Pulled the dash out, undid all the wire wrap and went to work with a multimeter. 2 hours later I found a fuse that had completely melted.
All is well electronically. Other than i have to put it back together.
Changed the oil as well, saw nothing in the old oil that concerned me. Still running Rotella, just a little different blend and a new filter.
Drained the catch can as well, about a quarter bottle of mostly water with some fuel and oil for taste.
Solid oil pressure now, and the car idled and warmed up quickly. Fan kicked on when it should have though it wasn’t able to keep the temp in check.
I’m going to put a few more degrees of timing in it at idle and start working on getting the air out of the cooling system.
My on-board compressor will be here tomorrow. Hopefully I can get that installed and ready to maybe see a little positive manifold pressure next week.
Assuming i survive 10 hours alone with my 8 week old child tomorrow.
Little change of scenery
All is well electronically. Other than i have to put it back together.
Changed the oil as well, saw nothing in the old oil that concerned me. Still running Rotella, just a little different blend and a new filter.
Drained the catch can as well, about a quarter bottle of mostly water with some fuel and oil for taste.
Solid oil pressure now, and the car idled and warmed up quickly. Fan kicked on when it should have though it wasn’t able to keep the temp in check.
I’m going to put a few more degrees of timing in it at idle and start working on getting the air out of the cooling system.
My on-board compressor will be here tomorrow. Hopefully I can get that installed and ready to maybe see a little positive manifold pressure next week.
Assuming i survive 10 hours alone with my 8 week old child tomorrow.
Little change of scenery
Last edited:
What's the full load across that fuse block? What size wire.... I Only ask cause usually they don't just spontaneously burn up for no reason.
I think it shorted through the side of the fuse holder where it was laying. It melted through the side and I had to use pliers to open it.
To be honest it probably shouldn’t have been there to begin with. I was concerned with protecting my circuit board when I was wiring and testing everything. There’s 2ga running from the battery to the positive post under the dash. That post is just for power to the Leash board. The ECU is powered directly from the battery and the starter draws direct from the battery on a separate circuit as well.
The relays on the board are 70amp rated (total) and the fuses for the fuel pumps are 60amp (fans and other things have smaller rated fuses).
The fuse that burned up was an 80amp.
The trunk isn’t finished so there was some wiring just kind of... tucked away and I think it shorted to the floor of the hatch. I will find out I guess.
I spent $50 to overnight a new y block and the new one sprayed fuel everywhere too. That was the 3rd y block. Ended up throwing about 10 feet of -10 line out and building new from the pump to the rail. Same fittings, doesn’t leak a drop. So apparently all 3 sections had holes...
Also had a radiator leak, rear end leak, oil leak and probably a vacuum leak all at that same time lol. I’ve chased leaks all over this thing so I feel your pain. Keep after it.
My car is finally running and driving after 18 months of grinding away at it and I feel like I’m only about 50% ready to make a pass. It’s a constant uphill battle but man it’s exciting to be where I’m at now knowing I built it myself.
Status update:
The Spaghetti Monster has returned. But at least it made it easy to add the compressor to the board. Will take some time to tuck this all away again, still procrastinating the lights,locks,windows though
Compressor is mounted in the hatch. Thinking about flipping it over and mounting it under the car but it really isn’t loud at all.
Tank isn’t mounted as I’m waiting on a regulator to know where it will fit. I neglected to order one hoping my c02 regulator would carry over but it did not.
Rather than buy fittings to make it work I’ll just leave the c02 kit whole and try to sell it.
The Spaghetti Monster has returned. But at least it made it easy to add the compressor to the board. Will take some time to tuck this all away again, still procrastinating the lights,locks,windows though
Compressor is mounted in the hatch. Thinking about flipping it over and mounting it under the car but it really isn’t loud at all.
Tank isn’t mounted as I’m waiting on a regulator to know where it will fit. I neglected to order one hoping my c02 regulator would carry over but it did not.
Rather than buy fittings to make it work I’ll just leave the c02 kit whole and try to sell it.
Yeah, it’s for the wastegates. Co2, or in this case compressed air, is being applied to the top of the gate. I’ll be regulating to 60psi most likely. It gives more precise control than you can get from just applying manifold pressure.
I knew zero about turbos when I started the turbo 03 build. And I barely know more than that now. Hell, I knew absolutely nothing about engine management when I did my first swap in 2013 and wanted to use the Holley system, and I’m still in way over my head on some of it now. My actions the last couple weeks prove that!
I’ve been taking online classes and reading everything I can. Helps to have something in the garage I can go out and try it on. I’ve got a rocky road ahead of me lol, but this seems to be the best way I learn stuff.
Had to go back 7 pages to find my thread so i guess I haven’t done anything eventful for a while.
Got the chance to put an 03-04 (roller) car back in my garage and so I grabbed it up.
Even took the holesaw to it the first night for a chute mount
The foxbody is even going to get some hand-me-down love in the form of the disc 8.8 currently under the cobra. And will get her wheels back of course
So eventually I’ll get to post some updates on the foxbody. 20 degree weather put a real damper on my cruising.
Got the chance to put an 03-04 (roller) car back in my garage and so I grabbed it up.
Even took the holesaw to it the first night for a chute mount
The foxbody is even going to get some hand-me-down love in the form of the disc 8.8 currently under the cobra. And will get her wheels back of course
So eventually I’ll get to post some updates on the foxbody. 20 degree weather put a real damper on my cruising.
Last edited:
Yeah. It’s got the kind of cage I wish the white car had and then some. I added the parachute as well.
Couldn’t bring myself to cut out the perfectly good 8pt roll bar deal in the fox and knew sinking that kind of money in it would have zero return. It isn’t going anywhere though. While I think the drivetrain is going to get moved over once the rest of the work is done on the cobra, I’d love to piece together a stock coyote/manual trans deal for the foxbody. Put the stock front bumper back on it, stock seats and maybe even get the HVAC stuff bolted back in and build it to be a lot more mild cruiser to enjoy. It was a perfect candidate for it when I bought it, so I’ll do my best to bring it back that direction a little.
I’ve got no idea what it would cost to do a “junkyard” coyote swap though so, I’ve got a lot to learn there.
You'll never settle on one car to the finish line.........
* For a definition of automotive ADHD,..see Tanners' thread:
https://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/tannerc91gts-gila-hoopty-t-top-monster.891881/