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Turning 626 GT into an AWD

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    #61
    The rotisserie? Sure!







    The uprights are made from 90x90x4mm square tubing, the sliding post and tie bar are 80x80x4. Rotator head is mounted on trailer wheel bearings, 100x4 bolt pattern. The rotator beams are made from 50x50x3 tubing; the sliding sleeves for lifting arms are 60x60x4. Lifting arms are 60x40x4 mounted on flanges made from 120x50x4 L-bar. The parts with threaded rods are adjustable feet; the rotisserie can be set perfectly even on uneven ground. If I ever get a proper garage to work in, the pads are easy to swap to wheels. A detail not shown is the rotating mechanism; sandwhiched between the rotator head and the bearing is a motorcycle rear sprocket, and the pinion sprocket is on an angle drive. It works reasonably well but required the car is at somewhat balance in the rotisserie.

    There is a design flaw (or a bad decision) in the construction: the lifting arms are only adjustable in span. They should have vertical adjustment sleeves too, the car is too bottom heavy to be rotated upside down (the rotator would probably break at 90 degree tilt) so anyone replicating the design take note: make the arms fully adjustable! Also, the actual lifting brackets would be more versatile if they're made like the holding brackets in engine stands. I'm going to have to fix that at some point.

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      #62
      that is F'in cool!
      ---Has ClubProtege helped you in someway? show your support by Contributing--- Click Here---

      1992- project FE3..... 313 WHP @ 9.3psi




      I pet my dash when I get into the car..."good car"
      he actually has a mazda tree, parts grow on it

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        #63
        sweet! cant wait to see how this turns out.
        397whp, 373tq Dyno Video

        Full Standalone E6X, Intel Dual Core 3.2GHz, Dynamix 8", Clarion 5.1
        Easystreet, 4 corner control, 9 way dampers, 8 gallon tank, dual Viair 380C's
        Garrett T3 twin scroll, 3" v-band exhaust, 4" antisurge intake, Dual BB, standalone water cooled
        Full fuel system, SIGNATURE TANKS, 18" Motegi, etc...

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          #64
          Here we go again! I spent the entire summer doing everything but the car, anyway here's the latest...





          The front crossmember ends are boxed in so it should be pretty solid.

          The rocker panel channels are also re-taking shape:



          It's all furniture tubing, marvellous stuff... The tube is located so the outer edge coincides with the original flange. Now the floor pan will mount on the inner edge, both door sill formers are welded on top, and the rocker panel on the outside edge. Hopefully it adds a bit of stiffness to the structure and resists corrosion better. The rear part needs much larger replacements to complete the boxed shape; after that's done, the trailing arm mount points are ground off. They're far too crumbly to deserve the word "cut". Once that's done, the trailing arm mount points are replaced with new stronger mounts, made from 60x100mm rectangular tubing. It's almost exactly the width of the trailing arm mount, and it mounts on the exactly right height when topped with a 40x60 tubing, welded to the rear seat pedestal floor. Replacing the rear frame rails is a harrowing job. The body will be quite floppy until new parts are welded on, and because they need to be 30mm lower than original, I think I'm going to need an additional stiffeners in the trunk area to regain the structural height.

          It'll be really interesting to explain these build steps to the inspections engineer/officer... hopefully I'll find a cooperative one. Provided the FTSA would approve the exemption permit in the first place.

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            #65
            my lord i praise your efforts!!
            ---Has ClubProtege helped you in someway? show your support by Contributing--- Click Here---

            1992- project FE3..... 313 WHP @ 9.3psi




            I pet my dash when I get into the car..."good car"
            he actually has a mazda tree, parts grow on it

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              #66
              F*cking awesome project! I'll definitely keep follow this one! :D

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                #67
                Heh, thank you all I've actually got a paying job again (though unsure for how long... these are uncertain times) so I can actually afford to buy something too :D Here's an update of the latest.



                I found just enough of 40x60 rectangular tubing, so I got to build the trailing arm mount points without having to visit the steel yard. I don't know if it's immediately obvious how the part should be in the car, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. The hole location precision is again going to be serious business so I'll think it well and through before drilling anything. This part has very substantial reinforcements in the factory AWD car, but I hope mine outdoes it. And again, the part is somewhat heavy. I dread to think how much it'll weigh on the scale.




