Bainzy
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Everything posted by Bainzy
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Thanks Alec, good idea. Drove the car today with the map I used to have, much better! The engine feels so much stronger, and the throttle response feels more like I remember it being on carbs - albeit now with much more power and smoothness because it's injected. It's funny how the ignition map changes the throttle feel so much. I'm more keen now to get hold of a knock module for the MS3, particularly as tuning EFI for 16:5.1 on cruise is getting into unchartered territory. People are reporting success with it on all manner of engines, I just need to think of a good location to mount the sensor.
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Starting to look at ignition timing now, particularly after I realised I wasn't running the ignition map I thought I was! Turns out I mustn't have saved the map when copying across from Megajolt to Megasquirt, and had been running a really conservative default map. Anyway, now that I'm running EFI, I can consistently run 16.5:1 AFRs at cruising loads, which from what I understand needs even *more* advance than 14.7:1. So what I'm thinking is that I can start off with whatever effective value the factory distributors would give on a vacuum advance unit, and then work on increasing it from there. Looking at the maps that other people are using, the cruise areas seem really conservative. Rob's map was around 24-33 degrees in this area, and Paul Geithner's is fairly similar, albeit a little bit higher at higher rpm cruising areas. Wasn't the factory vacuum advance giving an effective timing of something around 35-45 degrees?
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Still a bit confused as to why you've gone for that location for a thermostat. Triumph engines are a very different design from the K series, don't often suffer from head gasket failures, and when they do the cause is something that could've easily been prevented, like silted up waterways, rubbish maintenance, excessive compression, etc. I really wouldn't feel comfortable at all having a stat like that. Controlling the water temperature going IN gives you a lot less control over engine temperature than controlling the water going OUT. Sorry if I'm being a bit blunt but it seems like a poor solution to a problem that doesn't exist! FWIW, I'm running a very sensitive Bosch water temperature sensor on my Spitfire 1500, and that system runs with an 88c thermostat. Over 20 minutes of driving, you'd be lucky if the system budges more than 1 degree C up or down. The only time it moves is when coming to a stop, when the electric fan will then keep it cool depending on where I set it. With a decent condition radiator and clean waterways, the original system works exceptionally well. If you're into tinkering, why not try an electric water pump?
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Guess it was inevitable really. Throwing EFI (with 2 fuel pumps), heated seats, subwoofer amp, electric fan and then an idle valve at it must have pushed it over the edge. Had to be jump started 3 times on the way home from work tonight as the alternator wasn't doing anything, and now the battery is probably toast too as jump starting didn't work on the third try. Now I know you're probably thinking I should've uprated it straight away, but it never seemed to have issues before the last few weeks coping with everything i threw at it, and I had no idea what amperage rating it actually was. The previous owner fitted it as a straight swap Lucas item, from a massey ferguson tractor supplier, but couldn't remember what rating it was and Lucas were totally useless in helping me identify what part or rating it was. So I'm hoping this will do the job - any opinions before I order it? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-TRIUMPH-SPITFIRE-GT6-UPRATED-ALTERNATOR-65AMP-/160949293482?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item25795351aa What about this 75A one? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-CANAL-BOAT-ALTERNATOR-HIGH-OUTPUT-75-AMP-A127-TYPE-DUAL-TERMINATION-/170896355105?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27ca376f21 Would've thought it was higher rating than what's in there now, as in the past 10 years of use the current one hasn't burnt out the original loom at all and it's still just using the one brown wire to the solenoid. I will inevitably have to add a helper wire for it to cope with 65A. Just don't really want to buy the wrong thing as money is a bit tight at the moment, so this £100+ spend has not come at a good time!
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Doesn't sound normal. Are you sure the ignition and valve timing is correct? Can you check the idle advance with a strobe?
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My advice having done EFI would be fit the parts that are best suited to what you want to create, not the ones that just happen to be conveniently sourced. Otherwise what's the point of spending all that time/expense on it to still be left with loads of compromises? As Paul remarked about the throttle bodies, most of the hardware can be sourced via OEM items off scrapped cars for little money, especially if you're in no rush and can afford to sit waiting for ebay bargains. It's primarily the ECU and all the little plumbing & electrical components that tend to make it expensive.
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If it moves towards the carb side of the engine, you're getting more advance. If it moves towards the dizzy side of the engine, you're getting less.
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Depends what he marks the value as. Don't know how the cooling efficiency compares but the aluminium ones should be considerably lighter than copper.
