I've just got mine unplugged, I understand it prevents accelerator enrichment at higher speeds? a fuel economy thing?
So is the idea you turn it on when you're cruising?
So is the idea you turn it on when you're cruising?
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PollyMobiles Rebuild
- Thread starter pollyp
- Start date
frank
Club Member
to protect the cat i think fuz, on a long motorway hill for instance where wot could be held for several minutes
where,as 1st 2nd and 3rd tend to be held at wot for short durations
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pollyp
Club Member
Yea I normally switch it off to prevent it leaning out dangerously when WOT full boost in 4th 5th.
I only switch it on optionally during heavy congestion cos it allows the ecu to fast idle when it detects it's still in-gear & above 5mph (to help prevent engine falling below idle speed while crawling along so I don't have to touch the heavy clutch or throttle)
Thanks!
Is it likely to be a problem that the car was tuned without it connected?
Sounds like I should probably connect it up...
The CG13 in a mini doesn't spend much time @ WOT in any gear.... Ha ha does 0-100 in about 8 secs... So the cat should be OK.
Is it likely to be a problem that the car was tuned without it connected?
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pollyp
Club Member
The speed sensor disconnect is mainly applicable to forced induction, no effect on NA.
Way back when, we still disconnected the speed sensor on NA maps to avoid either running rich in 1st-3rd or lean in 4th & 5th, (depending on how the car was mapped).
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pollyp
Club Member
interesting. it seems though there's this fuel-cut/limiter when speed vs rpm goes above a hidden threshold in the ecu that nistune can't access.
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pollyp
Club Member
recently fixing my bench grinder, I lathed the shafts to fit the wheel holes tighter so that it helps keep it centered.
purchased a new fine grit wheel which really helped keep it centered & balanced.
and now it's just the coarse wheel which is out-of-round from previously using the hand-held wheel dresser.
first thing to resolve is to replace the flimsy rests with this rigid piece of L bar for a straight stable edge to rest & slide along.
then I got this diamond tip dresser rod. obviously won't be accurate from holding the bare rod so I made this sliding jig to lock the rod length and slide across the L bar
and it worked perfectly. both wheels are now concentric, flat and much more balanced with less vibrations
purchased a new fine grit wheel which really helped keep it centered & balanced.
and now it's just the coarse wheel which is out-of-round from previously using the hand-held wheel dresser.
first thing to resolve is to replace the flimsy rests with this rigid piece of L bar for a straight stable edge to rest & slide along.
then I got this diamond tip dresser rod. obviously won't be accurate from holding the bare rod so I made this sliding jig to lock the rod length and slide across the L bar
and it worked perfectly. both wheels are now concentric, flat and much more balanced with less vibrations
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pollyp
Club Member
this odd 10mm bolt nearby the engine mount has always been tricky to access
replaced them with allen bolts. also note the timing cover paint washed with oil, seems the leak could be from the engine cover gasket
the threads on this mount point has stripped, so gonna drill & retap it to a bigger M12
the big handle for the tapper is too bulky for the engine nearby so made this socket holder
and retap the hole
fitted an M12 stud rather than a bolt
now the mount is secure
replaced them with allen bolts. also note the timing cover paint washed with oil, seems the leak could be from the engine cover gasket
the threads on this mount point has stripped, so gonna drill & retap it to a bigger M12
the big handle for the tapper is too bulky for the engine nearby so made this socket holder
and retap the hole
fitted an M12 stud rather than a bolt
now the mount is secure
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pollyp
Club Member
the front pulsar pads now worn down to 5-6mm (46-57%)
but as a precaution before running a short track time at croft next week for the car show, thought I'd fit new ones
the rear pads hardly worn
fitted the semislick track wheels for bedding in the new brakes so I don't ruin the clean white road wheels
but as a precaution before running a short track time at croft next week for the car show, thought I'd fit new ones
the rear pads hardly worn
fitted the semislick track wheels for bedding in the new brakes so I don't ruin the clean white road wheels
SuperUno
Buy & Sell Member
I think this may be causing mine to run to rich when accelerating in 1st, 2nd or 3rd... The mapping was done on a rolling road, but would have been in a high gear like 4th or 5th, where the ECU natually leans out. What colour is the wire to the ECU I think I will try a switch inline to see what affect it has. Although I do like the speed related stuff and the higher idle (1000rpm) is where I would like the engine to idle all the time, but my playing around with the Nistune software seems to make zero difference to the idle speed...
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pollyp
Club Member
yellow/blue wire
mine was mapped in 3rd.
if urs was mapped in 4th and with this extra lean-out issue involved, that'll just ruin the consistancy of the map for the lower gears. so I'd disconnect the speed wire and get it remapped.
the speed sensor feed into the ecu only affects fast idle when in-gear above 5mph and leans mixture when speed per rpm goes above a threshold.
it doesn't affect the base idle, that's governed by the idle bleed screw, timing, fuel map, coolant temp, and old waxstat if it wasn't removed.
nistune only has access to certain useful areas applicable for remapping but there's obviously some hidden areas of the ecu that it can't touch or nistune hasn't worked on, such as rpm the injectors resume firing after coasting.
When was the last time you drove it?
