Enders swap, Update 11/29/19 Options

[NgoFcukinWay]

Luke, How do you have your wires ran for the gauges in the gauge pod and what are you using to secure the pod to the dash?

[narly_charley]

Love it! Sure wish I had the funds and time to do things like this, as it is truly enjoyable as f*&^.

[bloodMoney]

I need a car I can follow that's not slower than me in corners.

I'll remember this statement.

[ricochet1490]

Still looking forward to seeing this progress.

[cheela]

This is awesome! Thanks for giving us a look into your mind and the madness.

[Bitter]

I need a car I can follow that's not slower than me in corners.

I'll remember this statement.

But that means you need to come down next year, keep it in your pants for a while huh?

[BonzaiCelica]

hmm the problem isnt the hp. its the extra 120 ft lb of torque being driven to axles and transmission thats causing the issues. anyway wow what a big change.

[enderswift]

I feel like this thread has some catching up to do. I'm looking forward to some Starved Rock meets and getting you down to Tail of the Dragon, I need a car I can follow that's not slower than me in corners.

It really does. I have about 130 pictures covering the whole conversion, but it takes so damn long to type up a decent update...

Aand hell yea I can't wait for the spring meet already. Wouldn't mind seeing us push the cars at the track, or at least an autoX.

Bro this is rad!!! I'd be too afraid to take up on that kind of project given what I know and what I actually have access to. Best of luck so far man!
And yeah the Blinky Project! Some stuff they do there is both effective and practical for the cost perspective.

Thanks Dude! I definitely felt nervous taking the project on, but like anything its just a matter of chopping it into smaller tasks. Luckily it worked out

Glad to see another Binky fan. Those dudes were a big part of why I even attempted this.

Very cool, thank you for sharing your process and methods. Also, is that a G27 I see clamped behind the monitor?

G25! Love that thing, but it's not compatible with newer consoles unfortunately

Luke, How do you have your wires ran for the gauges in the gauge pod and what are you using to secure the pod to the dash?

Easy, I just have them squeezed between the dash and the top left corner of the bezel. The pod hides the wires perfectly and it doesn't require any cutting.

The pod is just held on with 3M stick tape.

Been running it this way for years

Love it! Sure wish I had the funds and time to do things like this, as it is truly enjoyable as f*&^.

It really was fun.... But some points were awful... forced to huff gasoline fumes for hours... welding on my back in full leathers in 95 degree heat, losing a balsa prototype to a wind gust...

All worth it though. I've never felt such satisfaction driving a car before, it's a treat every time.

I need a car I can follow that's not slower than me in corners.

I'll remember this statement.

Sounds like something someone with a secret power upgrade would say... hmmm

Still looking forward to seeing this progress.

Bro you're still around!. Hows the RHD swap??

This is awesome! Thanks for giving us a look into your mind and the madness.

Thanks dude. Had to finish the thread before 6g finally went down for good!

I need a car I can follow that's not slower than me in corners.

I'll remember this statement.

But that means you need to come down next year, keep it in your pants for a while huh?

Track day shootout. Real GT4, vs fake GT4, vs mad-revving 7g

hmm the problem isnt the hp. its the extra 120 ft lb of torque being driven to axles and transmission thats causing the issues. anyway wow what a big change.

Yea, you're probably right. In any case I figured splitting power between four axles instead of two would solve that issue. Plus the E153/154F has a reputation for being bombproof


I"ll hopefully have the next update sometime today or tomorrow depending on turkey coma

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

This post has been edited by enderswift: Nov 28, 2019 - 3:48 PM

[SwissFerdi]

G25! Love that thing, but it's not compatible with newer consoles unfortunately

At the risk of derailing the thread, why not that PC? My G27 has never seen a console though I started with a Driving Force GT, PS3, and Gran Turismo.

[Bitter]

Pretty sure fake GT4 would take the day once the brakes are all sorted.

[slavie]

Nice progress. Besides the weather factor, why did you not want to drill the spot welds and replace the body panels? I mean, you could cover the car up to prevent water intrusion, no? Thanks!

[enderswift]

G25! Love that thing, but it's not compatible with newer consoles unfortunately

At the risk of derailing the thread, why not that PC? My G27 has never seen a console though I started with a Driving Force GT, PS3, and Gran Turismo.

haha its a laptop from 2011 and cant handle any modern games. So consoles it is. I'm not big on having the latest and greatest tech anyway...I'm perfectly fine with keeping a phone for four years or more if I can

Pretty sure fake GT4 would take the day once the brakes are all sorted.

