taking it back from the rust monster....

[greydog]

Very nice work. Cad at it's best.
Dan

[Alvin]

subscribed!

[Mattk]

Very nice work!!

I'm doing the same style motor mounts. Already got my ES bushings and have made mounting plates for the motor side. I'm just waiting on being able to visit the steel yard to pick up all my DOM along with all the other needed bits for the rear suspension.

Keep up the good work

Cheers Matthew

[lagomorph]

I decided to take a break from fabrication and move back to wiring for the rest of the week.

Step 2 of datsun wiring: install harness, mount ECU, body electric module, and fuse panel. Then lament over how much wiring needs to be altered further to reach everything now that the engine is turned sideways. And figure out a solution for the enormous connectors in the passenger compartment, make an extension to connect the engine harness from the fuse panel on the drivers side, to the connectors now on the passenger side. And figure out how to shrink the huge plastic box that holds the engine management fuse panel.

ECU, fuse panel and body management boxes all in their respective locations. Very close to where they lived in the focus.


and the engine compartment miles of spaghetti.


I'll pull the engine in the next couple of weeks and weld up the mounts all solid-like. Might make a few changes to the drivers side one prior to final welding. I might have to make more clearance to remove the engine, but I'll see once I try and pull it.

[Gregs672000]

Ya know those commercials they're running on TV for some kind of online shopping site that is sooo mind blowing that the top of people's heads pop off in a cloud of purple dust...?

That's what would happen to me if I were working on the wiring right now... Good luck, be patient!!!

[lagomorph]

more wiring !!!!

Today I wisely waited in the parking lot at the junkyard between monsoons and used a break between dousings to scour the yard for viable fusebox options. At 9" x 5", the focus one was not going to work. I found a Ford Escape one that was 11" x 3", snipped that beast out, and fled the yard before another downpour soaked the unfortunate souls still pulling parts.
After most of the afternoon of swapping pins, soldering, heatshrinking, and crimping wires - I ended up with this creation. I still have at least a day of work to do on it.
From this mess -


to all the fuses in place and accounted for. Was able to reduce the huge maxi-ato fuses to the smaller square ones, and the regular ATO to mini ato. Just that saved bunches of room.


I'm still going to have to extend wires. The relay wires aren't long enough to reach the slots. I also have to de-pin each relay block, and move the wires to the escape ones that fit in the fuse panel. And lengthen all the wires for the mini rectangular relays so they reach the far end of the box. But, it has enough slots, and I left some wires in the box for expansion if I want to add fused items later. I still have to come up with a solution for the door jamb boxes, they're huge, and only have about 15 or so wires in them. That will be on a drier trip to the yard.

Adios, huge power distribution box!

[Gregs672000]

Purple dust just came out of my head... Poof!

[greydog]

Man, your patience and tenacity amazes me.
I'd take a look at that and decide it was time for a beer while I thought about how to start.
Then I'd realize I was missing something and have another beer while I decided if I should press ahead or wait until I had all the pcs.
Then I'd figure my attention might not be up to the task after a couple beers so I'd decide to wait 'till tomorrow and go have another beer.

A month later, I'd be wondering why it's so hard for me to get anything done....
Dan

[Gregs672000]

Man, your patience and tenacity amazes me.
I'd take a look at that and decide it was time for a beer while I thought about how to start.
Then I'd realize I was missing something and have another beer while I decided if I should press ahead or wait until I had all the pcs.
Then I'd figure my attention might not be up to the task after a couple beers so I'd decide to wait 'till tomorrow and go have another beer.

A month later, I'd be wondering why it's so hard for me to get anything done....
Dan

Yep!!!!

[lagomorph]

Quick update while I'm at work.
I managed to pick up a cheap set of Miata seats, those will need to be recovered. I might have to pick up my in-laws upholstery sewing machine to make some seat covers. That's a warm weather job for sure.

The wiring harness is 'in' the car. A little more than setting it in the trunk, but not much. Both fuse boxes are located, still need to make brackets to hold them. Hole is punched next to the steering column exit hole for the engine management harness to join up with the interior plug. Still need to order/source grommets for the firewall. A pillar junction boxes are eliminated, basically interior harness is one piece now. HVAC wiring extras have been stripped out, only need the wiring for the fan since everything else is manual.
List of what I've removed from the harness so far:
HVAC temp sensors and wiring, airbag sensor wiring, airbag controller, A/C relay and wiring, seatbelt trigger wiring, seatbelt sensor wiring, third brake light wiring, rear wiper, rear defrost, door ground wiring, & hatch release wiring.
There's a significant chance that something won't work after all this. I should be putting power to the harness after I get the wiper plug modified to accept the Datsun plug, and work on getting power to the heater fan and switch. I still need to weld in grounding studs for all the ground terminals in the ford harness, and then test the engine harness before putting the body on the frame, and hooking up the engine wiring. I'll do a test by checking for key-on power at the injectors, and at the fuel pump connections.
I also should drop off my fuel tanks somewhere to be grafted together. Would be nice to have the fuel pump and tank mounted, and fuel lines ran prior to testing as well.
Somewhere in there I also need to remove the engine and trans, and 240 weld the mounts to the frame, and then paint them, and reinstall the engine/trans. Still haven't got a lead on a Miata NC driveshaft cheap enough to chop up.
Lots to do if this car will move under it's own power this summer.

[Linda]

I finally understood something,,,,the bit about "seat covers"... LOL

Linda

[lagomorph]

Hooked power to the fuse box today after welding in some grounding studs throughout the car. Headlight fuse keeping blowing, so I need to attend to that, and the pats system is not powering up. Hope to figure out both issues next week.

[lagomorph]

Spent a few days working on the header. Multiple trips to auburn for tubing resulted in me not getting done. But, a few more hours and I'll be ready to tack in the collector. 1 5/8" od tubing to a 2.5" outlet collector, which will get stepped down to 2.25".
Making progress, slowly.

[Alvin]

some inspiration..a Duratec-powered Lada with a beautiful header:

[youtube][/youtube]

[lagomorph]

That sounds quite acceptable. I hope my exhaust sounds as good