When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Removed the steering wheel today and got the dash out, and test fit then bolted in the molded dash and test fit it with the link MXG. OH BOY!! I'm lovin it!
I also removed the rear seats, and started installing the fuel pump relay wiring. I started out by removing the drivers front wheel, along with all of the fender liner. I unbolted the harness plug on the firewall, and then ran the power wire w/ inline fuse through the inside of the car through the grommet hole. Once it was through, I cut a little slit in the grommet, pushed the eyelet through the grommet and got the inline fuse fed through and tightened it back up on the firewall. This allowed me to run it directly up into the engine bay next to the clutch master, alongside the topside of the fender and to the positive battery terminal. Then I back-tracked and tucked the wire under the carpet into the back, under a structural bracket and I mounted the relay to the side of the old fuel pump ecu. Then I ran 14 gauge for a trigger wire through the dash to the passenger floorboard, and around to the driver side carpet alongside the power wire back to the relay. I haven't soldered these in yet because I wasn't 100% sure which wire runs to the fuel pump but after consulting the manual it looks like the FP line is the green wire, whereas the black-red is the stock +B which I wont be running. Also blew me away how small the rear area is, I can't hardly get into the backseat with the seats unable to slide forward. I decided to wait on the fuel pump while I ordered some viton heat shrink.
Slowly ticking away, my P/S hose got re-routed and hopefully will be here tomorrow so I can finish that off.
I forced myself into the backseat, and got the fuel pump out into a five gallon bucket. Sadly I dropped one of the fuel hat bolts into the trunk somewhere. I will have to replace that.
I ended up clipping the connector off, and clipping the power wire resistor thing that I wont be running. This allowed the fuel pump to drop into the bucket on the hanger and I put the top hat covering the fuel hole again.
Originally I was going to run the bendable ethanol line, and bought a 17" version from radium but once I got the old pump off the hanger and set the new pump on, I feel like just running some E85 submersible hose from the stock hard-line will help hold the fuel fump and make installation easy. So I ordered gates 27093 which says its safe for 100 psi submerged in E85 and gasoline; which if I'm running 40 psi base pressure thats good for 60 psi boost which I will never run. Hose will be here tomorrow, but I ran into the same thought dilemma as Kahn in that I need fuel submersible safe heat shrink tubing to properly solder the connections. Ordered some ray-chem and it will be here monday which sucks because I can't finish my fuel system before it goes to the welder. Atleast I will be able to finish the power steering and get the A/C mounted.
For the wiring, the sheathed wire goes under the carpet, through the fender grommet which I sealed with some silicone and attaches to the positive cable. The red wire is my fuel pump trigger wire running from the passenger floor through the dash, through the drivers carpet and finally the green wire is the stock fuel pump wire. This will be re-done once I get a fuel pump hanger and go twin pump with custom lines for full E85, but maybe next year. For now this will be fine on the single walbro 485. My heat shrink was a tad small, so I used some liquid electrical tape to seal it up and this is all stuffed up where the stock fuel pump ecu is, which is still there but unplugged.
Originally I was waiting for both the viton heat shrink and the high pressure power steering hose; picked up the submersible fuel hose this morning and decided I was going to buy those crimp + heat shrink butt connectors. Ended up getting the fuel pump setup to go in, crawled in there and ended up realizing my upper hose is way too long and it will need to be pulled out. I tried to force the hose further on, but with the gas fumes burning my eyes along with climbing in the car when it was 105 degrees inside I was pouring sweat. I got the wires crimped and sealed, and currently the fuel pump is just bolted in and sitting there waiting for tomorrow morning when I can cut the hose shorter and finish the install.
Instead I moved to working outside the car under my car cover on the power steering setup. No doubt this could be simplified but I think the way I routed the hose is the best way it could be. Both ends were facing each other which meant trying to bend it into place caused the hose to twist into an S shape. Ended up pulling the hose off and re-routing it three times before I was happy; but its pretty much done, high pressure line is tight; just need to tighten down the A/C compressor more and add fluid.
Got the fuel pump finished up today, had to chop it shorter twice but ended up getting it on and up far enough to get the bracket in. I seriously hate the back seat in this car, and the entire gas tank. My future may include a rear seat delete and fuel cell HAHA!
Next I added dexron III power steering fluid and moved the wheels back and forth to bleed the system. I did this for a while and added fluid as it dropped, then got in the car and did it lock to lock for about 10 minutes trying to get all the bubbles out. I think we're pretty much bled.
After dropping the car back on the ground I tried test fitting my strut bar without the nuts removed and its already hitting the oil feed line and turbo. Pretty sad I can't run this.
Last edited by joewitafro; Aug 26, 2023 at 05:15 PM.
Despite the heat, despite my ailments I've pretty much spent a portion of every day the past three weeks wrenching on this car to make my timeline. Today is one day before it gets picked up and sent to the welder and I'm relaxing! I did set the old radiator in, along with clutch fan and intake so my welder can see my spacing requirements. Decided to take a couple photos. These PHR radiator mounts don't fit very well with this mishimoto radiator. Hopefully it fits better with the Koyo.
Played around with wastegate lines again, since I turned the wastegates from my original orientation and mockup, I've changed the setup 5-6 times trying to figure out how I can use the lines I bought to orientate them decently, while giving my welder room to make an intercooler pipe. I figure its' important to have this layed out so he can give me a little space for downpipe placement as well.
So while I can get it all together with what I have, I wasn't completely happy with the line going to the top of my front wastegate. So these last two photos show the T fitting I need to connect to to finish it off.
Man... not a whole lot beats seeing that big beautiful snail on the LH side of these awesome engines. You're so close!! Can't wait to see the fab work finished up and what a monster this car is going to be.
Thanks Rudy! This snail is almost TOO BIG. I almost wonder if a ball bearing Garrett would allow me to fit the strut bar!
Maybe some day I can have a manifold built specifically for my needs on this car but that's for another day. Really getting very close to first start!! I can't wait to drive this thing. Took another side shot of the wastegate lines in the front before it got picked up by the flatbed and delivered to the welder today. I may have to make a custom line here as the black fragola PTFE doesn't come in the fittings I would need or as short in a pre-made. I'll ponder for a bit and see what I can come up with.
I used Fragola on my FD, very happy with it. PTFE is a pain to work with, but it’s a lifetime product. What fitting do you need? What are you trying to connect? Sometimes you can use existing fittings to create something that doesn’t exist. Look how I do my FPR:
If I remember correctly, I did a 90 ORB, into a 180 with a PTFE line about two inches long, into a standard 90. So, I made what I needed with less conventional fittings or methods.
I ended up ordering a 6" straight premade and two -4 male to male unions so I can connect the 90s i currently have to them. I'm going from a T; which goes from the side of the electronic MAC valve and the two top ports of the wastegates. My problem is I mocked everything up with the wastegates reversed (facing down vs up).
Welder sent me a photo of the downpipe so far. Pretty sure he said he's not going to use my HKS midpipe at all, and run 3.5" from the downpipe back to the rear 4" PHR exhaust section. Which I prefer!
Couple pictures I've received from the welder, he's been quite busy and had to re-order the wastegate piping but looks like the intercooler piping is done, BOV mounted and the down-pipe looks pretty nice so far.
