Idle hands: assorted projects

[UnderControl]

Got brackets in black.

 

 

Then spent some time working out rerouting the fuel line and getting wires sorted.

 

 

 

[Rustbin]

Are you friends with Mr Bluehands? 

[UnderControl]

Cheap gloves make convenient caps, and in the case of the water in and out lets they made for a good way to keep from spilling more coolant on the floor when I flipped the engine on the stand.

 

Got the wire routing and branches all situated so it's on to turning rainbow spaghetti into black cannelloni.

 

 

[UnderControl]

Engine harness is all wrapped up.

 

 

 

[UnderControl]

While I've had things out of the way I wanted to go ahead and address my old fuel rail spacers. The nylon has seen better days and was probably never really appropriate anyway.

 

 

With 4 shiny 6061 spacers turned up and new gaskets on the valve covers and intake I was able to button up the top side.

 

 

 

[UnderControl]

Onto plumbing the turbo. Oil feed line is easy enough.

 

 

Using the same feed port as before.

 

 

This is about the time I started questioning my packaging decisions. Turbos are supposed to be kept with the drain no more than 15° from vertical and with my existing drain fittings I'm sitting at about 30. Did some figuring on how to make up a hard line.

 

 

Have some 3/8" stainless so went ahead and roughed out a new flange. It'll be tight.

 

 

 

Times like this make me really wish I had a mill. I may remake the flange out of 1/4" for some extra clearance. The real trick will be finding some 9/16-5/8 stainless tube locally.

 

[datzenmike]

 Can you not clock the compressor and turbine housings so the center housing oil return outlet rotates and is facing down? Gives you more clearance than present also.

[UnderControl]

Pictured is after clocking the center section to get the angle to ~13.5°. Had I thought that far ahead when building the up pipe I'd have put the flange more parallel with the ground or even angled a bit towards the engine. Doing so now would require more rework than just making a hard line.

 

Waiting on a call back from the metal gettin spot, but sounds like they may actually have a few feet of 5/8" 304 tube locally.

[UnderControl]

Printed up some 5/8 pie cuts to test clearance while I wait on the real deal. The test fit did verify that the 3/8 flange probably isn't gonna fly. So I'll get around to making to making up one out of 1/4.

 

While I wait on parts I started working on the coolant lines. Which led me to tonight's installment of making things that are cheaply and easily available.

 

 

I had previously used the throttle body coolant ports, but I no longer have the heater lines those branches from so I'm just going to use the heater ports. They're quite a bit larger than the -6 lines that actually go to the turbo.

 

 

Will need to get another fitting for the return line since the 90° fitting I used previously fouls on the wastegate.

 

 

[UnderControl]

Started playing around with getting the drain hard line made up. Also fully verified that the 3/8" flange won't work, even with a counter bore for the tube to sit in it's still too tall to use with these pie cuts. With the 1/4" flange it's still tight.

 

 

 

I'll end up switching out the bolts on the drain flange for studs to make it easier to install. I have new hardware for the turbo flange that should be lower profile on the way as well.

[UnderControl]

Oil drain fun continues.

 

 

New low profile nuts provide some clearance.

 

 

It clears the drain tube, but with the drain in place I don't think there would be any hope of actually getting a tool on it to tighten it. So, I may end having to bolt the turbo on to the crossover before installing it back on the car, which will make that fun to install.

 

 

The rest can be mostly straight, although after putting it back in the car I think I'll redo that last bit to kick it toward the back a touch.

 

 

[UnderControl]

Got the last section of tube adjusted and am happy enough with where it's landing. Will have a pretty short run for the AN hose.

 

 

I neglected to get any additional oics before cutting the tacks off the flange to get it all welded up.

 

 

Just need to weld the flange back on and assemble the hose before being able to cross that off the list. I'll also need to switch around my coolant hoses since the hard line gets in the way of running the return from the near side of the turbo.

[UnderControl]

Aside from tidying up the coolant and feed lines the turbo plumbing is done.

 

 

Tough to get a decent picture down there.

 

 

[UnderControl]

Axel is back in. Still need to pull and paint the diff cover.

 

 

Otherwise I been fiddling with piddly bits. Got a clamp on the oil feed line.

 

 

Put the down pipe back in to get the wideband wiring routed.

 

 

Then tore apart the interior and cut a big hole in the dash under the gauge pod for easier routing of wires and hose.

 

 

 Not really sure why a gauge that should pull <5A would require a relay, but the manual calls for one and I have some micro relays and holders on hand so meh.

 

 

Don't have any climate control at this point so I did a bit of probing to find an already fused, switched power wire to commandeer. ignore the twisted wires, just a quick test until the proper connectors show up.

[UnderControl]

Continuing to knock out small tasks to the end of completing this project. Really stretching the definition of post worthy at this point, but meh. Here's where the air filter is probably going. 

 

 

 

Ultimately I'd like to box it in and duct the grille to it, but that may be out of scope for the moment. Otherwise, just doing some basic bolting things on. Still trying to decide how I'm going to handle the power steering cooler, but plenty of things to worry about while I figure it out.

[UnderControl]

Got tired of trying to figure out how to make the power steering cooler not look like ass up front. So, back to an earlier thought of mounting it to the fan shroud.

 

 

Made a clamp to attach the upper section.

 

 

And added a few extra windows to the shroud for air flow over the cooler.

 

 

Haven't decided if I'll make another aluminum clamp for the hoses or if I'll just end up using some p clips.

[UnderControl]

Aluminum clamp it is. I was just going to use p clips, but getting them into position was a pain in the ass. 

 

 

Decided to remake the oil drain line. The stainless braided hose was so stiff it was impossible to get on and off with the turbo actually bolted down. This time I went with a nylon braid. It's still finicky to get in, but do able.

 

 

With that done I did a quick test of removing and reinstalling the crossover with the turbo attached. Wasn't as difficult as I had expected. The quick release clamps definitely helped although a 3rd hand would have been nice. 

[UnderControl]

Wrapped up the radiator mounting situation. Wanted the upper mounting to be a bit more solid than what was being provided by just tightening the cover. So, I turned up some bosses so I can bolt the radiator to it.

 

 

While I was at it I also added some lightness and style to the cover. 

 

 

As long as I was playing around with aluminum on the lathe I figured I'd address the broken plastic lock pulls on the square body.

 

 

 

Threads could use to be cut a bit deeper, but I bottomed out the tap so I'll have to do a relief bore to get any more. Much easier to break into with something you can actually wrap a coat hanger around.