1.9 16v G60 on MegaSquirt :: RR result 6/7/10 - Now a 24v VR6 25/10/21

I started this engine build far too long ago and the original thread is here. Amazingly the engine is now properly running in a roadworthy car(!) and is being right royally thrashed about the Oxfordshire roads. I thought I'd do a fresh new thread just to summarise it all.

Here's the car. It's a bit of a tatty MK2 on the outside, though it is pretty sound. The engine won't be in this car forever; it's just in here to run in and develop the engine. The engine will go into the Syncro shell eventually.







I've reprogrammed the Digifiz to match the car's mileage. Will add a kph/mph converter circuit to it soon. ('Soon', in Trev Speak, meaning the next five years.)



Engine is a KR overbored to a 1.9. JE pistons. Machined crank.

The intercooler is the little one that came out of my G60 Syncro (as it's the type used with air conditioning). I know it's a crap placement but it's all a bit temporary really; when it goes into the Syncro I'll be placing the alternator at the back (which can be done on a LHD car, but not on this RHD car unless the brake servo is relocated), meaning I can use the G60 U-bend and standard G60 FMIC. The throttle body will then also be mounted on an elbow pipe just like on the original Limited engine. I've already got that part ready but at the moment the TB is mounted straight to the inlet because of the intercooler arrangement.



Comedy arrangement of bits in the passenger footwell here. Will tidy up eventually. The ZT-2 is the wideband AFR controller. The Whisper 2000 is an amplifier that's connected to a knock sensor so I can listen for engine knock in headphones. (My hearing is too crap to hear it otherwise.)





Using bits and pieces obtained from Vehicle Wiring Products, I made a new wiring loom for MS that plugs straight into the CE2 fusebox and uses all of the proper factory connection points for ECU power, fuel pump relay signal, and so on. The standard fusebox ECU / fuel pump relays continue to be used.



My MS is an earlier unit with V2.2 PCB. Firmware is MSNS-Extra. Also inside there is my own expansion board which provides proper control of the Bosch ISV (discussed here).


Progress has been really slow with this due to all sorts of things happening including a house move. I got the car through its MOT a few weeks ago though. It initially failed on emissions but leaning the idle mixture a little cured that.

I've now been gradually tuning the VE table. I've found it all really daunting initially, but after doing many driving sessions and hours spent studying the datalogs in MegaLogViewer, I've got the hang of it.

I'm going to post up some of my logs and MSQ files a little later as I'd really appreciate any advice on whether I'm achieving the right AFRs at different loads / RPMs. I'll prepare some screenshots as well.

I need to work on getting the spark angle table set up next.

It's now feeling quite a fast car to drive. Pretty mad, actually. Had it up to 6.5K rpm the other day - so much for the run-in period. It has a proper supercharged go-kart feel to it and reminds me more of driving my mate's old G40 than the G60 Sycnro. Actually, it already feels like the car's chassis isn't up to snuff for this engine. The wheels don't seem able to put the power down to well at all when I really floor it. At the moment the car is all rebuilt with new bushes, but the suspension struts are old (and possibly the original) suspension struts and springs. In fact the MOT flagged up the rear coils for being rusty. The car also rattles and crashes about far, far much more than I'd expect considering it's on old standard suspension. I used those yellow bushes from Rally Design; are these known to make the ride horribly harsh? As for suspension, any recommendations please? Something not too expensive that gives it a little drop - but not too much of a drop - and gives a reasonably comfortable ride would be nice. But will those Rally Design bushes always make the ride harsh?

Ta for looking. Will hopefully post more up tomorrow!

 

That dash display looks flippin awesome!! How difficult was that to fit/calibrate with the cars existing sensors etc!?

Do you reckon it could be fitted to a mk3 without too much trouble?! And where did you get it?!

 

Hi Dennis,

That cluster is the 'Digifiz' and it was an optional extra that you could have fitted to a MK2 instead of the analogue cluster. It was only available on LHD MK2s originally though. It reads out in kilometres and the Digifiz brackets only fit a LHD dashboard, so need modification to fit RHD. There are a few specific sensors you need to add for the Digifiz, but really the main thing is ensuring that you obtain one complete with CE2 wiring loom. I expect electrically it'll be fine as it'll just plug into your MK3's CE2 fusebox. There will be some electrical issues you still need to sort though. Then you'd need to make it physically fit and look neat in the MK3 dash which may be a challenge.

 

As above Trev, dash looks awesome

Sounds like the car is coming together well now, after the engine issues you'd posted about previously. Great to hear it's MOT'd and in use

 

amazing! i love it..been reading through the build thread.....

good work

 

dam awesome trev . looks a great car , superbly crafted to gether ,.

 

Looking good Trev

 

trev - we bought the poly race bushes from rallye design. And over anything that looks like bump it feels like the subframe's about to drop out so with old suspension and poly's I would say thats prob why its crashy.

