Journal: May 2000

	Choose Your Month Pick a Month June, 99 July, 99 August, 99 September, 99 October, 99 November, 99 December, 99 January, 00 February, 00 March, 00 April, 00 May, 00 June, 00 July, 00 August 00 September 00 October 00 November 00 December 00 January 01 February 01 March 01 April 01 May 01 June 01 July 01 August 01 December 01 February 02 May 02 August 02 January 03 Final Entry

  Monday 05/28/00, Seems to me that my last post said something about finishing up the fuel lines and battery cables next week. It looks like I should have said next month. Oh well, I'm back at it now and life is good.

Routing the 5/16" main fuel line was a real pain in the butt. It's very stiff and must be bent in place. The 1/4" line wasn't so bad. As I said before, the lines need to be flared to keep the high pressure hoses from popping off. I've found that double flaring is no fun, but after some practice it's just mildly aggravating. I got the fuel tank end of the lines flared and connected to the fuel pump using the hoses and clamps supplied with the kit. The engine end of the lines will be need to be flared after the engine is installed since the final location is dependent on the location of the fuel lines on the engine. The bends in the lines didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, but they should be safe even if they are ugly. I used plenty of rubber padded clamps to keep the lines from rubbing against the chassis. Had to buy a few extras, but as near as I can telll the lines don't touch the frame anywhere.

The battery shut off switch is mounted on the rear of the transmission tunnel on the drivers side. After I mounted it, it occurred to me that it's directly in line with the rear u-joint which will probably fling grease, and water all over it. I'm thinking a rubber trailer hitch cover might be good for weatherproofing it. While I was at it, I installed the battery cables and starter relay. I left enough slack on the battery cables so the battery can be lowered to the ground to make changing it easier. I guess I'll clamp and tie-wrap the cables so they don't flop around.

I also finished up some little details that included:
* Mounting the fiber glass steering shaft cover on the drivers foot box. ( I used part of the original steering shaft bellows for weather proofing).
* Mounted the remote oil-filter on the back side of frame front X member.
* Cleaned and painted the door hinges.
* Mounted the heater on the firewall. This required a little plumbing to get both hose barbs to protrude through the fire wall. See the pictures on the plumbing and wiring page. I think it turned out pretty good.

So at this point, I'm ready to clean up the engine and get that puppy installed. The block will be painted dark Ford Blue and the intake manifold, pulleys and anything that can't be polished, will be painted gloss black. I'll also be installing Ford Motor Sport Cobra valve covers, Flow Tech ceramic coated headers and a FMS clutch. Right now I just don't see the need for Go-Fast goodies. These things scream with a stock 5.0.