Sweeeet analog gauge, very cool
Sweeeet analog gauge, very cool
Following, I love it!
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:please be sure to only use EPDM rubber in contact with brake fluid. DOT3 and DOT4 will eat through non-EPDM and you'll develop contamination in the system as well as leaks in the non-EPDM hoses.
Yes, thank you!
The rubber line I'm using is specific to brake systems.
Well, exactly 1 year since I started this thread (maybe the day I brought red home?), we moved under our own power yesterday!!
Only backward and forward a few feet, but it was a big achievement. I think clutch and brakes can still be bled a little better, but otherwise we can move mostly to engine tuning.
Before I get to that though, here's some other stuff I did.
First, I was getting a coolant leak when coming up to temp, so I pushed these houses back a bit to expose the tube, cleaned them up a bit, and then replaced the hose clamps with better ones. Seems fixed for now. I have all new hoses, but I want to give the cooling system a more thorough test before I tear it all apart - I'd rather fully drain it as few times as necessary.
Next I looked at the driver seat mount as I was intending to reassemble it. But it was clearly flexed down hard and I had to hammer from underneath to get it mostly back straight. This was probably contributing to the seat not really sliding on the sliders.
Plus those cracks needed to be welded up.
And finally, there is a doubler rail below the sheet metal, but the back of it isn't spot welded so when bent down it was just able to hang out. I figured a few rivets to help hold it up wouldn't hurt.
Maybe this shows a bit more what I mean.
Anyway, I also just decided I'm going to dive into e85 world full force. So I went and bought 2 gallons of what turns out to be about e65.
Next up, driving and tuning!!
Looks good.
You might want to consider a Stant Cooling System Pressure Tester. Mine purchased 30 years ago is perhaps my favorite tool. Fantastic for identifying leaks before venturing out onto the road or race track.
In reply to Russ McBride :
oh that's a good idea. I have been known in the past to add tire valve stems to various things in order to be able to pressure test them with a bike pump...
Robbie, I gotta know what you're bringing to the Challenge, cause I've been seeing a lot more updates for this than the Datsun
Mr_Asa said:Robbie, I gotta know what you're bringing to the Challenge, cause I've been seeing a lot more updates for this than the Datsun
This is a great question that many people (including me) would like to know the answer to. FDAT is probably taking this year off however, as I wont have time to substantially improve it - aka do the mods I want to do - before the deadline.
First trip around the block last night!
Also, first data log from the ECU!
Unfortunately it doesn't look like the ECU logs the voltage on the O2 sensor pin if the O2 function isn't turned on. Boo. Still may be able to "turn on" the O2 sensor but just set it up to never run in closed loop? Maybe.
Anyway, I also noticed a long time ago that the rear window defrost switch was hijacked for "some other purpose". Last night I figured out that purpose is a manual override on the radiator fans. Good to know haha.
Also, my brake master is still leaking (grrrr!). I still need to bleed the clutch more, still need to hookup the CEL from the ECU, still need to top up the coolant, need to recover the ground battery wire that someone used red wire for.
Finally worked up the guts to start modifying the tune and writing to the ECU. It is working!!
First I changed the TOG (Time on for One GAMA, remeber this ecu uses GAMA instead of LAMBDA, but GAMA is just the inverse, and TOG is basically the main fuel constant that all the adjustments are applied to). This had the affect of leaning out the mixture and getting me much closer to LAMBDA (and GAMA, I guess) = 1 at idle and low loads. Still need to see at higher loads if the AFR ended up better but for now it seems good.
Leaning it out across the board however gave me the side effect of having a stumble at tip in. Luckily, there are quick and easy acceleration enrichment functions that allow me to add back a bit of fuel just at that moment. Boom, no more stumble (and honestly, I don't really care about the AFR during tip in, as long as drivability is good).
I covered the red battery ground strap with black so no one accidentally hooks up the battery or a jump pack backwards, I topped up the coolant and made sure the fans are keeping everything cool at idle at least, and I did find that a couple connections on the master cylinder could be tightened a little more. That's probably not gonna solve my problem but a guy can dream.
Tuning that things sounds like a serious time machine brain bender sort of situation. Nice job taking it on! This seems like such a fun challenge.
