ok my coupe friends, I think I'm going and here's the full story that I just posted in the "hard to diagnose" thread...
ok guys, I think we finally solved the root problem and my latest tragic experiences are chronicled in the other post - Sharkfest Baby... To recap, I had thought my car was back to normal after Chris Pederson from Don Lawrence's shop put in a new fuel pump, relay boss for the ECU and fuel pump and a new starter, along with an attempted ignition switch swap which could not be completed because the replacement switch was not working. Anyway, the car drove well for 30 minutes after Chris' work was done and so I chalked off another problem solved after much back and forth and $ spent. Then, one month later my wife and I took a longer drive up to Maryland to check out some e-bikes for my better half. 40 minute drive up was flawless and then, halfway through the drive back, the demon returned. I made it home as it wasn't that bad and only required a few restarts along the way and 10 second rounds of patience for the electrical and fuel to come back.
I rang up Don and Chris and gave them the recap and our attention returned to the ignition switch, again, the only logical piece that might be causing the issues. But Don wanted me to take another run and data log the Megasquirt findings and send it to him to see if the new ECU from last year was going bad. The 20 minute drive was a disaster, meaning lots of episodes of what felt like fuel cutting out momentarily and then the ignition cutting out entirely and requiring a restart.
I got home and was actually afraid of my car for the first time ever.
Don then gave a new approach to isolate if the ignition switch was bad by connecting the positive lead on the battery to the green wire on the coil with 14 gauge wire. I did that and it was weird to see the car systems turning on even before I turned the ignition key as the coil energies more things than the spark plugs, apparently, and bypasses some of the ignition switch stuff. I drove the car for 30 minutes - flawless. Then, another 30 minute drive a few hours later, and flawless running! So what gave me an hour or more of solid running before things went haywire? Maybe Chris swapping in the new ignition switch and putting back my old one gave it a temporary reprieve.
So Don is express shipping a new ignition switch out this Thursday and I have an appointment with my local mechanic to install Friday. Don is also sending a better made (read safer) battery to coil connecting wire with a fuse and on/off switch in case the problem is my fuse box versus the ignition switch.
So, either way I should be able to get to Sharkfest next week with my motley friends after I make damn sure the car is running well this weekend - several long drives. That means less time cleaning and polishing for competition, but getting back in action will be so great! In the immortal words of Chris Ohmes, may the car gods be with me!