build diary

June 14, 2004: I'm all giddy.
Must be the exhaust fumes but it could also be the flames coming out of the exhaust ports. Yes, the engine is running and it sounds fantastic. Once the last couple of major grounds were actually attached to something instead of just hanging around, the engine fired up. Much noise and excitement. Sorry Eric, no sound files yet! Bill Cardell had come by to help me debug the ECU as it was obvious that was why the car started but I found the loose grounds before we got too far. This gave us lots of time to just hang around instead. The ECU needs a lot of tuning and there's no cooling system hooked up as yet so I didn't run it very long.

On the subject of the cooling system, that's almost done. The radiator has been modified using JB Weld - it might not be as sexy as welding, but it's good for the application, looks like a weld when shot with some silver paint and didn't cost me $90! I'm just waiting for the final hoses and it's good to go. The scuttle has also been fitted with bolts and I'm starting to fit body panels. The seatbelts are in - I'm particularly proud of the shoulder mounting points - and the seats will be ready to install once the transmission cover shows up and I have a driveshaft. I suspect I'm going to have to make my own tranny cover.

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