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pollyp
Club Member
cleaned inside & outside the road wheels for the show
relocated catch cans ain't condensing well. ain't enough cool air reaching it and the hot crankcase vapour and engine bay heat are warming it up. so experimenting with different cool box enclosures in card
ordered a new pair of 595rsr to replace the dodgy shoulder worn set, so a good time to repaint all the track wheels.
wirebrushed all the peeling paint & old residues off the white wheels
sanded & masked
primed
and all 4 wheels in matte black
fitting new tyres tomorrow and then afew more hundred miles of bedding them in
relocated catch cans ain't condensing well. ain't enough cool air reaching it and the hot crankcase vapour and engine bay heat are warming it up. so experimenting with different cool box enclosures in card
ordered a new pair of 595rsr to replace the dodgy shoulder worn set, so a good time to repaint all the track wheels.
wirebrushed all the peeling paint & old residues off the white wheels
sanded & masked
primed
and all 4 wheels in matte black
fitting new tyres tomorrow and then afew more hundred miles of bedding them in
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pollyp
Club Member
Since I fixed that ecu speed sensor switch, I now noticed something bout the mixture.
When switched off, the turbo map doesn't lean out in 4th 5th but when coasting and revs drop below 1700rpm the injectors resume running very rich till idle.
Now when I switch it back on, although it leans out on boost above 4th, when coasting it keeps the injectors shut to idle, so it no longer goes rich under 1700rpm.
Perhaps I should fit a pressure actuated switch on the speed sensor? So when on boost, it shuts the sensor so it doesn't lean out.
Off boost, it turns the sensor on to enable low rpm fast idle control and prevent it running rich while coasting.
When switched off, the turbo map doesn't lean out in 4th 5th but when coasting and revs drop below 1700rpm the injectors resume running very rich till idle.
Now when I switch it back on, although it leans out on boost above 4th, when coasting it keeps the injectors shut to idle, so it no longer goes rich under 1700rpm.
Perhaps I should fit a pressure actuated switch on the speed sensor? So when on boost, it shuts the sensor so it doesn't lean out.
Off boost, it turns the sensor on to enable low rpm fast idle control and prevent it running rich while coasting.
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pollyp
Club Member
now to sort out the catch can enclosure which wasn't cooling them enough.
I thought about making this flimsy complicated ducting at the side of the radiator but concluded it's alot of hassle to make and won't flow much
the next option is where the air flows under the headlamp directly towards the catch cans
this bit of chassis was trimmed out of the way
cut off this unless clip
little panel to direct the air backwards
and now a clear path straight into the catch cans
cut out part of the grill
made a steel enclosure
installed nicely
can see how the air flows under the headlight and scooped by the enclosure through the catch cans
painted the grill sides black to hide the gaping hole, she looks either abit goth or sleep deprived
went for a short drive and yeah it cools & condenses alot better
I thought about making this flimsy complicated ducting at the side of the radiator but concluded it's alot of hassle to make and won't flow much
the next option is where the air flows under the headlamp directly towards the catch cans
this bit of chassis was trimmed out of the way
cut off this unless clip
little panel to direct the air backwards
and now a clear path straight into the catch cans
cut out part of the grill
made a steel enclosure
installed nicely
can see how the air flows under the headlight and scooped by the enclosure through the catch cans
painted the grill sides black to hide the gaping hole, she looks either abit goth or sleep deprived
went for a short drive and yeah it cools & condenses alot better
At last I have read the whole thread, took me 4 days or so but I have done it.
All I can say is wow Paul you are amazing, I will never do anything like this to my k11 but the way you go about creating your blog is like a haynes manual that has just been smacked with the sensible stick.
Its like a step by step, how to and instructional wiki all rolled into one.
Have to say though when you first started getting problems with that forged engine I kept saying to myself he needs to deal with the added crankcase pressure, I had to hold back the erger to chime in on the subject but left it. Then someone else brought the subject up and you did consider looking into testing it but I don't think you ever got round to doing it?
I remember back to my youth in the late 70s early 80s and my m8s used to run modified minis and they always had to enlarge the breather pipe holes on there rocker covers due to the increased pressure from raising compression and the rest.
On a personal note..
Love what you have done with your k11 and find your posts about your struggle with mental health a big help to me, I too have been going through a tough time lately and have been diagnosed with depression (the med's help) long story for another time maybe.
Anyway was wondering if that lady from 'mind' ever got back to you?
Rct
All I can say is wow Paul you are amazing, I will never do anything like this to my k11 but the way you go about creating your blog is like a haynes manual that has just been smacked with the sensible stick.
Its like a step by step, how to and instructional wiki all rolled into one.
Have to say though when you first started getting problems with that forged engine I kept saying to myself he needs to deal with the added crankcase pressure, I had to hold back the erger to chime in on the subject but left it. Then someone else brought the subject up and you did consider looking into testing it but I don't think you ever got round to doing it?
I remember back to my youth in the late 70s early 80s and my m8s used to run modified minis and they always had to enlarge the breather pipe holes on there rocker covers due to the increased pressure from raising compression and the rest.
On a personal note..
Love what you have done with your k11 and find your posts about your struggle with mental health a big help to me, I too have been going through a tough time lately and have been diagnosed with depression (the med's help) long story for another time maybe.
Anyway was wondering if that lady from 'mind' ever got back to you?
Rct
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pollyp
Club Member
heya rct, thx for ur very kind message. appreciate you like kasandra
(this is a long post warning btw
)I did my best in this car/event/personal blog documenting as much detailed findings as I could throughout the whole journey primarily as my personal record & asking club for help but it also served to inform other members with useful info. info that would've been helpful to me when I first started as a new member too.
this forged engine was really a PITA since day1 and I almost gave up. I just have to live with afew of the minor flaws but it all works fine.
