supernova_6969

so, someone, a few months ago, asked me to post a photo of my MS2. it's been a while, but I just got one, after re-soldering a good 1/2 of my connector's wiring, some for fun (the guy who made it didn't do a clean job, I did everything I touched neat with shrink wrap and everything). here is it.

yeah, man, even though it's been done to death, id'love to see how you fixed up al that rust and whatever else you've done to it. s.

nice work indeed. must be awesome after pretty much making her yourself. tell me, with a t3, when does boost come on? (rpm-wise) seb

Wow tim. I had to check things out properly because it looks like the video is manipulated and plays at about twice the normal speed when the car accelerates.. so just to confirm, this is your car? and this is a realtime video? basically, you drive a freaking rocket! that is sooo cool..

Can you have it moved forward? Would it show all that much?

that is very cool. the filter /intake stuff is interesting. is it a modified stock one?

Gollum, that is NICE. what are you using to trigger each coil? the new wheel tells the MS2 where the engine is at, but what sends the current to each coil? s

Ineptitude.. if this thread is what got you going, then the answer is obvious: a L28 with a set of heads from Derek..

yeah, shaved/close to body chromed bumped are really beautiful. I've seen a few threads where people had done that, and it's simply gorgeous.....

I forget if you're going for super stock, but pre-black bumbers, the ones with the chrome, might look good... just a though.

Guys, guys, guys... Forget about di and mpi. Thats the past. Derek, you need to work out a head that does what the mazda skyactiveX will do: sparkless ignition like the diesels. Shouldn't take you too long to mod a few things here and there. I'll hold your beer while you do it. Although you might want to drink it to prevent headaches...

hi! softopz.. I've got a stock ZXT dizzy, with the (i believe) stock wire going all the way to the MS2, where the end was cut open and the wires spliced in to the connector, (and a resistor, somewhere if I remember correctly). The shield, on the ECU side, was simply there, but not grounded, so I ran a wire from that to the engine, to the same ground as the MS2 is grounded. in the next few weeks, I'll actually solder this and ground it to the MS2 instead of all the way back to the engine. The link I posted, I realized after, seems to be for direct coil driving, while in my case, the ECU sends a signal to the stock ignition module, which then drives the coil. Since this is how it's set up, I suspect that my MS2 is not setup for direct drive, but I'll try to see that when I solder the ground properly; while i'm at it, i'll open the board and sneak a peak at it to try to see what I can find there. I used to have a photo, but can't find it anymore.. I might take a new one and post it back here... as for the ign setting,s i'll try to grab the info at the same time and post back.. one thing you mention, about the grounds, is kindof what I've been thinking about; all the ground pins are essentially the same, just many ports to the same ground, which means that, theoretically, I could ground anything that needs grounding (like the O2 sensor, the timing signal shield, and tps sensor) in any of the ground pins? and what's a black white sensor? do you mean the ground for the ign. timing sensor? thanks for taking the time. seb

whyfeel thanks man! that's very good to know! s.

hey chickenman. for the CAS shield, I grounded it straight to the engine block, at the same ground location as the engine. next time I'm in there, i'll ground it to pin 2 on the MSII connector... I'll also make certain I actually make a good connection to the shield; that's what I did... rather quickly.. And thanks for the answer about advantages and disadvantage. it's super complete and very clear.. Just quickly, is there a reason why the BIP-373 (which seem to me like they are mosfetts) couldn't be housed outside the MS box, like in the relay box, if you have one? Could that be used as a home made ignition module, driven by the MS, allowing the battery 12v (or ground, is it?) to go to the coil (or something)? this is a purely theoretical question.... as a side note, I have the modern turbo dizzy with optical CAS and ECU controlled advance, so the module does not have to be reprogrammed.. yay that! Thanks guys!

if you'r good with a multimeter and incline to contort, you can actually see where the juice comes from, especially when the key is out.....

