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We now have a working car hoist at home so i started on the transmission mount. Im using a 8mm steel plate as the cross member, it should add a bit of rigidity back into the trans tunnel after i removed most of the strength getting the shifter to fit. As seen in the photo the transmission is on a bit of an angle, a quick google lesson on trigonometry reveals the angle is 6.70°. So i have started to make a part that connects the plate to the transmission with the correct angle. There is also a 4.00° angle fore and aft which also needs to be built into this part.
Transmission mount is done apart from paint. The plumbing for the oil system is just about complete. Just waiting on a few more fittings.
I have drawn up an exhaust flange which is being cut out of stainless steel by a place in town. For the exhaust system each runner will incorporate an EGT probe and also an oxygen sensor.
Exhaust flange is done ( stainless steel ), getting it lazer cut saved a lot of time. I machined some material of the flange so the whole thing isn't heat soaking the engine.
Haven't updated this thread in a while. Im slowly working away at the car among other projects. The plumbing for the engine is 100% complete which is a bit of a milestone.
The driveshaft is currently being made by a machining shop, should be done in a week or 2. Got the EGT sensors in the mail today so i can start making the exhaust.
I hate computers and wires so was planning on getting someone else to wire the ecu. But im going to try and save a few bucks and do it myself. I have invested in some decent crimping tools ( no dodgy solder connections anywhere ) and started by making a harness for the injectors. Finished it today, surprised myself at how well it turned out. All tested ok. The TPS terminates to a 3 way Deutsch connector, the 8 injectors and IAT sensor terminates to a 12 way Deutsch connector. This will make taking the intake off a bit easier. Next step will be to make a harness for the coil packs, just waiting on a few terminals.
This is a K&N filter i had attached directly to the turbo on my rx7. Second time this has happened now, they just cant handle the heat. Now its attached to a piece of 4" pipe.
Same thing happened to my Spectre air filter. Got it warrantied and used a 4” silicone based duct like you’d see for brake systems rated to something like 500*. So far, so good.
Good luck with the harness! I leave serious wiring like that to pros lol! I don’t mind small wiring jobs but like you said, the big stuff is a pain.
Haha, the wiring is tidy but nowhere near aircraft grade. ( would cost me about 10x as much for aircraft grade )
Im making a fibreglass panel for the transmission tunnel at the moment. This is to cover the big hole i had to cut to fit the transmission. The shapes of the tunnel are too complicated to make an aluminium or steel panel thats why im making it from fibreglass. The panel will be removable to allow adjustment of the shifter linkages. Not sure how this will go down when it comes time to get the car street legal, or scrutineered?
Are you going for that stripped down track car look for the interior? I don’t recall seeing anything related to the interior in your build earlier...
the trans tunnel looks pretty clean!
Nick
Thanks, yeah I stripped the entire interior apart from the door cards. Everything in a Cosmo is heavy! It was made as luxury gt cruiser not a race car. One goal I have for the car is to run a 10 sec quarter mile and I'll be struggling to do that with a full interior. I have retained the original seats (approx 15-20kg each ) for the time being and when funds allow I will purchase race seats and build a roll cage. I made a basic dash/switchboard out of aluminium covered in Ebay alcantara , and this will house the aftermarket digital dash display ( a bunch of gauges aren't much use when your racing ). The drivers floorboard is aluminium sheet glued down with builders foam. It's all a bit rough but doesn't bother me as long as the engine bay looks a million bucks! -
Thanks, yeah I stripped the entire interior apart from the door cards. Everything in a Cosmo is heavy! It was made as luxury gt cruiser not a race car. One goal I have for the car is to run a 10 sec quarter mile and I'll be struggling to do that with a full interior. I have retained the original seats (approx 15-20kg each ) for the time being and when funds allow I will purchase race seats and build a roll cage. I made a basic dash/switchboard out of aluminium covered in Ebay alcantara , and this will house the aftermarket digital dash display ( a bunch of gauges aren't much use when your racing ). The drivers floorboard is aluminium sheet glued down with builders foam. It's all a bit rough but doesn't bother me as long as the engine bay looks like i spent a million bucks! -
Running battery cables, using 0 gauge cable. Im using an AliExpress crimper to do the crimping. The crimps turn out really well for such a cheap tool. Some glue lined heat shrink makes the cables look professional.
The exhaust headers are tacked in place. There is just enough room to get the headers on and off. The driveshaft is done, its got 1350 series universals which are much bigger than factory. Im going to experiment with using copper gaskets for the header flanges. I made a downpipe gasket for one of my other Cosmos and it was very successful. The material is 0.063". The gaskets have been cut, I need to make a set of dies to press a raised circular portion on each gasket which will compress when the header flange is installed.
Congrats on the progress, It can be hard to stay motivated on such a large project. Nice work on the manifold.
Thanks, just treat each part as its own small project and soon enough it all starts coming together.
Made the dies to do the exhaust gaskets today. To form the copper it first needs to be annealed by heating it until its glowing red then letting it cool down to room temperature. After its annealed the copper is very soft and malleable. Next just clamp the gasket in the dies, the bolt diameter I used was a bit small and I stretched the thread. As seen in the photos the dies made a nice uniform dimple on the gaskets, the approximate material cost per gasket is about $12NZD ( a lot cheaper than Mazda gaskets! ). If these gaskets are successful I might start selling them.
The exhaust headers are nearly done, the pipes have been fully welded. Just needs collector and flange welded. The welding is not done by me because I dont have a tig welder. The clutch and flywheel arrived today, the clutch is a Quartermaster 7.25 twin plate. I will take the engine and gearbox out of the car to set up the hydraulic throw out bearing. The chassis wiring is done including the battery and alternator cables, everything works as it should.
01-03-18, 12:29 AM
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