'79 CIS TO EFI

[impmad2000]

Have you kept the standard triumph spacing on the TBs ?

[PeterK]

Yes Tim
I’ve used DanST manifolds, and all I’ve had to do is mod the throttle lever to suit rods rather than cables.
Oh, and change the injectors as my sets of ITBs had slightly different impedance injectors, and I didn’t know if /whether/ by how much that might impact their relative performance bank to bank.

[PeterK]

As predicted, more wiring.
Now that I had a 3 way connector capable of carrying the possible wiper current, I shortened the car rear wiper loom and changed the existing 6.3mm space terminals for the 6.3mm spade 3-way connector. This has tidied up the unnecessary loomage and made the rear wiper removable with only 1 connector and an earth lead, rather than 2 separate spade connectors, an earth lead and a power feed from the fuse box.


Then onto the main event, starting with reminding myself where I was up to. Next step was to tidy and route the separate looms, so 1 consisting of wires to be directly connected between the Porsche and ECU looms


another with wires travelling to the engine via the 19 way connector


and finally those wires passing through the 31 way connector.


You may notice that each loom is now held together with Velcro cable ties, as these can be opened easily to add extra wires (such as those that will come from the relays).



I have a bit of a chicken and egg situation, in that I would like to trim and join the direct wires to create more space. However, I don’t know how long to make the wires until I have pulled the ECU loom back into the car, and I can’t pull the loom back until I have terminated the looms passing through the circular connectors. Such is life, so I’ll live with the added mess for a while longer.

Having bought myself some new crimpers, I then spent a little time doing test crimps, working out which were crimping best with the spade terminals, the tubular ring terminals, etc.. That was it for today, and time for tea. Having been sick, and only eating anywhere near properly for the first time in 5 days last night, and given that it is New Year’s Eve today, I am looking forward to a small glass of red wine this evening. Purely to check that I am better, naturally.



Well, that was unfortunate – one small glass of wine was followed by a night of heartburn ! Not as bad as MrsK, who woke up 5 minutes before midnight and threw up to the fireworks, and every hour thereafter. On the upside, it did mean that I got to play without any chores today.

So, without any further procrastination, it was time for electrickery. I got out the printouts of my connector wiring, and set myself up.


You can see that I’ve detailed which pin gets what wire, what it’s labelled as/with and it’s colour. The pictorial representation of the connector shows the number of each pin location, with the picture showing the rear of the socket side of the connector. I was starting with the pin side. So needed to flip left for right. I did check the pin numbers on the connector, but as they are so small and feint, the plan was extremely valuable.


The first connector I filled the larger (size 12) pins, then the size 16 - CoPs, then injectors, etc. For the second, I thought first, and especially as all contacts were size 16, it was far easier to run in the order of PIN number, as they spiral around the connector, and therefore much more obvious if I was trying to pin the wrong hole.

And so, with the wires pre-looped through the rubber boots


I crimped my first solid contact, the cylinder head earth.


And inserted it


As there are only 19 contacts, or actually only 17 in use, it was not long before the first connector was populated. You can see the 2 plugs that are inserted to minimise the risk of contamination entering into the middle of the connector.


The boot was fitted on and Tessa-taped up.


You can see from the completed second connector, the 31 way, having populated the connector, I added a cable tie as strain relief. If undue pressure is applied to any individual wire, the cable tie will spread that load over all of the wires, reducing risk of a contact failure.


So, boot added to second connector


And some loom tidying, most of which will never be seen, but never mind


I could then start in the ECU wires that needed to be directly connected to the original wires. Here I elected to twist the wires together, enforce using a butt crimp to give a solid joint, which was then covered with heat shrink/wrap.


I gave the loomage a bit more wrapping, fitted the connectors to the mount, and bolted that in.


I pulled the ECU loom forwards, cable tied it securely under the car, using existing cable mounts. Finally I pulled the loom into the cabin, fitted the grommet and screwed the ECU to the floor under the passenger seat.

It might not look like much, but it feels like great progress. Next will be the fuse panel area, then onto the engine-side wiring.

[PeterK]

New day and excited to continue.
Fuse and relay panel wired on the bench, as far as possible, then fitted (and wired) into engine bay. Also, the fuel filter and accumulator were re-fitted (although it did take rather along time to find where I’d put the connections. Looking a lot better in here now.


