SC400TT Project Car Stage II by SC400TT

5 minute(s) of a 718 minute read

9-19-2009

Checked all the wiring, corrected the hard ground on the number 2 injector lead, and installed the new injector along with the fuel rail. Scott D and I spent all day on the car. Learned a few interesting points, and all I have to do is reconnect the front fuel line to the rail, tighten up both fuel lines on that side, reinstall the Throttle Body, and charge tube, and I should be ready to attempt start up once again. Wish me luck....

9-21-2009

I stopped by the interior shop and got to see the revised Gauge Pod Faceplate. I wanted a richer more OEM matching look, so I had it made out of real Burl wood to match the stock Burl interior, since I decided to stay with that for my black interior. Also, I got rid of the screw holes. These are just cell phone pics, but as you can see, it is turning out real nice. It just needs to be wet sanded and polished. It is a spot on match!!

Close up:

Whole plate:

10-9-2009

Gang, the beast started tonight!! It sounded good too!! I still have to work out the stepper motor settings so I can get it to idle on it's own, but it is awesome. I made a video, and I called Shane so he can testify that he heard it.

If anybody knows how to save the mini cam disc to a file in their computer, please tell me how so I can post this up on Photobucket or YouTube. I can play the disc on my computer but I could not figure how to save it to file.

We're almost on the road!!

10-11-2009

I'm going to try to get a video posted up today fo the start up. Wish me luck.

I titled this post "What can go wrong?". I did that because I have learned that when taking on a project as immense as this one has turned out to be, anything and many things may go wrong. Sometimes it's the complex things, other times it is the most simple of things that may be overlooked. This does not mean a person should not take on their dream project, it just means that Murphy is bound to come and take a visit. 

This is where true friends that are knowledgeable, helpful and humble are a godsend. Most of us don't know everything there is to know, and I most certainly fall into that category. What I did know was that I could pay professionals for certain work, put into use what I did know, learn the things I did not know, and ask for help from my knowledgable friends that are willing to put in a helping hand ot two.

Just know that anything can go wrong, so pool your resources and prepare as much as you can, then move forward. I think that is one of the most important strengths to draw from: Be willing to keep moving forward, no matter what the obstacle.

Once we got to the point of starting, the car would not start. There were two issues:

• Faulty wiring with one of the injector leads and the external MAP sensor for the transmission standalone computer.

• Mechanical timing was off

Motorheaddown (Scott) was invaluable is helping me track down the problems, and repairng the faulty wiring, and replacing the fried injector. Once again, thanks to Scott for his time and help. He drove over to my house several times to help out.

The timing was a simple but big mistake. I should have gone over the timing once it was done to make sure the motor was in time, and I just assumed it was done right, one of the few things I did not go over after it was done. In fact, the faulty wiring on the injector lead was another item I did not check after having the wiring loom re-wired and the External MAP installed. 

A huge lesson learned here: "ALWAYS GO OVER ALL WORK PERFORMED BY YOURSELF AND OTHERS TO ENSURE MISTAKES WERE NOT MADE". No matter how significant or insignificant the task completed was. When I built the motor, I went over each and every step 4 times. I am not stating to review every move 4 times, but review everything at least once.

The timing was another example of this. The person that installed it is highly competent and very careful. But, he had never set the timing on a 1UZ, and the Lexus manual was rather confusing on the timing marks. So, the timing was set to the cam trigger teeth which are located on the back of the timing gears instead of the very small, correct timing marks which are located on the front of the cam gears. I am revealing this so any of you that decide to replace your timing belt are sure to set it to the marks on the front of the gears.

Once the timing was set properly, the car fired right up.

Here's looking forward to driving the car soon.