The Red Green Machine

[SKYHI]

Oil cooler is another thing I need to add to the "to do" list

[greenMachine]

Postie has been busy! Checked the mailbox this morning, two packages for the Skunk elbow from Dann (well, one was from TS), and my Ecliptech shift/warning light. Aaaand ... no bills either that has to be a good day!!!

With the Ecliptech, and the Solo2DL loaded with the Autronic protocols, I am ready to finalise the electronics. Not happy that the Solo was sold with no protocols for serial ECUs contrary to the blurb statements (naughty Aim!), but at least they delivered my Autronic protocol in the timeframe promised: they said end September, I checked 1 October and it was there.

First step will be to assemble the Skunk, check fitting everything (Skunk QC is notoriously non-existent), re-drill the return spring location, and then put it together with generous helpings of Locktite. Thanks to Lokiel's reminder, I will strip the intake piping and check for rust, take the IC out and paint the front, and reassemble. I need to add to my list a complete renew of the metal piping.

Mounting the Ecliptech will be a challenge. When the race seat is in, my eyeline is low, and positions that I can use with the road seat are not visible. Some experimentation will be in order I think.

Advice from MTnet is that the copper scrubber should not be cut - good thing I bought two lengths. Not sure that the full length won't be too big, and when compressed down might obstruct the flow of the gas, I will need to look at that carefully. I might need to check out some supermarkets for smaller SS scrubbers, without the added detergent .

[greenMachine]

Best laid plans ... go astray!

Valve cover completed, now with one SS scourer instead of the copper. Intercooler painted black. radiator and oil cooler reader to go in, oh wait, the nipples don't fit, order and wait for new nipples but decide to test fit with the supplied -12 nipples - one of them binds in the thread , turns out the anodising penetrated the thread of the cooler fitting, obstructing it. After a bit of to and fro, PWR offer a new cooler, hopefully here tomorrow.

In the meantime all the bushes are out of the spare suspension arms - rattlegun FTW! I have trial fitted the bushes (only) in the RUCAs, and devised a fix for the problem of the surplus hole.

This was evident in the racecar delrin bushes, I can't remember what I did about it, but as road car, this time I needed a proper fix. The bushes need greasing (mainly to keep out debris which causes accelerated wear), but when the grease goes in, this surplus hole in the bushing housing allows the grease to escape, and potentially, debris to enter.

This shows the drilled out and tapped hole, the 8mm grub screw used to seal it, and the bushing (half):


The job almost completed - grub screw inserted, half of the bushing in place (note the rough recess for the screw):


Job done!


Note1, if you are doing this, unless you create a recess the bushes will not want to go all the way home, and this will likely cause difficulty when replacing the arms in their housings. I solved this by drilling out the hole to accommodate the grub screw with the bushes in place, drilling the bushes at the same time.

Note2, some thread locker will be in order to ensure the grub screws do not loosen and fall out.

[Custardtart]

Was that hole for a zirk fitting grease nipple?

[greenMachine]

Was that hole for a zirk fitting grease nipple?

No, it is just a hole whose function is unknown (to me, anyway), it is too big for the supplied grease nipples, probably 6mm diameter before drilling out for the 8mm thread. The grease nipples go in the hole in the gusset IIRC, that is the next job: drilling, tapping and inserting the grease nipples.

I should add that in other work, Dann's Skunk adapter for the intercooler piping, with a new TS blow off, is all dummied up. It won't be finalised until the oil cooler has been sorted, and the new suspension arms are installed. It is too tight a workspace there not to program the most involved work before trying to connect everything up.

[ManiacLachy]

I considered doing the grub screw fix like that, but in the end I just filled the holes with epoxy. Mixed results however, some of the "plugs" popped out under pressure when filling with the grease gun. Grub screw is a better fix, but filing down the recess in the bush is a PIA, that some hard rubber!

Seriously, what are those holes for?!

[greenMachine]

ML, drilling was, literally (OK, figuratively ), killing two birds with one stone: just drill the hole the correct size for the tap, with the bushes in place. The recess in the bushes is marginally smaller than the screw, but I figure the bushes will compress that small amount with no ill effects.

While I was waiting at the counter for the grub screws, I thought of another way of doing it: Get a button head or similar screw, stick it through the hole from the inside, push the bushes into place and they will ride (I expect) over the head of the screw holding it in place, then grind off the surplus length (with or without using a nut). Not sure that it would be as complete a seal as the grub screw, but a lot better than nothing.

The purpose of the holes? Well it is pretty obvious really, they are lightening holes, to keep the weight down .... though my best guess is that they serve a function in the manufacturing process.

[greenMachine]

Progress has been slow, but the spare arms are now sporting the PU bushes from Energy (I think), the sleeves are stockpiled, the knuckle sleeves are being drilled for 12mm camber adjusters, I need to find my centre punch to start drilling the holes for the grease nipples.

