Project "Marginal gains..."
Turbo Mini Forums

So my original plans for this car were to run it as it stood and for it to just evolve as a running restoration,

This is the only image I have of the car at the start of all of this and I had already photoshopped a black roof on it;



I should have known better as I can't recall ever having been able to stick to a plan of "leaving it as it is" on any of my projects

As it stood in the photo it was a 2.0L Vauxhall XE - Naturally aspirated on bike ITB's running on a standard Motronic ECU, as becomes apparent further into the build it becomes turbo charged and has bespoke fabricated suspension / subframe and all running gear.

For two reasons I started with the electrics and dash / gauges. I had some problems starting and running the car and the deeper I looked the more clear it became that the loom needed serious attention, so the first stage began...

Typical of the sort of things found, this is the main ignition feed from the column:



The wiring behind the dash;



The reason why it suddenly stopped starting



The jubilee clip and the tape were holding the two halves together - now has a new lightweight battery cable fitted inside.

The second reason was that I wanted an earlier style look to the car.

So out with the old, I removed all of the heavy later dash and associated upper and lower padding etc...

I decided on a sort of a modern carbon fibre 'Works' style dash - not as nice as an original works type but lightweight and functional




So rewiring both the chassis and the engine loom at the same time also started

Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 26th Oct, 2017.

I really like this idea, been thinking of something similar myself!

this is similar to what i've done altough yours looks a bit better than mine.
great look though

BHP sells engines, but Torque wins races!

Thanks for the comments, it looks better in the photos than in the flesh but is functional and pretty lightweight for what it is, the aim from the start was to make it a single unit which could be easily removed after disconnecting a few items









Nearly finished the bits behind the dash, the rewiring, this houses most of the relays, circuit breakers and master switch.

Also finished the centre binnacle bar the connector plug

Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 6th Jul, 2017.

i think it looks brilliant

one day boost will be mine!

I do like nice tidy wiring

Nice im redoing my dash.

4mm ply tho

13.95 1/4 mile on a 2.95 fd. Carnt be that hard to beat!

Thanks again for the comments

I have removed all fuse boxes and relays from the engine bay and along with an electronic master switch they all now live behind the driver side dash which is now a touch congested itself, this shows the dash pulled forward and how close it all gets when it is pushed back in place.



I know it's not to all tastes but my chosen route, it's a 20XE in a std roundnose, now the wiring behind the dash is pretty well done it's the engine sensor harness wiring to be done

Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 6th Jul, 2017.

Nice, do you have a build thread on the car / engine?

Build thread would be good to see! :)

Got a bit more done before departing to the cultural oasis that is Rockingham :p

As already mentioned the loom has been made modular in as much that the intention is to start with Motronic 2.5 and then just change a few parts of the loom to convert to the Pectel SQ6 programmable ECU. I have also made switching to M2.8 Dispack a possibility - mainly to get rid of the Dissy body as it makes getting the rad in and out difficult but SQ6 makes more sense than to do this.

This is the 'centre' part of the engine bay loom which is modular (Containing the 'noisy' stuff):



The two parts on the right hand side are common to both M2.5 and SQ6



The lower part, the injector loom can switch between the Bosch Mini Timer type injectors and the higher flow Aston Martin V8 injectors I made for my Midget SQ6 loom: (They both fit the same inlet manifold and the same fuel rail)



The SQ6 injector loom shown above and the Bosch type injectors below

The upper part of the loom is used for the AFM and ICV with M2.5 and is the Ignition harness for the SQ6.



As the M2.5 Motronic only uses a discrete position TPS I have also got to fit a proper throttle potentiometer and it make sense ro use the GSXR one which comes with the ITB's, so I will pot this up and fit a suitable connector:



Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 6th Jul, 2017.

I need to see a picture of your engine bay now...

Again just a bit done due to work,

Centre binnacle has a connector to allow to be removed as a single unit leaving all gauges and wiring intact, I'm still toying with putting the brake fluid reservoirs behind the binnacle (with a suitable drip tray / cover) trying to keep them out of the engine bay.



