2015 Project Thread!

Yeah, if there's something actually WRONG with it, that makes sense. Of course, that being a Chevy, there's a lot more than that wrong with it.

You know, I have a rant about Novas too, haha. I don't understand why people are so into them. They were just the Cavalier of the time! They weren't some amazing car or anything, but there's Nova clubs, Nova-only shows, etc, etc. They weren't special in ANY way. They made a crapload of them, and they aren't even that good looking. The mid-'60s 2-doors were okay, but the later ones were flat out UGLY!

Well, the motion passed the committee. I'm going to call Dakota Digital today and just make sure what I plan to do will work. The directions are fuzzy about things like where to put fuses and what size fuses to use.

Maybe one day when I have more time, I'll take your approach to things more often and tinker with factory parts instead of "buying solutions" to my problems. Right now I'm just sick of the problems that have arisen from using well-used parts and things that aren't already known to work together. I want this car on the ROAD!

no va in Spanish means no go!!
There’s nothing wrong with buying parts to render solutions. So far as instruction go, maybe you should look on other forums, they may explain things better.
If I were to do a job for a customer, I would do the same thing. I don't think any company can stay in business for long if they sell crap, unless you look at GM...(Government Motors)
I just like fiddling around and making stuff work on different cars. I suppose if I were to have the means to do a resto-mod, I would buy a lot of stuff, but when would it end? What I’ve found over the years is the best way for me to do things is to come up with a plan, perform all the work & do the engine/trans last. Everything has to be finished before the key is turned otherwise I just want to drive it.
I’ve got a friend, who recently put an injected engine into his veh, initially there was a lot of good work done, he had to see if the engine would run, but once the engine fired-up….. there’s so much work to do, wiring, soldering, effective cooling system etc, it’s going to be a lot harder to complete the work while your diving it.

That must be where I went wrong early on, haha. My strategy was always to do (and spend) as little as possible to get it drive-able. Every year, I tear something down with the goal to get it back to driving shape by mid-July. Drive-able in the short run is slowly evolving into drive-able in the long run. I've been fixing those early mistakes ever since. I think that's why it really doesn't take much these days to convince me to throw money at my problems. It causes a lot less grief in the long run, haha. But I suppose you don't learn as much.

I talked to DD on the phone yesterday, and I really have to assume that there is more to the directions than what they have posted online. The guy answered my questions as if the answers were obvious, haha. I just didn't want to buy it and then find out it won't work!

I had a brief look tat the Dakota digital dash, it looks pretty nice. it cant be all that difficult to install, they are not going to want you to re-wire the car to put their dash in. i'm glad you got that resolved, how fast/accurate is the tach?

Oh, I'm not getting that dash anytime soon. I do like it a lot, but $750 is $750. I'd rather spend that much on something functional the car lacks, like AIR CONDITIONING. I already have gauges, haha. AND I just put LEDs behind them too. Getting a DD dash would be kind of a waste at this point. I also would prefer that they come with green backlighting to match the rest of the dash lights, but they don't. Red or blue.

My controller is supposed to show up today already. Gotta love that about Summit. They have warehouses all over, so you're not waiting for it to come all the way from California or Florida. I'm going to a pretty good show on Sunday, but I doubt I'll get the chance to put my new controller in before that. Looks like it takes some doing to calibrate it to your gauge and stuff.

good luck at the car show, hope you have a lot of fun. I still have to work on the day of our car show here in town. it works out that way almost every year.
I've been working on my testers lately, a lot of them are worn-out or broken, I've made most of them myself as they are not available on the market or are unbelievably expensive.
your right about summit, they do have plenty of depots. I just moved over to JEGS for personal reasons like tech support/warranty etc.

I was going through my freestanding shelf of car stuff yesterday. I can't believe how much car washing stuff I have. Most of it, I just put it up there and forgot about it! I have doubles of TONS of stuff, and all sorts of implements I've never used. Time for a purge!