New OEM rotors have already arrived, Motul brake fluid is on stand by, and dedicated track pads are in the plans

Nice progress. Besides the weather factor, why did you not want to drill the spot welds and replace the body panels? I mean, you could cover the car up to prevent water intrusion, no? Thanks!

If you stare at all the seams long enough, you'll slowly start to suspect that there are many spot welds that are not accessible. It appears that the car was built by layering panels on top of one another with the floor being the first one. So a pan swap would require working backwards by removing lots of extra panels, or cutting access holes, or outright sawz-all-ing inaccessible portions with the intent of butt welding very thin sheetmetal back together later. Then you have to worry about keeping the frame from distorting after removing so much structure, so a jig would need to be built anyway.... Then on top of all that weather would be a constant menace....

not saying its impossible, or not worth it... it just seemed like more problems than adding on to the existing frame

This post has been edited by enderswift: Nov 29, 2019 - 7:00 PM

[enderswift]

Hi 6gc,

Time for the next update, but first:

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT A HOW-TO. THIS IS SIMPLY A LOG OF MY JOURNEY TO MODIFY MY TRACK CAR. I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU, YOUR CAR, OR INNOCENT BYSTANDERS IF YOU TRY TO MIMIC WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SHARE.



Alright so what do you do once you've digitized your first prototype? You work backwards from your CAD model to verify fitment in the real world. Working 'backwards' involved creating PDF's of DXF's of the individual pieces.

After printing the PDF drawings at 100% scale I would need to create new and more precise prototypes. This meant balsa simply wouldn't do anymore and I eventually found a more suitable material for prototyping; a type of high-density foam board different from that black stuff I used earlier. It was easier to cut and didn't deflect or break along grain lines or any other nonsense like that. The result was a very accurate representations of what's in the computer.



Thus this was the start of the next round of trial fitting and modification. I was seeking as close to perfect fitment as possible because a big part of creating a strong and resilient weld is to minimize gaps.

You can weld across larger gaps, but it's not ideal as you want proper penetration into the base metals without overheating everything (And thus making it brittle).



The process continued for multiple iterations until a good fit was achieved. I knew I was done when a prototype made straight off the model just 'fell' into place. It was a great feeling when that happened because doing this really, really, sucked. I hated every second of this part because it was very tedious and uncomfortable. And I also didn't like the mind games that perspective can play with you. I was second guessing myself constantly simply because things would 'appear' to fit in one angle, then show a gap in another.

Anyway this stage also saw me make changes to the model to accommodate things like exhaust clearance and fuel / brake line routing. Part of the challenge is having to think multiple steps ahead to avoid designing yourself into a corner.



So Here's why I was going through all this effort, a waterjet .DXF file. I had no intent of cutting this stuff from metal myself as that would just be too much work. Plus, like mentioned before, I was playing around with the idea of being able to produce more than one set of these mounts...

See all those holes? They have a purpose... remember, you MUST think multiple steps ahead with something like this!



For those that may not be familiar with waterjet, it's a manufacturing process that literally cuts through materials using a combination of 1000's of PSI of water pressure and an abrasive like garnet. It's a very fast and economical method for cutting sheet metal with very good tolerances.

I found a local waterjet shop and convinced them to run a job for me. I supplied them with the material (I had chosen a specific steel alloy by this point) and a day later picked up a box of labeled plates



I immediately mock-assembled the rear mounts for comparison with the foam prototypes. It was really satisfying to see my plans were actually starting to yield real results. The project was really starting to feel achievable now



The challenges weren't over however. The waterjet plates needed to be welded together, and I was worried about heat warp ruining all the work I spent on fitment...

It was time to move onto preparing a welding fixture.



I worked at a machine shop when I was younger and stayed in touch with the owners. They are really great people and were happy to help me with this project. So they ordered a big-ass slab of aluminum and I worked on finishing the print shown above.



The machining was done almost exclusively in a HAAS VF4 vertical mill. There was A LOT of material removal involved, not to mention my print called for some tricky angles. I tried to simplify things by designing-in a number of mirrored capture surfaces but it was still pretty difficult.

