Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

[Silverbullet]

Here's the chrome installed. The steel piece its bolted to looked like a piece of the titanic so the rust was dissolved with hydrochloric acid before a few thick coats of zinc gal then black epoxy. Better than new!


This weekend I started making the new engine loom. New TXL wire, new connectors for everything on the engine. If you want brand new plug+pin kits to replace crusty old, brittle, broken EJ engine harness connectors then iWire has everything. They work beautifully too when you've got the right crimp tool.




It's nearly halfway there. As much as I can do this weekend since the shielded cable I need for the cam+crank sensors didn't arrive. Paid for express post a week ago but it does no good if it takes them 7 working days to get the order out the door

[El_Freddo]

Ooh that chrome trim piece looks awesome! I hope it lasts for the life of the vehicle looking that good!

That wiring loom looks simple when you draw it out like that. Good time to change throttle body to a drive by wire if you a) don’t have one already and b) your ECU can run a DBW throttle body. Then you can ditch the IACV setup and KISS in the process

I’m looking forward to seeing this thing cruising again and hope this effort gets you there! I’m sure you’re more keen than I am though

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

No drive-by-wire on this build, way too complicated on top of an already over-complicated engine swap. No need to use it either unless I wanted cruise control which this ECU can't do.

Engine loom is complete Still waiting for my long time coming manifold gaskets then I can bolt it all back together and test it.

[El_Freddo]

Ooh this is getting exciting!

Do you have a plan C in the back of your head incase this plan B unexpectedly doesn’t work as intended?

I wish these gaskets would bloody well hurry up!

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Progress! Got her on the road again today!

Gave up waiting for the gaskets and just bought some locally, genuine subaru ones on Friday. Got the mani all bolted and plugged back together yesterdy arvo. I quickly beeped out my wiring loom end to end beforehand to check wires were all in the right place. Went to U-pull it first thing today to get another P/S reservoir (I broke the old one ) also snagged the cover pieces for the alternator/A/C belts and finally the correct A/C lines for this compressor (only took me 3 tries!)

Got that all bolted on and topped up all the fluids. Also re-calibrated the TPS because the number is still jumping around, the new loom didn't fix that A workaround for now, I moved the throttle to 2% with my foot and calibrated that to be the zero point. So with foot off at idle the TPS input reads a solid and steady 0%. After that it just fired right up, laptop saying full synch and zero errors, I call that a success! With the TPS reading solid 0%, what do you know the misfire at idle is gone now too. It comes back with throttle input, when that number starts jumping around again.

I think I'll have to ring up Haltech and ask them how to force the ECU to ignore TPS changes of less than 0.5% (hysteresis) this would fix my TPS problem instantly. I've done everything else. New wiring, new OEM TPS sensor, confirmed separate signal and chassis grounds. There's nothing else left to fix.

The drive was good though considering the incomplete tune. Made me feel like all this effort was actually worth it

[El_Freddo]

Hey Sam that does sound like progress!

Have you got that TPS pinned out correctly - as in are you sure all the wires do exactly what you think they’re doing? Second TPS/brand new from memory, should be working fine.

Hopefully an easy fix then off to the tuners again for the last time!

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Have you got that TPS pinned out correctly - as in are you sure all the wires do exactly what you think they’re doing? Second TPS/brand new from memory, should be working fine.

Yes, positive. I measured the pins out with an ohm meter way back before I started wiring. It's just regular old analog potentiometer inside. Outside legs of it go to 5v and sensor ground, with the middle leg going to the ECU throttle input. And the news from today is, it's all sorted! engine is running smooth, no misfires and everything is happy. Ready to be tuned properly.

I got on the blower to Haltech tech support this arvo and after 20 minutes on hold (probably their busiest time of week) got onto an expert, they remote logged into my laptop and checked it all over. Straight away they saw the problem! And if I'd known that page in the software existed then I'm sure I would have picked it up too. The so called "fuel load sensing" method was set to TPS. This means the ECU was using the TPS reading to determine how much load the engine was under and adjusting the injector on-time accordingly. Which is bad when the TPS reading is jumping around like that hence the misfire. It should actually be set to MAP so the ECU uses the MAP sensor to determine engine load. Now it doesn't matter at all if the TPS reading jumps around because it's not affecting anything.