This is the connector:





And the mating half to the chassis / PJB loom:

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It carries the VSS to the odometer.

The main engine sensor loom is nearly finished now, happy with how well hidden the injector loom is. The three connections on top of the fuel rail are for MAP, AIT and Fuel Pressure.


Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 6th Jul, 2017.

wow this is awesome you should turn this into your build thread and change the title!

also these type of engines can you lose the dizzy?

Cheers Taz,

Yes, the 'Dizzy' is a pain especially for the rad & fan - yes you can get rid of it (and I intend to at some point) if you convert to the later 2.8 Motronic or a mappable ECU - just needs the cam changing to a later spec one and either a blanking plate or a later spec end cap and cam phase sensor

Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 16th Jun, 2012.

This is very smart. I'd like to do something similar nice time mine is apart.

In the 13's at last!.. Just

Pedal box mods...

I want to make a bias pedal box with the master cylinders inside the car to try and free up some space in the engine bay.

So started with some brembo master cylinders to try and see how they would package



In short they don't, too long and difficult to mount with rod end fixings

Flange mounted masters (a chunk heavier too, the Brembos have ally pushrods), much easier to mount:



But I want to try and hIde them away a little better

Start to make the mountings up:



Mounted under the dash:



Fabricating the inner structure:



Pushrods shortened to help with clearance:



Finished in as much as I won't modify again before I use it, but it's pretty ugly as it's a patchwork quilt derived from the standard pedal box but I will probably just use it to test the concept and see if it's stiff enough.



The ally fittings on the pressure side are just for checking clearance during trial fitting, but I will probably use ally on the feed side



Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 6th Jul, 2017.

Hi mate, nice loom do you work for Raychem ?? as i was looking at some of there stuff costs a lot!

simon.

I have started posting on Instagram also my name on there is turbomk1golf

Nothing is impossible it just costs more and takes longer.

Hi Simon,

I have been following your build thread for a while now, very nice car

Yes the Raychem / Deutsche stuff can get very expensive very quickly...

I have a good friend who is an ex F1 sparky who retired some time ago who sold me a lot of his old stock as far as connectors go and various other bits and pieces, but I get a bit of a reality check when I have to buy something at full RRP

Cheers

Hi mate thanks,

Yes i have been looking at this stuff, have you any old stuff you would like to pass on??

I have started posting on Instagram also my name on there is turbomk1golf

Nothing is impossible it just costs more and takes longer.

Simon,

One of the biggest costs is the 'tooling'...

The Deutsche crimp tools alone can cost £100's, combine this with the fact that you are pretty well obliged to use Raychem type 55 wire (amongst others) which can cost £100 or so per roll in order to get it to fit inside Deutsche type terminals

I bought a Raychem splice tool (Just for joining two wires together) and that was £140 a few years ago through a contact I know.

If you do go this way make sure sure you factor in the wire and tooling costs, sure I have £200 connectors I could sell for a 1/4 of the cost but it might be uneconomic to try and use them due to other costs

Below is one of the cheaper heavy duty type crimping tools:

http://uk.farnell.com/deutsch/hdt-48-00/cr...6-20/dp/1817060

Cheers

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 25th Oct, 2012.

O I see all the radio kit we have at work is all this stuff thats were i got the idea you see.

I have started posting on Instagram also my name on there is turbomk1golf

Nothing is impossible it just costs more and takes longer.

What kind of radio?

MRTC?

Motorsport race digital radios?

Or MOD type stuff?

However, if you have this type of stuff at work.....

Then somebody there has all of these crimp tools

Edited by Aubrey_Boy on 25th Oct, 2012.

MOD stuff we send it all back when it gos man down!

I have sent you a Pm so not to spam your page mate.

I have started posting on Instagram also my name on there is turbomk1golf

Nothing is impossible it just costs more and takes longer.

So do i

When are we rewiring the Orange lol?

On 4th Jun, 2012 apbellamy said:
I do like nice tidy wiring

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/