AIX #29 - Progress thread

[Casey_SS]

Hey guys - thought I'd start a build thread and update everyone on the progress. Things are coming along quite nicely so far. Glenn and Mitch are doing a bang up job on the cage which is almost done now...should be bringing the old girl home soon and then it's just a matter of prepping / painting the interior, rewiring the car, and a long list of miscellaneous little stuff. Lots to do still but my goal of making ECR looks pretty achievable at this point....

Pics of the cage coming together:

http://www.lawmotorsports.net/Pics/Casey_97SS/Casey_103.jpg

http://www.lawmotorsports.net/Pics/Casey_97SS/Casey_106.jpg

http://www.lawmotorsports.net/Pics/Casey_97SS/Casey_108.jpg

http://www.lawmotorsports.net/Pics/Casey_97SS/Casey_202.jpg

http://www.lawmotorsports.net/Pics/Casey_97SS/Casey_203.jpg

http://www.lawmotorsports.net/Pics/Casey_97SS/Casey_204.jpg

http://www.lawmotorsports.net/Pics/Casey_97SS/Casey_302.jpg

More to come....

[MikeP99Z]

I'm guessing that between the last two shots, the shifter broke off in Glenn's ass. :shock:

Nice progress.

[Fbody383]

Lots to do still but my goal of making ECR looks pretty achievable at this point.... Whoop. Good luck finishing it up and hope you make it.

[Casey_SS]

Cage is done....picked up the car on Sunday. HUGE thanks to Mitch & Glenn! You guys did an awesome job, very quickly, at a great price, and in the midst of your own busy lives. Not to mention the god awful heat. Couldn't be happier with the end result....many thanks.

http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/th_401.jpg (http://s1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/?action=view&current=401.jpg)
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/th_402.jpg (http://s1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/?action=view&current=402.jpg)

Now it's paint prep time. Just about done stripping the seam sealant...can't get to all of it but looks like I'll get about 95% of it.

http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/th_seamsealant01.jpg (http://s1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/?action=view&current=seamsealant01.jpg)
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/th_seamsealant02.jpg (http://s1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/?action=view&current=seamsealant02.jpg)

Shooting to get all the paint prep done by end of week, paint it over the weekend and start rewiring it next week. We'll see how it goes...

[mitchntx]

Thanks Casey .... I hope you never use it.

[Fbody383]

Thanks Casey .... I hope you never use it.

For impact testing... body stiffening is ok.

Now you have to make it; it's only August 11, you have oodles of time.

[Casey_SS]

Prepping for paint....this is taking much longer than I wanted. Hopefully the results will be worth the effort.

http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/paintprep01.jpg
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/paintprep03.jpg
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/paintprep02.jpg

[way2neary]

More work... Less beer...

Just kidding, the car is looking great.If you run into a pinch and need some help, let me know. I would be glad to help.

Dave

[Fbody383]

Paint is just spray on ballast...

[Adam Ginsberg]

It's amazing how small a "2 car garage" is when supporting a race car. :)

Nice work.

[Todd Covini]

Looks awesome and we look forward to the "AFTER" shots where the cage and all the garage hangings are covered in white.

[Casey_SS]

It's painted! Definitely not show car quality but for my first crack at something like this, I'm pretty pleased. Won't go so far as to say I'm proud of it but satisfied enough to call it done and move on to the rest of the build.

http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/painted01.jpg
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/painted02.jpg

[Fbody383]

Sweet!

[gt40]

When can you come over and paint mine? :D

[mitchntx]

Nice SMYT beads around the shifter ...

[Casey_SS]

Nice SMYT beads around the shifter ...
Ah the stories I could tell about those....if only I could remember the interesting details. Getting old... :oops:

<sigh> now if I could just remember where all these &^*#*!@#$%^&.....*&^%$#@# wires go....
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/wiring01.jpg

[GlennCMC70]

If they were my wires, I would put them in the trash.

[mitchntx]

Stories? Pics or it didn't happen.

[Al Fernandez]

Never know when those might come in handy on track... :lol:

[Rob Liebbe]

Keep your shirt on Al - for the love of God - keep your shirt on!!!!!!!!

[Fbody383]

If they were my wires, I would put them in the trash. You really don't need much to keep the car running. I took out everything that wasn't needed. I did keep almost any length of wire over a foot and just put it in a box for future projects.

I bought a subscription to www.alldatadiy.com mainly for the wiring diagrams and ended up printing most of the engine/charging/start circuits.

[Casey_SS]

Yeah I wanted to go that route in theory....it's the reality of the massive amount of time required to do it right plus the likelihood of having to troubleshoot electrical gremlins afterwards that made me ditch that part of the plan.

I just don't generally have good luck messing around with wiring and absolutely despise troubleshooting a hacked up harness. Figured I'd play it safe with so many other things changing on the car at the same time and tackle that down the road if I change my mind and decide it's worth the effort.

[Fbody383]

....it's the reality of the massive amount of time required to do it right plus the likelihood of having to troubleshoot electrical gremlins afterwards...

Fill it full of gas, park it in the yard and fire it up.