Gollum: I'll make sure I check my board; the board I have is a DIYautotune board, pre-built kit. if anything, I'll see if I can get rid of the module; any one less potential faulty part is best! as for the ground testing, I haven't. I did add a ground to the CAS cable's shielding, but it didn't change anything (it wasn't grounded, but I should check to see if I did it properly). I was thinking of re-making a whole new look, as the one I have is too short in some places, and it makes for an ugly, messy engine bay.. doing that would also enable me to make certain everything is well plugged, soldered, crimped and grounded. as for the logs, I did post some topics on the msextra sites, with some logs, and some of the big names there looked at it, but nothing came out of it (although not that many people did look at ithem) Chikenman Thankks for the ressource. where in canada are you? I already have the 83 turbo distributor. the car also was dyno tuned at some point (before more extensive mods were made to the engine) so I expect the components, including the ecu, to be good.. testing the quality of the signal with an oscilloscope is one of my eventual projects.. I'm just not inclined to start because I know very little and just lack confidence. thanks for wtriting guys. some (most) of the stuff both of you said is real interesting... Although, back to my original, question, are there advantages or disadvantages to using a ignition module? other than added parts?

hi guys. I'm still trying to find why my car runs like crap, after 3 years (although I'm doing less and less about it. project fatigue combined with lack-of-a-clue-paralysis). Part of the problem is that I bought someone else's project (complete) "that only needed to be taken to the dyno for a tune," and since I didn't build it myself, I'm not sure what could be wrong in the set up. Issues i'm having is that it runs rough, both at idle and when driving. It'll misfire pretty much all the time, espcially under boost (but not ALWAYS). It's got a megasquirt, but it's essentially untuneable; I'll work on getting some ok AF mixtures, only for the AF ratios to go crazy for a week or two, then to change again... there are a few other weird things, but.. that's not the point of today's topic.... I've been thinking that my stock, original coil might be a little old, maybe not producing enough voltage anymore, or skipping some ignition events... but there is also the ignition module between the Megasquirt and the coil; that could also be faulty, I've seen set ups where the MS2 runs the coil directly... (DIYautotune https://www.diyautotune.com/support/tech/install/nissan-datsun/megasquirt-your-280zx-turbo/)... so really, I know I could modify my MSII to run the coil directly, is there a benefit to having a ignition module? should I even be looking at it? Thanks. Seb

Oldman.... How come i haven't heard of this on your build topic?? Did i miss it? Anyways thanks for posting. Engine looks strong and steady. I can't wait to see how it evolves. I have to say, i like how the dyno sheet starts the results at 1800rpm. I find most start later, and i want to see more low rpm information.....

Hi leon. Are you saying that the loss of power should be corrected/compensated for in the dyno chart and thus the numbers should be higher? I might need to brush up on my numbers, but isn't 115 hp and 133lbs/ft at the wheel relatively normal for a stock engine? This is an honest question, not an rebuke... S.

Hey nismospek. Thanks for sharing indeed. Seems like the engine is at least as good as when it left the factory. Has it even been rebuilt? Performance looks pretty good, especially at 5000+ feet. Thanks again!

hi! quick question, for the ring, why didn't you have it powdercoated? Is it made of plastic? as a side note, since you do so much yourself, you might be interested in cheap powdercoating guns, or even do it yourself kinds (my dad made one, looks about as nice as a a pumpkin someone droped from the 3rd floor, but it works really well, all for about 8$)...

you know... I'm getting sad. a while ago, progress was slow and you were starting a lot of things. now, progress is getting faster and faster, and you're finishing stuff up (really really well, I might add). that makes me sad, that means that in a few months, you'll be dont with the car. now that's all very good and fine for you, but what build blog am I going to follow then! very few do as good work as you and post details like you do. thanks for sharing all of that. it's really appreciated. seb

I have to say that all the work you are doing is incredible. I'm blow away by how much you are investing, both in terms of personal time and money wise. That said, your car is going to be awesome. it's great to see how you're not cutting any corners, even for silly little things. keep up the good work. seb

hi guys! Realized today that not only do I have some water leaking from my t-top seal (right at the top of the a pillar, where the car seal meets the t-top seal), but I have quite the air gad where the window meets the b-pillar.. I'm guessing the seal has sagged and lost elasticity after all these years and isn't pushing on the window anymore. My current budget for the whole car (and there a quite a few things due) is zero dollars. so I was thinking of being creative to fix the seal. I though of maybe injecting something that would "inflate" the seal, ideally some kind of rubber foam of some sort, but that would be messy and inconsistent at best. Then I realized that most weather seals are essentially rubber tubes, and that I could possibly insert a rubber tube within the weatherstrip, which would basically make it behave like new. I checked it out online and found two references wher people had successufully done this with other cars (this is one, the other is a youtube vid doing the same thing ish... https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body/741222-t-top-car-help.html) I was curious if anyone had any old seals that were cut up so i can get a picture of the cross section. It could tell me if the idea would work on tour seals and what diameter tube I could potentially use, as a bonus.... also, any opinions or suggestions are welcomed

the later cars have a ignition module before the coil. not certain if your car has it, but thise are known to sometimes act up when they get hot..