Project CMS

CMS-GT4

Active member
Yeah I noticed that, and found another one. Thursday afternoon, since I won't be driving the car till tues, I will look into working on my horn.

BTW I met up with monkracing29 today. Another 185 owner close to me. We are going to have to organize some car outings in the near future if the weather stays this nice.
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
So I have a working horn now. I ended up pulling off the steering wheel and the console cover but it went fairly quick. I had searched online and these forums and it seems most do not know how to make the horn work on these cars after installing an aftermarket wheel. Well here is what I came up with.

This is the back of the momo hub. It is designed to make contact with the horn circuit to create a ground which turns on the horn when the button is pushed.
photo2mb.jpg


Here is the plug. As it turns out, I had already cut the green wire when I first put the wheel on many years ago. But since I had no idea what to do, I never hooked anything up. Had I not already cut the wire, I would had just unpinned it and connected another wire to extend it. The wire does need to be extended.
photo1nkq.jpg


Next I used a piece of smooth conductive metal. Luckily this was already drilled. It was originally a hanger for a curtain rod. I wanted something smooth as to not wear on the contact plate so much. It may not matter. There was also an open threaded hole right here for placing this. I cut the metal, bent it to fit and also to have enough tension against the contact plate. And then done. Reinstalled the wheel. I was not sure what torque to use, but I gave it some extra to make sure it was solid.
photo3qm.jpg


Next project is my washer sprayer pump.
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
So I had been thinking of my brake solutions, and while I will likely not be doing my brakes till spring its nice to plan ahead.
Some noticed I was trying to sell my 205 calipers, but its seems harder than planned. I was looking at a st of stoptechs from a 7th gen celica. I had stumbled across some information when researching my 205 setup that lead me to think I could easily use this. I was reading the 7th gen forums and the 6th gen forums looking at hints for new rotor options since their dimensions were close. Well its closer than I expected.
These threads show that 185 brakes fit the st 6th gen, and the 7th gens fit them as well with a little adjustment. So therefore they should fit the 185 pretty easily.

185 brakes on 20x
http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=45705

y2k brakes on 20x
http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=55707

As some know I am really busy trying to launch my new business and career this year and that is the priority. I still want to finish my car, but if I can do it simpler and with less fabrication I will. I am likely not doing as much to the car this year just due to my own time.

My other quick option was to use the revolution brake route or even the porsche caliper route. I would have likely gone wiht revolution just cause it leaves me the flexibility to convert to 5x114 hubs if I wanted to. The porsche caliper idea could work with the supra rotors but it needs to be offset by 3mm and lower by around 1.5mm, though it would make due without changing the height.

Most likely I am going to be using the 205 calipers just because that is what I have.
Part of this choice is using my rav4 spindle or my 185 spindle.
With no bracket I can run 12" rotors on the 185 spindle and 334mm rotors on the rav4 spindle. The hangup on the rav4 spindle is it seems I need a shallow setup to keep from hitting the ball joint. I need to take some more measurements before I decide, but I have a few other factors weigh out.

Over the past couple of years I have collected dimensions from a range of rotors I might use for my project.

st185: 278/46/25/54

st205 315/59/32/55

st20x: 275/49/28

y2k celica gt: 275/49.5/25/55

WRX: 295/57.5/23/58

c4 vette: 330/56/28/71

c5 vette: 325/46/32/71

sti: 326/53/30/58

is300 296/51/32/62

is350: 333/50.8/30/62

supra: 323/50/30/62

svx: 301/57/28/58

camaro: 303/52.5/32/71

porsche 930 81-85: 304/57/32

rav4 94-5/00: 302/46/18/62

rav4 5/00+: 275/49/25/62

LS460: 357.1/60.5/34/62

ls430 (v8): 315/50.25/30/62
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
I decided to take some measurements of my 185 and rav4 spindles today. There are some items that are very close. I did all this with a digital caliper. They may not be perfect but they give me an idea of which is bigger and where. I tried to keep this as accurate as I could, but don't take it all to heart other than the differences. From what I gathered I might gain a little more clearance from the ball joint on the rav4 spindle. I just have to remove the dust shield as its huge and blocks any decent sized rotors. It also looks like this would increase my front track some. My main concern though is the tierod end is a bit longer than the alltrac version. Its hard to measure but it increases over 5mm which may be felt in my steering speed. If I can not compensate for that, then I would likely just swap the rav4 hub over to the 185 spindle.

