Jon_Valjean

Well, big problems upon inspecting the electrical system. The loom is a total mess, with bad connectors, spliced wires and most of the plugs are brittle and poorly insulated.





So the loom is in the bin and I'm going to make an entirely new one from scratch. It's not really that complicated, I figure all I need is the following:

Headlights, high and low beam
Park lights front and rear
Brake lights, reverse and licence plate
Turn signals and hazards
Headlight retractor motors
Wipers and sprayer
Horn

Probably a couple of things I've missed but other than that, everything else had to be new for the EFI and ignition anyway, so it's not a lot more work. Actually, I can re-use the rear half of the loom as this is in relatively good condition.As long as the combination switch is working, that's most of what I need right there. So I have a few long nights ahead of me to get everything hooked up.

On a more upbeat note, I picked up a new AC/DC tig welder today, this is going to help a lot with the plumbing later down the line.



I've also decided to drop the 16x7 wheels in favour of some 15x8 with zero offset. They're on a boat right now and should arrive in a couple weeks, so I think some flares might be in the future...

Jon_Valjean

Well, after spending about four hours removing all the soundproofing, I had to mount a battery box somewhere.

For weight distribution, as this car is RHD, it makes sense to put it behind the passenger seat as low as possible.

To enable this, I tigged up a custom chassis for the battery box and used the original Nissan rear seat belt anchors as mounting points. I had to weld in one nut to the floor to tie it all down. The plastic battery box needs to be externally vented to pass inspection here, so I added some stainless pipe to the box and floor, connected with some spare braided hose. Once that all fits, it all comes out again and the new soundproofing goes down before the final install of the box.

Next up is running some of the zero gauge (50 sqmm) power cable to the starter motor, and adding the ground cable through a marine 500 amp shutoff switch. I can then start to assemble the fuse box and relays on an aluminium sheet behind the driver.

My friend is also coming over at some stage to help me split open the floor above the chassis rails, pound them out flat, then weld up the floor again. Over the years the bottom of the car has taken a hammering and I want to get it all tidy before covering the floor with new soundproofing. Which reminds me, the driveshaft hoop and P clamps for the fuel and power lines have to all be finalised before the soundproofing goes down too.

At this stage I'm managing around 2-3 hours a day on the project, but the kids will be back in daycare soon so I'll be able to put the foot down a bit and tick off some of the larger items. As soon as I think I've completed something noteworthy I'll post it up here!

Jon_Valjean

I decided that the plastic approach was garbage, ripped it all out and started again with 3mm aluminum.

The advantage is that it seals a lot better, it's stronger, and I can mount the 500amp Blue Sea Systems cutoff switch on the side of the box reasonably cleanly. The zero gauge main feed for the starter is attached, I just have to route it, and the 4ga main harness feed is ready to be attached to a fuse and then connected to the relay board. Which I'm yet to make. Anyway, at least I can start on the wiring now.

Jon_Valjean

I made a thing!



The thing goes here!



It contains two fuse boxes with 10 fuses each, a 125 amp breaker, two banks of six relays with LEDs and a digital multimeter in the middle. It's 3mm aluminium sheet painted with etch primer and flat black rustoleum. I welded the stand offs to the rear bin to allow it to be mounted to the car. I'll put soundproofing and carpet under it eventually, make it all blend in.

Still working on the finer details with the wiring loom, it should all start coming together over the next week or so.

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

This is one of those next-level projects. I dig it!

That fuse panel is really nice.

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

Damn, the amount of work you've put into this build is just amazing. Can't wait to see what's up next. Have you given thought to the types of electrical connectors you'll use on the new harness? If you decide to go with stock connectors (though I can't imagine why you would since there are much better weatherproofed options out there) there is a place where you can order them online - brand new connectors, inserts and spades. I'll have to look it up as it's been a while but it was a place catering to motorcycles I think.

Hope your time in Ontario was decent. I'm from here and I always hope that folks are well received when they spend time here.

Cheers,

Jon

GSLSEforme

Eastern Beaver is probably the company you're thinking of. Have used them several times,great people to deal with.

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

That's the place! I got a bunch from them when I freahened up my wiring harness. Agreed, they're great to deal with

Jon_Valjean

Thanks Jon - I've found a local supplier for good quality plugs etc, as we're so far from anywhere it would take weeks for stuff to arrive and I'm kind of on a roll right now

I did enjoy Ontario, I lived there for six years on and off. Myself and my young family moved to NZ because I'm a citizen and it's a great place to raise a family. Plus we can actually buy a house here, unlike Toronto. Oh, and the weather is a hell of a lot better!

