ERA 753 - Final Assembly in Progress

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by RAO-3

Is this possibly something that relates to the updated body, or possibly the steering and mounting system changes?

How common does this appear to be?

As far as I can tell, all of the instances of this problem to date are with cars that do not yet have engines installed and/or are not at proper ride height yet. I'm certainly in the latter state at my stage. When I get my final wheels installed I'll set the car at ride height, set the final alignment and see where things are. The interference issue, if its still there, is not so great that it cannot be fixed with some pretty minor clearancing. I think things like this are all part of the process of building custom cars. I don't think I've ever worked on a project like this where I did not encounter one or two things like this. I am sure that ERA will address these issues if they are there on all of their turnkey cars.

[RAO-3]

Originally Posted by fkemmerer

As far as I can tell, all of the instances of this problem to date are with cars that do not yet have engines installed and/or are not at proper ride height yet. I'm certainly in the latter state at my stage. When I get my final wheels installed I'll set the car at ride height, set the final alignment and see where things are. The interference issue, if its still there, is not so great that it cannot be fixed with some pretty minor clearancing. I think things like this are all part of the process of building custom cars. I don't think I've ever worked on a project like this where I did not encounter one or two things like this. I am sure that ERA will address these issues if they are there on all of their turnkey cars.

Thanks Fred, I appreciate your input! I'm sure that ERA will be on top of it, but was thinking of putting this on my checklist.

Ray

[fkemmerer]

Just an update on where I am with my Cobra project. First, ERA has indicated that they expect a shipment of pin drive wheels from Vintage in the near future. I'm hoping to get the rear wheels for my car as part of this shipment.

I am also knee deep in electrical work on my car. I am using a FAST XFI system and I've opted to build a custom wiring harness for the FAST XFI computer in my car to get a good fit and to ensure that there's not alot of visible excess wire from an over length wiring harness. I'm also using and MSD ignition system and I am implementing a number additional electrically controlled features based upon what my MSD Digital 6 Ignition and the XFI Computer can do. These include:

1) Using the red ignition indicator dash light on my ERA as a shift light controlled by the FAST XFI computer. This keeps the dash looking "stock". A hidden switch under the dash allows me to also use this light as a "Service Engine Soon" indicator from my FAST Computer. I will start the car with the light in the SES mode to check for any problems and then switch the light to be a shift light when I'm driving the car.
2) Using the 2-step REV limiter on my MSD Digital-6 and a shifter mounted button to implement a REV limiter for launching the car
3) I am connecting a driveshaft speed sensor to the XFI to implement electronic traction control as well as to implement recording of vehicle speed, tire slippage and gas mileage.
4) I am using a digital controller for my fuel pump which runs the fuel pump at a lower speed below 2,400 RPM to keep the fuel cool and improve fuel pump life.
5) I am also connecting a fuel pressure sensor to my FAST XFI computer so that it can monitor the fuel pressure on my car
6) The FAST computer can store up to 4 seperate programs for the fuel injection system. ERA made a custom control panel that is hidden under the dash which allows me to select which program to use. This lets me have different tunes in the car for street use, track use, and emissions and select the one I want with a flip of a switch.
7) I using the FAST XFI computer's internal data logging features to implement an on-board data logging system. This will include logging of all of the engine control functions as well as the driveshaft sensor and fuel pressure. This should be me a good platform to fine tune the car and deal with any problems that might come up later.

Here's a picture of the custom switch bracket which is hidden under the dash. These switches let me control all of the functions listed above from the driver's seat:



The following is a picture of the custom bracket that Doug at ERA made for my car. It mounts the FAST XFI computer (the black box), the MSD Digital 6 ignition box (the red box) and all of the fuses and relays associated with the FAST XFI computer (these are installed in the picture but not yet connected to the wiring harness). This computer is mounted face down so that the indicator lights on the FAST computer are easily viewed by looking under the dash. The entire assembly can be removed with 2 wing nuts to allow the settings on the MSD box to be easily changed.



Doug built a nice custom aluminum panel which mounts the FAST XFI program selector switch, an arming switch which allows the FAST XFI computer's software program to be updated, and an auxillary fuse block and Fuel Pump relay. This panel is hidden under the dash next to the XFI computer - again, we were able to add all of the extra electrical components to the car in locations which are not visible.



The final picture shows how all of these components are mounted together under the dash on the passenger's side of the car. This picture was taken before all of the wiring (and the XFI program selector) switch were installed. As you can see, everything is neatly hidden. Doug did a really outstanding job with this!