St185 rav4
caliper ear
thickness: 11.26 12.32

hub thickness 11.68 11.68

stud length
to hub face 29.3 31.46

caliper ear
face to
hub face 56.74 56.74

caliper ear
face to
top ball
joint hole 74.42 74.42

bottom of
strut hole
to end of studs 172 187.42

back of
caliper ear
to studs end 97.42 99.79

ball joint
tabs to studs 134 139

Here they are side by side.
spindles.jpg
 

MWP

New member
Nice work!
Ill be watching your progress with this.
Changing to 5x114.3 is something i want to do along with changing to 205 front calipers as ill need new wheels to run those anyway.

There was a complete RAV4 at a u-pull-it wrecker a few months back.
Im quite annoyed i didnt take the spindles/hubs. Would have only cost me $80 or so :(

Looking at the above photo, the RAV4 spindle doesnt look as beefy as the 185 (strut connection ear for example)?
Does it just appear like that in the photo, or is it like that in real life too?
 

MWP

New member
Hrm, i wonder if thats something to worry about :/
Strange since the RAV4 is an offroad (well kinda) vehicle.

Although itll be a plus for reducing unsprung weight.
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
It would be a plus if it is indeed lighter, but I am more concerned with the longer arm for the tie tod end. That makes me consider keeping my 185 spindle most of all.

I am kind of torn right now. I wanted to double check my caliper clearance. I do prefer not having to use a backet at all and just bolt up my 205 calipers with a simple rotor solution. However I think I have to run a 10mm spacer in the front to clear my calipers due to the way my wheel spokes concave in. I have to run a larger setup.

I was looking at the pics of the russian caldina 205 caliper bracket and I realised they had drilled new holes higher on the caliper ears and cut the oem caliper ears off. I am not sure if this type of caliper surgery is worth the trouble, but it would allow for a smaller bracket where one could run stock 205 rotors or supra rotors.

All this is why I was hoping to sell them. I have too much to think about and weigh out. I will likely wait till spring when the weather is good enough for the Z that way I can take apart the 185's spindles and build it all up how I want it. I am going to leave my 205 calipers for sale, because if they do sell, then it will make my life easier. If they don't I will worry about this when I can take the car apart.
 

MWP

New member
The tie rod arms will have to be quite a bit longer (way more than 5mm) for you to notice the difference in steering speed during normal, or even spirited driving.
The biggest change they will make is on steering lock angle which isnt a big problem... youll just need to do more 3-point turns :p
 

athousandleaves

New member
MWP":3vjkki90 said:
The tie rod arms will have to be quite a bit longer (way more than 5mm) for you to notice the difference in steering speed during normal, or even spirited driving.
The biggest change they will make is on steering lock angle which isnt a big problem... youll just need to do more 3-point turns :p

If thats the case then why are those URAS "steering up spacers" so tiny?
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
I just was just reading the alltrac is a 2.9 turn to lock vs the rav4s 2.7, I wonder what makes it turning faster. Maybe the steering box, or maybe I misunderstand the point I should be measuring the tie rod end holes from.
 

toayoztan

Moderator
Nice, can't wait to see it.

I'm still waiting for a lip that looks good on our cars with minimal modification (ie no cutting and resecting it back together).

Bryan
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
So it begins. My carmaro lip project.

I had thought about making my own lip for a long time. I already have part of a lip project that I had not finished, but the way the roads are here I really do not want fiberglass. I had been leaning towards frp or poly, but of course I can not sculpt those.

I had really been fond of this lip.
8392d31_20.jpeg

3895b5m_20.jpeg


I spent a lot of time on body kit sites looking at front lips from a huge range of cars with no luck. athousandleaves was able to spot the rear RS body kit for the camaro looked similar. I had looked at a bunch of pics, and it was close but it was hard to be sure. Luckily at school I ran across one and was able to do a closer comparison of the angles. It looked just like it. I was able to find one on ebay for a fair price, so the game was on.
635436143.jpg



Well its here today. I am not sure if the angles of the rc bumper and the alltrac bumper are exact. I did not have anyone to help, so this test isn't perfect. I can already tell its too long for the body. No prob, I have a dremel bit coming just for cutting this. Its also too wide, but I will sort that out. The shape is close, and I think with some bolts holding it together it will be closer. I plan on using a heat gun to get it bent into shape, and a plastic welder to make it a solid lip once I cut it. I'll then paint it to match. I know it takes some work, but its not going to be any harder than making my own from fiberglass, plus this will be durable as hell. Now onto the pics. I am showing this in black and white so the red lip does not distract too much.

