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So the bottom and the top part are irrelevant when it comes to the thickness of the shifter, it can be at at almost any diameter. As stated above, the requirement is to be 4mm thickness at one point due to how close each gear is and I need space to to have at least 2-3mm wide gates.
I thought of a oval shape as well but came to the conclusion that going with a more rectangle shape will be better for rigidity.
Overall the design change this is what the H pattern will mostly look like (right)
The left one is if I were to choose a 4mm diameter rod which may just be too weak.
You seem to be interchangeably referencing the shifter and the gates' shapes, which leads me to still not quite following what you're describing...
Yes, a rectangular shifter will be marginally stronger than oval, but will look significantly worse and reduce clearance through the gates. I suppose the same applies if you're describing the gates being rectangular (instead of ovaled at the ends?), as seems to be the case with the above illustration: less clearance in and out of the gates, and actually, less strength at the ends of them. So, either way, I think rectangular is a mistake.
You seem to be interchangeably referencing the shifter and the gates' shapes, which leads me to still not quite following what you're describing...
Yes, a rectangular shifter will be marginally stronger than oval, but will look significantly worse and reduce clearance through the gates. I suppose the same applies if you're describing the gates being rectangular (instead of ovaled at the ends?), as seems to be the case with the above illustration: less clearance in and out of the gates, and actually, less strength at the ends of them. So, either way, I think rectangular is a mistake.
When I say shifter I am referring to the shifter rod and that is directly related to the size of the gate.
Draw an oval shape on paper and draw a rectangle on paper, the maximum diameter or width on the X-axis needs to be 4mm. Now imagine that maximum part going in and out of shapes instead of the shape itself since in this case only the width matters.
An oval shape has lesser area but will require the same width as a rectangle shape for the gates which has more area, the length of either shape is not too relevant as long as it's not longer than 10mm which means clearance will not be affected as posted in the H pattern picture.
In short, a rectangle shape will not affect clearance and actually increase strength. If you still don't understand that then maybe once more of the design is done you'll start to see what I mean.
When I say shifter I am referring to the shifter rod and that is directly related to the size of the gate.
That's what I assumed initially, but the examples you showed seemed contradictory to that.
Draw an oval shape on paper and draw a rectangle on paper, the maximum diameter or width on the X-axis needs to be 4mm. Now imagine that maximum part going in and out of shapes instead of the shape itself since in this case only the width matters.
An oval shape has lesser area but will require the same width as a rectangle shape for the gates which has more area, the length of either shape is not too relevant as long as it's not longer than 10mm which means clearance will not be affected as posted in the H pattern picture.
In short, a rectangle shape will not affect clearance and actually increase strength.
No... You totally missed the point of what I was saying. I'm not talking about what shape fits within the gates or has more room at the ends of them. I said, "reduce clearance through the gates," as in, going in and out of them. The corners of a rectangle will reduce clearance and make for slower, choppier shifting.
Virtually all of the force on the shift rod is forward-back, with a small amount being side-to-side. X- and Y-axes, if you prefer. As such, an oval shifter has nearly identical strength to a rectangle. It's only at 45 degree angles, which basically never come into play, that a rectangle has a slight advantage. Think real world, not napkin math.
Small update on the progress.
I tested out 2nd, 4th and 6th, they seem to be going in their respective positions, reverse gate still needs to be remeasured and as for 1st, 3rd and 5th, I can't really get to it since my actual shift rod is coming in the way of those gears.
If I try to shift using only my plastic shift it instantly snaps so I guess now I need to move onto finding the material, I could try a 4mm round titanium first since it's easier, at the very least I will be able to shift with a bunch of adapters made to fit the 4mm rod into the space of a 16mm base. I'd like to try out a 10mm rod with the 4mmx10mm~ area but I need to find someone locally that can make that happen for me especially when it comes to cutting titanium.
I picked up a set of clear delined lenses a month ago and they have just been lying around.
I opened one up my headlights and decided to upgrade the projector lens, so I'm working on a adapter plate that can be used with the stock adjusters.
Not sure which projector I'm going to use, most likely Morimoto DS 5.0 or NHK G5R
When you manual swap any VVT-i you'll have a bunch of codes that come from the lack of a auto transmission, these codes are usually related to the shift solenoids and line pressure not being present. These codes force the ECU to go into some type of limp mode where it limits the power of the car. I'm not entirely sure how the ECU decreases the power, maybe changing the timing or limiting fuel/air by throttle control. Overall there is a power loss even the manual does make the car feel faster.
I didn't want to mess with the original harness since this car is my daily and I wanted something that I can quickly go back just incase. At first I wanted to make my patch harness, and about halfway to the finish point I realized the wiring going from the female connector will have some play, the last thing I'd want is to have electronic glitches with movement, whether it be bumps or just bad grounds. So I decided to get a blank patch harness that I can tap my emulator into.
Finished all the work with wiring and finally got ready to install it.
Here's the wiring schematic for a 98-00 SC400 incase anyone needs it to install the ATEmulator
The install was fairly easy, the splicing, soldering, heat shrinking took sometime but I took a few extra steps to make sure there is little room for accidents, by waterproofing and adding extra insulation preventing it from shorting.
