LocostUSA.com

March 25-26, 2017

I'm putting this here to later remind myself why there's been no progress on the 1800

Slicing and dicing the 8' x 8' flatbed.. ended up narrowing it by 12" and shortening it by 10" to fit on our 2003 F250 shortbed.. The last person that had this bed REALLY overbuilt parts of it- I've spent a bit of time undoing their handiwork... should be done modding it within a week.. In the end it will use the factory truck frame holes, and I will ideally have it mounted by the end of the upcoming weekend..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Sorry to hear of your mishap, glad it wasn't worse!

Volvo looks incredible, you do really nice work.

_________________
Planning a Duratec powered, Miata suspended 442

April 16-17, 2017

-thanks duratec.. healing up nicely

Had a great Spring Break with the family over at Pismo Beach, and with that successful trip behind us, my attention turns back to the 1800..

Set after a few small tasks that I could essentially wrap up and check off the list.. Truth be told I'm sort of procrastinating on the install of the wiring harness- that task takes a lot of time and focus for me as I struggle a bit in that area..

On with it.. Finished modding the stock pedals as they now shift a bit to the left.. got them hung- still need to go back and install stop-bumps and brake/clutch switches up on the top of each arm..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

... also installed the clutch and brake MCs.. clutch remote reservoir is on the way, and of course I still need to plumb and bleed the brake lines..

-Re-installed the front half of the e-brake.. A small thing, but nice to have back in place.. still need to mod the rear half of this to mate to the T-Bird calipers..

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

... Finally, began laying the engine wiring harness in place.. A bit tricky/time consuming to remember and rediscover where everything routes and plugs in.. Spent a bit of time learning where the harness would end up going through the firewall, as I want to get the ECM into the cabin of the car (out of the elements).. Should end up routing pretty nicely and allow for me to mount the fuse block and ECM up near the accelerator pedal at the front of the tranny hump..

BTW- GM did a nice job on this engine harness, as very few of the plugs are the same; it's just a matter of routing and finding out where things plug in again..



--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

April 22-23, 2017

Ordered pedal stops (actually hood bumpers) and pedal switches from Speedway last week, and had a chance to fab them in this weekend.. Pretty straightforward stuff, just a bit fiddly and time consuming..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Order of Operations becomes important (aka be careful- space is getting tight ..)

I knew shoving a late model direct injected turbo motor into this engine bay would be a challenge, and sure enough, that is proving to be the case.. So much 'extra' plumbing and wiring for this motor.. I'm getting the sense that this is a puzzle which must be done in a very particular order, as I find myself layering system over system as I go along.. An example of this is the engine wiring harness that I'd love to put in place for the 'final' time... Not so fast! -laying the harness in has shown that I now need to relocate the OEM oil filter, as the installed harness will make it impossible to reach/replace the filter.. darn it, didn't see that coming!.. No worries.. it's just time and money .. installing a remote oil filter is the new top priority..

Now that I look at how tight things are getting, it's probably better that I get to plumbing the brakes- soon.. truth be told, should have plumbed them when the engine was out.. I knew it then, but told myself I could just do it later.. Seems later is now (before that octopus of a harness goes back in)

So things creep forward.. I soldered in the drive-by-wire pedal assembly (pic).. also extended the MAF pigtail by 24" as I need to move it from the intended OEM location.. Drilled a big 2.5" hole in the firewall to send the GM connectors through to get the ECM to live up under the dash.. And finally, realizing that the next time I handle the engine harness it will be for 'final' install, I went through it and repaired/cleaned up all the the tattered/frayed junctions/taped areas.. If only slowly, progress continues..


--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

April 29-30, 2017

Now I'm just jumping around a bit, doing little jobs that can be done with what I have on hand, that still sort of sticks to the whole order of operations thing..

-I made a small bracket for the clutch remote reservoir.. wanted to have it sit level and close to the brake reservior..

-I chose a spot to mount the remote oil filter.. There's not much room for this little guy, so instead of running a (Fram) PH8A filter, I'm downsizing to a PH16, which is still a bit bigger than the OEM cartridge style filter that I'm eliminating.. Things are pretty tight where I've welded in the mounting plate, so I may have to go back later and recess it into the frame a bit if there's too much engine movement/vibration- won't know until I put the car into use on this one..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Late April 2017 cont'd...

Rear brakes.. A few challenges back here.. Since I've sourced a Miata IRS, the stock Mazda 1.6 or even 1.8 brake bits would likely work well, but the tiny Miata 4x100 hubs and rotors do not lend themselves to being drilled out to the 5x4.5 lug pattern that I've chosen for my wheels (which conveniently is what the Volvo runs OEM on the front).. So here's where I am..

I sourced my Ford 7.5 IRS pumpkin from an early 90's wrecking yard T-Bird, and while I was there, I grabbed the rear calipers too.. I've since had a new pair of T-Bird rotors redrilled to 5x4.5 (stock T-Bird is the funky 5x4.25), which now fit nicely over the 2003 Mazda Protege (front) hubs... (I used the Protege front hubs on this car's Miata rear end because they pressed right on, and gave me the 5x4.5 lug pattern I needed)..

