looked ok. Got a new set of lifters and reusuable(what an idea!) rocker bolts from zzp. Got it all back together and my injector rails leaking, guess I shoulda left those orings dry lol. Now I have injector clips coming tuesday from zzp and will fire it up then. In the meantime ive been cleaning up the engine compartment. Getting to the firewall valve cover was a pain, too much stuff in the way. I removed the pass side trunk mount thingie from the firewall, cut off the right side idler from the tensioner, moved the dis pack to the firewall, moved the map, evap purge, and boost bypass out of the way, got my vacuum lines and boost gauge line connected, and cleaned up the wiring. Now I can get either valve cover off easily and have some room around this motor.


Researching and printing out some parts for the new dash, and getting some of the car audio stuff together/planned. Made my appt at the dmv and have all the pages printed for my trip there. Im sure its going to be a nightmare, anything other than a standard transaction results in a bad attitude. I need a certificate of sequence and im all good. Ill have all the dmv pages printed out so they can get up to speed quickly lol. Hopefully it goes quickly, have to get some forms, get the car inspected, then go to the referee for my smog exemption.

shem
shemdogg DEC 22, 11:10 PM
Swapped the car to the udder side of the garage and shoehorned the mustang into my "office"

prolly about a month ago now. Its nice to be able to work on the car inside. Pretty much done w motor stuff for now, still some wires I want to lengthen. I did another round of cutting on the tensioner, took off the top ear mount and it opened up the area even more. Got my fuel lines run against the firewall, looks much better. Cuz said it looks factory. I think it could be factory-ish, with more cleanup. But thats after the new motor arrives.


Looking at the evap vac can, it looks like an old coffee can to me. Had an idea, couldnt help myself


heading to bed a few days ago, I felt the urge to peep inside the car. I looked at the dash and shazam! It all came to me. Mostly. Next day I had some time before work, so I raided the dump pile. I got a sheet of 1/8 particle board and started cutting and drawing shapes with a sharpie yay!

Then got some plywood from the pile, found a sheet of aluminium, and made more shapes. Took a sawzall to the instrument cluster housing, and cut up the center of the dash to fit the plywood pieces.

Today I wound up making a new dash. The original was too flimsy after I took it apart. Didnt plan on keeping that anyways. Hit hd after work and grabbed a sheet of 7/16 ply. Cut it into the shapes I needed. Ran outta hardener, so hit hd for more fb. Fb gallon #21 here! $95 friggin dollars now wtf! Dollar is worthless! When I started this build it was $30 at hd, crazy. Anywho, I got the first layer of glass on the new dash, get more done tomorrow. Pics soon, gotta be doneish soon. All the parts are starting to show. Having a hard time finding space for everything, running outta real estate. 2 7" dubble din receivers, 1 back up cam, 17 gauges(lol), 3 power port outlets, 2 usb, 1 big ass rally ebrake lever, led lighting, hvac from a mazda, custom dual window switch, new brake master reservoir, wink mirror, lots of random switches, and much more(if i can fit it). Then rewire everything dash related. Looking into new wiring harnesses cuz the only wiring that hasnt been butchered is the hvac(soon), and power window/door lock switches (soon). The whole things a rats nest, I know where everything is mostly- but it looks like chit, and its always in the way lol. So thats coming towards the end. Hope fully by the time im done w the rough in of the dash/door panels, the new motor will be here and I can knock that out. Then all the rough stuff is done. Then I can switch out this dirty bonnet and switch to a finer grit of polishing compound and really shine this turd.

I was thinkin about how to finish the roof vents/air brakes. I want them to funnel air inside. Was searching around and stumbled upon a subaru rally website, I saw the same thing I made its crazy. But they mounted em backwards lol. It did give me an idear of how to finish them nicely. So thats on the stove now. Lots more fiberglass. Yay!
forgot the link lol
https://www.antonenko555.co...ve-roof-vents-group/
shem

[This message has been edited by shemdogg (edited 12-22-2022).]

