ERA 753 - Final Assembly in Progress

[fkemmerer]

Some updates on ERA 753 as I've worked out some of the bugs.

First, I had alot of trouble getting the reverese speedo in my car to work correctly. After breaking several cables and trying a new speedo, I finally got the problem worked out by doing the following:

1) I have a Tremec TKO 600 5-speed. Its important to route the cable properly and avoid any sharp bends. The proper routing is to loop the cable out of the back of the trans and down close to even with the bootom of the chassis, then up over the top of the trans to the passenger's side, then back to the left on top of the bell housing and through the firewall.
2) I took my reverser apart and greased all of the moving parts with red axle grease (some of the bushings where the shafts ride in were dry). I also carefully shortend the square drive the connects the reverser to the speedo per ERA's manual and added 2 shims between thre reverser and the speedo (ERA provided these).
3) I removed the insides from the cable and re-greased it with red axle grease.
4) Doug provided me with a short piece of 3/16" brake tubing to go on the end of the cable before it goes into the reverser. This keeps the cable from working out of the drive gear on the transmission end.
4) I think the combination of the cold weather (I'm in NH) and the fact the the reverse speedo heads are a little stiff when new was a problem. When I first put the whole setup together on my bench and ran it with a drill, the speedo needle would jump slightly each time the trip odometer advanced. I also noticed that after about 10 mi or so things got slightly better. I then set up an air drill and ran 125 mi (no typo, it took over an hour) on the speedo on my bench. After this all of the jumping had gone away and the whole unit (cable, reverser, speedo) seemed to run much smoother and a little free'er.

After all of this, I put the unit, cable, and reverser back in the car and the speedo is now working fine (no jumping, etc). I have almost 100 mi on it without breaking a cable. I could not get past 25 mi before the fixes.

I'm also doing some tweaking on the tune on my EFI system. Seems the exhausts on the car are more restrictive than the dyno headers that the motor was tuned with (no surprise). This involved driving the car through a variety of load points and speeds to adjust the VE table. I am getting pretty close in the normal ranges that the car runs in on the street. I'll need to invest in a chassis dyno session in the spring to complete the tune under full load (its not safe to do this on the street).

The car is really shaping up nicely. Don't know if I'll get to the Electronnic Traction Control before the weather turns bad. I want to get the base tune right and get a few more miles on the car before I stress it with to set the traction control.

- Fred

[madmaxx]

"the weather turns bad"

What are you talking about it was 75F and 40% humidity today, LOL!! at least you do not get hurricanes. I love the updates!!

[RICK LAKE]

fkemmerer Fred ERA sells 2 side pipe setups for there SC cobras. The street ones are nice and quiet for around town and coutry without waking up the blue meanies and getting tickets. They also have a set of race pipes That they will build. They are loud and no backpressure until 5,500 rpms. With the 452 motor I picked up 27HP and 34FT of torque. The 482 should be even more. Step headers will help also but you would need them custom built. Car looks great. Waiting to hear on the traction control setup. Rick L.

[fkemmerer]

Just some more updates on my car. I took the time to synchronize all of the stacks on my TWM system with an IDF carb synchronizer. Some were pretty far off and the car idles much smoother now that this is done. I also scaled my car to get some idea of the total weight and balance. My car has an ERA outboard rear suspension, pin drive wheels, and an all aluminum 482 ci side oiler based upon the Shelby block. Also, I have the battery mounted in the trunk. The following are the results without driver and with the gas tank 1/2 full:

Total Weight: 2503 lbs
Front Weight Distn.: 48.8%
Rear Weight Distn.: 51.2%

Pretty well balanced overall I think. With me in the car, the balance shifts a little more to the rear which is fine. As you can see, the aluminum motor prevents the car from becoming nose heavy.

I've also had a couple of requests for some pictures of the interior of our car so here they are:





- Fred

[elric]

As a comparison ERA 726 weighs 3008lbs with driver and 1/2 tank fuel; distribution is exactly 50/50. Without driver car is 2808lbs.
ERA standard rear suspension
Magnesium Halibrands
All cast iron 427SOHC
Cast iron bell housing
Cast iron top loader case
plus a few extras that add about another 30-50lbs


Nice looking build. We appreciate the build diary; which is probably as much work as the car.

[pavulon]

I've viewed your initial roll-out video. Obviously your car looks great!! Would you be kind enough to state how tall you are and if your car has the standard height (depth) seats?
Scott

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by elric

As a comparison ERA 726 weighs 3008lbs with driver and 1/2 tank fuel...

Dang, we'll start calling you "Porky."
ERA732 with driver, half tank of gas, and a small tool satchel in the trunk came in at a svelte 2851, iron block and all.

