I’m not sure how it happened, but I think I’ll blame Jefferson at RR for his offhand comments of how it would be nice to get rid of all the factory wiring as it will look better and have more functionality with a fresh setup (he’s not wrong, but was tight on cash at the time so opted out initially).
That thought stuck in my head for a few months before I started cracking and slowly started acquiring more and more expensive black boxes and gizmo, then decided the C127 was too small to see properly, so went C1212. Before I knew it, I had amassed a small fortune in electronics. Even though it took longer, I’m glad I waited, as I have all the toys I think I’ll ever need at this stage of the cars development.
So we have:
- Custom Steering Wheel with CanSwitchV3 + Otto Buttons + Domiworks Paddles
- CANTCU Transmission Controller
- Motec M150 JRR Motorsport/Paddle Firmware
- Motec PDM 15
- Motec PDM 30
- Motec C1212 Dash
- Motec 15 Button Keypad
- Motec 5 Button Rotary
- Motec DHB
- Motec Rear Facing Camera
- MSEL Master Relay
- Syvecs Expander X20
- Syvecs Can2Lam
- Syvecs 100hz GPS/IMU
- Turbosmart Electronic Straightgate 50mm
Motec PDM30 & PDM15
These power distribution modules will as the name implies, take care of distributing power from the battery to electronics, lights and anything else that requires power on the car. There are no fuses or relays anywhere on the car now as everything is built into these two little boxes using solid state technology trickery, essentially mimicking what a traditional relay box/fuse setup does, but in a much more streamlined package and can be managed entirely from the software side of things.
The PDM30 will provide power for most of the interior and engine related components and be installed in the front of the car, whereas the PDM15 will take care of everything in the rear and any extra things that don’t fit anywhere else.
M-SEL Master Relay Switch
This little guy is quite clever, essentially it’s a solid state relay that can disconnect the battery from the rest of the electronics through a driver, external or CANBUS based switch. Any issues can have their diagnostic messages sent through the CANBUS to display on the dash, so easy to understand any issues whilst strapped into a bucket seat.
Motec M150 - JRR Firmware
The infamous M1 ECU series to control all the inputs and ouputs relating to the engine control. Also, an integral part of the canbus communication system and provides logging. Opted to use a JRR universal motorsport package with paddleshift to gain some control over gearshifts using the 8HP gearbox, but more on that later...
CANTCU Gearbox
This is a controller for 8HP & DCT gearbox implementations which keeps the factory transmission TCU inside the gearbox, and emulates the correct data over CANBUS to make the stock TCU function as intended even though it's on a different engine / chassis combination.
As the gearboxes runs a factory transmission tune developed by engineers at ZF and whatever OEM manufacturer adapted it, It's safe to say it's the smoothest / most reliable experience you will get with transmission swaps as the base of it is OEM.
On top of it driving smoothly, the torque management system is just like OEM, so really clever and effective when paired up with an engine ECU that has proper torque management strategy built into it.
For those cars that need a bit more than the OEM tune can provide, its possible to flash the box with third party software like XHP, or complete custom tunes, or can use CANTCU's in house OEM+ series of flashes to alter the characteristics, torque limits, lockup points & shift points of the box.
Racegrade EGT Module
Will allow connection of 8 EGT sensors, which then feeds the data from each over the CANBUS back to ECU. I liked this module compared to competitors as I can mount it somewhere in engine bay, plug my EGT sensors directly into module and only have to pass 4 wires for power and communications through the bulkhead back to ECU, rather than 20 wires that all need to be specific material to keep the EGT’s accurate through a bulkhead connector, which is a pain.
Will have per 1 EGT per cylinder & 1 downpipe EGT & 1 cylinder head EGT
Syvecs CAN2LAM
This thing is epic. Been waiting for this to be released for some time, and it came through at the right time. This is a wideband/lambda control module that can take up to 8X NTK wideband sensors, with up to two exhaust pressure sensor inputs for single or multi bank exhaust pressure compensations for the lambda signals
It can send all this data to any ECU using CANBUS, so wiring isn’t that scary. Will probably implement this in a way that can be removed from car fairly quick in case I want to chuck it on another setup easily.
Will use this and 7 NTK sensors to give me oversight over per cylinder variation on fuelling and overall fuelling in the downpipe. Thinking to put an exhaust pressure sensor in each scroll of the manifold, so can keep an eye on pressure on both scrolls. You’d hope they would be equal, but I’m interested to know if there are any difference.
Syvecs 100HZ GPS/IMU
One of the fastest GPS systems available at a consumer after market level as far as I’m aware. Whilst it can provide a speed signal to ECU, the positioning data for long/lat/roll and forces of pitch/yaw/roll will be very interesting to me. Can plot out racetracks or drag runs using GPS data and use previous run data to do some tune modifications.
Motec 15 Button Keypad
This keypad works over the vehicles CANBUS system and can be used to control functions on the PDMs, ECU or Dash. Will have this mounted near my head on the nearest roll cage so I can still push buttons whilst strapped in with harnesses.
Motec 5 Button Rotary Switch
This is a cool addon, it integrates via the canbus and works mainly with the Dash & PDM. The rotary button allows for menu scrolling & selection on the dash, similar to what you might get on a MK5 Supra iDrive system for example, just a bit more simple in comparison.
Syvecs X20 Expander
This works similar to a Motec E888, and is just an expander for extra I/O for the ECU. Communicates this data over the CANBUS to main ECU or dash. Also comes with two built in lambda sensor controllers, which I was going to use initially until the CAN2LAM was released.
Motec DHB
This is a high current driver that can control things like fuel pumps, electronic waste gates, water pumps etc. using signal from the ECU to tell it what to do. Trying to control some of these systems direct from ECU will normally end up frying the board on the ECU, so an intermediary box like these become very useful.
Using this for PWM control of my main fuel pump, so can run it in low current mode whilst idling/cruising then pump up the power to it when its needed on boost.
Motec C1212
Not much to say other than big ass display that is miles ahead of the competition in terms of customization and quality currently (in my opinion).
The C127 display looked a bit pony once the stock dash was removed, so decided to make it a bit easier on my eyes by fitting the C1212.
Also serves as a CANBUS bridge between many of the devices and offering some translation services of some addresses depending on the RX/TX format expected between certain devices.
Only thing I'm still on the fence about is getting an aftermarket ABS controller from SCS Delta. Otherwise I think im good to go now on the electronic front.
About halfway through the year I setup this little mobile workstation so I could power up most of the new toys and make sure I could get them to communicate and setup the CANBUS network in my free time in evenings. Everything went smoothly with this and I get everything I needed out of it at the time.
One thing I've always wanted for my Supra but never found one was the Defi Super Sport Cluster, for its time period I think its an epic dash.
So if I cant have the real thing I'll make the next best thing. Needs a bit more work till design is finished, but you get the idea. Will stick the reverse facing camera in the right side of the screen whilst in this view so can always see people disapearing away 
One thing I really like using the Motec rotary controller is that it can function with the dash as seen in the video below. Essentially lets you have lots of digital rotary switches, so you can choose what mode you want your boost/traction/launch control/dbw sensitivity/ gearbox modes or whatever else you can dream of, all from a nice drop down menu rather than needing loads of physical rotary switches.
Next I had to figure out where I was gonna stick all this stuff in the car, so got round to test mounting a few things.
Once strapped into seats you cannot move, so all controls and adjustments basically need to be in reach of the drivers seat, so had to get creative either putting things above or below the driver.
Needed something to mount the button keypad and master switch over rides above driver rollcage, so had one of our apprentices mock up this mount.
Need to make a slight revision to design and print it out a different plastic, but as a POC it works great, allows easy mounting of buttons directly above my head.
Started mocking up a rubber mounted plate for main board that will house the majority of the brains of the car. Going to design it in a way that all the wiring coming in/out of this area is completely modular, so can remove panel for each wiring changes if required, as no doubt I'll be messing with the configuration of things as time goes on.
Will make a kick panel that goes over this once done to keep any excited passengers feet away
Michael Yazgic @ 0x33