He tweaked a few other minor things and within 15 minutes the engine was running smooth as with good AFR readings It's booked in to be dyno'd again next Friday. Then I'll be taking a few days off work to spend a few nights tenting somewhere and enjoying the drive

[El_Freddo]

Wow that’s nuts that one little parameter like that can screw up so much in the operation of the engine!

I’m guessing all that new wiring, while nice and good to know it’s fresh (plus that personal satisfaction), was not necessary in the grand scheme of things.

Awesome to hear that it’s running good now with decent air fuel mixture ratios. I can’t wait to hear the end result and what you think of the drive once the conversion is complete with tuning.

Then you’ll have to share a pic of your ear to ear smile

Cheers

Bennie

[Subyroo]

Then you’ll have to share a pic of your ear to ear smile

Cheers

Bennie

100% Bennie.

Congratulations Silverbullet your persistence has paid off, enjoy the ride!

[Silverbullet]

It's tuned! No major issues to speak of UNTIL! about halfway through when the brand new ignition coil carked it, dead short between 12v and earth for no apparent reason And at the end, the idle speed is erratic if the idle speed valve is plugged in. It will idle happily at 800rpm but give it a rev and it settles back to 1500 or 2krpm. We fiddled with the idle stop screw but were chasing our tails with it. Just un-plugged the idle valve and it's a steady 1k rpm now until I can figure out where it's getting the extra air from. Then get a better quality idle valve.

Was a full day today, got started on the dyno about 9:30-10AM and did the final drive/road test tuning around 4PM. But that includes more than 90 minutes of downtime for the coil. The final result for power output is *drumroll*
An eye watering 60.5kw at the front wheels

That means the 26.5" A/T tyres are sapping a whopping 40kw from the engine roughly. Hate to think what the old engine had at the wheels then, probably closer to 30kw. Even still, at this meagre number it torque steers moving from a stop and if I really poke it, breaks traction until 3rd gear which fights the torque steer so the end result being the front end sliding from side to side Probably going to chew through front tyres at a fair rate. Have to be gentle with it. Oh and now I know the driveline can get to 175kph without disintegrating, which is reassuring

Now to just drive the wheels off it

[El_Freddo]

A front LSD will sort out that torque steer - and an L series AWD locking box would help with general traction.

So, after all that effort are you actually happy with it at this stage? Do you think the EJ conversion is worth the effort (although yours is quite different to many conversions out there with the aftermarket engine management system)?

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

A locking AWD box would be nice along with a front LSD but I doubt I'll ever find one. Gotta stop somewhere anyway. I'll be happy with my 3.9 ratio 5 speed in EJ casings, whenever that is actually finished.

I am happy with it so far A modern(ish) EFI engine is a big quality of life upgrade from a carbie even if it wasn't the power boost I might have imagined. Sure an EJ25 would have more poke but...meh Some long road trips and seat time will help me say if it was worth all the effort. Most people would say hell no considering the money that went into it but I'm not most people and do tend to do things the hard way or at least a way that nobody else has done before. Having said that though, it would be easy to drop a SOHC EJ25 into this in the future with minimal extra work except a slight re-tune.

[Silverbullet]

Aaargh well moving from one problem now onto the next Was washing the car today, getting all the carport dust off it when I saw something that made my sweat run cold



Major, major paint bubble under the rear passenger door handle in my dazed confusion poked with a finger and it made a sound like cracking egg shell. It wasn't like this when I last washed it in early Feb.

The place that painted it almost exactly 10 years ago still exists from what I can see. Will drop in there tomorrow at least they have the best chance of matching the paint. If they can fix this I'll give it to them.

[El_Freddo]

10 years since it was painted?!! That’s nuts! Where did that time go??

Hopefully it’ll be an easy fix and they can match the paint, particularly the metallic fleck in the paint.

I reckon you’ll love the efi world; more power, better economy and the possibility of running your AC on a hot day with a fully loaded vehicle and a head wind!

Now to line up all of those conditions to properly test my theory

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Thanks Bennie, I will need to fill up on fuel tomorrow by the looks so will be interesting to see
a) how much it takes to fill that new tank?
b) how many K's till I use up that full tank?

Yeah, 10 years! 7 of those it spent under a car cover Alas the old paint shop no longer exists. Been to one to see if they could take it on, booked out until August but said he could do it. All trim on the door and rear quarter panel will have to come off. Second one I went to, nobody home, didn't answer the phone but rang me back. I sent photos yesterday, haven't heard back.

