July 2001
Sunday 29th July 2001
Finally refitted the drivers door. Fitted the handbrake cable so I can now hold the car on the handbrake when running the engine. Painted the rear anti-roll bar. Ran the engine just before lunch, and it stalled. Out of petrol again! I'm sure most of it is evaporating from the tank during this spell of hot weather.
Updated the website to show the Motordrive logo on each page, and removed the Grass Roots Motorsports link, as my free subscription to the magazine appears to have ended 8(
Saturday 28th July 2001
As promised, heres an MP3 of the engine warming up. The sound clip runs for 60 seconds, and is 700Kb, but I did record it at 44kHz, 16Bit, which is CD-quality. Engine warming up, tickover approx 900 rpm
Friday 27th July 2001
My Perspex windows supplier has let me down. So no trip to Rockingham, and I've had to postpone the photoshoot with Performance Ford magazine for the 5 pages they had for me in September's magazine.
I've ordered a set of Acrylic windows from Airedale Race Components. They should be able to supply them next week with a bit of luck, but I may have to wait a fortnight as they're going on holiday for a week from the end of next week.
Ordered the brakes from HiSpec Motorsports yesterday. I've opted for 285mm disks, 4-pot HiSpec race calipers, and Hawke Hillclimb specification brake pads. The whole lot should arrive next week.
Wednesday 25th July 2001
We're back! I called Network Solutions in the States last night, to see what was going on. They didn't have a clue. So I called Netnames again this morning, and they've apologised again, and offered to give me a refund, which I accepted. That was at 09:10 hrs, and the domain eventually started working again, at 12:50 hrs. OK, so now its back to business as usual, with no more interruptions for another 12 months.
Fitted the wiper motor and mechanism last night. Because I've rotated the motor through 100° to clear the fuel rail, I've had to adjust the linkage so that it still sits in its original 'parked' location, so the wipers operate correctly. I'll apply 12 Volts tonight to make sure everything is working properly.
The fuel filter mounting bracket arrived yesterday, so that'll need fixing on to the car when I get time. I am assured by my supplier that the Perspex windows will be arriving tomorrow, "without a doubt!". I sure hope so, as if I want to get the car to the Ford show at Rockingham on August the 5th, it must have the windows fitted. That'll be the cars first outing, but I wont bother going if she's not finished, which'll be disappointing to say the least.
Tuesday 24th July 2001
Er, hello! Yes, we're still here. Never went anywhere, but because Netnames didn't pass on the Zetecinside.com renewal fee to Network Solutions, the Zetecinside.com domain name was deleted from the DNS system on Monday 23rd July at around 23:00 hrs. I've been on the phone to Netnames this morning, twice, and they've apologised, and the DNS entry is being re-instated, but it will take some time to ripple round the world wide web again. The really infuriating thing is, that I'd called Netnames many times over the past 6 weeks, to tell them that the whois database still showed the record as expiring on the 4th of June, but they just said "Don't worry, the database takes some time to update". So, please accept my apologies if you try sending me any E-mails, as they'll bounce until this has been resolved.
Saturday 21st July 2001
Fitted the Mk2 windscreen, and a DIY sunstrip, for the Piper Cams decal. I was told that the Mk2 windscreen wouldn't fit unless I used a Mk2 windscreen rubber. I guess I must have a Mk2 rubber then, as it went in no problem.
Discovered that the windscreen wiper motor hits the injection rail on the end of the throttle bodies, so I've made a new bracket for the wiper motor, and spun the motor through 100° to clear the fuel rail.
Friday 20th July 2001
Fitted the new seat. Its sooo comfortable to sit it, you just don't want to get out once you've clambered in to the car.
Tuesday 17th July 2001
The Motordrive seat has arrived. Its beautiful. Black with red cushions.
Monday 16th July 2001
Ran the engine again. Measured the noise levels this evening. She's producing 100db's at 2500 rpm, 1 meter from the tail pipe. The MSA rules say that the maximum is 110db's at 2/3rds maximum RPM, 0.5 meter from the tail pipe, at an angle of 45° from the pipe outlet.
Cured the noisy fuel pump. I've mounted it on four rubber insulators, from RSWWW.COM Its brilliant now. Very quite. The floor pan was resonating with the vibration before. Now its much quieter.
The Stack rev counter has arrived. Its the ST200 Clubman, 0-8000RPM. Stack tachos are very quick acting as they use a stepper motor to move the needle, which gives high accuracy (crystal controlled). www.stackltd.co.uk
Sunday 15th July 2001
More temperature cycling today. Run the engine up to 95 degrees and switch it off. I'm checking water hoses etc. Everything seems ok so far.
