Time for a test drive!! Or is it?

Today's blog post brought to you by Tekton Interior Fitouts.

The day had arrived for Booger Mobile to have a huuuuuuge test drive...  but first, Damian had to resolve the minor issue of extractor clearance...  Remember last night's blog?  (The clanging, rattling, car-shaking noise that Damian worked out the source of...)  This is what was causing it!!  Check out the miniscule amount of clearance underneath the right hand side of the extractors...  This was with the engine off - as soon as the engine was on (therefore twisting a little in that direction), the extractors were actually sitting on the engine cross-member!!

Jason arrived to provide moral and emotional support to Damian, who jacked up the engine and put a couple of spacers in to give a little more clearance over the cross-member... check it out now!!

Before heading off, Jason wanted to hear the engine go...  Crank crank crank crank...  Nothing.

Crank crank crank crank crank crank curse crank curse...  NOTHING.

It would seem that the engine that was dyno-tuned not 18 hours earlier, was now not going to start, come hell or high water!!  It would seem that there was no spark getting through...  The GT-40R coil wasn't working...  the GT-40 coil that was previously in Booger Mobile didn't work either!!

Jason had to leave, so Damian headed to the auto parts store to buy a new coil...  Upon hearing his tale of woe, the guys suggested that what Damian really needed to replace was the ignition module of his electronic distributor.  They also didn't believe that the GT-40 OR the GT-40R coils were correct. 

Damian doubled back home to re-read the destructions that came with the electronic distributor for the third time that day...  It would seem that there was some confusion in Damian's brain (what else is new?) caused by the way the destructions were worded, but what the electronic distributor really needed was a Bosch MEC-718 coil.

Back to the auto parts store, where Damian bought an MEC-717 coil (equivalent to the 718, but with the standard plug-lead output, which is what he required).

Crank crank crank FIRE...

Crank crank crank crank crank curse some more...  It would seem that perhaps the ignition module had been fried by the GT-40R coil...  It lives under the little chrome part hanging off the distributor...

That's it there!!

Damian removed it, then compared it to the purchased one...  Yep, they look the same!!

Having read the destructions carefully, Damian applied the white goop to the underside of the ignition module...

Reattached the wires...

Hooked up the wires to the new coil (thanks to the delightful Tricia for sneaking up to take a photo)...

Crank vrooooooom!!

Finally, Booger Mobile's engine was started!!  Time for a test drive...  Damian's son Jordan had come along for the drive, and decided to take a video...  listen to that engine hum!!





And back into the shed - in reverse (as if to prove that it really was driven today)!!

So, the test drive has finally taken place...  A total of 68.2km was driven at an average speed of just over 62 km/hr...  Highway driving, 80, 70, 60 and 50km/hr zones...  Booger Mobile is driving nicely, and the temperature and oil pressure were excellent.

There is still some minor engine pinging at certain amounts of throttle, but hopefully this will be resolved by the use of 98 octane fuel from now on...  Time to get some km's under the hood and run the engine in!!

Dyno tune time... What a powerhouse!!

Today's blog post brought to you by CMK Financial Solutions!

Today, Booger Mobile was booked in for a dyno tune... this is a special kind of tune-up  where the car is hooked up to some kind of you-beaut machine, and actually driven on a special device a bit like a treadmill for cars...  This allows readings to be taken while the car is actually being "driven".

Of course, Booger Mobile had to be taken to the dyno tuning shop...

Always time for a snappy self portrait!!

Down this road (past the pedestrians on the left)...

Up this road (you can see the speedo is now working... woohoo)!!

And to the dyno tuning shop!

Damian left for the day, and returned late in the afternoon to find Booger Mobile still taking pride of place on the dyno...

You can see the rollers under the rear wheels in this picture...

Having paid and headed home (with Booger Mobile performing much, much better), Damian arrived home in the early evening...  the pic below was taken with no flash...

And this one with the flash, just to give you an idea of how much those green LED's and headlights light up the place!!

Here's the dyno tune printout...  Booger Mobile has a whopping 76.5 horsepower at the rear wheels!!