I've tested the crankcase venting routes & with/without catch can plumbing over the years and tbh crankcase pressure ain't a problem.
the small PCV & front hose only flows during vacuum, which is governed by a tiny manifold port which is only a controlled leak.
the PCV breather port, which allows blowby to escape during boost, is sufficiently sized for the small amount of blowby during boost and hardly a restriction (the catchcans are also free-flowing). and if enough blowby was flowing out that it experiences a restriction then there would've been a bigger problem inside.
aye the struggle with mental health still continues. posting on here was personally my only safe outlet (sharing on FB or friends or family wouldn't be appropriate or help at all) it was an out cry at desperate times, glad you found it helpful.
it's only recently that I realised alot of friends and family are affected by mental health in some form, it's like a hidden taboo (more taboo than adultary/pron nowadays) brushed under the social rug.
nobody really wants to help (or our own anxiety doesn't want ppl to help) while suffering alone in silence with our own hellish mind.
I had to suffer on my own through 2015 with what I think was depression, following the bad sequence of events.
suppose one of the reason I'm still here was I focused my mind on doing positive stuff I like develop kasandra, trackdays, nurburgring, hobbies, car shows, and try forget about pressures of life, job, girls, future.
I mean the anxiety is still there, even after going to mental councilling and gathered more info about anxiety/depression/worrying, I feel no different imho still stuck.
no contact from ppl at "Mind", don't think they care after being discharged. the NHS mental centre ain't that effective tbh, my condition prob requires more of a specialist.
I'm still procrastinating with kasandra, running outa savings fast, I know I should try think of a job to apply for and go for it but there's always this mental hidden sub-concious anxiety blockage (dunno which job, ain't good enough, over-worrying bout lack of social & relations skills) and being aware of this frustrating mental brick wall just fuels anxiety so I find other stuff to do instead.
recently was at a m8s gig in this pub. while m8 was chatting 2 girls, I tried to small talk or something but I was soo useless cos there's no common ground or dunno what to start with bla bla.
after leaving and got home it triggered alot of sleepless anxiety, blaming myself I'm a failure at life or chatting girls up or any conversations (unless it's bout engineering or cars or tech), n may as well hang coat up. I really didn't like going through all that.
mind is just clouded about if I suffer from anxiety or depression or an I autistic. I know there's drugs to control all that but I'm scared bout what that sorta stuff will do to me.
guess I'm scared about so much in life from the past drama that it's made me curl up in my safe bed, lost my mojo, almost giving up (but not fully) and although I still do have the talent/skills/ability to create cool stuff (and the many likes from members & fb prove that) I think I'm just hurt in self-esteem/confidence or trusting ppl in the job world or believing I could form relationships and have purpose in life again (even if I think I'm wierd, autistic or probably a mental
)a good friend had linked me to an autism councilling specialist in leeds which may help but my anxiety just hasn't allowed me to try contact em for help yet.
life choice is balanced between urgency of job hunting vs fixing mental health with that specialist vs fun with cars.
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pollyp
Club Member
welded & smoothed the gap in the enclosure
painted it red to balance with the red engine cover & strut brace in the bay
went for a cruise to/from the croft circuit and tbh the amount of condensation is abit inconclusive at the moment (cos warm day?)
not alot has condensed yet after 50miles (maybe it takes longer?). the lower 1/4 of the glass is air cold but the upper part (behind the headlight) is kinda still warmed up by the hot crankcase vapour.
I need to clean the jar and monitor it over the few days.
painted it red to balance with the red engine cover & strut brace in the bay
went for a cruise to/from the croft circuit and tbh the amount of condensation is abit inconclusive at the moment (cos warm day?)
not alot has condensed yet after 50miles (maybe it takes longer?). the lower 1/4 of the glass is air cold but the upper part (behind the headlight) is kinda still warmed up by the hot crankcase vapour.
I need to clean the jar and monitor it over the few days.
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pollyp
Club Member
trimmed the other side of the grill for the air filter. that front bumper is soo misaligned. really need to replace & fix the front end cos the front panel is like poking 12-15mm away from the chassis rails (twas badly botched before)
received a metre of 57 x 63mm alu pipe
time to replace this old melted duck tape with a proper spigot to keep the pulsar discs centered
needed a good wirebrush and clean
lathed a spigot to fit between the 61.2mm GTIR disc bore and the 59mm K11 hub
a snug fit
drove down the motorway and there's no more steering vibrations
and I found the whirring/rattle sound during high speed right turns is caused by both worn outer CV joints which has alot of play in them, so another thing to replace.
received a metre of 57 x 63mm alu pipe
time to replace this old melted duck tape with a proper spigot to keep the pulsar discs centered
needed a good wirebrush and clean
lathed a spigot to fit between the 61.2mm GTIR disc bore and the 59mm K11 hub
a snug fit
drove down the motorway and there's no more steering vibrations
and I found the whirring/rattle sound during high speed right turns is caused by both worn outer CV joints which has alot of play in them, so another thing to replace.
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pollyp
Club Member
was concerned with the cracked crossmember before Croft so time to disassemble the front end
crossmember is cracked right up the front and underside and the captive nuts for the center beam is abit mashed
cut out the cracked section
the back side next to the rad mount was also cracked
made a new section welded with captive nuts
welded up the cracked rear
welded the new crossmember section on
crossmember is cracked right up the front and underside and the captive nuts for the center beam is abit mashed
cut out the cracked section
the back side next to the rad mount was also cracked
made a new section welded with captive nuts
welded up the cracked rear
welded the new crossmember section on
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pollyp
Club Member
I wanted to stiffen the lower brace but making a diagonal beam fit was abit difficult so another idea was to lock the lower brace onto the center beam.
the first step is to stiffen the weak U-shaped beam before bolting the brace onto it.
