This week was 'spring break'. It would have been nice if it was really like spring, and I suppose it was somewhere else, but not here in the St. Louis area. It has been more of a monsoon season. We have a lot of flooding a few miles south of here along the Meramec River. The rain just kept coming for days and didn't look like it was going to stop. I had really hoped to get a lot more accomplished and possibly some more test driving but it didn't work out. With Easter weekend I have had a lot of music work at church also.

There is progress to report, however.

The battery charger returned from a factory modification last Saturday. I hope to re-install it this weekend. Until now I have been individually recharging the batteries which takes forever. The DC converter which replaces the alternator is also part of this unit. It recharges the front 12 volt battery which will run down quickly without it.

I did install and wire in the new Kenwood/Sirius Stereo which is working nicely. This frees up a DIN sized hole in the dash that can be used for several possible applications including virtual instrumentation that others are using. Dash space is a premium. Hopefully I can find one of those pop-out LCD panels and use the insides of an old Laptop PC to run everything. The original factory stereo systems always seem to take a lot of space and lag behind on features found on newer types. I managed to route the antenna wire without drilling any holes by going around the hatch channel under the rubber and inside under the right rear tail light assembly. The cable is more or less invisible by this method.

A couple of weeks ago the drafting and design technology department at my school laid out a 60-2 tooth trigger wheel in with plasma cam and the welding department cut it out for me. It will be used with the magnetic crank position sensor in the photo. This will bring back the tachmometer signal needed by the engine computer by simulating the original sine wave signal the engine used to produce. I have just about finished cleaning up the metal. The plan is to install this on the power steering pulley on top rather than down at the motor. It is about the same diameter as the motor pulley so the rpm should be appoximately equal. I am trying to find a used steering pump pulley hoping to fit all of this up on center using the engine lathe. With luck I will find one on Ebay soon. It should be a lot easier to adjust and calibrate up on top.

This week or next may bring some license plates so I can begin some 'legal' driving on the streets. I am invited to Earth Day this year in St. Louis by the alternative fuels group and to a car show on Father's Day.

It is time to start moving ahead again!