Plugged it in and fired right up, engine sounded slightly different too (maybe timing was in limp mode before?). Did a few pulls on I can definitely feel the difference, I won't say its night and day but the car feels like it unlocked 15%-20% torque especially on the mid-top end. Where before the top end felt a bit lacking.
Overall, this emulator is a must to complete your swap, really no way around it because you'll be getting worse MPG and performance.
This is a really great thread. It seems that youre one of the first people to use the ATEMU on CL. I found the product a couple of months back and have yet to read much about it on the forums or see any success stories. I'm going to be trying this soon on my 2JZ VVTi and seeing this gives me some hope.
Thanks for the support y'all, honestly if it wasn't for everyone in this thread I wouldn't be pushing myself as much.
Forgot to include a picture of the harness. This is a blank patch harness for any vvti UZ/JZ. You can make your own too but I think with the amount of time you'll be spending it's better to order one. I got this from Figs Engineering and the shipping was quick too! I first labeled a few of the wires that I'll be tapping into for the emulator. Once I was done with those then I took note of which needed to be cut completely and which needed to be soldered to the emulator. I highly recommend this method than cutting your harness just to be on the safe side since it is 100% reversible.
A week or two ago I got this key from GarageAlpha, they made a about 100 of them and a half of those I think were titanium vs brass. With the way things are going with this car and how I'm devoting a lot of time to it I thought it'd be well worth it to have a unique titanium key for it.
Talking about keys, I learned how to reset the keys on the ECU. There was a thread somewhere on CL on how to reset the ECU/virginize the ECU but that method is a bit different than the one I stumbled upon. I used a USB programmer that I had to modify and rewire since it was made for a entirely different chip and used a clip to directly read the chip without soldering on the board or removing the chip.
I've been looking to make the interior a bit extra and I really liked how the new Lexus comes with a clock, so a friend got this clock from a junk 2013 ES350. I got it to work but not entirely sure where I will install. The area that seems like it'll have the space for it is the panel under the driver's side vent. I just have to reskin the panel but I think it might look good there. It's quite chunky too.
When the emulator is done installing you should be left with maybe 2 or 3 codes. These codes do NOT affect performance at all, ECU doesn't go into limp mode. I have a bunch of resistors that I have to install and then these codes will go away. These should be the codes related to the shift solenoids, they need a certain amount of resistance in order to fool the ECU.
Also the day I installed the emulator I got stranded, I thought I messed something up the wiring (maybe I still did), the starter relay wasn't getting any signal, the NSS was already bypassed I even checked the fuses but nothing. Started looking into the diagrams and tracing every possible scenario from the theft ECU to the ignition switch. If I jump the starter relay the car will start up fine so I thought well that must mean at least it's bypassing the immobilizer. After a few hours of looking at diagrams I stumbled back to the beginning, carefully seeing that there must be something with the power to the starter relay. Decided to check the fuses one more time and there it was! The starter fuse was blown but it had the tiniest crack that it LOOKED okay. I guess it's a good lesson to learn that in the future I shouldn't eyeball it and use a multimeter to test the fuse.
When the emulator is done installing you should be left with maybe 2 or 3 codes. These codes do NOT affect performance at all, ECU doesn't go into limp mode. I have a bunch of resistors that I have to install and then these codes will go away. These should be the codes related to the shift solenoids, they need a certain amount of resistance in order to fool the ECU.
Are you able to plug in the old shift solenoids instead? Maybe mounted to a heat sink. If not, what resistances are you using?
Are you able to plug in the old shift solenoids instead? Maybe mounted to a heat sink. If not, what resistances are you using?
I don't have the old shift solenoids anymore since I gave the entire transmission to a friend. Not going to tear it apart since it was running.
From what I know, you can plug the shift solenoids and call it a day. Yes so what I will do is have a heat shrink mounted in the engine bay with the resistors which are 10Ohm/25 Watt each and that should get rid of the codes I have.
I just have to make it a bit tidy and I'll be done.
If you search up Quantum Auto Resistor kit you'll find the exact ones you need for this.
Originally Posted by RudysSC
I love your attention to detail and I'm lovin this thread. Keep up the awesome work man!
After contacting multiple people and companies creating a titanium based rod it seems like this project won't be possible.
The biggest issue is the size, most people don't want or can't make a thin piece of titanium like that as a one of.
Second issue is that the size cannot be bigger due to the shift throws being so short.
It really sucks, I may not give up on it entirely but it'll be put on hold until I can find someone who can make me it exactly how I want.
On other news, made a few changes on the SC.
Installed some Ridox Supra Fender replicas that I had to modify since the SC doors come out. A friend helped with the install and also the install of the side skirts.
Got a set TT chrome wheels to match the look of the 90s a bit more, going from 18s to 17s, I feel a bit less steering feel which I'll have to get used but I do feel less of the bumps on the road.
Also got my valve and timing covers powder coated so will install those soon.
08-28-22, 08:29 AM