[xracerbob]

Patrick-

I am pretty sure his car has an all iron cammer in it, and those be some heavy heads. Somehow I think I could live with it.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by xracerbob

I am pretty sure his car has an all iron cammer in it...

Well, ok. Maybe we can cut him a bit of slack then....

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Beautiful job. Do you have any rubbing of the front tires on hard turns?

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by ZOERA-SC7XX

Beautiful job. Do you have any rubbing of the front tires on hard turns?

We did some adjustments to the left front fender lip at the bottom rear to eliminate this problem. I did have a little bit of trouble when the car was first assembled.

- Fred

[Bobcat]

Fred .. fantastic job on the tires . Just shows what can be done if things are thought through and not hurried .
I do have a question . What are/did you do to protect that beautiful paint job on the rear lower fenders from rocks coming off the road . I have an interest here as I just got mine ( ERA 757 ) on the road this weekend and already have a few spots on the rear fenders .

Bob

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by Bobcat

Fred .. fantastic job on the tires . Just shows what can be done if things are thought through and not hurried .
I do have a question . What are/did you do to protect that beautiful paint job on the rear lower fenders from rocks coming off the road . I have an interest here as I just got mine ( ERA 757 ) on the road this weekend and already have a few spots on the rear fenders .

Bob

Bob,

I am using a set of ERA's removable fender protectors on the front of the rear fenders. Here's a picture of the car with them on. Sorry that I don't have a better photo than this but I usually remove the protectors to take photos of the car.



- Fred

[Kramer]

Fred, Zoera,

What fender rubbing did you endure and what should I be looking for (just wondering since I too am running the same car with the Goodyear BB's)

Kramer

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by Kramer

Fred, Zoera,

What fender rubbing did you endure and what should I be looking for (just wondering since I too am running the same car with the Goodyear BB's)

Kramer

I think that the rubbing issue is only a problem with larger diameter tires (the Goodyear Billboards are on the larger side I think). The best way to tell if you have this problem is to put your final wheels and tires on the car, set the suspension to the correct height, turn the front wheels to the left and check for interference. If you are very close, then the tires will hit when you hit a bump while turning hard left as it will unload the front suspension and use up the clearance. If you have the problem (most folks don't seem to), is easily fixed by removing a little of the fiberglass on the inside lower rear lip of the left front fender.

- Fred

[fkemmerer]

Well, I broke down and took some formal EFI tunning training in CA this past week. Spent an entire week learning to tune EFI controlled vehicles using a load bearing chassis dyno. Spent two days in a classroom and three days tuning on various dynos. The course was excellent and I definitely learned quite a bit! Next step is to clean up a few items on my cobra and locate a load bearing chassis dyno in my area and properly tune the care on the dyno. If anyone is interested, I took EFI University's Advanced Tuning course. You can find some information on this course at:


http://www.efi101.com/acp.html

I've also taken their variable valve timing course and its also very good (as well as being a good basic education on camshaft tuning).

- Fred

[RICK LAKE]

Fkemmerer Fred they do have courses on the east coast. The problem is paying. I was out of work for a coupleof months and wanted to go but they are a little pricey. I heard they have excellent info, cover basic's. The problem is jamming all that info into 2 weeks with all 3 classes. You can come out brain fried. The other issue is that I don't have the EFI like you and the old system is just that. Works great but info and parts are no longer available for the Speed pro or old FAST system. Maybe you will be opening a garage soon for custom EFI work. Nice in the ground dyno, $125.00 to $150.00 per hour for useage, sound like a plan Rick L.

[sgianino]

Hi Fred,
I might of sent this over to you before but if not here it is....
http://www.ktrmotorsports.com/service/dynamometer.htm

They did a Chassis dyno for me a few years back,nice guys and very professional.

Im very curious to see your actual Dyno numbers to compare our similar motors(Well similar in the sense of the same builder) :-)

Hope to see you soon!!
Sal

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

Fkemmerer Fred they do have courses on the east coast. The problem is paying. I was out of work for a coupleof months and wanted to go but they are a little pricey. I heard they have excellent info, cover basic's. The problem is jamming all that info into 2 weeks with all 3 classes. You can come out brain fried. The other issue is that I don't have the EFI like you and the old system is just that. Works great but info and parts are no longer available for the Speed pro or old FAST system. Maybe you will be opening a garage soon for custom EFI work. Nice in the ground dyno, $125.00 to $150.00 per hour for useage, sound like a plan Rick L.

Hi Rick,

Man I would love to open a shop and do EFI work. I've thought about doing this quite alot but I just don't know if I could make a go of it in this economy. It would be a pretty substaintial upfront investment so I don't think I'm going to do it just yet....

- Fred

[madmaxx]

What are you doing to prevent chips in the front of the car? Are you installing a clear bra or just staying away from other cars?