Replacing 4pot with V6 in a Neon

[Mitsuru]

A measurement from the end of the throttle cable to the bracket
on the neons throttle assembly.



Is it any wonder that my clalculations were off with the Voyager
throttle assembly when the bracket has been twisted a bit!



So I clamped one end to the bench and a few good hits with a
hammer sorted it out. Then measurement from the same places
as the neons throttle assembly.



Another problem I found was that with an unmodified Voyager
throttle assembly, is the the accelerator peddle was pulled up
higher in the foot well.

A few shoots of freehand mocking up on how to position the
bracket with the cable helping to keep the right distances.







I ended up using one of the existing holes and drilled another further
forward as the bracket has been moved back and tilled down a bit.

I also moved the transmission fluid dipstick by drilling a new hole in it's
support bracket.

The red headed bolt isn't sitting straight as the curve in the form of
the bracket, this will be sorted out tomorrow as I need to get it level
for that bolt and trim the excess bracket.









I won't be fitting the cruise control for two reasons.
1) It would mean fitting a replacement coil spring in the steering wheel.
2) There is very little space available at the moment and I want to get
the engine bay wiring sorted first..

[Mitsuru]

As the grinder was coming out to play, I thought I may as well give the side panel
of the radiator a little trim so that the alternator does not rub against it and
cause any damage.

The pre grinder shot of the radiator.



Also a pre grinder shot of the throttle cable bracket.



It's amazing how even a shallow trim like this can make so much of a difference.



I removed a bit that was sticking out along the bottom of the bracket which may have
been for clipping cables to as it was getting in the way. Also shortened the length
making it neater.



A little Satin Black spray paint, to tidy thinks back up.







Yes other end of the spectrum White satin tyre paint, the white wall tyre clips got
their third coat of paint. And the head light gaskets got their second coat.





The radiator was popped back in without the need to move, or remove the battery tray
or the alternator.



The radiator wasn't slitting cprrectly, and it wasn't flat against the slam panel.
So the space between the alternator and the radiator will be a little more!



Although not fixed against the slam panel you get the I dea of how low the rdiator is!





With the weather being warm enough the paint had dried very quickley and had even
taken a second coat before I bolted the bracket back together.



Now for a coat of silver on the headlight gaskets.





The throttle body will not be bolted onto the manifold yet even though it's on
there at the moment. This is so I can slide it forwards so it is easier for me
to reach behind.



Shortly after taking the above photo, I went to unbolt the bumper reinforcement
bar. And as I had been pushing myself, and went down spinning. as one leg gave
way when I was turning around. I went down banging ito the side of the tool shed,
and head first into the chain link fence between ours an next doors.
(please note the chain link fence has hawthorn bushes growing through it)

This Muppet didn't help, he came over, sneezed in my face, and thought I was
playing!



While I was still on the floor recovering, I was able to see why the radiator wasn't
sitting against the slam panel. The bolt heads for the fan brackets were one problem.
The other problems were, the side panels of the radiator were resting on the wiring
loom. The side panels aren't uniform and one is 1/2 an inch wider at the top, and this
stopped it fitting past the back of the headlight bulkhead/backing.

IF I'm okay tomorrow I will deal with trimming the radiator side panels. And look at
making some cardboard templates for tidying up around the sides where I had cut for
the fans.

[Mitsuru]

Well the headlight rubber gaskets were dry so they went on.



I popped the radiator in with a couple of metal strips, to check
on where the best position for mounting the oil radiator would
be.



A decent amount of space between the radiators and the
exhaust manifold. But not enough for putting fans in there.



With the radiators out and resting on the engine and the slam
panel. I marked up for holes.



All holes drilled it was then marked up ready for a little trimming
and rounding off of edges tomorrow.



After making up a template for covering the slam panel and
directing the air through the radiators rather than around it!

I marked out a pair (one for each side) on a sheet of alloy plate
which I liberated from dad's metal stash.



The alloy sheet of metal is thick but not too thick that is
shouldn't be impossible to bend.

[Mitsuru]

As Dad is off for a week it will be I will try an keep out of his way!
He was finishing off the gates then doing some work on one of the
trailers. So the grinder stayed in it's box in the tool shed.

It wasn't till later on in the afternoon before did a little work on the car.
As mother had returned my car battery.
(she borrowed it to power the electric fence to pen the horse in a field)
It's time to turn the engine over but not fire her up, to make sure she
hadn't seized up!



Then as the crimps had arrived, I cut the cable and one end of each of
the spark plug wires. I had found an old spark plug wire holder which
looked like it will be perfect for the job, but will need a little trim and a
hole drilling before bolting into place.

