Megasquirt construction project

Just thought I'd mention I have finally made my choice, and after 2500 miles on the 1.1 8v fiat ecu, have decided to go megasquirt, probably rack up a few thousahnd more before its ready though

I am buying parts and PCB, and doing the soldering, assembly and loom myself

The motivating factors are:

Cost
Customisability
Knowing my car inside out and having a lot of fun and troubles to look back on

I will be buying the parts from Bill, and hopefully receive them soon, just awaiting his reply.

I already have an LC1 WB lambda and and handy with a soldering iron, so hopefully it will go ok!

Wish me luck

Kristian

good luck just as you wanted

good luck with it mate. i was tempted to build mine, then changed my mind as it'd just throw something else into the mix that might not work!

Cheers guys!

Hopefully it will go ok, and obviously this thread isn't just a wish me luck. It will be updated on all my progress, problems and successes!! Just like the engine swap thread.

I think it will be quite an easy job, and man, do i miss the smell of lead/solder, flux, burning flesh, insulation, and boggle eyes from soldering with microscopes (hopefully not on this job )

Kristian

lol thats not good,burning flesh hurts and lead is bad for you....but ahwell,so is everything

once you've done it on your sei you can come and do it on my Rallye if you like

Hey man, if you can make brakes look that good whats a wire or two?

Beware cutting the Lambda wires (I wanted a custom fit ) Those Lambda wires are steel and a pig to solder

Are you creating your own sub loom to connect? Or going the relay route?
You'll need a stimulator to test during the build and afterward. You going megasquirt 2?

hehe, lambda wires thats what the LC-1 is for

The loom is already hacked from fitting the engine, so I'm going to source the correct connectors, and go direct from the MS plug, custom loom, to connectors with no joins in between.

No relay box as I don't see the need tbh.

I will have the "stock" MS box with the kit, but may swap it for a more durable unit and keep it in the bay

@Alex, If its easy enough, just give a shout Judge by this thread whether its worth asking

Kristian

That's what I thought, only the ends on the LC1 wire is copper, shorten that lead and the rest of the Lambda connector is steel.

OK, cool I won't go shortening the wires then

Well its all time you feared my amazing photoshop skills!!!!! (not the fact i wanted to hide the other bits on my desk )



The parcel arrived today! I still need a second coil driver, which Bill has on back order, but this is 99% of it excluding me making a loom.

£165 gets the PCB, casing, and all the required components delivered

I plan to uprate the IC socket holder to a heavy duty one with clips, but generally it's all there

I am going MS1 (v3) for now, but can do an exchange in the future with my IC for the MS2 board which works out no difference in the long run

Sadly I can't start until the weekend, but I plan a few weeks for the job as it is.

I am going to run MS with a ford idle valve, LC-1 wideband lambda, and a base map from Phil, and tune up from there. However I'm sure there are some n/a punto's and cento's out there that I can work from.... part of the reason i chose MS, the open community .



At present I'm unsure where to mount it? i guess it the bay, but I may need better housing, or should I move it into the cabin?


All in all, i'm excited and also daunted at the ££ outlayed and major learning curve ahead and reading ahead.

If only I could find my Fischer Price (TM) Soldering for School Kids set I could have started tonight


Kristian

not a bad price,ill think about it harder now.lol.does it give you step by step instruction of how to do it??lol i like simple things

If you buy a kit like me, no instructions at all but the MegaManual is where its all at, and the forums

If you have never soldered before, it will be a bit tricky, and prob best to start on a cheaper project/kit, but if you've done even the slightest soldering before, you should be fine

Kristian

Just an update, I got the kit about a week ago and promptly started assembling however it soon became apparent that a stimulator was required to power and test the board during the build, queue another wait and a further £37 and the stim arrived tonight.

I got the stimulator built earlier, and carried on MS assembly, and am please to say, it now communicates with the laptop

I have a LOT more soldering to do, all the inputs etc, but it's coming along nicely

Pics to follow in a day or two!

Kristian

Well, 7000 miles later on the stock ecu and it still no where near done lol

Here is the stimulator I built, it works fine and as advertised



Here's where I'm at with the MS itself:



As my car runs, I don't have the drive to make a big push and get it done ASAP, however it talks to the PC, the inputs are all working. At present i have wired the dual coil outputs. I just needs some of the regulator and damping circuits and its all done excluding the wireing warness that I have to make (I may have a big help from Dave on that front though)

It looks a MESS at the moment with wires hanging off everywhere lol

For anyone contemplating doing this, be aware that due to all the projects branches, options etc that you can take, there are LOTS of changes, some messy, bridges, wires, and nasty hacks to get everything to the spec you need....I just hope it all works.

Nice thing about buying pre built, your not exposed to all of this, and just get a nice shiny product.

The MicoSquirt looks like a great product if your not after the DIY approach.

Hopefully a week or two and it will be finished and running, but knowing my pace so far, it will probably be longer

Kristian