Mind Change on Gauges.

Well I knew it wouldnt last, me sticking with an idea, not a regular occurrence round here!

It all started when I was stuck in traffic the other day and a Golf pulled up with bright blue illumination from the stereo and dash. I looked over and thought thats a bit "chav", then I realised that was what I was going to do to my GD. Further to that I have recently become aware that I struggle to read text with bright blue illumination so choosing gauges with bright blue text is not such a hot idea.

I still wanted to use autometer as I like their style and reputation for reliability, I also realised I liked gauges with through dial illumination in white, just like my 2008MY CRV. So after hunting through the range I identified Sport Comp II.

And illuminated.

Same gauge line up as before:

Full Sweep.

Half Sweep.

So lets see how long I stick with these!!

Start of another Year.

Happy New Year!

Well all being well 2008 should be a bit better than 07. We had my parents surprise 40th Wedding aniversary party last weekend and that went really well. Hope it continues.

Not much progress so far in 08 although I have hopefully sourced the required bolt for the ACG bracket from http://www.mmsacc-stainless.com/ in the States. I needed a 5/16-18 cap head (allen key) bolt at 4 1/2", could I buy one in the UK, could I heck! The bolt is ordered, it's just a case of wait for it to arrive!

I've also ordered the remaining bits to hopefully seal up the oil gallery before taking the engine to the dyno, all being well Febuary should see her fired up for the first time.

Sparky time.

With fuel sorted and the carb to mix in the air the final bit needed for the bang is the ignition wires (this isn't a diesel!).

Having already laid them in to find the right wire for each pot I set about fitting the ends.

The sequence is this:

1. Cut to length.

2. Use strip tool supplied to strip insulation away.

Clever tool this, you just twist it until 9mm of wire pokes out the end, then grip the wire to stop it going through to toll and twist a couple more turns. Pull and off come the insulation.

3. Fold over core and crimp on terminal. (Fold down terminal ears with long nose pliers)

4. Apply silicone lube and slip on boot.

5. Fit to distributor cap.

6. Repeat for all remaining leads.


7. Apply air cleaner with Ford wing nut and stand back to admire tidy wire layout on nearly finished engine.


This however is where it went a bit wrong.

Whilst fixing the wires I followed good old Tom's book, what I didn't check was what I was doing!
I followed the instructions for the HEI ignition module used by Ford, this does not connect the wires in the firing order as the dizzy rotor turns, therefore my firing order is now wrong!

Thinking about it logically I would have realised that something was not right but I was too eager to get it finished, in future I need to think a bit more first!

Luckily for me Ive only had to move four wires around but it has mucked up my tidy layout, still cant be helped. (picture to follow).

Engine Fuel system.

With a final push the engine is now nearly completed.

First off the fitted drive belt looks nice, I prefer the appearance of the poly-V belt over the standard V belt setup. Just looks more chunky!


Next I fitted the fuel pump, here you can see the block off in the bottom holes as I checked they fitted in all four of the outlet holes.

With the blocks offs moved to the side ports, JIC adapters fitted to the inlet & outlet, sealant on both gasket faces and assembly lube on the arm, I installed the pump to the block with a little persuasion.

Now I can connect the fuel lines without interfering with the oil filter take off or water hose.

Next I turned to the fuel lines to complete this side of the job.

After thinking about it I decided to install a filter in the engine bay as well as the boot, this gives double protection and means that the engine is protected when it goes to the dyno. A suitable Summit filter was obtained, with removable element, in a nice red colour of course!

The Aeroquip hose is a "simple" push fit, I say "simple" as its Bl$$dy hard!

1. Measure and cut hose.
2. Choose correct fitting. (fell down here as I fitted two 90° bends first out!!)
3. Lube inside of hose with oil.
4. Push fitting into hose until it bottoms out on the flange.
5. Try to pull hose off (no chance!)

Anyway the link to the in line filter was done with much swearing (the scar has only just faded on my palm!)


Same exercise was carried out once the filter was fitted from the filter to the fuel pump. Following images I have seen from other engine builds I routed my fuel pump under the water neck to keep things tidy. Time will tell if this is a problem but I don't think the water neck is going to exceed the 150°C rating of the hose.


Whilst fiddling with the fuel lines I remembered the choke on the carb. I don't plan to use the choke but have decided not to remove its parts. So as compromise I will hold it open with a spring. To do this I need somewhere to hook said spring.

I located a suitable drilling on the carb, taped it and added a bolt. Done.

With a spring from the brass colour lever you can just see on the left of this picture to the bolt my choke should remain open.

That's it for today.

Drive belt woes...