[Mitsuru]

As Dad was welding his boat trailer yesterday, so nothing done till today.

With the custom radiator being without the the a/c condenser the 12"
cooling fans are way too big and the panel which had been trimmed is
now a problem that needs to be covered up!



After cutting the alloy plate a good vise and a rubber mallet to bang it
into shape.





A thick strip of alloy used as a spacer to cope with the mouldings in
the slam panel.



It is all bolted up, but the nuts, bolts and washers will be replaced with
Stainless Steel as the current ones are just so I could bolt it up and drill
all the fixing holes. (The protective film on the alloy hasn't been removed)

10" fans will be bought to replace the 12" fans that don't fit.



The brackets for fixing the oil cooler to the radiator, and the bracket for
clipping the spark plug wires were tidied up with the grinder and given a
coat of gray primer.

[Mitsuru]

As I know I need two 10" fans and they might take a week to
get here depending on the seller posting them. I bought them
now off ebay for £40.50 in total including postage and tax.



eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

I will be picking up the Stainless Steel bolts, nuts and washers
along with a new thermostat when I go food shopping later in
the week.

[Mitsuru]

A rather large parcel awaited my return from food shopping. The
parcel wad a yard long a one foot square, the contents?
The two 10" radiator fans! could they have used a larger
cardboard box?

Without any brackets or fixings the two fans sit tightly between
the two tanks of the radiator.



Looks like two new sets of brackets to be made to hold them in
place, luckily I have a bit of alloy box tubing which is suitable for
the top space to make an adapter.

The bottom is a total rethink!



As I had picted up the stainless steel nut , bolts and washers. It
made sense fitting them while the weather stayed good. I have
added a strip of foam draft tape along both the top and bottom of
the radiator before refitting it.

So the air gets directed through the radiator rather than over it
and below it. The foam tape also protects the radiator from sharp
or unevenness in the slam panel.





The lower radiator hose hase been fitted, I just need the
thermostat which I forgot to get before filling the cooling
system.





The little spark plug wire bracket's paint dried so it was fitted.
I do wish I could have had enough time and strength to make
another start on the wiring.



Before I make a start on the wiring again, I will sit patiently
and straighten the damaged vaiens on the oil cooler radiator
before bolting it up to it's waiting bracket which is currently
bolted to the main radiator.

[Mitsuru]

Today the cooling system again!
The modified and damaged coolant filer neck bottom and the
brand new one before I started on it.



I changed the bolt hole reinforcements, and used the
industrial dremil bit to do the modifying more professionally
and carefully. As well as changing the position of how the
thermostat is placed, I shaved a bit off the reinforcement
for the outlet spout. This was to make it better for the
accelerator cable.



The second adapter plate needed a bit more taking off on
one side. The engine manifold needed a slither taken out of
the ring where the adapter plate will bolt up. this is so there
will be no problem fitting the thermostat.



I rolled up some cello-tape and put it so no bits of metal shavings
would get into the system. I did wheel out the vacuum cleaner
and sucked out the shavings.



Between the adapter plate and the engine I used plenty of gasket
seal paste, and the same with fitting the thermostat and fitter neck.



I think that the upper radiator hose will need to be replaced soon as
it looks lik it has seen better days.



I have filled the cooling system with just plain water so if it leaks
then if the dogs try to drink it or it ends up on the plants or drive
then there is nothing to worry about.

Once filled it will be left over night or for a couple of days to see if
okay.



After most of the bent fins on the oil cooler radiator had been sorted,
it was mounted to the rear of the main radiator.

[hwy101]

Incredible motivation great job cant wait to see it run

[JCnBOYS]

I'm waiting patiently for you to tackle the wiring. If you need any of the little square inside parts to any of the plugs, PM me and let me know.
I have tons of them. Geez, I may even have the connector!

[Mitsuru]

I have purchased an Android tablet Disgo 6000, but forgot to see
if it had bluetooth and wither or not it had the google apps store!
But it was in very good condition with all the bits.



I spent some time and downloaded a torrent with a load of free
apps and put them onto a memory card then into the tablet.
using a bluetooth dongle, and that software, now means I can use
the Torque 1.4.91 software that JPB (Practically Classics Car Forum)
recommended.

The Torque app can be found at
Torque apk - APKTOP

I will try it out on mothers Volvo V70 T5 first as I still have a bit of
wiring to sort out!(Understatement of the century)

Another thing I ordered of the Bay of E rather than spend time and
money going around scrapyards trying to find one is A battery Hold
down clamp.



eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

And at £5.80 in total it's a heck of a lot cheaper than paying for the
fuel getting around the scrapyards!