I also got out my box of extra interior stuff. I've tried to sell it, I've even tried to give it away and no one wants it! I have a nice set of center vents for the '87-93 dash, a nice grey 3rd brakelight, an under the radio cubby thingy.... Seems a shame to throw them away, but I don't want to have to store them anymore. I store enough crap, and I really have no use for them.

Controller was delayed until today. I've bought from Jegs before too. I just think of Summit first for some reason. Plus Jegs doesn't carry the DD controller.

Thanks, the show should be fun! I have to get there early enough for the hosting club to see my car though. They all vote as soon as they get there, and only vote for each other, but maybe if I'm there on time, I can catch some of their attention.

Your testers sound cool. What sort of things can you test with them?

Yeah I make things like amp draw testers from using the battery isolators, power reversing devices for rolling up windows ,testing blower motors,  moving seats and closing sunroofs on the older cars with bad switches, I add  accessory plugs to my smart test lamps, memory savers, I have a whole box of different male/female connector pins  and then I add female spade connectors to the wire ends for testing.
I took a vacuum pump from a diesel F350 and wired it up so I can test for leaks on the old vacuum operated a/c systems with EATC , it even has a vacuum gauge! This pump is cool as it stops when the vacuum reaches a predetermined vacuum level (about 16 inches), and if it fails to turn off or restarts fairly quickly; there is a vacuum leak.
I have a trailer hitch plug that is wired-up for testing trailer brake lights and electric brakes .
I also have a fog lamp assembly from an F350 that I use for lead/wiring testing of low current wiring to verify it can hold a load, this tool also has a fuse holder installed across the 2 wires, I use a blown fuse that has wires added/soldered  to both ends of the fuse, I hook that up to the light and drive the vehicle, if the fuse wired to the light blows or the wiring shorts out, the foglamp will glow at full brightness.
You have to make these things because they are not on the market, and it simplifies the testing of electrical circuits.
Loads of variable resistors from old fuel pumps for testing fuel gages.
I like making stuff that helps me out, anybody can make the stuff, it’s not hard;  it just irritates me when people borrow things and don’t return them or break stuff.
I just like making stuff.

Well, that stupid show only had one trophy for Fords. And it was mostly Fords. It's put on by the local Shelby club, but they allow all makes. They have a Ford-only show in June that has more categories, so I guess maybe they don't want to seem like they're playing favorites with this one or something. They have to realize though that they're going to get mostly Fords. It's a Shelby club, showing at a freakin' Ford dealer! Car Craft Summer Nationals was not at all apologetic about their Chevy-heavy award categories. I left 15 minutes before the award ceremony, knowing I had no shot. I'd have had a better chance if I'd brought an Asian import!

The show in June's categories don't favor my car either. There are a bunch of Mustang categories, a "modified" category and a "stock midsize" category. "Modified" get every kind of race car, street rod, what have you. It's all about flash. "Stock midsize" is all years, so it gets sweet Torinos and stuff like that. I missed that show this year, but I wasn't too broken up about it.

If I have no shot at all-Ford shows, what chance do I have at others?! I did have a bit of an epiphany though. I was looking at this sweet custom Grabber Orange Falcon convertible I had this misfortune of having to park next to at the June show one year. It's a REALLY cool car, and it took all the attention away from mine, or so my paranoia had decided. Anyway, I was looking under the hood. It was badged as a Futura, and there under the hood, sat was what clearly a small block Ford. I thought to myself "I wonder if he just re-furbed the stock engine or if this thing is actually FAST?". Well, there sat a handy show board that told me all about it! It turned out he had done considerable work to it! So later, I was sitting by my car and a guy asked me if Zephyrs came stock with 302s, as if to confirm whether my car was stock or not. While I was flattered he thought my car was stock, it would be nice to get actual credit for all the work I've done, much like the Falcon convertible. I mean, who knows, that guy could have just had it painted orange and called it a day! I think I need a show board!

That's REALLY cool you made all those testers! I'd had thoughts of keeping pins from every connector I'd replaced etc, etc just in case I needed it for testing at a later time, but never actually went through with anything. You're very creative!

