3 cool junkyard mods for $20 or less.

[Uberjeep]

Hey all. On a recent pick'n'pull trip I found some treasure that got added to my beast. All three of these mods were under $20 from the junkyard, and were pretty straightforward installs for a shadetree machanic. Sorry about the size of this one, but I was excited and wanted to share

First off, I tend to run hot under the hood in the summer on my 4.6l stroker, and I didn't like the look of the big hood louvres that lots run, not to mention the water dripping in to the engine bay so... I found a set of vents from mid 80's Volvos that are on the passenger side just in front of the hatchback, and got charged $3 each for them. Ten minutes to measure, ten minutes to cut, and I now have a smaller set of vents that draw a ton of hot air out at driving speeds, and give my electric fan a place to exhale from under the hood. As a side bonus, the place I mounted them lets rainwater drip back onto the fenders and not on the engine. The stroker now runs about 10 degrees cooler on the highway, and about 25 degrees cooler around town (unless I am at a standstill)

outside



inside



full view


Next up was an idea I had from my first car I owned. I used to have an 81 Subaru GL sedan that had a cool "hill holder" in it. It was a cable actuated line lock to the brakes when the clutch was held so you could press the clutch and brakes together, then take your foot off the brakes and it would "hold" the brakes until you let the clutch out. Made hill starts a breeze for a new driver back then. Turns out the hill holder mechanism is in a *ton* of subarus in the P'n'P, so I grabbed one out of an 82 (ahhh, memories!) and plumbed it in to my front brakes. Rather than run it to the clutch, I ran the cable to the dash with a pull handle so I can mechanically line lock my front brakes with one hand any time I want. Total cost for the line lock (they charged me for a portioning valve) was $3.99, plus about $5 for some flare nuts and 3/16" brake line from the auto parts store. Definitely took a bit of planning to re-route lines to keep my factory portioning valve functioning, but in less than 2 hours I had mounted, plumbed, and bled the system.






Lastly is one I actually did last year, but I just finished the wiring this past weekend. I was on the lookout for a relay block for underhood accessories, and in particular looking for something that could get wet/muddy without major dilemmas. I found that a mid 90's Neon has a power distribution center just like the one I already have for fuel relays etc., and that both the top and bottom of the PDC were easily accessed to trace/rewire relays and fuses. I paid a whopping $15 for the PDC including a full load of relays, fuses, and breakers. When I got it home, I popped the bottom off and rewired what I needed (running two 35A relays parallel for my Taurus fan), labelled the relays and fuses for reference, and ran a single power and ground from the battery to the PDC. I now have a weatherproof housing for 6 relays and about 15 fuses/breakers that cleaned up a crapload of wires from under my hood. Now all of my off road lights, electric fan, stereo, inverter, and any other aftermarket gizmos are all fused/relayed safely in one spot!

mounted on the fenderwell



inside the PDC
Disregard the rats nest coming out of the PDC, I hadn't tied/loomed it up yet so the guts were still hanging there...


Anyhoo, if anyone can use these ideas to their benefit, glad I could share. If not, well, it only took a few minutes to read this, but in that time you didn't buy a cup of coffee from an overpriced franchise, so I just saved you money!
Either way, you are welcome.
Cheers!

[Opihi59]

I'm willing to bet there is going to be a run on Subaru's at more than just a few wrecking yards around the country. Also willing to bet you're going to get some PM's for some more photos of that line-lock mod.

[Alvy]

Good stuff man. Thanks

[pasinbuy]

Very cool and inexpensive ideas. I have to ask why you need line loc, My hand throttle does the trick plus a little more. Or am I missing something?

[Fhajad]

That's a good idea about the second PDC. I was thinking on how I could handle things when I get my off road lights going. (Although I'm going with individual switches for 7 lights. Don't ask why, it's just want I want.)

[Uberjeep]

Originally Posted by pasinbuy

Very cool and inexpensive ideas. I have to ask why you need line loc, My hand throttle does the trick plus a little more. Or am I missing something?

IMO, easier on the clutch to holds the brakes on rather than keep revs up but also great for doing wicked burnouts to show those ricers that there is no replacement for displacement! I lit them up (31's) next to a (insert derogitory term for an import car here) and scared the crap out of him. Something about a 4.6l stroker running 2.5" exhaust with a high flow muffler just sounds so much better than any coffee can exhaust tip.

The main reason I installed it is to have a bit more saftey when climbing up on things. If I am not quick enough on the footwork, this prevents rollback.

[yjjason]

nice mods! we did the pdc on dads truck(used neon pdc) worked out great! more pics & info on line lock ??? please, thanks

[rammanriley]

well i know what im doing to my truck sometime this week.

[buckshot500]

I used a stainless 1/4" npt full port ball valve (1/4 turn) with 1/8" npt bushings to connect brake line adapters.

Then I ran it in the line coming off the rear reservoir of the master cylinder, (front brakes) that goes to the E-block/proportioning valve. The valve is mounted under my steering column. U-joint straps holds it to a 1/4" thick plate I made that's above the dash metal.

The only thing about running it that way, is you want to make sure the valve doesn't get thrown while driving, or you get no front brakes!



This subaru valve would work the same way, only you won't have to run fluid through the firewall like I did.

I'll be looking for them myself though!

[imstillatwork]

Originally Posted by Uberjeep

IMO, easier on the clutch to holds the brakes on rather than keep revs up but also great for doing wicked burnouts to show those ricers that there is no replacement for displacement! I lit them up (31's) next to a (insert derogitory term for an import car here) and scared the crap out of him. Something about a 4.6l stroker running 2.5" exhaust with a high flow muffler just sounds so much better than any coffee can exhaust tip.

