Manx II “2-Face” Ecotec IRS Bus 091

[sailtexas186548]

Much better:

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it's more fun loud and dirty

[sailtexas186548]

Lots of wiring progress today, mounted the bus bars, fuse boxes, relays, etc And started pulling wire.

I ended up adding a couple extra fan relays, this harness has two but I have three fans. I connected the lower temp “on” relay to the pusher, and then the second higher “on” relay output to a pair of 25 amp continuous that control the two puller fans. I’m trying to give this radiator set up every chance at success, they’re all on 12 gauge wire direct from the battery and grounded direct back to the battery.

All that’s left to do is clean up and loom, wire all the dash fuses/switches and lights in, then it’s time to test fire!

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[sailtexas186548]

Put in many more hours wiring today. Moving, adjusting, etc. to get everything tidy and ready for loom. I *should* be able to start this thing as it sits, just power the ignition wire and touch the starter wire to 12v+. I will finish the lights and test them before I put gas in the tank.

I have taken the time to through bolt absolutely everything on this thing with stainless or Grade 8 hardware so that slowed me down mounting the fuse panel, bus, etc. it’s Hard to hold a wrench on both sides of the firewall alone - I have built some custom wrench extenders to make it happen

Master cutoff, and dual fan relays. This doesn’t look like much but making all the cables and getting them to fit reasonably was challenging.

Fuse panel and ground bus under the dash. I have every wire run just need to connect the terminals and connect, a picture just looks like a spaghetti monster so I’ll keep them to myself

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[sailtexas186548]

Mounted the turn signal switch from motion Raceworks, and built a mount for some Amazon special horns - these things are LOUD. The mount bolts to the top two beam bolts and the horns are hidden behind the front license plate part of the body

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[sailtexas186548]

Horns mounted and wired in. I don’t have a provision for the brake failure light so I wired that into the horn circuit... it will be hard to ignore that warning LOL

I’m not sure how well it will work, since the two, 3 wire brake switches could open at slightly different rates and blip the horn each time I hit the brakes... I have never been in a vw with a working brake system warning light to see if it flickers when the brakes are depressed. I will find out pretty soon!

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[sailtexas186548]

More wiring today, just have to tie/loom everything up and install the horn button. Tested all electrical systems today and they are good to go.

I used a whole bunch of diodes to control all the lights and switch color changes. It was quite a bit of work but it was worth it I think. Also heat shrunk everything so it should last a good while. My plug connectors worked too, I wasn’t sure how they would be to install but I didn’t have any issues.

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[sailtexas186548]

Put coolant in and had a can of gas ready:

Only to find coolant pouring onto the ground. I had cracked an end tank on the radiator, no doubt when I test fit it 25+ times.... dammit.

Time to pull the engine/trans and try again... new radiator is already on the way
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[sailtexas186548]

New radiator arrived today, really not looking forward to pulling the engine and trans again...

Dash is done

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[sailtexas186548]

Mounted the license plate (this is an old expired plate) and light, but don’t like how the light looks so I ordered a couple different ones and will give them a try.

Also Made a little mount for a white reverse light (more of a flood light) over the alternator. I don’t need this to be street legal but it will be nice to have

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[sailtexas186548]

[sailtexas186548]

Pulled EVERYTHING back out... what a pain in the ass...

I swapped the radiator for the new one, resealed the brake light switch that was weeping oil, sealed the bell housing, swapped in some longer engine studs to get full thread engagement in the nuts, and took the opportunity with easy access to clean up and loom the wiring.

Ready to stuff this thing back in and fire it up!

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[sailtexas186548]

Engine and transaxle back in, all wiring except the battery and grounds on, intake on, fuel line connected, Bowden tube in place, same as last time... LOL but I was able to lay the wiring harness out a bit better and it fits/looks better.

Pics because maybe they will show something that could be useful to someone... but really just more of the same

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[sailtexas186548]

I have to add a muffler to satisfy the inspection Checklist in Texas... well here is my “muffler”

It’s 2.5” inlet/outlet and 4” long, should fit nicely in the exhaust I already built
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[21golden007]

oh the pain of having to do the same thing 10 times to get it right lol. Glad I found this thread though. Like an idiot I've only been paying attention to the HBB forum. Ive been doing suspension and cage work on my fiberglass buggy this past year and hope to do an ecotec and bus trans this winter. Your thoroughness is great. I'll be coming back to this a thread a lot.

before the work

[sailtexas186548]

Man that suspension is just right on that thing, nice! That is very similar to what I want to upgrade to maybe next winter.
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[sailtexas186548]

First drive today!

Welded in the muffler:

Installed an Empi axle kit, but used type 1 CV joints outboard, if/when they go I’ll consider new stub axles or maybe longer arms and a suspension upgrade. The kit didn’t come with and snap rings for the axles so I robbed some off of the pile of type 1 axles I have laying around.

All systems together!

Here is my clutch cable splice... I don’t like it but it works. Stage 3 PP from Kennedy engineering and the pedal is LIGHT, I like it.

DROVE OUT OF THE SHOP!

Took it around the block with a passenger, shifter needs adjusting but otherwise no issues. I didn’t really get into the RPMs but even then it is fast for a little fiberglass tub. With only a driver it’s pretty rowdy, need to figure out how to upload videos (or just YouTube it).

Back in the garage, I installed mirrors, the shift knob and cover, it’s pretty much done just need to loom the dash wiring and cut the belts, put the windshield wiper on, and get it titled!

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[sailtexas186548]

Idle:


Link


Rev to ~ 6800:


Link


First drive, a little second gear WOT in there:


Link

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[sailtexas186548]

Modified one of the old rear view mirrors to mount a cheap manual wiper, which is required in Texas of you have a windshield.I need to trim the extra arm and mirror off but it works like it is

Fixed a small oil leak on the water pump cover, otherwise it’s running great. The fans don’t shut off once they come on due to the lack of a vss signal so I’ll have to come up with one and pin it to the ecu and tweak the tune, but it’s staying cool so far
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[1madmanx]

[sailtexas186548]

I am also curious about cooling on the highway, and under higher load at low speed like off-road driving. I am trying to get it titled and insured - then i can really start playing with it.

NORRA ‘22 will be fun if I can make it happen. I will have to do a second “build” to get it race ready.

I almost have the speedometer ready to go back together, miles are reset, cleaned up a bit. I really like the old school mechanical gauge look

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