Saturday afternoon, 14th July 2001
Excellent progress this afternoon. I still hadn't succeeded in getting the engine to idle properly, and I tried several different tweaks to the ECU map to try to get it to run smoother. I'd still got the strange phenomenon where if I unplugged the injectors on cylinders 3 or 4, it made no difference to the engine. And it sounded like it were only running on 2 cylinders ie no 1 and 2. However, I knew that the exhaust manifold was getting hot on all four cylinders, and when I removed the spark plugs on no 1 and 4 cylinders, they were both as equally as black as each other, however the electrode tip on no 1 was clean, and it was sooty on no 4. It was most odd. Then I realised that I hadn't balanced the two throttle bodies. Both throttle spindles are connected together, but at rest one spindle could be closed, whilst the other was open enough for the engine to run on two cylinders. That was the problem. I adjusted the linkage to open the throttle on cylinders 3 and 4, and its fixed the problem. Unplugging any of the injectors now gives the same 'lumpy' characteristic, and I can adjust the tickover to 800 rpm and she purrs, very smooth. At 800 rpm, the loudest noise is the fuel pump (which makes enough noise to wake the dead!) and the injectors going click-click-click. Brilliant! And she starts so easily. All I have to do is throw the ignition switch, push the start button, and "barp", she runs.
Earlier, I'd also tried playing with the timing figures in the ECU. The Haynes manual states that the flywheel triggers the ECU at 90° BTDC, so I tried setting the timing figure in the General Settings Menu to 90°, and reset the ignition map to 11° for all throttle openings from 0-2500 RPM, and it just wouldn't run. Reset the timing figure to 72° BTDC, and it starts and runs! So for the Zetec-E, don't use 90°, but use 72° instead.
Checked my credit card statement today, and it shows that Hose Direct have charged me twice for the water hose that they eventually supplied me with. £100 is a bit expensive for a hose, and I'm sure its a mistake, so I'll call them on Monday to ask for it to be refunded.
Saturday 14th July 2001
Zetecinside is now signed up with PayPal, to enable credit cards to be used for purchasing our merchandise. Its now easier than ever to get those stickers for your cars.
New sponsor announcement: Welcome to www.motordrive.com, manufacturers and suppliers of competition seats and carbon fibre products. They're supplying the seat for the Fiesta.
Thursday 12th July 2001
Ran the engine again. It had ran out of petrol, so I poured another 6 litres of unleaded in to the tank. I'm going to adjust the timing tomorrow, as it revs OK, but wont tickover, just stalls. Sounds very much like an ignition timing error in the ECU map. Had to adjust the tension of the alternator drive belt, as it was screeching with the acceleration of the engine. The alternator is charging the battery ever so well. All the attempts to start it this evening, and just running the engine for a few minutes seems to have recharged the battery. Motordrive say that the new seat should be with me next Tuesday, which'll give me something to do next week. Also the Perspex windows should arrive next Monday.
Wednesday evening, 11th July 2001
Well, the wiring obviously works, as I had the engine running tonight. I'm able to really rev her now, blipping the throttle, sounds lovely! But it looks like I've run out of petrol, as I stopped her, fixed a small oil leak, and she wouldn't run properly again. The tank feels empty, so I'll get some more petrol tomorrow night. I guess its all evaporated in this hot weather. The breather hose I attached to the tank doesn't have a valve on it, so I need to get that addressed. Progress though! Just need to tweak the fuel mixture at tickover, as she still doesn't want to run without a bit of throttle. I've registered with Paypal.com today, so I'll be able to accept transactions over the web for selling stickers etc. Cool 8)
Wednesday 11th July 2001
W A N T E D : Trying to locate a steel sunroof at the moment. If anyone can help, please get in touch. It was a factory option, and I have to replace the glass sunroof in the car as they're not legal for competition in the UK. A steel sunroof would be ideal. If you have one spare you'd sell me, please get in touch.
Saturday 7th July 2001
Finished the wiring. At last! Just need to make a dashboard from some aluminium, fit a rev counter and the three sets of warning lights, and we're ready to go again. The 3 instruments showing voltage, oil pressure and water temperature are all wired in also. I'm busy this afternoon, but tomorrow or Monday she'll be running again. I just can't wait.
Wednesday 4th July 2001
Fitted the battery box, did some more wiring. Made a new loom for the wires from the ECU to the dashboard. Its sooo hot in the garage in the evenings. We're experiencing a very hot spell in the UK at the moment, and its sooo humid too, which makes working outside uncomfortable, even in the evenings.
Tuesday 3rd July 2001
Bit of work over the weekend. I've made a panel which the starter button is fitted to, together with switches for ignition, launch control, and the front wiper motor (almost forgot that). The TAS battery box has arrived, so I'll fit that tonight. Ordered some ultra bright LED's from RS for the gear change light (Blue LED), oil pressure warning light (Red LED) and Alternator warning light (Yellow LED). The Blue LED's should get my attention alright. Fitted the electric oil pressure sender switch back on to the engine. It reads 15 Ohms at normal atmospheric pressure, and about 90 Ohms at 6 bar.