July 2009
Friday 24th July 2009
I've spent another hour on the alternator bracket this evening, which I've finished mocking up. I'll cut some steel up and tack weld it together to make the first unit, and when I'm happy with it, I'll weld it all up. Thats the job for the weekend, time permitting. With the radiator in, theres less than 1cm clearance between the alternator and the radiator, but the engine isn't able to move because it's locked solid with the tie bars, so this shouldn't prove a problem.
Thursday 23rd July 2009
Bernard Armitage had an unfortunate off, at Shelsley Walsh hillclimb last weekend. I'm pleased to report that he is OK, but the car requires some work before it'll be back out again. Bernard says he is going to invest in a HANS device, and I cant say I blame him, when you look at how far his head is propelled forward as the car hits the protection in front of the grass bank.
It looks as though the Std Ford water temperature sender is a M12 x 1.5 thread, so I need to find a M12 brass bung or adaptor to fit in the hole. And the oil pressure sender from the oil filter housing is also a 1/4NPT, so I'll need to get my oil filter take off plate modified to allow fitment of both the pressure switch, and an oil temperature sender. I've spent an hour this evening working on the Alternator mounting bracket. However, I've been talking to Omex, about their kit, and they may have an off the shelf solution. If only they'd get back to me...
Pictures (c) www.zipp.co.uk, and many thanks for the permission to show them.
Sunday 19th July 2009
I realised tonight, after reading the wiring schematics, that the water temperature sensor I'd wired in, the Ford one on the back of the alloy water housing, is not suitable for use with the ECU because the impedance isn't in the range required (2.4KOhms at 20°C) So I've cut the Ford connector off, and wired in a quick release mini-Amp, and I've also wired in the Stack sensor connector for the Dashboard water temperature dial. Now, the challenge is fitting the two water temperature sensors in the alloy housing, as they are both 1/8NPT threads.
Friday 17th July 2009
Heatshrink has arrived, adhesive lined and clear, as well as the 48 way ITT Neptune connectors. I've been advised that its pin 2 on the COPs that is +ve, so I've inserted the pins in to the Hyabusa connector bodies, and routed the injector and COP cables side by side. I've also heatshrinked the nomex sleeving on the Crank Position sensor loom, that also carries the cable for the right driven wheel sensor for the ECU.
Wednesday 15th July 2009
Wired in the crank sensor, same as the cam sensor ie Signal to pin 1, sensor ground to pin 2. I've also used some of the spare Nomex flexible braid, which is fire retardent, and I just need some adhesive heat shrink to finish off. Still no view on the polarity of the COPs so I'll do a bit more research before making a decision. I've ordered a 48 way ITT Neptune cable plug and bulkhead socket today. The connectors I've used already, are from the Neptune range, and you simply cant beat the value for money.
Tuesday 14th July 2009
Connected the cam sensor and one of the water temperature sensors tonight. The Cam sensor has been wired Pin 1 (Signal) to the ECU, and Pin 2 to Sensor Ground. I've not joined the cable shield to the ground wire at the end of the cable. I've simply cut off the shield and shield ground wire. The shield will be grounded at the bulkhead sensor, and all the sensor grounds will also be joined at the connector. Working on the schematics for the various connectors, I think the minimum number of pins I can get away with in the bulkhead connector is 42. Farnell seem to have a better range of connectors than RS, so I'll see if I can spend lunchtime tomorrow researching all the options. BTW does anyone know the polarity of the COP connectors? I think I know. Looking at the COP body, pin 1 (left) is the control signal wire, and pin 2 is the +12V supply, but I want to be sure before pressing the crimp connectors in to the Busa connector shells.
Sunday 12th July 2009
I've made the loom for the first bank of injectors, and I've realised that the overall loom needs to accomodate a 2nd bank of injectors should I decide to try 8 in total, so thats another 5 wires to feed through the bulkhead. I've printed off and read through catalogues from CEEP, Amphenol, and ITT, and I'm not sure which connector is best, there's so few to choose from with the number of connections that I need. I've also reconsidered using the ITT Neptunes, that I've used before, but they dont offer the combination of power and signal pins that I need now. No need to rush the decision though. I'll make my mind up by the end of the week.
Wednesday 8th July 2009
So you'll need to be very quick if you want to buy John Beardmores spaceframed Morris Minor, as its on Ebay at the moment, with just over a day left to run. Not met the reserve yet, and I suspect John is looking to get a decent price for the car, seeing as he's invested so much time and effort in to it.
The 130° throttle position sensor arrived last night from Active Sensors, and it fits the Titans perfectly. I've used M4x15 socket head screws to hold it in place. Many thanks to my neighbour from ten doors down for dropping it off, as the van driver couldn't read the address, even though my neighbour could. I've made a hole in the front bulkhead for the loom connector to sit. I've removed one of the fuel injection hoses, and this will be re-sited to accomodate the bulkhead connector. Once I've worked out how many pins I need in the connector, I'll place my order with RS.
Monday 6th July 2009
I've finished completely stripping the engine bay of all the old wiring, including the starter motor feed and +12V heavy duty cable. I've so far cut lengths of STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) cable, running from the sensors to the bulkhead, for the following sensors:
- Water temp sensor (ECU)
- Water temp sensor (Stack dash)
- Air temp sensor (ECU)
- Cam sensor (ECU)
- Crank sensor (ECU)
- Throttle Position sensor (ECU)
- Oil pressure sensor (Stack dashboard)
- Oil temperature sensor (Data logger)
- Offside front wheel speed sensor (ECU)
- Nearside front wheel speed sensor (ECU)
- Lambda sensor (ECU)
I've bought three more hall effect sensors, for the two front wheels and the final rear wheel. These will be used by the ECU to measure the slip angle of the car, used by the traction control system. The sensors are part number 235-5706 from www.rswww.com. I previously drilled a series of holes in the rear disk, and mounted the sensor approx 1mm from the surface. I'll have to do the same for the remaining wheels. When I fit the Kustom Engineering rear suspension arms, I'll wire in the remaining rear sensor. The fronts will have to wait until I take the front suspension off again.
Because of the size of the loom in the engine bay, its looking like I'm going to have to use a bulkhead connector again. You simply cannot pass that number of wires through a hole in the bulkhead, without the hole having to accomodate cables and connectors to pass through. So this time, instead of using the ITT Neptune range of blukhead connectors I used previously, I'm going to use the ITT range of lightweight connectors (KPT and KPTC), as used by the touring car and pro race teams etc. These are available as solder (KPT) or crimps (KPTC), but I may go for the solder type (KPT) to keep the complexity and costs down. I also fully intend to interface the Race Technology 2008 DL1 data logger to the DTA S80Pro, using the CAN bus adaptor. This will allow the DL1 to log all the data from the ECU (at the same time that the ECU is also logging the data). But most important, the Dash 3 display connected to the DL1 should be able to display real time information from the ECU, such as RPM, air and water temperatures, etc, so the redesigned dashboard will have to incorporate the Dash 3 as well as the conventional Stack instruments, just incase I have problems getting the DL1 to work (touch wood, problems were solved last year).
Wednesday 1st July 2009
I found some cheapish shielded twisted pair cable 528-2207 on the www.rswww.com website. It looks ideal, so I'll get a 100M reel on order. That should last a few years.
And DTA are happy to refund the PICO injectors for me. I'll get them in the post tomorrow. I need to find some cossie green's or Bosch IW031's. Anyone know of a cheap supplier?
I cant login to the DTA forums at the moment. Anyone else have the same problem? Says my account is inactive, even when I try to request a new password.