December 2019
The exhaust manifold was ready in the morning, so I popped over to Altiss and collected it. Nigel had had to use the milling machine to drill the holes since the manifold was made from a type of stainless steel which was a lot harder to drill through than we expected. Once the manifold was fitted to the block, I offered up the EGT sensors, and they all fit perfectly. The bosses are mounted to they are flush with the inside of the manifold, and therefore dont protrude in to the exhaust gas flow. Next I fitted the S280 turbo, and swapped the water coolant fittings for the right angled ones I used on the S242 turbo. It all fits very nicely, and the next job is to offer up the engine brace that fits over the turbo, that might be a tight fit. Finally I replaced the pair of 32mm blue samco hoses with the new black viper hoses, and the section of pipe is now attached to the water pump outlet on the front of the block. Great progress today. I'm really pleased how its all turned out.
I've emptied the dry sump pan in the Hewland FTR gearbox, of the old engine oil. The exhaust manifold is away being drilled and tapped for the EGT sensors. As soon as that is back I can fit the turbo and start fitting the intercooler pipework back on the car. I've soldered the LED's to the fuel gauge and that is now ready for testing. I'm gradually ticking off all the jobs.
FTR gearbox oil pan emptied of the old engine oil
The small fuel tank fits nicely behind the drivers seat, and the Radium pump sits alongside with space to spare. I'll attach both to the false floor, and then plumb and wire them together so I can calibrate the fuel level display and test the flow rate and pressures. I tried drilling the exhaust manifold to accept the EGT bosses, but broke two drills in the process, so I'll take it over to Altiss who will have the right tools to do the job properly for me.
I've tested the EGT sensors, with the little black box thats going to read them, and they all check out OK. I now need to wire the box in to CAN1 from the ECU, which should be straight forward to do, as the only other device on CAN1 is the GPS module. CAN2 is used by the X10 expander, and I dont want to interfere with that datastream, so CAN1 will see the data from the temperature sensors. I have 8 inputs altogether, so with four spare, I'll also add a sensor to the air temperature pre the intercooler, to measure the efficiency, and I'll add a gearbox oil temperature sensor. These will be cheaper to buy than the special EGT sensors, and I should be able to pickup some Type K sensors for around a tenner. I might also add a sensor to the turbo exhaust, just to get a full picture of how everything is working.
A very merry christmas to all my followers, and friends. I hope you have a great time during the Christmas break, and get everything you wanted.
Collected the fuel tank from Gemzoe Motorsport, and its a really great advert for Dave's skills and workmanship. I've given it a quick polish on the outside since the ultrasonic cleaning solution left a few dull spots. I'm really happy with the end product, built to my design.
The four EGT sensors arrived from The Sensor Connection in the USA. They look so good. I'll get the spare manifold drilled so I can fit the sensor bosses. A tip for sealing the bosses if the sensors are removed, is to trap a ball bearing inside the cap, which will keep the boss air tight, and prevent any of the exhaust gasses from leaking.
How the engine looks today.
The M10 bolts I ordered on ebay arrived, and I've now fitted all the bolts to the bell housing, and the upper engine mount on the end of the cylinder head. Once torqued up, they all recieved a blob of yellow cross check, so I can keep an eye on anything that might try and loosen off. Its only 90 days until the first round at Castle Combe in March, and I've so much left to do. The calendar was finally released last week, together with the rule changes that I've known about for several months, and the calendar is looking better with two back to back events in September, with a visit to Aintree followed by 3 Sisters the following day, assuming 3 Sisters has an A license, unlike MIRA!
The fuel tank is ready and will be collected on Sunday. Thats the last major expense out of the way. Now to test the fuel tank and make sure that it works together with the radium fuel surge pump, and supplies fuel at 6bar to the engine. I did some soldering this week, constructing the fuel level gauge. I will need to change the reference voltage, and find a suitable resistor that is 9 x the impedence of the VDO sender, so I can use the voltage drop across the sender to provide the LM3914 with the signal it needs to display full or empty. I'll set it up next week.
Good progress again this week. The flywheel/clutch and bell housing are all back on again. The majority of sensors are reconnected. I've misplaced a few M10 fasteners (or hidden them) so I've had to order a few replacements on ebay. I've ordered the EGT sensors, and a spare turbo manifold so I can figure out where best to drill the runners to fit the weld-on bosses in to it.
The engine is now back in the chassis. It was quite difficult to line up all the bolts but with a bit of persistence it all came good. There are a total of 7 bolts holding it in. Three across the front edge of the dry sump pan. one on the front of the head between the cam pulleys, and three on the inlet side.
The dry sump pan is now affixed to the engine again. I used Hylomar for the gasket, which should make the pan oil-tight. The next job is to reinstall the engine in to the chassis, which I will do tomorrow evening.
I've just bought a
soldering iron, to help me build some small electronic circuits for the car, and I'd been looking for quite some time to find one thats not too expensive, one that allows the temperature to be controlled, and has a fine tip. I ordered this last weekend, and I'm very impressed so far with this iron I found on Amazon. I experimented with the temperature, until I found a setting that allowed the solder to flow without risking damaging the semiconductors on the circuit board, and the joints came out really well.
I'm building a bar graph display for the fuel level on the car, using an LM3914 driver and 10 segment display, and it should be ready for testing when the fuel tank arrives from Gemzoe Motorsport.
I've also bought an
SIP air compressor for the garage, which will allow me to use air-tools for the first time. I can also use the air for cleaning and drying components. This is a great compressor, and sits upright so doesnt take too much room in the garage.
Ford UK has today confirmed via email that they give their full permission to replace the Formula Ford ID with a Generic ID on the Life ECU. I have passed the email on to Support@Life, so I can arrange to return my ECU for modification. A small update, but a major one at the same time.
I didnt expect the turbo to arrive that quick, it was with me on Monday. Thanks Turbo Technics for the great service. I've trial fitted it to the engine and there is a tiny piece of the engine block that needs filing away to give it clearance, shouldnt take more than 30seconds to file it off. This weekend I'll refit the dry sump, and slot the engine back in to the chassis.
