RennPartsDirect

Carl-
Your talent and work on this car is absolutely amazing. What you've done and continue to do on this car blow me away. I wouldn't even know where to begin a project like this. Your masterpiece makes my 928s look like polished turds.

Just out of curiosity, and you don't have to answer (but I really hope you do), how much have you dropped on the electrical system conversion to date? That entire system has to be insanely expensive. Did the company help you plan your wiring or did you work your way through it on your own? What are you going to do about the gauge pod switches? Are you modifying the existing switches to work with this new system or replacing them with something modern? How involved was getting the cluster to work properly? I'm working on a not-so-ambitious-as-this interior conversion and the cluster and switches have kept me pondering options for over 5 years now...

Again, great work thus far! It's amazing to see how much work you've put into this car and how much more work is still pending. I can't wait to see how you address the interior upholstery...

Steve

FLYVMO

Hi Steve, and thanks for the encouraging words.

Here is a link to the manufacturer: http://infinitybox.com/products/
When I got my kit they started at $1,500 for the 2-cell kit. I added an additional power cell, one Inmotion controller and a Indash Max unit. If I remember correctly my complete kit came in around $2,700. Add to that the cost of connectors, wires and sleeving of your choosing.

I worked through the wiring myself, the manufacturer helps with the custom code to make the system do what I want. Jay, the owner, has been great at answering questions and troubleshooting, and anytime I request a code update I usually have it within a day or two. It is not really that hard to do, and while I have replaced all the wiring in the car with new wires, with the exception of the digital dash wires, and ABS harness, you are basically just "copying" the door harness for example, and wire bundles for the ABS etc remains untouched. Same goes for the engine sensors, all new wiring and connectors, but the routing is the same so no big deal.

The pod switches are being used for now, I searched until my fingers bled to find more modern switches but could not find anything that would fit in the pod without physical modification. I think the stock switches are fine with upgraded LED internal lighting. They have to be modified somewhat (wired differently, nothing physical) to work with the low-side switching but there are options around that, by using inverters (Invert Mini at the bottom of their product page).

Getting the cluster to work is not hard, just a bit time consuming to "learn" what each wire does and how the different warning lights are triggered. It definitely helps having the wiring diagrams out, and I am grateful that we have Alan on this forum, as he has patiently answered many of my dumb posts here

It is hard to cover everything here in this reply, so if you want some more detailed info, feel free to give me a call: 904-three-three-5-one-seven-60.

Cheers!
Carl

FLYVMO

As I needed a break from the wiring (starting to see cross-eyed) I ended up finishing the glass trim pieces by wrapping them in satin black carbon film. Pictures are a bit off in color, but on the car it is a subtle effect, which I think breaks up the black paint nicely.

Also removed all the old vinyl and foam on the inside of the headliner, and then set out to straighten the rear edge as it was a bit warped. Some steam, hot air and clamps, and it will be left for a week before I remove the clamps. I will probably need to add a strip of fiberglass at the rear for reinforcement.

Another small step forward...

Cheers!
Carl

Hilton

I took a tip from Dan Hebert (I think it was him? someone here anyway) and once I'd removed the leather and foam substrate from my headliner, I painted it liberally with a penetrating epoxy sealant to make it more waterproof and durable. Several coats with decreasing amounts of thinner did the trick. I used a system from everdure, thinned liberally with xylene IIRC (or whichever thinner matched the VOC list on the MSDS for the epoxy product).

I did the same for my quarter panels - after I fixed the warping using a heat gun, aluminium and clamps, although on them I also added some fiberglass to the backside for support.

FLYVMO

Thanks Hilton,

I found this product from West Marine: http://www.westmarine.com/buy/--pene...xy--P015023724

How long did you need to have the panels clamped before it would keep the correct shape?

Cheers!
Carl

Hilton

Very little time - just enough for it to cool again after heating up with a heat gun. I did this to the edge of the quarter panels just below the quarter window (where they warp badly), and someone local has used the same process on the tops of his door cards which had warped upwards slightly.

My process was:

clamp the edge between two long aluminum strips (3mm thick, about 40mm wide) to the edge lightly, with gaps between bowed edge of quarter panel and aluminum
heat with heat gun
increase clamping force until strips can be clamped flush (might need a few heat cycles)
then once flush, more heat gun
then let cool, unclamp and check for straightness and move the strips around a bit if needed to repeat and get the right edge.

Once they were straight, I painted with penetrating epoxy and left to cure for a week or so. Then I roughed up the back surface and added a thin layer of fiberglass to the back side of the warps, and also repaired the aft end of the quarters where the screw hole had deformed, using a washer and thin layer of glass. Unfortunately I didn't take pics, and they're installed (with leather from Bob Budd) in my '89.

Godspeed !

