I did a couple of things since my last post. First I noticed that the cockpit got really hot very quickly. I drove the car at about 6:45 in the morning fro about 15 min to coffee with some hot rod buddies. It was pretty cool and still the interior got pretty hot right away. Water temp was still below 190F and I was surprised with the cockpit temp.
Tool the nose off when I got home and discovered that the gap between the front of the body and the chassis box is about 1/2 inch. That's where the heat was coming from. Mt radiator duct was pumping the full heat load right into the cockpit. Easy fix to seal the gap up and I made a shield to direct the radiator exhaust more efficiently out of the nose and keep the hot air off the bodywork under the front windshield.
This seams to have worked pretty well.
Second was to install a rear view camera. Here's the pieces;
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Boyo-VTE100-Square-Eggshell-Housing/dp/B0036DEDLK[/ame]
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Esky-Color-Video-Monitor-Remote/dp/B00T2HDGIA[/ame]
The cables that comes with these are all you need to do the install and it worked the first time I plugged it all together. The monitor mount is pretty much plastic junk but all the monitors I looked at use the same basic thing. So made my own. Simple steel bracket attached to the top center roll bar down tube bolt. Very stiff and doesn't bounce around. It's located in the same spot as a rear view mirror would be and it's a good spot because it's the darkest place in the cockpit. To much glare on the dashboard.
The camera is a 150 degree CCD type that most people on line think is better technology than the CMOS type. The angle is just right as far as I can tell. It comes with a cool steel mount/housing that saved me from making yet another part. I tried it all over the top of the are and this is where I liked the view to the rear the best. This location also is easy to mount the camera and run the cables back to the monitor from. Right down the rear engine room bulkhead through the conduit in the side pod to the cockpit and up under the dashboard.
It's all wired up to come on when turning on the ignition system. 12V+ to on side of ign on switch. Basically on all the time the car is running.
A lot of online opinion says to go with a good camera and save on the monitor, just use a big one so I bought a 7 inch that is fine in the spot I have it. It seams to do what I want, fill the need for a rear view mirror, and the system isn't much money really.
Oh I have numbers on the car. Raceline Digital made them for me. 10 bucks each, you can't beat that! They are the soap and water squeegee on kind. Really easy to do and they an be taken off with a little hot water and soap the way they went on.
RACELINE DIGITAL, Hull and Deck Graphics | Motorsport Graphics
First pic is radiator duct shield, the rest are the camera install, monitor, and numbers. All that's left to do is get the seat covers altered and keep diving it to work out kinks. I'm gonna start California registration next week.
Cheers!