[Mitsuru]

As I had pushed myself to get the cooling system's plumbing
finished, Saturday was spent recovering. Which is possibly just
as well, as the weather has been rubbish.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly news!

The good news, the water in the cooling system has remained
at the same level at which I left it. So it only looks like the
upper radiator hose will need replacing. Thank god for that I
would not have wanted to go and take things apart to find a
flipping leak in that system)

The bad and ugly news, the bluetooth obd is a clone and that the
Torque 1.4.91 software shows it as such when it was connected
to mother's Volvo V70 t5. Also it would not speak to the ECU on
the Volvo's Baud system, it also did state that it wouldn't
connect to certain ford systems. I didn't dare start the Volvo to
try and get runtime signal from it's ECU as it would pump the
remaining water out of it's cooling system(SERIOUS water leak)

So now I am wondering if it will work with the Voyager ECU & TCU!

[Mitsuru]

On Monday I spent some time trying to put one plug back in!
It was for the solenoid coil packs on the gearbox. In the end I had
to resort to unbolting the battery tray and fusebox/TCU assembly.
Putting the assembly back together wasn't as easy as unbolting it!

An hour after I had started the reassembly, I had done my back in,
wrecked my shoulder and screwed my right knee up. And only got
two of the three main bolts back in the assembly which bolted the
frame to the engine bay. I quit before the frustration got so much
that I put the walking stick through the windscreen! (and I was
close to that stage!)

On Tuesday I thought it best to try and stay away from the front
end wiring and the battery tray area, and do some of the other fiddy
little jobs that needed doing. So I got a hack saw blade and a
cushion and layed on the ground at the back of the car and cut the
damaged and rusty bolt on the tow bar electrical socket(12n).

Once the bolt had been cut, the electrics of the socket inspected for
damage and making sure they were in order, I used stainless steel
nuts and bolts to avoid the same problem I had removing the original
ones. I just need to run a wire to power the can-bus bypass relay unit,
which will be done once the engine bay mess is sorted, and when there
is less junk in the car.

While I was looking for the stainless steel bolts to do the towbar socket,
I came across the blue rubber pipe adapter off the old CAI (Cold Air
Intake) off the off 4 pot. as well as the pipes I was working with for the
V6 throttle body to air filter.

As there needed to be a bit of length on the pipe so that the filter was
able to get past the fusebox and TCU, and be able to drop down so it
could not rub onto the underside of the bonnet. The first picture is
without the blue adapter rubber ring, and doesn't look good, infact the
white is slightly transparent and the pipe is out of the guts of one of
the Voyager's air boxes, and was never ment to be seen.

In the second picture you can see the difference with the blue adapter
ring just slid over the white pipe is only being used as decoration and
making it look neater.





I popped the filter and pipe onto the car just to check that I hadn't
cocked up! (Now you see why I put the position of the battery lower
in the engine bay)







And while I was trying to find my glasses, I found where I had put the
air/fuel ratio gauge that I had been working on previously. I had taken
one of the plastic filler plates used on face of the gauge, and given it
a couple of coats of black satin spray paint.

The original dial face plate on the left, mine just needs some lettering
to finish it off, but even without the lettering, mine looks pritty close to
an old smiths gauge and by far a lot better and less tacky than the
original. What do you think?





Sorry for the delay in posting but I misplaced my mobile phone which
had taken the photos on. And only found it late at night.

[Mitsuru]

With it raining till lunch time, it was too wet to do any work on the
old girl. And thoughts of what jimbo said about his exhaust being
raspy, and what was left of an old used exhaust which I found under
the caravan. My thoughts turned to thinking what state Christine's
exhaust was in after not being used for over a year and a half!

So I put the mobile phone as low as possible for these photos.
The current pipe from the manifold to the first joint is bits welded
together to incorporate the cat and avoid the firewall and floor pan.

One question I won't really know till I fire up the old girl, is the exhaust
okay or will it need replacing sooner rather than later?







I was thinking of what has been done on the Neons in the states where
the exhaust back box is one in, two out like this.



But it would need to be able to handle the V6 without being raspy, and it
would need made from parts available in the UK. As it would be cheaper
than buying parts from the USA as the shipping costs would be crippling!

Any suggestions?

[Mitsuru]

With reference to the magnaflow exhaust pictured in my previous
post, it is for reference perposses only.

I'd rather be silent but deadly!
I want the old girl to be a sleeper.
Walk softly and carry a BIG stick as they say :lol:
But I want the dual exhaust look for her too.

And I want to plan now incase it needs replacing for the MOT
or shortly afterwards.

I would prefer to have a system professionally made out of
stainless steel further down the line, but that would probably
be too expensive.