Project Ugly Duckling. SR86. 'Haters gunna hate, Tyres gunna bake'

[ae8zn6]

Today I spent time being sad about parts not turning up and finishing the battery relocation.

Previously I had only cut out the battery tray and run a thick cable into position. So most of the work was yet to happen.

I spent a whole bunch of time leaning and swaying over whether to just buy a drycell battery and be done with it. I had a think about it and decided that either way I wanted a circuit breaker as close as possible to the battery and a battery master switch if possible. I figured the best and easiest place to mount that gear would be on/in a battery box anyway, and so the drycell could come later when funds permit.

So I bought a battery box, drilled and cut a couple of holes and then did some wiring and got this:



So the wire comes off the positive terminal onto one of Which is a 70Amp circuit breaker that allows up to about 20 seconds of 90Amp draw, so that should allow for the starter motor, but still cut out instantaneously if there is a short circuit somewhere in the system. Off there is a battery master switch then the cable runs out to the front of the car. Most people on here probably think that this setup is massively overkill, but it seems that I can't help myself... I keep telling myself that it is a track car and should just be rough and ready but then finish off something and go... hmmm... probably overdid that again...

Anyway, once I was all done the box looked something like this:



From there I installed the remote positive terminal. I used one of It is just an 8mm insulated one of eBay, it seemed to fit the bill and seemed a little better than the Jaycar item in that the Jaycar one didn't have an extra piece of enclosure that covered the bottom of the terminal. Once installed it looked like this:



Once again I thought I would overdo it, so I put a piece of rubber under the terminal and then got out the hot glue gun and coated the mounting bolts in glue to insulate them. That way if something attached to the terminal loosens up and touches one of the bolts it can't short out the system.



That actually took a fair while, especially including shopping for bits, so that was about all that happened today, with any luck the loom and silicone will turn up tomorrow and then I will have plenty more to get done.

[ae8zn6]

Got my loom back yesterday afternoon:





It is one of the few indulgences I have allowed myself as far as not working on it myself has gone. The loom was a bit of a mess from the Z32 conversion and I simply have no prior experience with SR looming.

Pretty damn happy with it I have to say, and as it has been bench tested etc I also have a lot more confidence that it is all setup as it should be.

The same guy also put this in for me:



(Nistune daughterboard) It has been setup with a base tune for Z32 AFM and 550cc injectors. That will make it safe to fire up and even get around to the tuner/exhaust shop etc.

The loom is all connected to the motor now. But as all engine conversions require different length cables etc I have to do all of the motor to body loom stuff myself including the alternator etc.

Doesn't sound like a big deal then:

***BAM***



This is the absolute abortion of a body loom that I have been left from the previous owner. so I have spent the vast majority of my day with the multimeter out just doing continuity checking trying to figure out what they have done and why...

I have decided to lean out some of the body loom that is no longer required, that kinda started with the alternator. The loom guy included a diagram of what the SR needs and what else you can give it. For example the 12v sense line from the alternator can just be connected to 12v. However, if you do that it will continually 'sense' how much power is available, which will deplete the battery if the car isn't running. Easy fix, just hook it up to a relay that connects it at ignition. No worries I think, I will just wire it into the existing ae86 system, nek minute pulling wires out left right and center, chasing it back to bits that the previous owner chopped and then just deciding to do my own system.

Who knows, maybe the next owner (if I ever sell) will look at what I am doing and think 'WHY????'.

Also whilst connecting up the engine loom I noticed something funny and made this to celebrate the logic...



Not like a boost leak on the FPR sense line can cause detonation or anything.... oh wait...

[Matt]

Not sure what the SR is like, but on the 4age as such the sense is hooked into 12v constant power.. And it is the ignition power that actually wakes up the alternator.

Looking likely this isn't too far away, good work mate.

[Mirko]

Nice dude who did ur loom?

[ae8zn6]

Loom was done by Pete at PLMS developments, he did mention that I would be among the last to get a loom out of him though. Sounds like he was just doing them in his spare time as cash jobs, but was well and truly out of spare time...

Project has started slowing down again as I am back at work. I have been making up some speedflow lines to hook this bad up in the afternoons:



I also collected some other small bits of piping required for the BOV and Idle air control valve, so nothing else is needed to complete the inlet pipework.

I pretty much then need more bits to continue, which will require more money

Ahhh the empty wallet, the arch-enemy of project cars around the globe...

[drift kid]

Oh dude don't get me started on all ideas no cash lol, broke as a motherfucker right now

[ae8zn6]

Yeah, as I said, everyone is in the same boat

Finished making up and fitting the lines for the remote filter/oil cooler adapter/thermostat thing this afternoon:

[maxhag]

Looking good Robbo....

[ae8zn6]

Some Pretties arrived



I already had the Pivot stepper tacho from my first 86 I aimed to make the other gauges be similar enough to match the tacho, without being exactly the same. In that light the gauge faces light up blue (which I haven't tested, but should be very close to the pivot gauge).

Here is a close up on the detail for the speedo



Basic plan on how I will arrange the gauges in the cluster housing: (background will not be white, that was just the lid of the cardboard box)



The oil pressure and temp will be mounted on the left of the dash housing similar to the way the two leftmost gauges are mounted in this picture:



The boost gauge/control will be done by an eBoost 2 which came with this car in it's original 1G 'glory'. It will be mounted in the top right side air vent at this stage.

Another cool feature I was able to incorporate is a 'Remote Warning Light'. Basically I have a shift light, but instead of it lighting up at a set RPM, it lights up when any of the gauges hits a warning condition for either high or low values. Basically it shines in my face to get my attention and then I can look down to see which gauge(s) have warning indications and then make a decision as to how I will respond. As for actual shift lights, the Pivot tacho has 3 internal lights that are used as settable shift lights.

I am definitely happy with the gauges so far, although I haven't had a chance to hook anything up as yet. I had a lot of friends telling me to buy a stack or racepak dash instead of individual gauges, but I personally prefer have separate items and I already had the pivot tacho which is one sexy looking gauge that I wanted to incorporate.

The other exciting thing about getting the gauges is that I can now plug the remaining holes in the fluid systems and fill the motor up with oil and coolant. Following that it should be all but ready to kick over to make sure it still works, which is something I would not have been happy to do without some gauges telling me how it was all going inside the thing

So some more work to be doing whilst I am waiting to be able to afford anything else on the car...

[drift kid]

I am very glad to see some progress on this! will be awesome to hear it start up soon