DIY: Hopeless project.

[pack]

I'm running the 20V on a OBX exhaust manifold with a 60mm outer diameter stainless steel exhaust pipe, no cat or mid mufler.... Just a final magnaflow exhaust mufler.....

Driving normally i get no backfire, but on the track is awesome to see that shifting from 5th gear to 2nd i get like 300mts of backfire and flames....
Reported by some Honda Civics that were running behind me....

Will get a tomei FPR soon.... and a Fujitsubo Legalis exhaust to finish my engine!

[Rascal21]

I`ve got 60mm as well, if I had my way I`d add a mid-muffler, but I can`t complain as it is, some thought (more or less) seem to have went into building that exhaust because it`s not too noisy.

The backfires are kinda funny, I had a worn out 16v gr.A head with 45 DCOE`s on top of a stock block in there before, and thought backfires were normal with that considering the condition of the cams (the races and lobes etc were all f*cked), but I was getting just as much backfires with the 20v in the same car, as well as the 16v in the wagon (only when flooring it of course), so theyre just happy engines I suppose!

The Tomei FPR might be a must, but I don`t think you need a Fujitsubo Legalis (Unless you want one), I have to admit having an exhaust note like this after drive-by would be awesome:


Speaking of the 16v wagon again, been talking to a guy on Facebook, he told me to check the throttle body, he said if it`s dirty, the air flow reader in there will figure the engine is not getting any air, hence injectors wont open and the plugs wont fire.
Sure enough, put a flashlight in there and it is PITCH BLACK.. Put my finger onto one spot and it was pitch black too...
I figured it to be pretty clean since the see-through silicone hoses are not dirty, but alas..
So mission for tomorrow is to take the TB out and have it cleaned at a workshop with carb cleaner and high pressure air, and see if I can get a rag with some ORC 5-56 or something into the intake and clean around the Vac port for MAP & FPR

[Rascal21]

Had a go at cleaning the Throttle Body and intake of the dirt that has accumulated over the years, but still no change to status quo.

Had another go at reading error codes, ignition on, short the harness diagnostic plug and test lamp to W-pin on ECU, nothing.

Every single way available to find the source of the problem seems to have been completely tapped out.. all workshops in my area, 2x forums, 3x facebook groups and all the 4AGE authorities I could get into contact with are completely flabbergasted as to the source of the problem.
Everything from "Check for Error Codes" or "Get a multimeter and check your harness" to "Buy new igniter and coil", all of it sound advice from people who make their living on the 4AGE, nothing seems to reveal or remedy the problem.
To put it another way, my simple Bluetop`s "chalk board kill list of 4AGE authorities" has made it a quadruple ace.

This is just odd!

[Rascal21]

Had another go at updating the "16v wagon" problem on the ae86drivingclub forums, a knowledgeable bloke there (Matt) suggested I go back to the basics, and he said that if Igniter earth on Coil bracket is bad then Injectors wont work either.

So I had another look, and noticed some rust etc on the surface where the igniter bolts down onto, I filed it shiny again, and took a steel wire from coil bracket and to the battery earth, voilà she fired right up on first go:

Pardon feeble sounds from me, suffering through a stubborn cold..

[Rascal21]

Time for another update (seems to be a 2 year-space event for me).
This is a 2 post ordeal I suppose, since I can`t fit enough attachments into one post.

Not much has happened with the AE86 except the addition of a OBD Bluetooth box for troubleshooting bank, stfp, ignition etc.
For those interested the price was 30 USD and product name is OBDRead (google it or facebook it), it works with 20v`s (nothing yet for 16v`s).
I want to get the car on the road this summer, which means cage = out, stock`ish seats, to that end I have acquired some Celica-Supra front seats but I am in dire need of rear seats (if anybody has some for GT-S coupè, give me a shout!)

The wagon on the other hand, a lot has happened..
Acquired these:
   
And these:
   

It required re-drilling strut tower tops but from there on it`s a simple affair.
   
   

I can alternate between stock AE86 struts and AE86 Revolver SPL coilovers per demand.

Back to improvements, wiring on the car was done in a hurry and on the fly to get it running with 4age ASAP.
So it was revised from this:
   

To this:
   
   
Still need Body>EFI firewall plug but still, it`s not too shabby compared to how it was (wires everywhere).