This is to give you an idea where the gap is. I think I can correct this with a heat gun and when its bolted up.
photo33eb.jpg


This is just to give you an idea where the dip is on the lip compared to the body to compare to the other pics.
photo43r.jpg


The length that needs to be cut.
photo51x.jpg
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
I hit picknpull today. I was hoping to get my parts list knocked down, but all I managed to get was some decent engine under covers. I am going to see if I can make these work instead of my metal tray idea. While there I ran into a local who used to own an alltrac, but now drives 70s celicas.

I grabbed a few pics. The car still shines good though its dirty.
photo18k.jpg

photo19fk.jpg
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
I think my odyssey is shot. I need to see if I can get the warranty sorted out. I am driving the z today. I really think I will miss it. It's a good car and turns fast and brakes great while getting decent mpg and good road manners. I think I need to make the alltrac it's equivalent or better before I feel ok with letting it go. I am not sure if I can help the alltracs mpg. It gets around 17. Comparable to evos and sti's. I need to work on the interior some and get it to deal with bad roads better. I am likely going to do a bit of suspension research to figure out how to resolve this. The car is awesome on good pavement but looses potential on the bumps.
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
I just got back into town. I ran down to TN for the weekend. While in Knoxville I hit the local pull-a-part. They had 5 fifth gens, but they were either notch backs, or had ugly colored interior. I was hoping to find some decent cf trim, but they were either gone or broken. I did manage to get all the screws I was missing for the doors and center console. I saw a nice set of gray door panels with roll up windows, but I am going to stick with my electrics.

On the way down there we hit the tornado. I wanted to drive my car, but I am lucky we took the dog so we took my wife's crv. We got caught in hail and 63-70mph winds. We tracked the storm on the radio, and with her phone's gps and we stayed ahead of it till we got through nashville. Early on it caught up to us and I thought this was it. We could not drive or anything. 0" visibility. But we managed to escape it. When we got to chattanooga there was one waiting for us there too. It was a nasty day for storms, but we made it out with just a few dents. I know one thing I am sick of in the mid west is all these damn tornados.

As for other projects. I am on spring break, so I am trying to get a lot done with work and I am trying to finish my studio. I am trying to finish building my washout booth, then I can start making shirts again.

I need to order a new battery. I think my odyssey is shot, and from reading their warranty page, it looks like they have made plenty of clauses to not cover any battery that fails in its warranty period. I am likely going back to an optima yellow top. Due to my only driving a couple times a week, I don't want to have to worry about my battery going dead in between drives.
My next big project is swapping my hubs for 5x114. I am sort of waiting to see what tubasteve comes up with on his brakes before I dive into it. He might run across a better rotor option too. That is as long as mine do not sell by the time I get to it. If they sell I will likely go to revolution route since i can just use the supra rotor.

I have been thinking a lot about wheels, but my sport max will not clear a 205 caliper bolted to the 185 spindle w/o a spacer. So depending on how much I have to space the wheels, I may end up selling them and getting something else. I had been looking at a set of used te37s and new rpf1s. From my research the rpf1 is slightly lighter, it is also much cheaper to replace is something happens. I did a quick shop of what they might look like. The te37s are 17x8.5 the rpf1s would be 17x9. There is also the pf01
te37gunmetal.jpg

rpf12.jpg

pf01silver.jpg
 

UtahSleeper

Active member
Glad the storm didn't cause you any harm.

For your MPG's, have you considered a standalone? I know with the 165's you could add an F-CON and get better mpg's and power. I would assume the same could be said about any tuning tool.
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
I had kicked around using a piggy back or something to adjust the fuel since it runs so rich. For as little as I drive, I wonder if its worth the cost of something adding to my engine management than the extra gas I use. I get around 17mpg and I fill up maybe once a month.
 
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