New World Datsuns...

I only lost about 2.5 inches on the left side where the left foot would extend. There was a wheel bulge on the right. My panel just flattened it out. Seriously, with carpet I don't think anyone would notice. Sometimes the easy way just works.

Good thing your wife is short. Plenty of leg room to sacrifice in the name of ECMs and wiring.

Lol, that's assuming she ever rides in it again. It needs a long track record of not breaking before she'll feel comfortable. I tried to tell her it's part of the Datsun life, but you know how one bad experience gets them all gun-shy. The RB should (knock on wood) be completely reliable. I think. I didn't do the head gasket, but it should be fine. I never did the head gasket on the D21 when I put in the Frontier motor with 116k on it, it's still going strong 5 years later.

Just finished getting the heater blower box back in, and the glovebox. Actually starting to route the last of the wires. I'll be so tickled if everything starts up and runs normally after I get this harness done. Then I still have the power steering and A/C to do. And the alternator that seems to be screwing up now.

So it turns out you had a great idea! I kept thinking about the sidewell of the trans tunnel, but once I pulled back the carpet there was more room than I thought. I'm thinking I'm going to make a metal panel across the front so no one can ram it with their feet, plus I'd like some ventilation for the ignition module and ecu. Definitely thinking a little sheetmetal something with some louvers. Maybe the heat register vent like what I put in Ugly Betty's hood for heat release, lol.

Got the heater fan box back in, glovebox. The only thing not in is the lower dash fascia plate that hides all the stuff. I need to make one more support spacer for the right side ecu mounting tab, the left and bottom are attached. There is nearly zero room to get the plug in, but just barely squeaked it in with a little luck. Thinking I need a ground strap for the igntion module too. Not sure if that's going stacked on the ecu, or next to it. Might just put some velcro tape on it and stick to the front cover of the ecu, then make that plate so there's clearance, Clarence.

Weasel got a bath today. He was annoyed and was very happy to have a toy to work his frustrations out on.

Man, that harness looks nice!

It is, I just hope it works as well as it looks! If I start it up and no issues and no more misses, I'll be quite happy!

Today is the day. I was going to do the head gasket on the race car, but decided, since that's running, I need to start working on the wagon. Going to try and get the wiring sorted today. My plan is to get it running minus AC and at least back it out of the garage. Then I can park it outside and stick the z car in the big side of the garage for the head job and transmission replacement and not be all cramped or on the back slab in the elements.

^^^
Fuck.
Yes!

Lol, so Mohammed came over and all we did was test the alternator on the wagon and confirm it's shit. And then we worked on the RX7 all day, lol. Got it mostly situated. Put the new old fuel pressure regulator and gauge on it from Wynona's carbureted adventure, but fuel drop is too much. Going to replace the fuel filter today and then maybe the pump if it's just crapping out. Needs 6 psi constant, it has 5.5 at idle, but on WOT it drops to 4. Not good. Going to try and start on the wagon first then do the easy troubleshooting on the RX7 later or tomorrow.

Also, do you know how hard it is to find old station wagons like that now?!

https://youtu.be/elfuaxHQWlQ

You know, I kind of like Red Fang, lol. They're just between garage and pretty good. And then a little off, and the videos rock! They're like us!!

...and from Portland.

Ok, so here's the progress from yesterday and the day before. Mohammed came over and was nice enough to replace the fuel pump and filters in the RX7 while I was dicking with the wagon, seeing as we had projects for the wagon but we would have been in each other's way. The fuel pump shit the bed on the RX, verified by the new pressure gauge and regulator. We changed the filters and tried again, it was still crap. So one new Holley red fuel pump later and the car is running much happier now. I also successfully applied a patch panel made out of Gracie II's old mangled door, so now the RX has Datsun blood in her, lol.

Made a jumper harness for the ignition switch so I can keep the original car wiring intact while supplying the new wiring specialties harness it's needed signals. This way I didn't have to cut or use scotch locks for the interface. Went to pull and save and robbed the connectors for the ignition switch and turn signal for a spare, then just added a spade onto the ends to plug into the original harness. The scotch lock in the picture was previous to my doing. I only use those damn things for initial testing, then it gets soldered, or at least heat shrink butt connected.

And here are the rest of the pics of the heat shield I made for the igniter unit. That way I only have to make a plate to protect the ECU. The heat shield is more re-purposed hardbody door, with some split poly loom for an air gap. Should work nicely I think. The igniter is spaced with double washers where it attaches through the trans tunnel. I had to chip away the asphalt coating for that, don't think it will matter.