I didn't have any 50mm wide 2mm thick sheet so I just welded together two 25mm strips
bent to shape
welded captive nuts inside
tacked onto the beam
you can see how my welding of thick gauge improved as I go along right - left.
here I started off with too much feed rate and my usual pulse welding technique making a slight mess with too much build up
mid-way I began to weld continuously long beads and turn down the feed rate (I could see the wire was burning up faster than it's being fed but keeping the tip very close kept it stable) and it looks alot better & flatter
by the last section, it was welding very nicely
bolted some L-plates onto the beam
fits against the lower brace like this
fitted the beams and tacked the bracket onto the lower brace
and welded up
sloted the front mount bolt hole to make it easier to bolt up
welded M10 washers to reduce the hole size at the back of the beam
all painted and will be assembled tomorrow. I'm cutting the scheduling abit close to the event
the first step is to stiffen the weak U-shaped beam before bolting the brace onto it.
I didn't have any 50mm wide 2mm thick sheet so I just welded together two 25mm strips
bent to shape
welded captive nuts inside
tacked onto the beam
you can see how my welding of thick gauge improved as I go along right - left.
here I started off with too much feed rate and my usual pulse welding technique making a slight mess with too much build up
mid-way I began to weld continuously long beads and turn down the feed rate (I could see the wire was burning up faster than it's being fed but keeping the tip very close kept it stable) and it looks alot better & flatter
by the last section, it was welding very nicely
bolted some L-plates onto the beam
fits against the lower brace like this
fitted the beams and tacked the bracket onto the lower brace
and welded up
sloted the front mount bolt hole to make it easier to bolt up
welded M10 washers to reduce the hole size at the back of the beam
all painted and will be assembled tomorrow. I'm cutting the scheduling abit close to the event
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pollyp
Club Member
lower brace painted & fitted
now to replace the outer CV joints. looks almost identicle to the original
only slight difference in the ABS ring and where the splines are machined, none of which matters
right side replaced with a snug joint & installed
the left side had a huge amount of play, opened up and oh gosh it's abit dry in there
the poor CV was really battered by the first violent LSD chatter yrs ago and now ran out of grease, heated up and quickly worn out loose so no wonder it made a racket.
new tight joint fitted and whole thing feels much tighter
tday it's pishin down but she still needs running-in and testing.
went for a drive and yay the whirring/rattly sound has gone
but afew more things I noticed from the tighter CV. the powertrain feels sharp, almost no more gear backlash, no longer "clunks" when on/off throttle.
the LSD no longer makes that audiable "chatter" noise when leaving T-junctions or U-turns. it just engages really! smoothly with the very slightest vibration at most.
I guess that worn out outer CV was causing most of the chatter at full lock.
it's soooo silky smooth & everything feels tight & quiet now
was gonna realign wheels but not in the heavy rain.
she's ready for the show & track tomorrow
now to replace the outer CV joints. looks almost identicle to the original
only slight difference in the ABS ring and where the splines are machined, none of which matters
right side replaced with a snug joint & installed
the left side had a huge amount of play, opened up and oh gosh it's abit dry in there
the poor CV was really battered by the first violent LSD chatter yrs ago and now ran out of grease, heated up and quickly worn out loose so no wonder it made a racket.
new tight joint fitted and whole thing feels much tighter
tday it's pishin down but she still needs running-in and testing.
went for a drive and yay the whirring/rattly sound has gone
but afew more things I noticed from the tighter CV. the powertrain feels sharp, almost no more gear backlash, no longer "clunks" when on/off throttle.
the LSD no longer makes that audiable "chatter" noise when leaving T-junctions or U-turns. it just engages really! smoothly with the very slightest vibration at most.
I guess that worn out outer CV was causing most of the chatter at full lock.
it's soooo silky smooth & everything feels tight & quiet now
was gonna realign wheels but not in the heavy rain.
she's ready for the show & track tomorrow
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pollyp
Club Member
2016 Petrol & Pistons Show at Croft Circuit
arrived at 9:30, the gate ppl had to radio where I could park cos I'm not part of any clubs there, said there's space near pits.
drove around the pits, it looked pretty full but the only open spot I found was next to these classic funnycar dragsters, noticed the sign post labelled "featured", meh that'll do.
popped bonnet, apply my spec banner, went to the pits cafe to sign-in as driver.
on the way back there was bit of a crowd then the funny car dragsters fired up to rev their V8, damn they're soo loud it hurts the ears
I could tell I have serious social anxiety when alone in a strange place full of strangers with nothing to do (it would be uncomfortable for me to just stand there awaiting to respond like a robotic salesman). the only thing that comforts me for now is just focus on prepping the car and only respond when asked so I was just keeping myself busy checking oil, tyres, cameras, etc
10:45 went for briefing. as we're about to go on track at 11:30 I was abit anxious about where I'm gonna store all my tool stuff but Neil and my parents soon arrived just in time.
so good to see him, caroline and nismo march and a big relief. put my stuff in his truck, car's setup with 2/2.5 bars cold tyres, 15/30 dampers, 1/2 tank fuel, 50/50 brake bias
but no idea where to assemble for track so followed these civics over to the inspection paddock.
sound tested at 5.2k rpm, and away we go at croft surrounded by a big variety of cars. 1 warm up lap then mayhem as we all try to overtake each other.
at 06:15 before Jim clark esses I was hesitant bout overtaking this white civic before the fast bend, went through at a bad angle and the rear was abit sketchy. at the exiting sweeping right turn the traffic was bunching up so I mistakenly braked while mid-turning and that really upset the rear (too much rear bias?, too stiff rear dampers?, new front/old rear tyres?) and sent me into oversteer.
tried to countersteer and power but once again it didn't work, the crap PAS rack just doesn't steer enough so I had to apply more steering losing track of where it's pointing, it tank-slapped the other way towards barrier, steer the other way it was a frantic struggle, one point I thought I almost saved it as it was near straight but then spun right towards the grass. whilst sliding sideways I noticed engine light has stalled so restarted the engine and rejoin the track. looking back, thank god I barely missed the muddy infield or else I would've rolled painfully :/ (I saw a rolled racing fiat 500 in the facility)
Andy gray is braking his facelift SE and I certainly could do with the faster steering rack, hope it's compatible.