Furthermore, most AE86 motor swaps does not come with the ECU 14P, so I acquired one:
   
And soldered it in:
   

The passenger side EFI 14P>Body 14P also always misses from the AE86 swaps, so had a look through my parts bin and found an AE82 passenger side junction box, which had both ends of that connector for both, EFI and Body, that`s going in next:
   

---

Moving on, I`m tired of using switch for Fuel Pumps, Injectors and Coil.
New Circuit Open relays are 100 dollars (add 50 dollars with shipping and tax).
So I made my own:
   
That`s going in along with the EFI/Body plug..
ECU will earth the second relay when detecting engine revs, thereby powering up the Fuel Pumps, just as intended from factory

Also, I constantly had heater problems this winter, and in the end the Heater Console gave out on me, for 40 years the switches to push/pull finally took it`s toll, and the thin stamped sheet steel in the switches gave out, rendering further operation of heater console hopeless.
Add to that, the TA40 heater console is molded INTO the dashboard panel, so I would have to acquire an entire panel, just for the heater console.

Furthermore, it`s a bother to diagnose EFI without Warning light, and everything associated with the TA40 dashboard is generally a "bich" to work with, if it`s pulling a single wire, replacing heater blower resistor or whatever, I have more scratch scars than I care to count thanks to that.

Up here, functioning heater controls is VITAL, windshield can fog up at a moments notice, and I want better access to everything behind the dashboard.

So that`s why I did this:
   
And this:
   
And yeah you get the rest:
   
   
   
Engine lamp, SPD sensor, oil pressure, parking brake and door light remains to be wired in (working on that now), but other than a slow tach at de-accel it all seems to be working just fine.


Plans are in the work for TA60 rack & pinion & TA40 sedan 4-link conversion, I`ve acquired a TA40 sedan rear axle and poly 4-link+panhard bushings, link ends (cut stock items), strong thick-wall stainless steel pipes, right and left handed nuts & bolts, and panhard bar.
But need 2mm sheet to make up the body brackets and roofed working conditions.


Oh and also installed adjustable ae86 rear shocks.
But they lasted all of 6 months on these roads, so it was back to the stock Tokico items.

Also acquired another project last winter, but haven`t done anything with it yet, so more on that later.

I`m not power hungry so I quite like these engines as they come from the factory, hence why there isnt much, if any, engine build stuff going on here.
I like fiddling with and putting money into everything else though!

[Rascal21]

Alright, installed the home-made COR.
Since I don`t have a Diode between Starter wire and COR, the starter would keep chiming when letting go of Ignition, but I found a Black wire on the Ignition barrel instead, and this allows me to prime the Fuel system with the key if I twist it slowly and stop just before it notches over.

On another note, I`m trying to wire in VSV for gauge cluster PWR light and proper idle-up on voltage-heavy accessories (this has killed 2 alternators for me already)

Problem is though, the manual states Black wire between Accessory (Tail-light fusebox, Heater Blower Motor etc), but I can find no such thing on my TA40 harness.
So I look at an OEM AE86 harness (stay tuned about that, something will happen soon) and there, smaller sense wires go from the Accessories and into the venerable small "Black Box" and then through black wires, into the VSV.

The FSM and EWD made no mention what so ever of this, all though it makes sense, kinda sucks for people to have to disassemble wiring harnesses to find out.
   

In any case, I don`t know if this will work, but when I Ohm`ed 20v VSV (called EVAP) and 16v VSV, the resistance area was within FSM AE86 specs (0.36-44Kohm).
Since I only have one 16v VSV (which I`ll be using for something else), I figured I might as well check if a 20v EVAP/VSV unit will work instead, here strategically placed (taped) on Mercedes intake hose and drilled into the cheapo air filter:
   

Oh and also, new summer wheels(+the car, status quo, ugly as ever):
   

As for the yellow Gr.A car, I need rear seats (to pass tech) to get any further, so will be making a WTB post.

[Rascal21]

Some more updates.
Did a super quick repaint on the wagon, just so it doesn't look like a complete disaster.

With engine running issues sorted, exhaust modified and intake revised some, it goes pretty good and doesn't sound half-bad from any angle either, here's some videos (one from 2013 and one from last winter after repaint):

Meanwhile, the worm & roller took a dump, steering wheel self-centering pretty much faded away last winter, I took it all off the car:


And a quick inspection confirmed it was too far out of spec to decently dial in and still keep self-centering (even with full caster).
New TA40 worm & roller costs a fortune, used worm & roller costs a fortune.

