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build updates

build updates dash design engine interior

13

Mar

Gauges arrived.

Our custom Speedhut gauges arrived and they look pretty sweet.  I must say that this is one of the highlights of this build. Feels like Christmas with all the red!


build updates engine

13

Mar

Pantera, Redline software up and running

Boom!  Got the software that Lance shipped installed and setup to pull data from the Redline ECU.  This is another huge step for us. We are now set to go deeper and get the cooling system worked out.  

​Some time ago we picked up an old ToughBook to use with the car.   Lance’s install disk comes with the necessary FTDI drivers to do the USB to serial port setup. 

Redline software pulling live data off the car.

Our dedicated Toughbook.

USB to serial cable

build updates performance

07

Mar

Redline ECU, Scratch that. Pantera EFI ECU!

We weren’t successful in getting any of the original software from our first builder nor were we able to get support directly from Redline Weber.   The software they have listed on their site (much of which is broken) for our ECU is very, very old and also broken.

Not to be deterred and having considerable LMGTFY skills, we found others in a similar situation looking for software updates and support for the Redline ECU family.  We saw that the Redline units look to be the same as the Pantera EFI units.  The “Pantera ECU 882C”  follows the same naming convention as the Redline series (see ECU R882 references).  We also found another company called 034 Motorsport selling a similar ECU.

After we dug deeper, it turns out that the Redline and 034 units are rebranded Pantera EFI systems.

For anyone else out there in a similar situation, we’ve compiled a detailed summary of what we’ve found:


  • Pantera EFI

    The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for both 034 and Redline Weber.  The source.  Not only the source, but the wizard behind the curtain available to help you!

    If you are looking for a performant (yes, that is a word now because we computer geeks made it up!) ECU, we highly suggest the Pantera ECU 882C.    The 034EFI system has been discontinued and can be supported by the folks at Pantera.

    After a post on the efi101.com site, we got a reply from Lance over at Pantera who has graciously offered to update our ECU and provide the latest software.  We made phone contact with Lance and had the latest software shipped to us so that we could begin tuning the mighty EZ30R.

    Resources:

  • Finding 034Motorsport was revealing.  Looks like a great shop dealing with Audi and VW!  The were selling an ECU called the 034EFI which was EOL’d (end of life’d) September 2016 according to a page on their site.   Even though we found this, we were enthused to know that there are quite a few of these “882” units out in the wild.  034Motorsport apparently sold them for 15 years!

    Do it yourself support is still somewhat available.  Here are some 340EFI resources:


  • From what we gathered on various forums, it looks like Redline picked up the Pantera EFI as an ECU to resale to the VW market.   We didn’t get a call back from our voicemail or email and others have expressed frustration with similar experiences.

    Unfortunately, the software as displayed on the site is very old and broken so there is not much help there.  Nothing more to be said really.

    Resources:

Software screen shots:

build updates dash interior

06

Mar

Speedhut Gauges proof

The first round of proofs for the gauges came back.   Needed to make some adjustments to the sizing of the logo.  The changes where made and here is the final proof as provided by the Speedhut artwork team:

Off to print and delivery.  Stay tuned.

build updates design

03

Mar

Antique plates registered

After two visits, 5 phone calls and 4 hours of waiting in line, we have the Basilari tags registered.   

The most terrifying words in the English language are: 

I’m from the government DMV and I’m here to help.

build updates

28

Feb

Revenant garage

Just a quick shout out to Revenant, the guys behind the Basilari build!


#aldie,  #winning

build updates interior

24

Feb

New gauge set ordered

We ordered Speedhut gauges in red:

 

Speedhut gauge example (10k shows, but 8k will be delivered)


body build updates

18

Feb

Let the body (panels) hit the floor!!

Always time for a laugh.  :)

So, I found this image that explains the Ghia problem areas when it comes to rust.  We have our work cut out for us (ha!, pun intended):


Shopping for panels now!  The parts car should provide some metal higher up on the quarters. It looks like we’ll need to order all of the lower pieces.

build updates

08

Feb

More Inspiration

Just a quick post.  Saw this on Facebook and of course immediately thought of my project.   It’s worth a watch.

Building Your Dream Is A Beautiful Thing

Some dreams have more cylinders than others.

Posted by Petrolicious on Monday, October 10, 2016

 

build updates interior

02

Feb

Interior inspiration

Going for a Porsche RS inspired interior.  If you recall, we are going with black paint for the top of the car.  Our roll cage is already red and the dash will be the same color as the top of the car (frozen black).   

We’ll see if we can get the pull tab style door handle. :)

Roll cage box already checked for us:

Early pic of the Basilari roll cage


Better view of the Porsche RS cage:

Porsche RS cage

build updates engine

18

Jan

Running again.

After the fuel tank cleanup, replaced injectors, and sending unit mods, she’s back running.

Next is to get some road testing under our belt for the cooling system.

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build updates engine

15

Jan

Fuel injectors are expensive!

Getting started with clearing up the fuel system.  First up, new injectors.  For folks considering the Redline Engine Management system, the injector connectors supplied with the harness will require you to grind down the nubs on the injectors to fit properly.

Denso 297-0010 Injectors for EZ30R

They have been installed and we have the car running again!