shemdogg DEC 28, 08:37 PM
More parts acquisition issues, one order on amazon has been sent twice and never makes it the carrier. Ordered stuff the beginning of the month and its still not here. More stuff supposed to show tomorrow. Need all the parts for placement on the dash, its going to be tight n cluttered. Cuz said it looks like a 747 dash. I want it to look confusing to deter thieves lol. Got some really nice 7" blaupunkt head units from the place where all audiophiles and car audio aficionados shop, home depot! lmao. First one showed up, looked like the truck backed over it. It was a box in a bag and the bag was ripped, the box was sticking out and obviously smashed, but it was taped up w a single pice of tape and an official "inspected" sticker. I opened the box in front of the lady and saw the stereo was crushed, so I returned it right there, went home and ordered another. Most of the fam is on vacation for the next 2 weeks, so I got plenty of undisturbed time to work on the car. But now we got lotsa rain for these 2 weeks so im using the hood of the car as a table to work on lol. Making good progress, tossed the original center console because the laminate flooring I was using wasnt wide enuf to cover the ebrake lever housing. And I need some storage and am procrastinating on making a glove box, so I made a box in the center console. Center section of the dash was too wide, sitting in the passenger seat felt like most of your body was under the dash. So I cut that section out and shortened it.
Heres version 1 and the ol center console


Heres the new ones

Getting that dash into the car and into position with the car in the garage and the doors not being able to open all the way is a pain! Ive got it down to an art now, can do it in about 15 seconds. Has to be thrown in like a javelin lol. One or two more finish coats and I can primer it. My cuz gave me some lacquer primer, real heavy duty boat stuff to shoot onto the interior pieces. He has some textured epoxy coating he put on his hand made trailer left over, and some black dye, so ill be putting that on the pieces. It looks really good, and I think itll work great for the dash, center console, and oh yeah, I gotta make a ceiling console as well. The wink mirror is hitting my overhead engine control panel, so ill have to integrate that into da roof.

Heres the rat infestation, hence why I wanna do the whole car rewire

Nows the time....(head droops lol)

shem
zkhennings JAN 02, 01:18 PM
I like the new dash, and wiring is always so tedious.
shemdogg JAN 02, 08:45 PM
Thanks man! Dash is going to look crazy for sure. Burned thru your build on skoolie, youre a beast- thats a lotta work! Gonna be crazy schweet when done! Pluggin away at the dash, got a cupla primer coats on the dash, center console, and overhead panel. That thing came out like a racing boat lol. Still have to cut the whole hole for the switchbox up there, but I left enuf slack in the wires for them to reach nicely. Wow I just realized right now I have to prep the subwoofler box also.

Ordered some black dye to tint the dash coating stuff, but w all the black trim rings and stuff I printed for everything im thinking detail will get lost in the sea of black. My cuz had a bottle of grey dye for the stuff, its the same color as the car, it would make all my black pieces really pop and drive the eyes crazy with all the stuff to look at. Grey it is, hopefully I can shoot tomorrow but I gots some work. But tomorrows the only break from the rain, gotta make it happen. Working on a table on the porch in the rain, I applied 2 coats of primer with a brush on everything 2 times now. Its laquer primer cut w laquer thinner so it burns off even in this freezing cold conditions we have here in ca right now, its like down in the 30s gosh! Cut out the openings for everything in the dash and test fit most of it. My aviation gauges showed finally, ordered 12/8 lol. Would up getting an hvac unit from a prelude cuz it looked tiny and it was one of the few ebay sellers that would throw in the pigtails. Things friggin yuuuuuge dag nab it. Outta real estate for the switches, as in the 10 pack of switches that showed awhile ago. Hafta get most of it together then see where I can shoehorn them in. Pulled the plug on a 21 circuit wiring harness. I passed it up the first time cuz it didnt look right, I had 2 circuits for radios. Then I remembered I have 2 radios, ebay loves me lol.

Hoping to have it all assembled by the end of the week and see what it looks like fully loaded up

shem
shemdogg JAN 07, 02:14 AM
Jeez nothings drying in this cold, and the rain wont stop. Been using the hood and rear louvers as worktables lol. Today was the only break from the rain, had a ton of work calls. 3 on the same street lol. Yesterday I rolled out the bedliner stuff onto everything in the grey color. Its called air force grey but its a really ugly grey. Tried sanding it and it does sand and leaves a pretty cool texture. Gonna rattle can it in my fav grey. Got home around 5 today and went to town like a madman. Got everything in, had several idears, and got em done too. Im pooped but it looks crazy good, I cant get it all into single pics theres so much going on, but I did find a way to shoehorn not only the air ride controller but all 10 switches and make it look good. Well just 9 in the pics, one more will go on an aluminium panel under the 6 hole cluster for the hatch enable. Took so many pics in stages, never thought id get this much done but I was on a roll. This dash brought by the letter D, dio, dokken, n deep purple

dont mind the piece o 1x4 holding up the steering column

subwoofler and center console w window controls and rear hatch controls

yawn, wink mirror and overhead panel thing

back to me old tricks

Pics dont do it justice at all, came out good. Now to pull it all out, paint it, and start the wyering. yay

shem
exoticse JAN 12, 04:02 AM
Shem,

Just got caught up on the last two pages of your build, and wow I am still drooling! The body mods and the dash all came out spectacular ! You have the eyes and skills to pull it off.

