This month's update: still working on minor engine bay details. Slowly but surely, to ensure each bit looks its best. Later this month, the car will be transported to its new temporary home - but into an enclosed garage
. Together with moving house, hopefully I'll have time to do a bit more work on the car to show next month.
New bonnet rod clip. Sshh, it's a Toyota piece
. One cause of fires in these cars is a broken clip, and the rod sliding across to an unprotected battery positive terminal = short circuit.
Upgrading one of the powerwires. Directly from the battery is a thickish wire going to the starter motor, then the wire continues on to a 'terminal board' on the right side of the engine bay to supply the wiring looms on this side of the car. From the starter to the terminal board, the wire is pretty thin, approx 10awg, which would be rated up to 60A continuous. Probably enough, but no harm in having a thicker wire, so I have changed to 4awg (125A), to ensure negligible voltage drop.
Here's the wire, disconnected from the terminal board. Then cut short and the end insulated with some heatshrink. The black wire that runs alongside to the starter is the trigger wire to activate the solenoid and starter.
New 4awg wire, with ring terminal lugs to crimp on each end. Heat shield tubing to cover the portion that runs alongside the engine block and behind the exhaust manifold. Compare the 4awg with 10awg.
Lug attached, heatshrink, and heat shield tubing. Then attached onto the bolt securing the original wires; thread lock for good measure.
Other end has new lug, heatshrink, and in keeping with factory wiring standards, a short portion of exposed 'red' wire for identification. Attached to the terminal board; notice the factory powerwires that go to the looms. According to the wiring schematics, two of those wires supply the fusebox in the cabin, so I plan to trace and replace these for something thicker.
The terminal board also holds connections for the starter solenoid wiring. Turning the ignition key provides power directly to the black starter solenoid wire. This is relatively high current, and it is a common fault over time to burn out the contacts in the switch from repeated arcing across the contact-points. An upgrade, is adding a relay: the ignition wires now trigger the relay (via terminal 85), making it a very low current circuit; the relay now switches the high current supply to the starter solenoid. Thus, I've added a short red powerwire directly from the terminal board to the relay (terminal 30), which then supplies the original black wire to the solenoid (terminal 87). The relay is mounted in a convenient space on the metal mounting bracket.
New altitiude sensor fitted. The original had a broken plastic mounting bracket. This sensor alters air-fuel delivery for proper idling at altitude; but hardly relevant in Australia!
Along the way, additional heatshrink and pvc tubing was added to cover wires for a neater appearance.
Fuel injection combi relay cleaned and refitted with a new Allen head bolt.
Fuel damper pot (smooths out pulsatile fuel supply from fuel pump going to the fuel rail) and aircon idle electrovalve (supplies additional air/revs at idle when AC kicks-in) were corroded, so these were polished. Also did the distributor vacuum advance, then sprayed with clear coat to prevent corrosion.
Damper pot and electrovalve refitted to the mounting bracket. All pieces have been bolted in position, replacing factory screws (TB=terminal board; AS=altitude sensor; R=relay; FICR=fuel injection combi relay); likewise, titanium bolts hold the small black bracket and electrovalve in place.
A reminder of how it used to look. The vacuum lines (eg: to/from electrovalve) will be replaced with silicone hoses.
New 7.5mm inner diameter EFI fuel hose for the engine bay. 4 short hoses (arrows; bottom left=tank to damper pot; upper left=damper pot to fuel rail; upper right=fuel rail to cold start injector; lower right=pressure regulator to return line to tank)
Onto a different area: making a start below the windscreen. Wipers removed, and cowl trim removed, revealing years of dirt and leaves!
High pressure hose, a thorough wipe, and some polish/sealant to bring it back to new. Grime on the windscreen needed a buffing wheel and polish to scrub clean.