Obviously all of this involves an significant amount of custom wiring work. At this point I have about 50 hours in this part of the project. To give you a feel of the amount of work involved, there are over 100 wires that need to be terminated to build the FAST XFI wiring harness alone! At this point, all of the wiring for the ignition box and all of the in-car control features are done. I'm about 70% done with the custom harness for the FAST XFI computer and I plan to install the computer and the custom harness in the car for the last time this weekend. I was able to build the FAST XFI harness off the car thanks to the really neat removable bracket assembly that Doug created for the FAST computer and the MSD box. All of this may seem a bit complicated but the key to making a system like this work well and be reliable is to 1) use good electrical practices to build everything such as soldering connections, using heat shring tubing and high quality sealed connectors everywhere, etc. 2) test all of the components as you go (for example, I've tested the entire ignition system, fuel pump controller, tach, etc using an MSD ignition tester which lets me generate signals that trigger the MSD box and all of the PRM activated features; I've also brought the XFI computer up on the bench and verified that its working with the custom harness and that it can talk to my laptop, and 3) carefully document everthing via diagrams and tables so that you can remember what you've built later if there's a problem. At this stage, I need to put connectors on all of the wiring to the engine and to the driveshaft and fuel pressure sensors and I can fire her up! I think that I should be to this point by the end of this weekend if all goes well. I will post some pictures of the completed wiring to give everyone a feel for what was involved. A great deal of what I am doing is defintely not needed on most EFI equipped Cobras. Most folks would do fine to use a pre-built harness from FAST and would not try to utilize all of these electrical features that I am using. I'm trying to take maximum advantage of all of the capabilities that the electronics in my car can provide and also create a neat, custom installation that is completely hidden.

- Fred

[Keithc8]

I must say that the car is looking very nice and the detail and time you have taken to do it to this level is amazing. I know what it takes to do some of these cars right and nice you have taken it up a notch. I hope that eveything goes to your liking and look forward to you getting the engine running and the car driving. You may be running out of time this year but that will just give you more time to make it even nicer. Good luck, Keith Craft

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by Keithc8

I must say that the car is looking very nice and the detail and time you have taken to do it to this level is amazing. I know what it takes to do some of these cars right and nice you have taken it up a notch. I hope that eveything goes to your liking and look forward to you getting the engine running and the car driving. You may be running out of time this year but that will just give you more time to make it even nicer. Good luck, Keith Craft

Thank you very much Keith. I have to say that a good measure of credit for the way my car is turning out goes to you and your team. You really built an outstanding engine for me and it is clearly one of the best points of the car.

- Fred

[Rick Parker]

Regarding rear wheel availability. Could these issues have anything to do with Trigo having been sold? The new owners sure seem to keep a low profile.

[xracerbob]

Rick-

There is a delay on these wheels from Vintage. For the ERA, the fronts need to be machined for correct backspace, and for some reason, the rears are hard to get now. I was quoted 5 weeks and from what I heard from Peter, this may be optimistic. I ordered mine 5 weeks ago and no sign of them so far.

Fred also has Vintage wheels.

[madmaxx]

Wow!!!!! what takes you 50 hours would take me 200 hours. I cannot wait to here how it all works together.

Thanks for the entertainment!!

[fkemmerer]

Just an update on my electrical journey. I've completed all of the wiring harness work (power circuits, grounds, relays, fuses, etc) that I can do off the car. The attached is a picture of the FAST XFI computer and ignition box assembly. As you can see, I still have a few wires left to connect .



All of this remaining wiring goes to two basic places: 1) to the sensors in the transmission tunnel for the driveshaft speed sensor for electronic traction control and fuel pressure monitoring and 2) to the engine for all of the fuel injection associated sensors and controls. I've completed all of the terminations and connection for the driveshaft sensor and fuel pressure monitoring. Here's a picture of that part of the project:



The button on the shift control the 2-step rev. limiter on my MSD box.

All that is left is to make the connections to the engine. To give those who might consider trying to build their own EFI harness a feel for what's involved in this, the engine connections include:

1) CAM and Crank trigger connections to the distributor
2) MAP Sensor connections (measures manifold vacumn)
3) Air Temperature Sensor
4) Coolant Temperature Sensor
5) Throttle Position Sensor
6) Idle Air Control Motor
7) Wide Band O2 Sensor (in the passenger's sidepipe)
8) Fuel Injectors (there are 8, one in each intake port)

Obviously, most folks would opt to use an off the shelf harness which would not require all of this work. The advantage of building a custom harness is that everything fits perfectly with no excess wire to hide.

I think one more weekend will do it ....

