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Towrota by Drew | page 9 |

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22 May 2009

Rob from next door came over today and we fired the ute up. It cranked nicely and made big strong 'chuffs' as it cranked, so that was a good sign. Problem was it was only firing when I would turn the key back to off after cranking it. We diagnosed that as a small problem with the ignition barrel wiring. Rather than fiddle about with that, we quickly hotwired it through the relay and cranked it over. To my surprise, it fired within a couple of cranks. After about 5 seconds, it even settled into idle, just like it had been turned off yesterday, not almost three years ago.

It was crazy loud and spat out some nice flames too. I'm just so relieved that the motor runs and sounds so strong. It's only a bridgeport, so I'm not expecting neck-snapping performance, but for now, it sounds strong. I need to get it out to the exhaust shop now and get an exhaust on it. I want to test lots of the wiring and I need it idling to do some of that. It's impossible to diagnose anything as it is and the sound of a bridgeport with no exhaust at all (not even headers) is a little distracting!

3 June 2009

Well, we're getting closer. As it stands at the moment, there's not much left to do. I'm going to see the exhaust shop on Friday to discuss what we're going to do. Hopefully once we've decided, I can book it in for the next week and get it done. Although the ute is technically running, I won't be starting it again before I get the exhaust on. It's just too damn loud. I'm not familiar with this engine either, so I want it nice and quiet so I can start it and listen for anything out of the ordinary.

Once it's back from the exhaust shop, there's about 4-6 hours of sundry wiring to tidy up and that is about it. There will of course be a million things all over again once I actually run it and drive it. I'll cross those bridges when I get to them though.

Here's some updated pics of how she's looking at the moment. Pardon the 'bluewalls', I haven't taken the protective coating off the whitewalls yet!

10 June 2009

Well today started with much promise, but I'm learning that nothing ever goes smoothly! The tilt tray picked up the ute at 7.30 and dropped it to the exhaust place at Fyshwick at about 8am. They were going to have it for three days in order to give them heaps of time to do the job, but they had a few last minute jobs come in, so my poor old ute has been shuffled to the end of the line and now won't be worked on until Monday. I'm a little frustrated. Not so much for the time, but just for the fact that I hate not having the ute here at home where I can keep an eye on it. They've assured me that it will be locked away safe and sound, but after having done so much work and almost three years of time, I still worry.

Anyway, here's some pics of the old girl on the truck and then at the exhaust place. I'll post another update once I get her back. Hopefully in one piece!

12 July 2009

Wow! Where did that month go?

The ute is now back from the exhaust shop and I'm very pleased with the end result. When I bought the motor, I was fortunate enough to get a near-new exhaust system with it. From that I was able to reuse the hotdogs, primary exhaust and rego muffler. I was also given a big truck muffler, so I also reused that and had a flange put in so I could swap between the rego muffler and the loud truck muffler. I had to get a new set of headers scratch built due to the tight confines of the chassis rails. These turned out perfectly and the whole system has just the right note. I'm keen to get it out of the shed so I can hear what it's going to sound like in the open.

I've also been working on the lighting, specifically the headlights/parkers and front indicators. From factory, the ute ran the parker and indicator in the same lense. Because they are clear, I had to remove the parker light and change the globes to orange, so the indicators were orange when they flashed. I've then had to run the parkers into a new set of H1 inserts which have provision for the parker light at the bottom of the light (internal). Once this is all in, I will have all the front lights working as they need to be for rego inspection.

I also made a small sign that I've attached to the rear under the light. I saw something similar in an American hot rod magazine, so thought I'd make my own version (and yes, the welding is crap and blown through on purpose!).

My deadline is fast approaching and I don't think I'm going to make it. I'll go close, so I'm not too worried. I gave myself three months space between completion and the Cooma Motorfest (it's debut), so another couple of weeks won't matter. Here's a list of what needs to be done now:
* Rear wiring (rear lights and wires are all in place, just need to hook it all up to the main rear loom and wire the reversing lights into the rear indicators)
* Engine tune (I want to get the carby jetted right and make the sure the motor itself is running sweet)
* Bleed brakes
* Test clutch
* Finish engine bay wiring (just need to route it all neatly, wrap it and then 'p' clip it)
* Put instrument cluster in the dash back together
* New windscreen
* Front end alignment and shim
* Possible trip to the brake shop if brakes don't bleed up and work properly
* A quick wipeoff underneath to make sure there's no greasy handprints on anything!

Back to work!!

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