A lot of times you see guys with great skills, but terrible taste, or guys with great design vision, but no skills to pull it off.

Congratulations your project is a homerun !
shemdogg JAN 21, 01:24 PM
Damn bro thanks for the mega kudos! Believe me the feelings mutual, I love your car! Cant wait to get my hands on another fiero to start modding. A fiero or bug will be next, but ill probably make an imsa gtu fiero . Almost got a bug a few weeks ago but seller never responded Havent done much else on the car lately, had to do a buncha work on me trucks, chevy needed a new front suspension, toyo needed some ignition system love. Wires are less than a year old and 3 had blue corrosion on the ends


Started thinkin about wiring the dash up, found the pinout for the honda hvac. New wiring harness showed up and its got me sceeered, thats whole lotta wires!


Then I got even more scared when I saw the instructions or lack of lol

yeah thats all I got smh.
So im in the planning stages for that. Just need to id a few hundred wires and I should have some idea of how to install it. Easy peasy. Its the beginning of the year, so time to get cracking on dmv nonsense. Went to the first appt, they say I need to bring the car in for a vin verification. Lady wont give me a moving permit, tells me to make another appt and bring it on a trailer. Wednesday was the appt at 10, I had the timetable all set up in my head. Everything went to hell early. Wifey left late, so I left late, hit a ton of traffic getting to uhaul, uhaul dude didnt come to the desk for 20 mins, got back home w the trailer, cant get the trailer into my short driveway with all the cars on each side of my narrow street, wound up backing over my fence and blocking the street lol. Fired up the car by touching the right wires together and started driving it on, somethings hitting about 2/3 of the way on. Cant open the door more than 3 inches cuz of the trailer fenders, trying to rush cuz im already late, one of my cousins shows up to chat lol, I tell him to guide me, get stuck again, hes got a weird look on his face, I contorsion act my way out to see he had me drive up crooked and one tire is so wedged into the side of the trailer, I dunno how it didnt pop. back tires are waaaay too wide for this trailer, wtf!? Then the motor died and wouldnt restart. No power, found out next day I kicked the power wire out from its socket. Anywho, grabbed the atv winch and a jetski battery, and some ratchet straps. I drilled out the front crossmemeber and got some beefy bolts and mounted that front tow hook properly the day before. Finally get the car all the way onto the trailer, both rear wheels are dragging the side of the trailer. Get on the freeway and theres an accident so all 5 lanes are stopped, get to dmv an hour late, wait for 30 mins for the guy to tell me I didnt need an appt, just drive up in the verification line. Yay more time wasted! Get in the verification line, 30 mins later a guy shows up and tells me the truck and trailer combo are too big and I have to move. Then he tells me he wants the car off the trailer be cause he will get in trubble and they have cameras. I tell him its not running, I can get it off the trailer, and the vins visible from the side of the car. Gives me a buncha bs so I know its not gonna happen. I drive off pissed and stressed out, then remember the highway patrol did some vin verifications for me several times when I was flipping motorcycles, quad, n jetskiis. Call the redwood city chp, lady gives me an email for the officer. I drive home and call the san jose chp, thats where I did all my verifications before. Tell the lady the story, she says- be here tomorrow at 1, I say- god bless you. Now I call uhaul and tell em I need the trailer another day, the manager goes ballistic starts yelling at me because its already reserved tomorrow. Long story short, I told her the trailers not coming back today. She told me she would charge me for 2 days usage, I said fine. I was keeping it more than 24 hours no biggie. Total waste of $150 and time, but its gotta get done. Went to chp 45 mins early, he saw me after 20 mins, wrote it up in 2 mins, and stopped traffic for me while I backed out like a pro. Now I have another appt monday at redwood shitty dmv and I should get more bullchit cough cough, I mean papers.

Made a mold of this gauge pod ive had in about 7 cars, itll go on the left side of the center console.


Going to start installing the whole car harness soon. Going to install it and wire this up one by one and when everythings working, Ill remove all the fiero wires. Sounds like fun, not lol. Figuring out the sub-harnesses to leave in and fish out of the oem harness will be fun as well. Yay

shem
steve308 JAN 21, 09:43 PM
Looks great! Don't forget some sort of fire suppression system!!!!!