Lonnie's Mustang V6, "Steal with Both Hands", Locost

[Lonnie-S]

@tibimakai

Happy New Year to you as well, Tibor.

Congratulations on getting your steering rack issue solved.

The battery you see is the one from my donor vehicle, a 1994 Mustang. It is compact, but it serviced a car with a much higher electric load than my Locost will ever have. It's matched to the starter and charging systems too, so I think it will work well.

This particular battery is designated a Group 58 type in case you want to check dimensions of it.

Cheers,

[Lonnie-S]

I'm not always sure about posting such things here, but we've been involved in a bit of a struggle to keep my oldest dog, Skyla, alive for a week or so. She collapsed on a walking trail back in August of 2022. Working with her veterinarian, we kept her going for 17 months and I'm proud of that accomplishment. However, yesterday our lovely journey together ended. She passed away.

Here she is in the arms of her breeder the day she was delivered to us:

Skyla Day 1.jpg

This was taken just before she passed away. She was one month shy of 14 years old:

Skyla 10 January 2024.jpg

We had a "long goodbye", but her passing is still very sad to me. I'm taking a few days off to collect myself.

Regards,

[horchoha]

So sorry to hear this Lonnie.
It's always heart wrenching when one of our furry family members pass on leaving us with the fondest memories.

[JAMADOR]

Very sorry to hear of her passing, Lonnie.
When we lost our Catahoula, after 10 years with him, it really hit me hard. A lot harder than I expected.

[KB58]

I hear you; we have a 15.5 year old Lab/Pit mix and are nearing "that time" now. Heart issues, arthritis, balance problems, and staring off for minutes at a time. All you can do is remember the good times and be happy for each day you had with them.

[Lonnie-S]

@horchoha
Thanks so much, Perry. She was a super sweet dog who loved everyone. She will be missed.

@JAMADOR
I'm finding the same here. She's been struggling for a while, but you hope they can keep going even if at a reduced level of activity and mobility. It has hit me hard even though I could clearly see we were coming to the end.

@KB58
Yes, my girl had all those symptoms plus a couple more. It'd hard to know when you're "at the end" and must bring things to a close. It is a very difficult decision to make.

Thank you all for the expressions of sympathy.

[Lonnie-S]

I'm back in the game. I got some small things done

I made this tubing straightener for the brake and fuel hard lines using scraps on hand. It's not my idea. There are multiple versions of this kind of tool out on the Internet. My version is super simple. I tried out a test piece. It helps, but you've go to do multiple passes to get things reasonably straight.

01-15-24 Upload 1.jpg

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I got my rear main ground for the battery done

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Likewise with the mounting bracket for the positive terminal at the engine bay.

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My next task is laying out the fuel lines from the boot to the engine bay. This is a new area for me. I've never dealt with AN hardware and there's still a mix of NPT/SAE parts from the donor to work with. I did a preliminary design a couple years back and ordered the parts I thought I'd need, but I have many questions. I'm reading reference books with my left hand and trying to do stuff with my right.

I definitely want to have a fuel pressure gauge in the engine compartment. The donor fuel rail is difficult to access when the engine is assembled and I'm going to put it before that part. Also, I want to see what the pressure from the fuel pump at rear is before it gets to the donor pressure regulator, which is set for 40 PSI.

I bought a fuel gauge from Earl's but I'm a little concerned about how it mounts. The gauge is mounted using NPT threads and I feel like there is a lot of weight cantilevered off of that fitting. It seems like a likely place for failure with time.

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Here's the chassis area where power and fuel will arrive. The fuel delivery will be at the tube at the bottom of this photo.

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My plan (so far) is to place things like this. The fuel gauge doesn't absolutely have to go where shown, but that's where I'd like it. It's pretty crowded in that area and there may not be enough room for all the joints required.

01-15-24 Upload 5.JPG

One area I need to educate myself with is the actual fuel hoses. Below is a photo of the stock donor setup. In the donor, it ran from the firewall to the SFI fuel rail. It looks like I can reuse the engine (fuel rail) end, but need to replace the firewall end with AN-6 connectors of some sort.

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It looks like the donor specific, engine-connectors can be separated from the stock hose and reused.

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This end needs to be converted to AN-6 compatible hardware. I'm new to AN hardware. Is there an obvious solution to any of you familiar with AN stuff?

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Here is the stock fuel pressure regulator. It's 40 PSI on the fuel rail side. I don't know what it is on the fuel pump side. My new one is in the 45-50 pound range. I'm surprised this high pressure setup is all friction fit connections.

01-15-24 Upload 11.JPG

That's it today. I'll do a little more research and see what kinds of solutions I can come up with.

Cheers,

[kabuku6]

Nice straightener, I was looking at 3d printing something similar. But I'm aways out on needing it. Are the two pieces of wood adjustable to accommodate different diameters?

I bought a fuel gauge from Earl's but I'm a little concerned about how it mounts. The gauge is mounted using NPT threads and I feel like there is a lot of weight cantilevered off of that fitting. It seems like a likely place for failure with time.

Using gauges on pumps in high vibration environments, the NPT threads will be more than strong enough. Failure will most likely come down to the quality of the gauge. If you are worried about it, brass barb fittings are relatively cheap and you could mount it anywhere with a bit of hose. And some vibration dampening to the gauge itself and it should last for a good haul.

[horchoha]

No concern about the fuel gauge setup you have there Lonnie.
Just make sure to dope them pipe threads!

[Lonnie-S]

@kabuku6
@horchoha

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Yes, the straightener is adjustable by putting washers or shims between the two pieces of wood. The wing nuts also let you loosen or tighten the distance between rollers while in use. It looks like I'll leave them a little loose at the start and then tighten them as the tubing straightens - to be determined.

The hardware is all 1/4", and I have lots of washers in that size. I also have pieces of 22, 20 and 19 gauge steel I put 1/4" holes through to use as shims.

Cheers,

[seven13bt]

I get these from Summit. Made by Russell and the one for 5/16 line is 644113.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rus-644123

Put the main piece on the end of the stock line as far as it will slide. Put the "C" retainer down aways on the steel line, slide it up to the adapter and thread it in.

[seven13bt]

You may want to use these on the fuel rail side:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rus-640903
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rus-640873


The inline component you identified as the pressure regulator, I believe is a pulsation damper. I suggest just leaving it out.
The pressure regulator is bolted to the fuel rail.

[Lonnie-S]

@seven13bt
Those look very promising, Ron. Thanks so much.

Cheers,

[Miatav8,MstrASE,A&P,F]

I'm not sure why you want to convert to AN fittings. The oem is nylon tube press-fit into barbed fittings and works very well with modern fuels. They add a rubber sheath to the sections that run between the engine and chassis for abrasion resistance. All the fittings are available, but if you need to transition to a traditional rubber hose, it is easiest to do that at the filter with 5/16 R9 efi hose and clamps.

There are different techniques for installing the fittings on the nylon and special tools, but it can be done with a caulk gun or by hand with a screw driver through the fitting to provide a good way to handle it and hot water for the nylon. If using an oem type fuel tank sender, the fittings slip on easily.

[Lonnie-S]

@MV8
Basically it's because all the fittings on the fuel system parts (tanks, filters, pump, etc.) are AN parts. So, I'll keep it all the same all the way through except the fuel pressure gauge, which was NPT.

Cheers,