COE 1941 Ford COE build

Placed the under dash harness and plugged stuff in. I plan to drive it in primer then go back to body work.

Had to make the HUGE Vette gauge cluster smaller. The left and right switch "clusters" were removable, they'll end up in an added lower dash valance with covers to hide them eventually.

Sliced the gigantic plastic "bezel" on the radial arm saw. Don't think I wasn't nervous about that!! It came out pretty damn good. Then I made a flat plexigl*** "cover" to replace the giant, sloped thing. I used 2 part epoxy to adhere the new flat, clear plastic to the newly cut bezel. Those 2 pieces will used the original clips into the gauge cluster and the new, much smaller cluster should fit in the 41's dash. Jury is still out on how I might make it look a little less 1999 and more 1941.

 

Very cool. I was glad that your pics are still in your album.

 

New cowl came from calgary. Thanks Barry!!!!!!

 

Best spot I could find to "store" the windshield.

 

Speedo made much smaller and kinda fits in the dash.. More tweaking needed, but it's plugged in and can be made secure.. A little t******* to be able to see the top portion and then maybe add the 1941 bezel.

 

Added 5 feet to the harness. The original 72 pin PDC plug is hanging up near the truck's frame. The new one is on the floor.

Also got another section of PDC harness lengthened that had 10 wires. And stretched the electric fan harness...

Still need to deal with the Throttle Actuator Control (TAC) module harness, a couple A/C wires and a mystery 2-wire plug I labeled "Top of Radiator".

 

Brought this home. Should work for now until I can build something fancy like Tony.

 

Can a plastic battery box be louvered?? Apparently so...

 

I turn the key to the on position and in nice BRIGHT, white LED lights Buford displays "Corvette by Chevrolet"... That might need to change.. This is closely followed by a list of complaints... "My active shocks are F'd up, Fuel is low, coolant is low, my arm pits itch". No starting yet as I have the trans out and currently waiting for a flexplate since the TCI one I've been looking at for 6 months doesn't fit. But start position on the key does turn the starter and there is power going to the fuel pumps.... We're getting close!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not close to done, by any means, but to hear the beast run would sure be something.

 

Wetskier, I hear ya, I've got a short list of things to do for the first start also. The only problem is every time I look at the list I realize "oh, I need this or that completed also" Keep on it and we'll both be running soon.
Rob

 

Trans and TCase cleaned, painted and reinstalled with a torque converter and Advanced Adapters flexplate and a spacer for the converter. It allows an older 4L60E to be bolted to the LS1.

Battery boxes in. The left one has the battery, the right one has the ECM and TAC.

I wanted to put the trans and TCase in as one unit, but was concerned about the trans jack holding the whole mess. I drilled two holes in the trans jack plate and mounted the trans mount to the plate. I worked great.

 

Closer, closer, closer.
Rob

 

The blue wire's connected to the black wire...the red wire's connected to the green wire...la la la.

 

More like... "Hmmmm... where the hell does this one go???"... It looks worse than it is... Ask me to repeat that after its running... HA!

 

IT RUNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not ready for the road yet, but having Buford's LS1 fire up and come to life was call for the happy dance!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Congrats! Always a happy occasion.

 

Items to get him driving down the road...

- Finish cobbling together the front axle. I should do BJs also.
- Finish transmission crossmember.
- Shorten rear driveshaft and install.
- TCase fluid
- Transmission shifter
- Get doors back from "paint prison".
- Uh, maybe a driver's seat that's bolted to the floor.
- Tail lights, head lights. Oh hell, who needs headlights?
- Recheck trans fluid, PS fluid, coolant.
- Secure the wiring harness and various hoses.
- Exhaust system.
- Maybe charge the AC if I think driving it with next to nothing in there will damage components.

Once I get to the point it can take an inspection sticker, then I'll go back to the body work that I've put on hold. I'm hoping spring of 2016 it might be mostly done-ish.

 

Did a few little things last night...

Unplugged the AC Compressor since I'm not planning on charging it right away.

Permanently wired the "found ground" for the fuel pumps.

Traced out a wire that used to be connected to the PDC to find it's probably a traction control or ABS wire. Not needed.

Plugged in the tail light harness and it seems to mostly work.

And the big bonus... I think I found the VSS plug in the harness! I'll need to swap the plug from Vette to K1500. Why was it hard to find, you ask? Didn't you label everything in the harness when you pulled it, you say? UH... YEAH... I did, but that didn't help a whole lot when I realized I'd left part of the harness attached to the rear axle when I sold it... DUH!!!

The good news and bad news is that the harness weeding will remove LOTS of wire... All the ABS, traction control, active suspension **** appears to be a ton of wire...

 

Congratulations Wet.

 

A 6 month paint prison sentence for the doors seems to have become a life sentence without parole. He's saying at least several month's out from now and he's had them for 6 months already.. WTF? I think I may have to attempt the repairs myself. I was hoping to speed up the entire project by hiring out the doors. ARGH..

 

MOVED UNDER HIS OWN POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woo Hoo...

And you'll notice that I put him right to work!

 

Looks great Wet, I'm sure that's a good feeling and quite a milestone. Congratulations.
Rob

 

gotta love the first ride, especially when you get to haul stuff.

 

Well done
I Know that feeling, it's B####y great,
still finishing mine even now.

 

Looks good☺

 

I've re-purposed the the original engine cover as a "bump-out" on the dash to cover the monster Corvette HVAC unit (Dual zone climate control, baby!) and for a spot to mount the dash shifter graciously donated by a 1967 Dodge van. It may also house the HVAC controls with a door to cover up the modern. Maybe the entertainment too. It's certainly not the custom dashes some of you guys are doing, but fits the bill and still keeps the floor space clear. Yeah, I know.... pics...

 

coming along.. I still need to make a cover that will go from the shifter bezel to the former engine cover.

 

I gotta get rid of that steering wheel... It looks even uglier in the pics than it does in person...

 

I'm not seeing a picture.