Confused's Long-Term Anglia Project

[Gayno]

Let there be light!!

[Confused]

I start off this time with some braking news...

This just in: Capri 2.8 vented discs fitted!



Next up, a one-piece fibreglass front from Team de Ville. A small amount of trimming was required to make it fit, as it comes supplied with the lips down the back edge of the wings which tuck around the A pillar behind the front of the doors. As I wanted to be able to flip this open without needing to have the doors open, these lips were removed.



And then, with grill, headlights and surrounds fitted. Just left to fit the bumper, and indicators, and then do the wiring.



It's finally looking more like a car!!

[Gayno]

Will it make it on the road this year?!

[Confused]

It's looking likely!

[Gayno]

Do I get a go?!?!

[rob quilter]

[Confused]

Following on from last time, I have now completed the wiring to the front end, with indicators, side repeaters and headlights now all wired up and working.


When browsing forums, I found someone who was selling a MAP-ECU 2 - the next version of the MAP-ECU which I already have installed (the little box of tricks that allows removal of the MAF sensor) - the newer model adds a few new features - ignition timing control, two switchable maps, electronic boost control, air/fuel ratio adjustment, fuel cut removal, speed cut removal, and launch control.

I paired this with a wideband O2 sensor/controller, which provides a very accurate air/fuel ratio to the MAP-ECU2, as well as a simulated narrowband output to the stock ECU.



A standard narrowband O2 sensor as fitted to most vehicles operates by switching the output between 0v and 1v when the air/fuel ratio (AFR) goes either side of the stoichiometric point - the point at where all fuel is evenly burned with all of the available air - with petrol this is an AFR of 14.7, or lambda 1.00

The narrowband O2 sensor is used by the ECU to adjust the amount of fuel - an input value of 0v means "add more fuel" and an input value of 1v is "less fuel" - under normal use, the standard ECU will adjust the fuelling to ensure that the input voltage from the O2 sensor is rapidly fluctuating between 0v and 1v - this keeps the engine around lambda 1.00

This is shown by the following graph (graphs taken from the PLX website)



The wideband O2 sensor gives a voltage output which is directly related to the AFR, typically from 0v to 5v. The PLX SM-AFR I have provides a linear output and can show the AFR from 10:1 to 20:1 (lambda 0.68 to 1.36), as demonstrated by the following graph (again, taken from the PLX website)



When running under load, you may not want an AFR of 14.7 - you may want to run richer (more fuel), say at an AFR of 12 - with a narrowband O2 sensor, you have no way of telling what your AFR is, only that it's "rich" or "lean". With the wideband, I can monitor this via the MAP-ECU2, and adjust the fuelling accordingly to reach that target.

The MAP-ECU2 came from another VR-4, and the configuration that's on it is much better than the one that came on the original MAP-ECU I had (which also came from a VR-4) - the new one idles even better, and the lag that I had when pressing the throttle has disappeared. Even just this change is worth the money spent on it, as it puts it a lot closer to what's needed, which will hopefully reduce the need for an immediate expensive tuning session!

In addition to this, I received a nice package from ETB Instruments consisting of a 52mm fuel gauge, a 52mm temperature gauge, an 80mm electronic programmable speedometer and an 80mm tachometer.

I am fitting these to a glove box lid, so I started by marking up and drilling out the necessary mounting holes:



It was then time to fit the dials, and wire them up to a connector plug to allow easy removal from the rest of the wiring loom.



The new speedometer is programmable so it can be used with a wide variety of speed sensors and can be programmed to suit your wheel/tyres, diff and gearbox - and any changes to any of these the speedometer can be reprogrammed very easily - if I had a mechanical speedometer, I'd need to send it off for recalibration if I ever made any changes.

It also provides the following features:
2 trip counters
0-xxmph time (comes as default set as 0-60mph)
1/4 mile time
Max speed recall
In built indicator lamps

I also fitted a 3-spoke Momo steering wheel from an Evo 6, which is slightly smaller than the standard wheel from the VR-4, and placed the dials in place (but the glove box lid is not secured to the dash properly yet)



Whilst I was fiddling with wiring and electronics, my dad was concentrating on welding, and we now have the passenger side rear suspension mount and floor completed, as well as the exhausts now properly mounted on cotton reel mounts, rather than suspended from bits of electrical wire.

[Gayno]

So much want!!

[Confused]

I didn't put up any photos of the front end last time out, and although the wiring was done, it wasn't tidy, so, spent some time tidying up the remainder of the wiring, both on the front end, and under the dash, taping up any loose bit of wire! Over all, I must have used well over a roll and a half of insulating tape!



Also, the key locks to secure the flip front in place, and some lengths of chain were added to limit how much it opens - this gives good access across to the top of the engine, without putting the front too close to the floor. The wiring was secured by fibreglassing some cable ties onto the inside of the front, which create loops to put a further cable tie through - meaning if I need to remove the wiring loom (for example for painting), I can easily do so, and re-attach it again at a later date.



With the dash in finally (and the wiring loomed up, as mentioned earlier), I thought I'd take a photo of the gauges working - I've got about 1/8th tank of fuel, and it's ticking over nicely at just under 1250rpm.



Additionally, some welding was tackled underneath.

And finally...

[rob quilter]

Awesome work!

When does it go for paint?