I’ve temporarily misplaced the top securing thumb screw for the fuse panel cover. I’m sure that it will turn up in due course.


I did still need to modify the fuel pump relay. As standard, the relay is energised, either when the starter is turned or when the air flap valve is open (indicating that the engine is running). Now I need a constant 12V (when the ignition is on), and the relay is energised by the ECU earthing.
I pulled the front fuse panel out, and cut off the sheathing from the relay wires, although due to the routing and length of wires, there was still not much access.


So this was my master plan



I cut the link between 87a and 86, and joined 87 to 86. I cut the 12v feed to 87a and ran it to 87, by cutting the yellow. Should all work (I hope).

I used a pair of brass splices


And shrunk some wrap over the top




I decided to fit the coils next. I’m using CoP from a Nissan 370Z, as per Jeff (of Home Built by Jeff). The Nissan plugs are very narrow, and the Porsche spec plugs don’t fit in the end of the coils, but as Jeff advised, simply remove the rubber end boots, invert them, cut off the narrow part, and refit. I thought that I had taken a photo, but never mind – it is very simple so just try it, go and see what Jeff did, or wait for my Vlog (might be a while, as I still haven’t done the resto Vlog !). Next, and not done by Jeff, I added the ‘grommets’ from the original spark plug leads (well, not the originals, but the ones from my spare leads anyway).


Coil 1 has been left loose, but with a lead between the CoP and the sparkplug. This will give me something to clip my timing light to when I come to set static timing.


The other coils were then fitted (makes it sound sooo easy. I ended up using an inspection light to check that the coils were actually going onto the sparkplugs - it took ages, especially on the LHS).


They fit really snugly, but as belt and braces, I added some RSR spark plug lead retainers (slightly modified)




Then an easy job – refitting the heater hoses into my modified connections

As you can see in this photo, the missing top panel cover bolt has been found - I knew that you'd all breath a sigh of relief at this great news.



As an amateur, I again ran out of reasons for procrastination, so dived in to make a start on the engine side wiring. First, the addition of some p-clips, so that I could route the loomage


And to accommodate all of the grounds needed, I ran a separate earth lead from the rearmost crankcase joining bolt to the top of the throttle linkage. The crankcase bolt is also where I have connected the main cylinder head ground from the ECU.


The I ran sets of wires to the injectors and coils for cylinders 4,5,& 6


Routing the loomage around and under the new throttle pivot plate, alongside the alternator cable and the wires from the reverse switch, etc


All trimmed to a very rough (and slightly generous) length for the connectors in due course.



Once I have al the cables in place, I will remove the loomage, splice in the junctions, and sheath / wrap. However, now it was time for tea.

[Ian Comerford]

Great work and detail Peter. Your electrical knowledge is way above mine

[PeterK]

Thx
With wiring, you just have to remember to keep all the smoke inside the wires

[PeterK]

With the RHS loomage complete (apart from adding connectors), it was time for the LHS.


And with that grouped together, I could remove it all, ready for wrapping


I may have slightly over-ordered with my wire length guesstimates


Despite my temporary ‘office’ looking a bit dishevelled


Wrapping did proceed


Obviously followed by refitting


And then it was time for the connectors


19-way (main powers, grounds and CoP & injector triggers) added


I have quite a few blanked ports on the 31-way, but the other side of the connector is pre-wired in case I am ever silly enough to try a fly by wire throttle.


Anyway, we are now connected, ready for Alex, the Garage Bitch to help me bell out the wires tomorrow (Thursday).




The other opportunity for a spare set of hands, is to check that I have sufficient and necessary throttle movement, so time for some throttle and ITB action first.


ITBs bolted on. The links from the swivel to the ITBs were clearly too long, so they were cut to length. The links have a LH thread on one end and RH on the other. As I only have a RH M5x0.8 die, I made sure that I cut off the correct end. Into the lathe (just to ensure that the die was perpendicular to the link) and new threads cut.


Refitting followed, then some checking for movement, utilising the GoPro preview on my iphone (ahead of proper verification with Alex tomorrow).



I also had a bit of a tidy up, now that most of the loomage activity has been completed. Went from this


To this (old 6’ table top now safely along the other side of the garage again)



I did have a quick play looking for why my throttle often stuck slighty open, rather than fully closing. I opened the gearbox linkage coupling aperture, remove the centre console / cubby, and poked about with my inspection camera. The throttle rod runs through 3 plastic guide tubes, or rather should do. For some reason, one of mine seems to be missing in action. The throttle rod had slid down into the metal clip that should hold the plastic tube, and was less than free. In the absence of a spare plastic guide, I bent the metal retaining tag away, and life now seems so much better, throttle action wise. Hopefully the sticking issue is now addressed.