The main reason I installed it is to have a bit more saftey when climbing up on things. If I am not quick enough on the footwork, this prevents rollback.

So your 4.6l engine can burn off tires better than a 1.6 or 1.8 liter honda and your calling them names? I lol'd. Your both in the same category to me

Sorry, what I really wanted to say is the line lock mod for $25 is pretty dang sweet. good job

[Uberjeep]

Originally Posted by imstillatwork

So your 4.6l engine can burn off tires better than a 1.6 or 1.8 liter honda and your calling them names? I lol'd. Your both in the same category to me

Sorry, what I really wanted to say is the line lock mod for $25 is pretty dang sweet. good job

Heck no, it is tough spinning 31's even to get some decent smoke, but it was the last thing he was expecting pulled up at the light. Sure he could take me in the first 20 feet , get 30mpg more than me, fit in a stereo, not be deaf in 5 miles from road noise, etc. etc. etc... I just get tired of the looks I get because I don't drive an import, so this just lets me have a little fun!

[Uberjeep]

Originally Posted by yjjason

nice mods! we did the pdc on dads truck(used neon pdc) worked out great! more pics & info on line lock ??? please, thanks

I'll see what I can do for some pics and info in the next day or so. Really simple to do, just need a flare kit for flaring brake line, and a bit of imagination for fitting it in.....

[Uberjeep]

Alrighty then. Fortunately I had nothing to do so I whipped up a couple of diagrams of how the brake lines run to the line lock. Unfortunately I didn't have any image editing software on this confuser, so I had to use MS Word to draw this. Hopefully it has enough detail to be of use to those that have asked for more info.


Stock brake setup with master cylinder & proportioning vavle.



Added in a "tee" fitting to re-join the front brake lines to a single line for the input on the line lock, then ran a short line with a coupling from both the output fittings on the line lock to the original front brake lines. Mounting was a breeze with a short piece of 1" wide by 1/8" thick steel. Punched a couple of holes to line up with mounting holes on the line lock, then one more hole to slide over the stud that joins the master cylinder to the booster. Backed that nut off, slid this on, tightened the booster/master nut and called it a day. Have a look at the pics in my first post to see the simple mount.

Very straight forward, and this way the proportioning valve still does its job to the front and rear brakes. The cable actuator has a return spring that I left on for safety, but I will be adding a pin to the pull handle so I am able to pull, turn the handle 90 degrees until the pin lines up with a keeper, then let go and have it auto-hold.

[Uberjeep]

Originally Posted by Fhajad

That's a good idea about the second PDC. I was thinking on how I could handle things when I get my off road lights going. (Although I'm going with individual switches for 7 lights. Don't ask why, it's just want I want.)

There is a sweet spot to mount a ton of switches that also has a lot of back end room for wires if you are like me and don't have any factory stuff already there. I mounted all of my numerous switches beside the steering column on the passenger side. There was a crappy plastic cover over what looked like provision for some factory accessory switches (AC or foglights or something mine didn't come with) so I cut all of it out, fabbed a sheetmetal plate to fit, punched some holes for switches, and sat back and smiled. One fused line coming up, diodes to stop back feeding from each switch, and a lot less wires to run back and forth that way. All of my switches run low current to relays under the hood in my new PDC, so no need for anything other that a 10a fuse to run them all.
Like so....


Let you in on a secret, if you want to run 8 switch lines to your PDC, and they are all low current lines, go to a computer shop (or a dollar store) and get a length of CAT5e network cable. It is about 1/4" diameter and has 8 color coded wires inside (24AWG good for about .5A per wire, standard bosch relays are under .2A from what I could find) for about 20 cents a foot. The stranded type is much better as it is more flexable and should be less prone to vibration failure, FWIW


I am one of those "work smarter, not harder" guys.....

[Fhajad]

Originally Posted by Uberjeep

There is a sweet spot to mount a ton of switches that also has a lot of back end room for wires if you are like me and don't have any factory stuff already there. I mounted all of my numerous switches beside the steering column on the passenger side. There was a crappy plastic cover over what looked like provision for some factory accessory switches (AC or foglights or something mine didn't come with) so I cut all of it out, fabbed a sheetmetal plate to fit, punched some holes for switches, and sat back and smiled. One fused line coming up, diodes to stop back feeding from each switch, and a lot less wires to run back and forth that way. All of my switches run low current to relays under the hood in my new PDC, so no need for anything other that a 10a fuse to run them all.
Like so....


Let you in on a secret, if you want to run 8 switch lines to your PDC, and they are all low current lines, go to a computer shop (or a dollar store) and get a length of CAT5e network cable. It is about 1/4" diameter and has 8 color coded wires inside (24AWG good for about .5A per wire, standard bosch relays are under .2A from what I could find) for about 20 cents a foot. The stranded type is much better as it is more flexable and should be less prone to vibration failure, FWIW


I am one of those "work smarter, not harder" guys.....

You are just chock full of good ideas! I never would have thought about Ethernet cable. (I have a 800 foot box sitting around here)

I was thinking of fabbing one of those overhead bars that go from windshield to roll bar to use for switches, lights, and possibly put my stereo there. I'll use that spot if I get ancy though and can't wait!

I already have a big safety cover switch in that spot for my "Hey look I'm a space ship" starter switch.