2012 to Current project log for my T2 83 S
07-26-12, 08:48 AM
#52
Thanks for the compliments guys. As I mentioned in an earlier post I've been busy putting a new floor and insulated walls in my shop. I still have more work to do, but it's starting to look like a shop again. Anyway, I took some time to do more polishing the other night and that's going well. Last night I decided to dust off the Megasquirt and start messing around with that again.
I'm sure most of you have heard of the Megasquirt, but for those who haven't it's a DIY engine management computer. If you buy the kit (like I did) it comes as a board, and dozens of bags (clearly marked thankfully) of resisters, diodes, capacitors etc that all need to be soldered onto the board. It's a very well thought out product with lots of documentation out there. Lots of reading (call it homework if you like) is needed to attack a project like this, but in the end you'll learn a lot, I know I have.
I got my kit back in January and assembled it over the winter. Because I was too busy soldering and making sure I didn't mess anything up, I really didn't take any pics of it during assembly. I have a pic of the stimulator (basically a board with inputs and outputs that simulate engine sensors, and ignition/injectors etc). I'm sure I have a pic of the assembled board somewhere, but it's not on my computer here unfortunately...
Assembly went pretty smooth, but every time I went to work on actually setting up the firmware and basic settings etc it was either late (being tired and trying to program it = bad idea) or just not in the mood (I work at a desk all day, difficult to come home and sit at a computer after that, for me at least...)
Fast forward to last night, decided it was time to finally look at it again, and work out some problems I was having (namely no outputs working, and it thinking the "engine" was doing 65,000 rpm lol) and after updating both TunderStudio, and the firmware (the latest version has some nice, easier to use Rotary specific stuff in it) and messing around for a while I got it to work! All the inputs and outputs seem to be working as they should and no errors are coming up. I can't tell you how rewarding it was to finally see the on screen gauges respond lol
I'll stop babbling now, sorry I don't have too many good pics, but I'll post the few that I do (again they suck) Oh and for those interested, its a V3.0 board with MS3 and MS3X cards. The Ms3x makes life easy when installing this on a Rotary...
I'm sure most of you have heard of the Megasquirt, but for those who haven't it's a DIY engine management computer. If you buy the kit (like I did) it comes as a board, and dozens of bags (clearly marked thankfully) of resisters, diodes, capacitors etc that all need to be soldered onto the board. It's a very well thought out product with lots of documentation out there. Lots of reading (call it homework if you like) is needed to attack a project like this, but in the end you'll learn a lot, I know I have.
I got my kit back in January and assembled it over the winter. Because I was too busy soldering and making sure I didn't mess anything up, I really didn't take any pics of it during assembly. I have a pic of the stimulator (basically a board with inputs and outputs that simulate engine sensors, and ignition/injectors etc). I'm sure I have a pic of the assembled board somewhere, but it's not on my computer here unfortunately...
Assembly went pretty smooth, but every time I went to work on actually setting up the firmware and basic settings etc it was either late (being tired and trying to program it = bad idea) or just not in the mood (I work at a desk all day, difficult to come home and sit at a computer after that, for me at least...)
Fast forward to last night, decided it was time to finally look at it again, and work out some problems I was having (namely no outputs working, and it thinking the "engine" was doing 65,000 rpm lol) and after updating both TunderStudio, and the firmware (the latest version has some nice, easier to use Rotary specific stuff in it) and messing around for a while I got it to work! All the inputs and outputs seem to be working as they should and no errors are coming up. I can't tell you how rewarding it was to finally see the on screen gauges respond lol
I'll stop babbling now, sorry I don't have too many good pics, but I'll post the few that I do (again they suck) Oh and for those interested, its a V3.0 board with MS3 and MS3X cards. The Ms3x makes life easy when installing this on a Rotary...
07-26-12, 08:57 AM
#53
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i hate MS but at least you are using V2. still looking good man. I cant wait to see this at the DGRR next year. and you will finally see mine there (unless bad luck strikes). are you going to rotorfest next month? I was planning on attending in my SA but I wont have exhaust yet and will barely have it tuned.
