Just finished a midnight shop session under the 4/4, installing bumpers, new
oil pan, removing oil cooler, etc. There's bound to be a lesson in human
behavior to be learned from this car. Summary - (condition of car when I got
it....)
Engine - Built right. 1700cc Ford, smooth, quiet, oil-tight, runs cool,
aluminum radiator, big cam, big valves, headers, Jacobs ignition. Not an
expert, but I'll say 130 hp or more.
Carb - Weber downdraught. Jetted and tuned spot on. Starts immediately,
responds instantly, no flat spots from idle to redline.
Steering - Gemmer box, no play, tracks straight. Car weighs 1420 pounds
fueled up on the truck scales at the quarry (fiberglas wings help; sorry,
SVRA).
Gearing - Just right. 4.1/1 ratio, close-ratio trans (snick-snick just like
a light switch). 3500 rpm at 65 mph. 7200 rpm rev-limiter and I'll betcha
it'll pull to redline in fourth. But I haven't been able to find out yet
because....
Wiring - Absolute freaking bodge job. Every wire on the car has been
spliced, twisted together, shorted against the frame. Wires are connected
together in mid-air with 1/4-20 bolts. Seven miles of drooping oily black
tape. I've pulled at least 100 feet of wire out of the car that goes nowhere
and there's still lots left. Grounds are all lousy, connectors "crimped"
with regular pliers, no color codes; at one point a 15 foot piece was used to
connect two points 6 inches apart and the rest just jammed under the dash in
a big wad.
Why, oh why, would someone spend somewhere between $5- and $10,000 on all
that nice equipment, Accusumps, Watts links, 6-1/2 welded wheels, fuel cells,
built engine, etc. and then leave a wiring job that won't let the car go one
lap without something falling off? It's like Ben Grimm built 90% of the car
and then turned into The Thing to finish the wiring and just slammed it
together with his mitts. Is it a comment on the human condition?
I'm torn between getting a stock wiring harness and working from there, or
wiring it the way I've always wanted to wire one, aircraft-style with labels,
squared-off wire runs, all-soldered connections, etc. Since it's already a
bit non-stock (although what Morgan isn't), I'll probably go for the aircraft
style, one circuit at a time....
Lannis
|