BLOZ UP

Thanks. Still needs lots of work to be truly useful but I think it has a lot of potential.

I can add that into the next release, sure.

Oh, I think I mentioned it earlier but I sent my Speedhut Speedometer back to Speedhut after making arrangements for them to add a 0-5v signal output line to it. The catch is they could only do it to a single gauge, not the dual one I had. However, they said they could convert it and give me a credit for a separate gauge. So I got it back: And I ordered a 2-1/16" fuel gauge. I also picked up a 2-16" oil temperature and water temperature gauge since I needed the water temp and I knew I have an extra bung for the oil temperature sensor on my remote oil filter block. I think they should all fit where the radio was.

Worked on wiring. Man, there're a lot of LEDs to hook up. Got an RV type connector for my auxiliary battery connection: Installed. Also note voltage gauge that took 3 weeks to arrive from China. I had just added it to my Amazon cart without noticing it wasn't prime. Oops. I drilled out the LH fender a bit more but both drill batteries died again before I could finish. I still have to drill out 5 more holes after the fenders. Ugh. Need a corded drill. Regardless, I wired up the RH side tail light and one fender LED and tested it out. The tail lights are pretty dim and hard to see (too low). Well, perhaps the other LED bulbs weren't such a bad idea if they help out... I think I'm going to order slicks since autocross season is coming soon and I will need to have the wheels & tires here to know what to build for them.

Autocross season will be start in about a month! So since it was somewhat warm out (40 degrees F), I got a bit of work done on the trailer. Should do some more today. Finished drilling the bumper. That took a while--my drill batteries (and probably the motor) are worn out so it took many recharge cycles. Installed and mocked up: Like many reviews and build threads said, the fender metal is pretty bad quality. The good news is that it's easy to drill! Here it is attached to the bumper for the first time: I have a slight problem with the trailer jack: I'll have to move it. Not sure where, as the battery tray prevents it from moving back unless I ditch the clamp and weld it to the bar. I could put it within the frame on the tongue bar, but that limits my options for flooring. I may end up ditching it and getting/making a simple kick stand type deal. Not sure. I had some more photos of it but I keep getting blurry photos with this new camera. Next up is wiring.

I've updated msqur.com to v0.51b. Changes: Supports many MSQ files now, by using some INI configuration information. A few bug fixes, error message enhancements Firmware listing and engine information pulling from the MSQ Shows some general settings, cranking info, timing and fuel tables. Easily expanded at this point. Groups things sort of nicely. All-in-all a much more usable version: http://msqur.com/

Oh, I forgot to mention. I'm using a VG V6, not the L.

You can cut the flange after it's built. It might (will) warp a bit after heat cycling though. This helps keep thermal expansion from breaking studs. Be sure to drill out the stud holes a bit more to allow for it as well. Corky Bell's Maximum Boost has a whole chapter or two about all this. Are you using butt weld pipe connectors, or thin gauge tube? I fit my pipe into my flanges. IIRC, my exhaust outlets were like 1.3" or something, I used 1-1/4" SCH10 pipe, which has an ID of 1.44". Close enough. The flanges, however, were about 1.6" at the openings so I decided to turn down some small sections of straight pipe and jam it in there. The idea is to keep the ID consistent all the way from the head to the turbo.

I'm working on a substantial improvement/refactor. I'll call it v0.5 beta. It know reads in the appropriate INI file for an uploaded MSQ and gathers the schema from that. So now with only a little formatting help it can display a MSQ from any firmware (MS1, MS2, MS2e, etc.) that I can get an INI file for. This is much better than the hacky hack way I was doing it. I should release to production sometime this week.

A PS1000, probably.

You can contact him from the website. I'm not sure his username here, if he's even on here. He's on HybridZ. Yeah you're right. You stick with the simple stuff and you'll be fine. MS on the VG is easy. Just kind of getting disappointed in where MS is headed. If I replaced my ECU it'd probably be Haltech. Tried their software and liked it a lot. Too bad it doesn't work on Linux AFAIK.