The Ford calipers were mounted to the 'rear' side of the T-Bird rear end, but I've had to reverse them (driver's side now on passenger side and visa-versa) as the Miata caliper mounting points are on the front side of the Mazda uprights.. Not too big a deal, but took a bit of figuring as to how to mount them.. Also learned that it will work best to use the Miata brake hoses on the Ford calipers attached with banjo bolts- just lines up better.. made a pair of dogbones out of 3/8" steel, and had to space the Ford calipers 'out' by about 1/8" inch to make them work..

I'm now in the middle of using the stock Miata e-brake cables on the Ford calipers, and without too much modding, it looks like they'll work well.. So overall a bit of mixing and matching, but I think with these larger Ford calipers and rotors things should work well.. very likely a little too well, so I'll be plumbing an adjustable proportioning valve into the rear brake circuit to fine tune the car's front/rear balance..

Behind the scenes I've just sent the ECM out to DDM works (Trifecta) to make this motor run stand alone as well as have it tuned for my mods.. Also, just sent the axle pattern to Dutchman Axles to have my axles made.. Trying to set myself up so I'm 'ready for the next thing' when the time comes..


--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

May 6-7, 2017

Trying to get the brake system finished up..

In the first pic, you see one of three things depending on who you are:

-Maybe it's one of those fancy rorschoch tests designed to help you get in touch with your inner voice?

-Maybe it's a Space Invaders flashback from the early 80's, when you were all hopped up on goofballs and Jolt Cola?

-Or maybe it's the telltale sign that you forgot to install the 'anti-squeal' backing plates on your brake pads, and now you will shamefully take things all back apart and do it the right way...


... Now that that's been sorted, onto modding the Miata e-brake cables to mate to the Ford calipers.. Had to trim off the very ends of the cables as the Ford anchor won't accept them.. Once clipped in and bolted up, planning to route the cable up into the driveshaft tunnel, as it's now a 'fixed' IRS, and I can safely sneak the cables up into the cavity to run parallel to the driveshaft...


--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

This is an amazing project, I'm looking forward to seeing this progress even further!

Regarding the AC Compressor, it's sometimes possible to adjust, or convert the variable compressors to fixed stroke. It's required for some LS swaps, as some variable compressors don't maintain a high pressure difference between high and low side at high engine speeds.

There's an article about it here: https://axleaddict.com/auto-repair/vdcadjustorconvert

thank you gwright for the kind words and the link.. a small voice in the back of my head tells me the AC system/compressor may give me issues.. I may in fact have to alter it as you suggest..

More work on the brakes/e-brake.. had to make a link to connect the Miata cables to the Volvo lever/rod.. snaked the cables up 'into' the 1800 body to get them out of the way and to help clear the exhaust..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

May 6/7, 2017

Dealing with the OEM oil filter clearance issue.. Should have seen this one coming.. Because the stock filter location is a bit buried (arrow), some of the Solstice/Sky guys will install a remote filter.. By the time I lay the engine wiring harness in place (not pictured), the filter is impossible to access in my application.. (the last pic shows the OEM filter and cap... they need to be installed down where the new blue AN fittings are.. too much clutter once the wiring is in place..)

These pics just show the location of the problem.. I'm also going to have to go back and redo my planned 'remote location' up under the car too, as I need to notch the frame a bit to gain another .75" of clearance down there.. This is a tight package


--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

May 13/14, 2017

Plodding right along.. filled and bled the clutch circuit.. not sure if I got all of the air out.. likely won't know until I try to put the car into motion and see how it engages.. Pedal is firm, but feels a little 'odd'..

Finished plumbing the brakes all around... tried to fill and bleed the brakes.. Chased a few leaks in the lines/ fittings, but it also turns out I have a bad/leaky rear caliper, so I'll come back to this later..

A few pics to show the adapter that allows for the remote oil filter (top pic, on the right).. there are a few different designs on the market for the Ecotec/LNF... this is a nice piece (part # DDM-14-22) that I picked up here; http://www.ddmworks.com/Ecotec-Oil-Filt ... p_543.html ... still waiting on one last AN fitting to make it all work..

On the bottom pic, I made a little divot/recess that will pull the oil filter about .75" into the frame, as I sorely need the clearance in this area up under the car.. will burn it in next week..


--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

May 20-21, 2017

Got a chance to burn the remote oil filter recess into the frame (driver's side up under the brake master cylinder).. Moved from the red mount area to the yellow- this bought me .75" of clearance away from the engine/starter.. should be fine now...

Third pic shows the battery tray area up near the turbo downpipe.. Did a bit of a rework on where and how the heater hose fittings go into the cabin- Will have them pass through at the red arrows... a bit cleaner now, and easier to access them should I need to in the future (originally had them going through just inside the tranny tunnel, a bit too close to the downpipe)..


--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com