GrabberGT Ev. 5

im unclear as to if you have the keep it clean switch installed yet?
ive always been leery of the solenoid type battery switches that need to be energized the whole time the car is on.
i know several kits use them and even fork lifts and other electric vehicles use them, but the thought of a coil of wire staying energized for that long of a time just doesnt seem good to me.

im going to have my rear shut off switch nhra legal and am planing on putting a second switch in passenger compartment that is in drivers reach.

im not a big fan of the one wire alt either.

sense its regulating system voltage from its own connection their is no compensation for voltage drops through the system.

with a traditional alt you can put the sensing wire from the ignition switch area. if you do this you usually find the voltage higher at the back of the alt and the whole system voltage will higher.

 

Yes the Keepitclean switch is installed but currently being bypassed due to the problems it was causing.

I also have my reservations on the solenoid based switches but came to the conclusion that it was either that or run the battery cable to within reach of the driver which made me even more uneasy. Especially in a mostly street car with kids tromping in and out of it. Speaker wires are one thing. 2ga battery cable is another. Maybe if the interior was more on the race car side. I came to the conclusion that with so many of these style systems available, they cant be all that bad. The switches do get hot and come with warning to install them away from flammable materials.

Another thing to remember is that the switch does not need to stay engaged at all times. Arm it to start the car and then turn it off. The car should be able to run without it.

I will be sourcing a kill switch at some point though. I am open to ideas on how to make that happen. Maybe a toggle switch in line to the coil wire. And a NHRA legal switch for the back of the car is on the list as well.

 

Not sure if anyone else said this, but I seen this thing on Facebook, Falken Tire posted it with the hash tag #falkenspotting; I thought that was pretty cool, I read some of the comments and seen some people didn't know what it was.

 

Poked some holes in my seats today... Well just this one. The other will have to wait for another day.

 

So I've been working on trying to figure out this driveline vibration off and on ever since I've owned the car and recently decided to dig into it again. I figured I'd check the driveline angle again this time checking the pinion to driveshaft angle on both ends to see if I was exceeding 3* in either direction and that they cancel each other out correctly. But before doing so, I decided to remove the driveshaft and inspect the bearings to see if they have been damaged. After there is no sense in making changes to the driveline and trying it if your working with broken parts. So I pull it out and pop the rear u-joint out. No problems there. I check the front trans yoke and notice there is some resistance in movement. I remvoe the u-join (very hard to remove) and sure enough, no issue with the u-joint which is odd seeing that there was obvious resistance when it was installed. I get to looking at the driveshaft yoke and notice the bearing cup hole is banged up pretty good. I check it out and it appears to be slightly out of round. This must be my problem. Causing a situation similar to over tightening the u-bolts. I decide this is my chance to upgrade to an aluminum FMS driveshaft and order it. It comes in and to my surprise, its HUGE!. (see pic below) Its the correct length but I never really thought about how big 3.5" diameter is. I cant even fit the thing up between my exhaust into the trans tunnel. The stock DS is 2.25" and now that I've measured, I only have enough space to fit a 2.5" thru there. So now I need to get my driveshaft repaired. I take it to the shop and sure enough, not only is the hole bugerd upo but the ends are splayed out and slightly twisted. To add isult to injury, I am then told that the 2.25 tube DS is rare and the Yoke for it is not readily available. The list price for the yoke itself is 140.00 if we have to order one. So now I have a FMS DS that I have to pay shipping on to return and possibly spend another 300.00 on getting this on efixed. I guess thats Hot Rodding. If I wanted easy I would have bought a Mustang.


The picture doesnt do it justice. The shadowing hides it a little.

 

Almost sounds cheaper and quicker to get the exhaust fixed and keep the FMS driveshaft.

 

I thought of that. Unfortunately it cost quite a lot to get it tucked in this tight.

 

This exhaust system (pictured) had issues but would have allowed enough space for the FMS DS. The system that replaced this one is tighter in the tunnel and was twice the price. It however does not have the restiction the previous setup had. I'd say since I've had this car, I've spent close to 2500.00 on various exhaust setups.

 

The 2.25" weld yoke is now longer reproduced so a new driveshaft it is.

In other news... looks like its Goodguys time again and they are expecting me to be there. This came in the mail today.

 

This weekend was the Goodguys Lonestar Nationals. I had the car there doing the autocross as usual. It was also a Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational Qualifier event. I proud to say that though I didnt exactly shine at racing, (5th in a class of 46), I DID win a spot to attend SEMA and the OUSCI immediately following.






Optima Batteries


Congratulations to Chris Moore for picking up the final qualifying event invite for the 2013 #OUSCI presented by Royal Purple Inc. & K&N Filters in his 1972 Ford Maverick. Thank you to everyone who competed in our qualifying events this year!

 

congratulations!!!
that is really cool.

 

congrats! this is such a beautiful car...

 

That is really cool! Congrats!

 

You certainly do have a great looking/handling car

 

Sweet!!