Project car - 1989 75 3.0 V6 [Updated 12 November 2021]

[shiny_car]

Cool pic.

Yeah, thanks. I do have some doubts with the fronts, but time will tell, and hopefully nothing more than minor mods will see them fit! Otherwise, I'll be offloading and forced to go with 17s instead. 

[Duk]

Do you have the tyres you plan to use? If so, any chance of measuring their diameter for us?

[shiny_car]

No, haven't bought the tyres yet. So I can only go on specs (or theoretical diameter/circumference).

[johnnyc]

hi shiny,

when doing the work to your car, did you buy a manual or technical guide? do you have the details?

thanks, john

[shiny_car]

Hey John. I have been referring to the downloadable workshop manual on 'Craig's Place' website: http://www.users.on.net/~craigf/

That has proved sufficient thus far.

[shiny_car]

This month's update: still working on minor engine bay details. Slowly but surely, to ensure each bit looks its best. Later this month, the car will be transported to its new temporary home - but into an enclosed garage  . Together with moving house, hopefully I'll have time to do a bit more work on the car to show next month.

New bonnet rod clip. Sshh, it's a Toyota piece . One cause of fires in these cars is a broken clip, and the rod sliding across to an unprotected battery positive terminal = short circuit.





Upgrading one of the powerwires. Directly from the battery is a thickish wire going to the starter motor, then the wire continues on to a 'terminal board' on the right side of the engine bay to supply the wiring looms on this side of the car. From the starter to the terminal board, the wire is pretty thin, approx 10awg, which would be rated up to 60A continuous. Probably enough, but no harm in having a thicker wire, so I have changed to 4awg (125A), to ensure negligible voltage drop.

Here's the wire, disconnected from the terminal board. Then cut short and the end insulated with some heatshrink. The black wire that runs alongside to the starter is the trigger wire to activate the solenoid and starter.





New 4awg wire, with ring terminal lugs to crimp on each end. Heat shield tubing to cover the portion that runs alongside the engine block and behind the exhaust manifold. Compare the 4awg with 10awg.





Lug attached, heatshrink, and heat shield tubing. Then attached onto the bolt securing the original wires; thread lock for good measure.







Other end has new lug, heatshrink, and in keeping with factory wiring standards, a short portion of exposed 'red' wire for identification. Attached to the terminal board; notice the factory powerwires that go to the looms. According to the wiring schematics, two of those wires supply the fusebox in the cabin, so I plan to trace and replace these for something thicker.





The terminal board also holds connections for the starter solenoid wiring. Turning the ignition key provides power directly to the black starter solenoid wire. This is relatively high current, and it is a common fault over time to burn out the contacts in the switch from repeated arcing across the contact-points. An upgrade, is adding a relay: the ignition wires now trigger the relay (via terminal 85), making it a very low current circuit; the relay now switches the high current supply to the starter solenoid. Thus, I've added a short red powerwire directly from the terminal board to the relay (terminal 30), which then supplies the original black wire to the solenoid (terminal 87). The relay is mounted in a convenient space on the metal mounting bracket.











New altitiude sensor fitted. The original had a broken plastic mounting bracket. This sensor alters air-fuel delivery for proper idling at altitude; but hardly relevant in Australia!





Along the way, additional heatshrink and pvc tubing was added to cover wires for a neater appearance.





Fuel injection combi relay cleaned and refitted with a new Allen head bolt.





Fuel damper pot (smooths out pulsatile fuel supply from fuel pump going to the fuel rail) and aircon idle electrovalve (supplies additional air/revs at idle when AC kicks-in) were corroded, so these were polished. Also did the distributor vacuum advance, then sprayed with clear coat to prevent corrosion.





Damper pot and electrovalve refitted to the mounting bracket. All pieces have been bolted in position, replacing factory screws (TB=terminal board; AS=altitude sensor; R=relay; FICR=fuel injection combi relay); likewise, titanium bolts hold the small black bracket and electrovalve in place.







A reminder of how it used to look. The vacuum lines (eg: to/from electrovalve) will be replaced with silicone hoses.



New 7.5mm inner diameter EFI fuel hose for the engine bay. 4 short hoses (arrows; bottom left=tank to damper pot; upper left=damper pot to fuel rail; upper right=fuel rail to cold start injector; lower right=pressure regulator to return line to tank)





Onto a different area: making a start below the windscreen. Wipers removed, and cowl trim removed, revealing years of dirt and leaves!



High pressure hose, a thorough wipe, and some polish/sealant to bring it back to new. Grime on the windscreen needed a buffing wheel and polish to scrub clean.

[ARQ164 Shane]

I'm loving your updates m8 Keep m coming .
If you need any info I have a full alfa milano workshop "book" for 2.5 & 3.0 I would be  only to happy to photo copy
any pages for you .

Cheers Shane

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Awesome work Shiny.  Truly, we are not worthy....

GIFSoup

[gergory]

richard
as usual a great reference post for all 75 owners.

I have one question and I hope you can help.
As you probably know I have removed all my aircon. (or I thought I had)
on your latest post I noticed AC IDLE ELECTROVALVE............ mine is still connected in every respect.
What do I need to do to remove this ?

hope you can help

rgds greg

[shiny_car]

You could just leave it; it won't affect performance at all. With AC off (or removed), the valve will be closed, so no air passes through.

But, removing will be as simple as disconnecting the vacuum hoses, and blanking off the holes in the plenum and intake pipe, disconnecting the two wires to the electrovalve, and then you're free to unbolt the valve and throw it in the bin.

[gergory]

thanks richard
I might remove it as I think it will look cleaner around the engine bay
rgds

[shiny_car]

This month's update is relatively small. But it did involve a big move; we have temporarily relocated to a house with a single garage. GT's gone into storage, 155 and 159 are outside in the driveway, and the 75 is in the garage  !



Prior to the move, I managed to continue working in the engine bay.

I bought some fuel hose ferrules, for a neater finish to the ends of the hoses.





This is the windscreen wiper trim. Needs a good clean and 'blackener'. Removing it required loosening the bonnet for more clearance.





The main bracket supporting the wiper motor and arms has been masked for spray painting, and the driver side support bracket cleaned for painting.





This is the black trim piece that sits infront of the firewall. There's a worn patch from rubbing against a wiring loom, and the faded, pale top edge looks aged. The original foam stapled to the rear has perished. I'll give the trim a light coat of black spray paint to cover the top edge and wear and tear; and the foam will be replaced.







I've removed the split conduit covering the main wiring loom on the driver side of the engine bay. I want to replace the corrugated conduit with pvc tubing for a simpler, smoother and cleaner finish.





That's all I managed to do last month. But I should be able to catch up and do a lot more this month to make up for it.

[ARQ164 Shane]

nice one mate look'en good. So planing any trips when it finished ?
Cheers

[VeeSix]

Enjoying watching the progress, why the temporary move? Are you building the ultimate 4 car garage with hoist? 

[shiny_car]

Cheers guys.

@ alphie75: I'd love to take it to Auto Italia in CBR one year. Not sure I'd be making a trip to SA with it. 
@ VeeSix: well, no hoist, but it'll be at least a 4 car garage!