[fkemmerer]

More progress this week. We got our rear wheels from ERA! I had the Goodyear Gumball tires installed on the rims and balanced. After installing the wheels on the car, I set the ride height to ERA specs. The car's stance looks great. Here are a few pictures with the wheels and tires on the car:





I had to set the rear shocks at almost the lowest setting possible to get the car to the high side of ERA's recommended ride height. With the adjusters cranked almost to the bottom of the shock, the car is at 5 3/4" from the ground to the frame rail in the back. At this point, the rear coilovers are about 1 1/2" out of the spring pockets with the car jacked up in the rear. The car is only missing the seats and the tunnel at this point, has all fluids in the engine, and has 1/2 tank of gas so I think that I must be near final weight. The issues that I'm seeing may be because of the all aluminum FE that I'm using has less weight than a cast iron big block? It may also be that the car needs a little more time to settle now that its on its wheels. Bob, what do you think about his? Do I need to consider springs which are less stiff for my coilovers?

- Fred

[Chaplin]

Fred-
Once you drive it, the fronts will settle down a little more. I just swapped out an iron block 428 for an all aluminum FE and I did have to drop the front springs a little bit- maybe 1/4" inch or so- to compensate for the difference in weight between the 2 motors. But the stock ERA springs are fine for an aluminum FE. And the car looks great by the way.

Can you do me a favor? Can you measure the height from the the floor to the middle of the fender lip on both your front and rear fenders- I'm still screwing around with my ride height trying to get it where I want it and yours looks pretty good.

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by Chaplin

Fred-
Once you drive it, the fronts will settle down a little more. I just swapped out an iron block 428 for an all aluminum FE and I did have to drop the front springs a little bit- maybe 1/4" inch or so- to compensate for the difference in weight between the 2 motors. But the stock ERA springs are fine for an aluminum FE. And the car looks great by the way.

Can you do me a favor? Can you measure the height from the the floor to the middle of the fender lip on both your front and rear fenders- I'm still screwing around with my ride height trying to get it where I want it and yours looks pretty good.

Unfortunately, I am away traveling so I won't be able to make the measurements for a week or so. To give you a reference, the distance from the bottom of the frame rail at the rear to the ground is 5 3/4". The distance from the front of the frame rail to the ground is 5 1/4".

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by Chaplin

And the car looks great by the way.

X2...no doubt. Can't wait to read about performance/handling with all the electronics on this car. Definitely one of the better (and certainly far more sophisticated) builds on this forum for any replica. Nice work!

-Dean

[madmaxx]

WOW!!!!! This is the nicest build I have seen since being on the forum. Love all the technolgoy, keep us up to date on pluses and minus of each. It is stunning!!!

[sp1410]

Absolutely beautiful!

[fkemmerer]

Thanks for the nice complements guys. Once I get the car registered, I will dial in the Electronic Traction Control and do some more on the road testing. I will post as progress is made there.

- Fred

[fkemmerer]

The video of our Cobra in an earlier post was too big for most people to download in a reasonable amount of time. Here's a new version that is about 8M which should download in a few minutes for most folks:

http://www.anitafred.net/Video/Cobra/Roll Out Video.wmv

We've also updated our webside with a nearly complete story on our build including more information on all of the electronics on the car. I've also added some background and information about what is involved in tuning an EFI system for those who might be interested in installing EFI on their car. The link to our Cobra webpage is:

http://www.anitafred.net/Cobra.htm

This is our second EFI project. The first was a blown and injected 1963 Corvette. For folks looking for some additional EFI information, the link to our Corvette page may be found at:

http://www.anitafred.net/Vette.htm

I hope that this information is useful to everyone.

- Fred

[RedBarchetta]

Saw a pic of that 'Vette about a year ago and fell in love with it. Now I know who built it! Very nice....

-Dean

[fkemmerer]

Well, ERA 753 is registered, insured, inspected, and on the road! The day began with a visit from a NH State Trooper. He checked all of the paperwork including the statement of origin from ERA, all of the invoices for the kit and components, and the chassis, engine, and transmission serial numbers. After all of this, he wrote on a VIN form and provided a VIN sticker which went on the firewall above the driver's side footbox. He told me that because the car was intended to be a copy of an original Cobra, I could title it as a 1967 Shelby Cobra. Next came a trip to my town clerk. The town clerk checked with NH DMV and finally concluded that it was, in fact, OK to title the car as a 1967 Shelby Cobra. The town clerk issued a temporary title, registration, and tags. Next, we called Grundy and got insurance on the car. The final stop was my local inspection mechanic who inspected the car. I put about 25 miles on the car before I had to go back to work. We are going to take our Cobra to our local cruise night this evening. I can’t wait to drive it some more! We still have lots of fine tuning to go and I will continue to post here as we make progress on that front.

- Fred

[RAO-3]

Congratulations Fred, glad to hear that everything went so smoothly with the inspection and getting it out on the road. Great driving weather now.

Ray