37 replies to this topic

[madazv8]

That rear hose is the only real Achilles Heel in this conversion. It’s a total nightmare to access if it leaks which mine did after the hose clip chewed its way through. Many many months off road (due to lack of time mostly) and many failed attempts at getting a hose to fit back on properly.
Think I used a reducer the first time when the engine was out but I tried all sorts of hoses to fit back on while the engine was still in situ.

I assume you just went with a bit of a bend then.  I need to keep a look out for a second hand pipe, as by the looks of it the clamp will do the same as what happened to you.  Could get fancy and weld up a question mark shape, so only a small straight reducer would be needed.  Were you able to get to is from under the car ? I'll need to review how I positioned the clamp heads for future access.

[madazv8]

Pondering on this rear water pipe.  I really don't want to have to deal with this if it fails - either a nightmare to access,  or engine out job,  so I need to address the stress the rubber hose is under, thanks to my ill thought out modification. Best to spend the time now while it is outside the car.  Also,  I tried fitting the oil cooler or the oil take-off modification I mentioned earlier,  and neither fit past the water pipe.  It was maybe welded back together slightly rotated,  although I did mark it prior ?  So I will cut it once again,  rotate it about 10mm to the right, and if I can find a pipe the same diameter I'll push it back by about 10mm also.  the perspective in the picture hides this,  but the hose is off the top mount by about half it's diameter when it is mounted on the lower pipe.  That should finally get it into a position where the hose doesn't have unnecessary stress,  and there is clearance for the oil take-off. Will be mighty close to the pot joint,  but don't see a problem with that,  and it's probably how they are as per the original intention by pro-mo. 

 

Also just realised,  no way the exhaust is going in.  Lucky I I didn't assemble the left hand side.  I hope it will go in if I take off the left hand pot joint. Praying I don't have to take the diff off again, especially as I just assembled the right hand side drive line. Or maybe it has to come out any to allow the water pipe to come out,  can't remember now. EDIT: No,  just the LHS pot joint.  Water pipe can come out easily.

 

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Dunno why it looks so beat up ! It's not that bad in real life !

Edited by madazv8, 06 June 2025 - 01:32 PM.

[madazv8]

So today I got the water hose off for modification - again.  If I cut the mounting tab off, and weld it back on a few degrees anti-clockwise, the orifice of the pipe should be in a position where the rubber hose is happier to mate up. That's the plan,  if it doesn't work out then it's onto E-bay for a replacement.  Not terribly cheap unfortunately.

 

EDIT: Utter rubbish. I came up with that idea when the pipe was on the bench.  If you check the last pic on post #23, I obviously can't do this.  Thankfully caught my stupidity in time before and damage was done. Just rotating the main pipe before the bend now.

 

Tackled the oiling system tonight, and boy did I swear a bit.  Now I know how,  it's easy and wouldn't phase me again.  Firstly I went to attach the oil pipes for the filter re-location.  Immediate #$%.  These buggers don't want to go on.  Massive improvement by heating them up, they became fairly compliant after that. Next issue is how tight together everything is plus I'm laying on the floor,  the subframe is on axle stands, and this is a crap way to work.  Once one hose clamp is on, it is really hard to get the second on due to how tight it all is.  Plus, the tail of the first clamp gets in the way of the second.  gotta mess around a bit to eventually get there. Of course,  once I got everything in place,  the last clamp I tightened let go.  Now these are really good brand, UK made, kite marked hose clamps that Pro-Mo supply.  They don't give us rubbish. Maybe I was too enthusiastic with the wrench, but the hose was still rotating on the stub.  Anyway,  I had to re-do that one and go through the pain of getting the second clamp into place once again.

 

If I were to do this again,  Fit the pipes to the take-off while it is on the bench, prior to screwing into the block  Be pretty easy then.   Then once the engine is in place fit the other end of the pipes to the oil cooler mount, before attaching to the subframe. That would have saved an hour or so.

 

 

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Just out of interest,  took the hose clamp apart. It is obvious these are solid clamps, especially compared to the stuff out your local hardware store. Unfortunately the screw bolt is the weak point.  Maybe that's deliberate. Not like it's the first clamp I ever chewed through,  but they are usually the ladder type which are definitely weak. 

 

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Finally, tonight I fitted up the oil take off to replace the original water-to-oil cooler. I may do a 180 on this,  as I am learning that being a smart ass and making modifications is constantly biting me in the ass.  So here it is.  The AN10 fittings supplied with the cooler kit seem a bit large, great for a V8 or something.  Don't really have the inclination to go and swap everything to smaller AN8.  Due to the size, the AN10 foul the block,  so the only way to position the take-off (which is a new one compared to previous picture) is with the fittings pointing downwards.  That way the oil pipes will have to loop under the subframe then up to the inner wing.  The plan is to mount the cooler in front of where the original SPI AUX fan is, and have that wired up to a switch in the cabin.  Oh, and I need to ground that pressure switch or it will be useless,  the oil take-off o-rings insulate the fitting obviously.