Start with the stuff you know you don't need. If you cut a wire and it dies, put that one back. :)

Or... wait until the excruciatingly long off season... to do the above.

[gt40]

Yeah I wanted to go that route in theory....it's the reality of the massive amount of time required to do it right plus the likelihood of having to troubleshoot electrical gremlins afterwards that made me ditch that part of the plan.I had that same issue when I gutted the Mustang. Tear into a dirty, grungy, 250,000 mile harness and pray I didn't screw it up, or pull it out intact and install a Painless Wiring harness. Guess what route I took?

Expensive, But I ended up with a new, clean harness with brand-new connectors that only took an hour to install. Worth every penny.

[AllZWay]

I don't regret cutting and pairing of all my wiring...but it was a tough job since I moved my fuse box to inside my glove compartment and had to cut out several feet of wiring.

I think I easily cut out 20+ pounds worth of wiring. Done slowly like Dave mentioned it can be done and isn't all that difficult, just tedious and time consuming.

BTW... The car is looking great.

[BryanL]

If your engine harness is still together take it all out and sell it on ebay or ls1tech. You will get enough for it to buy a streetrods harness on ebay. Only a few wires needed for the fuel pump and brake lights.
Are you wanting to run your stock gauges? If not then you can really ditch alot of the wiring.

And Mitch don't SMYT.

[Casey_SS]

That was actually my original plan except I wanted to use the Techrod harness ($400). Problem it created is a need for aftermarket gauges ($800). That's $1200 I don't 'have' to spend to go racing. What I have now functions perfectly fine it just weighs ~10 lbs more and is aesthetically less pleasing. Big deal. I just want to go racing.

At a time when the budget is gasping for breath from the cage, firesuit, helmet, gloves, seat, harness, transponder, etc. etc.....I think I can suck it up for now and just deal with the factory harness. Putting 40+ hours into stripping it means the car won't be ready for ECR, which I'm trying really hard to make.

That's my logic anyway....it's admittedly a compromise situation. Appreciate all the input....good tips and advice all the way around. Thanks guys.

[HoustonNW]

At a time when the budget is gasping for breath from the cage, firesuit, helmet, gloves, seat, harness, transponder, etc. etc.....

I obviously went the other way and bought a car, justified it with the wife by saying that "everything is there".

So when I started looking at the safety equipment, the same wife asked me "I thought you said that everything was there?"

I think that I'm in the doghouse 'till 2013 or so.

[AllZWay]

That was actually my original plan except I wanted to use the Techrod harness ($400). Problem it created is a need for aftermarket gauges ($800). That's $1200 I don't 'have' to spend to go racing.

That is exactly why I started out with the factory guages and factory wiring too.

I am slowly replacing guages now.

[GlennCMC70]

Seat time, seat time, seat time.

The rest will fall into place.

[michaelmosty]

Still have factory wiring, main gauge cluster, and steering wheel. $200 for oil pressure, oil temp, and water temp gauges is a good start.

The car looks great Casey, looking forward to seeing it on track at ECR!

[Al Fernandez]

Well said Glenn.

[mitchntx]

Seat time, seat time, seat time.

The rest will fall into place.

So are you like 5' 1" now?

[GlennCMC70]

???

[GlennCMC70]

Never mind. I was thinking someone tall when you said 5'1". :wink:

[Casey_SS]

18,793 zip ties later the wiring's mostly sorted and ready to mount the dash for the final test fit. Cage is padded too except for one piece I need to trim with the dash in...

Put some 20mil clear film on the bars where the dash passes through...it's worked really well to keep the paint mostly intact taking the dash on and off.

http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/wiring02.jpg
http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/padding.jpg

[Fbody383]

Sweet! As long as she runs, who cares; love the multicolored zip ties.

Is the accelerator pedal from an NBA backboard?

[Casey_SS]

Heh...yeah you can see where I ran out of one color zip tie and went to the next bundle in the can. I probably added 5 lbs. to the car in zip ties alone but everything is intact, secure, & theoretically out of harms way. Did I mention how much I hate troubleshooting wiring problems?

The gas pedal is a .99 cent cutting board from Walmart :lol:

[mitchntx]

I'm surprised you can get zip ties behind that knee bar.

If you saw what we had to do to get it tucked in there ... well, yeah.

[Casey_SS]

It wasn't easy....

I'm still blown away by how tight and well done this cage is. I and several friends have stood around scratching our heads trying to figure out how the hell you did a lot of this.

I can't say getting the zip ties and other stuff attached to it was a pleasure but definitely a price I'm happy to pay for this level of quality.

[GlennCMC70]

Zip ties hell, try a Miller 185 MIG nozzle.

Glad your happy.

[Casey_SS]

Zip ties hell, try a Miller 185 MIG nozzle.

Glad your happy.

You win :shock:

[Casey_SS]

Ahhhhh.....progress:

http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/wiringdone01.jpg

And now.....

http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/wiringdone02.jpg

[GlennCMC70]

Ahhhhh.....progress:

http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/wiringdone01.jpg

And now.....

http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/wiringdone02.jpg

Your not done yet.
In this top pic, there is that tan strip around the window. Remove the screws and remove this strip. The foam will peal right off as its attached to a strip of clear plastic . It will leave nice clean, new looking paint. It will look much nicer.