Despite all this they refused any attempts to pay them for their time or even for the material!... I'm simply astounded people like this exist and I will absolutely pay it forward in the future...



With the welding fixture completed, I moved on to stamping all of the plates with identifying letters and bolting them onto their respective locations.

Next I scoured my local area for a quality welding shop that would be willing to take on a side project. I eventually found a place that specialized in miniature laser welding that also had excellent TIG capabilities. I brought my fixture in and explained what I needed. They were pretty easy going and appreciated that I designed my fixture and plates to provide a convenient 'valley' for the weld puddle to flow into. This made it easier to weld, and also ensured excellent penetration to both plates.

Before leaving I requested they use a skip-welding strategy to minimize any heat concentrations as I was still worried about warp, even with the fixture acting like a giant heat sink.



Damn I love it when things work out like they're supposed to



Look at that! Look at that knocked-over stack of dimes! I couldn't have been happier with the quality of the welding

I remember internally cringing upon pickup because a part of me was convinced that there's no way it's going to come out well on the first try. A failed mount would mean a lot of repeated work that I just didn't want to do.



Luckily it worked out for the first set of welds so I later decided to go back for more. The second round had them add a number of internal skip welds and structural plates for added strength.



So here's one of the first fit-ups. I was really pleased with how it looked as it confirmed that my prototype efforts really did capture the design properly.

One thing I forgot to mention is that I purposely added about .04" extra height all across all of the mounts. This was needed because I wanted to have a little extra material there to accommodate some grinding that would
need to be done to angle the edges of the plates.



Okay, at this point I felt the project was getting serious. Time to invest in a welder and start building some skill.

I chose the AHP alphaTIG at the recommendation of one of my friends. It's a fully featured 1 or 2-phase machine with all the modern goodies. Great value for money and excellent reviews online.

I briefly considered purchasing a Lincoln or a Miller, but I honestly get the feeling that those brands upcharge simply because they can...



Lots of time was spent reading introductory welding books, watching youtube welding tutorials, reading rock-crawling forums, practicing endlessly, etc



Okay, it was time for a change of pace and a return to more familiar territory. Time to swap out the FWD and put the long-dormant E154F where it belongs >:)



My God, I don't think I can properly describe how ridiculously heavy this transmission is. My original trans jack couldn't handle it and I had to drop over $250 on a heavier-duty replacement. It felt like I was on the verge of pulling 20 different muscles while lifting this thing.

I also can't properly describe how frustrating it was to get this transmission to mate up with the engine. I learned the hard way that you need to lower the engine out of the bay as far as possible, then follow a specific sequence of motions and rotations to get the transfer case to clear and then 'hook' one of the cast ribs on the block.

That sequence was discovered with literal blood, sweat, tears, and sore joints. It will now be forever branded into my brain because I will never allow myself to suffer like that again. So much for being an easy change of pace...



After much work I had a transfer case pointing towards the rear of the car, where one day a differential would live. What a pain in the ass this was, and I'm no newbie when it comes to installing transmissions. My jealousy of Chris's lift was never stronger than at this point



Anyway, swaybar time! The single most over-looked / ignored part of celica AWD swaps.

Since this is destined to be my track car I would definitely need a swaybar to get any real performance out of it. So I first got familiar with the aftermarket GT and 205 bars, particularly with understanding why they're shaped the way they are.

Next I scoured all of the junkyards in my area looking for a drop-in replacement from another car. 'Maybe a supra bar will fit, its got a rear diff!' no... 'Maybe a lexus, or a rav4!' no and no...
It was useless as everything from the BRZ to the Sentra had something wrong that prevented fitment. I slowly came to terms with the idea that I would have to go custom... ugh...

Well okay, lets reverse engineer the aftermarket GT bar.

Step 1: drill it to see if its solid or hollow. Surprisingly solid
Step 2: Have a hardness test run on a small piece (left picture) of the bar to determine the heat treatment done to it. Can't remember if we did Rockwell or Brinell
Step 3: Research the **** out of supsension design to figure out the most common alloys used for bars
step 4: Give up and buy an STI



After staring longingly at the the Subaru of America website the next step was to build a prototype from easy-to-use materials just like before. In this case I experimented with using hot sand to form kink-free bends in plastic before settling on PVC water pipe fittings. This was a relatively easy mini-project except for forming the ends, which took some work with a heat gun. Once assembled, I made sure to check for binding or collisions by swinging the plastic bar through its full range of travel.

