Thursday Night Cubic Man Hours Update
Brad and Dave joined me in the garage last night to throw some man hours at the TARP Special in preparation for our track testing day (a/k/a Break and Tune) this Sunday. Although I took some photos, those didn’t make it into the office with me this morning, so all you’ll have is my stirring narrative. Lucky you! More after the jump:
We started off the night by starting the car and enjoying the sound of the exhaust. We felt it was important to make sure that the car was running before starting any electrical system work so that we would have a good starting point for later diagnostics. I had completed the fabrication of the kill switch mounting bracket last night and had mounted it to the car just inside the passenger area to the right of the driver. It will be easily reachable by either driver or safety crew in the (God forbid) event of a rollover. That location is also easily accessible for the wires that we needed to connect to the kill switch.
Dave went right to work on wiring up the kill switch. The zero-gauge (or 1-gauge) copper battery wire that we pulled out of the wrecked BMW’s proved to be a skilled foe for Dave. The first problem was that it was too thin for the terminals that he needed to use to connect to the kill switch posts. So he ran to AutoZone to get new terminals. Then the wire was too thin, so he needed to cut it down. This resulted in a flurry of cutting by Dave that would make Angelina Jolie proud. I think it’s fair to say that nobody has bled (literally, not metaphorically) over this car as much as Dave has. But his physical turmoil was worth it, as he ended up crafting two beautiful terminals to attach to the kill switch. We started the car and although it did not die when turned off (the car will run off the alternator), it would not re-start with the kill-switch in the off position. Victory One!
The second part of the kill-switch wire-up was determining which circuit would, if broken, kill the engine. We had traced this a few weeks ago out at Jesse’s shop and thought that it was a yellow wire with red stripes, but further testing last night proved that incorrect. So we soldered that connection back together and moved on. Further consultation with the wiring diagram indicated that the black wire with orange stripe led from the ignition circuit to the main engine relay, and that the main engine relay feeds both the alternator and the ignition coil. Thus, Dave attacked the black and orange wire. He first extended the wire from its native location with some additional primary wire, crimped on ring terminals, and got it all attached. We soldered in the new wire and tested it out.
SUCCESS! It was a proud moment in TARP history to get that kill-switch working, and Dave did a great job persevering through a lot of hassle with it.
Once again, Brad was a machine. He jumped right in and finished up installing the roll cage padding so that now there’s not a tube surface in the driver’s part of the car that’s not covered with one form of foam or another. After that, I could barely keep him busy enough, especially after we tackled the important issue of putting a wood clamp on a turkey roasting pan to squeeze it down to size a little bit so that it would fit into his oven at home. The man has his priorities and kitchen implement modifications apparently rate high on that list.
After the turkey pan narrowing was completed, Brad did a lot of work to get the lower air dam re-attached to the car. His work was, as always, excellent. I’m pretty sure that he implemented four or five bolts and about 20 zip-ties to make sure that the air dam is rock solid. We were unsure if we really wanted to put it back on the car, but somehow the car just doesn’t look right without it. We also figured that a little more protection for our radiator from track-dumped debris was probably worth the effort.
Following the air dam work, Brad started fabricating our ridiculous cold air/ram air system from a combination of HVAC duct and vent hood duct. After lengthy consultation, test fitting, and adjustment, we decided that we need one more adjustable piece and maybe a little more straight length to make it look right. Brad also fabricated a small screen from hardware wire cloth to go over the scoop mouth to help keep any large debris from entering and taking out our air filter.
I feel like I’m leaving out something that Brad did, but I can’t remember what it is. So Brad, if I’m leaving out some of your work, my apologies.
I mostly helped support the work of Brad and Dave last night, although I was able to complete the fabrication of the brackets needed to install the switch panel in the car. In all our starting of the car last night, I think it became very obvious to the three of us just how crappy is the stock ignition switch in this car. The switch will turn well past the starting point, which is that “ca-chick” sound you hear in the prior post about starting the car. We’ll be well served by having a better starting switch in the car.
After completing the fabrication of those brackets and a little sub-switch panel to house the windshield wiper control, I riveted it alll together, drilled some holes in the bracket that was on the car, and installed the switch panel. I still need to connect the wiring on the switch panel to the ignition harness and then that job will be done. I installed the wiper switch and got it all labelled so that we would know where to turn the knob to operate the wipers.
I know that I’m forgetting some other stuff that we got done on the car, but I really can’t remember it at this point. It was a very productive evening, as it should be: I think that we collectively put in about 16 man-hours on the car last night. It’s really starting to come together.
I’ve prioritized the spreadsheet on the Google Docs if you want to take a look at it for things that have to be done before MSR-Cresson (a/k/a this Sunday) and things that can be done afterward. There is still a good bit done to get the car ready to roll on the track for testing on Sunday, but I think with a good day on Saturday we’ll get the essentials done and ready to go.
The pan still doesn’t fit in the oven. I’m bringing it back!
one thought on the electrical stuff. if you rig the fans up on a switch to overide the thermostically controlled switch make sure you leave enough wire that if the switch relay or any of the relays fail we can quickly cut the wires and wire nut them together to be permanently on. I have had relays fail.
Great to hear. Engineer’s suggestion: the mesh screen over the ram-air intake should not be too dense. Too dense can really restrict airflow.
And, I’m not trying to be an east-coast driver here, but are you sure the location of the kill switch (as you described: “to the right of the driver”) will work? Reading the rules:
“the switch should be easily accessible from outside the car…The switch should be located on the cowl; or on the outside edge of the dash near the driver’s-side window opening; or on the deck at the base of the rear windshield.”
Good point, Grayson. I’ll put a big loop in the new primary wire before connecting them.
Matt, The mesh isn’t dense at all. I think it’s 1/4″ grid hardware cloth. The grid is really big so I don’t think it will be a restriction issue at all. I like “east coast driver” though.
The kill switch is easily accessible from outside the car, so I don’t think that will be a problem either. The hood wasn’t really the best choice since the switch is non-weatherproof. The outside edge of the dash near the driver’s-side window does not exist anymore in this car, and that would have required a ridiculous re-routing of the battery cable. There is no deck at the base of the rear windshield because that’s our engine lid. But it is very close to where it would have been if there were a deck at the base of the rear windshield. When you see the photos I think you’ll agree that this location should be fine.