[mitchntx]

And save those screws. I believe they are self-tappers.

Great for securing adel clamps that you run your wiring to the rear of the car.

[Al Fernandez]

Looks awesome!! When is its premiere?

[Casey_SS]

October 2nd :D

[Casey_SS]

No new pictures but progress continues....interior stuff is mostly done and it's finally running again. Just need to finish the little stuff, put the rear suspension back together, go through the brakes, and wash the poor filthy thing.

As long as it doesn't rain, I'm officially in for ECR. If it rains, I'm screwed....I've got some bald heat cycled 555R2s for Friday practice and less than 2/32nds left on the NT01s for Sat & Sun. Should be just enough to get me through a dry weekend but I got nuthin' for a wet one. If you're gonna wash your car, please do it NOW!

[GlennCMC70]

Dont worry about the rain. Tread is only needed for standing water.

[Fbody383]

Dont worry about the rain. We had fun in the rain last year. But the haybales off the last corner can get pretty big, pretty quick... at least that's what Mosty tells me.

Hey wanna make me a radio delete cover plate? Well, never hurts to ask.

[kbrewmr2]

yeah just go man you'll be fine

- KB, who was out on Hoosiers for the last TT session on Saturday. Wheee!

[michaelmosty]

Hey, how'd I get drug into this? :lol:
I went off more on the 888's w/ tread than on the bald RA1's.
Casey, you'll be fine on regular tires, it just gets a little hairy sometimes. I have never owned or run a "rain" tire in 5 years of racing.

[Fbody383]

Seat time, seat time, seat time.

The rest will fall into place.

[BlueFirePony]

But the haybales off the last corner can get pretty big, pretty quick...
Don't worry about the hay in the rain...keeping from getting stuck in the mud is a bigger worry :oops:

[Casey_SS]

Good input guys, thanks. Guess I'm all out of excuses now, huh? :shock:

[Casey_SS]

[quote="Hey wanna make me a radio delete cover plate? Well, never hurts to ask.

Thanks for the compliment....I really didn't do anything special though. I just cut a section of thin sheet aluminum big enough to cover both the radio & a/c holes, superglued it to the back of the bezel, then bolted some flat stock to the factory radio & a/c holes in the dash and shimmed it outwards to put a little pressure on the back of the plate. Pretty straightforward....I'll show you at ECR.

To put it in perspective, the bezel plate only required one beer to get through....troubleshooting the wiring behind it damn near put me in Betty Ford :mrgreen:

[way2neary]

Hey Casey,

As I learned from these guys, if you don't drive because of the "rain" it will get you put on The Pussy List!

Sorry buddy, couldn't resist. It is all in jest.

Anyway, Al's response to me was "never miss an opportunity to drive in the rain". And , the look I got from some folks standing around was "that guy is a Pussy.". Henceforth, The Pussy List was born.

Dave

[GlennCMC70]

You dont understand the benifits of wet driving until you drive in the dry right after your wet track time.
You learn so much. I understand the "not wanting to race in it" mentality, but go out in HPDE at the very least. And never stay home cause its gonna be wet.

[Fbody383]

And never stay home cause its gonna be wet. You might miss the chance to empty the contents of an EZ Up on one of your racing buddies.


Pretty straightforward....I'll show you at ECR. Cool; we can compare since I have a 'fixit ticket' to address before I get there.

[David Love AI27]

Hey Casey,

As I learned from these guys, if you don't drive because of the "rain" it will get you put on The Pussy List!

Sorry buddy, couldn't resist. It is all in jest.

Anyway, Al's response to me was "never miss an opportunity to drive in the rain". And , the look I got from some folks standing around was "that guy is a Pussy.". Henceforth, The Pussy List was born.

Dave

I'm on the top of that list :oops: ... I hate the f'ing wet :cry: :cry: .... of course I have a hard enough time driving when its dry :roll:

[David Love AI27]

Make sure you remind me to bring the transponder... It is on charge and ready to go... be sure to get registration to change the name... it is currently listed as "The Love Machine"

[Casey_SS]

Will do....thanks a ton man.

[AllZWay]

I'm on the top of that list :oops: ... I hate the f'ing wet :cry: :cry: .... of course I have a hard enough time driving when its dry :roll:

I used to hate racing in the rain.... but once you get over the fear and mostly realize you are racing yourself for the most part... it can be alot of fun.

I really enjoy the rain now. LET RAIN...that way I have a chance against some of those guys this year. :twisted:

[Casey_SS]

Race cars are cool.... :mrgreen:

http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/kids01.jpg

http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b420/Casey_SS/kids02.jpg

[AllZWay]

Great pics Casey. I have some similiar ones with my kids and friends kids.

[Casey_SS]

Toolbreaker is READY!! Pics after I wash the filthy thing this weekend....but it's finally DONE!! If I wasn't so excited about getting to actually drive it next weekend I'd go take a nap now :)

Anybody else planning to come play in AIX or are ya just gonna hand me the trophy for finishing the car and showing up? :twisted: