Legnum – New Stereo Time!

Posted on 2022-11-26 by Half Done Things

With the Legnum running again, one of the painful issues that I ignored previously was the fact the head unit was dead.
So with some cash left over from offloading some 4AGE parts, I decided to splurge on a head unit for it.}

Picked up a Kenwood DMX5020S, has all the bells and whistles I wanted and I can wire up a reversing camera in the future.

I hate wiring stereos with a passion, I was really hoping one of the previous owners had done at least a tidy job and installed an ISO loom. Lets find out…
Remove the center shifter console trim, pop the main climate control trim off.

Unplug the ciggybutt plug.

Unplug the two climate control plugs.

I was surprised to find that the stereo is only mounted by slots, no screws.

Hoorah, ISO plugs! Along with a dodgy glass fuse that was…. blown. completely redundant considering the stereo has a fuse on the back of itself…
Cut that out, soldered the wires together and shrink wrapped.

The Kenwood is a short body unit and only uses the first two bolts, the rear section of the brackets kept fouling on looms and was a pain in the ass…

I cut the rear section off. I then found the holes were not quite spaced correctly for the Kenwood… (I guess standards changed since 1997…).
Quickly slotted them with the drill…

A few wriggles and adjustments of screws and it all went back together with relative ease.
Couple of minutes setting it up and it was playing music.

It wasn’t all rainbows and lolly pops though. Each time I turn the car off, the stereo resets… I’m thinking one of the wires in ISO plugs is not providing power to the stereo when ignition is turned off, so it does not retain it’s settings… bugger. Well I know how to pull it all apart and fix it.

Until next time!

Legnum – Transfer Case Swap – Finale

Posted on 2022-11-242022-11-25 by Half Done Things

With the Legnum all buttoned up, I took it for a quick 2-3km run up the road, then came back. There was a couple of knock and bangs I could hear while driving. Turns out one of the driveshaft nuts needed torqued up properly and a sway bar link bolt was loose.

With all of those tidied up, it was time to set sail for home, taking all the back roads and avoiding the free way till I’m more confident that it will not shit itself while doing a buck ten. It made it home without fuss.

Till next time!

P2 Supercharger – The Gearbox – Part 3

Posted on 2022-11-212022-11-21 by Half Done Things

In between all the Legnum work, I managed to crack on with the pulley and shaft some more.

Started with boring the pulley to size

Nearly 20mm.

Started doing final cuts on the shaft.

Machined the shoulder down to size.

Ready to be pressed together.

Pressed together and put back in the lathe to machine down the pulley boss.

I noticed after pressing the pulley onto the shaft, the bearing wasn’t quite able to slide on, a bit more needed to be machined.

Finished and placed into the prototype.

Tension is horrible, but I’ll correct it by moving the bearing out 2mm further.

Quick video to show it spinning and the slackness, plus a quick view of the compressor wheel spinning.

Legnum – Sump Replacement

Posted on 2022-11-202022-11-21 by Half Done Things

While I was swapping the transfer case, I decided to replace the bashed sump that leaked with a brand new one.

Virgin pan, I might actually cry if I ding this in the future….

Motor has a bunch of sludge in it still, scraped some off while cleaning up the sump sealing surface.

Slazed some Permatex Grey sealant on and sent it.

Gave it 5 ugga duggas and called it done.

Till next time.

Legnum – Transfer Case Swap – Part 2

Posted on 2022-11-202022-11-21 by Half Done Things

I decided to pull the inspection cover off the old transfer case to confirm it was indeed damaged. Yep, it’s munted.

Metal all over the inspection plate.

Decided to check the new transfer case, it was fine thankfully.

Clean inspection plate.

After getting in a comfortable position to lift the transfer case, it went on pretty easily. Putting in the bolts finger tight to stop it falling back off.

Then torqued the case bolts up to 65Nm

Stub shaft reinserted into the gearbox and transfer case, then the driveshaft and started bolting all the suspension back on.

The suspension took a couple of hours as I had to fight the coil covers a couple of times to get the bolts to line up and one ball joint refused to seat properly and would not tighten up. I also took the time to replace the 3 piece tail shaft with a spare.

Transfer case topped up with fresh fluid (650ml!) and ready to go!

Till next time.

Legnum – Transfer Case Swap – Part 1

Posted on 2022-11-192022-11-19 by Half Done Things

Been procrastinating a bit on this job, but it was time to face the music.

GC8 was bumped outside, Legnum in and lifted up.

Unpacked the new transfer case to make sure there was no obvious faults.

Bought some new toys for this job, make removing driveshafts and the transfer case easier

Unbolted the lower control arms and popped the passenger drive shaft out, then used a ratchet strap to tie it out of the road.
This side needs to be removed to pull a long stub shaft out of the gearbox which goes threw the front diff and into the center diff (inside the transfer case).

Y-pipe off and out of the way. I always thought the Y-pipe on the 1MZ was bad, but this is a proper abortion…. I really want to make a new version!

Another new tool for the job.

Of course it did not have the right attachment for what I needed. Found one of the attachments that would work, drilled an 8mm hole in it and fitted a M8 head bolt from a 1MZ into it. Threaded that into the stub shaft, couple of bangs and out she came.

Quick test fit into the new transfer, fitted nicely.

Let me share a fail….When I replaced the lower control arms, I did it with the engine out. I accidentally put this bolt in backwards… Trying to remove it means it just hits the sump.

This sump has been hit before and leaks oil, I have a brand new one on the shelf ready to go… So lets hammer the sump to clear the bolt 😀

Ta da!

The transfer case is held on with 6 bolts and 1 of them is right in a painful spot, but with a little flexing of the turbo drain pipe, we managed!

Ok… Well maybe it was before it failed 😀

Old on the left, new on the right. Tomorrow I put it in!

Till next time!

P2 Supercharger – The Gearbox – Part 2

Posted on 2022-11-17 by Half Done Things

After the initial CADing, I soon found that the holes where not evenly spaced.
I did a bunch of printed test jigs to get the hole pattern worked out.

Once the pattern with within 0.5mm, I adjust the model and hit print.

~ 260mm x 240mm x 24mm

Plonked onto the supercharger and it lines up perfect.

Pressed the bearing in.

It almost looks like a thing…

Off to the workshop to do some machining.

Grabbed a length of 32mm Titanium bar I have laying around and dropped it into the power hacksaw. Where it proceeded to remove most of the teeth on the blade, forcing me to replace the blade with a spare 😛

Into the lathe and send it!

The long side is roughed out, I’ll machine it specifically to suit the pulley after it has been bored.

Bearing fitted on nicely.

Quick test fit, looks like a thing.

A couple of days later, I swung into the workshop and machined the pulley most of the way, just need to do the final bore to size, then finished the shaft to be a press fit.

Till next time!

P2 Supercharger – The Gearbox – Part 1

Posted on 2022-11-05 by Half Done Things

Since the P2 ships without a gearbox, I’ve got to make one. I did some basic math to work out impeller speeds and motor speeds needed, then decided a 1:2 gearbox on the P2 would be suitable, then a 1:1.8 to 1:2.5 from crank would do the rest if needed.

I ordered a T5 36 tooth timing pulley and a 300mm belt to suit. The belt is a cheap one, just to prove the design, but will eventually be replaced with a high quality Gates belt.

Quick ‘dummy’ fit to give me some idea of how it fits together and it will allow me to transfer that into CAD.

I found that the 6004-2Z bearings were sufficient for the job, being able to handle 30000rpm+, handle the appropriate loads and were affordable (~$13ea).
I bought two for the input shaft and two for spares.

Knocked up this quick design, it will more then likely change as I find out things don’t fit, need tweaked or changed.

Started to 3D print a test, but it failed about an hour in. ~250mm diameter ABS prints are a bit tricky to stop warping, so will switch to ABS for the next go.

Till next time!

P2 Supercharger – What is it?

Posted on 2022-10-292022-11-05 by Half Done Things

The Speedmaster P2 Supercharger is a clone/knock off of the Vortech centrifugal range of superchargers.
Unfortunately it ships without a gearbox and is a little pricy for just a core ($1250+).
Until recently….

That’s right, $1295.91 down to $490… And at the time, if you paid with AfterPay, Ebay gave you another 25% off! Yep, for $370, one of these toys could be mine to tinker with and not cost me good turbo / supercharger money…

So as I do with many things, I impulse bought one. I don’t have an immediate use for it, but I believe I have the available tools, skills and knowledge to make it ‘work’ good enough to throw on one of the cars, maybe the 3MZFE when it goes in the AW11. Anyway, it shipped and arrived relatively quick.

It’s fucking huge.