throughout the session I was stuck behind this flip-paint focus RS turbo. he obviously had the power advantage (416hp vs 162hp) creeping away down the straights but I was alot lighter (920kg vs 1700kg) so could brake alot later and corner faster and he was taking really bad cornering lines and holding me up.
the "overtake ONLY down the straights" rule alone is quite unfair cos it just favours the most powerful but heaviest car and queues up the lighter cars behind and can get frustrating cos it was like taking a casual stroll through the corners.
imo being able to stick behind his bumper throughout most of the several laps, marshalls should've blue flagged him so I can get onwards.
but for a short 15min run it was just a taster session suppose. I'd prefer now to go for quieter trackdays.
back at the stand I was admiring Neils brill-white march that's just against my stealth dark micra
nice wing mirror decals painted by a realative of neils
his office. I like the start button and gas-appliance-like fuel switches and hydraulic handbrake
fuel cell at the back
big brakes
big vented rear brakes
panhard bent slightly to shorten it
separate Avo coil & dampers
now this is interesting, the lower balljoint and tie-rod end has been extended down to keep the geometry good. I need to do this to mine to sort my roll center.
before neils briefing he wanted to warm up the car. the engine is so tight-strung with an extreme 15:1 compression that either it's too hard for the one gel-racing battery to crank, or his racing battery is getting old and can't hold enough juice, so he had to plug in a separate big heavy truck battery to assist.
after cold starting he had to manually hold throttle up cos there's no cold idle control and I noticed the exhaust sounded like badly misfiring on one cylinder.
the temp gauge rising at a good fast pace but when the thermostat open/closes it fluctuates too fast between 90 to 60 then 95, I think maybe the sensor or wiring is abit faulty.
as he's blipping the ITB to warm up, it sounds so good screaming like a superbike engine, phwoa luv the response it could rev upto 9k but he's keeping it below 7k to preserve such delicate rare car. once warmed up, the misfire had gone.
he went out for his run and did my best recording on a windy afternoon with a bad camera phone.
he did really well with good pace. had a gr8 time with him. he has a car lift at his farm house local to me and offered to arrange a meetup to inspect both cars in detail someday as he knows I specialise in micras and I could use his lift if kasandra needed work. I can't wait
he also knows a good supply of steel for me to practice welding cos he works on horses
arrived at 9:30, the gate ppl had to radio where I could park cos I'm not part of any clubs there, said there's space near pits.
drove around the pits, it looked pretty full but the only open spot I found was next to these classic funnycar dragsters, noticed the sign post labelled "featured", meh that'll do.
popped bonnet, apply my spec banner, went to the pits cafe to sign-in as driver.
on the way back there was bit of a crowd
then the funny car dragsters fired up to rev their V8, damn they're soo loud it hurts the ears I could tell I have serious social anxiety when alone in a strange place full of strangers with nothing to do (it would be uncomfortable for me to just stand there awaiting to respond like a robotic salesman). the only thing that comforts me for now is just focus on prepping the car and only respond when asked so I was just keeping myself busy checking oil, tyres, cameras, etc
10:45 went for briefing. as we're about to go on track at 11:30 I was abit anxious about where I'm gonna store all my tool stuff but Neil and my parents soon arrived just in time.
so good to see him, caroline and nismo march and a big relief. put my stuff in his truck, car's setup with 2/2.5 bars cold tyres, 15/30 dampers, 1/2 tank fuel, 50/50 brake bias
but no idea where to assemble for track so followed these civics over to the inspection paddock.
sound tested at 5.2k rpm, and away we go at croft surrounded by a big variety of cars. 1 warm up lap then mayhem as we all try to overtake each other.
at 06:15 before Jim clark esses I was hesitant bout overtaking this white civic before the fast bend, went through at a bad angle and the rear was abit sketchy. at the exiting sweeping right turn the traffic was bunching up so I mistakenly braked while mid-turning and that really upset the rear (too much rear bias?, too stiff rear dampers?, new front/old rear tyres?) and sent me into oversteer.
tried to countersteer and power but once again it didn't work, the crap PAS rack just doesn't steer enough so I had to apply more steering losing track of where it's pointing, it tank-slapped the other way towards barrier, steer the other way it was a frantic struggle, one point I thought I almost saved it as it was near straight but then spun right towards the grass. whilst sliding sideways I noticed engine light has stalled so restarted the engine and rejoin the track. looking back, thank god I barely missed the muddy infield or else I would've rolled painfully :/ (I saw a rolled racing fiat 500 in the facility)
Andy gray is braking his facelift SE and I certainly could do with the faster steering rack, hope it's compatible.
throughout the session I was stuck behind this flip-paint focus RS turbo. he obviously had the power advantage (416hp vs 162hp) creeping away down the straights but I was alot lighter (920kg vs 1700kg) so could brake alot later and corner faster and he was taking really bad cornering lines and holding me up.
the "overtake ONLY down the straights" rule alone is quite unfair cos it just favours the most powerful but heaviest car and queues up the lighter cars behind and can get frustrating cos it was like taking a casual stroll through the corners.
imo being able to stick behind his bumper throughout most of the several laps, marshalls should've blue flagged him so I can get onwards.
but for a short 15min run it was just a taster session suppose. I'd prefer now to go for quieter trackdays.
