08.12.2022 - Fuel System Removal and Install

This was by far the biggest part of the project that I was dreading. I didn't fully understand everything involved and couldn't find any relevant information regarding the modifications that I planned on making. I was also trying to figure out if I had to pull the hardtop and the soft top trays to be able to get to the fuel hangar.

I decided to just go for it and remove the hard top followed by the soft top trays. I hadn't seen the soft top in something like 12 years so I was curious to see what it looked like. After transporting the top to a spare bedroom I put it up and removed the soft top tray and the entirety of the trunk lining. With this being my first rodeo getting into the fuel system I didn't want to risk spilling fuel on the panels and having my car reek of fuel forever.





Couple things to note. It was a little tight getting the top into the spare room. We had to flip it up vertically and it was more awkward than normal. It's going to stay in the room until I have the car up and running and can verify I have no leaks in the fuel system. Once that's completed I'll reinstall all the panels and put the top back on. I still need to figure out how the garages are going to be set up and mount some shelving or storage for my spare bumpers and lips. Additionally, yes, those are piles of Magic cards. If you ever come to visit, bring a Commander deck. We run games every Friday night.

The TODA kit is designed to use the OEM banjo bolt from the OEM fuel rail. It's technically a plug and play solution but it wants you to run the return line off the back of the fuel rail leading into a fuel pressure regulator, and then the return line comes out of that. I haven't seen anyone set it up that way, but I have seen people add a fitting to the front of the rail and then run the return line off of that. It works, and seems to be the technically correct way to do it but it's a little bit cluttered visually. On top of that if you are running a FPR you'll want to plumb a vacuum line to it which also adds some visual clutter and complexity and you'll need to find a home for it and route the associated lines to its location.

Attached is a picture from the TODA instructions on how they want you to set up the system.



Rather than do that I elected to take some advice from Mark at Origin Fabrication and swap the fuel system over to a returnless fuel system. I did this by moving to an 06+ fuel hangar unit, and then having custom lines made from the pump all the way to the TODA fuel rail. This solves a few problems I was looking for solutions to. One it cleans things up visually. No FPR, no return line, and with no FPR I wouldn't need to run vacuum for it. I see guys with the DBW cars swapping to the return systems when they start making serious power, I'll never be anywhere close to that so it shouldn't be an issue.

With the fuel hangar in hand I ordered Origins stainless steel hardline that runs under the car, and all of the associated lines and fittings that I would need to connect them. With the new set up and modern ECUs wanting a fuel pressure sensor he added that to the system and the T and the line needed to go along with that.







It's all pretty slick and designed to be mounted to OEM locations. The little T block fits into an existing hole, and the new metal line clips into the OEM brackets that hold the fuel lines underneath the car.

If you were curious like I was about how the DBW fuel hanger works, apparently it has a mechanically driven fuel pressure regulator incorporated into it. It seems to be as simple as that. Knowing I was running a different basket I ordered a new gasket and fuel filter. I figured if I was in there then there was no reason not to replace the filter.



Curosity got the better of me and I noticed that my fuel hangar had a piece of hose running up through the center. Having never handled an S2000 fuel pump before this didn't stand out and was incorrect. The hose however did look to be dry rotted and was very hard. Probably from sitting in an Arizona garage for years so I decided to replace the hose. As it turns out it had a Fullblown fuel pump in it, and after reaching out to the previous owner he told me it was dead...

So I went to the internet and the cheapest 06-09 fuel assembly on Ebay was a 30 minute drive from my house. It came with everything including the metal top mount and the fuel level arm. I bought it right away and drove down an hour later to pick it up. Once I got it home I blew out the extra gas in the unit, and disassembled it. I realised there is no fuel line in the pump unit like there is in the AP1. I took the best condition parts from both of the units I had and assembled them into a single unit with the new fuel filter and gasket installed and ready to go.





In case you ever go down this route I'm attaching a picture of the fuel hanager you want as well as some additional details.

Part Number: 17708-S2A-A51-M1

The fuel level sender seems to be interchangeable between the different versions. I tried it both ways, and keyed on the AP1 and AP2 mechanisms both read the same fuel level.