Unfortunately, I understand you pain. I’ve said some pretty truthful statements about the judges; first of all you should be knowledgeable about the cars and trucks you are judging, if this means referring to the internet or the contestant for info, you must do it.
Show me my favorite Mach 1 without a clock on the passenger side and I will question why was the dash changed? Mach 1 decals can still be purchased or printed-off today. Kinda like my old man would say, “boy you can take the finest silver studded saddle carved from the best English leather and stick it on a pig, it don’t make it a horse”. (he was referring to something else)
The devil is in the details, not the bling. Stock, modified, in progress ETC. I’d be a good judge for certain categories, crap at others. I love to see pure stock vehicles from the “era” I also like other gategories, but when judging, someone will always have their feelings hurt. And blame the judges,, eg: Modified, is it a race car, restomod, or a hotrod, or all of the above, the rules for judging that class must be adhered to.
Chrome does look good in some places an some cars, but I hate it, it holds heat and often tends to leak at the sealing surfaces, it has no performance values, but can be appealing to the eye. I’d be more interested in a Maverick or Torino than a Camaro, because they did not survive long.
Horrible to say but I actually like the new challenger better than the original, they finally almost got it right this time. The 05 to 09 mustangs get me stoked, the 65 mustang is drab and bores me, but I like the 67 & 68 and of course the 69. So there may be a concourse 65 mustang would be overlooked by me, it’s not fair to the contestant, but the judge’s decisions are final. Totally unfair.
Modified would be a good class to judge, I know that a Zephyr did not come with fuel injection or 5 lugs, and that would catch my eye, and we’d go from there. But fair is fair, I am also aware that the 69 camaro (one of my favorite cars) did not come with an injected engine,(although they did offer a 302 engine!) Things must be judged on merit, ingenuity, ability safety etc, (pisses more people off) I don’t like “money pits” or “bought cars” does it run???? How does it sound? Have you seen a Studebaker lately?
I always have one or 2 cars that catch my eye for different reasons, the last one was a 68 mustang with rack & pinion, no shock towers, great paint, nice injected 5.0 ,but horribly “overdone “ interior, way too much flash, I looked difficult to me to give a good pounding with that big center console…..
Glad I’m not a judge, maybe I should stay home! Somebody can spend hours wiring, rewiring, fabricating, changing over to disc brakes, adding injection, posi track, tubs, interior and the list goes on, but the Corvette is the overall winner and the CHROME IS FRESH ON THE HEADERS.
Did you know that there are other motorcycles than Harley, I don’t recollect seeing Harley at the Isle of Man TT, Moto GP, or any other event, yet they have this “AURA”……..Yamaha , Honda, Ducati, Norton, Kawasaki also make motor cycles.
I’d hate to be a judge………………

Yeah, these shows aren't "judged" per se, but voted on by the attendees. When I vote, I pretty much look for the cars I think least likely to get a lot of votes. They still have to be something I like though. It's probably a waste of time. I don't know why I bother. The GM category had a BUNCH of Chevelles and other things with big fat chrome blowers sticking out of the hood. I voted for a mid-'60s Grand Prix. The Mopar category had no less than THREE 426 Hemi cars. One highly modified. This is out of maybe 15-20 cars. That's a pretty high percentage. I remember the green 'Cuda with the billboard graphics won the category last year. I voted for a nice '60 Fury convertible.

When I see a nice muscle era car, I assume right away the owner had it built, like your '69 Camaro with EFI example. Those cars can't be had for blue collar money anymore. Probably went to some flashy auction and .... I'd better stop before I get too mad, haha. Anyway, I know that's not fair to people who really did build them or keep them nice for a lot of years, but really, I don't think they've got anything to be TOO unhappy about.

Yeah, the first gen Mustangs don't do much for me either. They are pretty far down the list of classic Mustangs I'd like to have. But they are sort of still attainable because there are so many of them. That's why my dad has one. And they are cool in their own right, just not as cool as others. Some people DO prefer the design because they think the later cars were too overwrought with "muscle car styling". I disagree with that.