back at the stand I was admiring Neils brill-white march that's just
against my stealth dark micra
nice wing mirror decals painted by a realative of neils
his office. I like the start button and gas-appliance-like fuel switches and hydraulic handbrake
fuel cell at the back
big brakes
big vented rear brakes
panhard bent slightly to shorten it
separate Avo coil & dampers
now this is interesting, the lower balljoint and tie-rod end has been extended down to keep the geometry good. I need to do this to mine to sort my roll center.
before neils briefing he wanted to warm up the car. the engine is so tight-strung with an extreme 15:1 compression that either it's too hard for the one gel-racing battery to crank, or his racing battery is getting old and can't hold enough juice, so he had to plug in a separate big heavy truck battery to assist.
after cold starting he had to manually hold throttle up cos there's no cold idle control and I noticed the exhaust sounded like badly misfiring on one cylinder.
the temp gauge rising at a good fast pace but when the thermostat open/closes it fluctuates too fast between 90 to 60 then 95, I think maybe the sensor or wiring is abit faulty.
as he's blipping the ITB to warm up, it sounds so good screaming like a superbike engine, phwoa luv the response
it could rev upto 9k but he's keeping it below 7k to preserve such delicate rare car. once warmed up, the misfire had gone.he went out for his run and did my best recording on a windy afternoon with a bad camera phone.
he did really well with good pace. had a gr8 time with him. he has a car lift at his farm house local to me and offered to arrange a meetup to inspect both cars in detail someday as he knows I specialise in micras and I could use his lift if kasandra needed work. I can't wait
he also knows a good supply of steel for me to practice welding cos he works on horses
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pollyp
Club Member
the shielded cooled catch cans working nicely again
new front tyres full of trackside marbles and hardly worn cos I was barely able to push em hard
new front pads holding up nice
I just hope I'll be able to swap this PAS rack without much hassle
so one of my next todo is make this simple extension bar on a lathe
this is my lower arm angle at the moment lowered 50mm and it's quite level but with CoG somewhere 1/2 way up and soft springs, it rolls quite abit.
interesting to find that although the ball joint and tie-rod in Neils car has been extended down to almost touching the wheel, it's been lowered so much prob bout 80mm that the arms are pointing upwards more than mine.
but he does have a lower CoG, much lighter and stiffer springs so not as affected as my cruise liner.
new front tyres full of trackside marbles and hardly worn cos I was barely able to push em hard
new front pads holding up nice
I just hope I'll be able to swap this PAS rack without much hassle
so one of my next todo is make this simple extension bar on a lathe
this is my lower arm angle at the moment lowered 50mm and it's quite level but with CoG somewhere 1/2 way up and soft springs, it rolls quite abit.
interesting to find that although the ball joint and tie-rod in Neils car has been extended down to almost touching the wheel, it's been lowered so much prob bout 80mm that the arms are pointing upwards more than mine.
but he does have a lower CoG, much lighter and stiffer springs so not as affected as my cruise liner.
Fujiwara-Ben
Site Supporter
It's quite interesting to see how Neil has gone about sorting the angle of the wishbone.
Also, i'm sorry to say Paul but swapping steering racks is a right pain the the bottom. Pretty much everything gets in the way of it. I just hope you have more luck getting the track rod ends to shift as mine took alot of effort and even then i needed to replace one of them
Also, i'm sorry to say Paul but swapping steering racks is a right pain the the bottom. Pretty much everything gets in the way of it. I just hope you have more luck getting the track rod ends to shift as mine took alot of effort and even then i needed to replace one of them
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pollyp
Club Member
It's quite interesting to see how Neil has gone about sorting the angle of the wishbone.
Also, i'm sorry to say Paul but swapping steering racks is a right pain the the bottom. Pretty much everything gets in the way of it. I just hope you have more luck getting the track rod ends to shift as mine took alot of effort and even then i needed to replace one of them
neil brought it imported from someone. twas nismo team who modded it all.
as if my engine bay wasn't tight access enough. did you unscrew the steering arms off the rack beforehand or was it just seized on that's the difficulty? they are a screw-on type right? I also hope the size of column spline on this 1998 preface SLX matches andys facelift SE. apart from usual downpipe & center beam & gear rods & obligotry swearing, what else did you have to shift to get it out?
oh and I can imaging getting a spanner to loosen the racks rusty hydraulic fittings gonna be a right pita
Fujiwara-Ben
Site Supporter
It was the nuts on the track-rod ends that i had problems with. But thinking about it i could have just unwound the track rod ends from the rack. Undoing the pas hydraulic connections it's not too hard and if i remember correctly your universal joint on your steering column should work with the later pas rack. I only had to change my universal joint on my steering column and the non-pas rack has a smaller splined shaft.
One of the most difficult parts i found of the swap was getting the universal joint lined up and bolted up to the steering rack and getting the rack bolted up to the chassis. I guess as the rubber "U" mounts are a little oversized to stop the rack from moving which made getting the 4 M14 bolts back in was a real PITA. If you had another set of hands to help it makes life alot easier.
I wish you all the best Paul, you'll probably find the job a lot easier than i did.
*EDIT* You may have to disconnect your ARB from the wishbones to give you a bit more room when getting the steering rack out
One of the most difficult parts i found of the swap was getting the universal joint lined up and bolted up to the steering rack and getting the rack bolted up to the chassis. I guess as the rubber "U" mounts are a little oversized to stop the rack from moving which made getting the 4 M14 bolts back in was a real PITA. If you had another set of hands to help it makes life alot easier.
I wish you all the best Paul, you'll probably find the job a lot easier than i did.