 

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Edited by madazv8, 21 June 2025 - 12:56 PM.

[racerlike]

Nice work, looking good. Hope you get that pipe sorted. It’s a real nuisance that one they way they don’t quite line up and that they are different bore sizes

[madazv8]

Removed post.  Was a question about brake pipe flares which is covered in the Tech Section.

Edited by madazv8, 06 June 2025 - 09:18 PM.

[madazv8]

Took a break from the dirty stuff and made up a dash insert today. Was very straight forward. Thankfully I was able to borrow a router which is really required for the complex shape of the Yamaha clocks.  Separated the back case from the clocks and used that to draw a template line on the back side of the wood panel.  When it is good to go the back case sits inside the routed hole,  and the two halves screw together as normal.  Nice neat way to mount them.  I used 6mm MDF.  Probably not the best choice of wood as it can peel on the surface.  e.g. when using the hole saw for the gauge.  Best to drill from the front after making a pilot hole - or use better wood.  Hardest part is thinking in mirror image  when marking the back of the wood.  Here is the layout,  will wrap it in carbon fibre to suit the rest of the carbon wrapped MPI dash I have.

 

Can't say I am super happy with the Ali-Express gear indicator.  I have a feeling I ordered the white digits version,  looks like it will be hard to see due to how distinct the LCD bits are.

 

 

 

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[madazv8]

Another issue with MDF is that is is so absorbent the paint goes on all blotchy.   Resolved that with an oil based stain concealer/primer/sealant product (pretty expensive for the few sprays required). For the edges, which are even worse, I coated them in PVA glue a couple of times.  After sanding the sealer and and PVA smudges I gave it a coat in a flat black product which I used on my original 3 dial binnacle.  The original came out fantastic,  however this MDF just fought me all the way.  Even after I did all the sealing and multiple coats,  the end result looked very average.  Eventually gave up and pulled out the carbon wrap.  Super easy and looks much better.  Could have saved myself some time and money by just going straight to the wrap in the first place. 

 

Something I didn't realise until I had it all together,  and a rattle developed,  was the guts of the Yamaha gauge are not hard located to the bezel at all.  So they now have 6mm of play inside.  Will be sorted by making up some little 6mm thick washers out of some plastic rod.  I'll probably get some longer screws while I am at it,  as the only get a few threads grip with the 6mm insert in between the two halves.

 

The pic doesn't show the oil pressure warning light which I has forgotten to trim the hole for when I took the image.  Got on of the flush mount warning lights which are all over Ebay.  Looks decent.

 

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[madazv8]

Big day for me today..... the bloody water pipe is in finally.

 

Ended up cutting off the original mounting tab and making up a separate clamp.  This allowed me to clock the pipe to exactly the ideal position for the step down hose.  Bearing in mind,  none of this would have been necessary if I hadn't try to be smart and do something not asked for.  However,  I am now more than happy with the alignment, and the rubber hose doesn't seem stressed at all.   I went ahead and bought a new Yamaha water hose,  as I don't want to trust a 23 year old hose. 

 

You may also note I did the 180 and decided to revert back to the original oil to water cooler. Didn't want to mess around with the AN fittings and placement of the oil cooler, when I read the most cooling benefit comes from the front mount radiator mod.  I luckily had a silicone hose to connect that to the take off.  Everything is very tight,  but it is in,  with all new o-rings, oil cooler seal etc.  Hopefully never to be attended to again.

 

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With the water pipe in I could then get the headers installed...and I thought the water pipe was tight ! I had already gone and had the headers ceramic coated, but still worried about how close everything was to them I re-applied some of the header wrap to the areas of concern,  i.e. near fuel lines, pot joint,  and powder coated frame. Just the single layer of wrap caused much more difficulty with clearances.   As I already had the diff in place,  I had to temporarily remove three of the exhaust studs to get it lined up , but that wasn't a major issue. 

 

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Major milestone I feel.  I'll quickly build up the nearside suspension and that almost concludes the frame build.  Just need to make up a brake and clutch pipe.

 

Getting ready for my first test fit, the angle grinder was taken to the inner wing for the new radiator placement.  Did feel a little bit like vandalism,  it's done now.

 

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Lessons to self.... Stop trying to be smart and quit modifying / "improving" everything, because I'm not.

Edited by madazv8, 19 July 2025 - 10:13 AM.