Jon_Valjean

Still making progress on the electrical system - stopped about here with the fuse panel:



Not much point in wiring up everything if you have nowhere to run the wires to! So to that extent, I cleaned up the dash and painted it black, then made a new centre console as the old one was missing.





It's pretty basic but should do for now. Really just want to get the thing running then worry about a new dash later. I also discovered that the original combination switch (wipers, turn signals and hazard switches) is completely shot. The wiper arm broke off, and after I epoxied it back together it just didn't work at all, and to add insult to injury, it doesn't fit over the FC steering column anyway, which I kinda figured would be the case:



Not to worry - had a look at my parts car (a JDM 1995 Mitsubishi Diamante) and discovered that the combination switch is pretty similar and might actually just work. I'll get a pic of that next time, I thought I had one but apparently not. Anyway, more wiring finished:



And I've mounted the LT10C and run the vacuum to it:



And my shipment of wheels arrived! 15x8 with a zero offset. Look great on the rear:



But I have to run 10mm spacers minimum on the front to clear the FD caliper, which means they are getting awfully wide - noticeably wider than the rear.



So at this stage I'm trying to decide whether or not to keep them, or cut an inch out of them on the front to make them 15x7, or just ditch them and go with something else. That's a decision for later anyway.

Next up, finally wire in the starter, and hook up all the gauges, and tidy up the wires to the front of the car. Kids are on holiday next week so I don't know when the next update will be, but every spare hour I get is going on the car right now anyways.

FührerTüner

iTrader: (5)

Sub'd nice work.

Jon_Valjean

I've started work on connecting the Microtech LT10S and most of the wires from the front of the car.



Separating the Microtech loom into engine, fuse panel and interior wires.



I've hooked up the alternator, made a custom bracket and connected the FC crank angle sensor, and run wires and vacuum tubes back into the car.

I've also connected and wired the starter to the battery box, and connected the alternator to the starter through a 100amp fuse. Even managed to blip the starter and crank it half a turn or so.. still no oil in the engine. But at least I know it cranks!



And I've tidied up the front loom and passed it under the fender to the inside of the car. So the headlights, park, turn and headlight motors are all connected to the inside of the car through a new loom (25A and 15A wires). I also ran a 7 core trailer wire alongside the loom for other stuff like the thermo fan and the horn.



What else.. still working on finding wheels that fit.. also the driveshaft should be coming soon, I may have to reposition the handbrake as I think the front yoke will hit it. I'm going to have to order new fuel rails and injectors as the factory stuff is all ancient and too small anyway, so that will come soon. I want to get the dash in, but I can't do that until the wiring is a bit further along, and I can't do that until the floor is all soundproofed, and I can't do that until the driveshaft and handbrake are all sorted out, so there's lots to do!

Jon_Valjean

It's been a while since the last update, mainly because I got stuck in fabrication hell on the front of the car.

I was tidying up the remaining wiring for the electric fan and horn, and figured I may as well get the intercooler out of the box and see if it would fit. Of course, not only didn't it fit, it required the complete rework of the radiator mounts.

This gave me the opportunity to fabricate a fan shroud and move the radiator over to the right about 70mm, which means the turbo intake has a bit more room to breathe.

So it's work that was ultimately beneficial, but it took a very long time.







I made new mounts from 3mm aluminium and sat the intercooler on a thick walled square tube spanning the width of the engine bay. The good thing about doing the FC subframe swap is that you end up with a lot of spare bolt holes in the chassis rails, so I put two of them to good use.









After the fabrication of the mounts, I could position everything where it needed to go and get it all bolted up. Then attach the oil cooler to the front and put it at a stylish angle.





Finally, the electric fan and horn can be wired in, with the remaining spare 3 wires from the 7-core trailer flex tucked away for future use. Spotlights? Who knows.

Back to the combination switch now, just fabricating a bracket to attach it to the FC column.



I've also looked at the positioning of the Tial 44mm wastegate and ordered some 44mm pipe for that, it doesn't look to be a particularly fun job but certainly do-able.



The fuel rails arrived from Australia, all I need now are the injectors which I should get over the next few weeks.



Almost ready to order the oil lines for the engine and cooler. Slowly getting closer to starting it up.

Jon_Valjean

Just a quick update - I've managed to attach the 1995 Mitsubishi Diamante combination switch to the FC steering column. The adjustable height lever even kind of fits, although there's scant need for that when I'm the only driver and I'm not changing height anytime soon.