*EDIT* You may have to disconnect your ARB from the wishbones to give you a bit more room when getting the steering rack out
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pollyp
Club Member
my nuts are alright
I'll see if I have a flare spanner to grip the hydraulic fittings better without rounding off. suppose I should grab the whole hydraulics system off andys micra just incase.yea my earlier non-pas also used a smaller spline than the newer pas rack.
maybe the M14 bolts were too short?
doesn't sound too bad of a challenge, I'll of course keep u posted
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pollyp
Club Member
that's what I'll find out from stripping andys SE apart. the turquoise 1998 SLX that most of my parts were originally from was built mid 1998 in the middle of the facelift phase so there's a hybrid of facelift stuff like full-size bosch ECU, different bay loom layout etc so maybe this PAS steering system could be a facelift size? if not then I'll make it fit
aye neils nismo march is an inspiring example to learn from. such an awesome car.
he's only ran it afew times but the potentially sad news is that cos it's so valuable & exclusive to him (only one in uk) and fragile and a specialised trailer queen, he plans to build another heated proper garage at his farm house to store all his collection to admire, much like chris evans museum, and he has a separate more versatile, road legal lotus elise to spend upgrades on that could drive to/from trackdays.
he's never been as far as blyton, only local ones like teesside and croft and some hill climbs.
next time he's thinking of taking the march to a trackday I'll letcha know to see it up close.
the specs of the car is quite an achievement. I'll be fascinated to check it all out on the ramp when I visit him
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pollyp
Club Member
Yea plus no lights, too low n hard for our roads, can't imagine the insurance premium and yeah a lot of custom parts. He's lucky the car already came with the trailer cos last owner didn't want it.
After successfully fitting the gearbox tonight, I cranked over the SuperS to make sure everything was hooked up, this time with plugs in. The standard battery has quite a hard time cranking at ~13:1. Don't think I'll bother with a lightweight battery anytime soon.
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pollyp
Club Member
seems the battery will need alot of cold cranking amperage juice and clean connections to crank over 13:1 comp
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pollyp
Club Member
I'm utter tired & filthy from going down to andys over the past few hot days stripping the engine bay of his SE, sweating buckets, amongst 3 lively sticky kids and few dogs.
arriving on tues, looking like a private micra dealership garden.
removed most of the front end ready for removing the engine but rain is a pita.
I compared the two steering racks and although they both have 3 turns lock-lock, mine travels 131mm whilst andys facelift SE only travels 117mm. same hub upright and same steering wheel dia so his micra actually has a slower rack and yet felt kinda shorter? maybe a placebo effect or the body roll from soft suspension or different PAS system strength?
so I gotta look elsewhere for upgrading the PAS rack.
we were curious bout whats inside the facelift carbon canister so cut the bottom out. a sprung loaded filter mesh
turned it over and spilt out alot of carbon granules on the floor
quite a simple plumbing inside, vapours just flow through the carbon filter
heading home after leaving the SE with madz camber
feels good to be home after squeeky clean shower.
a trip to neils place on Sat
arriving on tues, looking like a private micra dealership garden.
removed most of the front end ready for removing the engine but rain is a pita.
I compared the two steering racks and although they both have 3 turns lock-lock, mine travels 131mm whilst andys facelift SE only travels 117mm. same hub upright and same steering wheel dia so his micra actually has a slower rack and yet felt kinda shorter? maybe a placebo effect or the body roll from soft suspension or different PAS system strength?
so I gotta look elsewhere for upgrading the PAS rack.
we were curious bout whats inside the facelift carbon canister so cut the bottom out. a sprung loaded filter mesh
turned it over and spilt out alot of carbon granules on the floor
quite a simple plumbing inside, vapours just flow through the carbon filter
heading home after leaving the SE with madz camber
feels good to be home after squeeky clean shower.
a trip to neils place on Sat
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pollyp
Club Member
after the trip to Andys through the rain, the catch cans seem to work better now
the breather - inlet can has actually captured some vapour during boost, never seen it do that before
the crankcase to PCV can captured the usual amount
grabbed a boot lid strut from andys car, disassembled to assess how to fit it on the bonnet
the breather - inlet can has actually captured some vapour during boost, never seen it do that before
the crankcase to PCV can captured the usual amount
grabbed a boot lid strut from andys car, disassembled to assess how to fit it on the bonnet
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pollyp
Club Member
popped over to Neils farm house tday and into his nice man cave. he had an emergency call for work so we didn't have as much time.
checked over his lovely lotus exige that he'll be prepping for future trackdays.
popped kasandra on his 4 post ramp lift to look underneath. working under a ramp would be so much better than laying under my cold wet dirty garage.
now this cool view I've never seen before
didn't have time to get the nismo march off the trailer and on the ramp but have a brief browse around the lush bay.
there was alot of grounding cables everywhere. originally he had to take out so much excess grounding wires which weighed a hefty amount.
both the engine cover breathers flow into the catch can and out the small filter.
by running ITB there's no vac line for the brakes, PCV or fuel reg.
the fuel reg runs full pressure to the rail at all times.
the bigger MC has no booster.
same OMP upper brace as mine. no camber adjustable coilover, only a tiny damper adjuster.