Carl,

Just stumbled across this and wow! What a great resource, thank you for sharing all of your efforts and resources. Quite valuable for someone like myself who is just diving into a "Down to Shell" refurb for daily use. We share the same power plant choices for similar reasons. For mine, I will not be able to go to the extent with the electrics as you have, but definitely doing HVAC control mod. A while back I started to look for suitable alternatives. Time being limited, I did not settle on one as of yet.
But will certainly be doing the 2008 Miata so as to follow your lead. Being in Louisiana, we share the heat! Thanks in advance for your posts.

Godspeed!
Dave

FLYVMO

Hi Dave,

I'm glad it can be of help to you, it's my pleasure to share it. If you are doing the engine swap, then you may want to look into this 4-port heater control valve as well: https://www.thermotion.com/electroni...-control-valve

As part of my conversion, I am removing the heater core blend doors inside the HVAC housing, as the flow of hot coolant will be controlled, and therefor the heater core temperature, by this valve in the engine compartment. They also have a "two-port" type valve that might work with stock 928 engines (getting rid of vacuum control), but an interface between the 928 control motor and this valve would be needed. They carry control units that are either 12v control or a customizable voltage range.

Cheers!
Carl

Herman K

Carl when your working with West System epoxy you'll be better of to buy the #105 epoxy and use a blend of 2 different hardeners #205 and #209 as you are in a hot climate you want to have better control of exothermic reaction time (in your case slow down the set up time of the epoxy) with a single fast curing hardener (as you will find in most kits) you run the risk of the epoxy overheating while curing which can results in cracks and air bubbles in your application due to boiling.

I have found that chopped fiberglass mat will shape and form easier, than wet coated with 105 Resin and a 50/50 mix of 205 and 209 hardener it will give you the best result whereby the epoxy will set up in a smooth glass like finish when poured or brushed on to the chopped mat.

The calibrated pump that West System sell to mix the ratio's of Resin to Hardener are highly recommended.

Best H

FLYVMO

Hi Herman,

Thank you for the tips, I will try your suggested ratio and product.
I especially like idea of a smooth flowing epoxy as I have previously had a hard time getting it glass smooth following the boxed instructions.

Edit: What thickness fiberglass cloth would you recommend?

Thank you!
Carl

Herman K

1.5 oz/sq ft, 0.045" Thick

In single or multiple layers.

Chopped Strand Mat is most frequently used with resin to quickly build thickness for parts and between layers of fabric for building molds.

Chopped Strand Mat, rather than cut it maintain the length of fibers along the torn edge, which create stronger bonds with subsequent layers.

Godspeed !

Carl,

Exactly what I had in mind! Simplicity with the HVAC system. Looking forward to evaluating the two systems I have at hand. One is from a 78, the other from an 82. Like you, I am all about eliminating the blend flap control.

Thanks for the lead once again..................

Godspeed!
Dave

BC

Wouldn't that also solve other heater issues with the 928?

FLYVMO

That is my theory, and hopefully I can prove myself right

Cheers!
Carl

FLYVMO

Although I love the summer heat, I don't care too much for what it does to the inside of my garage. Way too hot to get much done the past few weeks.

So the progress has been limited to test fitting the cruise control brain and signal converter for the speedometer input. They fit nicely inside the driver's dead pedal (footrest). The ECU will be mounted just on the other side of the lower sidewall, so it will be a short run for the OBDII and other connections shared with the ECU and the instrument dash.

I had time to finish most of the pod switch wiring, and in order to use the stock switches with the Infinitybox system, some creative wiring solutions were needed. As the Infinitybox system takes grounded inputs, it can't directly use the 12V that the pod switches put out when activated. So, a little device called InVert Mini is used, which takes the 12V signal and magically converts it to a ground signal. Then the output can be connected to the respective Master Cell input for triggering a function.

So far the wiring setup is as follows(each switch has terminals embossed in the plastic):

Fog light switches (front and rear):

Terminal 58 --> 12V for illumination
Terminal 31 --> Ground for illumination (and other)
Terminal 30 --> Ignition power supply
Terminal S --> Fog light on (InVert Mini blue wire)

Defrost Switch:

Terminal 58 --> 12V for illumination
Terminal 31 --> Ground for illumination (and other)
Terminal 15;+ --> Ignition power supply
Terminal 85;53 --> Defrost Low (InVert Mini blue wire)
Terminal 86a;W --> Defrost High (InVert Mini blue wire)

Hazard Switch:

Terminal 58 --> 12V for illumination
Terminal 31 --> Ground for illumination (and other)
Terminal 49a --> 12V Ignition power supply
Terminal L --> Hazards On (InVert Mini blue wire)

Headlight Switch:

I am using a second defroster switch as my headlight switch, a push turns on parking lights, one click turn to the right turns on headlights. So the wiring is the same as the defroster switch above.

Note: each output that needs conversion to a ground signal requires one InVert Mini device, so all the pod switches required 7 of them total.

I also installed resistors in each power supply wire for the internal LED illumination. I used 1K Ohm resistor which gives the switch a less glaring light output. The picture below shows fog light switch with no resistor, and the headlight switch with a 1K Ohm resistor. It may be hard to see in the picture but in a dark room the undimmed switch is way too bright.

Cheers!
Carl