I lost the track somewhere. What happened to the idea of VVT engine with ITB's?
I lost the track somewhere. What happened to the idea of VVT engine with ITB's?
Its in and we're gradually setting it up, not running yet but shouldn't be more than a few weeks. I'll probably sell the Adaptronic and fit a megasquirt as a few friends know them inside out and it will be easier with the number of future changes I want to make to tune it ourselves than trek 2 hours away to the nearest decent Adaptronic rolling road.Originally Posted by samulis
Got the roll bar sitting in place... not all bolted down yet, but just wanted to see how it looked and check clearance etc.
So at least I have a roll bar and harness bar back in place now... we'll take a jig off this one so more can be made, I might do a group buy or something if there is enough interest locally.
Russell.
Not much happening with the green Mk1 at the moment, but my Mk2 is now sold... the guy has paid in full but hasn't got the time to pick it up yet so its still my daily driver... A chance for a last bit of fun with the Mk2 came up recently...
OK, so let me set the scene...
Cerberus (the forum admin guy / moderator on our local forum) has been gradually getting together this big carbon fibre wing to go on his car. In his usual way being a complete perfectionist and making sure that everything is exactly how he wants it, he decides to design the struts himself. Not just any old struts, but with a Hello Kitty cut into them! Obviously there is a certain amount of banter on our local forum and people are taking sides, while waiting to see how it turns out. On the one side we have the "Brothers of the BGW", extolling the virtues of having a large tea tray hanging precariously off the back of your slow hairdressers car. On the other side, we have the "Flat Boot Society", quoting all sorts of scientific evidence to confirm the BGW won't allow you to drive upside down at 20mph because of the phenomenal amounts of downforce it provides, in fact at best you may slightly dent your bootlid.
At this point in time, I find myself in the "Flat Boot Society" and do indeed quote some random facts I read once on a forum (which therefore are undeniable facts and must absolutely be true... maybe...). The debate moves on, and form over function is discussed, as well as some genuine research into the ideal height of the wing (13 inches IIRC according to 949 Racings website) and the angle the wing should be at, whether there is any value having it unless you fit a Hardtop, etc, etc.
So the time approaches when the BGW will officially be unveiled and the crowds gather, nervous anticipation is building. Cerbs pulls into the car park and all is quiet while everyone takes it in. People are changing sides as they suddenly realise that bootlids are don't have to be flat or actually, isn't that a MGW really and not a proper BGW?
Unbeknown to the crowds (apart from 3 anonymous spies who have been sent a text), half a mile down the road a second BGW is taking shape. A bemused onlooker in a lone Focus RS shakes his head slowly as a leviathon is taking shape in a quiet corner of The Oak, Hockley Heath.
Ha ha, it is no less than a double agent, an insider spreading mis-information to the members of the "Flat Boot Society". After literally an hour and a quarter of careful planning the previous night (and a bit of nifty jigsaw work, let me tell you) the time is nigh when the double agent will risk it all, and unmask himself for the ultimate triumph and glory of the "Brothers of the BGW"
Ladies and Gentleman, tremble and quake as you stand in awe of the ultimate creation. Bow down and worship, lower your head in sheer adoration (although I'll settle for complete bemusement if thats all you've got) at my BGW...
Disclaimer:
No MX5s were hurt during the taking of these pictures, any damage done to the worldwide reputation of MX5 owners was unintentional and purely coincidental...
Russell.
Had another go at the car today, I wanted to set everything up before we got going this morning... first thing was to clear as much space as possible, and the next was to set up the monitor for Mike to do his tuning...
Ahem, don't want him to strain his eyes now do we!!
Got the Megasquirt all wired up, and got the IAT sensor mounted on a little bracket I made. Did some tidying in the engine bay as well, and worked out the best place to put the Fuel Pressure Regulator. The ECU seemed to be struggling a bit, kept closing itself down and we were a bit puzzled, then the battery went completely flat. Suddenly it all came clear (well to Mike anyway!), the battery (a Varley Red Top 25) is just too small to power the megasquirt. It sucks a lot of juice, and although the adaptronic had been happy the MS needed more power. I still have my standard MX5 battery so we swapped that in and the MS was happy... but still no fuel pump priming. We (that'd be Mike really...)kept going and calibrated all the sensors, ran tests on everything but eventually we decided to stop. The thinking is that its wiring related so Mike will check the wiring diagrams against the adaptor harness we've made up and fingers crossed a wire will be loose / in the wrong place or something.
While Mke was doing his diagnostics, I was cleaning up the Works Anhelo bumpers ready for sale... and kind of changed my mind about selling them. I think I'm going to fit them to the BRG car, along with the full wide bodykit I'm fixing. I fitted the bumper and one of the wings to see how it would look, and my wheels suddenly look tiny!! It has the look / feel of the Tuckin99 kit, but blended in. I need to fit the 6ULs and some spacers and we'll see how it is then, but I think it'll need some more go to match its looks. All thoughts welcome as its going to be a lot of work to tidy the arches up and fix the bumper before spraying them all
These wheels are 15 x 7 ET30, I have my 6ULs which are 15 x 9 ET36, but I also have some 25mm spacers... so thats a test fit for tomorrow
Russell.
After slightly more than a year and several changes of engine / head / ecu etc, I finally started the car tonight... and it was goooooood!! Bit loud (haven't got any filters for the TBs yet), but thanks to the continued efforts of Mike (Valentinik) it now starts, idles well and the timing is spot on as well. Just need to do a bit of mapping and check round the car and I can put it in for an MOT!
Russell.
Moving on nicely now, the wings are all but on (been a bit of a saga that I won't go into here!!) and I'm just fixing down the AFPR and setting the final routing for the fuel and vacuum pipes.
The brakes have been swapped over now... I have an in between set on (standard Mk2) while we experiment with custom pedal boxes and reservoirs etc. The overall plan is to put a custom set in using some AP Racing calipers I've got sat in the garage. That should allow me to lose the Servo and make the space I need to have a proper intake plenum.
The main bit of news though, is that the car will go in for its MOT on thursday... I'm kind of expecting it to fail on something as the car has been off the road for 18 months. Either way it should let me know what needs to be done to get me back behind the wheel again!!
Russell.
Why haven't I seen this!? I want pictures!
1990 Miata, she was red but now she is Spirit Green!
http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....d-a-love-story <--- build thread!
Also check out the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/IHeartFlippyHeadlights !!! Its a facebook page dedicated to the awesomeness which is flippyheadlights! Not me, but the actual headlights! High time someone noticed how awesome these things are; check it out!
No pics for a bit, she's looking pretty ratty while I get it through the MOT (not been washed for 18 months for a start). I've been having a mess about with the fitment of the wings... which being fibreglass are white. Bootlid is a blue one as I sold my last fibreglass one, interior is stripped but not cleaned yet, and engine bay has the right bits bolted down but the pipes / wires are all over the place as I'm thinking hard about the best way to route them to get it all neat and tidy. Once its a bit tidier again... and on the road properly, I'll take her out for a bit of a photo session.
Anyway, been working on her here and there and now the list of jobs still to do for the MOT looks like this:
Get MOT.
Yep, all finished... so hopefully the MOT tester agrees with my list and as of the end of tomorrow she will have an MOT, tax and insurance... and I can take her out for a proper drive!! In some ways as she's been off the road for 18 months I'm expecting a fail on something or other but at least I'll know for sure exactly whats needed!
Russell.
Car is coming back to me today, for some reason it wouldn't idle properly so the MOT was cancelled. So I'll go through it and start list making again... off the top of my head the list will be something like:
Sort wings properly (not 100% happy with them so far!)
Re route fuel pipes and p clip all vacuum pipes
Full map of ECU (we only did the start and idle fully so far, all that was needed for the MOT)
Finalise dash and shorty console
... and then back in for an MOT...
Wings look like this on the car...
they look really subtle considering they are 40mm wider than standard
Russell.
Newsflash... tonight I went for a drive in my car!!
Mike came round and did his magic with the ECU... not 100% sure what had happened to it prior to its aborted MOT, but it wouldn't start or idle properly, and was chuffing big flames out the throttle bodies! Half an hour of messing later and it would start... so we headed round the estate a few times to let TunerStudio start to do its stuff. At one point there was a couple jogging down the pavement and as I came round the corner behind them, the car backfired... honestly the lady nearly jumped the hedge, and then burst out laughing when she realised what it was! So we continued popping, farting and pogoing down the road, the running improving slowly.
A few circuits later we stopped for a break, and it was getting really hot. Looks like the coolant hadn't been bled properly, so that'd be one of the jobs I did then...
Once that was sorted we headed out again, starting to up the revs a bit and again Tuner Studio was doing its thing, at a few points you could really feel the engine beginning to pull quite strongly.
I need to work on the fuel pipes some more and mount the AFPR and the ECU properly... I can't really finalise much in the engine bay though as there is the bigger issue of how to sort the intake plenum, brake servo / pipes and the clutch reservoir but that can wait until after the MOT.
So thats it... she starts, idles, drives and stops... and I can feel the love really beginning to come back!!
Russell.
Bit of film of tonight, courtesy of Mike. Not the best quality, but proof that it happened
Russell.
Please, Russell, dont change the front bumper
Not a fan of the Anhelo then? I've decided against it... its kind of nice but its not what this car is about. Probably going back to standard front wings as well, just not convinced by the fibreglass ones.Please, Russell, dont change the front bumper
Russell.
Made some good progress today. Hopefully its all ready now, which is good because the MOT is tomorrow!! The main difference today was that I felt I was driving a car, no hesitation or kangarooing out of junctions, just driving. Still work to do (which will probably include selling the Cusco Diff as its maybe a bit severe for me?) but its about there. So far all the mapping has been done via Tuner Studio, and that is probably about 2 hours driving in total... even so, it already feels quicker than with the old engine... this is going to be good!!
So there it is, ready for the off tomorrow!!
Well ok maybe I'll get a number plate first!
Russell.
Bloody hell Vindi, thats quite a bit of work!
Always ment to read your thread(s) but always ended up getting lost, great to see it all condensed down here, must keep track of it now!
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