"Rebuild" of Legnum

[wintertidenz]

I've recently moved into a place with a generous garage and have a second car, so I have just put the registration on hold on my car and decided to do a few things to the car. The car will be primarily a weekend/cruising car unless I sell the other car after these mods are done.

List of things to do:
- ECU reflash
- CarPC rebuild
- Centre console modified for the screen and the CarPC mounted behind the screen
- Sound system cabling redone
- Amps etc relocated to be hidden when wanted, but can also be shown off
- Cosmetic touching up of the paint and body
- Full service and possibly some supporting engine mods
- Fitting the wideband O2


So, today I started on ripping the car apart.

The victim:



The battery has been causing me a few troubles, as the Legnum only gets started once a week and the alarm was draining it.
So, I went out and bought a 3-stage charger to prevent the battery dying:


Hopefully this will keep the battery charged and topped up when the car is not in use.


Parts being removed from the car:



I also found this under the seat, thankfully it hadn't burst - god knows how long it's been there!



Carpet has been lifted for wiring and ECU removal.



Old ECU removed:





I noticed that the battery tray was in a sad state - covered in white deposits from the battery. I removed it and blasted it down, I'll scrub the rest of the deposits and paint off with a wire brush then rust proof and repaint it.



Engine will get a degreasing while the battery is out and I'll look at buying or making an engine cover as the old one is destroyed.



The majority of the sound system has been pulled out for the moment and the boot is a bit of a mess, but I will start working on a design for this shortly.



Unfortunately it started to get a bit dark so I had to leave it there for today.

[wintertidenz]

Custom centre console is on its way to completion - it now needs to be sanded down with 1000 grit to make it smooth, then I will paint it with either a silver or black satin paint.

[Ryan]

Custom centre console is on its way to completion - it now needs to be sanded down with 1000 grit to make it smooth, then I will paint it with either a silver or black satin paint.

Personally think that satin black would blend in nicely with the black plastics.

[Atik]

That looks like its been re-finished? Was hoping to see a fully custom console panel.

Its a project I have on the go, hoping to get a full mould of the dash soon to start to relocate things and make better use of the console space.

[wintertidenz]

It was originally the standard double-DIN opening centre console - I had to cut it to fit the screen in there properly. Will grab a picture of the back of the console soon so you can see what was actually done.

[wintertidenz]

I did a test fit of the screen this morning and unfortunately noticed a bit of a gap at the bottom that needs to be addressed, otherwise it'll forever bother me.

Unfortunately I have no pictures of how the centre console looked before the modification, but the screen would not fit in the opening and was left sitting out - which looked quite tacky.

[Nick Mann]

Looking good so far! I've got loads to do to mine and no time to do it in! Good luck getting it sorted the way you want.

[scott.mohekey]

I like your work shoes.

[wintertidenz]

The girlfriend has a really bad habit of leaving her shoes in the cars - I'm thinking of burning that pair as an offering to the car gods.

[wintertidenz]

The gap has been filled at the bottom, and I've given the whole piece a quick coat in satin black to check for any imperfections that will show in the final finish.

[Mark 4]

Looks good.

I like your laundry basket.

[Atik]

It was originally the standard double-DIN opening centre console - I had to cut it to fit the screen in there properly. Will grab a picture of the back of the console soon so you can see what was actually done.

Ahh, I see now. The most subtle of changes to work with your own car is good. It's good progress so far. And yep, that curved gap at the bottom would bug me also! My plan is to get the whole front of the console totally flat... watch this space.

And excellent progress on the car Keep it going mate.

[wintertidenz]

No pics yet, but the centre console needs one more sanding and it's done.

I've also pulled the side skirt and front wing off to redo the sound system wiring - I will be moving the battery to the boot at the same time.

Have also taken the intake apart after the intercooler and will look at doing a cold air box where the battery is, along with hard piping.

[Fully]

I see your into nitro racing =)

Good work man.

[wintertidenz]

It's just a small .18 engine from my off-road truck, which has currently spent more time off the road than on I've already stripped three centre diff gears before the current metal one, and bent a universal shaft and destroyed two wheels.

[Fully]

Ouch. Keep away from plastic parts, they only break.
I race .21 and have remachined most of the drive line to make stronger.
My boys race with .18. Can get time consuming getting 4-5 running at the same time =)

[wintertidenz]

I continued ripping the car apart today to accomodate a hard pipe kit and battery being relocated to the boot - at this moment in time there is no turning back for me, so I have to get it done now

The car without most of its intake, looks quite empty now.




I found this when I pulled the intercooler off, I'm hoping that it doesn't mean that the turbo seals are on their way out.




There was nothing post-intercooler in the intake though, which I thought was unusual.

The kitten decided to come and help:


Befire and after of the battery wiring - I've connected it to a distribution block with 2AWG running to the rear of the car. I may need to upgrade this, but will test the voltage drop first - it should be able to cope, seeing as I was running 150a worth of sound gear through it with minimal drop (3 amps, car PC, crossover).




Battery tray support has now been removed to make room for piping and a cold air feed.


At this point it started raining, so I pushed the car back inside.

Where I left off:

[Fully]

I ran mine into the fuse box, (follow the power lead from battery terminal to the fuse box - and replace it with your new cable) and connected to the 100amp fuse. There is just enough room to fit the wire with an eyelet on the end.

[wintertidenz]

That's a great idea - means it is fully protected as well... what fuse did you use at the battery end? 150a?

[Fully]

I used 120amp fuse at the battery.