302 for Smithkid

[SmithKid]

Some of you may remember way back when.... I was doing the refurbish of the interior of my car, I tried doing the floor pans with a brush-on bedliner material in an effort to reduce road noise in the cab. I suppose it worked to some degree, but I was never really satisfied.
I recently acquired some Dyna-Mat (left over from my son's Mustang project) and am hoping for better results this time around. So... in my little version of WIAI with my re-carpeting project.....
Tomorrow... the hump, then on to the carpet install.

[Luva65wagon]

Looking good Gene! It'll be so quiet in there you may have to get some louder mufflers.

[kbuhagiar]

I recently acquired some Dyna-Mat (left over from my son's Mustang project) and am hoping for better results this time around. So... in my little version of WIAI with my re-carpeting project.....
Tomorrow... the hump, then on to the carpet install.

Looking forward to hearing about this installation, as I am considering the same thing for my 64 Comet, and possibly my 47 Plymouth.

Keep us posted...thanks!

[Luva65wagon]

Adding something like Dynamat is the best thing I've done to all my cars so far. These old cars create a lot of road noise you won't realize was there until it's gone.

Though technically you don't need to do the full coverage as Gene did (or I and many others have done) to deaden a panel, it never hurts to cover everything. If cost of the material is an issue, you can deaden a pretty large panel with just a 1' square of Dynamat cut and placed about the panel. If you want a dead-silent vehicle, the more the merrier.

[SmithKid]

I must believe that if a little is good, a lot's better. I tried to cover everything I could see, including the bulkhead between the bed and the cab. Got my fingers crossed that it was worth the effort. Carpet project is next and then a few other little WIAIs before I drive it again. I'll let you know if the result is worth it to me.

[Luva65wagon]

What Gene? I can't hear you! Too quiet.

Oh, and I think you missed a spot... behind that heater box.

[SmithKid]

Yeah, I did but didn't think anybody'd notice. Too bad I couldn't coerce you into removing/replacing it for me. Or maybe a tech day? It's everybody's favorite chore.

[Luva65wagon]

Gene - if you wanna do it right, you know I'd be happy to come over and stick my head up under your dash. Been there, done that. What's one more time?

Would sure make that other WIAI™ project of the firewall pad so much easier for you.

[pbrown]

I'm a big Dynamat fan. I have it in the Falcon and am in process of installing it plus a layer of DynaLiner to my van project. I like to cover every inch that I can get too.

[SmithKid]

I love Dynamat, too. My Falcon got the full treatment.

As i posted earlier in this thread, I've moved S to the Puyallup area. Seems as tho', in the move I lost my headlight doors (which, for some forgotten reason, were off). So.... I'm looking for a decent pair to replace errant units. Anyone got an extra pair lying around (1965 only)?

[Gitanesteel]

I love Dynamat, too. My Falcon got the full treatment.

As i posted earlier in this thread, I've moved S to the Puyallup area. Seems as tho', in the move I lost my headlight doors (which, for some forgotten reason, were off). So.... I'm looking for a decent pair to replace errant units. Anyone got an extra pair lying around (1965 only)?

Ed Murphy in Clarkston has parts for 64/65's including a 64 Ranchero. PM me and I can send you his phone number and email address. It's worth asking

[Luva65wagon]

I've been helping Gene the past few weeks to do some work on his FiTech fuel injection. It was installed a year or so ago (documented elsewhere in this thread), but he discovered the need to relocate the return line. He also needed to replace his mechanical fuel pump, which feeds the FiTech Command Center, which has an internal electric fuel pump.

To accomplish the new return we added a fitting to a "new" tank sender he had for the return and hooked it all back up. After putting in the new mech. fuel pump we took it for a ride to get some gas. We were about a mile from his house when it died. Due to where it was, and limited diagnostic ability (though I did reinstall the old pump because I thought it was the only thing we changed that could cause this) Gene ultimately had to tow it home.

Fast forward a couple weeks as Gene decided what to do and get some parts. I came back down and Gene had decided to add a frame rail fuel pump and abandon the FiTech Command Center, which is a "known" weakness to the system. They're notorious for overheating and boiling the fuel and people are already hacking them to make them work better. But Gene didn't like the thing in general, so we got the new pump mounted on Saturday and I came back today to wrap it up. Unfortunately the day proved to be a real test on our patience with FiTech.

The FiTech unit has a specific wire to run electric fuel pumps and it was connected to the Command Center before. We wired it to the new pump, but we discovered it was dead - no voltage. So I bypassed the FiTech wire and the pump ran... but would not pick up any fuel from the tank. So I yanked the tank sender to discover the tank filter could be pushed on so far it cut off all fuel. AhHa! That was probably why the car got stranded, but we still didn't have voltage on the pump wire. So as I worked on the sender I had Gene call FiTech to sleuth the pump feed wire. Then it got kooky.

Gene: We're swapping out your crappy Command Center with your model XYZ frame rail pump, but have no voltage at the orange wire.

FiTech Support: It should have voltage only for the first 3 seconds.

Me: Nope

FiTech Support: Do you have 12 volts at the red wire.

Me: Yes, we have power to it at the starter solenoid.

FiTech Support: You need to have this wire go directly to the battery.

Me: That's nonsense - and besides, it has 12 volts on your red wire! Next...

FiTech Support: You need a minimum .5 ohms resistance to ground for the throttle body.

Me and Gene: It's 0.00 - no resistance.

FiTech Support: It needs to be .5 ohms...

Me and Gene: (Looking at each other with dismay) - We have a perfect ground?!?! Are you saying we need .5 ohms or it shouldn't be more than...

FiTech Support: Oh, Uh, that's OK.

Me: Where does the orange wire get it's source voltage from?

FiTech Support: The ECU...

FiTech Support: We could reset it and see if that resolves it...

Gene and Support go through the steps to reset the ECU and then... still no voltage.

FiTech Support: I guess you'll need to send it in for repair. Or you can buy a new ECU and replace it yourself.

Gene: How much will that be?

FiTech Support: I don't know, you'll have to ask sales, but the service fee will be $85 plus parts plus shipping.

Gene is transferred to sales, who push him to send it in, $85 plus $285 plus shipping... and "Oh you'll now have a new 1 year warranty! Lucky You!"

Gene: I just replaced your crappy Command Center at my expense and now you're telling me I may need to spend another $350 plus and, and, and...

Roger staring into the engine bay as Gene argues his case (with little to no sympathy from FiTech) when I see what look like 3 fuse holders in the FiTech harness. I proceed to pull the covers off each and one is actually blown! On the orange wire! I pull it and walk to Gene and hold it up to him as the FiTech sales guy is still rambling on and on about how Gene will benefit from sending it in as opposed to replacing the ECU...

Gene's eyes get wide and tells the sales guy that his tech support guy, who we'd just spent half an hour (Twilight Zone time) with had NEVER mentioned. "First check the fuse....!"

FiTech Sales: I apologize for that, sir.

Gene: Click

New fuse and Gene's car roars to life. Gene missed the show over in his lake house park he'd waited all year to go to because a sending unit strainer was pressed on too far causing the pump to draw too much current and blow the fuse (just a guess). The only way I try to see this as a positive is perhaps someone above was trying really hard to keep him off the road that weekend.

OK, I feel better even if nobody reads this rambling mess of a story.