Derek

Well I took the wife unit out for her first ride since the install. Now keep in mind she's not a car person and has know idea what I've been up to on this thing. All she knows is I've been working on the "fuel system" Anything more than that and her eyes will glaze over and I'll be wasting my breath. I make our way to the main road and ran it through the gears making sure I shift below 2500 to keep the noise to a minimum and she say's "it sounds a lot better" KA-CHING!!! We run around for a bit and I'm pushing it a little harder and she say's "It feels faster" Double KA-CHING!!! There you go guys, the only official "wife approved" ITB intake manifold. The best part of the trip though was making it back without any problems. That would have been the kiss of death. I ran the A/C the whole time and it idled and started without any problems at all.I can't wait to get the basic tune done so I can start figuring out the finer points of megasquirt. It just keeps getting better. Derek

Ok. First off sorry for no posts lately but I've been quite burnt out as well as majorly frustrated with megasquirt. There's nothing wrong with megasquirt it's just a little much to take in in one gulp. Plus I'm sick again. Got the same crap I had in December. My wife is a school teacher and she seems to bring home every single bug. I made some major breakthroughs today. First off I finally got my arms around the tuning thing. At least enough to make forward progress. After a couple of tuning runs I noticed something mighty queer with my vacuum line. It was sucked nearly flat! I put a stouter hose on and made another run. WOW!!! It just kept pulling and pulling and pulling. The road I was testing on was littered with cops so I couldn't get too crazy. My tach doesn't work yet but I was shifting around 5500 according to the log. It felt like it still had plenty to give! This thing is a lot faster than my crapped out SUs. Now the car isn't super fast off the line as the motor just doesn't have the guts but it's a huge improvement. And around town it already drives better than the carbs. And of course there's the sound. It's something! The heat blanket is working great. It will burn you if you touch it but 1/2" away it's very cool. I've run it quite a bit and the wires show no sign of burning. I'm going to some temp probing and see what kind of temps I'll get. I still have a ways to go but I'm uber happy so far. They're everything I hoped for. I need to make a mount for the video camera and see if I can come up with a better mike. Then I post an incar video. Derek

The wheel is cold rolled steel so it will need to be coated. Derek

I think any tps is going to need modding to fit my contraption! Derek

Ended up buying one from a Chrysler. It's not a D shaft so I'll have to make an adapter but the quality is much better. Thanks Derek

I was having problems with my IAC loosing position. I pulled it out of the housing and was cycling the ignition. after a few times it went out instead of in. This spits the pintle out of the IAC. It happens every 4 or five cycles of the ignition. Thanks Derek

Hi I bought a Haltech TPS for my intake project because it was open so I could mount it in either direction. Unfortunately it's a POS. It won't return electronically back to the same spot. It's off as much as 20 percent. I verified this with an ohm meter. Can anyone make a recommendation on a TPS. I'd like to find something I can buy over the counter as I don't have time to hit the bone yard. I'd be open to switching to a different type of TPS. Thanks Derek

Thanks Daniel. That worked like a charm. Do you think I have a firmware issue or is that just how it works. Derek

Hi everyone. Trying to tune my manifold and I'm having a weird problem. I can make any changes I want to the ecu and burn the value except for the tables. If I want to make a change I have to do it off line and then reload the msq. It's a ms2 running 2.885. I tried it with 2 different computers one a laptop with an adapter and a tower with a serial port and get the same results. Thanks Derek

Hi Phar At first I was a little disappointed in the power but I was sure tuning would help. I was right. It's absoloutly faster and has more pull than the SUs. And the sound..Ooo La La. The tuning is a little bit anticlimactic. You put the manifold on, get it running and then soon realize what a daunting task tuning can be. Then it turns into a bit of a grind as you tweak and read and tweak and read. Of course the fact that I've never tuned a EFI system before has been a hindrance. I'm still trying to get a handle on it. Somebody really should do a Megasquirt for dummies book! I ordered a heat shield blanket from summit It's the right size and according to the specs it should do the job. My engine is a L28 with dished pistons and an E88 head. Not much power out of that combo! 8.5:1 compression isn't going to set the world on fire. I'm really happy with how everything came out. I just wish I could get the tuning a little better. I'll post an in car video soon. Derek

Got the 36-1 wheels from the laser cutter and they are nice. The addition of the slots verses the clamping washers is a real improvement. I'll be shipping tomorrow or Thursday. I'll be stocking this stuff on a regular basis if anyone is interested. Thanks again everyone. Derek

you mean like this Mac Mini's are a good choice. There are quite a few people running them especially if your running itunes I'm running a mini itx with compact flash cards as the drives. Go here and read read read http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/ Derek