07-26-12, 09:17 AM
#54
82transam:
glad to see you started playing with your megasquirt again. part of me wishes i bought the stimulators for bench testing, hopefully ill be fine without. how long you think til you start wiring her up?
damn, how/why do you hate it? its a pretty amazing diy product that offers lots of control and an amazing learning experience working with efi computers.
glad to see you started playing with your megasquirt again. part of me wishes i bought the stimulators for bench testing, hopefully ill be fine without. how long you think til you start wiring her up?
damn, how/why do you hate it? its a pretty amazing diy product that offers lots of control and an amazing learning experience working with efi computers.
07-26-12, 09:29 AM
#55
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you are correct sir, I just had bad expeirence with them is all. I fried a board and got a bad one as a replacement (replaced free minus shipping). when all was said and done I was on the third one before I was able to work it. then I sold my car. I have seen it go both ways and aws long as you do it right it works great. I also heard some horror stories when V3 came out and some people where going back to v2 but i think the oproblems were all user error anyway
07-26-12, 09:36 AM
#56
Yeah I'm curious why you don't like the MS either... I've learned a ton just through researching and building it, and still have a lot more that I'll learn when I actually go to install it in the car.
As for the Stims, I was hesitant to buy them as well. They aren't break the bank expensive, but they aren't cheap either. Honestly though I'm glad I did. It had been many years since I soldered anything that small, so it was good practice. Plus I was having some very basic issues with the general setup in TunerStudio (all my fault, just part of the learning curve) that would have been a royal pain in the *** to figure out on an actual engine. Now I know all the basic inputs and outputs on the thing work and can focus on the tune itself.
As for when I'll get to put it on the car, that's up in the air. I have several (read: too many) other projects that I'm trying to juggle, and some other stuff going on. I've also got a few things that would need to change on the engine before I could run it. Namely the S5 omp has to go away. I have an S4 front cover and omp that I plan to use, but changing it isn't exactly a 5 minute job lol. I could run premix, but then I won't be able to use after run fuel cut, and I've heard of guys having jerking or studdering problems...
So, the short answer is "soon" lol. I'm sure you'll have your MS up and running before I do.
As for the Stims, I was hesitant to buy them as well. They aren't break the bank expensive, but they aren't cheap either. Honestly though I'm glad I did. It had been many years since I soldered anything that small, so it was good practice. Plus I was having some very basic issues with the general setup in TunerStudio (all my fault, just part of the learning curve) that would have been a royal pain in the *** to figure out on an actual engine. Now I know all the basic inputs and outputs on the thing work and can focus on the tune itself.
As for when I'll get to put it on the car, that's up in the air. I have several (read: too many) other projects that I'm trying to juggle, and some other stuff going on. I've also got a few things that would need to change on the engine before I could run it. Namely the S5 omp has to go away. I have an S4 front cover and omp that I plan to use, but changing it isn't exactly a 5 minute job lol. I could run premix, but then I won't be able to use after run fuel cut, and I've heard of guys having jerking or studdering problems...
So, the short answer is "soon" lol. I'm sure you'll have your MS up and running before I do.
07-26-12, 09:37 AM
#57
you are correct sir, I just had bad expeirence with them is all. I fried a board and got a bad one as a replacement (replaced free minus shipping). when all was said and done I was on the third one before I was able to work it. then I sold my car. I have seen it go both ways and aws long as you do it right it works great. I also heard some horror stories when V3 came out and some people where going back to v2 but i think the oproblems were all user error anyway
07-26-12, 09:44 AM
#58
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yeah bro, I didnt want to **** up your thread. your car is amazing and I am glad you are working on it. I just wish mine was on the road and even more now that it is done minus all the things needed to be considered streetable
07-26-12, 09:47 AM
#59
dream36realms: yea i agree that the ms could be a real pain in the *** to diagnose and repair, that does suck you had a bad experiance, but i think diyautotune has really got good documentation now and even better kits.
82transam: well at least there is some progress in that direction
front cover swaps can be a really pain in the car too. I hope to see more ms updates soon. good job sir!
82transam: well at least there is some progress in that direction
front cover swaps can be a really pain in the car too. I hope to see more ms updates soon. good job sir!
07-26-12, 10:32 AM
#60
Yeah, with any luck I won't have any major hardware problems to diagnose with this thing lol.