I also added a Deutsch style 3-way connector between the Crank trigger lead and the actual sensor. Never having used these DT/DTM style connectors before, it took a while to work out what bits went where, but my newly acquired Deutsch solid contact crimping pliers got another work out. I need to do the same with the Cam sensor.


So, getting close now. Still need to remove the engine side cover trims, drill for grommets, then fit the WBO2 sensors, add the various engine sensor connectors, etc, plumb in the various fuel, vacuum & oil vent lines

[PeterK]

So, the garage Bitch came, he saw, but luckily he didn’t run away. A good day was had.

We started by checking for throttle movement. I can’t quite get full throttle, but if I change that, then the ITBs don’t completely close, so that’s how it will stay (for now, at least). Next came belling out all of the wires from the ECU to the engine bay. Thankfully all good.

We then removed the side tinware, drilled holes for the grommets (WBO2 each side, and oil vent line on rhs).


This is the Garage Bitch hard at work – while a step drill worked for the oil vent line, I didn’t have a step drill or hole saw for the Lambda / WBO2 sensor holes, so some filing was needed. No point in having a bitch and doing hard 5h1t yourself.


Tinware was refitted, along with the WBO2 Sensors


The interior was reassembled, with the centre console, seats, carpets, etc being refitted.



Being well ahead of my plan for the day, we then moved onto plumbing, managing to instal the fuel flow and return, MAP lines, brake servo lines, and part of the oil vent lines.





The oil vent lines exit just behind my WBO2 sensor wires, with the pipe looped over the oil return line. Hopefully any oil drips will stay well away from the wheel, and maybe the exhaust too.


I still need to make an adapter to join the 25mm ID hose (from the engine breather) with my 18mm ID (catch can feed) hose, but I was too whacked, so came in for a cup of tea. But I did remember to cover the inlets before closing up shop.



Busy and away for a few days, so time in the garage may be limited (all the more so, as I promised SWMBO that I would start on decorating the house in the New Year). Not too much more before a trial start, all hopefully in time for me to renew my MOT.

[The Garage Bitch]

This is the Garage Bitch hard at work – while a step drill worked for the oil vent line, I didn’t have a step drill or hole saw for the Lambda / WBO2 sensor holes, so some filing was needed. No point in having a bitch and doing hard 5h1t yourself.

As honourable mentions go ......

[jb]

All pretty amazing stuff Peter and all looking pretty good so I hope the next stage goes smoothly too.

[911hillclimber]

Shaping up really well, you have a lot of patience!
This stage od such conversions take up huge time, but will be great in the end for reliability long term.

You can't be sailing in this weather??

[PeterK]

Thx all

I have sailed right through the winter before (last yacht out in December and first out finishing that course in January), but this winter has been very quiet. Yachts have heating and I have lots of warm clothes

[911hillclimber]

As a slight aside please Peter;
I notice you have a Clark 'miller-driller-lathe'.
Is the milling function good or are the cuts a bit naff?

Wish I had clocked the Nissan 370 plug tops used by Jeff and you, i could have avoided the Clewett Sage a few years ago on the Lola.

[The Garage Bitch]

Thx all

I have sailed right through the winter before (last yacht out in December and first out finishing that course in January), but this winter has been very quiet. Yachts have heating and I have lots of warm clothes

Could have done with borrowing some of those on Thursday

[PeterK]

As a slight aside please Peter;
I notice you have a Clark 'miller-driller-lathe'.
Is the milling function good or are the cuts a bit naff?

Wish I had clocked the Nissan 370 plug tops used by Jeff and you, i could have avoided the Clewett Sage a few years ago on the Lola.

I used to have the Clarke lathe without the mill but saw this one at a keen price, and it came with a set of the cogs to change cutting speed, etc. I then spent loadsamoney and bought a number of milling cutters. However, much to my embarrassment, I still haven’t actually used it. Ever since I started my resto I had the good intention to mill my version / copy of the Porsche door pin extraction tool. Maybe once the EFi is complete, plus the holiday, the domestic chores, painting, sailing, CLM, etc, etc ….