The mounting plate and the gasket are significantly different between the AP1 and the AP2 units. You need the AP1 plate and gasket to go along with the AP1 gas tank, but the mounting tabs on the top of the hangers don't even come close to lining up. You will either need to modify the metal mounting ring, or you'll need to shave the tabs off of the top of the fuel hanger.

 

08.13.2022 - Fuel System Removal and Install


Preparing to do the fuel hanger swap and knowing I was going to run into issues I prepared the car the night before. I wanted to be able to tackle as much as I possibly could in a single day and not leave the project half finished with an open fuel tank in the garage.

The night before, once we took the hard top off and put the soft top up, the soft top tray was surprisingly easy to remove. You just need to figure out how to angle it so it drops down into the trunk, but it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

I got up early on Saturday and started working on getting that basket out. I had already disconnected the fuel lines from the front of the car when I removed the intake manifold. I drained what I could into a bucket and tried to seal them up as best as I could. I made sure to have the car down to about a quarter of a tank before I started this process.

I started by detaching the soft lines in the back that went to the factory hard lines. There was still a bit more fuel in them than I was expecting. I cleaned that mess up and got to work on pulling the fuel assembly out. I read several guilds on how to do it, and it's honestly way way way easier than people make it out to be. This could be because I have aftermarket bucket seats. All I did was remove the windscreen, have the soft top all the way up, and remove the cushions out of the seat. I put a few towels into the seat so the velcro didn't destroy my knees and went to work. It's really just loosening the 8mm bolts around the ring, and one additional 10mm nut and bolt that holds some of the evap lines in place. Takes maybe 5 minutes once you have the interior panels removed.

Once everything is loose, hop out of the car, and go into the trunk. From there you can remove all the hardware easily, disconnect the lines to the pump, and remove the assembly. I noticed that the filter itself holds quite a lot of fuel, and if you just lift it half out of the tank and hold it at an angle for 15-30 seconds it all drains back into the tank and makes very little mess on removal. I had towels down all over the place, but by the end of the day I was using a small rag to put under the assembly as I was removing it. It's really a simple process getting it out.

Getting the new assembly in however is a different story. The assemblies are the same size and dimension, all that is fine. The critical differences are the plastic alignment tabs on the top of the fuel hanger, and the mounting points on the gas tank itself. The AP1 and AP2 DBW stuff does not line up in any way shape or form. The metal top bracket and the lower gasket are totally different designs. I tried using the AP2 top bracket with the AP1 gasket and I couldn't get it to line up at all. After looking at everything out of the car and comparing it, I thought the best approach would be to modify the AP1 mounting bracket to accept the AP2 fuel hangar. I did this by using my dremmel and cutting a notch for the third tab that didn't line up. This went pretty smooth and to my surprise it all clipped right in without a problem. I was so pleased I went and painted the area I cut with some touch up paint.





What I didn't realize at the time was that even though the fuel hangar was clipped into the AP1 top mount, it wasn't going to work. The AP1 gasket can sit in any number of positions, however the top bracket needs to be oriented a specific way for the 10mm nut and bolt section to hold the evap hoses. It took me a few tries to figure out how it wanted to be, and each time I had to cut into the damn mounting bracket for the notches. There was a ton of back and forth and at first I thought I was clever by using parts from the second pump that I had to mock it up. I wasn't nearly as clever as I thought because without the fuel filter and fuel level assembly the pump could sit in any direction. I again didn't realize my mistake until after I modified the mounting bracket.

Once I realized what I was missing I put the assembly I was going to use into the car, with the gasket in the correct orientation. Marked the sports to cut, and went and modified the plate again. Bingo it fit, the assembly was in the correct orientation and I was able to bolt it all together. What I didn't realize at this point was that due to how I had to fit it all, the fuel line that I had made ended up being a few inches too short.This is not a critique of my fab guy, this is just how it is. This is part of having a fab guy across the country make some parts for you off of a similar but not identical set up. He's working on a new longer line for me now. I'm going to put up a few pics close to the final result. As the day went on my cuts got much more hasty and less clean. I cut into the bracket so many times I was convinced it was going to get thrown out and redone once I could order a new one from Honda. Surprise, it's discontinued.





Once I realized I would need the AP1 gasket rather than the newly purchased AP2 gasket I thought it would be best to recondition it. I gave it a thorough coating of Shin-Etsu grease and let it sit in the heat for a few hours before wiping it down.