There was a thread on another forum about this original '32 Ford body with not much left but a rusty roof that a guy had brought back and made a car out of again. Cool workmanship, I suppose, but it still didn't do much for me. There are SO many '32 Fords out there, and many, many places you can buy replicas if that's what you really want. So, I asked why bother? To cash in, that's why. Obviously an original is worth a ton more money than a replica. Even if it's mostly replacement metal. Somebody brought up a Willys coupe that someone found in a lake and brought back. They said they were going to turn it into a gasser next. I said, imagine that, a Willys gasser. I don't think I've ever seen a Willys coupe that WASN'T a gasser. Booooorrring. No doubt it could command some serious money if he wanted to sell it, and gassers are what people want and expect. The car hobby is messed up these days.

well maybe its about "fitting in" however I call it cloning, just like kids with shoes, they all have to have the same shoes.....why would you want to have the same car, same color etc. just like the Starsky & Hutch Torino and General Lee craze, how do you find your car in the parking lot??? if I had a charger or Torino, they would have to be as close to stock as I could afford, I was a big fan of the old Falcons and cougars as a kid, I'd still like to have one today, most people wouldn't give them a second look, but I like them.
some people just don't have any imagination or creativity, but want to fit in with the masses, I just want to have fun, but at the same time why knock someone elses creation, it must bring them happiness.
I will never have the fastest car, I don't have the know how or cash flow, i don't like the big jacked up diesel trucks, but I'm reasonably happy with what I have, so I suppose I'm content, as least for now.
i got some new LED taillights from a kia, so i'm going to take them apart to see what's inside, and if i can use any parts from them, you gotta have fun..............even if it's stupid/dumb fun.

That's the thing about Falcons and Cougars. My dad may wonder why anyone would bother, but for me, those are the cars I find interesting. Maybe not so much Cougars, people know what they are now, but Falcons for sure! Those cars can still be had for regular person money. And it's still a good looking '60s car. Even the notchback post cars are cool. That's part of why I like the '70-71 Cyclones so much. They are VERY much muscle cars, but not ones you see row after row of at shows like Chevelles. I'd even accept a plain jane Montego, paint it a bright color, and throw in a 429/4-speed!

Those Kia taillights sound like fun. I'd thought about trying to find some other kind of solution for my taillights like that, something I could take apart and would end up looking more unique than just a stock-replacement LED bulb, but lack of patience got the better of me, like it usually does, haha.

It's kind of interesting about this new fan controller I have. I've been looking at the directions, and they pretty much assume you know what you're doing and don't hand-hold you through the installation. No harness was provided, and they don't tell you what size wire or fuse to use anywhere. Their stuff is generally so expensive, I guess they must assume it's normally installed by pros. All they give you is the amp draw numbers and let you go from there. I guess I'll have to educate myself about different wire sizes and stuff.

you may try looking on line for their instructions, if there are no instructions try customer service or , scan it and send it to me in n e-mail so I can read it. most unusual for sure. is it a single speed fan, 2 speed fan or dual fans? surely they would suggest something to prevent warranty issues.
look on line for AWG charts, but be sure you have a DC current chart, I found one once from an aircraft manufacturer, and it was almost word for word what the electrics guy gave me after school hours when I was making the wiring loom for the 5.0. if you need a copy let me know.
pay particular attention to the amperage load and the distance/length of wire and gauge of wire. it's ok to go larger, never go smaller.
the last time I saw a cyclone, it was in terrible shape, but I wanted it, I mean I WANTED it, no dice they just wanted to keep it. not meant for me obviously. it would take years to get it right, such a shame.
you can only see so many Chevelles, Camaros, corvettes mustangs before they all look the same

Yeah, the directions are there online, but it's the same vague ones they sent me in the box. I think I MOSTLY get it, but what really has me confused is the main power leads for the fan through the relays. The relays are 70 amp. Does that mean, I need to use 3 gauge wire (which is what I've found will handle that much) along with a 70 amp fuse? That doesn't seem right. I've never even seen wire that big on a car. And the relays DO come with harnesses, and the lead for that terminal sure isn't 3 gauge.