DIYautotune is a great site, I've been really happy with them so far.
Still more wetsanding and polishing to do on the car, it needs longer wheel studs and a bunch of other little things as well. Busy busy...
dream36realms - not sure if I'm going to Rotorfest or not. Back in like 02-06 I went to any meet I could and honestly just got bored of them. I've been wanting to go to DGRR for a while now, but it never seems to work out....
DIYautotune is a great site, I've been really happy with them so far.
Still more wetsanding and polishing to do on the car, it needs longer wheel studs and a bunch of other little things as well. Busy busy...
dream36realms - not sure if I'm going to Rotorfest or not. Back in like 02-06 I went to any meet I could and honestly just got bored of them. I've been wanting to go to DGRR for a while now, but it never seems to work out....
07-26-12, 10:42 AM
#61
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well if you got the double flare tool used for brake hard lines I would be very happy to borrow it and return it with some $$ attached. other than that I got basic wiring and exhaust work and she is completely done. oh and a hood solution but i dont mind banging my TB into the hood for the time being
07-26-12, 01:57 PM
#62
Harbor freight actually sells that thing pretty cheap. I got mine at my local Napa for like $40. You could find them at autozone/pepboys etc as well. It's real easy to use, and if you are using just regular brake line (not stainless or anything) you can make most, if not all of the bends needed by hand....
08-06-12, 09:32 AM
#63
Time for another update. First on a non car related note - I got engaged over the weekend so that will surely take up a lot of my time in the coming months lol, but she helped me dig dirt out of my shop to put a new floor in and has been learning about the MS3 with me so she can help me tune it. If that's not a keeper I don't know what is
On the megasquirt front I bought the DIY auto tune harnesses for both the main board and the MS3X, as well as a large assortment of Weatherpack connectors to wire it all up (I'm also planning to replace most/all of the other connectors in the engine bay - like headlight motors etc with them as well to clean it up)
I also got my wideband in the mail as well. It's a Autometer Cobalt to match my other gauges. I'm planning to install that soon so I can get an idea of what the stock ECU does as far as AFR's. This will give me some kind of baseline to shoot for when I start to tune the MS.
I have also been working on making new strut towers that will be 1" higher than stock. When I put the FC subframe in my car I wanted to retain the FB shocks and springs I had (tokico blues and eibach springs) To do that I used the bottom half of a FC strut assembly, with the spring perch and upper half of a FB assembly welded to it (you can see pics in my FC subframe writeup). Anyway the ride height came out perfect, but in order to achieve that the spring is very close to the tire, in fact it actually rubs quite often. Additionally, it puts the strut very low in it's travel (compresses it an inch or two) which is no good. The car handles well, but there is too much bounce in the front end. To solve this I decided to make my own version of the old Racing Beat front lowering kit so I can move the strut and spring up an inch. After much cutting (got to play with the plasma cutter!), welding and grinding I'm almost done with the new tower for one side (need to clean up a few edges still). I still have to finish the other side, and then actually install them on the car (and redo my strut assemblies) but I'm hoping to have this done in the next week or two.
The heat and humidity here has been ridiculous, so welding and grinding aren't exactly the most fun things to be doing right now lol
Anyway, enjoy!
On the megasquirt front I bought the DIY auto tune harnesses for both the main board and the MS3X, as well as a large assortment of Weatherpack connectors to wire it all up (I'm also planning to replace most/all of the other connectors in the engine bay - like headlight motors etc with them as well to clean it up)
I also got my wideband in the mail as well. It's a Autometer Cobalt to match my other gauges. I'm planning to install that soon so I can get an idea of what the stock ECU does as far as AFR's. This will give me some kind of baseline to shoot for when I start to tune the MS.