Well as promised the new drive belt arrived on Monday, was fitted Monday night and removed again straight away. Its too long! Looks like I measured up wrong, so I tried again and this time came out with a figure 1" shorter than previous.

Checking the Medway catalogue identified the next belt down so I ordered one. It arrived and fits nicely.

End of problem. Now I have a spare belt 1" too long for my application. Never mind, just remember measure twice buy once!

Bypass hose & Ignition wires.

Following Simon's advice and good experience with www.performancesiliconehoses.com (PSH) I ordered a 90° 16mm bend for the thermostat bypass hose. This I thought would look better than the usual black rubber effort. Expecting the stated 3-4 week delivery I was surprised that it pitched up after 1 week. Looks good.

After a bit of cutting about it fits nicely and is finished off with stainless band clamps. I'm still wondering if I can get some red ones, I know Revotech used to sell them but I cant see them on their website so a phone call is needed.

Next up I fitted the distributor in so that I can measure out for the ignition wires. The dizzy will stay loose until the engine has been timed up on Tim Adams dyno.

The wires were they sorted by length and fitted into the cable holders on the engine.

With every new bit added its really starting to look good.

My latest order from Summit arrived within 1 week of shipping, great stuff and with no import or VAT to pay! (Cue bill through the post!!) So I could fit the fuel pump base. The next bit is going to be interesting as I have to operate the level to full stroke whilst doing up the 10 perimeter bolts to 25 ft/lb's with a hex key! Calibrated wrist required here I think.

Continuing on the fuel side I also fitted the rigid line to JIC adapter, after cutting down the 3/8"" hard fuel line the adapter would not fit over so very careful adjustment to the pipe OD was carried out using a fine paper.


After about an hour and a minor amount of RSI I was able to fit the compression fitting and ferrule, apply loctite 577 fuel safe thread sealer and fir the -6 JIC to -6 JIC steel adapter.

What Ive just realised is I now need to buy a steel JIC push fit fitting to avoid Galvanic corrosion issues by using aluminium and steel fittings at the same joint.

One final thing done today was to measure up for the drive belt. I needed a 44 1/2" belt to be spot on, so after looking around I was enlightened by Happy Jim of the CRC to www.medwaypt.co.uk from whom Ive ordered a 1146K/06. This is a 1146mm (45.10") 3.56mm pitch 6 rib belt, all being well it should arrive on Monday.

That's it for today.

Plumbing bits.

A few nice bits from Think Auto arrived recently:

Oil system including take off plate and remote filter mount. Fittings and sensor adapters (need more of those!).

Fuel system including fittings and pipe also to be used for PCV.

First problem encountered as I purchased the hose finishes for -6 pipe not realising that this -6 pipe has a larger OD, therefore I need the finishers for the -8 pipe! Another order beckons!
Next problem found when trying to make the fuel pump fit. Due to the length of the fittings I either foul the oil filter take off or the water outlet.

So a quick hunt on the Edelbrock site identified a bottom feed adapter plate which is now on its way from the US along with the required fittings.

Topping out!

After a visit to my local bolt suppliers, Wessex Fastners in Swindon, I was able to bolt a few more parts on.

First up the valve covers.

Thats looking better.

Next add 1 x carb.

But dont foget to seal up a few holes.

Finally finish off with a nice new air cleaner assembly.

Its all got to come off again to check various things but I couldnt resist mocking it up.

The next thing on the list is plumbing after I ordered most of the bits I needed from Think Automotive today (very helpful) and I also need a new ACG fan and belt to complete the front.

A bit more on the engine.

Not much done tonight as Im running out of things I can do before I get some more bits and more importantly bolts.

Ive now fitted the painted dipstick support tube. Looks alright I think.

And in a similar vein the ACG bracket and spacers.

This also gives some indication as to why the dipstick tube needed to be modified.

This posting interface is really having trouble!

Thats its for tonight, need bolts for the top ACG bracket support, the tension bar support and the valve covers to move on now.

More engine work.

Back from Japan now and finally getting this blog up to date.

With the chassis rolling I could move it out of the way and get the engine back up on the stand to finish it off.

First up was to sort out the dipstick tube and get that fitted. I trial fitted the ACG and found that the dipstick was trying to pass right through the center of the ACG, no good.

This is because the ACG is supposed to go low on the Ford 302, but due to the steering link bar location it has to go high.

So a fair bit of gentle bending was needed to get the dipstick tube to route another way. But its done and I managed to make a suitable spacer up from one of the ACG bracket spacer off cuts.

All that remains to do is paint it red to match the block and hide the marks on it where it slipped in the vice.

Ive also prepared the ACG bracket spacers for painting and will post up some pictures once they are on the engine.