This could turn into a bit of a drama

[Silverbullet]

Well I got to enjoy my EJ'd wagon for 1 week. Drove it to work for 5 days, 1 day trip out for a bush walk then on the Sunday 2 mins from home during a slow speed, high steering angle turn onto a main(ish) road I heard a *bang* and the steering went all floppy Could hear tyre rubbing guard so limped it onto a quiet street (could still steer) Took me a while to work out what was wrong, saw this



Can just make out the snapped end of a radius rod there! and a split CV boot. Not entirely un-expected, these rods were custom made if you remember. I always wondered if they would break and it did! right where I would expect it to, where the flat forged area finishes. Got the shaft and rod out that evening after a tow truck home Only 2 mins from home too. That was nearly 2 weeks ago. Got my mate to make me another pair of radius rods this time out of more ductile material (1045 carbon steel instead of 4130 chromoly) Only got them back this afternoon.



About the hockey-stick angle; the chromoly rods had made themselves this shape over time due to me having modified L series control arms. Might have contributed to the break. So I got Mike to copy the angle on the new ones. Glad I did, they were a perfect fit! The flat forged area is also twice as thick with a smoother blend into the round diameter so should have no stress points. The round bar is thicker too, more like the stock diameter.



Glad I took the shaft to the old timer at the CV shop (been there 40 years! he worked on this car when it was young!) He said the outer joint was completely worn out, that boot was split for a lot longer than the radius rod snap event. So that's a new outer joint. Got it all back together today, new radius rod in both sides. Ready for a test drive tomorrow and maybe cars and coffee on Sunday if I can get myself out of bed before 8AM

[Subyroo]

I like reading about your resto Silverbullet, it is very interesting following your story.

[El_Freddo]

Geez Sam, you’re bloody lucky that didn’t happen on the open road at cruise speed!!

Those new units look beefy. Good call on mimicking the angle on the end, I think that will work out well in the long run.

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Got my car back from the AC specialist yesterday, EJ compressor is hooked up and pumping out ice cubes from the vents Also delighted by simple things like the engine speed picking up at idle when the compressor comes on which I could never achieve with the old carbie engine. Especially since this part of the tune was just guesswork by the tuner before the compressor was connected. The Haltech has the compressor clutch wire connected to an analog voltage input and switches to a different idle map when that input goes high. It is achieving the higher idle speed purely by adjusting the ignition advance at idle only.

Enjoying the drive now, good to be back. But today I realized something as I was leaving work and an epiphany as I was driving home. There is a vibration when parked in neutral/idling, which goes away if I push the clutch pedal in Along with a cacophany of other noise emanating from the gearbox. Made me wonder how much of the other vibrations I get at e.g 80km/h can be attributed to something inside the gearbox?

A call to Bennie! with your experience with L series gearbox innards, does it sound like my input or main shaft is bent? bearings completely flogged? Is gearbox implosion imminent?

Safe to say I am eagerly looking forward to the phone call I get to say my new gearbox is ready.

[El_Freddo]

Hmmm… concerning that the noises go away with the clutch pedal pressed in, disengaging the clutch.

It could be worth the time removing the starter motor and checking the tension on the clutch bolts and doing a general inspection of the clutch while you’re there - you obviously won’t see everything but you might notice something that’s not right. I was thinking an unbalanced flywheel but since it goes away with the clutch disengaged that doesn’t make sense and certainly points to the gearbox.

I highly doubt you’ve got a bent input shaft. Any flex like that will see it sheer off completely unless it’s in the early stages of this. There could be a bearing issue - however 99% of the time this shows up as a whinging noise first, vibration is a death knell from a dead bearing if it doesn’t kill gears before hand.

The spigot bearing could be no longer and allowing the input shaft to wonder off centre.

Really without being able to check it out I’m only throwing ideas out there. One can only hope that the vibration disappears with the new gearbox. If not then I’d be looking at the clutch components.

The AC sounds awesome, although it wouldn’t be hard to blow ice cubes in this weather! My heater in the brumby does it for the best part of the first 10km of my commute on these cold mornings unless I give it a +5 mins warm up before cruising.

Cheers

Bennie