Builds Hell and High Water - A Build

[cruisermatt]

No need to loop the heater hoses. That's outdated myth

 

[gregkline55]

No need to loop the heater hoses. That's outdated myth

Whats the logic behind not doing it? This always seemed more like fact than myth

 

[gregkline55]

Working on my wiper linkages today on lunch, ended up ordering some 5/16" tie rods meant for a small go kart, this gave me pretty much everything I needed to do this. Only item not included with this is the shoulder bolts but I have those on the way.

Started by turning down the tie enough to fit into the original linkage, this will only be needed on this arm. Cut them in half and down to a good length and they slip right in and are ready to be welded. I'll work on the other side tomorrow most likely, that side will be slightly more complex with the odd shape of the linkage.

 

[gregkline55]

Working on the truck this weekend, getting the front end put back together now that I got my hardware back. Also got my new oil pan and pickup installed, gained a ton of room there. Then also started fitting up the engine harness, I think I will be putting the PCM in the inside of the fender behind the washer bottle, no it will not be easy to access but once its running I really shouldn't have to.

 

[diesellibrarian]

Love that 2002 in the background. My dad bought one new off the lot the year I was born ('73), and sold it the year before I got my learner's license. So instead of learning to drive stick in a BMW, I had to settle for an '81 Honda Civic.

 

[gregkline55]

Love that 2002 in the background. My dad bought one new off the lot the year I was born ('73), and sold it the year before I got my learner's license. So instead of learning to drive stick in a BMW, I had to settle for an '81 Honda Civic.

Thank you! My father and I love our old german metal, have built/restored many over the years. My father had an '02 as his first car back in 1980 and than many E30s after that, and now I have had many myself too.

 

[gregkline55]

Got some good work done this Saturday, continuing to work on the wiring back at my house, ordered up all of what I need to get the engine fired up in the hear future, and then worked on my wiper linkages.

Wiper linkages turned out really nice, welded up nicely, going to sand blast them at work and get them painted up and back in the truck.

 

[gregkline55]

So I think I've given up on trying to hide the PCM in the fender, just doesn't feel like the juice is worth the squeeze, so I've resided to placing on the passenger side firewall. Started placing it last night and taking measurements, will make a mount out of some aluminum that will utilize existing holes/threads, might have to add a rivnut somewhere too. This should allow me to finalize harness lengths and move that forward.

 

[cruisermatt]

Whats the logic behind not doing it? This always seemed more like fact than myth

It's just unnecessary, it's just bypassing the thermostat and once the thermostat is open the majority of water flow is going to be through the thermostat anyways. I stopped doing them years ago

 

[gregkline55]

It's just unnecessary, it's just bypassing the thermostat and once the thermostat is open the majority of water flow is going to be through the thermostat anyways. I stopped doing them years ago

Understood, for my peace of mind and the small amount of work it takes to do it, I'll probably still put it in. No harm in doing so.


On another note, found a radiator shroud sized perfectly for the cruiser, with fans, lightly used on FB marketplace. Buddy of mine grabbed it for me and is dropping it off to me on Sunday. I'm sure will need to adjust it ever so slightly but it should tick an item off the to-do list.

 

[gregkline55]

Finished up my wiper linkages with some paint and then greased them up and clipped them together using some 10mm circlips. Super happy with how they turned out.

On Friday I was able to machine my PCM mount, super happy with the fitment, plenty of clearance to the fender tub. this is just the top half, I will need to make the bottom mount still. I also think I will be moving my TAC module from in the cab to out here to make the wiring simpler. It fits right to the right of the PCM on the same mount, just will need to make a heat shield for it to protect it from the header. More photos to come on this.

Also got a ton done on my engine harness, have been working on adding provisions for A/C, NSS, and reverse lights, tying in sensor wiring for the original dash gauges, charge light wiring, and changing over to the correct injector plugs. Then got most of it wrapped up in new loom. Waiting on some high heat protectant loom to arrive for the O2 and CPS runs.

Have been doing this all in my office with it pinned to my window sill, has worked well. Chassis harness is almost all set too. Will grab more photos of it all tonight along with some of the radiator shroud.

 

[Rabrownmkiv]

Looks fantastic, making wiring harness' is so satisfying. I'm loving your wiper linkage too, I think I'll be doing this in my near future as well "while I'm in there" for rust repairs. Appreciate all the pictures and dialogue on doing them.

 

[gregkline55]

Looks fantastic, making wiring harness' is so satisfying. I'm loving your wiper linkage too, I think I'll be doing this in my near future as well "while I'm in there" for rust repairs. Appreciate all the pictures and dialogue on doing them.

I really love wiring, its fun, although I cant say I did this completely from scratch. I started with a cheap generic LS stand alone harness and went through it and modified it to be a much better product, Using an Eaton Bussmann RTMR for the main relay/fuse panel and Littlefuse/GEP products for the other relay boxes and distribution areas.

 

[gregkline55]

So have the engine wiring harness close to done, just need to finish up the connector for the relay panel here to the harness itself. Happy with the final outcome of the harness so far, should look nice and clean. I've made a mount for the relay panel in solidworks and will get it sent out to SendCutSend, it will also hold the ground buss and the main ignition relay.

Next is the fan relay PDM, this still needs some final wiring, also missing is two 30A fuses. These will be triggered by the PCM for fan 1 & 2. Will be mounting this next to the relay panel.

And here is my radiator shroud, quality seems pretty okay, nice part is all I have to do is move the mounting tabs and I'm in business. Fits the radiator perfectly.

 

[Dubs2017]

Looking good!

 

[gregkline55]

My father was working on one of our skidders in the shop and leaned a wheel up on the 60, I like the yellow on yellow steelies!

 

[gregkline55]

Wiring is finally going back in the truck! Engine harness is in and looking good, this past Friday I got all of the heat shield loom on the cam position sensor and O2 sensor runs, and then Saturday I got it in the truck to start to finalize it. Where I have the PCM and TAC module should work really well, will have to shorten the TAC plug wires for sure cause its so damn long. Test fit the relay center in there too and I'm happy with how that's looking, just need to get some measurements tonight so I can get it ordered up on SendCutSend.

Also got my radiator fan PDM mounted right next to where the relay center will be.

Finally got my radiator fans mounted up, had one of the guys at work weld some tabs on in their new locations (I'm terrible at welding aluminum). Very happy with the fit of it, tried mounting the A/C drier mount but where I have it is too low. Going to end up mounting it directly to the shroud with some rivnuts.

Now working on gettting the chassis harness done which shouldnt take too long, and getting the grounds and larger battery/starter wiring.

 

[gregkline55]

So designed up a mount for the electronics in solidworks and sent it off to SendCutSend, it mounts on the side of the fender. This will house the RTMR, bus bars, and main ignition relay, there is also area for two additional relays if needed down the road on each side. I have a cap for it too that will get welded on to clean it all up when done. Still need to make sure the mounting points line up but overall im happy with it.

 

[gregkline55]

Did a test fit of the relay panel today, super happy, fits exactly as it should. So getting closer to having the wiring all finished up, engine harness just needs a few more wires terminated and the bundle going to the TAC module needs to be shortened. From there its just wrapping it in loom and hooking it up.

Chassis harness I am just finalizing adding in some provisions for future plans, just trying to get ahead of it as much as I can. Also finishing up adding wiring in for cruise control. Then that'll go in the truck and I can do some initial testing of the systems to make sure it all works as it should.

 

[cruisermatt]

looking good..