I have a Syncrowave 250. For most aluminum work your going to be in the upper ranges on the 200. You will have to do a lot more preheating with a torch with the 200. The 250s are much easier to find used. Either way used or new I'd get the 250. Derek

Thanks Kevin Certainly you and 1 Fast Z have a pretty good idea what it takes to get something like this completed! Hi BradWell considering my SUs would land anywhere from 700 to 1200 on any given day a steady 900 is golden! It will go lower but when I switch on my A/C it kills the motor. I have to switch to the extra code in order to run the IAC in closed loop for me to have any lower idle. I still have a bunch of tidying up to do but I hope to have it back on the road Tuesday or Wednesday. When I get more comfortable with Megasquirt I'll switch over to the Extra code. Derek

Thanks for the table Daniel. Well thanks to Pete's excellent phone support I made some great progress today. I have the car idling at 900 rpm and the IAC stepper works like a charm. Got everything buttoned up and managed to take it for a quick spin around the block. Still need's a bit of tuning but you can feel the potential. The sound is really something. A very deep throaty growl. I'm really happy with the performance so far. Ran the car at mostly an idle a lot today and had no heat issues with the ceramic mat. I found a company that sells an aluminum covered carbon based mat that I'm going to check into. Phew I need a break. Derek

Thanks everyone. Starting to get a handle on things. Pete (Z-Ya) is going to give me a little phone tech support so that should help me connect the dots. Pete provided my initial MSQ and the thing fired right up. I'll have a lot more to say by the end of the day. And it sounds awesome! Derek

Sorry for the crappy video and sound. I have to figure it all out. It's running rich as crap and I occurs to me I have no idea what to do next. Here's a data log of where I'm at. I'm going to go out to the shop and play. Derek first run.zip

Sorry guys but I just couldn't get everything finished today. Unfortunately I had a appointment and I couldn't stay late. Tomorrow is another day though. Derek

I have to install the bulkhead and then the tank and high pressure filter so I'm missing some clamps. RX7 lift pump into tank with Walbro in tank pump. Ok the welds could be a little better but I haven't done any serious tig welding in a year or more. No leaks though! I made a hybrid fitting for the high pressure side. I took a 6AN elbow and drilled and taped it to 1/4 pipe. This makes for a nice connection in the surge tank. Yes the terminal screws are insulated. Believe it or not it all fits back there. Derek

Hey where did you find that picture of me? Man you could tell those chicks really dug me!

Well I'm starting to see the end of the line. 4 speed to 5 speed swap complete. Header installed Intake installed. Fuel delivery line converted to 6AN. Injectors installed. Fuel rail installed. Fuel system pressure tested at 125 PSI. All sensors connected and operational (this is starting to sound like a freeking countdown) All I have left to do is install the surge tank and hook up the pressure regulator and then fire it up. Tomorrow should be the day. I'll bring the video camera in with me just in case. Derek

My compressor doesn't use an idler pulley as an adjuster. Do you think I would be able to make it work with this. Thanks Derek

Hi olie I'm only using them for analysis. Since this is a prototype I want to be able to see how even they are. Hi PharYes we did have a nice discussion on heat sheilds and I promptly discarded it as soon as I had the header on the mock up head. Here's the deal. I really want to design something that's as unobtrusive as possible. I really like the look of the headers through the manifold. In order to do this I have to run it so I can see what I'm dealing with thermally. I have a insulation blanket that I'll be putting under the web to protect the wires and vacuum tubes. Hopefully this will be all I need. The bung on 6 is the air temp sensor. That may get moved outside the manifold depending on how bad the heat soak is. ThanksDaniel Well I guess I'll stop looking for a taurus fan! Was it the shroud that hit compressor or the fan? It will be a while before I do anything as I'm going to be burned out and a lot poorer by the time this is done! Derek

DING DING DING we have a winner! I was surprised no one said anything! It's a piece of terrazo colored corian solid surface material. I use it a lot for my prototyping. I wouldnt use it as a permanent solution but it's held up well for a few hundred miles! Keep your eyes pealed and you may see another piece as a fuel pump blockoff in the near future! Too bad there isnt a prize though. Derek

Thanks Jeff. The issue isn't so much the injector harness as it is the vacuum lines for the vacuum log. They have to go across to the log that has yet to mounted on the fender well. Since I have those going across I might as well have the injector harness there as well. This routing tends to get everything out away from the heat faster than going to the fire wall. I made the harness long enough to go either way so I can still change it. In person it really doesn't look that obtrusive. Derek