June 2009
Tuesday 30th June 2009
The ECU is now mounted in the car, so the wiring can start. I went to Maplins at lunch time to try to get some shielded twisted pair wire for all the sensors in the car, but they dont sell anything suitable. I'll keep shopping around.
Saturday 27th June 2009
I've made a pair of brackets to hold the ECU in place, using some of the left over angle aluminium bar I bought in May. The ECU bolts directly to the brackets, and the brackets fasten to the floor of the car using vibration insulators.The black wire is used to connect the chassis earth to the brackets, which in turn ensures that the ECU casing is earthed correctly, and should prevent ground loops. The earthing of the ECU itself will be taken care of using the stud on the end of the ECU (not shown) and the main wiring harness.
Friday 26th June 2009
Not a particularly fruitful week. I've been in Glasgow for the majority of the week. Still I managed to get a set of injectors ordered from DTA, and they're not the right ones. Note to self: PICO injectors are half the size of standard ones, and are not the right type for the Duratec head. Some standard injectors, like the ones I ran on the Jenveys are what I need. So I'll get these returned on Monday, and hopefully exchanged for the right type. I expect I'll have more progress to report over the next 7 days. I did send off the cheque for the throttle position sensor, and it comes in at a mighty £100, which is a lot of money for a TPS. Lets hope it fits OK. I went for the 130°, as no one seemed to know if I needed the 100, 130 or 350° sensors from the forums I asked on.
Saturday 20th June 2009
The COP connectors arrived from Lake, and they fit on the COPs perfectly. A big Thankyou to Lake Interconnection Systems. Webcon have supplied me with a set of connectors for the Pico in-head injectors, but it looks like the Ford injectors are the only ones to use the Ford type connectors (see pics below), as the miniAMPs supplied look nothing like the connectors on the loom. It looks like all aftermarket Pico injectors use miniAMPs, so when I replace the std injectors with some Bosch 330's, the miniAMPS will be required.
Finished the slam panel, all filed and fitted. Its a bit loose, so I'll add some locating lugs for it to sit on. The two stainless steel catches need to pull the panel against something for them to work properly, and I was a bit enthusiastic with my filing. And the panel is no longer a tight fit in the space I cut out. Doh!
I've removed the existing wiring loom, switches and dashboard from inside the car, and I've started work on mounting the DTA S80Pro ECU. I'll mount it on the front bulkhead, up out of the way, using rubber insulators to protect it against vibration.
I've made enquiries about the Throttle Position Sensor thats required for the Titans. The one I need is here and is £70+VAT so I'll look at sourcing a cheaper alternative. The Titans have a D-profile on the end of the throttle spindle, but it is recessed inside the end of the throttle body, so the sensor they recommend has an input shaft, unlike any other sensor I've come across before. As for the other sensors, the water outlet housing needs drilling and tapping for a second temperature sensor, so I'll get a tap ordered during the week so I can cut the thread out for it.
I've finished my asset management web portal at work, and it is being launched next week whilst I'm at one of my clients sites. It works really well, and the few demos I've given have proved very promising from the feedback I've received. Certainly wont do my credibility any harm, now I can add ASP.NET expert to my CV. 8-)
Friday 11th June 2009
The Eurospeed.com.au oil filter plate arrived this week from Australia and it fits perfectly in the gap between the engine and the cross member. Looks very bling doesn't it? I simply need to buy two -10 90° forged fittings to route the hoses away to the oil cooler and oil filter housing. I of course have no where to mount the oil pressure sensor now, so I'll adapt the oil filter housing to take the pressure sensor and pressure switches.
I've found a company that can supply the Ford COP connectors for the wiring loom. Lake Interconnection Systems in Swindon sell them. SBD use Lake to manufacture their wiring looms for their customers cars. I'll get a set ordered straight away.
Saturday 6th June 2009
The Ford COP's have arrived this morning from coordsport.net. They're much lighter than the standard ignition coil and plug leads. Part Number 4M5G-12A366-BC -> FINIS 1322402. I'll try to make some more progress on the slam panel today. Didn't manage any time over the last few days due to work commitments.
This week I've built a Windows 2003 Server, and I've been using Microsoft's Visual Web Developer 2008 and SQL Server Express 2008 for the first time, to develop a few web based reports for the project I'm working on. Within a few hours, I created a page with a couple of Gridviews and a Dropdownlist, which are bound together and reference stored SQL Views in the database, and the user can query all the computers belonging to the staff in their cost centre by selecting the cost centre from the dropdown list. It wasn't that difficult to do using VWD. The tricky part was publishing the pages, and setting the virtual directories on the IIS server. None of it is facing the web, so I cant give you a URL to try. But it just shows how quickly you can put a page or two together using free products from Microsoft.
I've noticed a problem with my G1 Android phone. When I run the Maps software, and press Menu, Maps, and choose Traffic, nothing happens. What should happen is that the traffic information is downloaded for the displayed map, and the road colours change to indicate traffic levels. Doesn't work at all. So I ran T-Mobile twice, and neither time they could offer a solution. The first time I called the woman said that I had to call HTC and Google to sort the problem out for myself! Not impressed. I know the feature works in the UK, because my colleagues Nokia e71 works fine. But my G1 doesn't. How frustrating.
Wednesday 3rd June 2009
Slam panel modifications continue. The quick release stainless steel catches are on (Part number 264-5166 from www.rswww.com), and I need to cut out the middle section around the throttle bodies, to give sufficient clearance for the trumpets. It'll look a lot better when I've finished it.
Monday 1st June 2009
The Ford Fiesta ST tripod joints have arrived from M-Sport, but they have a larger ID than the Mk2 Fiesta tripods, so I'm now at a crossroads, and I need to have a think about what to do next. I either go for two new driveshafts, or source two ST driveshafts, and make two hybrids from both.
I've bought a set of Coil On Plug leads from www.coordsport.net. These devices sit on top of the spark plugs, and have their own in-built igntion coil (hence the name Coil On Plug). I've taken the Duratec ignition coil off the side of the head, and removed the mounting bracket. The wiring loom will fire each COP individually, and the final install will deliver more power, and look neater to boot.
The slam panel modification continues. I've cut out the ally box section, and this will sit in the gap in front of the throttle bodies. The panel will have a quick release catch on either end, to give easier/instant access to the front of the engine. Started thinking about the wiring loom, and all the sensors and switches that will be required. Quaife have said that the Sequential box wont be ready 'soon', but they have offered me a drive in their demonstrator, so when I'm next in Sevenoaks, I'll pop in for a play.
Is it June already? Where is the year going? Only 61 days to Ford Fair, and counting...