I have also been working on making new strut towers that will be 1" higher than stock. When I put the FC subframe in my car I wanted to retain the FB shocks and springs I had (tokico blues and eibach springs) To do that I used the bottom half of a FC strut assembly, with the spring perch and upper half of a FB assembly welded to it (you can see pics in my FC subframe writeup). Anyway the ride height came out perfect, but in order to achieve that the spring is very close to the tire, in fact it actually rubs quite often. Additionally, it puts the strut very low in it's travel (compresses it an inch or two) which is no good. The car handles well, but there is too much bounce in the front end. To solve this I decided to make my own version of the old Racing Beat front lowering kit so I can move the strut and spring up an inch. After much cutting (got to play with the plasma cutter!), welding and grinding I'm almost done with the new tower for one side (need to clean up a few edges still). I still have to finish the other side, and then actually install them on the car (and redo my strut assemblies) but I'm hoping to have this done in the next week or two.
The heat and humidity here has been ridiculous, so welding and grinding aren't exactly the most fun things to be doing right now lol
Anyway, enjoy!
Last edited by 82transam; 08-13-12 at 08:28 AM.
08-06-12, 09:36 AM
#65
Oh and a few quick comments before anyone says anything 
- yes the engine bay is filthy and full of polishing compound/wet sanding residue etc. I'll clean it all when the MS gets installed since it'll all be apart (mostly).
Also yes, that fender is a bit dull, I haven't finished polishing it yet.
And finally, the strut towers need a bit more smoothing out, but with some very minor sanding and filler primer you won't see any of those scratches etc. The lighting in the pics makes them look worse, I swear! lol
- yes the engine bay is filthy and full of polishing compound/wet sanding residue etc. I'll clean it all when the MS gets installed since it'll all be apart (mostly).Also yes, that fender is a bit dull, I haven't finished polishing it yet.
And finally, the strut towers need a bit more smoothing out, but with some very minor sanding and filler primer you won't see any of those scratches etc. The lighting in the pics makes them look worse, I swear! lol
08-07-12, 02:28 PM
#67
Got an S4 T2 front cover a while back from Dave. It was off an old engine and was covered in a ton of filth. Spent some time last night with degreaser cleaning it up. Like an *** I didn't take a before pic, but here's an after pic lol
I'll be swapping this onto my engine along with a S4 omp when I go with the megasquirt. I don't want to premix, and the MS can't control the S5's omp (which is crappy anyway) I haven't figured out what to do as far as a linkage is concerned yet, but I'll figure something out.
I'll be swapping this onto my engine along with a S4 omp when I go with the megasquirt. I don't want to premix, and the MS can't control the S5's omp (which is crappy anyway) I haven't figured out what to do as far as a linkage is concerned yet, but I'll figure something out.
08-09-12, 11:42 AM
#69
Congrats on the engagement! Definitely a keeper lol.
I always forget to take before pictures. I always wish I did though after i'm done lol..
I didn't know you had the FC springs before. I better not rub with 205 tires and the re-speed coilovers haha.
I always forget to take before pictures. I always wish I did though after i'm done lol..
I didn't know you had the FC springs before. I better not rub with 205 tires and the re-speed coilovers haha.
08-15-12, 07:40 AM
#72
^Yup! I was there when we took it apart, man that thing was a greasy mess....
Been too busy the last few days to get much done. Realized that my extended strut tops need a bit of reworking. I didn't go in far enough (toward the engine) by like 1/8" and the upper spring perch will rub. Not a huge deal, just some more cutting and welding. Thankfully I did a more thorough test fit prior to cutting out the original towers lol
Been too busy the last few days to get much done. Realized that my extended strut tops need a bit of reworking. I didn't go in far enough (toward the engine) by like 1/8" and the upper spring perch will rub. Not a huge deal, just some more cutting and welding. Thankfully I did a more thorough test fit prior to cutting out the original towers lol
08-24-12, 08:15 AM
#73
Got the towers done. I gotta say, all that cutting and welding around wiring and new paint was nerve racking, but the end result is looking good. I finished welding the second tower in last night and got the car back on it's wheels. I haven't driven it yet, but visually everything is spot on, nice and level and at the ride height I wanted.
Again, for those interested, the new towers I made are 1/8" steel and completely from scratch. I used the plasma cutter to cut 99% of the old tower out, leaving just enough so that I could bolt the new tower to it (to keep things lined up) and tack it in place, the remove the rest of the old tower from under it. It worked out really well and the welds came out decent looking. Really the only issue was a few burn through's that required some filling, which left a sloppy looking weld, but oh well. Maybe i'll grind it smooth someday, but not now lol.
