|
|
Post by Bilbo on Apr 13, 2020 0:43:35 GMT
Awesome work  Those lips came up great! Guess it's good to keep busy rather than go insane!  lol Yeah mate, making the most of my time! Plus, I'm not sure how long it'll last, but so far the weather has been amazing for it most of the time. Got a lot more left to do, but just need to get these finished and get tyres on them at some point, then I can move onto other things. |
|
|
|
Post by Bilbo on Apr 24, 2020 1:00:55 GMT
When I got the car it had previously had a vented bonnet, which liked to leak rain water onto the cam cover sometimes. As a result the metal took a bit of a beating, and that coupled with me fitting an aftermarket cam cover gasket back when I did the cambelt (I know they're rubbish, but my mate gave me one brand new in the packet) has resulted in the cam cover being all kinds of grim. Look at this absolute mess:  This just wouldn't do, and I didn't like that blue oil cap:  So I took a Dremel to it:  Much better! So anyway, the cam cover. Cleaned it up, sanded the crap and oxidised bits off of the metal, and gave the tight corners a little raz with the Dremel. Obviously I then cut the front off, because exposed cams are cool or something, I don't know. Primered:  Painted:  I masked the little sticker on the front because it's in Japanese and that's cool I guess. Engine bay is a mess, but one piece is now sorted, with fresh genuine cam cover gasket, and sealant around the 6 lobe points:  I got the second of the Volks refurbed, this one split it's sealant as I was doing a couple of bolts at a time to polish it, so after cutting the tyre off with a Dremel (lol, don't ask), I cleaned the lip mating points up, keyed them back, and sealed them up with some clear silicone sealant. Here it is reassembled:  A mate then suggested to sand back the Volk logo, because it would look cool. The little touches really do make the difference:  The Equips and the Volks are now refurbed and good to go:  Getting new front tyres fitted soon, they're arriving tomorrow. Fingers crossed my resealed wheel will work, never resealed a split rim before! So, lockdown has been very productive, and I've just bought an absolute ton of stuff, all arriving by next week. More updates to come, it's the most ambitious project I've undertaken yet, and is something I've always wanted to do! |
|
|
|
Post by Zed. on Apr 24, 2020 9:39:56 GMT
I didn't like that blue oil cap: So I took a Dremel to it: I use a caustic solution to strip aluminium, removes anodised coatings quickly  Rich. |
|
|
|
Post by atlex on Apr 24, 2020 10:28:40 GMT
Spectacular wheels mate!
|
|
|
|
Post by Bilbo on Apr 26, 2020 23:12:27 GMT
I didn't like that blue oil cap: So I took a Dremel to it: I use a caustic solution to strip aluminium, removes anodised coatings quickly Rich. Thanks for the tip, my dad showed me that one a while back when he was stripping some RC car parts, very cool. Unfortunately I didn't have any and I wanted it done immediately haha. |
|
|
|
Post by Bilbo on Apr 26, 2020 23:13:19 GMT
Thanks mate, quite pleased with them for a first attempt at wheel refurbing! |
|
|
|
Post by Bilbo on Apr 26, 2020 23:45:36 GMT
So, the mobile tyre guy came out on Saturday to fit my new fronts onto the Volks. Going up to 195/45/15 because the 185/45s I was running was too much of a drop from 195/50 that I originally had on the car when I encountered some rubbing issues. The 185s were just too small and really didn't fill the arch compared to the chunky 14s on the rear. I crossed my fingers as he took the wheel I resealed, and cringed a bit as I heard the bead pop, but it held! I did a sealant! Yay, very pleased. He did put 40psi in them though hahaha, after a rather floaty feeling front as I drove to Asda I decided to check them, glad I did! Now set to 28psi.  So, the "most ambitious project" I mentioned in my last post, well here it is:  Triumph Daytona 600 throttle bodies. Got them on Ebay for £44 delivered, not bad! To accompany them:  A Speeduino standalone ECU from DIY-EFI. Those of you who saw my old build thread will know that I ran a Speeduino on my old mk1. This is the new style Core4 version developed by DIY-EFI that fits neatly into the standard ECU housing, for a cleaner install. Speeduino has seen a ton of development and firmware updates since I last had one, I haven't covered it all yet, but it now supports dual fuel tables in a way similar to ITB Mode on Megasquirts. Potentially very handy if I decide on a blended fuelling setup, rather than pure Alpha N (TPS based), but we will see. I've always liked doing stuff DIY rather than just buying a ready to go solution, plus my budget is never quite at the level to allow such purchases! So, I have decided on using a cut down OE manifold to attach the throttle bodies to. After removing the inlet manifold (those bolts are a right pain to get to by the way!) and fuel rail, I laid it out and planned my cutting process. Initially I went with a Dremel, but this was going to prove a little tricky in the hard to reach areas, so instead I decided on, of all things, a £3.50 Draper junior hacksaw from Halfords! Laugh if you will, but check these cuts out:     Now I'm not one to boast, but being a clumsy left hander I've never cut a straight line with a saw