Aircon - One step backwards two steps forwards

Unfortunately it was a huge case of Yeah Right.

Phil has been an immense help and fantastic source of advice and wiring diagrams for various aircon systems, but as much as we tried we haven't been able to find anything that matches what I have. Add to this the fact that I didn't really know what all the elements of the aircon were and then on top of that a lot of the parts were missing. Some had been raided from the car already and some I just didn't realise were part of the unit.

On top of that I have quite a few wires that I have no clues about what they do. The only way I can overcome all these problems is to go back a step and start over. Garry Pegler luckily has another couple of Celicas I can raid, so I spent 6 hours with the donor car shown below and I again pulled the aircon out, but this time I pulled everything out that was attached to that loom and labeled it as I went. This means I have all the fuse blocks , relays and plugs that go to things like cigarette lighters, hazard flasher switch, overdrive switch and plugs to the dash panel etc. You name it I have it. So this time maybe. Anyway out of interest this is the actual donor car. Pretty hard to recognise but it is a Celica.

This is the full loom. It basically forms a square, that runs along the firewall down the drivers side inner guard, along behind the grille and back up the passengers side inner guard to hook up at the firewall again.


Here you can see the loom is now opened up. I have used Freezer ties to hold the wiring together or it would be a hell of a mess. By doing this I can remove wires relatively easily but still keep some semblance of order. You also get an idea of how many wires I am going to be working with. Still with a bit of patience I should be able to isolate what is aircon and what isn't.



This is all the tape and plastic sheathing that was removed from the loom.

Because I have everything now I am able to trace every wire to its origin and establish if it is integral or critical to the aircon components. If it isn't I am able to delete it. Here you can see all the labels I have been adding to the wires.

This is one circuit I have deleted that I might try and do something with later on. Its for the electric mirrors. I have already bought some side mirrors, they are a bit like those you find on a modern Japanese car only a lot smaller and they are colour keyed to the body so are quite discrete. They have a mirror lens inside the housing that moves in all directions manually. If I can find an electric mirror mechanism small enough to fit inside the housing it could be worth having a play around with.

Oh well back to it.... thank goodness I have carpet on the garage floor. Its bloody hard on the back and the knees. Still, being able to drive in total comfort in summer should make it all worthwhile.




On another note totally unrelated to cars......

Its Halloween today so I thought I'd have a bit of fun. I set up this battery charger in the shed and pulled the door down so I could see the kids coming but they couldn't see me....

I wired up this horn button to provide an easy to operate press of the button switch that is connected to a couple of wires fed out under the garage door.

....And they lead to this puppy..... its a 12 Volt siren. It is a bit like an air raid siren only tiny so it fair screams...... as you can see I hid it behind the Pot Plant at the front door.
When each victim came to the door it was just a case of hitting the horn button just as the kid was about to knock on the door. I had to pick the victims carefully as I didn't want to terrify the little kids or those that were with parents. It was the pimply faced teenagers who in my opinion shouldn't be getting treats, so I was happy to oblige with the tricks.

The best reaction was a kid that leapt back and was just about ready to leave along with his mates, when Janine opened the door and provided them with a few treats, but not before I heard one of them say "don't get too close or you'll set that bloody thing off again". Haaa haaa.

Next year it might be a truck horn or maybe I'll rig up a ghost that jumps out or something, now that would be funny!

Front Axle - Independent Front Suspension (IFS)

Yahoo! Its in!

Yep that's right the front end is in. The crew at Juniors Kustom Rides had a man spare so it meant the front end was manufactured and installed in double quick time with two working on it.

As you can see from the pics I went with the Stainless Steel A Arms. I'm so glad I did now that I've seen the pics, they look fantastic.

You can also see they have installed a Commodore power steering rack.

This is so cool.....yeah yeah okay so I'm getting a bit excited.

General - Update

Its been a while since the last post so I thought I'd fire another update through so you all know whats going on.

You'd think because its gone quiet that not much has been happening..... quite the contrary is true though.

Engine
You might recall that the engine purchased in Christchurch is having a stopover in Wellington with Phil Bradshaw as Phil will be wiring it and changing the Cam belt while it is with him. This made sense given the chassis is being constructed in Wellington also. In addition to that, it means that once it arrives back here with the chassis it will be able to be fired up.

While I was in Wellington recently I called on Phil and while I was there I was treated to a blast up the road in Phil's Toyota Supra that has had a Lexus V8 shoehorned into it. Now it's fair to say I was expecting big things from this.... I wasn't disappointed! Phil let the car warm up a bit then it was given a good bit of Jandal. The sound was amazing, but what blew me away was just how quickly and easily that rev counter flew up to 5 or 6 thousand revs in every gear. Just incredible.

Okay, now I am picturing driving the Tudor with this technology on board. I'm so excited I'm beside myself.



Aircon
The aircon has been a pain in the arse to date and that's putting it politely. To date I have tried to deciphre the wiring with no less than 6 different wiring diagrams. I now know why the Japs have their cars so sorted. Nothing is ever the same, each model is an evolution of the previous with constant improvements being added. This however has a downside for someone like me trying to unravel the intricate mysteries of Toyota aircon. I reckon I am close to cracking it though and once I do it should progress pretty rapidly. Hopefully the next update with this will be that I am ready to dismantle the components and repackage them into an underfloor unit. For now though.... just bewildered.


Chassis Build
All is go here too. Juniors Kustom Rides have finished installing the Jag Rear and have taken the chassis across to the other side of the workshop to have the front end installed. I have given them the go ahead to install stainless steel A Arms too. This will mean I don't have to contend with chrome that chips and rusts and can weaken the structure. I will end up with something like the picture below. The A Arms are the triangular arms that hold the Hub in place and bolt back to the chassis. The top one can be seen quite clearly in the picture below and there is another at the bottom that is a bit harder to see....



Alloy Quick Change Diff Cover
You will recall I bought the diff housing from Magoos a few weeks back. It is straight out of the mould and still needs to be polished. It is bloody expensive getting this done so I thought I'd have a crack at it myself. The same guy that gave me the aircon unit (Garry Pegler) sells/distributes hand tools and power tools to the trade and obtained for me, an electric die grinder and metal polishing kit with various buffing wheels, a spindle, flap wheels and polishing bars. With a bit of elbow grease and a ton of time not to mention a chunk of patience I should be able get the housing gleaming. Watch this space.


Application
Lastly, some of you will be aware that I am hoping to make this rod in such a way that the body can be removed and swapped for a Coupe Body. That way you get two rods in one. Obviously there are a number of regulations involved with getting a rod on the road not least of which is certification.

There is provision in the certification process to apply to the technical committee if you are wanting to do something a little different or unique. This proposal I guess falls into that category.

If there is one thing I have learned from building the Coupe, is that if you stick to the rules and accept the guidance being given the cert process is relatively easy, so I intend starting off on the right foot. So the application is about to be sent.... I'll let you know the outcome as soon as I hear.