Europa TCST (Turbo)

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) 

And only 3.5 plates high :)

Beautiful build! I love that you're keeping the intent of the period mods (as well as the main components)!!!

In reply to Slow_M :

Thanks!

High dollar throttle cable bracket...a piece of brake tubing to guide the cable and welded to a piece of scrap I hacked up ... needed to plug a 1/8npt hole in turbo that conveniently lined up with throttle cable position so I drilled and tapped a npt plug to hold the bracket (simplify....)

Made a new battery hold down for the lawn tractor battery and few little things that weren't picture worthy (this probably isn't either....)

Working on little stuff....

Wanted to put this here so I wouldn't lose it ... http://www.amdl.co.uk/europa/europa.htm ... Europa rear diffuser 

In reply to TurboFource :

I really like the plug cable holder

When I re-clocked the turbo exhaust housing to clear the chassis the exhaust housing interfered with the turbo oil drain … I bought an extended drain which hit the chassis … so I modified it … installed a pre-bent 45 degree coolant hose to water pump housing inlet …. I had much joy attaching the emergency brake cable arm that I modified for more travel to it’s cable (darned tough trying to get two hands in there  ) … found some loose nuts in the interior (walnuts that is ….  )

Just wanted to save this for future reference ... https://www.racetechmag.com/2017/08/willem-toet-explains-motorsport-diffusers/ rather interesting article 

I had a joyous time getting the steering shaft clamped to the rack (bolt hidden by rack boot) and getting the steering wheel straight. (Unfortunately I had to do it more than once to get the steering wheel straight). Much joy also getting the bolts in that hold the steering column to the dash  . Got the parking brake ratcheting mechanism to work and soaked the limit switch in vinegar/salt solution because it didn’t work …now it does (You can see how the corrosion discolored the vinegar).

went from "Things from above" to "The hell within...."

At least the wheel is straight....

I did have a moment of some concern today… I have been easily moving the rack and wheels etc. with just a wrench on the “ D” part of the steering shaft … after I got the steering wheel installed and straight etc it would no longer steer …. I thought WTH … then I thought maybe this thing has a steering lock … it does   … now the problem was, where did I put those keys 3 years ago  

TurboFource said:

I did have a moment of some concern today… I have been easily moving the rack and wheels etc. with just a wrench on the “ D” part of the steering shaft … after I got the steering wheel installed and straight etc it would no longer steer …. I thought WTH … then I thought maybe this thing has a steering lock … it does   … now the problem was, where did I put those keys 3 years ago  

I feel like I could easily fall for that mistake.  Noted, with a question to myself about where my old keys are.

Great progress!

TurboFource said:

I did have a moment of some concern today… I have been easily moving the rack and wheels etc. with just a wrench on the “ D” part of the steering shaft … after I got the steering wheel installed and straight etc it would no longer steer …. I thought WTH … then I thought maybe this thing has a steering lock … it does   … now the problem was, where did I put those keys 3 years ago  

The key for Guac now just lives in the ignition because of how many times I've gone to turn the wheels for splitter testing and have had to wander back inside (all of 15 feet) to grab them from the key ring. 

Absolutely love the throttle cable bracket solution.

Got this in the mail today .... new from years ago ...

Cool! I had an American cars coffee table book growing up that looked almost identical to that (except the subject matter was all American cars of course), it must have been by the same publisher...

Things going slowly, cleaning up electrical connections etc .... also due to "The Distraction" see thread I just started for this ......

Yesterday I decided to make sure I had continuity in the taillights from the ground wire through the bulbs and their power wires, I do now.
A gun cleaning brush works well on the bulb sockets.

More wiring harness joy today      Bullet connectors are awful ....... I also learned the wiring colors don't necessarily match the diagram  

And to make yesterday a real bummer, a non-English speaking , (made communication challenging) out of state licensed, poorly insured lady decided to turn left from the center lane in front of my son who was in the left lane and screwed his 2002 40th Anniversary Edition Grand Prix all up (his Grandmother (my Mom) gave it to him)  . He didn't get a ticket...she did!....waiting to hear back from her insurance....Car only has 140K on it and was in fairly nice shape!

40 degrees in the garage today …. made a new ground strap for the one chassis ground to relocate it away from the turbo …. working on gated oil pan baffles for the SVO (The Distraction)…. have not heard back from the insurance of the lady that caused the accident of my son’s 40th Anniversary edition Grand Prix 

Still "plugging" away at the wiring fun ...... nothing picture worthy ....

The lady that wacked the Grand Prix had expired insurance !@#%$#@

Still working on the SVO (The "Distraction")... good news, I had "uninsured motorist" so my insurance "totaled" the Grand Prix even though it's driveable and gave me a check   ... we will fix it as I won't have to get a salvage or rebuild title here.

Got some time on TCST today …some more stuff wired and some heat protection …space is at a premium, made coil mount that bolts to intake.

On to the terror within…. 

Removed the six added gauges, cleaning wiring connections, removed most of the grubby carpet.

I discovered my VIN number hand written by some English bloke at Lotus in my interior   
Shifty is hiding amongst the mess .... 

And it had this rotary switch and six thermocouples so you could use one gauge to read EGT for each cylinder and before and after the turbo ... neat but gonna use a wideband ...

I feel like I will be crippled after working on the interior , glad the doors are off !

working in the footwell/dash area is awful even with the interior fully removed, I've thought it would be helpful to find a box or pillow the same height as the sill, so you don't have to work so hard to climb out when you're getting in and out so much

Test fit …. Being “thrifty”, I will  try the fan that came with the radiator realizing I will probably have to upgrade it  (many parts etc. ahead that still need purchased). Of course the holes didn’t quite line up etc…fan is sealed to the radiator so all the air goes through it ... probably should install a relay to run the fan.

A Spring like 47 degrees in the garage this morning ….  

Cleaned and painted the “frunk” on Saturday and my back is still complaining…   ...cleaned up front wiring harness today and installed relay for the fan.