The new Heater for Pearl thread

OK, Lessee........

Finally got all of the fuel delivery stuff done (including a separate fuel shut-off for the heater pump), bled the line going to the heater pump (at 1/10'th of a cc per stroke, it would have taken, like, forever to pump the air out of a 14" by 1/4" gas hose with the heater pump) and now have full fuel flowing up at the heater. Then, I checked it for a couple of hours with the line pulled off at the heater to make damn sure it doesn't flow any fuel when not pumping - it doesn't.....not even a drop.  That's good.

Finished modifying the air duct hold-down/anti-rattle clamps and installed those, finished tie-wrapping the bits of electrical harnesses and hoses everywhere and declared it to be DONE and installed.  

In celebration, Kathy and I visited Fredrick Feufeu's amazing French restaurant out on Cape Cod and enjoyed the best rack of Lamb we've ever had.  Finally met Fredrick (somehow missed his wife but chatted on the phone earler) and will be getting back out there in Pearl this summer so he and I and the Gallos can do some Cape Cod Cruising this summer in our cars.

I'm holding off on testing it any more until the Thermo King guys check it out next week, but I'm confident that they'll like what they see - Just like the Eberspacher designers, this system is way over-designed for safety.  

I still have to install the BlazeCut fire suppression tubes front and back, but that is only a bunch of cable clamps or zip-ties so, hopefully, that will go quickly.   

I want to get this car out on the road!!!!!!!

Just in time for summer!

Good job Gordon. Your cruising time will now start sooner and end later. Perfect. Not quite West Coast times but just what your neck of the woods calls for.

Well, Heater fans....  It was a truly momentous day here in the garage of Five Cent Racing.

This evening, after a six month hiatus, Pearl has finally returned to haunt the highways and byways of Central New England.  It's been a much longer "winter" than I ever expected, but she's done and she's back to scare the carp out of unsuspecting drivers - that exhaust is pretty loud when I really get on it!  She's filthy as all get-out but still looks god - ya gotta LOVE white cars for not sowing dirt.

Her new heater has been declared "finished", was in-car tested today and proved fully proficient in blowing the main, 15 amp, heater fuse as soon as it got up to temp and switched off the glow-plug - ZAP!  everything goes dead.   A quick peek into the autovionics bay (the plastic cover on top of the heater) showed that the designer/assembler/installer/doofus failed to notice a soldered wire broken loose on one of the logic relay tabs which then touched another relay contact causing a main-power-to-ground short as soon as the relay changed state when the heater got hot.....  POW! (or, was it Zap!?)  Shows what happens when you solder leads directly to a relay that is supposed to have a socket.  My old designers are probably LTAO.

Anyway, fixed that and re-tested and it now heats (like a bastard) with no blown fuse, even though it was pushing 85F in the garage, and when it doesn't call for heat (or the ignition key is turned off) it runs just the heater fan for two minutes and then shuts everything down.  

PISSAH!

Now I can finally get back to driving her around and enjoying her.  Oh!   And during the hiatus and along with a bunch of other stuff, I elevated the front of the seat base about 5/8" just to bring the front edge of the seat up from fully horizontal under my knees - What a Difference!  I now feel as though I sit in the seat and not on the seat.  Huge difference.

It's going to be a great summer!  And I can't wait to see what the hell I'm going to be adding to her NEXT winter!  Maybe I'll skip that and just drive her!!!!!

Gordon Nichols posted:

I elevated the front of the seat base about 5/8" just to bring the front edge of the seat up from fully horizontal under my knees - What a Difference!  I now feel as though I sit in the seat and not on the seat.  Huge difference.

That's IT!

Everybody mocks me for mine (I brought the front of my seat up 2 full inches from level), but it was the biggest difference I ever made in the car. I'm glad it worked for you as well.

Good for you, Gordon!

Apparently, Stan, "Dear Leader" of the Benevolent New Republic of Stanistan (redeux), is somewhat taller than me in the leg (they grow 'em big in the heartland), which must explain the additional knee  bolster height needed.  I'm just a little guy.......  Short, but with hill climber's legs like the Tour de France's Fabian Cancellara.  

Regardless, the additional seat angle works wonders.

And now, in the unspoken but possibly intended words of Presidential Candidate, Bernie Sanders;  "We're all sick and tired of hearin' about ya damn heater!"

-30- 

Gordon;

I lowered my seat, as my right leg wouldn't clear the steering wheel. Having to contort and put my right leg into the passenger foot well and then back into my side. My faux Nardi is only 14".  In doing so, I was able to raise the front side of the seat up an inch. It feels more comfortable. BTW I'm vertically challenged like you.

Art

Art.

Stupid question.  Have you considered adding a spacer behind your Nardi?  I added a 1" spacer that made a huge difference in my ability to brake and clutch without confilct with the bottom of the steering wheel.....

Frank

No I have not. I'll give that a try. I thought about a longer boss, but the one I have, has a collapsible cage, which I like.  I'll try a spacer thanks for the idea!

You might need a longer stick shift and maybe a bent one

Congrats on the new heater, Gordon.

Never let marketing rush engineering. It's ready when it's ready.

Look at what happened to the Apple Newton.

Gordon Nichols posted:

Apparently, Stan, "Dear Leader" of the Benevolent New Republic of Stanistan (redeux), is somewhat taller than me in the leg (they grow 'em big in the heartland), which must explain the additional knee  bolster height needed.  I'm just a little guy.......  Short, but with hill climber's legs like the Tour de France's Fabian Cancellara.  

Regardless, the additional seat angle works wonders.

And now, in the unspoken but possibly intended words of Presidential Candidate, Bernie Sanders;  "We're all sick and tired of hearin' about ya damn heater!"

-30- 

Nope, the opposite. Long torso, short legs, long arms. Think, "Silver-Back Gorilla". If my legs were in scale with my torso and arms, I'd be 6'6". Pity that. I'd like some hair (besides the silver ones on my back) as well. Perhaps if I had those things going for me I could sell insurance or something.

The seat is as low in the car as possible (in the bucket), so I'm 100% behind the windshield. The seat pitched back allows me to pull it forward on the floor of the car giving my knees a slight bend, and making it so I can reach the pedals-- while still pushing my torso and head back from the windshield. My arms drag the ground when I walk, so the reach to the wheel is pretty close to perfect.

It looks like a Mercury Astronaut seating position, but I can drive 1000 mi days comfortably in the car.