Looking back on it, if I were to do this swap again I would have tackled it differently. The fuel assembly needs to go into the car with the fuel level arm and the filter pointing towards the front of the car. The mounting tabs seem to be solely for orientation to make that install a one way affair. I see two potential options. One is to machine the top metal bracket out back to the furthest point of one of the clip recesses. The other would be to remove the plastic mounting tabs from the fuel hanger itself. Either option should allow you to place the fuel hanger in any orientation you'd like and then bolt it all down. I was going to try and get fancy and do option one where I machine the bracket, but being they are seemingly difficult to find I think I'm going to pull the hanger and remove the plastic tabs once I'm able to find a new bracket. It's all in, and it works the way it is, but I really am not happy with how it looks visually. It's sloppy and it feels like I had to cut a corner to get it to work. Nobody will ever see or know what it looks like, but it doesn't feel like it's done right to me, so I'll be redoing it as soon as I can find a new bracket. If anyone has a spare bracket from an AP1 I'll buy it today.

While I had everything out of the trunk I decided it was time to remove the 20 year old degrading foam, and thoroughly clean everything out. I plan on replacing that material with something more modern, but I'm going to wait to do that until I make sure this is fully functional with no leaks. After lots of adhesive remover and a bucket of Mr. Clean citrus scented cleaner this is what we're left with.



I definitely scratched up the top area while I was removing the adhesive from the metal cover. I should have put a towel down under it. There isn't a lot I can do at this point. One day in the future 20 years from now when I tear the car down to have it restored it will be repainted. For now I'll leave it as it is. It's a pretty minor concern of mine if I'm being honest.

 

9.22.2022 - Fuel System Final Install

After having to hack up the bracket to hold the fuel pump in I was unhappy with its appearance. I took my own advice from earlier and picked up a new bracket, and shaved the tabs off of the pump hanger itself. This way I can rotate it however I need to with zero modification to the oem bracket, and once everything is tightened the assembly is held so tight it can't rotate.







New set up installed:



One with the new fuel line attached:



Getting the AN line onto the plastic hangar was far more difficult that I imagined. I couldn't get it on by hand no matter how hard I tried, even with using a bit of wehite lithium grease to help it along. To solve the problem I ended up having to remove the entire assembly from the car again, take the line apart, and use a rubber mallet and grease to seat the fitting all the way down onto the pump. Thankfully there is enough room in the car to retighten the line after the assembly is fully installed.

Next up are some pictures of the rest of the fuel system after install. You'll notice in a few of the pictures I had the brackets that held the OEM lines powdercoated, and the rear one I modified as it doesn't need to hold the charcoal canister anymore.









This last pic is from today, and you can see some more details of the system. The little blocx there is part of what Origin made to go along with anything. It takes the main line that feeds into the throttles and T's off a section for the fuel pressure sensor.

 

8.8.2022 - Brake Hardline Relocation

As I was going through the kit Origin sent me I had a few D clamps and this black washer I didn't know what to do with. I was seemingly able to install everything so far but I couldn't figure out where these were supposed to go. I gave Mark a call and this stuff was designed to take the brake hard line that runs against the firewall, and move it back to sit flush against the firewall.

I can't find a picture of it but from the factory the brake line is secured by two large push clips that protrude about an inch off of the firewall. Removal was a pain in the ass and involved destroying the clips. From there the small D claps are wrapped around the brake line and secured against the firewall with the nylon piece. The problem is that the studs they are secured to aren't threaded with a normal pitch, they are designed to have push clips secured to them.

The way I managed to get them to fit was to take a socket and the nylon fitting and put them into my vice. I tightened it down just enough to push the nylon piece into the socket. From there I used a couple of long extensions and a ratchet and was able to put all my weight against the stud and fastened it on. The next issue I ran into was how to get the one behind the engine secured. What I ended up coming up with was removing the fitting I had attached and hoped that it had threaded itself enough that I could get it onto the stud behind the engine by hand. It ended up working and I was able to get it spun on most of the way by hand. I need to completely secure it once I take the valve cover off and the stuff out of the head to do the cams. For the other side I did it again the same way as I did originally.





This last picture is of all of the washers I found stacked behind the upper heater hard line after removing it for powdercoat. I have no clue why the previous owner would have spaced this thing out like this.

