January 2023
31Jan
ECU returned
The ECU arrived on Friday, and the first task was to load the most recent calibration file in to it. There's two ways of doing this. From LifeCAL, either load the previous cal in to Pastecal and Tag and Import each branch, one a time, which only takes a few minutes. Or the easier method is to stay offline from the ECU, load the calibration you want to program the ECU with, change the software version, then save the file with a new filename, connect to the ECU, and finally program the ECU with the calibration file.Not much progress with getting the oil filler 3D printed in aluminium. The quotes I'm getting are from £350 up to a whopping £950, which is way more than I wanted to spend. So it is looking like I might need to use the plastic version, so I'm also getting a quote for one printed in Nylon CF12 which has carbon fibre strands included for additional strength. 3DPeople used to offer this service, but sadly no longer provide what they called Onyx. So I'm trying to find another supplier that can print CF12.
A pair of replacement pushrods for the rear of the car are on order. They will have 3/8UNF one end, and 1/2UNF the other, and are 550mm long. I should have them back for the end of February. They will be a different wall thickness to the ones that keep failing, so I'm not expecting to have any more issues.
I still have no wheel centres from Force Racing. I just need a single pair and have been asking for many months, but for one reason or another, they're proving difficult to obtain.
And finally machining of the heave spring support posts will soon be underway. They are also looking difficult to manufacture, and consequently, expensive, but I need to try the solution as it should transform the handling and mechanical grip.
23Jan
ECU ready!
Life Racing have finished upgrading the ECU. Jumps up and down with excitement. Fingers crossed I can make some engine noises in the garage soon now that the ECU is upgraded and ready for return. Just the small business of an invoice to pay.
Now I can get on with replacing the engine loom, and the dozens of cable ties holding it all down, and when the ECU is plugged in, press the starter button and see what happens. I've some work to do on the ECU Calibration first. I need to load the 1.693 cal in, make a few changes, and then she should be good to go. One of the benefits of getting the new firmware is unlocking the C frames on the CAN bus receive. I'm going to see if I can use C frames to unlock the pair of steering wheel mounted (CAN Switch Board) rotary switches that the ECU is unable to read using B frames (8 bit). C frames transmit data in 4 bits rather than 8 bits, so fingers crossed I can assign a rotary switch per C frame. With the B frame the ECU couldnt differentiate between the two rotary switches encoded in the same 8 bits of data. Very frustrataing.
22Jan
2023 British Sprint Regulations are out
There's one new rule, thats appeared in this years Draft regulations, which is regarding the awarding of bonus points for breaking track records. The new rule says:"Such records will be revised during the season should the Championship visit the same course more than once. Any times set in the timed run or runs upon which points are based which break the existing Championship Record shall attract an additional point to those awarded by virtue of the competitor's finishing position."
This is a significant change, and will have a direct impact on the overall standings during the year. In previous years, the times of all the class records are declared at the start of the year, and when a class record was broken, a bonus point was awarded to the driver who broke it. And a new rule for 2022, was that only one driver per class was awarded the point, even if more than one driver broke the class record. I agree'd with that, it made sense to reward the faster driver.
However, from 2023, if the same venue is visited twice, and the record is broken on the first visit, then that lower time is used as the new record for the second visit, which might even be the next day in the case of the Snetterton 100 layout which is used both Saturday and Sunday.
With the absense of the Pirelli tyres, will any records fall? It'll be interesting to see what other directions developments will take this year. My money is on bigger and better aero, and improved mechanical grip, which is why I'm focusing on the heave spring development.
20Jan
Testing the fitment of the oil filler
It fits, perfectly, and I'm now in a position to get one printed in aluminium. Just looking at what options are available, and if the finished product is going to be a high enough quality to avoid any machining.
19Jan
Heave spring model video
I've created a video showing the heave spring model that I've built in Fusion 360, all with components drawn by myself, which are then inserted in to the model, and joined together to allow motion to be simulated.18Jan
3D printed oil filler
Arrived today, in the post from 3D People. I'm so impressed with the quality of the printing, and the threads are so accurate. This video shows the oil filler body in detail.17Jan
3D printed heave spring mounts
They came on Saturday, and I'm very happy with the finished product. I've offered the posts up on the Mygale and the clearance looks bang on. So I've now modified the design, following some changes that I think are required, and the design is ready for CNC machining.
