Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned:

• Do NOT use the driver footbox panels that come on the kit, they are 5.0 panels.
• If you remove the gauge pod, wire a 520 ohm resistor between the leads on the charge light or the alternator will not charge the battery.
• Order a set of studs for the oil pan it will make removal POSSIBLE.
• The stock cobra gauges are too small to use inside the FFR gauge rings.
• Tires make a bigger difference than suspension.
• Have a shop vent/vacuum the freon out of the AC system to before disabling the car.
• Wire in a rear cutoff switch if you plan on racing and have a trunk battery.
• Buy pre-flared brake lines because they are REALLY hard to flare properly.

Things I'm glad I did:

• The footbox mod - the extra room is really critical.
• Tune - gotta keep that old engine running well.
• New transmission - Smart Parts Auto can get you a good deal on a transmission that will make a huge difference for smooth driving.
• Interior light - a 10 minute wiring job that I use ALL the time.
• Diet one circuit at a time - and make sure it still works in between each.
• During donor teardown, label every connector!

New Blog

New Blog is located here! http://world-of-arc.blogspot.com/

Blog Change

This will be the last blog post as ShelbaToast '65. The car is done and has been on the road for a couple years now. Since I no longer have regular updates to post on here I'm 'closing out ShelbaToast'.

I've often found myself wanting to write a blog-post about something only to end up saying "nah it doesn't have to do with the car". I'll still blog about the car when things happen or I do mods, but it will be mixed in with other stuff. Games I'm playing, trips I'm taking, crazy stuff at work, etc.

I'm not sure yet if the URL will change, but keep an eye out!

Door Inserts

I got some leather door inserts for my birthday - woo! They have pockets to store some 'stuff'. I have my little booklet that has my fuel economy and fluid quantities and stuff that I can keep handy in there. I definitely like them, a nice little mod to the finished product.

Mountain Biking

Today I took my first bike ride in about a year.
Today I took my first spill in about a year.

Overall the ride was very bland - paved roads, not a lot of turns, not a lot of hills. But there was a section of the 'trail' that was closed - they are building a highway over it. They had it blocked off really well, but unless they fence off the whole project, people are going to find a way across. I mean, they blocked the whole trail for like 8 months (projected). So naturally I joined the ranks of the awesome - who judging by the number of tread-marks are few and far between in the area - and went around.

Crossing the construction area was pretty tricky, first off we've had a lot of rain, so there was a lot of 'quicksand' and mud. Where it wasn't mud, the water drainage had caused deep ruts. I made it across pretty eventlessly, but had to go around a bit. On the way back I decided to go straight over the hardest part. I crested a hill and looked down and it seemed pretty easy except for a vertical drop off at the end. Decided it was too long of a fall to crawl it, and went down at an angle. But then the front wheels started to slide, the back wheel stuck in, and it was abandon ship. Ok, so the tires themselves didn't start to slide - I have 2.5" nobblies - they aren't sliding anywhere. But the dirt gave way and basically avalanched.

Anyhow, one duck and roll later and I got a few little abrasions and a little bit muddier. I made it across and there was another biker there asking me about how far the trail went. We chatted for awhile and then I scooted off back home to wash the bike and eventually myself.

So as I mentioned, it was a pretty boring ride except for the construction zone in the middle, but was totally worth it. It was nice to get muddy and slosh around again.

All we know

Some say it was born as the love-child of a Cheetah and a Kodiak bear, and that it often consumes small children for breakfast...

All we know, is it's called Shelbatoast.

Fire 'stinguisher

I've been reading a lot of articles lately about cars burning to the ground. Mostly it seems to be exotic super-cars, Lamborghini, Ferrari and the like which run crazy high pressure fuel systems. But just the same it got me thinking, you know I did most of the wiring on this thing myself and you just never know what might happen. So instead of having to possibly suffer the humiliating fate of the car burning to the ground while I helplessly stand by and watch, I picked up a small vehicle fire extinguisher and mounted it under the dash.

While I was on the website ordering the fire extinguisher I also picked up a few other goodies - passenger mirror, another rear-view mirror, and 2 cobra posters. A nice addition to the garage :-D