The Reenmachine DOHC '67 Shelby Clone Convertible Progress

lauras70mach1 · Feb 1, 2006

Did you buy direct from Auto Twirler? What model? How much was shipping?

reenmachine · Feb 1, 2006

lauras70mach1 said:
Did you buy direct from Auto Twirler? What model? How much was shipping?

Yes, I bought direct, I got the Plus model also with the optional "off-road" wheels (great for the trailer and crappy pavement). Shipping was free -- show special at the SEMA show.

Everything about the rotisserie works great and I highly recommend it.

mustbereel · Feb 2, 2006

exhaust

Hi Reen,

I've been following your project and must admit it's the reason I decided to put the Heidt's IRS in my car. You were right when you said it is very fab intense. I've got all of the brackets and links mounted where I want them and have realized how little room I have for the exhaust system. I plan to run dual 2.5" pipes all the way to the back and place the mufflers on either side of the fuel cell. This will mean some tricky routing of the pipes through the IRS. I will probably run the pipe between the axle and the crosmember but this will place it near the brakes. Where are you going to route the exhaust?

Thanks,
Brad

1320stang · Feb 2, 2006

Why not put the mufflers under the rear seat and run the exhaust under the IRS? I've seen streetrods done this way.

mustbereel · Feb 2, 2006

exhaust

1320stang,

The forward locating struts on the Heidt's interfer with the under seat location (at least on my install). Plus the removal of the leaf springs opens a nice area for the mufflers like on the newer stangs. As for running the pipes under the IRS (which was my first choice) I think I would have a ground clearance issue. The Heidt's doesn't have those nice little humps like on the Cobra IRS so the pipes would have to sit below the lowest part of the differential.

Brad

bnickel · Feb 2, 2006

mustbereel said:
1320stang,

The forward locating struts on the Heidt's interfer with the under seat location (at least on my install). Plus the removal of the leaf springs opens a nice area for the mufflers like on the newer stangs. As for running the pipes under the IRS (which was my first choice) I think I would have a ground clearance issue. The Heidt's doesn't have those nice little humps like on the Cobra IRS so the pipes would have to sit below the lowest part of the differential.

Brad

if you are going to run the pipes between the axle shafts and the crossmember i would suggest using an oval tube instead of round. check out www.drgas.com for some cool oval pipe, actually if use oval pipe you might be able to get away with running it under the irs, just a thought. either way i would use the oval pipe to get the max clearance possible.

reenmachine · Feb 12, 2006

mustbereel said:
Hi Reen,

I've been following your project and must admit it's the reason I decided to put the Heidt's IRS in my car. You were right when you said it is very fab intense. I've got all of the brackets and links mounted where I want them and have realized how little room I have for the exhaust system. I plan to run dual 2.5" pipes all the way to the back and place the mufflers on either side of the fuel cell. This will mean some tricky routing of the pipes through the IRS. I will probably run the pipe between the axle and the crosmember but this will place it near the brakes. Where are you going to route the exhaust?

Thanks,
Brad

Brad-
This will happen fairly soon and I'll post pics of course. I have the custom exhaust guy coming over to come up with a game plan. Basically, I've been thinking the same thing as you -- if I can't fit Flowmasters in the original muffler location due to the forward struts then they'll go on either side of the fuel cell. I think the pipes can run between the axle and either the crossmember or the control arm no problem, the more inboard the better due to the smaller deflections of the suspension there, but not so close as to heat the brakes.

All of the street rod guys run the pipes under the diff, but this kills ground clearance to an extent I'm not willing to go, as this car will be driven a lot.

reenmachine · Feb 12, 2006

I ended up making quite a project out of the convertible top frame. We always used to scuff & spray the parts that would show when the top was on, grease the pivots, and go.

That just wouldn't fit with the rest of the car, so I went overboard . I'm trying to stick to the theme of having the parts that will never be seen again once the car is assembled be every bit as nice as the ones that will. I end up burning a ton of time this way...

I disassembled the top frame, bead blasted everything to bare metal, and sprayed it all with DP90 epoxy primer/sealer. All of the pivots received attention and I rebuilt the latches to work like new with no slop. The car originally had a manual top, so I converted it to power with all new parts.

reenmachine · Feb 12, 2006

A sign of life!

I installed the rear power windows and ran them up and down a bunch of times with a car battery. This was the first sign of life! It's not much, but it's something!

65mistress · Feb 12, 2006

We have a twitching muscle... Soon there will be signs of brain activity and the heartbeat will be heard.

reenmachine · Feb 16, 2006

I've got the front bodywork together to fit the lights, grilles, oil cooler, etc.

