1975 LA Lancer Buildup - First Build - Page 3
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Home
24th June 2005 - More wiring...
Well, not much has progresses since the last update, mostly due to lack of time. The wiring has been mostly completed, with the battery isolator switch installed along with a fuel cut out switch and the roll cage has been dummy fitted.
The battery isolator was not as easy as first thought. Due to recent changes in CAMS regulations, you must ensure that the engine stops running when the battery is disconnected, this is a problem for a simple switch as the alternator will continue to power the engine should the switch be used when it is running, therefore I had to source a 6 point switch. This type of switch has the large terminals for battery power, as well as two other switched terminals, in this case we have used the normal switched terminal for the alternator, ensuring that it cannot charge the car when the switch is turned. The other switched terminal is actually set the other way around, it is off normally and on when the switch is turned. This is setup to go from the engine side of the main terminal to earth via a resistor. In doing this, it ensures any residual power left in the charging and ignition system is wasted off through the resistor, reducing the chances of sparks or damage to the charging/ignition systems. The main problem I had was sourcing a device, most places only supply the single switch and in the end I had to drive to Revolution Racegear, which is almost an hour away, just to buy the isolator!
The fuel safety switch was almost as painful, the module used is designed for LPG systems and basically it only provides power to the pump (or solenoid in the LPG system) when it is receiving a pulse from the engines ignition system. It also provides a few seconds of power when it first receives power, this allows you enough fuel to start the car and then the normal operation takes over. This is a much needed safety device, without it, the fuel pump would always supply fuel when the ignition was switched to the on position. In the event of an accident, this could cause major problems. The supply issue here was that most LPG places are only open week days and therefore I could not get there when they were open. I tried all of the general spare parts places but they did not supply them and directed me to LPG installers (that was when they knew what I was talking about...) In the end I asked my father to go and get me one, he responded with I have one in the shed that I only used for a few months. That made things considerably easier!
The roll cage is mostly sitting in the car at present, with hose clamps holding it in place. It has only been put there so that I could see where everything is going so that the wiring is not going to interfere with the cage. All is looking good so far, but as the drivers seat has not been mounted, I cannot fit the cage properly yet. I will also need to get some assistance when fitting the cage to ensure that I do not scratch or damage the body work as it is quite heavy and difficult to manoeuvre.
26th June - Wiring almost done...
A lot of work has been completed over the weekend and now most of the wiring is completed, pending testing everything of course. The dash has been installed and hopefully it will not have to come out again. All of the heater controls have been tested and are working, which is a great relief as they are very hard to get to for any troubleshooting.
Both the standard stereo and replacement stereo have been wired up, however the replacement stereo still needs to be mounted properly and none of the speakers have been mounted as I am yet to decide exactly where they are going to go. I also need to purchase some 6x9 speakers for the rear so that I can hopefully hear the music over the rest of the car.
The following pictures (click on each photo for a larger image to open in a new window) show the installed dash, safety switch, fuse box etc. and the view of the rollcage from the rear of the car. The cage is just sitting in place at the moment, the two rear bars will sit further outwards when it is properly mounted.
The only wiring left to be completed, is the engine connections. I am waiting for a oil and water temperature senders so that I can ensure that I wire them up correctly. Also, I need to decide on a style of alternator and purchase one as well. There are still a few small things left to fit on the dash as well, some of which will have to wait until the windscreen wiper arms are installed as it will be much easier to get to them at present.
In the mean time, I will hopefully be installing the seats and mounting the roll cage properly. That is of course assuming I get the time to do all this...
5th August - Lots of work completed
A lot of effort has been put in to the Lancer of late, but unfortunately it has been slow going, so the amount of work completed doesn't seem to add up to the time spent...
I know I have said before that the wiring is almost complete, but now it is really almost complete, the only items left to wire up are:
All other systems have been tested as much as possible, not having the engine running obviously effects this. I have also covered the engine bay wiring with split convoluted tubing to neaten things up. This still allows access to the wiring if needed, but makes the engine bay look considerably cleaner and also protects the wiring from dirt, fluids and heat.
An alternator from an EF/EL Falcon has been purchased and dummy fitted. As the Falcon uses a ribbed belt, I needed to change the pulley over to a V style, which was relatively easy. It has also mounted on to the factory location reasonably well with only a proper bolt and spacer needed for it to be properly mounted. As the Alternator puts out 110amps, it should have more then enough power for the car.
The tail shaft has been reinstalled in to the car with new universal joints, this caused some dramas as I managed to damage both new universal joints and my vice when trying to fit them! The upside of this is the replacements universal joints appear to be a much higher quality item, the downside is I spent the best part of a day sorting them out and broke the replacement vice in the process... The vice will be going back to the supplier as there are obvious air pockets in the casting, indicating a weakness in the location that it broke.
A considerable amount of time has been spent of removing the sound deadener from the interior of the car. The reason for removing this is that the thirty year old rubber goo has started to form crack and these cracks are rather sticking, it should also remove about 10-15kg of weight from the car, which can only be a good thing. This is a very slow process as you need to heat it up and the scrape it off, then clean up the small amounts left, being that you need to heat gun on, it is also a very hot job and you need to be careful that you don't burn your hands in the process. Once this is completed, I will then be able to fit the headlining, rollcage, carpet, battery and seats. All of which are ready to be fitted.
I also managed to get the car down to the local exhaust shop to get a new system fitted. This was need as the DOHC engine has a different exhaust manifold and would not fit the standard exhaust. It also gave me a chance to test out the new car trailer, which worked very well, the only issue I have is that the tie down points need to be moved as they are in the wrong locations. The new exhaust system is a 2 inch system with a single resonator and muffler, this should be plenty big enough for the engine. I also purchased some material to make an exhaust manifold gasket as I cannot obtain a new one. This is yet to be fitted as I have not spent the time on working out the size and cutting it out. I also don't know what would be the best way to cut the material so I will need to do some research on that.
Hopefully I will be able to get some pictures taken in the next week or two (or three or four or five....) to give an indication of how the car is looking.
15th August - New Pictures
I thought it was time to show a couple of new pictures to let you know how things were going. (click on each photo for a larger image to open in a new window)
The first picture shows the engine bay, with most of the wiring in place and the new exhaust, it is starting to look complete. However there are some fairly substantial pieces missing, such as the carby's, cooling fan and ignition leads.
The second picture shows the interior with the floor half stripped. This is very time consuming work and something I have been unable to do at night due to the noise of the heat gun (I should really buy a quieter one...) Completing this step is crucial at the moment as it then allows me to fit the remainder of the interior that I have sitting around.
I was going to show some pictures of the new exhaust system, but I am not overly impressed with the quality of the exhaust and found it difficult to get decent pictures with the limited space. Once I get the car back up on the stands, I may try to take some photos and explain why I am not happy with it.
13th October - New domain
Due to the world conspiring against me, there has been no progress on the Lancer over the last couple of months. The next few weeks are not looking any better so it may be a while before any meaningful work is completed.
What I have managed to do is move this site to a new domain, www.hoonboy.com. This will allow me to post more information and photos without the 15mb limit of the old free site. Hopefully you like the slightly different look and find the additional information useful or at least interesting (hopefully it is all correct too!)