February 2017

27Feb

After just two runs on the dyno on Monday, we achieved 313BHP and 261ft/lb of torque, and decided that that was more than enough power for me to deal with for 2017. Everything worked 100%, no leaks, no issues at all with any of the electronics that I added. The rear wheel speed sensors recorded 159MPH on the rollers, which was exactly the same as the speed recorded by the Dyno computer. 159MPH? Yep, thats what she should reach in 6th gear now, with my backside 4cm above the ground, sitting on a sheet of aluminium.

The X10 module worked first time, and the calibration switches were used to give me four maps to select from. Map 4 is around 100BHP less than Map 1, and I can now detune the car by selecting Map 1-2-3-4 depending on the conditions.

Launch control is also setup, so the switch holds the engine rpm at 3000rpm for position 1, 3250 for 2, 3500 for 3 and position 12 turns off Launch control. Same goes for the Traction switch, if thats in position 12, it turns traction off altogether.

Paddles were also unlocked, and we have configured the IO so I can now add the paddles and valves and test everything in the garage.

I'm happy that everything went so smoothly. Huge thanks to **** for their expertise, and support with the Turbo Technics S242 turbo. Huge thanks also to Pro-Alloy for the intercooler and pipework. We only needed 1.2bar of boost to make 313BHP, and the intake temperatures never peaked above 25C, so the potential for more power is there, in fact the sky is the limit on a purpose built engine. But for my Mountune engine, I'm not going to keep winding the boost up, we'll see what its like with 313BHP first and then decide if more power is needed.

24Feb

After a big push today, the car is now reassembled, and ready for the rolling road session on Monday at ****. We heard today that Jason English has left Life, and that that shouldnt affect the service that **** provides. However, it is still a great loss as Jason was involved with the early development of the EcoBoost cars, and there wasnt much he didnt know. Hopefully, I can still get traction control unlocked on Monday, and we can squeeze as much power as we can out of the Mountune engine.

23Feb

The inlet pipe is fitted to the turbo. I bought a section of 70mm ID 2ply neoprene hose, and this attaches to the turbo inlet. I then used the adaptor that came with the TT turbo to attach that hose to the smaller 63mm ID hose that runs up to the airbox/K&N Filter, and the solution works well. I then fitted the Forge recirculation valve, to the turbo outlet. All I need to do now is refit the original floor, put the wheels on, and lower the car back to the ground. Almost ready for the rolling road session at ****.

Ford has pulled out all the stops and produced the ROPS certificates for me and Pete, and these should be in the post in the next few days. I for one will be popping champagne cork when it finally turns up. Its taken 8 months of chasing people up, to arrive at this point, and its been a very stressful process.

19Feb

Ran the engine for the first time today, and there were no issues I could find. Got the water temp up to 60C and I'll repeat the test during the week raising the temps up to 95C when I'm sure all the coolant hoses etc are properly secured. The floor rumbles like an earthquake with the sound from the exhaust. I cant wait to get the car on to the Dyno now to see if we can break 300bhp. I've had to relocate the top radiator hose feed, so it sits outside of the engine subframe, to give me the space I needed for the turbo inlet. And I'll have to cover the silicon water hoses feeding the water to the turbo, to protect them from the heat.

14Feb

Following another email exchange, it looks like we are going to get the ROPS certificates after all. Mygale's chairman emailed me, to explain the situation, and there is just a fee left to pay to the MSA to finish the process. That was all we wanted, some information to explain the situation fully. We had to resort to social networking to make contact, but it worked, and we're now days away from getting the certificate. Just as well as I've entered the Rockingham Sprint on March 26th, and Pete should be there too. The regs only came out yesterday, and I filled in the paperwork and emailed it off straight away.

The remaining intercooler pipework has arrived, and I've finished wiring in the launch and traction control switches. I've a few more bits on order to complete the flappy paddle gearchange install, and these should be arriving in the next few days.

10Feb

Of course the intercooler fits, I've asked Pro-Alloy to supply a number of bends and a section of hard pipe to allow me to run the pipework from the turbo to the intercooler. I was hoping to get them in time for this weekend so I could run the engine again, but I missed the delivery on Friday, and DPD dont re-deliver at the weekends, so I'll have to wait until Monday for the bits.

The turbo is now connected to the water hoses via the banjo fittings, and I've replaced the heatshield and fitted the downpipe. As I cant run the engine yet, I might try and fit the carbon floor this weekend, and see how that looks instead.

Mygale Chassis

Worringly there is still no sign of the ROPS certificate for the Mygale cars. Mygale now has the paperwork, and the MSA are waiting for Mygale to send it to them. I've heard about a fee needing to be paid by Mygale, presumably for the generation of the certificate by Ford, but I dont know anything more than that at the moment. I just hope Mygale understand the importance and urgency. Castle Combe sprint in March is now full, so I've missed that as my first round. So I'm waiting for the BARC Eastern Rockingham event regs to be published, as thats now likely to be my first outing. But BARC hasnt published the regs yet, as there are delays at the MSA again with releasing Permits. Its not looking like its going to be a very smooth year this season. I'm now entered in the British Sprint Championship, for my 2nd year, and I wont be scoring any points without ROPS certificates, so we really are at the mercy of the organising body at the moment.

Please like and share my post so we can try and speed up the release of the ROPS certificates.

05Feb

Bodywork is back on, as is the front suspension. I hate the front suspension mounts. They are very dfficult to get to when the bodywork is on, and of course, the bodywork has to be on to fit them as they pass through it. I just couldnt get my hands to reach the lower mounts, fitting the nyloc nuts to the bolts was very tricky. Anyway, its all done now, albeit it took me 2.5hours to fit them. Whilst the bodywork is back on, I'm replacing rusty fasteners with zinc plated ones, to tidy things up, and giving the side pods a good clean.

My next job is to fit the intercooler and see if all the pipework reaches the turbo and throttle body. The freshly machined water fittings didnt quite work out how I wanted. They pushed the OEM water pipes out too far, preventing the engine subframe from fitting back over the turbo. So Plan B is I've ordered a pair of M12 10mm banjos and these will fit on the TT fittings, alowing me to point both banjo's upwards, keeping the supplied silicon water hoses to a minimum length, and allowing them to remain away from the heat of the turbo exhaust.

Pete didnt have as much luck at **** today as he did with his previous engine. He only made 276BHP this time, and a little less torque. I'm sure he'll get more power, its just a matter of ironing out a few problems first.

02Feb

A little bit of progress to report regarding the ROPS certificate for the Mygale EcoBoost cars. Ford has sent the completed documentation to the MSA, who then sent it on to Mygale. And the situation now, is that although the certificate is complete, the MSA are waiting on an agreement with Mygale to release the certificate, so the MSA can print it on their security paper. So we have no indication as to how long it will take for Mygale to reach the agreement.

Also there is an installation page in the MSA document that will need to be signed. I'm assuming that this is the part of the paper work that confirms the identity of the car. Again I'm waiting for confirmation from the MSA. It could mean a visit from a vehicle eligibility scrutineer, or maybe I can get it signed off at the first event.

So after starting the hunt for the certification in July 2016, we're now hopefully, just days or weeks away from being issued with paperwork that will allow us to race. As I've entered the British again for a second year, I'm hoping it's days or weeks, rather than months.

The chassis wiring is now complete. Time to refit the bodywork and front suspension and get the car back on her wheels again.