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http://triumphspitfire.rickbaines.com/files/2013/04/ignitionmap.png This might be a bit hard to copy across given that there's so many bins (and how it doesn't work in quite the same way as your 123) but hopefully should give you some direction to play with.
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In Brighton at the minute but will try remember to post my ignition map from the megasquirt when I get back on Monday (PM me if I forget) - it works fabulously on carbs or injection with a standard 1500 and TSSC exhaust manifold. It's almost exactly the same as Rob's first Megajolt map.
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They tend to rot there from the inside out, because they always leak water in there. Mine used to fill up with water when washing it, until I brush waxoyled the boot gutter panels, seams that the rear horseshoe shaped trims sit on, and the seams at the top of the wing (under the metal finisher). Don't know which one specifically caused the leak (couldve been all three!) but it's okay now. Might be something to consider to stop it getting worse.
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015. Bit better than the 038 and still small and lightweight.
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Nick, whilst you have the sump out, have you thought about putting an oil temp sensor boss in there? I'm not sure if the Microsquirt supports it (I notice that it has 2 spare inputs though) but you could wire one up to get datalogs of the oil temp and see how it changes depending on driving conditions, oil cooler setups etc. One could even set a temp limit that changes engine parameters in the even of oil overheating. I think I'm gonna get a boss welded to my sump for it, as you can just use the standard GM CLT sensor everyone uses for coolant temp and a 3/8" NPT steel bung which is a few quid for each. Then I'll know how effective the thermostatic 13 row oil cooler is, how much stress I put on the oil when thrashing the car or on motorway trips, and might even see how effective a water/oil heat exchanger is compared to an air cooled oil cooler at keeping the oil cool and reducing warmup time (and thus engine wear).
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Haha true Chris but it's not running carbs either! Has all the EFI parts ready to start up when I fix a leaking o-ring and do up all the coolant hoses with clips when they arrive. That's literally all I have between now and it's first startup. Yeah I'm thinking your CR might be quite high Tim. You've had it decked, but also isn't the 2.5 litre engine higher compression than 9:1 anyway at 9.5:1? I guess I could skim the head but it'd be a bit pointless spending £40 on it when the new one is getting prepared. Might just leave the cam off until I have it done, as that'll give me an incentive to crack on with porting the short side radius. If I had a depth gauge that I trusted for taking off the 2mm from the ports I'd probably start it next week, I just didn't really feel confident with the DIY one I'd made.
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Whats your GT6's static compression with that head Tim? 9:1?
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Would it still be worthwhile installing a TR5 profile cam in a Spitfire 1500, without upping the compression? It'd be going in a standard engine but with a tubular exhaust manifold and wasted spark ignition + efi. Only reason I ask is that the cylinder head being prepared for it won't be ready for ages, and it seems a shame to have it sat here unused.
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Oh cool, that's also the battery I have in my Spitfire :(
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The technique I used to use is take the wheel off then stand on them. Better to take the wheel off than lose one down the road...
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New float needles - give grose jets a try, they stopped mine sticking open (which used to cause leaks).
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Only tool you need is a hairdrier. Get it really warm before you install it and it should just push in easily and bend freely. Mine was very slightly short too, though with careful positioning of the corner pieces I've pretty much hid it. Annoying though, suppliers cheaping out over 2cm of material ends up ruining the finish of someones car.
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That was the route I was originally going to take, except using a single TB on a plenum. Problem was, I realised the plenum won't fit in the Spitfire engine bay unless it's cut down and reshaped (like Carl Heinlein's PI Spitfire), so if you use this manifold you're stuck with huge throttle plates or a really odd shaped DIY plenum. Suppose they could be made to work really well with a lot of care balancing and would look great, but not really my ideal solution.
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4545 wrote:Don't heritage make new 1500 tanks? Yep, theyre about £200. They are galvanised, which would make them a lot better long term than an original as I don't think the originals were.
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My old twin exhaust made the Spitfire sound like an F1 car! Took it off to get more ground clearance and fitted a phoenix large bore exhaust. Doesn't looks as good but its nice in its own way with a deep rumble, and gave the car noticeably more torque/power in the lower rev ranges. Wonder what two large bore exhausts set up like the commonly available twin exhaust would be like?
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^ think that's how the previous owner did my car
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I might have some in the garage that's usable, though from what I remember when I took it off the hardtop (to fit new) it had become extremely brittle. Must have been original from 1980. Will have a look for you this weekend if nobody else has anything newer, PM me if I forget.