FLYVMO

Thanks Herman! My personal support team? I like it!

Cheers!
Carl

slate blue

Carl I was trying to find where you had listed the automatic C6 torque tube length but couldn't find it. I must admit I was searching on my phone as the computer is being repaired but if you have it handy that would be appreciated.

An interesting development is the tuning software for the 8L90 that has recently been released. I found out that the max recommended change speed is 7,000 rpm for that box. I was really hoping it might be 500 rpm higher. Maybe that is possible?

Regarding the mirror, the porsche one has the same sized ball as the Audi mirror, so yippee there. I might have to ask you a favour regarding the wiring for the Audi mirror as when I pulled it out I pulled the wiring plug out and I don't know which colours go where. There is four wires. I will get back to you on that one.

Cheers

Greg

FLYVMO

I'm pretty sure the shift points can be reprogrammed in the ECU, not sure about the 8-speed auto, but the 6-speed auto has the transmission controller inside the transmission and communicates with the ECU for torque limiting, shift point etc. I think the stock max shift point for 6l80E is 6600, so they upped it for the 8l90 slightly. What is the max engine torque recommendation for the 8l90?

Torque tube (rough measurements):
Full length of torque tube from front edge to rear edge of torque converter housing is 1,445 mm.
Full length including LS engine bell housing (front edge to rear edge) is 1,590 mm.
Slant angle error should be 1-2mm at the most due to the angle of measurement.

Mirror:
Only 2 wires are the minimum needed (+12V, GND), but I chose to use a 3rd wire which turns off the auto dimming when the car is put in reverse. The remaining wires are for connection to auto dimming sideview mirrors, which I am not using so they were sealed off with heat shrink. So the pins that need to be used (they are marked on the connector) are:

Pin #1 - White (+12V)
Pin #2 - Black (Gnd)
Pin #3 - Grey (connect to reverse lights for no-dim during reverse)

Unfortunately I do not have a pin assignment for the remaining 3...

Cheers!
Carl

Chris Lockhart

Absolutely beautiful work Carl. Kudos. If I may ask, where did you buy the Alcantara substitute? That looks amazing, and I too like the breakup with the visors. Fantastic work.

slate blue

Thanks very much for the info Carl. Regarding the 8L90, it has an external controller and that ECU or TCM is very cheap, less than $200. The bite is the complication, it has a 64 pin plug. Some of the pins are reading info from the ECU and others from the chassis as to when to time the shifts. I don't have a break down or pinout as yet. The transmission can handle 1000 nm of torque and as you are probably aware shifts quite quickly. The programming takes into account such things as inertia of the rotating parts and how much force is needed to change their speeds etc.

FLYVMO

Hi Chris, and thank you.

I got the material from www.yourautotrim.com. I'm sure there are several suppliers for that material. There are some different names out there, Ultrasuede and also Unisuede. There is also a new version from the makers of Alcantara, but I am guessing the price is slightly higher than for the other ones mentioned.

Cheers!
Carl

RennPartsDirect

What's your plan for that tall rear console piece? Are you just going to hack it down to a much lower level and utilize just the upper-most part that has the opening geometry and the hinges and build a new floor for it to sit on for attaching it to the tunnel? Just curious what is lurking in your mind...

SS

FLYVMO

Hacking? No hacking allowed at Carl's Mad Science Lab! Here we massage, modify, alter, improve, reduce in stature, elevate and modify. But no hacking

But seriously, it will be reduced in height to mach the approximate height of the door arm rests (probably a smidgen lower) and the rear of the console will be shaped to follow the rise of the center tunnel hump in the rear. I will retain as much of the internal frame as I can but the interior will be modified to fit the available space constraints. Also, the arm rest console is very heavy so it will need to be lightened. Driving comfort and ergonomics is the most important, along with an appearance that fits with the rest of the interior.

Cheers!
Carl

FLYVMO

Finally, the recovered headliner and A-pillar covers are installed. As I am not very fond of the stock, double seam french stitching on the A-pillars (other areas looks great with it I think), I asked the upholstery shop to run the seam up high and I think it turned out good. Due to the complex shape of the A-pillar covers, any covering (leather, suede etc) really needs to be sewn in two pieces to deal with the complex shape of the upper area. Stock leather interiors use a french seam running from bottom to top along the "inside" edge.

The wiring for the overhead lights, auto dimming mirror, radar detector and makeup mirrors is installed, so it was time to install the headliner. Wiring for the Valentine One is very straight forward, one only needs a 2-wire phone cord, which is fused along with the other items. Lights are on one fuse and the mirror/radar detector on another.

Also had time to install the center console "repair brackets" from Jaeger. My tabs were pretty bad, and as the picture shows, one tab was 60% gone. The reinforcements were both epoxied and screwed in place. The worst tab will also be reshaped with fiberglass filler. That comes next.

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
Carl

77tony

ahhh, more headroom. Looks great Carl T

FLYVMO

Cavernous! Almost echoes in there now

Cheers!
Carl

FLYVMO

We have been enjoying freezing weather here the past few days so not much has been done, other than smaller items. Installed the LED headlights in the H4 lenses and then mounted them on the car. These are the Woodypeck bulbs and the fit was very good. The only "issue" was the spring attachment thingies that hold the bulb in place in the H4 lenses needed a little bending to engage the retaining hooks.

The Valentine One mount from Blendmount arrived and was installed, and I was very impressed with the quality of that device. Well built and it fits like a glove on the Audi rearview mirror.

The rear brake calipers got a good cleaning and then a fresh coat of black caliper paint. Awaiting the EBC "Red Stuff" ceramic pads and should have them installed this weekend. Previous pads were Mintex which I did NOT like. Braking was OK but they left so much dust after just one day of driving that I decided to try something different.

Finally, I finished the trimming of the auto shifter which now sits recessed enough in the center tunnel cutout, that it will work well with the center console and the flush center console frame.

Cheers!
Carl

Tom in Austin

Great update, look forward to seeing what you have in mind for the console ...

Chris Lockhart

Excellent. Sorry I didn't see your reply to me on the Unisuede back at the end of Nov. Thanks for the info!

FLYVMO

Small and quick update, the 2-DIN unit arrived with associated hardware. Due to really cold temperatures and flu season, not much has been accomplished, but I did manage to get the AM/FM antenna installed, as well as the external GPS antenna. The head-unit is a Pioneer SPH-DA120 which is mech-less and is Apple CarPlay compatible. Unfortunately it seems Pioneer is using the same chassis as on their CD/DVD equipped units so the depth is the same, although a bit lighter. For my flush center console it won't be an issue but it would have been nice to have some extra space behind the 2-DIN unit.

The unit does utilize an external GPS antenna in conjunction with the Apple iPhone unit so theoretically the GPS reception should be fairly solid. Also received the install kit and the microphone for "tuning" the auto-EQ system once it is installed.

The original plan was to use the Parrot RB6 unit which was a shallow mount unit supposed to be on the market late last year. Unfortunately Parrot decided to make it an OEM version and will not offer it as an aftermarket unit. Dumb!

Carpet kit arrived from Robert Budd and will be installed next time around. Finally the spare tire cover from Jerry Feather also arrived, and that is very impressive. Very solid and well made.

I also ordered a parking brake override from www.Microbypass.com which allows full use (including video) of the Pioneer unit regardless of parking brake position.

More to come next time!
Carl