Hachirokuism

Awful post title, i know. Sorry but it's been a while since i updated this blog so my writing is a bit rusty. Apart from being transferred to another area of work (which is sadly getting me further from my hometown Jakarta), the bike is basically my main focus lately. Fear not, The Dog is still getting some love from the owner as you shall see in just a bit.

So far, The Dog is running AE86 LSD, a W58 gearbox conversion, RX7 front calipers and T3 bits which are all somewhat common in AE86 scene. Yesterday, my Charmant is getting even similar to a four-door Hachiroku with this finally reaching my doorsteps from Japan.

43-teeth ring gear and 10-teeth pinion for a T-series diff, giving me a 4.3 ratio. You know what car these gears come stock in? Exactly: AE86. Ever since i upgraded to a W58, i have wanted a final gear ratio increase to recoup the loss of acceleration from the box's taller ratio compared to T50. While a 4.778 ratio might give me even better acceleration, i don't think it's really necessary for a turbocharged daily driven car, hence a 4.3 was chosen. Besides, it's already quite an increase from the stock 3.909 ratio coming from 43:11 and much cheaper.

Here's the 10 teeth pinion..

and the ring gear..

Although both a 43-teeth 6.7 inch ring gear, the one from the 4.3 ratio has taller dimension compared to the 3.909 which is of course required to reach the smaller pinion gear diameter.

Here's the pinion gears side-by-side (commonly known as "gigi nanas" or "pineapple gear" here for obvious reason). The left one was the old 11 teeth pinion.

I had to replace one of the conical bearings and oil seal. Bearing number was M86610. Some shims with various thickness was needed as well to adjust the bearing's preload.

Last but not least is the backlash adjustment. There are some things better left to be handled by the expert and working on diff pumpkins are one of them. Seriously, i had no idea that gear to gear contact is such a delicate work!

After everything was put back together, a test drive was done and as expected, it accelerates much better and the rear wheels lock easier. Best of all, the whining is now gone. I guess the previous gear ratio was not adjusted properly and caused  the whining.

More from T&T

Just got these pics in my inbox. They're from Rishi from Trinidad and Tobago, just like my friend Dereck. The gold one below still has its original paint. I can tell that it's in a very clean state judging from the interior shot. That steering wheel is not something i see often in Charmants as well. Perhaps because it's the 4K engine version? Rishi's plan is to get rid of the 1300cc OHV and replace it with an SR20DET. Brakes are planned to come from a EVO1 Mitsu while the rear LSD axle will be from a Nissan E24.

The red one is of Rishi's cousin Vedesh. He'll be taking a slightly different approach by going for 3S-GTE with Skyline suspension and diff. Love that white lettering tyres!

Both Charmants above look mint, that's for sure! Do us a favor, will you Rishi and Vedesh? Keep the altering to a minimum, at least exterior wise. You don't often see Charmants looking as good as yours nowadays.

Tito's 4A-ZC Charmant

Having your own workshop sure comes with many benefits. One of them is that you can do whatever you want to your car without worrying about mechanic labor costs. Tito, the owner of Monster Auto Garage, knows this well and took advantage of it to the fullest for his Charmant. He got this white Charmant sometime earlier around May this year and has since then been slowly building it. This is what it looks like on June '12.

Since then, he's added a few accessories and new wheels which made the car end up looking like this.

Curious with what he can do with all the stuff piling up in his workshop, he decided to plant this..

..on the stock 4A-C engine. I can't say this isn't the first time i have seen a 4A-ZC, if we want to stick to Toyota's engine coding, being built so watching his work in progress is eye-candy for me as well.

Tito decided against the risk of damaging his SC12 rotary vanes from blow-back and go for a draw-through intercooler-less setup. With this setup, it's only common sense that he has to put the charger as close as possible to the intake ports. Thus, here was where he decided for the supercharger's location.

He ditched the magnetic clutch and fabricate some extension for the pulley to reach the engine belts.

Add a pair of 90 deg bents and some flanges for his twin-throttle carb..

.. and here you have the engine on below video.. Enjoy!

Alive and Kickin'

Just because my focus is on my two-wheels project lately, doesn't mean i'm neglecting The Dog. Here's her new looks..

Front grille and rear license plate surround/garnish which i believe are from top-of-the-line Charmant Altair. I have very little idea about Altairs so i can't tell you more, unfortunately. I still need to remove those ugly license plate light on the bumper, cover the holes and install these lights below that came with the garnish but even now she looks much better, doesn't she?

These are for sale as they're no longer used, obviously.

The Cat, Phase One

Just thought i should share the bike project here now it has finished Phase One, which is complete remodeling while retaining the carb. This should also explain the lack of posts about The Dog as my focus is shifted. Phase Two which is EFI conversion has started but i think it would still be a while before it finishes.

Instrument Cluster Pinout

Took a closer look at the underlying circuitry of the instrument cluster yesterday and managed to map out the pins. Perhaps this would be useful later if you wish to troubleshoot indicator related problems.

Left Connector, close to clock.

1. Brake Fluid Level Warning. Goes to brake master cylinder.

2. Oil Pressure Warning. Goes to oil pressure sender.

3. Indicator Lamps Check. If this pin is grounded, all indicator lamps should illuminate. This allows you to see if any lamp is broken.

4. High Beam

5. High Beam

6. Brake Light Warning. This indicates if one of the lamps on the brake light is broken.

7. Battery Acid Level Warning. I have not personally seen any car battery which allows this but i could be wrong. This goes directly to A (the A to D mark above the clock).

8. ACC power supply to clock.

The circuit which is marked with A, B, C and D above the clock is connected as below.

A goes to 7 on left connector

B goes to IGN (+), pin 15 on middle connector

C goes to Battery Acid Level Warning

D goes to Ground

Middle Connector, close to speedometer.

9. Left Turn Signal

10. Right Turn Signal

11. Not Connected

12. Ground (Earth) for Water Temp and Fuel Level gauge

13. To Fuel Level Sender unit

14. To Water Temp Sender unit

15. IGN (+) to all Indicator Lamps

16. Not Connected. Goes to empty indicator below Battery Acid Level warning.

Right Connector, close to tach.

17. Ground

18. +B (constant connection to battery for clock memory)

19. Door Open Warning

20. Fog Lamp? Can't be sure.. The indicator that looks like a lamp with three ray beams.

21. Hand Brake Warning (parking)

22. Instrument Cluster Illumination

23. Instrument Cluster Illumination

24. Tach Signal input to Tachometer

I could be wrong but i did my best to avoid any mistakes. At least this should give you some help to trace any problems later.

Here's the warning lamps.

1. High Beam

2. Brake Light Warning

3. Oil Pressure Warning

4. Battery Acid Level Warning

5. Brake Fluid Level Warning

6. Charge Lamp

7. Fog Lamp?

8. Door Open Warning

9. Handbrake Engaged

Brake and Reverse Light Switch

Fixed two minor problems yesterday. I'd been running The Dog without working brake and reverse lights. Apparently, it was the switches. Here's the replacements.

The connector on the reverse/back-up light switch.

The brake light switch was said to be shared by many Toyotas so you won't have any problem finding the replacement there. Locally, you can ask for Toyota Kijang's switch. I won't be surprised if the switch is shared with Corolla KE70 as well.

The reverse light switch part number is 84210-60021. I can't guarantee if this works with stock Charmant's T50 gearbox since i'm now running W58. It's said to be the same as KF40 Toyota Kijang, the Grand Extra trim to be exact. This switch should work with any G or W gearbox.