Upon arriving home, Damian found that the dash lights had decided to stop working...  He soon fixed that!!  (Of course, this involved removing the instrument panel and re-jiggering the lights that had come loose in their sockets - which they need to be bedded in properly in order to earth the lights.)

Once that was done, it was time to reinstall the horns... first the Claxton Horn (aka the ahoooga horn)!

Then the musical air horns...

So now that Booger Mobile is going better, it's time to run the engine in... this will involve driving around 800-1000km over the next couple of weeks...  Prior to doing this, the new rattle needs to be resolved...  Damian has worked out what the cause is (the extractors are hitting the engine crossmember - they must have slightly changed shape during the HPC Coating process), he just needs to actually fix it!!

Stay tuned...

Tekton Interior Fitouts sticker arrives!!

In keeping with Damian's new tradition of a feature shot of a particular sponsor's sticker at the start of each blog post, today's blog is ironically brought to you by Jason Sheather Plumbing...  the irony will become apparent in a moment!!

This is the spot where the Tekton Interior Fitouts sticker is going to go... shiny isn't it!!

Elli brought up the sticker that Steve kindly cut before heading off to the Rainbow Beach fishing competition...  The damn thing was being so finicky that it took two sets of hands to get it peeled...

This was about 15 minutes later (and still not finished peeling)!!

And on it goes!!

Removing the backing paper... looking good so far!!

Little bit more...

Ta-daaaaaaaaaaaa!!

Damian notes that he really needs to get the 2010 sticker changed to read 2011...  However the 2011 door panels have a different size giggle on them, so he can't just cut the new giggle out!!

Finally the Tekton Interior Fitouts sticker is on Booger Mobile, and just in time for some upcoming photo opportunities!!

New Headlights - Part 2

Today's blog brought to you by Acreage Driveways.  With Booger's head (well, half thereof) looking on in the background...

Today, Damian had to resolve the slight ZAAAAP issue that the new headlights had, when the parker bulb connectors hit the metal support for the light.  This was achieved by cutting the support to make way for the bulb and wires!!

Damian also purchased some rubber grommets from the local rubber store (where the owner greeted Damian with "Yo Grommet Man!!  Long time no see!!  How's the car going?"), and installed them into the space where the park light sticks through.

Also during the day, Damian received a visit from Silver Sponsor Kaye... aka Special K from WA!  She was over here with her daughter attending a conference and took the time to stop by at Team Booger Mobile HQ!!

"Check it out, that's my sticker!!" says Kaye.

So, why was Damian going to so much effort to hook up the park lights inside the new headlights when Booger Mobile has its parkers in the front bumper bar?  Because you can change the LED bulbs to be GREEN of course!!

This is what it looks like with the shed lights on...

And with the headlights on...  Hard to tell from this angle, but the green bulbs are still glowing...

See?

But they do look good like this, don't they!!

So Booger Mobile's new headlights are installed, and once Damian has some more switches, the green park lights will be hooked up too!!  As per usual, it was a much larger saga than first thought, but the end result is certainly worth it!!

New Headlights - Part 1

Today's blog post is brought to you by Cadist Consulting - Damian's software development company.

Having taken Booger Mobile out for a test drive the other night, Damian noticed how pitiful Booger Mobile's headlights were.  They are original sealed beam headlights.

So off to the auto store he went, and bought a shiny Narva halogen headlamp conversion kit!!

This is the driver's side old headlight...

When placed beside the new one, it's easy to see how much more reflective the mirror in the new one is in comparison!!

The mounting point looks a little odd without the light...

And does it bolt straight in?  No, of course not!!  The separate parker bulb clashes on the metal surround...

Time to drill, then snip the metal away.

That looks better!!

One headlight has been replaced (the one to the left of the image below).  It's difficult to tell from this angle, but it is heaps brighter and the light much cleaner/whiter!

Onto the second one... first drilling a pilot hole (this is the third and largest drill bit).

Then freehand cut a circle with the snips!  Damian reckons Jason would be proud of that effort!!

And in goes the second light... you can see below that there is much more light being thrown.

Time to hook up the parker lights...  ZAAAAAAAAAAP!!  One of them had shorted out on the internal mounting frame, so apart came the lights again... Damian will cross that bridge on Saturday!!

Stay tuned for part 2...