I had a KE70 front sub-frame with rack & column laying around, so I gathered those parts and had a look:

Then I took the TA40 crossmember off:


I also like the angle grinder, so used that as a way to have a closer look:


With these cars I've been meaning to get into something that, if a gun was put to someones head, they would say it could almost be semi-decent modification/fabrication work, so I kind of winged it from there:



(Continues in next post)

---

(Continuation of last post):






You get the idea.. some time later:






So that was the crossmember sorted, wasn't too hard, a bit of measuring, cutting, line it all up and tack it in place, measure again then go to town with it, I've seen far better, but to the techstapo it looks OEM from underneath so I'll let it slide.
In the next post we'll be having a look at what can be done with the steering column

---

With the engine crossmember sorted, steering column is next.

The KE70 column>rack steering spline shaft steery... thingy.... joint end up top, TA40 column>steering box... hardy-joint (?) bottom:


As we've well established I'm beyond caring about technical pronounciations at this point, the important thing is the column diameters are both the same, and the telescopic shafts are the same too.
The KE70 column end merely needs adding onto the TA40 column, which allows for keeping the same ignition lock, which saves time in shortening, modifying and adding TA40 bits to the KE70 column.
Great!

Moving on:
Weld KE70 end onto the TA40 column, by simply sliding it on and filling the original holes the drilled spot welds:

Then adapt the TA40 column> firewall mount to the KE70 end (add a few welded bumps on the column tube, on the other side to stop the column from sliding around) then test-fit:

Then repaint:


In the next post, steering shaft and exhaust has to be sorted.

---

Right, with the above bits sorted, I merely installed the crossmember.
The KE70 steering shaft actually only needed a bit of lengthening.
As it turns out this is tubed from factory.
So I cut it in half nearly at the rack-side uni-joint, then slid a piece of smaller diameter steel rod I had laying around that fit perfectly inside the shaft tube, and filled the whole b*tch with the MIG, then gave it some cuts with the angle grinder and filled those with the MIG as well (to be sure).



Then simply grind it flat with the flap disc and repaint so it looks pretty, you know how it goes.

Next up was the exhaust.
When I did the engine swap years ago, I had to get the car on the road quick.
That means circumventing the steering box.... With a SOHV 2T that was no issue, but the 4A-GE head is wider.
After I mounted the transmission, I then had to place the engine over to the passenger side, and since the car up until that point was mostly for laughs anyway, the "downpipe" was simply a stock 16v RWD exhaust manifold with some 2mm steel plate cut into triangular pieces, and some 2" exhaust pipe cut in half length-wise added to the front and rear, then cut it all at the bottom and a 2" bent pipe:


Not pretty, but as you saw the car went forward, didn't sound too bad, and went sideways too.

That wont work with the steering rack though, so I had a look around in the parts bin, found a stock AE86 exhaust manifold and downpipe, then I test-fitted for the fun of it:

..For once, something fits and I don't have to do anything

From there all I had to do was modify the downpipe (didn't take long) with a over-size end to accept the existing exhaust system:


Then use a powered sticksaw to shorten the exhaust piping to suit the downpipe, I don't have pictures of that but you get the idea.

All that was needed was to screw the tie rods in and match the steering rack on both ends, no pictures of that but it's as easy as anything.

Contemplating just grafting this in while I'm at it:


The issue is tackling panhard body-bracket, as the fuel tank is sitting just where that would go.

Meanwhile there are other things going on.

---

I got this a while ago:




83 W-German, used as a field car in Poland before it got exported, then I took it over (minus interior) and got a free brand new windshield with it as well
Bad thing is rust (as always), and a lot of it, so more to come on that.

Speaking of which, having grown tired of welding rust and modifying the `40 wagon that's still hard to drift under any conditions (owing to the leaf rear springs), better to just keep modifying it until I can make something solid out of it.

Meanwhile my neighbor asked if I wanted to buy his car, I figured what the heck, solid winter beater and will be nice to go sideways without axle tramp shaking my gums out on washboard winter roads, picked it up on the day:

What's left of this TA60 looks like all sod, but it's actually pretty solid and has been owned and driven by truck drivers exclusively, so drivetrain is in excellent shape, I've never driven with a tighter T50 (and that includes rebuilt ones), and it's 4-link which makes it ridicilously easy to drift.
Just needs a quick do-over, LSD and steering lock mods to look and drift the way I want it to.

So far only modded one thing:
The China-spec rally lights were anything but satisfactory.
And seeing as I need to see where I'm going on winter mornings:

For comparison, here's the OEM wax candles:


ZAP


More to come.