Directly from Haltech, new, yes. A used Haltech e6 is like $600. I've got nothing but praise for DIYAutoTune. I'm referring to the hardware/firmware developers of Megasquirt itself. MS3 is closed-hardware, non-GPL'd software. I'm not sure if the MS3 firmware source is even out in the open. MS1 and MS2 you could at least take a peak at the code. So for $400 you get a MS3 that you have to rely on volunteer forums for support. For a few hundred more you have a real company behind it. For most DIY people, MS1/2/3 is just fine with open or closed development. But they're acting more and more like a for-profit company without giving the customer and benefits of it. No official support, no returns, etc. The gap between them and a real company with a commercial product is getting smaller. That's all that I'm saying.

It's pretty out of date now. Options now are: MS2 - $300 MS3 - Cost $400+, closed-hardware. MS3 w/MSX - $450+ allows sequential up to 12 cylinder and some other stuff TunerStudio MS is the only thing supported anymore (MegaTunix still works IIRC). TunerStudio is great software. Basically, for a few hundred more you can get a Haltech or other aftermarket ECU and have a real company to support you. Disclaimer: Getting kind of sick of the MS community.

Wheels turned out alright. Trailer needs another few coats on the tongue bar and battery tray. Here it is with the trailer battery (which just happens to be my old 280Z battery): Next up is wiring if it's warm enough.

Also tested out the single LED lights. Black is positive! I hope I remember... The utility lights are pretty damn bright. Should be cool. Here's a shitty diagram I made, to help with all the backasswards wire colors:

Was less cold than it has been the past few days. I got in as much as I could. Chemically abrased the trailer and wheels and did a few coats of yellow and flat black. Wheels look good despite water dripping on them between coats from my gutter. After a few more coats: Then I realized I forgot to weld on the battery tray before painting, so I grinded off some (not enough) paint and welded it on. I fiddled a bit with wiring on the car. I have just enough 8 GA wire to go from the battery to the trailer, it looks like. I have a 8 GA disconnect that I'll put in. I also realized that I'll need some diodes or some kind of wiring adapter to get the separate turn/brake signals to the trailer (which is a combination brake/turn deal). There's a convenient hole here for trailer wiring:

Well, I got everything. Not pictured is the weld on battery tray and backup alarm. But it's way too cold to do any work. Maybe I could do some wiring and drilling on the car in the garage, but the space heater doesn't seem able to keep up.

Installed the HF trailer lights and worked on routing the wiring on the trailer a bit but the weather has gotten cold. Might take a break for a while. Will try and get the bumper drilled out, since I can turn on the heat in the garage, but my drill batteries are nearly useless. Ordered a bunch of crap for it: Weld on battery holder LED utility lights lots of corrugated loom since I can't find any left over. 8 GA disconnect Reverse beep-beep thing (as a joke... but it's half way to too far now) 400 Watt inverter Still waiting on the other clearance LEDs. Also, I took out my speedometer and mailed it off to Speedhut for modifications.

Interesting. I should shop around and see. I only drove my Z 2,000 miles or so in 2014.