 

Nice work there Trev, good to see some progress with this engine. Any ideas on the BHP/Torque figures?

I love the Digifiz setup, not actually seen one lit up properly before.

 

My current MSQ and a data log from this weekend.

MSQ (30th Oct 09)

Log (30th Oct 09)

Screenshot of WOT up to 6.5Krpm:



If anyone has some spare time and would take a look at the logs and give me advice then I'd really appreciate it. I could do with getting a better idea on whether I'm achieving the right sort of AFRs at given RPMs / MAPs. I've only got the general idea (say 14 / 15 at idle and cruise; then down to 13 and lower at WOT).

I realise that my CLT reading is saturating (i.e., reaching the minimum ADC count value) at around 100 degrees. I shall recalibrate the sensor with a more appropriate bias resistor to cure this.

I'm a bit in the dark about spark angle tuning. I'm using a map based upon the 'stock' MS advance table from the tuning manual at the moment. Using the knock amplifier I'm pretty certain that it is not detonating under any conditions. The engine CR is 8.2:1 so presumably I could dial in quite a bit of advance before it knocks.

 

Looks great Trev, excellent skills all round.

Was the car you old neighbours or something?

 

Very nice to see it having always heard so much about it.

 

Thanks gents! Yep the car was bought from a previous neighbour. It is a bit of a tatty MK2 but I bought it because it was so original and straight, and I preferred it to my other oak green 16V which has now gone. It did have some rust issues, but after fitting a new battery tray panel and a tidy repair to the rear arch it's solid now. I need to decide what to do with the car in the long term. I'm kind of attached to it now but may not be able to justify keeping two MK2s. I need a new driver side door for it because it was kicked or something during previous ownership.

Anyway, yesterday I went down to Hungerford to pick up my mate Alan (username Poloace on here, if his account is still active) who sat in the passenger seat with the laptop and we went out on an epic driving and mapping session. I never imagined driving so far in this car for quite a while (I'm too bloody nervous of something going pop for a start) but we ended up going along the A4 from Hungerford to Bath and back. Did probably 150 miles in total that day, and it didn't miss a beat whatsoever. It's really good for cruising and behaves well in stop-start driving situations in busy town traffic. And erm, it's bloody fast. Alan's quite used to driving fast motors but he was giggling when finally allowed behind the wheel.

I put about 30 of fuel in at the start and the Digifiz registered 45 on the gauge. By the end of the evening I think it's registering about 15. So perhaps I've used about 20ish of fuel. I've not bothered to calculate an average MPG but 20 for that kind of distance doesn't seem too bad. While we drove, we were careful to tune for economy as well as performance. So while cruising for example we tweaked the map to achieve an AFR of say 15:1 or above; previously it would tend to sit in the low 14's at cruise which was far too rich and it'd use more fuel.

I'll probably keep the Rally-Design bushes in there because it isn't so bad when you're driving on normal roads. It's just the back roads where I live that it almost rattles your teeth out. But, I need new stiffer springs I think because it really does spin all over the place.

I should mention that being able to listen to the knock sensor through headphones is a tool that you shouldn't be without when road mapping. As essential as having an AFR gauge I reckon. As we tuned, the advance was increased at appropriate points to make more power. As the advance had to be increased, so did the amount of fuel going in at that point to bring back the AFR to where it should be. Being able to listen to the knock sensor meant we could ease back on the throttle and retard the timing right on the onset of hearing detonation in the 'phones.

We need to get it to a rolling road now. Can anyone recommend a rolling place that's fairly local to Oxfordshire, that could assist with fuel / spark tuning?

 

Sounds like good progress Trev. You'll have to pop round in it.

 

Definitely will do Gareth - I was going to check if you're in over the coming weekend so I could blast over. Looking forward to seeing what you think.

Latest MSQ following last mapping session is here if anyone's interested: MSQ. The datalogs are a little too large (13MB) to post up really.

 

Theres a little place in shipton under wychwood ( ox7 ) with a rolling road who I've used
Nice new one to (4WD as well) they do a bit of motor sport stuf and classics,all sorts.
http://www.btecracing.co.uk/
dont bother emailing they'll never reply, ring em' up.

 

Thanks mungo, that's most interesting.

I think I am going to try to get the car over to the rolling road that was used for the recent rolling road session that Toyotec organised. However, it could be damn useful having a 4WD facility locally for the Syncro.

Did you personally use them for mapping? Or was it just a run?

 

Not mapping I'm afraid, carbs.
I had an hour or so on the rollers to jet
the buggers before I run a my new engine.

 

Have you got the spark/fuel mapping sorted now Trev? How well is the car behaving in terms of running and reliability?

Finally got mine running, very happy with it so far although the Digi management is already up for replacement.

 

Hi Yan, Andy said you had yours up and running, I said then it want be long before Digi gets dumped Have you taken him out in it yet? You need to start a build thread here because its such a great car.

What management are you going to go for?