 

8.31.2022 - Vacuum System

With the way the Toda's are set up you can purchase their ISCV (or come up with your own solution) and easily run two separate vacuum systems. My vacuum system was one of my bigger learning experiences on my previous set up and I really wanted the dual approach to to square things away this time.

In the instructions Toda suggests just running your brake booster into the #4 runner. I have talked to a few people running this approach and they say it works fine and had zero issues. I've also heard from someone running this setup that they ran into problems while tuning due to the vacuum not being even across the cylinders due to #4 being run directly to the brake booster. That made sense to me, and I figured while I had everything off of the car I would come up with a solution that allowed me to plumb all four runners into a block and then distribute vacuum that way.

The first step was setting up the lines for the ISCV. These lines are designed to be plugged into the nipples that run along the edge of the manifold flange. The only issue here is that the nipples on the manifold are a different size than the nipples on the ISCV. Apparently the ISCV tube is designed to work with the K series setup. Toda sells it to you with instructions to zip tie it down for the F series. Mark at Origin modified mine to mount parallel with the fuel rail, added a custom angled pipe, and a bracket to mount the IACV control unit to the firewall. With that all in place all I had to do was source the vacuum lines to connect the two. I ended up using some off the shelf 7/32" vacuum tubing that did the trick. It's very tight on the manifold section, you're going to stretch and ruin the line when you remove it, and secure on the IACV side. I'll include the part number at the end.

The only real challenge I came across with these is getting everything to fit with an equal length. It doesn't seem to matter much though. When I cut all the lines they were equal on all four. Due to the way the IACV mounts the distances from each point on each runner to the flange is different. The front line seems to be the shortest. Once it was all mounted on the car I noticed that the line had a bit too much length and due to the nature of how the bends shape it, it had a pinch. I've trimmed it down a few times to get it perfect with no issues. Once it's all mounted in the car it looks perfect, almost like it was supposed to come this way.

One the same line we have the MAP sensor. I had Origin add a fitting to the pipe he made for me so that I could run off of the IACV system over to the MAP sensor. I know it's not typically used much with an ITB car but I figured preserving it couldn't hurt. I also had him put it on the extension elbow because it would be largely hidden and if I decided to remove it completely a cap would clean it up and be virtually invisible. The new MAP sensor mounts to a vacuum block that is part of the package that Origin did for me. It's a K series map sensor, and it mounts in the engine bay at the bottom directly below the ABS unit utilizing an OEM hole.







The other vacuum system was more of a pain in the ass. The biggest hurdle is that unlike all of the other ITB kits the Toda kit puts the throttle cable from underneath and has a bracket that sticks out between the number two and three runners to mount it to. This unfortunately blocks the spot that all of the other vacuum blocks mount. You can put them elsewhere, but I was hoping to come up with a contained system that I could attach to the manifold itself. This picture gives you an idea of the room that you have to work with behind the bracket. Keep in mind those coolant hoses are not attached and are pushed back a bit. Once they are installed you have even less.



After digging around into all the different vacuum block solutions I settled on a block from Motion Raceworks. I had messaged them asking for measurements and dimensions and they quickly got back to me. I figured one way or another I could make it work. The block ended up fitting into the little recess that I wanted to use. Here you can see how I managed to fit it behind everything before I made the bracket. My thought here was to just mount it directly where it is, but with how tight it fit and the nature of the 1/4 NPT cap I had to install on that side of the block it didn't fit.




Here you can see how I ended up having to space it out utilizing a bracket.



The vacuum block itself needed to be secured on the other side. I was hesitant to leave it only secured from one side as I thought it might vibrate and end up damaging something. What I really wanted to do was to come up with a solution that would allow me to attach the vacuum block to the manifold itself so that it was all a contained system. I was trying to mount the vacuum system behind the throttle linkage bracket and once everything was in the car the room to assemble something like this and make sure all thee vacuum lines are fully seated is difficult. I ended up taking the bracket off and heading to my local ACE hardware store. I figured I could scrounge up enough random parts to mock something up. One I found what I was looking for I went home and assembled it all to test out. It was ugly but it worked. Then I had a buddy help me come up with a nicer looking solution that should be a bit stronger and has less bolts. Unfortunately due to how it all mounts it's very difficult to measure when it's on the car, but we got everything close enough that I just had to open up or add a few holes with a drill and it all fit perfectly.

