As to be expected, there have been a few teething problems.. thought you might wanna know whats what.
Cold starting.. man, that IS a problem. It has never ever not started when i wanted it to, but it takes some serious persuading when its cold out. This is down to the cold start mapping not being correct, and the complete lack of any sort of ECU air control. I'm going to fit a PWM idle valve from another car for now to give the ECU at least some level of control. The cold start mapping is just going to take time, and i knew this would take a while!
Huge battery. This is fantastic and very forgiving of the cold start problem! My starter turns the engine at around 400rpm.. that be quick, a good 150rpm on a lot of other cars. This might be partial due to me uprating all the cabling to the starter motor and altenator etc.
Brakes. Taking some getting used to. Good pedal feel now, can happily brake progressivly but if i jab the pedal can lock the wheels in any conditions. I've played with braking on corners just to see how the car would react, and it is nice and stable with no twitchy back end.
Mouse. There is a mouse in the engine bay, he's not there often - and doesnt say much, but ive heard a squeak at idle a few times. Will investigate.
Gauges. they look lovely, but they're not much use in the sun.. convex frotnts means glare! also, the wire on the sender of the oil pressure gauge is loose.. meaning it reads 7bar all the time. Its a pain in the bottom to reconnect the wire but i'll get to it.
Cooling system. Small issue with this one. The second lambda hole in the SS exhaust manifold exits near the main waterpipe junction, i had to pack it with exhaust wrap and leave the EGT probe touching the water pipes. This has half pulled the pipe off the main waterpump pipe off the block, and the jubliee clip has split the pipe. It mostly holds pressure, but vents steam when hot. I've got the cooling pipes of a Seicento MPI now. I will rejig the cooling system, maybe tomorrow. Re-routing the pipe to the expansion tank too.
Exhaust. I knew this would be a problem. I had a standard centre section, and my decat pipe was sat on my ARB. dampened slightly by some exhaust wrap, but still not right. Took it to unique exhausts in stafford (seriously recomend this guy to anyone in the area) and got a straight through centre section made up and fitted. Exhaust is now bob on.
That's all for now. I'm loving driving her again, and i tell you what - new suspension bushes make one hell of a difference to the handling.
Cold starting.. man, that IS a problem. It has never ever not started when i wanted it to, but it takes some serious persuading when its cold out. This is down to the cold start mapping not being correct, and the complete lack of any sort of ECU air control. I'm going to fit a PWM idle valve from another car for now to give the ECU at least some level of control. The cold start mapping is just going to take time, and i knew this would take a while!
Huge battery. This is fantastic and very forgiving of the cold start problem! My starter turns the engine at around 400rpm.. that be quick, a good 150rpm on a lot of other cars. This might be partial due to me uprating all the cabling to the starter motor and altenator etc.
Brakes. Taking some getting used to. Good pedal feel now, can happily brake progressivly but if i jab the pedal can lock the wheels in any conditions. I've played with braking on corners just to see how the car would react, and it is nice and stable with no twitchy back end.
Mouse. There is a mouse in the engine bay, he's not there often - and doesnt say much, but ive heard a squeak at idle a few times. Will investigate.
Gauges. they look lovely, but they're not much use in the sun.. convex frotnts means glare! also, the wire on the sender of the oil pressure gauge is loose.. meaning it reads 7bar all the time. Its a pain in the bottom to reconnect the wire but i'll get to it.
Cooling system. Small issue with this one. The second lambda hole in the SS exhaust manifold exits near the main waterpipe junction, i had to pack it with exhaust wrap and leave the EGT probe touching the water pipes. This has half pulled the pipe off the main waterpump pipe off the block, and the jubliee clip has split the pipe. It mostly holds pressure, but vents steam when hot. I've got the cooling pipes of a Seicento MPI now. I will rejig the cooling system, maybe tomorrow. Re-routing the pipe to the expansion tank too.
Exhaust. I knew this would be a problem. I had a standard centre section, and my decat pipe was sat on my ARB. dampened slightly by some exhaust wrap, but still not right. Took it to unique exhausts in stafford (seriously recomend this guy to anyone in the area) and got a straight through centre section made up and fitted. Exhaust is now bob on.
That's all for now. I'm loving driving her again, and i tell you what - new suspension bushes make one hell of a difference to the handling.