Found this about my fan: "These fans draw 60+ amps on initial startup and have an operating amperage draw of 16-22 amps." I mean, I've been using this fan with a 30 amp relay for over a year, with a 30 amp fuse on it. The fuse has never blown until I cooked it in coolant and it melted. That 22 "operating" amp number makes me think maybe a 30 amp fuse would do fine for me, along with wire that will handle 30 amps. I really have no idea though.

Here's a link to the controller directions PDF

http://www.dakotadigital.com/pdf/650411d_PAC-2750.pdf

I suppose with a Cyclone, you probably wouldn't want it needing too much, like a grille or something like that because that stuff probably can't be had!

Looks like a pretty good system; it shows you the pretty much what you need to know. I have never heard of Dakota digital, maybe it's a regional thing.

Yeah the 60 amp start-up is pretty much as you say, on start-up.
I have been working on a non-Ford vehicle trying to get the fan replaced after an accident. The fans I got were “accident repair” replacement fans, what crap………..they were by a company called TYC. The first one vibrated so bad, it made the dash rattle, the second one made a droning sound.
No big ideal right, except you have to take the bumper cover off, drain the coolant, move the radiator etc, pissed, nah, furious.
I found it difficult that nobody noticed the acci-”DENT” but noticed the a/c didn’t work….

Yeah, there are few things quite as deflating as finishing a time consuming project like that only to have to completely start over. Argh.

This fan/controller situation has me a little overwhelmed. I'm not accustomed to having to essentially guess what to do to wire and fuse $400 worth of components! "Careful, you might fry them, good luck, you poor fool!". It makes those all-in-one Flex-A-Lite systems look pretty dang good.

I have an email in to the fan manufacturer because the controller is actually one of their recommended ones on their website, so they should be pretty familiar with it.

I think Dakota Digital might be pretty new. I've only found out about their gauges in the past couple of years.

i reckon once you get used to looking at the diagram, you're gonna notice the light come and say to yourself, "Bollocks, I can do it" I have the same problem sometimes with aftermarket or other manufacturers diagrams, just take deep 10 minute rest........
it kinda looks like you have to make your own loom ot do they supply a cut to fit loom?
well I disassembled the Kia rear lights, they look too complicated to cannibalize any parts from, they even have controllers in them!!! most of the stuff is fixed and you cant remove components, but I still have the spoiler led, I may play with it tomorrow, we'll see.

I know a guy that already has one of these controllers. He's been helping me out a little here and there. I found out looking around at sites that sell my fan that in order for it to operate on "High", BOTH positive leads need to receive power. I had been looking at the diagram for dual speed fans on the controller directions, and it energizes only one power lead at a time, which is the arrangement the guy I know has. And I was pretty confused as to how I could make it work for mine. He dug into the directions and found for me that if I use the arrangement for a two fan setup, it works the way I need it to! Bingo! I had to kind of figure there would be a way to do it since my fan manufacturer recommends this controller, but danged if I could figure out how. You're on your own, poor fool! Don't screw it up! So, I had no reason to believe the answer would present itself to me, haha.

So, now that just leave hearing what the fan manufacturer has to say about wire size and fuse size. The relays come with short harnesses, but will need some extending. I suppose I couldn't go wrong sticking with the same size wire the harness has. I'm just a little gunshy about doing it wrong. The controller does not come with any wires at all. That's up to you. I'm going to go with overkill 14 gauge I think. I have a lot of that, haha.

Too bad about the Kia lights. I suppose they're probably outsourced, so they need to be self-contained like that. You could maybe build a little housing for the spoiler light and put it in your rear window as a 3rd brakelight.

i thought it was funny when the instruction sheet stated "ELECTRIC COOLING FAN CONTOLLER " at the top of the page. that s the kind of spelling mistakes I make.