 

build updates

14

Jan

Fuel tank progress

We have great progress on the fuel tank and related work.   We first needed to get the gas tank situation sorted.   We had roughly three options here:

  1. Restore/coat the original 1958 tank.
  2. Find an existing fuel cell and work to fit it into the stock tank location.
  3. Go full custom and fab up exactly what we need.

We were leaning toward option 2 because we liked some of the race car inspired safety features that come with modern tanks.  We didn’t find anything close enough and the pricing, while reasonable was about the same as option 1.   But, we’d need to do some fab work to make a generic tank work.

Option three came in very high – like used Honda Civic high!   It was ruled out. So we checked around for vendors and pricing for a recoat/reseal job and went this route.

We selected Moyer Fuel Tank Renu to get the tank work done.  The original tank had already been modified to add a baffle in the bottom to help with sloshing fuel.  The guys at Moyer split the tank open, prepped and coated all internals including the installed baffle.   It came back as shown in the photo below.  It looks a bit rough, but we knew this going in with Moyer and they have explicitly noted this on their site. “Tank may be painted after the Renu process but must be touch sanded lightly and primed with lacquer primer first.”

Ordered a new sending unit and it was too long as the baffle we added is about one inch from the bottom of the tank.   The Revenant team cut the sending unit and re-welded all of the resistor wires and such to make it fit.  Very clean job!  We’ll need to get another gas cap though.  The original one is pretty banged up.

Tank as it returned from Moyer.

Cut down sending unit

Fuel tank ready to go!

body build updates

11

Jan

Windshield installed from the parts car.

So our current order of operations is to get the car running, windshields installed and to test the radiator system for proper cooling and subsequent adjustments (if needed).

Step 1 is done.

Picked up front and rear windshield seals from KGPR.

Step 2 is to get the fuel system worked out.  More later on this.

build updates engine

05

Jan

Determining the year of JDM Subaru engines

If you are doing a Subaru conversion (Subaru engine into a VW), you’ll see many Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) engines available.  Many times these engines will be listed as a range.

Here are some EZ30 engines on eBay as an example:

(It still amazes me that you can buy 280-300HP for under $1,200)


So if you look at the listings above some will have a date range for that model engine.  The last listing shows an EZ30R with date range 2003-2006.  So if you are interested in that particular engine how do you tell what year it is?  From what I’ve found there are no year markings on the case, for example.
Some time ago I ran across an obscure forum entry that said Subaru prints the build month and year on the inside of the oil cap!   

So lo and behold, I checked the inside of our EZ30R’s cap and it shows:


Which we’re interpreting as a motor built in July 2005.   I don’t think many JDM sellers know about this. It’d be trivial to swap caps, for example.  But if you’re picking up an engine off eBay, you may want to ask.  

build updates

27

Dec

Vintage plates

image

We’ll see if the DMV will accept these.

build updates

16

Dec

An objet d’art…

So I just caught up on a few of the Basilari related threads on The Samba.  Got a chuckle out of the “looks like it may have become an objet d’art…” comment in this thread.

We’re back folks.   C’est vrai, we’re pushing for a fully functional, take my girl out of a date while triggering parked car alarms, rolling objet d’art.. :)

Deck lid script on the parts car.

build updates

12

Dec

Back in Action!

First, let me apologize. There was an insanely long break between updates here. Many projects like this tend to lose steam and drift away due to “life circumstances” as they say. Some of that effected this project as I was deep into flight miles related to my job.

When the car arrived back on the east coast, it was running poorly due to the rusty original tank providing just enough rust to clog up the fuel injectors. A foreign car repair shop tore everything down and had a mason jar on display with all the rust sediment at the bottom showing just how bad the tank was. :(  I have a pic but that was 2 phones ago (lol).

So we decided to disconnect the fuel tank and prep the car for storage as I looked for a local builder to finish the project.   And so we found one!  We were excited to tow the car to the local builder and have the next phase of this get underway. And then..

*crickets*

.. the car sat for over a year!

The problem was, this is a personal project which pretty much always takes a back seat to family and work. I was so busy that I didn’t really push to get the car moved up in the queue (or to keep it from being bumped to the BACK of the queue).  After a chat with a buddy of mine from back home, we decided to move the car to his brand new restoration shop as client numero one!

So, we’re on the move (even if towed), back on track and have a plan – more updates to come.

Back on the move!

Back on the move!

A low light in low light.

A low light in low light.

(It was incredible how many thumbs up and “\m/” hand signs I got towing the car! People either know a Ghia, or know that what they are looking at isn’t “normal”. Either way, the reactions are priceless!)
build updates

01

Aug

East coast delivery.

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build updates engine performance

25

May

ECU Plan B

We’re moving to Plan B for the ECU.  The guys at Redline don’t appear to have the time or resources to figure out the Subaru trigger wheel.   The issue is with the crank position sensing ability of the map in the Redline unit.   The car does run with the ECU once it syncs but it’s a long, battery draining process as the ECU struggles to find its place.   But it seems to run very well when it all syncs up:

As mentioned in a previous post, Plan B is to get the evenly spaced trigger wheel (with missing sync teeth), pull the motor, install and remap to a known/proven config.   If all goes well, we’ll be back up and running in about a week.  After that, we’re finally shipping the Basilari home for the more cosmetic work!

Other videos:



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