August 2009
Monday 31st August 2009
Wiring loom picture below. The green braid is Nomex sleeving, which is fire proof, as used in military vehicles etc. Looks good and protects the wiring loom better than heatshrink. I need to order some more male and female crimps from RSWWW in the morning. Off to Wells (Somerset) tomorrow, going to be a late trip back home again. Hopefully the roads will be quiet so I can get my foot down in the ScoobyD.
Does anyone have any spare tickets for Mallory Park next Sunday, as its the British Sprint Championships turn to tear the tarmac up and as its only 20 mins from home, I'd love to take my 4yr old lad along to see some really fast cars. Please email me if you have any spare.
Saturday 29th August 2009
Tidied the garage, took a trip to the tip to get rid of some junk, and I've cleared the work surface so I can focus on the engine bay wiring loom over the next few days. Once complete, I'll turn my attention to the power loom for the engine bay, which consists of the heavy duty cable for the alternator/starter motor, and the wires for the starter solenoid, cooling fans, electric water pump etc. I'm keeping these seperate to the main loom, due to the likely current flowing through them. Not the sort of thing to pass through a bulkhead connector.
The Ford RSOC show at Donington has been brought forward by two weeks. Donington Park has apologised, but can you imagine the effort involved for the organisers, to have to re-arrange everything. Crazy!
Sunday 23rd August 2009
I've sold the Compomotive wheels and tyres, to a buyer in Malta. They've been washed, polished, and wrapped in polythene, so they're ready for collection on Tuesday. I sold them for £500 in the end, which was a fair price.
Loughborough Car Club held a 50th Anniversary meeting near Rempstone on Saturday. I went along with the family, to see what was going on, and there was an array of very nicely prepared competition cars, most of whom were customers of Richard Egger Insurance (myself included). One of the Escorts, in Cossak colours, had a Tractive sequential 6sp box in it. Very nice. We stayed for an hour, watched some of the members competing in a Gymkana, and left around 4pm. Nice to catch up with some friends I haven't seen for a while, and some were asking on the progress of the Fiesta. Soon, was my reply. Speaking of which, below is a picture of the Gates 4PK1260 drive belt fitted to the engine.
Friday 21st August 2009
I had to upgrade the firmware today in the router/firewall at home, because the rules I'd setup to stop the Port Scans/DOS attacks were still getting through, but now, it all seems to have settled down again.
The 4PK1260 auxiilary drive belt actually fits the engine, and is now installed. The tensioner pulley needs to be rotated by fitting a 17mm socket, and applying pressure. This allows the belt to be fitted in place, and then when the tensioner pulley is released, it tensions the belt, keeping it taught.
I've trimmed the engine bay loom, to make all the wires the same length, so they now terminate against the bulkhead, ready for the 48way connector to be fitted. That's going to take a few hours! There's so many wires.
Thursday 20th August 2009
Fixed the DOS attacks on the webcamera, by blocking UDP traffic from the address that was targeting me. Somewhere in Brazil according to the IP address.
The belt I bought is too short. The ID is 1220mm and the belt is a 1240. So I'll add 20mm to my measurements, and swap it for a 1260 today.
Wednesday 19th August 2009
Wired in the Air Temperature Sensor this evening. This is the last of the engine sensors required to get the engine running. I've just the Lambda, and the four wheel speed sensors to wire in now to compete the engine bay loom.
I've found from the Gates catalogue, the part number of a 1240mm belt. The one I'll try to get is the 4PK1240, which is used on the Audi 2.5D engine. The Gates PDF format catalogue can be found here
Quaife has informed me that they wont be going in to production with the Sequential gearbox, until 2010. Doh!
The Subaru had its first service yesterday, at £240, and they never even removed a wheel. Just oil and filter change, and various visible checks. Ouch!
Tuesday 18th August 2009
My web camera is 'down' at the moment. I've been targeted for DOS attacks for around a week now, and I've had to block access until I can get the firewall rules setup to block the specific IP address that is sending the packets to the camera. I'll sort it out later this week. Its just a web camera, so why the DOS attacks?
I think I need a 1240mm polyvee belt for the alternator setup. I tried Halfords and they only stock a 1213mm which is way too short. Gates have a comprehensive catalogue, so I'll pick one from the list and try my nearest Motor Factors.
Quaife are still waiting to go in to production with the Sequential box, so I kind of jumped the gun when their email came out last week. There is a review of the box in this months Fast Ford magazine, so I'll try to get a copy so I can have a read. They're running one of the two boxes in a press demonstrator, a Fiesta ST (the one shown in the magazine, and the same one I've been invited to test drive). I've still not managed to get myself down to Sevenoaks, but I'd like to have a go, just in case I find the experience too alien, and resort to a normal straight cut gear kit instead.
Thursday 13th August 2009
My alternator brackets are both finished. The bottom bracket is made from 5mm steel, and the top one from 3mm steel. There's no way its ever going to fall off the car, thats for sure.
Quaife has finally issued a press release on the Sequential IB5 box, saying that it is ready for orders, and theres an article in this months Fast Ford magazine, reviewing the IB5 dog box. I've emailed Mike Quaife asking for a Pro-Forma so I can make the downpayment.
Friday 7th August 2009
I've finished the water housing off, and both the sensors are fitted to the front side. I drilled and tapped it with a 1/8NPT tap off of Ebay, and when I came to fit it, the EGR blanking plate was in the way, so I made another from some 2mm aluminium, and the plate leaves enough space for the sensors. Tonight I've made a new alternator bracket, using the metal bending device to make a couple of 90° bends, and its looking a lot better now. I'll finish it off over the weekend. Pics to follow when its complete.
Sunday 2nd August 2009
I welded the alternator top bracket today, and its looking pretty sturdy. I'll make another one using some 3mm steel from scratch, now I've worked out all the angles. I've bought myself a metal bending tool from ebay, that fits in the vice, and bends sheet metal up to 6" wide. Clever bit of kit, and makes bending metal a lot easier. The ebay seller is here http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/stakesys
I've also located a pair of nearly new Englemann mirrors on Ebay.de. These will look very Retro on the front doors, and I'll get them mounted when time permits. Englemanns were originally fitted on Opels, and really look at home when used on Fiesta.
I'm replacing all the M12x1.5 wheel bolts with studs, as I'm fed up trying to fit wheels + spacers to the car, whilst trying to locate the holes in the hubs. The studs I've bought (Part number SS37a) are from Rally Design, and are 65mm in length. When I fit the wheel speed sensors for the ECU, I'll take the hubs off each corner, and fit the replacement studs.
I've found a pair of brass temperature sensor adaptors on the Burtons site, which I bought, but they're way too long to fit the sensors in. I've decided to cut them down in size, and re-tap the internal threads, so i can at least attempt to have the tips of the temperature sensors immersed in water.
The throttle position sensor is now wired in. I'm using ITT Mini Sureseal connectors (RSWWW Part number 341-3005 (male) and 341-2973 (female) with pins 341-3033 (male) and 341-3049 (female)), in 3 pin configuration, and I've used 9mm black adhesive heatshrink to finish them off, as the Sureseal rubber boots are five times more expensive than the connectors themselves. The Mini Sureseals are IP67, and really look the part. I'll use them again for the second bank of injectors, the Lambda sensor connectors, and the four wheel speed sensors.