Prototype Bracket:





Final Bracket:







Next was fittings. The Toda manifold is tapped as a 1/8 BSPT and I found it incredibly hard to find nice, push-lock, stainless steel fittings in that size. I ended up finding them from a Canadian Pneumatic company. I also figured while I was at it I would order the 1/8 NPT fittings that I would need for the other side. I ended up having to put in a second order because as I played with the layout of the lines I ended up having to revise the line placement several times due to various issues.

Finally vacuum lines. I ordered a long roll of tubing (it was the smallest they had) from the same company. I'm going to skip a bunch of the iterations I went though, but to summarize there was five to six different layouts that I had gone through during this process. I was convinced each one would work until I went to try it on the car, and as I added more parts and tried to figure out how to mount the vacuum block I had to change it up. My last set up that I was confident would work fit in the car with everything mocked up and I was ready to move on. I was talking to a buddy who asked about the heat capacity of the lines and when I looked it was only 160F. As these lines sole purpose was to provide vacuum to the brake booster I decided that I wasn't willing to risk something getting kinked or melting. I ended up reaching out to a few pneumatic distributors, explained what I was doing and asked for a product recommendation. They sent me a link to tubing that's good for temperatures up to 200c. That's more than enough and overkill felt like the correct move for this part. It was expensive though, around $200 for 20ft of tubing. Once I got the tubing I quickly noticed that it wasn't nearly as flexible as the other tubing, so I had to go back to the drawing board with my design. I'm happy with what I settled. With the way it's set up now, everything is equal length, symmetrical, and had no hard bends. Each line is basically a big C.







Finally it was the brake booster line. This was pretty simple. With the block securely mounted to the manifold I could remove it, confirm I could run a line off the back, and then connect it to the brake booster. I used a combination of different lines to do this, but basically I kept the OEM brake booster line, clipped of the last 1/2 where it makes the horizontal 90 degree turn to connect to the intake manifold. I got fancy and ordered some custom shaped hoses so that it looks perfect but that's completely unnecessary. I have the fittings to join the lines, and the fitting to connect the line to the vacuum block listed below.



Overall I am incredibly pleased with how this came out. The system is exactly what I wanted it to be. It seems to work perfectly, it looks like it belongs, all the lines are even, everything is more than adequate to handle the heat in the engine bay, and it's all self contained. The only thing I'll warn you is that if you are running the OEM knock sensor that this probably wont work. I switched out to a Bosch unit for my set up, which I'll get into next. This post consolidated a ton of work into a few pictures and paragraphs. This was by far one of the longer parts of putting this set up together for my specific goals. Once it's installed on the car you can't see any of it.

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Parts List

IACV Vacuum Hoses: MasterPro #WV0732
Vacuum Block: https://www.motionraceworks.com/prod...pr_seq=uniform
1/8 BSPT Vacuum Fittings: https://www.mettleair.com/store/ptc/...bspt-male.html
1/8 NPT Vacuum Fittings: https://www.mettleair.com/store/ptc/...bspt-male.html
Vacuum Lines: https://www.smcpneumatics.com/TH0604B-20.html
Brake Booster Line Connectors: https://www.mcmaster.com/5058K151/
1/4 NPT Barbed Fitting: https://www.mcmaster.com/5361K36/

 

11.02.2022 - LINK ECU

Not much to talk about here. After a ton of research and recommendations form several people I ended up going with the link G4X Plug and Play ECU for the AP1. The only thing that's not plug and play is that you need to clearance an area within the OEM case to get the new board to fit. That's about it.

I also purchased the LINK CAN 02 sensor and module as well as the adapter plug to plug this straight into the board. I needed to add some holes to the case somewhere to add additional lines, so I did it through the top of the face plate. If I had to do it again I'd probably run them through the dies of the case itself next time so it looks cleaner. Otherwise this was pretty cut and dry. Since this photo was taken I'd added a second connector coming out of the ECU that plugs into the expansion harness. With it set up this way I can just install the enclosed ECU into the car, and then connect the extra sensors through the jumpers. I don't need to deal with unscrewing the faceplate and trying to plug it all in while it's mounted up in the footwell.