Alright, after a good day of wrenching, Mohammed made the plate for the ECU protection and we both fiddled another version of the alternator. I'm using the early Quest alternator. There are about 3 versions, interestingly. I'm using the 93-95 version. They don't really seem to be much different. Anyway, the one I had on the RB took a crap, likely because I screwed up the wiring. Warrantied that, had to go get an alternator out of pull and save since I modified the housing so much on the old one. We found a better way this time that allows for not drilling out and swapping bushings in the Quest alternator. Then you can use a 5/16 bolt through it and you only have to clearance a little on the backside of the mounting ear on top where the adjuster bolts to it. Other than that it's nearly bolt on. Other than figuring out pulley alignment. That's probably because of my extensive grinding on the spacer chunk.

Anyway, we found two thinwall copper tubes at the local Ace hardware, and wouldn't you know they fit inside each other to make a 3/8 OD and a 5/16 ID, woot woot! So cut two sections, one for the block, and one for the spacer. Just have to align up the pulleys now, but should be good to go. The new harness has the correct alternator wiring harness, though I need to find the alternator light wire to hook that into it so it charges.

As for the footwell, we should be able to roll the carpet back over it and theoretically you wouldn't even know the ECU was mounted there! I really wish Wiring Specialties would have made the ECU harness longer so I could have just put it under the seat where it belongs. Oh well.

THE WAGON RUNS AGAIN!! Finally got most of the wiring hooked up, enough to start. Oddly, though the fuel pump wire is run through the relay connector, the fuel pump relay doesn't turn on. I'm wondering if there is a redundant safety in the ecu if it doesn't see some signal. I jumped the relay connector and it fired right up 2nd crank. Sounded way better too.

Right now I don't have the alternator hooked up, nor the alt light, the tach wire (hopefully it can integrate with the factory tach) and the fan trigger wire, and then the electric fan +. Not sure if the alternator light may do something for triggering the fuel pump. I may wire those in and then see if the fuel pump relay turns on. I swapped the ignition and fuel pump relay, no change, so relay is good.

Anyway, I'm happy. It's been a while, there's still a ton to do, but just the fact that she started up and runs makes me super happy. Even if I still have 18 things on my cardboard list, lol.

Ok, have the fuel pump figured out. Relay is fine, getting all it's signals. What it's not getting is the ECU ground to turn on the relay. Considering the system works, I emailed wiring specialties. The correspondence indicated a driver failed in the ECU. Apparently it's semi-common. Short of it, none of the wires I don't have hooked up should have anything to do with it. Confirms my suspicions given the system works, so it's getting the signals it needs to turn on the fuel pump (spark and cranking), it's just not doing it.

So it looks like I'm just going to wire a toggle switch to the relay ground. I took all the dash apart last night trying to find all the inputs for the tach and the alternator light. Had to use the heat gun and very carefully got everything apart without ruining it. The annoying part is the wiring schematic I have is rather crappy even though it's the FSM. I need to go through it again and find more information. Short of it is, I'm not sure which wire I need to patch into to get the tach working and I don't want to guess and mess something up. But there are only 3 wires. I also have the speedo head from Ugly Betty, which I may experiment with that one as a guinea pig.

Keep going and eventually your going to figure everything out.
Can you get another ECU with a good driver?

I probably could, but I'm not really worried about it. I'll wire a toggle so I have a hidden fuel pump kill, the relay won't turn on without ignition, so if I do leave it on, it will just start the pump running with the key. I might check the connector at the ecu, but oh wait, it's mounted to the floor. And it's a pain in the ass to get out. Yeah, nope. Unless it runs like shit, it's not coming back up. I need to start it again and make sure it warms up and revs and all. Haven't done that yet. Just started up and idled it. It should run perfectly with how nicely it started and purred, but if it doesn't, then a replacement ecu will be on the list.

Did some internet searching and I see a few people with the same problem and they just jumped the relay and ran it. Like the Wiring Specialties guy said, they're 30 year old ECUs and probably haven't been treated very nicely considering the car they're in. If it only affects the fuel pump ground, I'm not too concerned. There is the what if there's a crash and the fuel pump is still running, etc. Maybe I'll find a work around but I'm just not that worried. Granted, the fuel pump is wired to the ECU in the race car, but I will probably be pushing the limits a lot harder in that.

Anyway, I'll worry about it later. For now I just need to get everything running and make sure it's all going to come together and I'll be able to drive it.