MY04 Liberty GT - FrankenStien - EOI welcome / FS

[<GB>]

Sell it and buy a 2.5 manual?

[jslayz]

Thanks kieran. It's a tough one.

J thanks also for your advice an kind words but just a couple of things:

Hexmods vb mod is 600 odd plus shipping of 70 return.

Convertor is 1300 for a custom built one here in Sydney by a very very reputable auto guy. I can get one for as little as 700 but if I was going down this path I'd want it done well.

In terms of the 6 speed, there is absolutely no need to go to am aftermarket ecu to run a manual.

The auto and manual ecu's are exactly the same except for a pin identifying it. Once grounded, this pin tells the auto ecu it's a manual one.

The wiring is not extremely hard, more just tedious. The standard ecu can more than handle the job and the wiring is all using existing switches and pins etc.

The conversion should cost me less than 4500 complete.

My VB price was more as I was contemplating getting a new VB bought and modded then shipped to me, that way if no good I return it, get refund on the part and am only out of pocket the shipping costs.

If the earthing thing works then please tell me how it is done so I can book mine in to STechnic for the conversion....Do you drink single malt...you would deserve a bottle if you can help me get mine 6speed converted for reasonable money!

He's got 6 6speed boxes at Stechnic at the moment....would be great to put dibs on one for mine!

J

[dr20t]

Been a while since update but here it is:

Facelifted front end will be going on this weekend. Bar has been repaired and it and the new guard painted.

To make it easier I pulled the whole wiring harness out of the parts car including relays in fuse box and will be using that.

Also bought an ultrex lip for it and an Sti badge for the el cheapo version

Hopefully I get my 6 speed box and required hardware in a few weeks so will be biting the bullet and converting it. It's gonna be fun.

At the same time I'll be putting a built 2.5 bottom end in using my 2l heads and quad avcs 264 cams into it by May.

Gonna wind up the boost to 26+ psi, tune for corn and finally enjoy the fruits of some the work done to it.

Anyone know an l.e.d specialist? The certain one I know won't answer his phone

[SH30RB]

for corn ... enjoy the fruits

last time i checked, corn was a vegetable...

that is a very impressive list you have there mick! i cant wait to see the finished product

[hks180]

Anyone know an l.e.d specialist? The certain one I know won't answer his phone

hahaha sorry Mick .. totally forgot to call you back ...

buzz ya tomorrow !

Leo

[dr20t]

Haha yeah bad choice of words

Thanks Simon - I hope it all goes ok with the conversion

Few wiring tricks should do it but you just never know. As far as I know this will be the first auto gen4 in oz converted to a manual.

The way to do this is as I previously mentioned, by grounding out the Id pin on the auto ecu so it now thinks it's a manual.

You retain the auto ecu and also the tcu. Rewire the pins for park lock to ignition barrel, and neutral safety switch so car can start without needing to know it's in park or n on the auto.

The main concerns I have relate to two things:

- abs
- avcs

In the auto, the tcu sends the signal to the abs module to tell it that the car is in gear. This means the abs doesn't work in park or neutral, which is fine.

Most guys normally wire up this signal using the neutral switch off the box and series it with the neutral safety switch on the clutch pedal. That way when the clutch is in the car thinks it's in neutral, and wrn it's out it thinks it's in gear. This also allows the car to be started only with clutch in as otherwise it thinks its in gear. However what worries me is if a lock up situation occurred, you would lost likely clutch in and brake. In the above wiring schematic that means your abs wouldn't work. Kind of
defeats the purpose of abs for my mind.

The avcs issue is closely related. The tcu in an auto also has some part to play in telling the ecu that the car is in gear. This means constant engagement of avcs. When converting to manual and retaining the tcu, essentially you have to find a way for the tcu to tell the ecu that it's in gear, otherwise you might lose avcs during gear changes which can't be a good thing at 7000rpm (unless someone tells me otherwise with sound reasoning)

I am thinking of a way to eliminate both issues by bypassing the tcu somehow (which would mean using another source from the ecu to tell abs module and cruise control module that it is in a forward gear, rather than relying on the tcu to do so). I'm gonna have a think about this after I've had a detailed look at the wiring diagrams for auto and manual Gt.

I know some might suggest ditching the tcu totally, but this is not quite possible without changing cluster to a manual one (as It will spit out a cel), and it must be from a 2.0l Gt manual only as no other cluster will work with the dual avcs ecu. Also, the tcu controls various other minor (but convenient) functions like cruise con trol.

Happy to hear suggestions on this point

[dr20t]

Anyone know an l.e.d specialist? The certain one I know won't answer his phone

hahaha sorry Mick .. totally forgot to call you back ...

buzz ya tomorrow !

Leo

All good Leo was only takingthe piss to get your attention mate I know how busy you are!

Just want some bling bro!

[kiahatsiu]

What about going an after market ecu? Would most likely be better in the long run. You could even get one of those new fancy things that allows you to run either corn of dinosaur juice. It would cost a bit, but it would be heaps better.

[senator]

Good to see your new turbo setup will be supported by a drive line which can transfer the power.

What goodies are going in the bottom end?

Are you porting the heads or just going with drop in cams?

[dr20t]

I did think of aftermarket ecu but I'm gonna try use the oem one for now and see how I go. I've plated with aftermarket ecu's on other cars before and not too keen on using one with this unless I really have to.

Tony in terms of bottom end it will be forged pistons/ rods, acl bearings, cometic hg, baffles, sump mods, and thinking some close decking.

Heads will be ported and valve springs upgraded to suit the cams

Ironically my ecu threw a cel this morning so gonna put the cable on tonight and see what it was.

[dr20t]

Update time

Got an annoying cold last week which slowed down some progress but good news is the facelifted front end is now on

Basically the car is now facelifted entirely from the outside, with the interior upgrade beingthe only thing holding itfrom being cosmetically facelifted throughout.

Will get some pics up shortly

In otter news I've decided on the motor / drivetrain setup and will commence in the next month or so:

Built 2.5 bottom end - forged pistons, rods, acl bearings, black nitrided crank (new), closed decked, sleeved and balanced rotating assembly.

L19 head studs, arp main, rod and case bolts.

Heads will be quad avcs liberty heads ported to flow close to 300cfm
264 quad avcs cams
Cometic headgaskets
Tomei baffle

Going to use the 2871 for now but if I find it's too small will be going something crazy so watch this space

Six speed will go in hopefully at same time and twin plate clutch to suit

Gonna try crack 320atw on e85 eventually. Well that's the aim anyway.

That's it for now guys.

Mick

[Rome_BRZ]

Stop it you're making me jealous!

[t.renshaw34]

Have been watching this . I wanna be where you are in a few years.

[mincedmeat]

Most guys normally wire up this signal using the neutral switch off the box and series it with the neutral safety switch on the clutch pedal. That way when the clutch is in the car thinks it's in neutral, and wrn it's out it thinks it's in gear. This also allows the car to be started only with clutch in as otherwise it thinks its in gear. However what worries me is if a lock up situation occurred, you would lost likely clutch in and brake. In the above wiring schematic that means your abs wouldn't work. Kind of
defeats the purpose of abs for my mind.

You should never cluch in to break in an emergency anyway. you will always stop quicker using the engine to break too. the only exception being if you are cluching to gear down.

[dr20t]

Update time - finally some pics

Did a four way polish on Sunday since my 02 sensor decided to play funny buggers