Once the towers were fully welded I smoothed out the cuts underneath, sealed the bottom with truck bed liner and the top with just some rustolium. I'm planning to repaint the whole engine bay back to red sometime next year, so it's just to keep it from rusting at this point.
Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics, the lighting was pretty dim... I'll get a few better ones tonight!
Again, for those interested, the new towers I made are 1/8" steel and completely from scratch. I used the plasma cutter to cut 99% of the old tower out, leaving just enough so that I could bolt the new tower to it (to keep things lined up) and tack it in place, the remove the rest of the old tower from under it. It worked out really well and the welds came out decent looking. Really the only issue was a few burn through's that required some filling, which left a sloppy looking weld, but oh well. Maybe i'll grind it smooth someday, but not now lol.
Once the towers were fully welded I smoothed out the cuts underneath, sealed the bottom with truck bed liner and the top with just some rustolium. I'm planning to repaint the whole engine bay back to red sometime next year, so it's just to keep it from rusting at this point.
Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics, the lighting was pretty dim... I'll get a few better ones tonight!
08-27-12, 07:54 AM
#75
Thanks! I'm really happy with my "free" mod (I had the steel already) I got everything back together over the weekend and put 50 or so miles on the car. I gotta say it really feels great. It doesn't have that excessive bouncy feeling that it was getting on rougher roads. Feels much more planted and it feels like the suspension is actually doing it's job now. Since I moved the spring perches up 1 inch to match the new tower, the ride height is exactly what it was so I'm happy about that.
Yeah the hood closes, so you were correct, 1 inch is as high as you can go without hood mods. It's actually close enough that if you press the hood down a bit you hear it tap on them lol. Doesn't seem to rattle or anything on the road though, so no trimming necessary! Next I need to work on a new strut tower brace since anything "off the shelf" won't fit.
Here's a shot of everything all back together:
Something else I did over the weekend was move my boost gauge over to the left side of the steering column using a Autometer gauge pod. It was previously right under the radio, but I'm putting a Wideband o2 gauge there for Megasquirt tuning. The Wideband isn't wired up yet, but it is mounted in the car. I'm hoping to wire it up this week so I can start monitoring what the stock ECU does for AFR's, that will give me an idea of what I should be shooting for when getting the Megasquirt setup initially...
Quick rundown of the interior changes for those curious, S3 pedal assembly, S5 GTU seats, Autometer Boost, wideband, oil temp, water temp, and oil pressure gauges. Momo steering wheel, and a omp 60 mm wheel spacer (gives my 6'-3" self plenty of leg room) Kenwood headunit with polk speakers (and tweeters on the a-pillars) with an Amp in the bin area and 2 8" subs hidden in the back behind the hanging piece of carpet, in front of the tail lights. Otherwise it's mostly stock, although not totally original since I've replaced some faded pieces etc.
Enjoy!
Yeah the hood closes, so you were correct, 1 inch is as high as you can go without hood mods. It's actually close enough that if you press the hood down a bit you hear it tap on them lol. Doesn't seem to rattle or anything on the road though, so no trimming necessary! Next I need to work on a new strut tower brace since anything "off the shelf" won't fit.
Here's a shot of everything all back together:
Something else I did over the weekend was move my boost gauge over to the left side of the steering column using a Autometer gauge pod. It was previously right under the radio, but I'm putting a Wideband o2 gauge there for Megasquirt tuning. The Wideband isn't wired up yet, but it is mounted in the car. I'm hoping to wire it up this week so I can start monitoring what the stock ECU does for AFR's, that will give me an idea of what I should be shooting for when getting the Megasquirt setup initially...
Quick rundown of the interior changes for those curious, S3 pedal assembly, S5 GTU seats, Autometer Boost, wideband, oil temp, water temp, and oil pressure gauges. Momo steering wheel, and a omp 60 mm wheel spacer (gives my 6'-3" self plenty of leg room) Kenwood headunit with polk speakers (and tweeters on the a-pillars) with an Amp in the bin area and 2 8" subs hidden in the back behind the hanging piece of carpet, in front of the tail lights. Otherwise it's mostly stock, although not totally original since I've replaced some faded pieces etc.
Enjoy!