Blake's 1965 Mustang Project

[digitalsolo]

How did you "oops" it?

I’m not 100% sure...     I was probing the output pins with a multimeter.    I did 2 dumb things, so I’m not sure which was the culprit.

1.   I grounded the meter to chassis ground instead of digital ground.   This shouldn’t have been a big deal but it’s a no no and could have back fed something slightly, in theory.

2.   More likely, I was probing the connector without any wires (bare male pins) and maybe touched power output to an input.    That’s probably what happened.

Either way, I put the probe on the pin(s) and it immediately shut off and I heard “Ol’ Dirty Bastard - Got Yo Money” playing in my head.    Doh!!!    All in the name of not setting up my harnessing properly because I was in a hurry.

[Cobranut]

I HATE IT when that happens.   

[digitalsolo]

Got my new Arduino in, fixed the issue so I definitely killed the old one.   Might grab another one as a spare sometime just in case.

Next project is the sway bar arms, as I have most the bits I need for them and I think it will be somewhat involved due to how they have to snake around things.

The arms will be 1 x 1.5 x .125 steel, so I bought some wood in about the same size to mock them up.   Should be more accurate than cardboard, and easier than trying to wing it in steel.

They have to hide under the front frame rails then snake past the tire and suspension.   My original setup cost me tire clearance which I can’t afford to lose, so these have to stay clear.

Once that’s done, I’ll finish the CAN stuff, then redo the leather on the rear inner quarter panel trim pieces.   It peeled a bit, so I bought DAP “Landau Top” glue which should do the job going forward.

I need to swap in my new throttle body and tweak a few other things but the finish line for this season’s upgrades is in sight!

Oh, I snagged a new, used, laptop to use for dedicated tuning/car work.    I was dragging my main laptop around and it’s way too valuable to be getting knocked around and left  in the car and such, so I bought a used Microsoft Surface Pro 3.    Touch screen plus a Bluetooth keyboard should be easier to deal with.   .  It’s a lot lighter than my main laptop also.

[digitalsolo]

Sway bar is mounted up.   Had to machine the stands a bit to clear the positioning collars, but that’s the beauty of having a mill!

The first arm is about 80% done.    I need to plate the end, sleeve the bolt mounting point for the end link, then plate the welded joints, and finally add a point to pinch the arm at the splines, but the main “will it fit” is handled.

Then I need to mirror it on the other side (yay).   I’ll probably build a basic jig for that.

I’ll get pictures up soon.   

[digitalsolo]

I’ll get pictures soon and I’ve got videos ready to edit, but updates for now:

Sway bar arms are done and the front sway bar is in place.

I did a full 4 wheel alignment with the Tenhulzen kit.    Very easy, just time consuming!    My front camber was way off (0.5*) and passenger caster was off too.    Fixed all of that.

Final settings:

Caster:  5*
Camber: -1.7*
Toe:   Neutral (0*)

Also got the rack stops installed and dialed for the new steering rack.   They’re internal travel limiters so the wheels don’t hit the frame rails.    I can already tell how much faster the steering feels with the quick ratio rack.     Very excited to drive it with the improvements!

Next up, the FPR was replaced with a Radium part, and the fuel pressure sender was upgraded to a WHP piece that’s much nicer than the eBay part I had.    I’m waiting on a shipment with the same for the oil pressure sender also.    I also redid about half the lines with new PTFE bits for better E85 compatibility.    Waiting on a few more lines to finish redoing all of them.

I also started the car to test the turbo oil system improvements.    I found a puddle the next day and was pretty disheartened, BUT it turns out it was a fitting not seating properly.   Fixed that and it seems I’m all good.    Turbos and the billet adapters I machined were totally dry!

Finally, I have the CAN keypad mostly working;  still need to sort out cruise control, but traction control, scramble boost and AC control work, along with the parking brake (and parking brake memory).

Next is:

Fix driver door glass alignment (it’s a little wonky)
Redo wrap in rear inner quarter panel trim pieces (it bubbled)
Finish sorting cruise control
Finish paint/stickers in HVAC panel
Build/install  pucks for the jacking point tubes I made when I built the chassis
Maybe build a front spoiler/air dam
Maybe maybe do some flat panel work on the bottom
Maybe maybe maybe redo the rear section of the exhaust in aluminum

[digitalsolo]

Door glass:   done
Interior quarter trim reupholster:  done

[7m-gtte]

Got any pictures of the sway. Been thinking of doing something like that.

[digitalsolo]

I’m hoping to get pictures and video this weekend.   

I think I figured out my cruise control issue;   I need to feed a variable voltage to the analog input on my Haltech but I can’t use PWM for it.   I’m going to setup a PWM to voltage controller for it which should let me command varying voltage outputs based on PWM so that I can emulate a resistor tree to the ECU based on the CAN keypad.    That’s the theory anyway.

[Exidous]

Door glass:   done
Interior quarter trim reupholster:  done

It's the unsexy tedious things that really complete a build. Keep it up!

[rk970]

-1.7° camber, is that much necessary for a street car?  (I don't mean to be rude, don't take it that way).  I would think with good geometry (roll center height) and a decent camber curve (how much negative camber during compression vs roll center height) -.5 would work.  IMO -2.0 you get reduced max braking.. 

[digitalsolo]

-1.7° camber, is that much necessary for a street car?  (I don't mean to be rude, don't take it that way).  I would think with good geometry (roll center height) and a decent camber curve (how much negative camber during compression vs roll center height) -.5 would work.  IMO -2.0 you get reduced max braking..

Well it also clears my fenders, so.  Haha.

I have very little camber gain on compression.   In BMW land I'm used to way more than -.5;   I think my M3 suspension was -1.5 up front dead stock?    -1.7 doesn't seem very aggressive for something I plan to do some autocross and stuff with, but maybe I'm mistaken?   Open to suggestions there for sure.

Edit:   Here is a picture:

[digitalsolo]

Fuel System:

[digitalsolo]

Suspension:

[digitalsolo]

Interior:

[digitalsolo]

Electrical: