Cams AE85 build from NZ

[slacker.cam]

During the second half of 2006 not a lot happened. I was busy with University study and other projects/girls. I decided that I would use a MegaSquirt to run the engine as I enjoy electronics and couldn't afford an expensive Motec or Autronic. I couldn't justify spending a lot of money on a mediocre ECu like a Link either (they are a lot better these days however). The MegaSquirt would allow me to ditch the distributor so no firewall bashing would have to take place. I also modified the 20Vs cooling system to work in RWD format. I know there are a lot of people that believe that the 20V should not have the coolant path changed but I feel that its a reasonable tradeoff for a neat and reliable cooling system. Therefore I modified the back of the head to open up the flow path from exhaust side to intake side. I made the channel as large as possible using an angle grinder and die grinder (sorry no pics). I made simple blockoff plates for the rear and side of the motor out of 5mm aluminium. As this is a track car I am not running a heater core so no additional connections needed to be made.

I like(d) the idea of running an electric water pump as this would allow me to electronically control the water temperature and do away with the thermostat. The idea is to provide a restrictor plate to mimick the flow restriction of the thermostat and by sensing the water temp I will electronically regulate the speed of the water pump. As there is no thermostat to bypass the raditor when cold the pump will always idle at a minimal flow level to prevent localised boiling and hot spots. I am still not certain that this is the best way to go about the cooling. Any ideas/feedback would be great. I got one of these http://www.daviescraig.com.au/Electric_W...tails.aspx. It will sit between the bottom radiator outlet and the original water pump. The flow direction is cold water out of the radiator is pumped into the front of the block. I modified the 20V water pump to simply act as a connection to the block. The water line actually goes in the middle of the alternator belt:




In the next summer holidays (start of 2007) I sourced an early Hilux LSD diff. I sent the diff head away to be reconditioned by Steelie Gears here in Auckland and set to swapping all of the mounts from the standard AE85 diff across to the hilux. As it was from an early hilux I was lucky and did not have to get the housing and axles shortened. I made a jig out of MDF and piano hinge to get all of the mounts lined up in the correct place for welding. The photos explain this better than I can:







I then fitted it into the car to ensure that everything lined up:



Then painted and reassembled the whole thing. Painted with a 'CRC Black Zinc' rattle can. It got treated to a new set of bearings (pinion and main wheel bearings) and new axle seals. I got the axles redrilled to 4x114.3 and turned the hubs to the correct diameter for the brake rotors by angle grinding them while spinning the axle by hand. It worked really well! It's now a 95% brand new diff: