It STARTED!!!

I am so excited right now. The engine turned over. It made an attempt to get started, and then kept going after I let go of the key. It started. It ran. W00T!

Now, it requires a TON of tuning, but it does run. One thing that was preventing it from running was my misunderstanding of some of the variables in Megasquirt. In one starting related window, the numbers are in mS. In another window, the numbers are in percentages of fuel. In MSExtra, there are 5 fuel maps (depending on how you count them):

1. Cranking

2. Post-crank enrichment

3. Warm-up

4. Main Fuel Map (this is where you spend most of your time)

5. Second Main Fuel Map (if you have it set up)

Here's how I understand them to work now:

1. The amount of fuel to inject into the engine while the speed is under a given number of RPMs.

2. Once the engine gets up above the given speed from above, provide this amount of enrichment (above normal) until the time given is elapsed. This time can be given in either seconds, or revolutions.

3. Another enrichment above normal that takes over once the post-crank enrichment expires. The time that the engine spends in this mode is dependent on how fast it warms to the given temperatures.

4. Where the engine spends most of its time.

5. A secondary fuel map. This can be triggered by a switch, etc. This could be for different set-ups such as track exhaust, economy mode, etc.

What was happening with my daft setup was as soon as it would make the jump from cranking to post-crank enrichment it would run so rich as to stall the engine. I was setting the post-crank enrichment in mS, not a percentage above normal! Once I realized this, and set things to a more reasonable level, it started.

Like I said, it needs a ton of tuning. As soon as it does start, it continues to increase in speed. I don't know why, but it could've been due to the vast amounts of gasoline sitting in the throttle bodies. It's pretty cool out (40-50F) so I am trying to overcome that as a tuning factor too. There is no coolant in the engine, so I can't let it run for very long anyway.

Once it warms up, and I have a coolant system, and an exhaust on the car, I'll give it a much longer attempt at tuning the car. Until then, I have a few other things that I can take care of.

It's sooooo close!

Yesterday the new starter went in. I didn't rewire everything, I just used the external solenoid I installed as a junction point. I do intend to remove the solenoid, and wire everything directly to the starter, but I needed new wires, and I was too excited to stop everything and run out for new parts.

I looked down the bellhousing once it was installed, and verified that the starter gear was properly aligned with the flywheel, and everything looked perfect.

So, it was time to make an attempt at starting the engine. I turned the key, and really hoped to hear a triumphant roar. No such luck. The engine turned over, and attempted to start though! After several attempts, the engine trying to start each time, the battery was starting to die and the starter was getting hot, so I gave it a rest. Right before I left the car, I turned up the fuel pressure. I was thinking that the injectors may be higher pressure than previously expected, so I thought I might give it a shot.

After a few hours of letting the battery charge, I gave it a shot. This time the engine tried really hard to start, but wouldn't idle. It sounded like the engine was not getting enough fuel. I continued to increase the amount of fuel, but every time it tried to start, it would either immediately stall, or it wouldn't quite start.

Cody took a look at it, and believes it may be a vacuum leak. I know there are vacuum leaks, so if all it takes is plugging them up, I would be very pleased.

So, off to the auto parts store today. I need to get a new battery cable anyway to remove the solenoid.

Starter Plate is done!

Today, I finished working on the starter plate I've been working on. Every night this week, I've been staying late for about an hour or two, and milling this plate out. I've been getting fairly proficient on the Bridgeport. I wouldn't trust myself on anything I would have too much money into, but on scrap materials that I can get for free, I am a milling wizard. (This feeling will probably fade over the next few days, but I just finished this plate, so I am riding high.)

The plate almost fit perfectly on the first try. Unfortunately, the one bolt hole on the top of the bellhousing sits very closely to the engine. In fact, there is a little wing on the engine that bolts to the bellhousing that juts out right there. This was all of a hair too close to the bracket as designed. A quick Dremel-ing and it fits like a dream.

Tomorrow, I plan on actually installing everything, and trying to start the engine again. I need to do a little rewiring, since I just installed an external solenoid which resulted in cut wires. I really think this should solve some of my trouble.

The starter saga continues

So at the beginning of the Summer I planned on replacing the original Lucas M35J starter with the Ford starter recovered from the Zetec engine. This was going to require a custom made mount to bolt to the transmission and the engine. It also required hacking up the bellhousing to make everything fit. I opted to have the Lucas starter modified with a new starter drive instead. This should have been the most straight forward fix. I was wrong.

First the engine wouldn't fire, after all the stuff I've already covered. I assumed that this may have been from the starter being no good. I tore the Lucas starer apart, and cleaned out all of the 30 year old gunk. The first thing I found was that the brushes on the rear of the motor were so gummed up with old grease and grime that they were not floating on the springs like they should be. Some degreaser took care of this. I also found that one of the wires integral to the solenoid was broken from the quick disconnect terminal. This could have been causing the problem as well. So, resoldered the connections, and reinstalled the starter.

A quick check of the install, and I found that the starter was pulling about 10 amps without being turned on. Something is seriously wrong now. This was the last straw with fighting with this starter. It was time to purchase a new one, and make it work with the transmission.

So, I found this starter by Summit Racing (Part Number SUM-820055). I is supposed to be for a V8 Ford. It has the wrong number of teeth (11 instead of 10). However, the key part of this starter is that is has a removable plate on the front. This plate is designed so that you can rotate the starter in relation to your engine so that you can clear anything else that may interfere.

So using Google Sketchup, I mocked up a replacement plate. I used the bolt holes from the starter itself, and the bolt holes from the Lucas starter that match the bellhousing. I then printed it out at 1:1 scale, and matched all the holes up to their respective real-life mate. Everything lines up.

Next, to the Bridgeport!

Bringing this Blog thing up to date

Current status of the car:

• Engine is installed.
• Transmission is installed. This involved a custom made input shaft extension that was inspired by David Anderson's work as written up here.
• Almost all of the wiring is complete. I found some very nice environmentally sealed connectors over at Tyco's website. I don't have the part numbers handy, but I will post what they were, if not just for my own record. There is a handful of things I want to improve, but in order to do it, I need to take the whole thing apart and rebuild everything. Maybe later.
• The starter is installed. This involved probably the scariest bit of working on this car, and that was chopping large portions of the engine apart in order to make it fit. In retrospect, it wasn't that bad. The portions of aluminum that got cut off went with the original Ford transmission that won't be used anymore. The aluminum was excessive, and the cutting got nowhere near any functioning chambers of the engine.
• I bought a new fuel pressure regulator to replace the original Suzuki one I intended to use. This new one came has a nice bypass line that plumbed directly into the Lotus fuel tanks. The install is very nice and clean. This also give me the capability to adjust the pressure, which may come in handy when I can start tuning it.
• I have attempted to start the engine, but it failed. The starter just clicked. Crap. The just installed transmission is bound up, probably on the pressure plate.
• Uninstalled the transmission and took apart the bellhousing from the gearbox, thinking I could see up into the bellhousing and see where the pressure plate was binding. No dice. The bellhousing is closed except for the input shaft opening. At least with the two pieces separated, I could determine if it was the transmission binding.
• Test fired the engine again. This time, the starter turned the engine over. Sometimes. It turns out that the starter must have a flat spot on it, and it just so happened that the spot was right where I was trying to turn the engine over the first time.
• Got everything reinstalled, and tried to turn the engine over again. Great, it turns over, but will it start?

And this brings us up to this point. At first, everything was wired up, and I wanted to check the fuel system for leaks. I added a little bit of gas, and checked everywhere below that level for leaks. Nothing.

Next, bypassed all of the Megasquirt control for the fuel pump, and turned it on. Nothing. Not any leaks, but nothing from the fuel pump either. A quick call to Summit Racing and they had a new one in the mail to me that day. Uninstalling a fuel pump is not a fun task, let me tell you. First I drained the system of as much fuel as I could siphon out, but I still ended up covered in gas.

So with the new fuel pump in, I checked everything for leaks again. Nothing. Fired up the fuel pump for a few seconds, and no leaks! I did notice that the regulator was set to about 25psi, which is way too low for the fuel injectors. So, I fired up the fuel pump and slowly turned up the pressure. At about 35psi, I noticed a little leak around the one fuel injector where it plugs into my homemade fuel rail. It was a very small leak, which I thought I could ignore for the time being. When I got the pressure up to around 40psi, fuel started leaking (and at a pretty good rate) out around almost all of the injectors. Drats.

So, with my friend mopping up the gas, and me in the passenger seat turning the key, I tried to get the engine to turn over. Nothing. The starter turned the engine over, but it didn't start. So we went through some troubleshooting.

• Was the engine getting spark? Well, sometimes.
• Was the engine getting fuel? How can you test this if everything is covered in fuel from the fuel rail leaking?
• Was the Megasquirt getting the right signals? Um.... No.

The MS was not getting the right crank signal. After some head banging, and much fighting with everything, it turns out that the VR sensor was wired backwards.

So, here's where I stand today:

• A new fuel rail is almost completely built. I just need to drill out the 0.430" holes for the injectors, and this won't happen until I get a drill bit for the job. It's on order, so hopefully I can get this done before this weekend.
• The MS is getting the correct signal from the VR sensor. When I turn the key, it says the engine is cranking.
• When the new fuel rail is in place, I will again attempt to turn up the pressure on the fuel. Hopefully, it doesn't leak, and I can get the injectors to fire.

If the injectors fire, and I am still getting spark, the engine should fire. Should being the operative word here.

So one thing I did not include in the last post, the engine is in the car! I started off with the car bolted to the transmission, and then jacked and shimmied the whole lot into place. Once I was satisfied with where it was, I made some cardboard templates to cut the steel plates that would be made into the engine mounts.

I cut the steel out, making sure that I had plenty of extra so I could cut it down once I knew everything fit. Well, after some cutting and grinding, things still weren't right, and still needed lots of filling in with the welder. The little MIG welder that we have here wasn't up to the task of welding the 1/4" plate I used, so I took the tacked together plates to work and had the welder there finish them up for me.

So the engine is in the car, and the intake manifold is complete. Now I turned my attention to getting all of the ancillaries onto the engine, and getting the brackets finished up. The belt tensioner wasn't difficult, but the alternator did give me some trouble. I originally thought that all I would need to do is make one bushing to space the alternator from a simple bracket. Now that I have that installed, it ended up being two brackets that bolt to the engine, and three different bushings.

Once everything was installed the other day, I did find that the alternator as mounted would cause the belt to rub on the frame. I considered rocking the alternator on the mounts, and get it closer to the engine, but this caused interference with the intake manifold. So, I decided that I needed to hack the frame. I was desperately trying to avoid doing any modification to the frame, but with it, the alternator was not going to fit. Once everything is in the engine bay, and I am happy with everything, I will reinforce the frame with some nice thick plate.

So, now the only thing I can think that needs done is the entire electrical system. The dash needs some major work before I can happy with it. I started to sleeve all of the wires with expandable sleeving, and behind the dash looks much better then it did. Of course, you won't be able to see any of this, but it should make fixing problems in the future a lot easier.

All of the high current wires need rerouted, reterminated, and soldered and shrink tubed if necessary. I also need to find a good connector to terminate the intake manifold wires. And for that matter, all of the wires that go to the engine. I want to be able to break a couple of connections, and pull the whole engine out of the car, if I would ever need to.

Lots of time, lots of progress.

A lot of time has passed since I've updated this page, and I have accomplished a lot. I left off with the seats being out of the car, and the fuel system purchased. It turns out that the whole system was not purchased, and I needed more parts. As of now, the whole fuel system is not only purchased, but it is assembled and in the car!

The seats got a very good cleaning, and now look a lot less dingy. They could still use several more scrubbings to bring them back to concourse condition, but they are much better then they were.

I picked up some birch plywood, and found a nice English Walnut stain. I took the original dash and screwed it down to the plywood using the original screw holes. Using a router with a tracing bit, I routed out the new dash. Then I stained it using two light coats of the English Walnut. Then I coated it very thickly with a spray on Helmsman Urethane. In retrospect, I would go with a brush on type coating. I think it would go on thicker and the result may be a little harder and heavier duty.

Then came the hard part of covering the dashpad with new vinyl. I let it sit in the sun for a few hours and soften up. Then a used 3M's 80 adhesive. This is specifically made for rubber and vinyl. A spray on the back of the vinyl, and a spray on the original dash pad, lots of luck, and lots of patience and more stretching and the dash was done. It didn't come out as well as I had hoped, but there is always the next attempt to get it perfect.

Now the dash is done, and ready to go in the car. I now need to fix all of the wiring behind the dash. I am getting close to having it done. I need to finish the wiring before I can start the car, since there are a lot of high current wires just hanging out back there right now. Then lots of testing of each system, and then the dash can go in.

Seats are out.

I had the whole evening to myself, and I needed to do something on the car.

First, I stained a very small piece of the Red Oak veneer. I used some "Bombay Mahogany" stain and polyurethane mix. I don't think I like the result. The grain in the Red Oak is very pronounced, and it becomes the focus. There have been several different recommendations to what woods to use, so I just need to find one that meets my expectations.

Second, I tackled the seats. I needed to get at least the passenger seat out, since behind it is where the Megasquirt is going to be mounted. I would never have been able to get the wiring done in the tiny gap behind the seat without taking it out. I took the drivers side out to get everything cleaned up, and so that I could reach another bolt. There is a frame brace that runs tranversely from each seat belt mechanism (in the engine compartment), and I need to cut some bracket off of it for engine clearance.

Last, I ordered the switches from Holden. The exchange rate between America and England is killing me! But once I have these switches, I can get the dash board assembled. I still need to refinish it, but at least I won't be held back by materials. Now I think I have everything I need: the vinyl, some backing material, and the switches. I am sure there are things I am missing, but I am closer to getting it done.

Entire fuel system is purchased! (I hope...)

Yesterday I journeyed to Summit Racing. It is like the XXXmart of performance parts. Over the last few weeks, I've been putting together a wish list on their website and double checking everything in preparation. Then we get down there, and find that pretty much everything I had picked out was wrong.

No matter, most of the the sales guys there are very helpful and don't mind helping you pick out exactly what you need.

First, I had picked out a fuel pump that was cheap, and what I thought would meet my needs. When I looked at it, it turned out the fittings for the inlet and outlet were simply hose barb fittings. I was attempting to keep everything to AN type fittings. That gave my mentor and I a pause. After some discussion between us and the sales guys, it turns out that the fuel pump would not generate enough pressure for the injectors anyway. Check my parts list for the fuel pump I picked out in the end.

This also forced me to change the inlet fittings to -8 AN fittings. When compared to -6, these look huge. So, I had to change all in the inlet hoses too. A few more changes, and we had everything I think I need.

So, now I have an -8 AN hose running from each fuel tank to a tee fitting. Then another -8 AN hose up to the fuel pump. A few fittings, and the fuel filter is screwed directly to the pump. From there, its -6 AN up to the fuel rail. There are a few more fittings up at that end too.

Fuel rail is almost done

The last few days have been spent working on the new fuel rail and throttle bodies. I fabricated a new bracket to bolt the 4 throttle bodies together, and made up the linkages to synchronize the butterflies. The last thing needed was a plate to bolt the fuel rail to the throttle bodies. All of this took some raw material, and some accurate measurements to make everything line up. It only took a few hours to fabricate everything, but I think the result is fairly good.

I still need to finish the fuel rail. For each fuel injector, I drilled 4 holes to hold the fuel rail down to the throttle bodies. For each of these holes, I need to drill and bottom tap each hole. This is the last thing, and the whole thing can get bolted together.

Then, once I scrape some money together, I can buy up all the little fittings and hoses to get everything hooked up. I do want to use some of these connectors I found to make the connection to the intake manifold. They are of very good quality, and promise to be waterproof.

Final thing, once everything is hooked up, everything thing gets the polish, and onto the engine! Truthfully, I don't think I have much work to do on the intake manifold. It could be a matter of hours.

TPS adapter

I spent the last couple of days working on the adapter plate and the post adapter to make the Ford TPS fit onto the Suzuki throttle bodies. After all that, I think I am going to hack the end of the Suzuki connector up, and solder some leads to the pins.

The plate worked well, it was simply a plate to adapt the 2 screw holes on the throttle bodies to the 2 holes on the TPS. The post adapter was really what was causing me the biggest issue. I started off with a 1/2" bolt cut to length. Then I tried to file the diameter down to fit into Ford TPS, and cut 2 slots along the length.

Not having a lathe, the diameter reduction didn't work out the straightest. And the slots were not the absolute right size. The steel bolt was extremely difficult to work with with simple hand tools. To make it easier, I switched to Delrin. If you have never worked with Delrin, you need to. It is a highly machinable plastic, with very nice characteristics in mechanical applications.

I was able to throw a post adapter together pretty quickly. It still wasn't right though. The slot was just slightly off of center. This caused the throttle to bind when opened anymore then 25%. It would open fine, but then it wouldn't return to closed. This worried me enough to think that I should probably use the original Suzuki TPS to avoid any possible problems.

The solution that I have come up with is to solder some wires to the end of the leads, shrink tube them, and fill the whole thing with epoxy. This should be easy enough to replicate if I were to ever need to replace it, and it should yield a professional look, and sturdy product. It's just going to need some fine craftsmanship to pull off the professional appearance. I think I can handle it.

pepperperformance1 is no good!

I received my intake (inlet) manifold yesterday. I was concerned as to how it would get here, since it was originally mailed using Royal Mail. Turns out, Royal Mail hands it off to their international mailing partner (or subsidiary, whatever) Parcelforce Worldwide. They then hand it off to FedEx once it is on the ground in the states. Then I had to wait an extra day for FedEx to come back after I had signed the stupid 'you weren't here' card.

When I first saw the package, I was not happy. They shipped an international, overseas package to me in a plastic bag. This bag was something suitable if you were to ship a t-shirt, or maybe something lightweight wrapped in ridiculous amounts of bubblewrap. The manifold was wrapped in a single layer of bubblewrap, and a garbage bag.

Needless to say, the bag was ripped. The paint was chipped in several locations.

Once I opened it, I became more upset with the manifold. The welds were not ground, and there was welding splatter on the mounting plate. The blend from the tubes to the plate is not uniform, and not at all professional. I could have done better myself, if I had known it was going to be this bad.

All the manifold is a plate, which can be bought in numerous places online, and some pinched exhaust tube. Then they threw in some silicone hoses for free. Yippee.

We got the transmission mated to the engine today. It was not as easy as everyone makes it out to be.

Problem 1: The dowel pins in the engine do not fit into the 336 transmission. The dowel pins are stepped in size. The hole in the engine is smaller then the end of the dowel pin. However, the hole size in the engine is the same size as in the transmission. So the dowel pin needs to be replaced with one that is just one size.

Problem 2: The starter needs a mounting plate. This was known going into the project, but now that I see it, I realize that it is going to be a major project.

Problem 3: The starter from the ZX2 is broken. The starter has 3 mounting holes on the flange, 1 of which is broken.

Problem 4: Only a few bolts actually mate up from the engine to the transmission. 2 at the top, and 1 at each of the dowel pins. I can improve this by 1 with the adapter plate for the starter.

Observations:

• The input shaft on the 336 is almost long enough to touch the flywheel. This makes the project of making the adapter plate a little easier.
• The pilot bearing from a 1985 Ford Bronco fits perfectly over the input shaft on a Renault 336-11 transmission. This was found after a little searching at the parts store, and a couple trips to and from the car to check fitment on the transmission.

I've found an extremely helpful gentleman who I've been e-mailing about his similar project. I found a photo of his engine showing the pilot bearing extension, so I had to ask him about whether he had a drawing, or measurements. Unfortunately, he doesn't have many of the small details, but he gave me a very good overview. The pilot bearing extension is not really that long, and the bushing that gets added to it is commonly available. He is also using the same transmission, and his research says that I should be okay.

He is also saying that he used the Zetec transmission components, with just the spindle out of the Lotus clutch. So, another thing that I shouldn't have to worry about. His car isn't running yet, but if everything mates up, I should be okay. We'll see.

Today I plan on getting the engine mocked up in the car. I am going to get the engine off of the stand, get the transmission matched up to everything, and then try to get the engine in the car. Then the last thing to do is get the engine mounts mocked up. Then the wiring can start to get mocked up, then the coolant can mocked up, and then...

New engine is getting cleaner...

I spent last night cleaning the engine. I've got more productive things that I could have done, but the weather was gorgeous, so I wanted to be outside. Scrubbed the engine to remove the bulk of the grime, sprayed it with engine degreaser, rinse, and repeat. I did the same to the 336 transmission as well. The transmission looks like it may clean up very nicely, despite its age.

I do want to touch up the engine a little more though. The oil pan could use a wire brushing and a nice coat of paint. I could also touch up the paint on the engine block, now that it is cleaned up. I was knocking paint off of the engine as I was cleaning the lower half, and it wasn't hanging on to anything more then grime.

I found that R.D. Enterprises also sells the dash lettering that I will need to finish the dash, once it's rewired. It's only $14, so I think I may take this route, as opposed to replacing the switches. We'll see.

Dashboard is out!

After only a few short hours, the dashboard is out! I think I've made more notes on this, and labeled more wires then when I installed my home theater. The resulting mess hanging out of the space is pretty intimidating.

I do have a pretty good plan as to how I am going to put the dash back together though. I need to find a good marine/weather-resistant connector to make the mating connection with. It really shouldn't be too bad... (Famous last words.)

I plan on making a better drawing up, but that is not very high on my priority list right now.

I am going to take some pictures tomorrow. This mess needs to be documented. :-)

Old Engine Out!

The old engine is out!

After only a couple of grunts, and some wrench turning, I had the transmission out. Since the engine was mostly hooked up, 4 more bolts on the engine mounts, and it was loose. I forgot to unhook the heater cable, and the bottom coolant hose, but they came off pretty quickly.

I want to say that this car is the furthest along that it has ever been. Of course, the car is still not running...

CB and JT carried the old engine out of the car, and into the basement for me. Then they immediately turned around, and carried the new engine out to the car.

Turns out that the original motor mounts do not fit the engine. So I will need to fabricate up something to make it all fit together.

Dash needs to come out, so I can start working on fixing the rat's nest. Then the wiring harness for the new engine...

Lot's to do.

Put a nice floor in the garage today. Some drop cloth for the moisture, and some particle board, and the whole thing is kind of cleaned up. It is still a ridiculous redneck solution for a garage, but it will work until I can figure something out (funding...) more permanent.

Also, continued working on removing the dash board. After backing the car out of the garage, I could get the door courtesy switches out of the car. This allowed me to see what else was holding the dash together. I then found the two bolts holding the steering column together, and got that out. Then the inevitable happened, and I had a 'well, crap, now that is going to need to be redone.' moment. As I was trying to remove the dash, the vinyl/plastic/whatever covering the top cracked. The whole thing is so old and brittle, it cracked like it was very hard plastic. The two defrost heater vents on the top needed to be taken out, and I had overlooked them. The have 4, almost impossible to get to (without taking the windshield out), self tapping screws holding them in place. These do not screw to the dash however. They screw down into the heater vents themselves, which are then screwed onto a flange of fiberglass.

Once I broke these free (literally.), I could pull the dash forward. It is not an easy feat. You need to make sure that as you are pulling it forward, you unbind the wires from whatever they are wrapped around. It is still not fully removed. I believe the next best course of action is to remove the wiring from the back of each of the gauges. This way I can liberate the whole dash board with out taking the gauges out, and label all of the wire looms as best I can.

Once I re-surface the dash, I will need to replace the switches. I found someone who linked to this website: Holden. that has some very nice icon-ed switches. Since I will be resurfacing the dash, I want to have switches that have some indication of what they are. With the current dash, the titles for the buttons are screened onto the veneer itself. I won't be attempting to replicate this. Once this is done, I plan on getting some foam, and some vinyl, and re-surfacing the vinyl portion of the dash as well. Hopefully, I can make this look as good as I imagine.

Tomorrow I plan to remove the transmission, so I can get to the engine. I think I have gotten to all of the lines and cables running to and from the engine, but I am sure I will find something still bound up as we try to lift the engine out. I am really anxious to get the new engine into the car, so I can start wiring up the sensors, and everything.

Just ordered the intake (inlet...) manifold for the new engine. $221 including shipping. Ouch. I really hope when I get this thing, it is glorious. Its is now the most expensive item for the car. Even the donor engine costed less to this point.

Further research has shown that I will not need a vacuum line running from the intake manifold for the brakes. Just one less thing I have to worry about.

Tapped the threads on the coolant adapter plate. I still want to chop the plate down to match the profile of the elbow and the engine.

Removed radiator. Broke one of the bolt studs from the bottom. I believe it is aluminum. I will be replacing this anyway with something new, so I am not overly concerned about it.
Attempted to remove passenger seat. Broke front outside bolt. I stopped trying at this point. I don't know how to get to the bottom of the bolts if I need to yet.
Began removing dash. Following this.
-4 machine screws across the top
-2 self tapping screws under ash tray
-2 7/16" bolts in choke and heater cable bracket
-Unscrewed the shift knob
-Removed the center console cover.
-Removed the heater vents. The heater hoses are bound to the vents as a form of tape. These fell apart when removed. The heater hoses will need to be replaced.
-Tried to remove the door courtesy switches. There is a bracket holding the dash together that bolts to these switches. The passenger side bolt head came off successfully, but I can't get the door open far enough to get the switch out, while it is in the garage. The driver side is seized up, and just spins the whole switch.

Still need to remove the speedometer cable and trip reset cables. I need to get the car out of the garage to try to remove the driver's side door switch.

Finished up the crankcase evacuation cover. I still ned to make a gasket for this.
Finished up the mounting holes for the coolant outlet adapter plate. All that is left to do now is tap the sensor hole.

Last night:

Removed front trunk lid. (Kind of scary, since I was afraid I could have cracked it at any moment.
Removed heater blower motor. This will need terminals in order to reattach it. The wires ran through a cable clamp which, by the time I was done fighting with it, had a stripped off screw head.
Attempted to remove radiator. 7/16" bolt head, and completely rusted. I decided that it would be better to wait until the morning to continue to fight with this with more light.

I still need to start removing the internals: Seats, dash, pedals. The carpeting really needs to be replaced. It's old, and kind of crunchy. I don't know what color the car is going to be, so I am going to wait to remove it. Black carpetting would be nice, but if I go with something that won't match, it'll be ugly.

Since I need to get to everything under the body anyway, I think I am going to remove the body before I get the engine out. It'll make the whole thing easier. Since I've got to do both, I might as well take the body off first.

Removed Girling brake boosters.
Removed hoses and wires from engine.
Removed throttle and choke cables from engine.
Wire brushed Zetec.
Painted Zetec.

Still need to clean oil pan and bottom end of the Zetec.
Still need to remove the TC engine from the Lotus. I may or may not remove the body before doing this.

A quick burst of activity, and I got a ton of things done tonight. I pulled the timing belt off of the engine again. That was so I could get the water pump back on.

While I had the timing belt off, I wanted to paint the block where it would be covered. While I was at it, I painted the side of the of engine I had cleaned. The color is pretty nice. It'll be nice when the whole engine is painted.

Next, I timed the engine. There are details on how to do this on the internet. First, you loosen the cam gears. Then, you put a bar across the back of the cam shafts to lock them in place. Adjust the cams, tighten. The engine looks pretty sweet with the Esslinger gear on it. Timing is going to be easier when I get to that point because of the timing notches.

It is a good thing I timed it again. I think the first time I went through the motions, but the exhaust cam was off by a whole tooth. Now that the engine is timed, and the one side is painted, the other side is next. Grinding, wire brushing, cleaning, and then paint.

I think I want to clean up the aluminum top end as well. We cleaned it up a little bit last night, but only on the back around the water outlet. There's a ways to go.

Also, since the Megasquirt was giving me issues, I flashed it with the MSnS-E firmware again. Everything seems to be working again. I still need to develop a base map and check it with all of the sensors. More things to do...

Upgrading Megasquirt

This morning I upgraded the firmware on my v3 Megasquirt board. If you follow the instructions as per the msextra manual, it is very easy.

I then tried to follow the instructions from diyautotune, and there are a few mistakes. The menus listed on their site are not exactly as they appear in the Megatune software. They are far enough off from the software to make me doubt that I have everything set correctly. I am not sure if they were using an earlier version of Megatune, or if they simply wrote the instructions from memory.

After I uploaded the instructions from Megatune, my injector LEDs on the stimulator board stopped blinking. I am pretty sure this is what was supposed to happen, since with their instructions yoiu are using the indicator LEDs as ignition signals. We'll see when I get the injectors wired up....

Megasquirt

It's been about a week since I received my Megasquirt kit. The manual is very well documented, and the kit could not have go together any easier. There are a few choices that you need to make along the way. I would truly recommend reading through the manual before purchasing it. Not just read it, but understand each step.

There are several steps that are specific to the Megasquirt II daughter board. One of the steps that puzzled me, was how the tach sensor works on the Zetec.

The Zetec uses a VR sensor. The sensor puts outs a sort of AC signal, which needs to be filtered before the Megasquirt can understand it. So, follow the appropriate instructions in step 50.

Also, reaching step 65, I assembled the high current ignition driver. Since I don't have the EDIS driver, I will also need an additional BIP373 for driving the second bank of cylinders.

Doing some research, this can't be done without upgrading to MSnS-E.

So, to recap:
Assemble the VR circuit.
Assemble the high current ignition driver circuit.
Assemble the second high current ignition driver circuit, as per diyautotune.com. This is under the "Direct Coil Control Distributorless Ignition on a Megasquirt-I V3.0 or V3.57 Board"
Upgrade your firmware.

VCT Delete Kit

We finally got the VCT cam gear off of the Zetec engine last night. It took 3 of us, and 2 wrenches. There are a few write-ups on how to remove swap the gears around, but no one indicated that it would be this difficult to turn the bolt.

As I said, it takes two wrenches. A 16mm wrench fits on the inverse Torx bolt that is inside the VCT gear (under the cover), even though you should probably have the correct wrench. Also, you will need another wrench to hold the cam in place. With a little force, we were able to force a 15/16" wrench over the hex on the cam.

This could have been because we rounded it a little by using an adjustable wrench, or because of the casting being a little rougher than it could have been. Regardless of the case, it made it difficult to fit the wrench on there. A small hammer made it easier....

Also, I did it without any instruction as to how to install the VCT Delete Kit. I really hope I got the O-ring in the correct location.

So, I won the auction for the Esslinger cam gear and the VCT delete kit. If I hadn't of won this auction, I would've been in big trouble. I don't know what I would have done if I couldn't get rid of the VCT bump on my engine.

So I started getting the engine ready for the new gear. First, I still had more parts to take off of the engine. First, I had to get the accessory drive pulley off of the drive shaft. I needed some help with this, since I wasn't able to hold the engine from rocking, and try to muscle the bolt free.

Then you need to remove another cover, and then you are ready to remove the timing belt.

You are supposed to be able to loosen a bolt, and release the tension from the timing belt by rotating the tensioner pulley with an Allen wrench. Every time I tried to loosen this bolt, I could feel it trying to strip off the head. I didn't want to risk anything, so I just walked the timing belt off of the front of the gears.

Next, I wanted to remove the water pump, because I wanted to clean it up, and replace the gasket. Not because The gasket is leaking, or I expect it to leak, but because I could at this point, and thought I should.

I know from reading, and from common sense that this car project is going to be packed full of surprises. So, I take off the water pump to find the first real surprise. On the front ofthe cylinder wall, behind the water pump, someone left a little prize for future generations.
That is a smiley face. Yep, this is inside the engine. To some worker in some car factory somewhere, thank you. I know now where the spirits of this car live.

Next thing is getting the VCT gear off. I tried last night, but I couldn't get it to budge. I need to figure out a way lock the exhaust cam gears in place, so I can break this bolt free.

I am following these forum posts here:
Timing Belt Removal (and Replacement)
VCT Installation

Hopefully, I can figure this out, and get the old gear off. But more importantly, get the whole thing back together.

Thanks bud.

My friend is a life-saver. He was able to find all 3 of the items that have been causing me the biggest trouble finding:

Intake (or Inlet) manifold
VCT Delete Kit, and CAM Gear
Renault Fuego Transmission

I don't believe he managed to find all three of them on E-bay, all in one day. Now, I know that I searched for identical phrases on E-bay. I think he must've of been lucky enough to find all of them when they were for sale. But, had he not found them, I wouldn't have been looking.

Inlet Manifold

So, I am still having trouble with intake manifold. I am not going to get the plastic manifold to work. So, I want to replace it with a aluminum inlet manifold. Unfortunately, the intake ports on the engine don't match the intake ports on the manifolds I've found. I have questions submitted to every distributor that I've been able to find, but no one has gotten back to me yet.

And then there is the VCT solenoid on the engine. Supposedly, the engine fits in the car, but barely. On the front of my engine, there is this big bump from the VCT system. Its not going to fit with this big thing hanging off of the front the engine.

Out there in the interweb, there is reference to this thing called a VCT Delete Kit. A few years ago, you could pick it up for about $40. Great. Of course, now I can't find it. The vendors that have been referenced to have had it don't have them anymore. I need to eliminate this thing, or else I am going to have to have to destroy this car to get it to fit.

Throttle Bodies

The throttle bodies arrived, and they are incredible. Brand new, out of the box and shiny! From what I've read, I was thinking there was going to be more work than what I can see on these.

So, some basic facts: I bought a set of 1998 Suzuki GSXR 750 throttle bodies. So anyone reading this, that is looking for information on how to do this, keep that in mind.

I think most of the write ups that I have read state that there is a second set of butterfly valves that need removed. And then you have to patch the holes left over. And polish the mess that you left. Not the case in '98. Only one set of butterflies.
All of the examples I have seen have had two sets of arms that need custom spacers made. In 1998, there was one thread rod holding the set together, and one stainless (from what I can tell) steel bracket. So, some custom spacers, and a custom milled aluminum bracket to hold the other side together.
Since they are brand new, they have all the vacuum lines, and injectors. It is going to need very little work on this front.

Unfortunately, and you knew there was going to be one, I am seeing why getting the injectors to fit onto the intake manifold is such a big deal. The ZX2 intake manifold is soooo narrow, that I don't know if there is any chance that I will get the new throttle bodies on there. I am really considering the Raceline intake runners.

I am also thinking that I am going to abandon the IACV. The throttle bodies have a idle air bypass, that is adjustable. So with a little bit of work (HA!) I should be able to tune it at idle, without help from the MegaSquirt system.

More parts, more things to do.

I almost have the valve covers stripped of the black paint. I started with a palm sander, and just worked at it. It really didn't take much time. But now that I have all of the large, flat surfaces cleaned off, I am down to the little nooks and crannies. So, now that I have most of it done, I decided to try paint stripper. Why I waited until now to try it, I don't know. I started spraying it on the little corners down one side of the valve cover, and then spun it around to the other side. By the time I had finished the second side, the first side was already bubbled up, and starting to come off. Jeez. This would have been a little bit easier...

Now I just need to get it finished, and decide whether I want to paint it, or polish it.

I got the problem with PayPal resolved. I setup the transaction to use the wrong bank account, and I was afraid that the transaction would fail, and the seller would see all of this. Good thing is, PayPal fronted me the cash until the transaction goes through, and then my account goes negative. No big deal, then I go in and add money to my account from the right bank account. PayPal is actually a good company to work with! And the person I talked to on the phone, actually spoke pretty good English.

I should get the throttle bodies this coming Monday. I can't wait to have them in my hands, and start working on getting them on the engine.

Next step is the MegaSquirt. It still needs a ton of research, but I am starting to get a handle on it.

The manual walks you through all of the assembly, but that isn't going to be my main problem. I am concerned that once I get it all together, I won't be able to get the engine running properly. If I can't get the engine running properly, I don't know what to do yet. With a carbureted engine, at least I could start somewhere. Rich, lean, etc. With Megasquirt, I don't know how to check all of this yet, or to verify that the system is working correctly.

I sold some parts on Ebay! This was a first, since up until now I've only ever bought things on Ebay. So the price on the engine drops a little more.

I also bought some Suzuki throttle bodies from a 750 GSXR motorcycle as well. I am having a couple issues with Paypal, but I am sure this should be cleared up quickly. Now, I just need to figure out how to get the throttle bodies to fit to the intake manifold. I would still love to use the stock ZX2 injectors, mounted right next to the flange. I don't know if this is going to be possible, because of the flatness of the runners on the manifold.

Everything I've seen where people have done a similar modification shows a much rounder intake runner. I think these flanges are either off of a Focus, or an SVT model. They are almost completely round, versus my runners which are almost flat. I don't know if there is going to be enough plastic there to make a nice transition.

We'll see once I have the injectors in hand. Maybe I will need to get the Raceline adapter.

IAC Valve and ITB

I was researching Megasquirt, and the associated inputs, outputs, and control systems. There is talk about the IAC Valve, and whether you are going to use it or not. IAC stands for Idle Air Control, and essentially it is a stepper motor driven valve that opens when the engine is idling. It prevents the engine from stalling when the throttle is closed.

There is a problem with this, if I am going to use ITBs, or individual throttle bodies. On the stock Zetec, there is one IACV, and one throttle body to match. When I go to the ITBs, I lose the simplicity of a single throttle.

The IAC should allow me to properly drive the engine, and not lose the efficiency of EFI. So I want to use it.

A quick search on Google, turned up this:

IACs and ITBs

It discusses where to place the openings, and provides a little bit of insight into the problem.

So here's the plan. Take the Zetec IACV, add in some air openings in the bottom of the Suzuki throttle bodies opposite the Suzuki injector ports (which will become the vacuum hook-ups), and hook these into the output of the IACV.

With some nice engine dressing, I should be able to make the whole thing look good too. The stock fuel rail running into the stock (Zetec) injectors, in the stock intake manifold ports. A little bit of cleaning up, and the stock system shouldn't look too bad. Add in the ITBs, and some nicely dressed vacuum lines, and some nicely dressed intake lines running underneath, and it should look downright fierce.

This solution allows me to use everything I need. Or so I hope.

Sold theZX2

Yesterday, we took the ZX2 to the junk yard. I've got to say, the junk yards dudes have a pretty cool job. Drive around giant wrecking equipment, shoot the breeze with crazy people... If I am ever looking for a job, that's where I am going to start.

Anyway, of the $250 I spent to buy the donor car, I got back $120 just for the scrap metal. Now, I need to start selling off bits and pieces of the rest of the car. I still have the car seats that are promised to a guy at work, the dash cluster, the sun roof, and the driver's door.

If I can get the prices I am finding on E-bay, I should be able to pay for some of the bits and pieces I need to get this project really underway.

So, the journey begins.

I found the donor car via craigslist, and went to pick it up. The engine was already out of the car, as from what I can tell the previous owner needed the transmission. This made my life significantly easier, since all I needed to do is get the car home and strip the engine.

I must tell you, the job of removing components from an engine is much easier with the engine sitting on the floor of your basement. After a couple quick wrench turns, a couple of moments what the hell this gizmo was and whether it was needed, the engine is now sitting, stripped down to the block.

Next step, is going to be cleaning up the block. There is a layer of paint on the engine to prevent it from rusting, and most of it is peeling off of the rust. I want to paint it to go with the car, but first I have to get the old paint off, and clean up the rust.

After this, it is going to be a long list of major projects. The original intake manifold may or may not fit, but I may not even use it anyway. I would rather use something more custom. The exhaust is going to be an off-the-shelf/custom job. Then a complete replacement of the engine management system using a system from MegaSquirt.