The final design
15Jan
Missed the autosport show?
No? This tongue in cheek video could have saved you 30 quid :D12Jan
Autosport International show
Not the busiest of shows that I've been to, I did manage to speak to Life about my ECU and they said they would have an update for me next week, so progress is slow but they are working on it. Not today obviously, since the staff were at the show. Not starting to worry just yet, but if it keeps dragging on in to February then I will be getting anxious about when it will return.Speaking today to Kumho and Yokohama, it sounds like most manufacturers are dropping 13" slicks altogether; the writing was on the wall when F1 changed to their 18" rims. This isnt good news at all. When Avon/Cooper Tyres closes, there will be no manufacturers producing slicks in the compounds that we need in 2024. Unless Pirelli start back up, or someone steps in to save Avon/Cooper Tyres. What to do?
Circuit racing is looking more and more appealing.
I found Ian on the Popbangcolour stand in Hall 4, and managed to buy three stickers of my car off him. He threw in a free rosette which was appreciated :D
Coding
I've so far deactivated the start/stop button on the beemer, so I no longer have to press the button every time I start the engine. So far so good. I need to see what else I can change; its a shame there is no offline mode with the Bimmercode app, so you can peruse the settings availble at leisure instead of having to sit in the car scrolling through the menu's.05Jan
Autosport International show tickets booked
I'm looking forwards to the pilgramage to the NEC near Birmingham next Thursday for the Autosport Show. I'm going to see the Live Action show too, its been a few years since I saw Terry Grant doing his stuff.I've sent the STL files off for the redrawn heave spring mounts. They're going to be SLS printed in Nylon12, and I went for the black dye finish. Delivery is possibly the end of next week. Interestingly, the prices for the individually printed near side and offside mounts, was about half the price of the same pair combined in to a single STL file!
ECU news!
The clever people at Life Racing are working on my ECU this week, and given its age, its taken some care to get the firmware updated. They've checked the DBW circuitry, and can find nothing wrong, nor can they find anything with the analogue voltage spikes I was seeing. This confirms to me that the Engine Loom needs replacing, so I'll start planning that in the next few weeks. When the ECU is returned, I need to confirm that the engine runs OK before swapping the loom over. It's not been run since October. And if the stubby oil filler is back by that point, then it'll also allow me plumb the oil hose in and check that it works without any leaks. I'll be changing the oil before the first event, time to get messy again.BMW map update
What a struggle it was to get the latest map update on to my 3 series. I let the subscription lapse, the car has just passed four years old, and I paid off the final baloon payment in December. So I thought I'd treat it to a fresh 12 month subscription, but no matter what I did to get it to recognise the 64GB flash drive, it failed. I ended up buying a fresh Kingston drive, dropped the map on to it using the BMW download manager, and it worked first time. Cue the rollseyes emoji. With that out of the way, I'm going to code the car next, using the ODBLinkCX bluetooth adaptor, and a copy of Bimmercode. There's a few changes I'd like to make, like turning off the infernal stop/start for instance, so I'll have a play and see what other features I can unlock.04Jan
Heave spring updates
I've sent the two stumpy oil filler and filler cap STL files off to 3DPeople, for printing, and they should be with me by the end of next week, possibly the week after. I made some more refinements to the drawings, adding a spiral to the inside of the outer cylinder to help the oil find its way down inside the sump. And the filler cap has an M10 threaded hole in the top, which will allow me to fit a pneumatic hose attachment, with a 6mm breather hose, so the dry sump tank can breathe, and the cap can still be easily removed. I'm going to tap the M22x1.5 thread by hand, as the printed threads are not going to be accurate enough and I need to reduce the possibility of oil leaks.I've also spent another day on the heave spring mounts, beefing them up a bit, and they are also ready for printing so I can make sure that the prototypes will fit the gearbox.
The final oil filler model can be seen here: Link to FTR oil filler
These are the heave spring mounts, ready for printing.
03Jan
RIP Ken Block #43