11.10.2022 - Wiring Harness

There were enough sensor differences that I originally wanted to have a new harness created. I was talked out of it by a few people, so I went out and bought the tools to refurbish and movify my own harness while I was out of the car. I had removed it to make my life easier while I was mocking everything up.

All the tools showed up, and I sat down to start working on my car. I had forgotten that way back when I bought this car it had been modified by the previous owner. As I started removing the sheathing from the OEM harness I noticed that the harness had been cut and spliced all over the place. Sometimes multiple times along the same line. All of the injector lines had multiple cuts and repairs as well as 2-3 other lines. I figured the best way to repair each line was to order wire and attempt to remove all of the cuts and repair everything properly. Once I started looking into wiring and trying to figure out what I needed and then wanted to keep the OEM color codes on the wires so I could keep it straight I felt like I was in over my head.







I ended up speaking to several different people who make wiring harnesses. I found several of them incredibly difficult to work with or even get information out of. I'm not very good with wiring or electronics and I had a lot of questions. I ended up submitting a deposit with one company who was very difficult to get information out of. Even after putting the deposit down it felt like pulling teeth to get answers to the specific questions I had. I ended up taking my questions to the LINK ECU forums and received an in depth reply from someone who was a LINK dealer, tuner, specialized in wiring, and was familiar with S2000s. After a few hours of conversation I ended up canceling my order with the original place less than 24 hours after I placed it. The original company informed me that they had "done a significant amount of work" in less than 24 hours after I put in the order so I ended up eating a significant chunk of money. It is what it is, and it all ended up working out mostly for the best.

AERaceFab is who ended up making my harness for me as well as doing this first round of tuning. He worked with me to make sure I had all the sensors I needed accounted for, as well as make a few revisions to my original game plan. I'm going to attach the list of the sensors that I ended up running and their locations in case it helps someone down the road who wants to do a similar setup.



A few pictures of the completed harness:

 

11.13.2023 - New Sensors & Locations

Quick rundown of the new and relocated sensors and where they are going to live.

IAVC: Part of the Toda ISCV Kit. This whole kit was extensively modified by Origin Fabrication to fit how it does.Originally this whole set up is for the K series and comes with some zip ties to hold it down. Mark ended up studding the vacuum tube so it could be hard mounted, and then fabricated the elbow and support brackets for the IACV control unit could be mounted and hidden against the fire wall. I also had him add a fitting on the elbow to run a vacuum line to the MAP sensor.





TPS: Mounted to the manifold facing the firewall.



MAP: New vacuum block was created for the MAP. Mounted in the lower portion of the engine bay on an existing threaded hole.



Fuel Pressure: Mounted above the MAP sensor, behind the ABS unit, closer to the cabin.



Knock Sensor: Final position had the connector pointed towards the firewall.



Throttle Cables: Cruise Control follows a fairly standard path. Throttle cable itself gets looped down into the bay, and then comes up and connects to the throttle linkage bracket between the number two and three runners. It is secured next to the cruise control on the ABS unit using D clamps, and then again underneath on the side of the engine bay using a D clamp and an existing hole. NOTE: This picture is showing an early version of the Fuel Pressure location, this is not the final location.



Oil Temp & Pressure: This is a Bosch dual sensor that handles both functions. The OEM dummy pressure sensor was pulled and Origin Fabrication created a line that mounts off of the block and allowed me to run an extension line to the new sensors. He also created the new mounting bracket you see for the sensor itself. This way I never have to mess with the threads on the block again, and the sensor isn't vibrating off the side of the block. I ended up using a different sensor than what he and I originally had and needed to find a connector. I ended up sourcing a Fragola connector to turn the -3 fitting on his line to the inverted flare metric fitting I needed for the new sensor.

You'll also notice the Vtec oil pressure sensor was removed. I learned that this sensor isn't utilized on the JDM vehicles and does not get utilized with aftermarket ECUs. S2KandtheAnt provided me with the Honda part numbers for the bolt and O ring they use to block it off from the factory.

I also sanded down and painted the Vtec solenoid. It looks awful and dated compared to the rest of the car so I refinished it. I did it in a flat black primer originally but it stood out to me as being modified and didn't sit right. I ended up going over that with the Steel It that I had bought to do my brake calipers and was much happier with that result.