                I didn't quite yet get to weld the rocker panel in place, but the test fit sure does look good! In my wagon build I fabricated the panel myself, but here I just felt doing so would offer no benefits and I could use the effort better.



                Here's how the rear subframe looks today. It's going to get plastic plugs over the holes and a coat of bed liner. And some aluminium/delrin/nylon bushings.

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                  #68
                  SOOO much work! im still amazed by your patience/effort
                  ---Has ClubProtege helped you in someway? show your support by Contributing--- Click Here---

                  1992- project FE3..... 313 WHP @ 9.3psi




                  I pet my dash when I get into the car..."good car"
                  he actually has a mazda tree, parts grow on it

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                    #69
                    Thanks! The task does seem overwhelming at times, especially as there's no guarantee the car will ever be road legal again. Here's a quick update:




                    The car is slowly getting patched up... My plan is to work around the perimeter (sills, inner fenders etc) and then strut towers, and then replace all the frame rails and then redo the floor. As the procedure becomes more clear, I'm hoping to pick up the pace (and probably be arsed to work in the winter too!) I'm hoping the chassis might roll in December, but I don't count on it.

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                      #70
                      whats with the FE head being pooly treated on the ground??
                      ---Has ClubProtege helped you in someway? show your support by Contributing--- Click Here---

                      1992- project FE3..... 313 WHP @ 9.3psi




                      I pet my dash when I get into the car..."good car"
                      he actually has a mazda tree, parts grow on it

                      Comment


                        #71
                        It's a cracked head I've used for measurements and planned on bandsawing to pieces. Turned out I didn't have a proper saw and I've got better use for the money the shop is asking for the job.

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                          #72
                          ah. fair nuff. i had shed a few tears the moment i noticed it there
                          ---Has ClubProtege helped you in someway? show your support by Contributing--- Click Here---

                          1992- project FE3..... 313 WHP @ 9.3psi




                          I pet my dash when I get into the car..."good car"
                          he actually has a mazda tree, parts grow on it

                          Comment


                            #73
                            The rocker panel is now welded in place and I'm trying to figure out the best way to remove rust from the rear strut tower. I'll probably cut the top open and sandblast everything inside, reinforce liberally and seal off a lot of crevices that collect crud and are mainly responsible for the poor reputation of the rear towers.

                            After that, it's the same job all over on the right side of the car.

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                              #74
                              well. call it 50% completed !
                              ---Has ClubProtege helped you in someway? show your support by Contributing--- Click Here---

                              1992- project FE3..... 313 WHP @ 9.3psi




                              I pet my dash when I get into the car..."good car"
                              he actually has a mazda tree, parts grow on it

                              Comment


                                #75
                                Hah, I wish it was 50% done. Perhaps 50% to the quarter of getting to a rolling body state :D The great discovery was the confirmation of the FWD and FWD having the same firewall. It became illegal here to modify that particular bit of steel in a car a while back. The shifter cable and assembly are also a direct fit, but that became a moot point after the decision to ditch the entire original floorpan and transplant the AWD one; the floor pan on the donor car is in excellent condition, better than in the GT in fact (on the other hand, outside the frame rails the floor is in even worse shape; much, much worse.)

                                Considering the extensive modifications required by the AWD parts, it's much more feasible to transplant the entire floor pan into the GT. The only problem is we got the first snow yesterday and since all the work on the AWD is done on the friend's yard... it's pretty harsh work. The goal is still to get the car on it's wheels by December!

                                The photos I took got a bit blurry, but it was quite dark at time.



                                These photos offer some extra insight on the floor structure. The central tunnel is considerably wider, but not deeper than in FWD. There are some mysterious extra parts on the frame rails at the front of the floor. The don't seem to have any purpose, and there are two bolts under each. I have to see if the WSM offers any more insight on these. The fuel pump access hatches and rear seat pedestal is substantially different than in AWD.



                                Here is the front subframe still mounted, and the parts of the FWD subframe. The AWD subframe has an extra crossmember, similar but not identical to 4WS part, and the longitudal frame members are much deeper than in FWD. The kink after the first crossmember where the rails turn downward are much more acute in AWD. The notch is for angle drive transfer shaft. It's interesting how the frame is mounted only with a single stud on the left side of the car in the rear, but the mounting zone is still exactly the same on both models, only the inner stud is replaced with some kind of plug. It got much too dark after assembling the FWD subframe for a side-by-side photo, I'll get to it at the first opportunity.


                                The filler neck got little love.

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