Also welded up the Tial 44mm wastegate to the log manifold I made a couple years back. Just as well I revisited that manifold, I found a small hole and zapped it with the tig. The wastegate is positioned out front, and I still need to run the thing back into the exhaust to keep it road legal, but this is a good start.







So much love for the tungsten carbide burr right now, I don't even know how you would do this without it.

Good fun firing up the tig for this kind of work. I can afford to be a bit rough with the finish provided the system all works, there's very little to go wrong with a turbo manifold provided it doesn't leak. As long as the heat from the exhaust is funneled into the turbo you're doing fine, and the 44mm gate will work no problem to vent off what I don't use. This car will be running at 20psi on the street, so I don't need a big gate - I plan to keep most of what the turbo generates.

Picking up the braided hose and fittings for the oil cooler and oil feed for the turbo on Saturday. Also wired in the mechanical oil pressure gauge feed today - picked up an adapter block and oil catch can from Franklin Engineering right here in Napier, New Zealand. Dude running it has made a name for himself with quality engineering for us rotary people, you guys in the USA should check him out as the NZ dollar is tanking right now and he does international shipping. Had a good look at his equipment and watched the FC to FD manifold adapters come off the line, really cool stuff.

Also have a GFB boost tap on the way, and will be ordering the injectors next week, hopefully move on to the fuel delivery side of things once the oil is all sorted. Probably do the exhaust at the same time, any excuse to fire up the tig and melt some steel!

More soon.

RGHTBrainDesign

Yep, I suggested Franklin Engineering a little while back. Great company to deal with and the machining quality is excellent.

KYPREO

Geez, you work quickly. Good stuff.

Perhaps a bit late now, but the RHD 1st rx7 combination switch is almost identical to the one on KA-KB Ford Laser / BA Mazda 323, as well as early 80s Mazda 626. You can buy brand new aftermarket units of these for about A$50 and ship them across the ditch.

Jon_Valjean

Thanks man, unfortunately the FB combo switch won't actually go over the FC column, the bore is too small. I really had no choice but to swap it out for something completely different because the FC has a weird totally-80s flappy paddle turn signal stalk thing. At least with the Diamante unit I might be able to use the rheostat and hook up intermittent wipers too

So, lots of progress thanks to a decent amount of garage time, with the one hold-up being the need to machine up a 20mm spacer to fit the RX-2 driveshaft to stop an annoying vibration at 60kph. Fortunately aluminium is quick to machine in a lathe but it still took the best part of a day to fix, which I would have much rather spent on the RX-7 but it was really becoming undrivable. All fixed now and back in the shed because I won't have a chance to drive it for a few weeks.

Anyway, I was full speed ahead on the exhaust downpipe, which was progressing quite nicely:





Then I got a call saying that the driveshaft was all ready, so I downed tools and shot off to get it. This has been holding up all the electrical work because I can't finalise the soundproofing before the driveshaft goes in, the handbrake is moved and the driveshaft hoop installed.





Sometimes I walk past the car and notice the split pin in the rear CV axle and think "huh, what's that doing there" then remember all the work we did to swap in the IRS. It really seems that all the hard work is behind me now, and things are progressing quickly.

Speaking of which, here's a slideshow showing handbrake relocation 60mm rearwards to clear the front driveshaft yoke:

Jon_Valjean

My friend pointed out that it would be faster to chop the entire section out squarely and relocate the removed piece to the front, but I actually assumed I'd have to move the handbrake to the top of the tunnel and didn't consider just moving it backwards until I'd already drilled the spot welds. But anyways...

Driveshaft hoop time. This is a legal requirement for roadworthy status here, and it has to be constructed out of 5x50mm steel and fastened with two grade 8.8 or higher 10mm bolts each side. It also has to have doubler plates on the floor for each bolt with a surface area of not less than 3000 sqmm and must enclose the shaft 360 degrees.

The hoop has to be attached within 150mm rearward of the front UJ. This has really caused a huge amount of work for me, as there isn't enough room for the font yoke, recessed handbrake and driveshaft hoop to occupy the same space at the same time. By moving the handbrake back 60mm, I've gained enough room and can now fabricate the hoop. This is a painstaking task involving endless measuring and some colourful language.