Assembled the trailer. Took about 2 hours or so. Pretty straightforward. So, since NJ doesn't have safety inspections anymore, people can just build these trailers, register them, then drive them around... Kind of scary. One of two tips I heard online was to make sure the frame was square when assembling. I spent the time and tightened incrementally to make sure it was. The diagonals were 62-7/8", IIRC. The second tip said to clean out the hubs real good and repack the bearings. My bearings came pretty well packed with grease, but the hubs did have paint chips and metal debris from drilling the grease zerk. I cleaned that all out and shoved them on the axle. One of the sides took a sledge and wood block to get going. Also, I tightened the hub castle nut after putting on the wheel. It's easier to check the play with the wheel on. And... done: Went to HF to get some more stuff, reusing the 20% off an free item coupons to get: Extension cord since I ruined one that was hanging on my grinder Hangers so I don't have to hang them on the grinder Free tape measure. Swing jack since lifting and moving the trailer around by the tongue got old soon after I assembled it LED trailer light kit (which was surprisngly expensive) D-rings and ratcheting straps to hold down a light tool box or something (will need to get bigger ones for any tires, if that's how I am going to hold them) Corrugated wire loom to nicely tuck the trailer wiring up. The stock wiring harness and LED kit came with crappy crimp connectors. I plan on soldering and heat shrinking all the connections. Next step was to remove and drill out the bumper: But my cordless drill batteries all died (about time to get a new one). I installed some of the lights and wiring, but will need to wait for the other lights to arrive to finish up. I tried some of the yellow paint out in the corner, but the weather's pretty bad so I don't know if it will dry correctly. It's a good enough match, though! All that's left is: Paint the wheels and frame Install the rest of the lights and wiring. Add a harness to the vehicle side. Drill and reinforce the ball mount, and reinstall the bumper Make some type of flooring. Probably going to be aluminum. Make or buy a box to put stuff in. For the box I am thinking I'll make it out of aluminum. This way I can have it bolt to and extend through the bottom of the frame bit for some extra depth. I have no way of cutting large sheets of aluminum very straight at the moment though, so I'm not too sure yet. I really need a plasma cutter.

Picked up the HF trailer. Turns out it's made by Changzhou Nanxiashu. My origin certificate states 1250 GVW, and 157 lbs of that is the trailer itself. Subtract the two and you get 1093 lbs. payload capacity, which is listed as 1090 lbs. on HF's website. Anyway, If you use the 20% coupon that comes out every so often, you save $46 off the $230 price tag. Picked up the 1-7/8" ball I supposedly need: And that's it. Looking at superbrightleds.com to trick it out with a bunch of LEDs. Out the door with the trailer, fees, hitch ball (and free flashlight) and tax: $208.42. That's a deal. Need to pick up some bearing grease and spray paint from the parts store and go to town tomorrow.

Went to the Cars and Coffee here. Was a bit late. Car ran fine. Autotuned it a bit but not a whole lot of changes went in. Noticed a few things wrong that I had forgotten about: Fuel pump hates life. Need that fancy Fuel Lab one. Fuel filter needs replacing. Fuel leaks out rear sump. Fuel tank sucks, need a replacement. Small oil leak at sump, oil seems to have leaked while parked for a while. Transmission needs more fluid. Transmission is worn out (2nd and 3rd gear synchros). Wiring in engine bay is a mess. Need PCV. Need to wire in knock and other MS2 stuff. Need real crank pulley instead of eBay one. Exhaust leak, i think at the heads somewhere. only under load. Passenger side rockers/lifters are awfully loud. Need to reinstall horn. Need to fix brights indicator. Not sure if I should get dyno time with the exhaust leak. Not really sure if it is an exhaust leak, or just my manifolds are noisy under load. I've tightened all the header bolts. I did update my MS2 from 3.2.1 to 3.3.3. A bunch of new settings to play with and it looks like they fixed some bug with trigger wheel timing. And guess what? My engine was about 20 degrees too advanced after updating... I swear this better be the last mysterious timing change...

Or breathe in the fumes! Don't breathe the fumes from lead-free either. Getting some cross-ventilation works, or hold your breath if you're in a tight space.

It's been hibernating. Weather hasn't been bad and the salt's been washed away so I might take it out for a Cars & Coffee meet around here. Also trying to get it dyno tuned if the weather and salt stay away. Going to pick up a Harbor Freight trailer and build it into an autoX trailer. Also, I contacted SpeedHut and they offer a "cruise control" output for their speedometers (GPS, at least), but NOT if it's a dual gauge like mine. It looks like they will let me convert mine back to a single, and give me some credit to get a separate gauge. Not bad! Now I can get a speed signal to Megasquirt, which lets me do a whole bunch of neat stuff.

Started a thread at msextra: http://www.msextra.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=133&t=57044