Well, from another thread on ITBs and idle tuning, I realized I should probably make sure the throttles are balanced. That means taking vacuum readings from each side.
I have a few old pressure gauges from a refrigeration control unit I got as scrap many years ago. I teed them together and sucked on the hose (har har har) to make sure they both read similarly.
Next I connected them to the engine via vacuum lines.
I made some mistakes and learned some things. First I connected the gauges in on tees. There are 4 individual throttles on this motor, and each one has a vacuum line that goes to a small manifold that feeds the fuel pressure regulator and the map sensor. With the gauges teed in, I was getting weird data that I couldn't make sense of, and changes to the orientation of the throttle plates was not doing what I expected.
I realized that might have been because the gauges were connected to all cylinders effectively through the vacuum manifold.
So then I ditched the tee setup, and just connected one gauge to one cylinder from each side. Luckily, this itb setup uses carb bodies that have dual throats, and there isn't external adjustment between the two plates. So really I just have to adjust one spot between the two carbs to balance.
That got me working a bit better, but I still had significant bouncing of the vacuum needles due to the pulses from the engine.
I had seen that on some tools used to balance throttle plates there is an adjustable "damper" installed in line to the gauges, but in reality those dampers are just screw valves. I had an idea to make my own adjustable dampers - put c-clamps on the lines!
That worked beautifully! All I had to do was squeeze down until the bouncing of the needle was almost eliminated (but you still want to see just a hair of movement otherwise you run the risk of closing the line completely).
Once I had the setup with the c-clamps, adjustment did exactly what I expected and it was quick and easy to set. After I balanced the two carbs, idle is now smoothest it has been. Woohoo!
Next I turned my attention to bleeding the clutch super duper good.
I got a tip from turnerx19 to lift the rear as high as possible.
Check.
Then I used a bit of pressure from the pressure bleeder and a broomstick to push the pedal while working the bleeder screw with my other hand.
And it worked. It's pretty cool that in an x1/9 you can do a 2 person bleed with one person haha.
In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :
That is the only good part about working on the hydraulics....
Damn I like those Revolutions. That pattern was on my Turner when I bought it, and I kept them for my Elva. Much harder to find today in 98mm pattern, they're sweet.
Nice work on the throttle plate balance.
It's all the little things that make a big difference.
Reminds me I need to top off the oil in my SU's and check their balance.... its only been 8 years... :)
TurnerX19 said:Damn I like those Revolutions. That pattern was on my Turner when I bought it, and I kept them for my Elva. Much harder to find today in 98mm pattern, they're sweet.
Thanks! Yes, I think they are cool too. And they are 'right sized' for the x1/9 in my opinion. The lugs nuts are annoying though.
Also, it seems that just tightening that hose clamp may have fixed my brake master issue. Still need to do a better bleed on the brakes, but after a few drives I'm not getting anymore drips... cross your fingers.
Was thinking about this today. If you do bring it we could be Red Squadron and dress up like Star Wars goobers.
I call Porkins.
Mr_Asa said:Was thinking about this today. If you do bring it we could be Red Squadron and dress up like Star Wars goobers.
I call Porkins.
Oh that's genius! Red 9 standing by.
We'd need helmets and r2 units. And it gives a great theme for numbers and such.
In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :
Bonus points if you have this helmet for the track.
It is a DOT approved motorcycle helmet
Making a list of Todo items for myself:
I did start making phone calls to find a Dyno to rent.
ok, knocked "find true advance vs trigger advance offset" off the list last night. Turns out there is zero offset and a line has been drawn on the trigger wheel (attached to the crankshaft pulley such that you really cant see the stock timing mark or pointer) that references straight to the pickup for TDC #1. I validated all of this using the 'chopstick down the spark plug hole to feel TDC' trick. Nice.
Buuuut, I also noticed a new brake fluid leak, coming out of either the bleeder or the hose to caliper connection on the rear passenger caliper. Grrrr. How does something like that spontaneously start leaking? So weird. I guess first is to pull the bleeder out and see if maybe something is preventing it from seating appropriately.
Updated todo:
Whelp, found the leak. I must've damaged the piston while removing it to rebuild. Oh well.
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