IAT: This is a motorsports sensor that was recommended by Origin Fabrication. He incorporated the mounting location into the intake arm that he built for me. I preferred this solution rather than having to modify the TODA surge tank.

 

11.18.2022 - Final Install

With the harness in hand, everything planned out, and all the supporting items like the fuel system already installed in the car everything went back in for final install in an afternoon. If I had to do it all over again I could have done the entire project in a weekend if everything was in front of me ready to go. I'm glad I took my time and really planned out everything down to the smallest detail. It ended up paying off pretty dramatically.

The OEM harness has a support bracket on the back of the motor, which I removed after pulling the OEM harness. Once I had the new harness in place I wanted to support it vertically so it wasn't pulling down and applying tension to any of the connectors. I settled on using a D clamp to secure it on the back of the engine head using a 10mm bolt and a hole that was previously used by that support bracket. This was hands down one of the hardest things I did. Getting a D clamp of the appropriate size, the bolt, and a ratchet back there while keeping everything lined up, finding the hole completely blind, and applying enough force to smash it all together to thread it in probably took me 2-3 hours itself. That was a nightmare. I ended up googling pictures of motors out of the car so I could get an idea of where the threaded hole actually was, and staring at that while I worked. The harness is secured in another 2-3 places with D clamps so it's not moving at all. I ended up taking a razor blade to the firewall grommet off of the OEM harness. I sliced it across the bottom, and then applied it to the new harness once it was installed. I did it backwards by pressing it in from the cabin side, so that the longer portion would wrap around the harness, and I could electrical tape, and then zip tie it so it wouldn't be visible.





There isn't much more to say here. I'll add some photos of everything going back in the car, and a couple detailed pics of how tight everything is back against the firewall. There is a lot of stuff relocated back there, but it all fits and clears and looks like it belongs.













The last thing I'll note is that when the carbon surge tank is installed the backing plate is secured with the same hardware that holds the trumpets on. In the worst case scenario of one of these coming loose the hardware can be ingested by the engine with catastrophic results.This has happened to more than a few people. So when everything went in for the final time, all of those bolts were thoroughly tightened and secured using medium strength oil resistant Loctite. They were also paint penned for visual inspection.

 

12.30.2022 - 04/05 Valve Cover, New Spark Plug Cover, and PCV Replacement

As you can tell in the pics my 20 year old valve cover was looking worse for wear. It was directly, chipped, peeling, and generally looked out of place next to all of the new components in the engine bay. I was going to swap to an 04/05 cover to utilize the PCV port with the ITBs so now seemed like a good time to do it.

I ordered a gasket kit plus the spark plug grommets, and found a valve cover locally. I dropped it off along with my AP1 spark plug cover to my powdercoater to have them done in the factory colors. While he had S2KandtheAnt and I were talking and he mentioned he had one of the JDM AP2 spark plug covers in stock. It's the same thing as the USDM covers only it's the correct wrinkle black instead of the terrible terrible gold indicating you received an incorrectly sized motor. (jokes) I ordered one of those to toss on the car and see which I liked better.

Fresh cover with both spark plug covers for comparison:



Bonus shot of the bare head I took while I was swapping the cover:



I also started looking into the fittings for the PCV port. The 04/05 covers come with a better PCV design that you can remove and replace with a fitting that allows you to use it as a vent port. With the ITBs I don't have a vacuum source to pull the PCV open, and this hopefully allows me to just cap the front port rather than to run a line off the front.

There are two sizes that can work, I ordered all the fittings to test and see which was best. You can run a -6 fitting but from the couple I had in hand the -6 fitting steps down when it goes to the -6 side. This would work fine probably, but with me trying to get away with one line I elected to go for the bigger -8. The metric to -8 fitting is straight through which should allow the greatest possible amount of pressure to escape from the head. For the time being I have a 90 degree elbow attached, and I'm using some rubber tubing I had on hand to send the vapors underneath the car. I will be revisiting this at some point here shortly and adding a catch can once I determine if my current set up is adequate venting for the engine.

-6 Fitting





-8 Fitting





Final Setup



This currently seems to be enough as I have no issues with the dipstick popping. I also ordered a heavy duty HPS silicon cap for the front port.

 

Its not exactly build information, but I'll wrap this up with nice pictures of the final set up courtesy of @s2k_runner1129 .