Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2013 19:55:38 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: No Start Cause: Relay Failure. PICS, Thoughts.
In-Reply-To: <CAB2Rwfh4qhL6h1vHnTkkBTLpWaT5+k8WqUOUVsEgO45raVGUiA@mail.gmail.com>
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hi,
try to keep it short.
for sure ..in almost all human endevors there is improvement and
development with experience.
So after doing many conversions you just get better at it. ....
you're on your first one. Your next, or improvements on this one, will
be better.
I never find reasons to measure amperage very much, especially large amp
readings.
I have on old 30amp dash ameter I jumper in once in a while....like once
in the last 5 yrs.
I have an inductive ampmeter thing for starter current draw ..
but mostly ...I fix electrical things all over the place and don't need
to measure amperage very much.
I think 10 amps is the highest most normal meters read anyway.
I tried my little 30 amp digital thing from RS the other day ...on an
subaruvanagon ecu circuit ..
it didn't seem to want to work. How much that ecu draws is of little
concern to me anyway. It's fuse protected.
I've been building and laying out things forever ..as a child in the
50's I couldn't stand to build one of 'their projects' with my Erector
set ..but I'd lay asleep all night thinking of how I'd build a crane
with gears and electromagnetic pick-things-up coil on it, then work
without stopping for 10 hours building the thing .
heck ..
on conversions, I get going ..and I rearrange the layout of things over
and over until they are really nice. I spend 45 minutes on one small
bracket sometimes even.
as I've said many times....I strongly believe in taking inspiration from
manufactureres. I've worked on a hundred different knids of cars ...from
Jag to Porche to whatever...so I'm familiar with what is the industry
normal practice ..
and that makes for better conversion layouts too.
yeah ..'relay too close to the exhaust' sort of thing.
Can you think of one car with a coolant goes going 'through' an
accessory drive belt ? Never, right ? ..
VW on a 1.9 wbx with AC ...if that belt gets loose, it wears right
through acoolant hose. Pretty dumb.
On many of the conversions I do , it just works out naturally to have
the main and FP rly by the Ecu ..
and most good cars have the ecu in the passenger cabin. Why not just do
it that way ?
Igniters go in the engine compartment ..
away from the ecu ...just like Vanagon and subaru do. Pretty obvious to me.
I probably would not use a jetta fuse box ....I would maybe use an 86
and later Vanagon one though ..
but that would take lots of serious re-wiring. Heck ..I'd use a subaru
legacy fuse box too ..since I have lots of them ..
but it's more practical to leave that part of the Vanagon pretty 'as is.'
really ..there are a hundred details to consider and deal with on a
engine conversion...for a nice job for sure.
I just take it system by system ...engine and trans mounted first,
clutch and starter working next.
Cooling system interfaced next, electricals , fuel lines.
then exhaust ..etc. etc.
I try to avoid having many wires above the exhaust side ofa 50 degree
installation.
Even on a factory TD SyncoVanagon ..I have seen exhaust leaks melt and
short out wires going by on the firewall there ...causing the van to get
towed about 100 miles.
Trimmed