ITB with injector rail under the trumpets
non-assisted MC
the small temp gauge sensor ain't used, the ECU coolant sensor plugs into the standalone manager and strangely there's this exposed temp sensor on the bulkhead probably for reading air inlet ambient temp for the ITB.
separate ignition coil via the red HT lead.
both the alternator & water pump use very thin, lightweight but teethed belts & pulleys to ensure no slipping.
remote oil filter with oil cooler
bloody hell check out these insane brakes
4 pot calipers with a very very thick vented discs maybe from a skyline? maybe abit overkill for an NA 150hp racer that weighs bout a crisp packet?
a thin hub spacer to clear the calipers. same 1.3 gearbox
detail of the extended lower rose joint. a nut & plate welded onto the end of the lower arm. I may have to do mine like that
part of the original wings trimmed back to clear the tyres and nismo arches bolted on. plastic arch liner obviously no longer fits
only height & damper adjustable coilovers, looks like TEIN from the green coils?
oil seals probably damaged cos it's all oily
tie-rod rose joint also extended down.
interesting fact about his steering. I noticed his rack has hydraulic PAS pipes but the inlet side is plugged up, so he's running unassisted PAS rack.
it has only 2.25 turns lock-lock and travels 137mm so it's alot quicker than mine
wish we had more time to fully inspect all of the nismo march so I could also note his PAS rack psrt#
checked over his lovely lotus exige that he'll be prepping for future trackdays.
popped kasandra on his 4 post ramp lift to look underneath. working under a ramp would be so much better than laying under my cold wet dirty garage.
now this cool view I've never seen before
didn't have time to get the nismo march off the trailer and on the ramp but have a brief browse around the lush bay.
there was alot of grounding cables everywhere. originally he had to take out so much excess grounding wires which weighed a hefty amount.
both the engine cover breathers flow into the catch can and out the small filter.
by running ITB there's no vac line for the brakes, PCV or fuel reg.
the fuel reg runs full pressure to the rail at all times.
the bigger MC has no booster.
same OMP upper brace as mine. no camber adjustable coilover, only a tiny damper adjuster.
ITB with injector rail under the trumpets
non-assisted MC
the small temp gauge sensor ain't used, the ECU coolant sensor plugs into the standalone manager and strangely there's this exposed temp sensor on the bulkhead probably for reading air inlet ambient temp for the ITB.
separate ignition coil via the red HT lead.
both the alternator & water pump use very thin, lightweight but teethed belts & pulleys to ensure no slipping.
remote oil filter with oil cooler
bloody hell check out these insane brakes
4 pot calipers with a very very thick vented discs maybe from a skyline? maybe abit overkill for an NA 150hp racer that weighs bout a crisp packet?
a thin hub spacer to clear the calipers. same 1.3 gearbox
detail of the extended lower rose joint. a nut & plate welded onto the end of the lower arm. I may have to do mine like that
part of the original wings trimmed back to clear the tyres and nismo arches bolted on. plastic arch liner obviously no longer fits
only height & damper adjustable coilovers, looks like TEIN from the green coils?
oil seals probably damaged cos it's all oily
tie-rod rose joint also extended down.
interesting fact about his steering. I noticed his rack has hydraulic PAS pipes but the inlet side is plugged up, so he's running unassisted PAS rack.
it has only 2.25 turns lock-lock and travels 137mm so it's alot quicker than mine
wish we had more time to fully inspect all of the nismo march so I could also note his PAS rack psrt#
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pollyp
Club Member
doing a rough calc of how much angle the lower ball joint swivels throughout the travel.
the strut travels 105mm from full droop to bump stop
in it's current state with the ball joint close to the hub, the joint swivels 18.95deg
the track width between the front wheels throughout travel would pull inwards by upto 1.29mm inducing +ve camber
by extending the lower ball joint 40mm from the hub, the joint will swivel abit more at 19.07deg
the wheel track width will swing wider upto 23.36mm throughout travel which induces more -ve camber to help cornering
to help keep the rose joint or ball joint centered within it's working swivel range so it doesn't potentially bind, I've calc it would need to be tilted at 21.35deg relative to the arm length.
most rose joints stat a swivel range of upto 30deg so my suspension travel should be well within that range.
the strut travels 105mm from full droop to bump stop
in it's current state with the ball joint close to the hub, the joint swivels 18.95deg
the track width between the front wheels throughout travel would pull inwards by upto 1.29mm inducing +ve camber
by extending the lower ball joint 40mm from the hub, the joint will swivel abit more at 19.07deg
the wheel track width will swing wider upto 23.36mm throughout travel which induces more -ve camber to help cornering
to help keep the rose joint or ball joint centered within it's working swivel range so it doesn't potentially bind, I've calc it would need to be tilted at 21.35deg relative to the arm length.
most rose joints stat a swivel range of upto 30deg so my suspension travel should be well within that range.
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pollyp
Club Member
it's impossible to raise the chassis mounts without serious surgery cos it's right under the chassis.
the ideal direct fit solution is to find a ball joint for other cars (roll center kits?) that matches the existing diameters but with a 40mm longer shaft between the joint & tapered stud.
I roughly measured the current standard ball joint fits in a hole thats 35mm dia x 10mm high and the total length is 80mm. I need to find a ball joint thats 120mm long
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pollyp
Club Member
I'm looking to angle the arm upto 30-40mm and there's afew obsticles against trying to change the chassis mount ends.
there's only bout 5mm of clearance between the arm and the chassis. moving it any further up requires alot of time & cost in modifying the chassis for more space.
cutting and modding the chassis to mount the suspension loads where it was never meant for will compromise it's strength.
all that effort for shifting just the front bush higher will shift the whole geometry WAYY off for the worse, strain the rear bush till failure, alter caster throughout travel.
the ball/rose joint will still be in-line with the arm so the lateral/longitudinal forces will still be going through the structure. the difference is the length of the stud (between ball joint to hub) which is still bolted solidly to the hub.
I think what you're worried about are the fake incorrect type of ball joint extenders where the ball-joint - arm casing is lengthened but the ball-joint - hub remains short. this fake type doesn't alter the pivot point and also puts extra bending strain on the arm.
I think trying to find the correct direct-fit ball joint kit will be extremely difficult plus I won't be able to adjust the amount of extension to match my setup.
by using a beefy rose-joint and machining my own extension rod, I'll have far more control in geometry, may cost less, faster to source material to begin and will cover & grease it for reliability.
