Thermo fan bypass

G’day mate,

I’m feeling your pain re: the drilling into the dash! I didn’t take that one lightly! It came out great though, I’m very glad that I did it. It’s a SAAS thermofan control unit that I got from my local auto parts store.

It sounds like you’ve had a bit of a tinker with yours too, I like what you’ve done keeping the viscous and adding the A/C fans and the bigger radiator. And the bigger displacement interests me too - how does it go with the bigger capacity and compression? I’d imagine pretty well 😁

I regularly visit out west, although I haven’t spent a great deal of time exploring past Cloncurry. It’s beautiful out that way in its own way!

Cheers
Keithy

Hi Keithy,
yes I agree the gauge in your dash looks good. I bought another P38 just to get a good dash so when I decided to fit some extra gauges I was not going to drill any holes in the dash. So my gauge pod with 5 gauges is fitted without any holes in my dash.
The engine fan when working properly will pull a heap of air. The problem is they are all getting old and have lost some of their efficiency. I am also looking at fitting a bonnet scoop to vent some hot air out the back of the bonnet.
I have only done one decent trip in my P38 since I got it going, and it went really well. Some of the problems with the 4.6 are the low compression, poor camshaft, badly designed cylinder heads, terrible computer fuel and timing maps. Yes just about everything. But it can be improved fairly easierly. It just takes time and money. But I only paid $1,000.00 for the vehicle so I could afford to spend a bit on the motor. And it does go very well. It gets about 11.3 lt per 100k's on a run and 15 to 18 around town, depending on how many V8 Toyota's there are to race from the lights. Having driven a standard P38 for 17 years this one is like a sports car. From a standing start a quick stab on the right pedal and you are doing over 100 kph. I still have a bit to do on my P38 but I am happy with it so far. We are looking at a trip to the cape next year.
From your video's it looks like your steering wheel is getting a bit second hand. Mine was good so I rubbed a lot of leather lube into it and covered it with leather. I also covered the instrument cluster trim and the consol with leather. I have also fitted a wide screen headunit and I replaced the ashtray with a set of rocker switches. I have managed to attach some photos.
Regards,
Alan Temperley

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Keithy P38

G’day mate,

I’m feeling your pain re: the drilling into the dash! I didn’t take that one lightly! It came out great though, I’m very glad that I did it. It’s a SAAS thermofan control unit that I got from my local auto parts store.

It sounds like you’ve had a bit of a tinker with yours too, I like what you’ve done keeping the viscous and adding the A/C fans and the bigger radiator. And the bigger displacement interests me too - how does it go with the bigger capacity and compression? I’d imagine pretty well 😁

I regularly visit out west, although I haven’t spent a great deal of time exploring past Cloncurry. It’s beautiful out that way in its own way!

Cheers
Keithy

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That’s looking and sounding good mate! The fuel consumption is impressive too. I like the way you’ve set up your switches and gauges - very tidy indeed. It definitely sounds like an aftermarket ECU and a good tune would do these things some good.

Yes, the poor steering wheel has copped it bad. The North Queensland sun and living outside permanently at the moment has definitely not helped the situation. I do have a new wheel on the list of things to do.

Cheers
Keithy

with the risk of running this thread completely off topic...

I am contemplating an aftermarket ECU and BECM. Replacing both would make the vehicle much more reliable / repairable in the future for me at least since I am fairly good with electronics so replacing it all with commodity hardware seems the way to go. Personally I am thinking about swapping it all out for arduino's since they are a dime a dozen, available everywhere and there is huge support.

The BECM would be replaced by an arduino with a large extension board for all the in/outputs I would need and the ECU with a speeduino. Keeping the base computer the same seems like a good idea.

Back on the heat topic: I am not sure I would want a bonnet scoop. Those side vents like the L322 would be my first choice from an aesthetic point of view, if they would work sufficiently that is.

Cheers,
-P