My 1990 S2 Cab Project thread

[azbanks]

Originally Posted by Monkey Wrench

Looking so beautiful! Nice work !

Thanks,

I did an alignment and took it for it's first test drive.
It needs a bit more caster adjustment and the volts are reading low. Other than that, the drive was great.
The engine ran great, the new clutch is really good, oil pressure was really good, the temp fluttered a bit at first but then settled down just above the 1/4 mark.

[azbanks]

I need to pick up a digital multimeter.

I am seeing 12 volts at the battery with the engine running and when it is not running.
The battery voltage doesn't change with the lights, radio, radiator fan, etc, on or off. The battery is rock solid at 12 volts.
I am seeing 14 volts at the alternator with the car running
I am seeing voltage drop across the negative battery terminal and the alternator case
I am seeing voltage drop across the negative battery terminal and the alternator mounting bolts
I am not seeing voltage drop from the negative battery terminal and the alternator/AC mounting bracket. I powder coated the alternator/AC mounting bracket.

The volt gauge in the car is showing less than 10 volts.

[Monkey Wrench]

put a jumper from negative to the case of the alternator, see if things go normal? maybe check the ground from alternator to engine block and engine to body ground strap? yOu cna probably just use a jumper cable to verify..
new aftermarket battery cables aren't too expensive if they look old and worn out or show corrosion. maybe the powdercoat is blocking a ground contact.

[azbanks]

Self inflicted wounds.

I am leaning heavily toward the powder coating on the AC/Alternator bracket as the culprit.

I picked up a battery/jumper cable. It is just a short battery cable with an eyelet for a bolt on each end.
I connected one end to the back of the alternator mount bolt and the other end to one of the bolts that mount the AC/Alternator bracket to the engine.
Now the guage inside the car is perfect and I am seeing 14.28 volts when the car is running. I see a small drop when I run all the lights and the blower fan. All my lights are now LED so they don't draw much.
The jumper cable is 4Ga and was still cool after 15 minutes of running.

[OK-944]

Interesting comment about powder coating...and I've often wondered about powder coating engine and engine-related parts in general, as per potential to compromise electrical and/or thermal (specifically cooling) requirement and parameters. Powder-coatings can really dress things up...but maybe sometimes its better to just leave things as they are?

[Monkey Wrench]

if you change all the wires to blue ones the boys in the clean white suits might show up ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xRCbdFrSSc&ab_channel=NapoleonXIV-Topic

I ordered some various hoses and some of the fuel line I got was "marine grade" its a LOT thicker than normal line and has some thread in it.. Not metric but it might work?

mine leaked what was in the tank just before I bought it, it was a good time to make an offer ;-)

The color, who cares, Id just not want to take that kind of risk, leaking a whole tank of fuel might be a tad dangerous.

hey you can always use blue electrical tape on all the wires ,, ;-)

[azbanks]

Originally Posted by OK-944

Interesting comment about powder coating...and I've often wondered about powder coating engine and engine-related parts in general, as per potential to compromise electrical and/or thermal (specifically cooling) requirement and parameters. Powder-coatings can really dress things up...but maybe sometimes its better to just leave things as they are?

I've seen a bunch of builds with various parts powder coated including the oil pan.
The oil pan and the cam cover are the only that I had powder coated the could possibly have any effect on engine temps.
I installed a high performance aluminum radiator and I have the Setrab oil cooler where the passenger driving light used to be. I should be fine for engine temps. The temps have been rock solid the times I have driven it.

I (obviously) didn't think about the effect on electrical grounds but I won't make that mistake next time, and I got to be a great example of what not to do.


"leave things as they are"?????

Never going to happen!!!!

[azbanks]

Originally Posted by Monkey Wrench

if you change all the wires to blue ones the boys in the clean white suits might show up ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xRCbdFrSSc&ab_channel=NapoleonXIV-Topic

I ordered some various hoses and some of the fuel line I got was "marine grade" its a LOT thicker than normal line and has some thread in it.. Not metric but it might work?

mine leaked what was in the tank just before I bought it, it was a good time to make an offer ;-)

The color, who cares, Id just not want to take that kind of risk, leaking a whole tank of fuel might be a tad dangerous.

hey you can always use blue electrical tape on all the wires ,, ;-)

Electrical wires are the one thing I won't change the color on. The colors have a functional/informational and semi-safety related purpose so I keep them stock as much as possible.
I might cover them with some sleeve like I did for part of the positive battery cable where it passed the back of the engine. Both ends of the positive cable are exposed(where most people will not see/notice them) and the ends are red like they were from the factory.

I did end up using black marine grade fuel hose from the tank to the filter because I had it on-hand and it fit the different size fittings I used.
That hose is under the car, under the metal panel. I picked up the blue marine grade hose because it fit what I needed at the time and the price was good. It didn't matter in the end since I switch fitting sizes.
I will be checking that hose and my other fuel hoses 2-4 times a year from now on. The hose I had on the car was specifically listed as fuel grade hose and it deteriorated to the point of massive failure in about 5 years. It looked like a tiny black jabba the hutt when I removed it. I'm sure I would have seen the problems it had years ago if I had thought it was a problem. I thought it was good so I didn't check it. Lesson learned. Trust but verify.

[culture]

Wow. Glad to see her back on the road. You are 200% further along than me.

[azbanks]

@culture

She was back on the road and then the oil filter housing seal decided to exit the chat as well as a gasket on a radiator fitting.
I got a ton of oil in the coolant and the radiator fitting sprayed that all over the place.
I expect to have it fixed by tonight.

[Jakuzzi]

Originally Posted by azbanks

Along with the euro bumper, I bought a Techart rear spoiler from the UK and arranged to have it shipped in over in the box with the euro bumper. Ben at 9apart Ltd in the UK was a great help

I picked up some clear turn signal lenses and rear side marker lenses to clean up the look of the car.

I installed the rear spoiled, stripped off the old paint from the euro front cover, cut off the leading edges of the headlight covers and broke out some white duct tape for these pictures.

So.... the goal is to have the 944 to look exactly like a 1986 Mazda RX-7.

[azbanks]

Originally Posted by Jakuzzi

So.... the goal is to have the 944 to look exactly like a 1986 Mazda RX-7.

Let's see...
86 rx7 = front side marker lights / my car = no front side marker lights
86 rx7 = no rear spoiler / my car = rear spoiler
86 rx7 = no front splitter / my car = front splitter
86 rx7 = pop-up headlights / my car =no pop-up headlights

Now, anyone who was ever paying attention knows that Mazda made the 86 rx7 a very close copy of the 944 Turbo so any similarity is due to the actions of the Mazda stylists.

Here is what my car looks like today.

[azbanks]

Low views.

[azbanks]

Getting dark,

[wwdwgs]

Cool!!!