You'll see that the design is nothing more than just a combination of the GT4 inner section and the GT outer arms. I did briefly consider making a frankenstein bar from the two that I already had using splined couplers, or even weld collars... but fortunately came to my senses before going down that rabbit hole.



As before, the next step was to digitize the physical prototype into a CAD model. This was GIGANTIC pain in the ass.



Creating an easy-to-read print was an even bigger pain in the ass. You always have to consider your target audience when creating a print:

- they shouldn't have to hunt around the sheet for a dimension
- they shouldn't have to do math to get a dimension
- they shouldn't have to deal with clutter or missing views
- they shouldn't have to buy/build custom tooling to accomodate the dimensions
- Dimensions should be easy to measure with simple equipment like vernier calipers (you're probably doing it wrong if a CMM is required)



So, with print in hand I began searching for a place that would be willing to make a one-off custom swaybar with no hope of it turning into a volume product. Oh and it would need to not-warp during heat treatment...

Damn near no one was interested.

I was losing hope until I accidentaly stumbled upon an interesting article in Hotrod magazine. It featured a restoration shop that was making a custom swaybar using torches and assorted jigs. The final product looked really good and they had a very scientific approach to heat treatment. I gave them a call and they surprisingly agreed to take my bar on, even though it was a more complex design than what they had tried before. The picture above was a progress photo sent to me when they were done with the major forming ops. Overall I was really impressed with their professionalism and wouldn't mind working with them again.

I later found out that the only reason they took on my job is because they liked how I prepared my print which was great to hear because it was literally my first time ever dimensioning a formed bar.



I love pictures like this. Plan your work, work your plan

Anyway,

That's it for now. I'd say there's about two more updates left before we're all caught up. Hope everyone has had a good thanksgiving!

This post has been edited by enderswift: Dec 3, 2019 - 6:17 PM

[Bitter]

I had no clue you were THIS deep into it, that makes it even more amazing. All you told me is that the fuel tank valve rattled

[enderswift]

I had no clue you were THIS deep into it, that makes it even more amazing. All you told me is that the fuel tank valve rattled

It's just what it takes. I did underestimate the challenge, but I knew I would regret it if I gave up

And yea, that tip-over valve was driving me crazy lol, but if that's the extent of my issues with this project then I'm happy

This post has been edited by enderswift: Dec 1, 2019 - 4:18 PM

[narly_charley]

I love the amount of effort that you're putting into this project. It's such a good feeling to just dive into something with no idea what you're doing, learn some things, acquire tools, and just grow as a person.

[njccmd2002]

amazing the amount of work you went through. you dont see this in 6gc nowadays. i miss those days. Today is most about showing off your last painted bolt, or swapped floormats.

It would have been awesome to have this write up 10 years ago. many would have followed your ways.

those designs are intense.

[bloodMoney]

Even though we've talked at great length about this project, it's so much fun to read about it too... especiallysincesomeonedoesntcallwhentheyredoingwork

#imguiltytoo

[ricochet1490]

Yeah the RHD swap still exists and so do I haha. I drove it more this year than I have in a long time but its spent most of its time under car cover. I have a tendency to get myself into too many projects, the last several years I've been renovating my house, so it's taken all my time and money. I got a quote to have the car fully stripped and painted, came to about 3-4k.... so we'll wait on that.... and I'm getting married next year, so god knows when this car will ever see fresh paint....

But I feel our projects in some ways overlap man! I'm glad to see you really going at it this deep. You are 100% correct you didn't really want to drill out those spot welds. Ask me how I know. The panels are absolutely sandwiched and layered in there. The firewall swap was terrible that I did, think I drilled over 180 out before being able to actually get the new one offered up.

on a side note, your attention to detail has been great. I'm an Engineer and can fully respect the work here. I don't know if I would have gone full billet on the welding fixture, even that feels like over kill to me, but i understand your paranoia! If you ever want to sell your DXF's, I think there would be several guys around the world willing to take a look at doing the conversion this way.... myself included.

Looks like you've done just about everything the way I would have, and probably more so to be honest. Like who seriously makes a custom sway bar??.... lol my lazy azz would have for sure welded one up with some couplers!

Awesome to see these updates.

[Durs]

Hallucinatory! I love this project