Monday 7 November 2011

Virtual Cobra Build

With another batch of engine parts delivered, I have been progressing the block build up although missing a couple of vital items off the order means I am not as far as I could have been! Still, it gives me the chance to prepare the parts properly while I wait so I have colour matched the timing cover and water pump to the block.

In addition, I have been working on the installation of a vital part of the fuel injection system – the crank position sensor. Since the stock version of this part is prohibitively expensive to buy new and there aren’t many Mustangs in scrap yards around here, I have bought a more readily available standard component and designed a combined bracket and timing pointer along with a suitable trigger wheel.


Other ‘virtual’ progress has been around the design of the instruments and I have decided that an illumination test is required before committing to a proper PCB. I therefore need to mock up the instrument face and back lighting to ensure I have sufficient brightness to meet the Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) test requirements. To this end I have designed a first pass circuit (which I should be able to build at work thanks to the prototype PCB facility here at work) and a ‘mask’ to direct the light. This is designed to be water jet cut along with the timing pointer components and some other instrument parts so I am aiming to group these together and procure them in the near future. Once these are in, I can build and test a number of aspects of the design before finalising the board design and getting it manufactured properly.