Franken Formula

It’s Alive!

Rick — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:34:56 +0000

It’s been a while but it finally runs. Turns out it wasn’t the injectors, it was a bad fuel pump. What a PITA job that is. They really don’t make it easy to replace but I got it done. I have to thank my wife. She helped out a bit and pushed me through it. After getting the job half done I was really not looking forward to the rest but she kept saying “Let’s go, have to work on the car” so we got it done. I think she was sick of seeing it sitting on jack stands. Now I can get back to the interior.

Another Update

Rick — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 18:41:44 +0000

I’ve been trying real hard to get the car driveable. It’s not going so well. I put the steering wheel back in and was going to take it for a spin around the block but it wouldn’t start. I’ve replaced the fuel filter, added some fresh gas and checked for spark. Still no luck. I suspect the injectors are clogged so this week I will be pulling them and either cleaning them myself or sending them out to be flow matched. I really hope that’s the problem. I also have to find a place to do the rest of the upholstery.

Tail Lights

Rick — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:26:39 +0000

I finally have tail lights! I mentioned before I was going to get a new tail light harness. Well I got it, tested it out and it wouldn’t work. Turns out I was a a dumbass. Who new? So last night I ripped out the old hacked up one and put the new one in. I now have working tail lights again. Many months and a many hours later I’m back where I started but it feels good to be this much closer to having a working car again.

Working on the tail lights made me remember I have a lot of other little things I need to take care of. Oh well, it never ends.

Upholstery Problems

Rick — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 17:33:14 +0000

I forgot to mention this before. We were going to upholster the lower dash, like I said in the last post. Well, we were all set to do it when we noticed a funny mark on the vinyl. We uhfolded it and they were all over! The pen marks we had on the back to mark the cuts had bled through. Son of a …… So now we have to wait till we can have it re-done. Hopefully that won’t be long, but who knows.

Update

Rick — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:43:28 +0000

The major delay in me getting my interior complete has been the gauge wiring and the vent hoses. The gauges weren’t too difficult for the most part but at this time the tachometer and oil pressure gauges don’t work. I suspect the new oil pressure sender I installed is bad which would explain that problem. I’m really not sure why the tach doesn’t work though. As far as the dash vents go, I had a great plan but it didn’t work out. I have another plan that isn’t so great but it should work. Anyway, it seems a shame to not be able to drive my car due to those minor issues. So I’ve decided to install everything and get the car back on the road now. I can worry abut details later. I don’t need a tachometer and I don’t absolutely need an oil pressure gauge, though I want to fix that sooner rather than later. I need A/C but the A/C doesn’t work in there right now anyway so I can ignore that issue for a while too. So, over the last couple of days, after it gets dark so it’s only about 100 degrees out I have been making slow progress. I had wired the gauges directly for testing purposes but I have now installed connectors. One for each gauge pod. That will make removing and installing them so much easier. My wife put the foam on the lower dash last night and we will put the upholstery on it tonight pending time constraints. Yeah, my wife rocks.

Another hold up has been the tail lights. I mentioned previously I had decided to scrap the idea of using Lambo lights and put the stockers back on. Unfortunately I had cut up the tail light harness and misplaced the connectors. I found a couple of them and spliced them on but that isn’t going to cut it, so today I will be ordering a new (used) one. I can’t wait to be able to drive my baby again.

Tail Lights

Rick — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 15:05:26 +0000

I know, it’s been too long since I’ve posted here. I’ve been distracted with other projects. But you aren’t here to hear excuses.

Yesterday I started working on the tail lights. I had been trying to install lamborghini tail lights. I had the electical all figured out, but I had been hesitant to cut the body. Once I took the saw to it there was no going back. Plus I was still concerned about how I was going to attach the panel to the car and get everything to line up right. At this point I really want to hurry up and get it back on the road. It’s been off the road for more than a year and a half now. It was originally only supposed to be down for a month or so, but if you know me you know how easily distracted I am. So anyway, I decided to put the stock tail lights back in. Another reason I haven’t worked on the car is I haven’t been able to find the tail light sockets I cut off. I also couldn’t find the connectors I got for the interior wiring. So yesterday I actually found them. Well, sort of. I found the connectors and two of the missing sockets. I also found a spare wiring harness from a notchback Fiero. I think with all that I can make it work again. Yesterday I managed to get the backup lights working but the brake and turns signals still don’t work. I really don’t know why, I had them working not long ago. I will tackle it more this week, I swear

General Update

Rick — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 15:16:21 +0000

It has been a really long time since I’ve posted here. I haven’t really accomplished anything worth posting. Every now and then I get motivated to tinker with it but haven’t accomplished much. I did finally finish wiring the main gauge pod, but nothing works. Well, the temp gauge works but I had that working long ago. It’s hard to get motivated to work on it when things like this keep happening.

I also haven’t been working on the car lately because I’ve been distracted with other projects. If you are interested in seeing what I’ve been doing, visit my personal blog.

Oh yeah, what the $%^& was I thinking when I created that image at the top? That is ugly. I will have to make a new one. I really don’t remember doing that. Maybe I made a really nice one and it somehow got corrupted. Yeah, that must be it.

Web Site Image Revisited

Rick — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 14:50:32 +0000

I never did fix the image after my last post. I finally did it today, but now I’m not sure I like it. I will probably change it later.

Web Site Image

Rick — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 18:32:37 +0000

I really have to do something about that stupid coffee cup image at the top of the page. I think maybe I’ll work on that today.

Upholstery Update

Rick — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 15:07:14 +0000

I finally got the gauge pod and computer cover upholstered. They are not perfect but considering it was my first time I don’t think it’s too bad. Here’s a few pics.