With the other 2 projects off to paint, I have more time to devote to it, so the updates should be coming more frequently now.

It's motivating to see the front end together!

65mistress · Feb 17, 2006

Oh man, This thing is schweeeeet.
I'd sell my friends kids so that I could buy this thing.

Question: Are you going to put a grill in the valance or leave it open with the cooler?

reenmachine · Feb 17, 2006

65mistress said:
Question: Are you going to put a grill in the valance or leave it open with the cooler?

The top pic has the grill in place. I'll probably use it, but the cooler looks sweet down there, and won't be so obvious when the bumper is in place and the car is on the ground. It would probably be best to put the grill in front of it though for safety reasons.

reenmachine · Feb 17, 2006

One of my buddies I worked on the Mars rovers with at JPL has been sending this around...I deny any infringement!

mustbereel · Feb 17, 2006

First Mustang on Mars

The similarity in the wiring is obvious! Aren't you glad the Mustang doesn't have to operate in the Martian environment?

My dad worked on the landing radars for Surveyor, Apollo and Viking. Although he was less hands on and more management as the years passed he was an avid electronics hobbiest. His wiring was meticulous and worthy of an engineer who helped put a man on the moon.

Brad

65mistress · Feb 17, 2006

That's classic, you're building a space age ground pounding street stomper.

1320stang · Feb 17, 2006

Reen, I notice your not using the waxed string like they used on the rover.

Working in telecommunications for a while, I had to help swap out some power supplies (24v) in some cell sites. They used waxed string to tie all the wiring together. Thought it was wild they didn't use cable ties, but the guy I was helping was so swift in using the string, I think he could tie it with that faster than I could put a cable tie on it.

reenmachine · Feb 17, 2006

1320stang said:
Reen, I notice your not using the waxed string like they used on the rover.

Working in telecommunications for a while, I had to help swap out some power supplies (24v) in some cell sites. They used waxed string to tie all the wiring together. Thought it was wild they didn't use cable ties, but the guy I was helping was so swift in using the string, I think he could tie it with that faster than I could put a cable tie on it.

Well, here's a tangent, but why not...

The rovers are packed with ultra-sensitive sensors and optics, so a primary concern is outgassing of materials. See, if any material (adhesives, plastics, etc.) on the spacecraft outgasses (loses mass as vapor) in any way, it can contaminate optics and sensors, potentially rendering part of an $800 million project useless. Anything that can outgas immediately will when exposed to the vacuum of space. Thus, the string tying the cabling together isn't waxed string, but special non-outgassing, thermally stable, UV-proof miracle string. Yes, the cable techs can tie that stuff up in their sleep!

Another huge concern with operating a spacecraft on Mars is thermal cycling. The place goes from freezing-ass cold to almost comfortable on a daily basis, and the rovers are over 700 Martian days into the mission. Plastic cable ties would have become embrittled and failed long ago. I think there are spaceflight-qualified cable ties out there, but JPL doesn't use them. First, the string works great, is thin, pliable, etc.; second, it weighs a lot less than cable ties. This may sound funny, but every gram counts on spacecraft and you can tell even from that small pic that there would be a hell of a lot of cable ties on that thing.

351carlo · Feb 19, 2006

Reen,

The car seems to be coming along beautifully. I am thrilled to see a project of this caliber being done properly. So often we see a car that just gets a 5.0 HO EFI motor, a Mustang II front end, and a nice new interior and it's considered done. This is a true ''frame off'' restomod project that I believe is that one step above the rest kind of deal.

I hope to see a good video of it when it is complete.

Carlo- By the way. I was once an active member of an organization known as FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). By any chance do you know Dave Lavery?

reenmachine · Feb 20, 2006

351carlo said:
Reen,

The car seems to be coming along beautifully. I am thrilled to see a project of this caliber being done properly. So often we see a car that just gets a 5.0 HO EFI motor, a Mustang II front end, and a nice new interior and it's considered done. This is a true ''frame off'' restomod project that I believe is that one step above the rest kind of deal.

I hope to see a good video of it when it is complete.

Carlo- By the way. I was once an active member of an organization known as FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). By any chance do you know Dave Lavery?

Carlo-
Thanks for the compliment. There will be tons of photos and video when the car is done.

I have met Dave Lavery, but he's waaaaay to far up the NASA food chain for me to have interacted with him professionally.

Coincidentally, I was an engineering mentor for FIRST team #22 at Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, CA for a few years before I moved away. We even went to the nationals a couple of times! FIRST is a fantastic organization and I had a great time being a part of it.

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