February 2009
Friday 27th February 2009
Cruise control switches on the Subaru were changed today. And they also checked that the ECU had recalibrated, to stop the smoking under acceleration, and the dealer confirmed that it had.
Moved the engine back approx 20mm this evening. This has given me a bit more space to play with, but the starter motor solenoid is still sitting very close to the cooling fan on the radiator. Thinking caps on. I've also sourced a short thermostat housing from AdamB off Turbosport (Thanks Adam). I'm going to have some challenges getting all the plumbing in, but where there's a will, there's always a way. I may use an electric water pump, haven't decided yet. The alternator that I need, is off a Suzuki Samurai apparently. The one I bought off ebay (the Mitsubishi unit) is 500g heavier than the Suzuki item, so I'm trying to get a standard unit at the moment to see if it fits.
Tuesday 24th February 2009
The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed the New Ford Fiesta link. I'm scanning in the Ford Dealership Guide that I bought on Ebay several years ago. The page shows around 60% of the pages scanned in so far, and the intention is to take all the images and place them in several downloadable PDF's, over the course of the next week or so.
I've emailed Denso Europe to see if they can identify and supply the smaller 3 lug alternator that Raceline and Brise both sell. The one I bought on Ebay I'll sell, as its 500g heavier than the unit that the Raceline bracket was intended to hold. I'm still making my own bracket, as there's lots of scope to save more weight.
The Scooby is in at the dealers on Friday to have the cruise control switch panel changed. Its taken 2 1/2 months for Subaru to locate one! They must have airfields covered in unsold cars, like all manufacturers at the present time. Maybe thats where its come from.
Wednesday 18th February 2009
The alloy radiator arrived today, safe and sound, and very well packed. It really is an amazing creation, and hats off to Radtec for doing such an amazing job. Highly recommended. The radiator looks small, but it has a larger surface area (26cm x 66cm) than the RS1800i radiator (30cm x 50cm) that the XR2 was running previously with the Zetec, and so long as I can get air to flow through it, it should keep the Duratec nice and cool. The twin fans are going to help when she's sitting in traffic. I've a slight clearance issue with the starter solenoid on one of the cooling fans. If you know of a starter motor for the Duratec which has a smaller profile, please let me know.
Tuesday 17th February 2009
The Raldes brake pedal box install is now complete. I've reattached all the brake fluid drop hoses, and refitted the steering column. I simply need to run a pipe to the clutch reservoir next. Radtec phoned today to tell me that the radiator should be delivered tomorrow. I'm getting a shorter plastic water inlet pipe for the front of the block, which will help with the routing of the pipes to the radiator.
Monday 16th February 2009
The Mitsubishi alternator arrived today, and it doesn't quite fit on the Raceline alternator bracket. The height top to bottom is 160mm, but the two lugs on the bottom are too close together to fit the mounts on the bracket. So I'm going to make my own bracket instead, from 3mm steel. The Raceline item is made from 4mm steel which is a little OTT, and the reason why it weighs in at 1100g. I've fitted the three fluid reservoirs to the aluminium bracket I made last week, and fed the drop lines through the bulkhead to the three master cylinders. The bracket was treated to a dip in some caustic soda before I set about polishing it. If you mix a pint of warm water with an egg cup or two of soda crystals, and drop your aluminimum bracket in to the solution, after half an hour or so the bracket is so much cleaner than before, and presents a great surface for polishing. Take care with the solution though. Its not exactly friendly to the skin or eyes. I'll make the alternator bracket this week, and I'll publish the plans on the site.
Friday 13th February 2009
Bought that alternator on Ebay, delivery in a few days time. Finished fabricating the ally fluid reservoir bracket tonight, ready for fitting tomorrow. It supports the three reservoirs, supply the front and rear brake and clutch master cylinders.
Thursday 12th February 2009
I believe that I've located a suitable alternator for the Duratec engine. It is a Mitsubishi unit, part number A7T03277A, rated at 40A, and it appears to be identical to the uprated units that Brice and Raceline both sell, yet the uprated version only gives an extra 10A output. The standard unit is capbable of delivering 40A, which is more than enough to keep the Injection system and ECU running, so I may order one today off of this seller on Ebay.
I drove down to Weybridge yesterday, and noticed that the Scooby has developed a really nice sounding resonance, around 2000rpm when I give it full throttle. Sounds lovely. I can only guess that all that soot that used to come out the tail pipes, has filled the silencers, resulting in a rather nice sounding sporty exhaust note. So, with 5000 miles on the clock she's starting to feel broken in finally.
Friday 7th February 2009
The alternator bracket from Raceline turned up yesterday, as did the tensioner pulley from Coordsport and the fuel rail from Titan.
I'm still not sure that I'll have enough room for the alternator. Looks like the crossmember may get in the way. BTW the bracket weighs in at heavy 1100 grammes (2lb 6oz). The Titan fuel rail fits perfectly, and the tensioner pulley is indeed exactly the same as the one that Cosworth sells, but its about half the price. Part number 3M5Q-6A228-AD, FINIS number 1315781. This is the tensioner for the waterpump / alternator and airconditioning pump belt on the 2004 model year Focus / CMax with a 1.8 Duratec HE engine.
Friday 6th February 2009
We've had another couple of inches of snow over the last two days, and some people are driving round like they're on bald tyres. One woman I followed yesterday morning, on slush covered roads, would not go above 20MPH. I had teeth marks in the steering wheel.
I'm expecting a couple of deliveries this week, but the weather seems to have caused a fair amount of disruption, so hopefully I'll get them today or early next week.
Speaking of Google, I've found an application off the Android Market that allows me to turn the keyboard backlight off, on the G1 phone, so I can now read the keys in daylight!
Wednesday 4th February 2009
No sign of the XRTWO.COM forums rising from the ashes. So I'm now registered on the Mk1 Fiesta Forum. www.fiesta-mk1.co.uk
The UK had about 2" of snow over the weekend, and sure enough the place ground to a complete standstill. I took the day off on Monday to stay at home and make snowmen. We did try to go in to the village, in the Subaru, but the queues were huge, and there was even an accident at the foot of my driveway. Both drivers thought that they had the right of way, and neither could stop. Crunch. Doh! There's still plenty of ice around today, and more snow forecast for tomorrow.
Monday 2nd February 2009
Collected my award for 2nd in class in the Midland Speed Championship, on Saturday night at the annual Dinner Dance. Graham Millar took first, with his XE engined Mk2 Escort.
Over the weekend I filled some holes in the engine bulkhead. There were rubber grommits in the holes, but these looked very tatty, and I wanted to replace them with something that looked a bit more permanent.
This months objectives are to plumb in the hydraulic clutch, radiator when it turns up, fabricate the lower rear engine steady bar, and sort out the fuel hoses to supply the Titan fuel rail.