I Think using 14 guage wire may be a little bit on the small side, I’ll try to find my sheet, but I would probably run 10 awg wire for the power wire to the controller and to the fan motor and make sure to solder the spade connectors, I don’t trust crimp fittings.
I’m having problems with my computer, so I will try to keep up on things.

Don't worry about it if you can't respond as often. It's cool.

I heard back from the Cooling Components guy yesterday. He told me the controller itself doesn't see much amperage at all. And that I can use 10 gauge wire for the main power feeds to the relay, and on to the fan. Interestingly, he also said I could use the "dual speed" setting, rather than the "two fans" setting. They are both wired the same, it's just a setting on the controller. I'll give it a try and see what happens. He told me to use 2 25 amp circuit breakers, one for each fan power feed. I think I'm ready to go! Just have to find time to do it!

I'm a bit gunshy about soldering too, actually. It usually takes me a bit to get the solder everywhere it should be in the joint, and I worry that's too much heat on the wires, and may cause a problem itself. I know too much heat can make them more brittle...

Use a good soldering gun. I have a Weller gun, it heats up pretty quickly, use a good THIN rosin core solder, I would recommend trying to tilt the eylet (insulated or un-insulated) up ward, heat up the gun till it smokes, touch the gun to the eylet, feed the solder into the eyelet opening were the wire protrudes, you don’t need a hell of a lot of solder, just enough to make a solid joint to prevent it becoming loose from vibration.
I like the idea of 10 gauge wire because when I was using my test kit to heat soak some aftermarket fans the other day i noted the 14 gauge test wires were getting warmer than I liked. The crappy fans vibrated enogh in the car to make the dash rattle and make a droning sound inside the car. These fans are difficult to change with all the stuff you have to remove, both of the lager of the 2 fans vibrated way too much.
Use a good heat shrink tubing like part # WT-56816 from your local ford dealer. You can usually get 3 (or 4) heat shrink joints from each small sleeve. It’s the best on the market, yeah it’s expensive and it comes with unisulated butt connectors that you can also use, but it’s the heatshrink you are after, it’s the best I’ve ever used. Use as little as possible to seal the joint, noo much makes it rigid.
Tell them that John from clandestine autoworks suggests giving you a discount. You never know it may work, I don’t want to hear about a snidy reply, but it may work….
I would also like to bring to your attention to the following youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PVOdRx4SSA.
I used this stuff to repair both cylinder heads on a 4.6 mustang suffering from electrolysis where the front part of the intake was leaking. New intake, new gaskets sanded the stuff down with a stone and it works just fine!!! Changing the anti freeze would have possibly have prevented this problem. Just a thought.

I actually do have a pretty good soldering gun. It could use a new tip though. I just need more practice, I think. I've had joints pull apart on me after soldering, and I know you want to penetrate the whole wire with solder. Lately, I had been trying to make bigger joints for better "strength", but maybe that's where I'm going wrong. The bigger the joint, the more solder you have to use, and the more heat.

That stuff looks interesting! Worth a try! That salesman is a slick talker, haha.

you'll want to use as little solder as possible just to get the solder to penetrate the wires, is important to use a hot gun and the thinnest solder you can get as it will melt quicker, you should be able to see the wire strands thru the soldered joint, too much solder and it will penetrate the wire and "wick" along the strands and make the wire stiff.

Okay, so no more big joints then, haha.

Here's an interesting tap to check out:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_669PP605/Posi-Products-Wire-Connectors.html?tp=61469

I saw a video about how T-taps aren't any good for making a good connection. I thought about buying some Posi-taps, but I think I'll just do everything the old fashioned way. I am finding some cool fuse panels and stuff like that to use. I've been thinking of changing my amp power leads to a blade type fuse, probably maxi fuses, but I guess I don't really know if that's necessary.

For the relays and circuit breakers under the hood, I plan to make a nice metal bracket and have everything contained neatly on it. 3 circuit breakers, and two relays. The controller itself is supposed to be inside the car. Looking forward to doing the install. I think it'll be fun. Now, replacing that fuel pump? Not so much.