That should do the job. Really makes you wonder though, I spent a lot of money getting a very reputable outfit to make the driveshaft, it's got top-quality components and wouldn't be out of place on a small truck, and yet I still have to have a hoop. Anyway, can't grumble too much, plenty of places in the world wouldn't let anyone drive this thing on the road at all, so if I have to jump through a few *ahem* hoops in the meantime, so be it.

What else.. Oh, I have all the hose I need to complete the oil cooler plumbing but I'm missing about four AN-10 fittings so that's on hold until the courier arrives with those...



On a related note, screw the price of 100 series braided nylon hose and Speedflow fittings, someone is making a fortune out of these things and it's not me.

Next up - probably more exhaust work so I can finish the floor entirely and put down the soundproofing. I just got done attaching the handbrake linkages and it's working well, so there's not much more to do under the car. Once the exhaust is done and the soundproofing is down, it's back to the electrical work. Fun times!

Sh00bs

iTrader: (8)

very very cool. you had me wanting to do this until you cut the rear floor out... lol

Jon_Valjean

Yeah unfortunately there's really no other way to do it. It might be possible to keep the majority of the rear floor if you had a rotisserie and could strip the car down and flip it over. But you wouldn't really gain anything other than probably making it a bit tidier, it'd still take just as long and you'd end up with the same product at the end of it. It's a massive job, and I really hope I haven't downplayed the complexity and time involved.

Been a while since I posted, mainly because I've been putting in a lot of hours on this car and the last thing I want to do after a long day is write stuff on the internet! Plus my rural broadband is crappy and it takes ages to upload pics. Anyway, since the last post I've tracked down a RHD wiper cowl! Yay!



I've also made the entire exhaust all the way back to behind the rear axle, all I need to do now is find/make a large rear muffler.









Ok you may have noticed that the wastegate dump pipe goes around the front cover and along side the engine and out the bottom. I think it's important to point out that this wasn't the first configuration. Originally I had it going under the turbo and meeting the dump pipe about halfway down, but upon mocking it all up, the turbo drain, lower radiator hose and dump pipe all occupied the same space. I couldn't put the pipe over the top of the turbo because there wasn't enough room between the turbo and the inlet manifold. I couldn't drill a hole and dump the pipe out the inner guard because laws.

You LHD guys have it lucky. Not only have I added a wide subframe next to the exhaust, I've also put the steering column and rack drive right below the turbo. To top it off, I've mounted the engine like an FD with mounts behind the oil pan, further reducing the space available.

That's why the dump pipe goes around the engine and out past the left hand engine mount. There's simply no other way to do it. I'll live with it until the engine blows up and I put an electric motor there instead.

I also changed the thermostat housing so it points in the right direction:





All the oil hoses for the engine are now done, and I reworked the alternator bracket so it has better adjustment.

I made a throttle body hat, which took forever to machine up on my old lathe:



Also installed the primary fuel rail with 2x 1000cc high impedance 60.65mm Bosch EV14 injectors with EV1 plugs:





Yes, that's a homemade bracket. The one supplied by Aeroflow didn't work. It wasn't even close. So that's about 5 hours of my life I'm never getting back. They were very quick to email and try to fix the problem, but I didn't want to send it all back to Australia for the sake of a bit of fabrication. Plus I got to make it out of 5mm steel so I know it's strong enough. You could probably lift the car off that primary rail now.

Jon_Valjean

I also managed to fix the FD seat situation. The guy I bought the seats off had crudely welded up a frame onto the stock FB rails, and totally screwed up the height. When I bolted them up, my head was hitting the roof. I'm 6'1" so I need the seat as low as it can go, so I pulled it all apart and made a new chassis for it to sit on. I managed to lower it about an inch and a half, so it's much better now:



And that means the rest of the soundproofing can go on!



Which means - finally - I'm back to electrical stuff. Other jobs completed include fitting radiator hoses (top off a Holden Torana, bottom off a Nissan Patrol) wiring up the water temp sender for the ECU and the Autometer gauge, fitting a throttle cable mount on the UIM and removing the cold start assist on the throttle body.

I have two Bosch 2200cc injectors on the way from Florida, when they arrive I can assemble the UIM, mount the fuel pressure regulator and plumb up the fuel rails. Then it'll be back to the rear of the car to sort out the tank once and for all. But until then, I'll be wiring up the dash and sorting out minor gremlins.

Jon_Valjean

Quick pic: Dash in, cluster wired up, combination switch wired up, wideband connected, firewall caulked with silicone, pop-up headlight arm bushes replaced, LED bulbs fitted to front turn signals, front slam panel fitted, rear wiper removed.

Back to the shed.