Next up I figured it was time to set the valve train up so following Tom Monroes book I set the crank up at TDC with No.1 on the ignition stroke. (both valves closed piston at TDC).

In this position a number of the valves could be adjusted, this indexing method saves having to do each valve individually.

Then once the correct valves have been done you rotate the crank 180° and do some more valves and finally another 270° and adjust the final valves.

Here's No.5 inlet is being adjusted (I think it's the inlet!). Basically you tighten the nut down until the push rod just stops turning, then tighten 3/4 of a turn more and lock down the allen grub screw. The 3/4 of a turn puts the correct pre-load on the lifter.

With all valves adjusted the valve train looks like this.

Next job is to fit the ACG bracket and ACG, I cant fit the ACG March pulley as I need a new March fan. The Powermaster fan and pulley are of visibly poorer quality when compared to the March items, I had the March pulley as part of the kit so it felt bad leaving it off. Once I have the fan I can figure the belt length and order that. So more money needs to be spent!

Front Setup.

With the rear sorted I turned my attention to the front. First up the front camber.

I had followed GD's video and used a 1/4" spacer at the top wishbone mount. When measured this proved to give slight +ve camber.

So I removed the 1/4" spacer and changed for 2x2mm spacers giving 4mm. This gave me a slightly better result and I had negative camber.

Correct camber is 0 - 1° negative, so Im going to leave at this for now.

With camber sorted I figured caster should be next so again I used a tip from Simon's build and also used his caster template.

Here I figure I have about 4.5° caster, GD manual say about 4° so I will see how I go with 4.5°.

Happily the other side was the same.

With camber and caster sorted I moved on to set the front toe. Step one center the rack by following GD's rotation and count method. No problem there.

Then clamp a 1m length of angle to each disc.

Measure the distance at front of the angle and then at the rear, rear minus front equals toe in.

After a bit of rotation of the tie rods I managed to get the toe within the required range of 0 - 1.5mm overal. My actual measurement is 0.812mm.

I noticed whilst doing this that the toe was changing oddly as I rotated the tie rods, after a bit of head scratching and a call to Simon we settled on the rack moving. So to stop this I inserted the steering rod to the rack UJ and clamped it down. Problem solved.

So thats the toe correct but which way are my wheels pointing. So to find out I clamped the laser level to the front disc and aimed it at the angle which was clamped over the rear axle with the chassis centerline marks aligned.

I could then mark off the front wheel alignment on each side and measure the distance between the two laser marks. The center of these two laser marks was plotted on the bar and the distance from this new centerline to the chassis center line was measured giving the aligment "error".

I then decided the best way for me to bring the alignment true was to divide the error by 2 and one one side add this distance to my plotted point and on the other side deduct it from the plotted point. Hnce giving me two Target points for the laser marks.

On the picture below S is the firts plotted point and T2 is my target for the alignment to be correct. (T is the first attempt were I went a bit wrong!!)

So all I did was wind the two tie rods until my laser lined up on the T2 points.

I rechecked the front toe and it was spot on so, all wheels pointing the correct way with front and rear toe in correct.

The final thing to set was the bump steer. Again GD's method was followed and a 1m bar placed on the floor under the one on the disc.

Here we are at "ride height" the floor bar corrected to be level with the disc bar.

Going through the full range I noticed a slight bump steer effect in full bump.

Measuring the actual range that this effect started to take place shows it to be over the last 1/2 to 1" of travel. I attempted to resolve the bump steer by moving the rack but I could not eliminate it as my rack was already at its maximum adjustment position. If this becomes a problem on the road Ill reset the steering with the rack in the mid position to give some adjustment.

So Im happy thats all sorted. I fitted the final two wheels and rolled it out into the sun for the first time!(Blogspot posting system is really screwed today, each picture I insert adds about 5 carriage returns to each line of the post!)

Rear wheels on the wagon.

With the axle finally sorted I could bolt on the shocks, no major problems here apart from not being able to use the new washers I purchased as they fouled the shock adjusters!

So I used a couple of suitable washers instead.

For the top it is clear that washers are required to space the shock in the mount.

So suitable washers purchased and fitted.

For the rear most mount I have left the bolt lose as this will be replaced with a longer bolt when the roll bars are obtained, I must say it would be significantly more helpful if GD supplied the roll bar bracket with the chassis. After all Ive had the mounts fitted to the chassis so why not supply the brackets to fit now?

Simply repeat on the other side, fit the road wheel and lower to the floor for the first time. Wahey!

Another job done!

Formats a bit naff on this post as blogger appear to be having issues, I cant sort it out.