in my life, always wonky. Those photos are just after cutting, no filing down at all. Really pleased with how it came out. Took a fair while and my arms are dead now mind! I gave them a quick test fit up to the throttle bodies, looking pretty good so far:  There are little support bracket bits in the casting of the intake manifold, and as I am opting for a silicone joiner setup these would prevent a tight seal around the ports due to them jutting out. So I cut them back:  This isn't quite finished, I need to do a little more sanding back to get the ports a nice uniform shape all the way around, but it's pretty close. I have also used JB Weld to fill the injector holes on the throttle bodies as I will be using the OE location in the end of the inlet manifold. Of course I have had to purchase many other things: wideband, silicone joiners, jubilees, vac hose, JB weld, sealant, intake manifold gasket, injector seals, vacuum block/manifold, trumpets, AFM delete harness, IAT sensor, and a Synchrometer to balance the throttle bodies once installed. However due to opting for the full DIY throttle bodies, and the Speeduino ECU which is only £250 brand new plug n play, it hasn't cost me a huge amount so far! I still have the ECU and wideband install to do, along with other wiring and sensors. I will update as I go along, but I will probably also do a full write-up on the entire install process separately, for anyone that might be interested. Exciting times, pencilled in a first start attempt for next weekend, we'll see! |
|
|
|
Post by atlex on Apr 27, 2020 9:01:10 GMT
top notch work |
|
|
|
Post by Zed. on Apr 27, 2020 10:19:18 GMT
going to watch this with more intrest, I looked at the Core4 speeduino & emailed some questions (didn't get reply from my second email but that was around the time my oldman died so I might not have sent it  will have a check...) why did you choose the AEM wideband over the (optional) onboard offering? from the reviews I've read the Spartan unit is as relible as anything else (& can output to a guage - but not the same scene-points as the AEM  ) Rich. (still undecided on ecu's.....) |
|
|
|
Post by Bilbo on Apr 27, 2020 21:34:42 GMT
top notch work Thanks mate, it's getting there! |
|
|
|
Post by Bilbo on Apr 27, 2020 21:36:49 GMT
going to watch this with more intrest, I looked at the Core4 speeduino & emailed some questions (didn't get reply from my second email but that was around the time my oldman died so I might not have sent it will have a check...) why did you choose the AEM wideband over the (optional) onboard offering? from the reviews I've read the Spartan unit is as relible as anything else (& can output to a guage - but not the same scene-points as the AEM ) Rich. (still undecided on ecu's.....) Sorry to hear about your dad mate, hope you're doing ok. If he doesn't reply, he's called James Brandon, he runs DIY EFI. he comes back very quickly and is super helpful over Facebook Messenger, top guy, highly recommend him. I didn't realise the Spartan could be hooked to a gauge, and as I'm going to be mapping it myself, I wanted a good visual signal of current AFRs. Oh well! |
|
|
|
Post by Bilbo on Apr 27, 2020 21:48:22 GMT
So today I didn't get much done, as I'm still working full time from home (I work for a digital agency, so we can do everything from home!), but I did manage to get some stuff sorted. I knew my AC was completely dead, so I sawed off the pipes going into the cabin and ripped the internal unit out, which I will replace with a non AC connector pipe soon. This has given me 2 holes, one for MAP line and a couple of wires, and the other for the wideband o2 sensor harness. As I went for the Core4 Speeduino, this is the option that fits into the standard ECU housing, which I have now done:  All fitted in nicely, and I have run a MAP line to it from the engine bay. I have had to buy a longer lead to plug into the ECU (it uses a male to male printer cable type), so that I can tune the car comfortably from the driver's seat, or over at the engine bay. Not much else to report other than a few deliveries, one of which Hermes somehow managed to either not find my address (almost on the main road), or just not ring the door as I have obviously been in all day! Idiots. Not too much of a blocker as it is only the trumpets, which is one of the final pieces of the puzzle. I'm hoping my silicone joiners arrive tomorrow so I can get the throttle bodies assembled onto the intake manifold! |
|
|
|
Post by atlex on Apr 27, 2020 22:22:46 GMT
the wideband plug/connector with the aem-X kit fits *really* well in one of the A/C holes. :-)
|
|
|
|
Post by Zed. on Apr 27, 2020 23:41:22 GMT
Sorry to hear about your dad mate, hope you're doing ok. ha, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that - or maybe added that it was in December  I'm not blaming James, gonna go through my emails to check if I sent the message (was a bit of a busy time...) but sorta been pushed to the back of the 'to do' list  Rich. |
|
|
|
Post by scottydugg on Apr 28, 2020 13:34:24 GMT
You've got me looking into a speeduino unit now, all this performance modding and I'm still running the 30 year old ECU. I wonder would it shoot flames  |
|
Those lips came up great!
lol
will have a check...)
) 
le sigh