k, got my Magnecor plug wires in, and my two Blaster SS coils. You have to use the MSD boots and wire conectors supplied with the coils (something Keith forgot to mention ;) ) ... you basically have to pull off the boots from the original plug wire set's two coil wires on the coil ends, uncrimp the connectors, and crimp on the provided MSD connectors. For that you will need atleast a pair of needle nse pliers, but preferrably also a normal pair of pliers to recrimp down the end. Then you slide on the provided MSD boots over the new ends, and what you get from all this are connectors that perfectly click onto the tops of the Blaster SS coil terminals.
Magnecor KV85 competition series wires (8.5 mm) are a bit thicker than stock, but I still got them into the MSD boots with a minimum effort. Any thicker than 8.5 though and you may not be able to get them into the MSD boots enough.
BTW, the MSD Blaster SS coil comes with a metal foil C.A.R.B. exemption sticker complete with a handful of C.A.R.B. exemmption numbers and a clearly written statement that the use of this SS coil is perfectly legal. Not that I give a damn about legality ;)
The SS coils are handsome units, and with the Magnecor KV85's I have pretty much the best spark setup you can put on our cars. I'm gonna look into some kind of cap alternative next but if not, a new stocker cap from Napa will get painted gloss red to immitate something cool and upgraded ;)
I have my hole saw bit now, and my dash is loose, so if I feel better this weekend, I'll be mounting my gauges and you all will see where I stick them is hands down the best location (not counting Silli's great location, which is about as good as my idea but requires more work). I'm reserving the clock area for the AFC, seeing as how Bart's fits so perfectly in there and he says it's a snap to trim the stock beauty rim to cover it back up.
I'm using VDO but any brand gauge of the same size should work. It will accommodate two gauges of choice, depth not an issue.
Also I need to repaint the engine bay... mostly touch it up... the fire soot blackened some parts slightly... The engine is still in there but since Ive removed the wiring harnesses and the intake manifold, and will be removing the turbo and exhaust mani, I don't see why I can't do this with spraycans or something in a semigloss red that matches the original. Any advice appreciated with this.
The dash was a bitch, and lots of little retainers for the plastic connectors broke because they were brittle. I am not sure my dash will ever go back on the way it was.
I still can't find the harness that connects to the wiper motor (and other stuffs) behind the dash... I think it's behind the heater core. When I got this '84, someone had taken off the heater hoses and looped them back right to the engine, so I am wonering if the hearter core leaks or something. I was going to reattach them and see what happens, but with the dash off, I might as well just replace it. So I gotta find out how much a new one is, unless one of you knows already.
i have the injectors off, and I'm thinking of having them professionally cleaned and rebalanced by RC if they will do it. I want to stay with stock injectors for the time being, we're still exploring new territory and I don't want to confuse issues when I get this thing back on the road. As it is, I need a new fuel pump and will be upgrading, so anything else will toss too many changes into the wind without a way to track them. So I have to stay with stock injectors. That means stock CA20E fuel rail using CA18ET injectors. I know I can find a CA20E rail in the boneyar without a problem, but a clean one would be preferred and so if any of you have one that is still shiny brass, I'd want it.
I know routing the hoses and shhit from the CA20E intake manifold is gonna be a hassle but it's doable. Oh well. I'll be using the CA20E airpipe that goes over the radiator, and where it would normally go into the CA20E airflow meter, it will now angle that L hose towards the turbo and a long pipe with an L hose will connect up the turbo outlet until I can fabricate an intercooler and hoses. Certainly having the CA20E manifold full in place will make that easier, and yet I'll still be able to drive it while I work on the IC piping.
The CA20E intake manifold will use the KA24E throttle body I also picked up at the same time, I still have to switch over the TPS from the CA18ET unit to the KA unit. But that's what I've decided to go with, despite my concerns about how it will affect the rpm range. We shall see.
I have alot of work to do. And I'm still sick. And money is tight. And the Z is a pain in the azz... sure it's bone-jarring fast, a real brute, but it lacks the refinement of the S12, plus the old seats have sharp metal poking through the side that has in the past three weeks eaten three pairs of pants, the latest this afternoon and they were only a week old grrrrr... so I'll be going into debt more for another four hundred or so to finish up the Shelby which will be my daily driver finally, the Z will get retired to storage for awhile (but not forgotten, I know very damned well what an amazing race platform it can and will be! L28ET powah!), and I can work on the S12 with less stress.
I hope.
Fawk I hate cars sometimes.
Yes, even I.
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