The existing suspension is out on three corners, the fourth is well advanced. Turns out the car has been fitted with poly bushes, and so for science I tried to remove a couple of the steel pins. Fortunately I had a 5lb hammer and so I was eventually successful. So much for poly bushes, these hadn't even had any grease nipples to give some comfort that the steel pins might be rotating in the bush as they are supposed to. On closer examination, the ends of the pins look nice and shiny, I think that the pins and bushes were rigid with the bush housing, and were rotating around the bolt holding them in the chassis mount

If only that was the worst discovery! Most alarming was the state of the RH FLCA balljoint: The bolt in the bottom shock mount was loose, and had unscrewed itself about 20mm, allowing the BJ to rotate about the through bolt. The only thing stopping it from coming right out was the bottom mount of the shock absorber which was preventing it from any further unscrewing. Photos coming, I am having trouble uploading tonight.

Also unsettling was the ease at which the bolts securing the brake callipers to the uprights came out - the rattle gun did not even activate the anvils, just 'whoosh' and they were out

[greenMachine]

BJ bolt:


Wear on shock mount:

[greenMachine]

Not a lot of progress happening.

Sorted a problem with the SADFab MR2 rear hubs, turns out that a dag or similar was blocking the spline on the first one I tried to install. SADFab will be checking all hubs from their supplier as a result.

Removed the last of the suspension arms, and it was real bugger. The lhs FLCA had one camber bolt that refused to budge, despite repeated love taps with a BIG hammer. It would rotate but not move laterally, it had rusted onto the pin in the poly bush. It took a sustained effort using a 5lb hammer and a drift to remove it.

Dug out my supercrap die grinder, and using an expensive bit ground out my new FUCAs, to clearance them for the shock body when the extended lower BJs are installed. This can happen when the camber adjusters pull the FLCA in, moving the shock body closer to the FUCA allowing (in some cases) the two to touch. Most people don't seem to have a problem, but with the NB8B arms having an additional strengthener which reduces the clearance there, I didn't want to find a problem later and have to take it all apart again.

The Tiens are out, and will be seen here shortly in the 'parts for sale'. They will be replaced with the Bilstein PSS9s from the race car, as I have decided to go with the devil I know (and love), rather than the ex Blue Rocket Xidas. The Xidas will also be soon seen (again ) in the 'for sales'.

If the race car PSS9s are too uncomfortable on the road, I have a set of stock PSS9s from the green cars on stand-by. And before anybody asks, they are spoken for in the event I don't need them.

[Daffy]

Not a lot of progress happening.

Slow progress is better than no progress champ!

[greenMachine]

Too right, but sometimes the frustration clouds the sense of moving (slowly) forward ...

[ManiacLachy]

Too right, but sometimes the frustration clouds the sense of moving (slowly) forward ...

I know that feeling!

[greenMachine]

Was that hole for a zirk fitting grease nipple?

No, it is just a hole whose function is unknown (to me, anyway), it is too big for the supplied grease nipples, probably 6mm diameter before drilling out for the 8mm thread. The grease nipples go in the hole in the gusset IIRC, that is the next job: drilling, tapping and inserting the grease nipples.

Update: You can get 8mm grease nipples. I have some!!

So instead of sealing with the grub screw, I can kill two birds with a grease nipple , at least where that is practical. It may be possible to use 90* nipples on the inboards, depending on the clearance between the bushing housing and the chassis, but I think that most of mine have already been drilled.

Happy Christmas everyone!

[greenMachine]

Gee, it must be time for an update ...

The rear end is back together, new bearings and the new Toyota hubs, and with SADFab poly bronze bushes. The upper arms are from the racecar, and have Mania's factory-style camber adjusters on the outer. The diff has been rebuilt with new bearings and seals, and the racecar Billies installed.

Same same at the front, except no new hubs but new ELBJs. I have been doing an inventory of front hubs, and I find that I have two sets of the 'good' front ABS hubs as spares, one of which only has 135k kms - they will be my primary spares, I just need to get the extended studs installed into them and they will be ready to go on.

The radiator with oil cooler is ready to go, all plumbed and set up with sensors for oil pressure and temperature. It will not be installed until the IC plumbing is sorted. The issue is on the cold side of the IC, where a) the Skunk TB and associated elbow and adapter, and b) the RB swaybar brace have meant that new/modified piping has been required. This is almost complete now, I just need to tweak the piping a little to ease one of the bends.

The sealing of the radiator ducting is coming together nicely, but until the front clip is ready to go on, and the radiator is in, there is nothing more to do.

I must say I am now chafing at the bit to get back behind the wheel, but even when I am finished it will still need some dyno time to recalibrate the map for the new TPS.

And a wheel alignment - that will be interesting, because between the factory adjusters and the ELBJs/upper rear adjusters, there will be a whopping range available, and the question will not be how much neg can I get, but rather how much neg do I want?