Jon_Valjean

I've finally emerged from wiring hell.







80 wires. 20 relays. Two electronic flasher units. Five dozen cable ties. Two hundred crimped connections and one soldering iron returned under warranty.





Everything works fine, with the one exception that wiper low speed is actually high speed, and high speed is intermittent. I know I can fix it, but it's going to have to wait because it hurts my brain.

Next up: finalize the intercooler piping. Ah hell with it, here's a list:

Jon_Valjean

Last update before Christmas - since finishing the wiring, things have been moving quickly, even though I've been moving slowly. I broke my toe in an unrelated drinking accident, which has put a bit of a damper on my movement, so I've only managed to do the following:

* Fabricated radiator overflow tank out of stainless, and installed.
* Fabricated oil filler neck and attached and mounted oil catch can with vacuum purge setup
* Fabricated intercooler to throttle body pipe, attached and wired air temp sensor, wired TPS and secondary injectors
* Installed secondary 2200cc injectors and secondary fuel rail
* Created -6AN braided fuel hoses to rails
* Torqued exhaust manifold
* Mounted and plumbed fuel pressure regulator
* Mounted and plumbed Synapse blow off valve
* Filled engine with Castrol 20/50 oil ready for startup
* Installed both front seats and seatbelts
* Clutch is now working
* UIM bolted to LIM and all vacuum lines installed and working
* Changed UIM to throttle body gasket as the old one looked a bit dodgy
* Ditto with the TB O-ring. Also gave the TB a good de-carbon cleanout.
* Set ride height correctly, raised the rear a good two inches or so. Can actually get a trolley jack under the diff now.
* Sourced 3" stainless rear muffler from a friend (thanks Mo!)
* Lowered car from car stands after attaching wheels - it's ready to be moved out of the shed and turned around.
* Removed aluminium gas tank ready for rework









Man this thing is dusty. High time it came out of the shed and had a bit of air over it I think.

Hope everyone has a happy holiday - the next update I do will probably have a little bit about the fuel tank modifications I'll have to do, followed by a video of startup and potentially driving the thing.

Jon_Valjean

As always, things haven't gone exactly according to plan with this build since Xmas. No real dramas, just protracted work schedules and other issues that have slowed it down a bit. I took two weeks off over the festive period due to family commitments, so progress has been limited. My kids are also out of daycare until early February so it's harder to escape to the shed!

After ordering and fitting the new Hakon rear camber arms, I've managed to get it back to a factory setting of around 0.5 degrees negative, however this caused some fairly dramatic toe-in. So I ordered and fitted some Hakon toe arms, which bought the toe back to factory specs. I may need to replace the traction arms at a later date as the S-body suspension tends to suffer a bit from bump steer when lowered, so I have that to look forward to.





I've also spent a good few hours talking to the Microtech LT10-S via. USB and configuring it for startup. With the 2x1000cc and 2x2200cc injectors, there was a good chance the base tune would just flood it, so I've tweaked everything and I'm hoping for a smooth startup.

During this process I discovered that the LT10-S had been reflashed for use with an inlet air temperature sensor from an FC3S, which - naturally - operates under a completely different resistance table to the FD sensor I fitted. So that's been replaced with a 10K resistor to fool the ECU into thinking the inlet temperature is 50degC for the foreseeable. The LT10 is pretty primitive so it won't make a lot of difference. Fortunately I already had a FC water temp sensor so that's all good.

In reality, what scant time I've had has been dedicated towards rebuilding the aluminium fuel tank. I've cut about 75mm (3") out of the back of it, reducing the capacity from 90L to 80L, and have moved the surge tank from an external fitting to an internal series of baffles. This reduces the need for a lift pump (the Holley black) and a heap of plumbing, reducing noise, heat and increasing reliability.





I also fitted the rear bumper properly with some solid mounts. The plastic bumper skin doesn't quite line up right but that will be corrected when the rear panel is all sorted. I'm also going to relocate the fuel filler to between the tail lights as it just won't work in the factory location. Fuel fillers and mufflers shouldn't occupy the same space in my experience. I'm hoping to make a flip-down setup with the rear garnish. "Hoping" is the right word because it's going to be finicky and if there was any other practical solution I would do it because I don't like the idea of making an aesthetic garnish into a moving panel, but we'll see how it goes. If the next post consists of me replacing the fuel tank with a racing fuel cell, you'll know I've failed.

On the other hand, if this all works out the way it's supposed to, startup will be this weekend or (worst case) next weekend.