LocostUSA.com

I had some problem with the fuel management the car was running very rich so to eliminate the pressure regulator as the culprit I hooked up a pressure gauge.
I've been cleaning up the tune, making adjustments here and there. Fixed the acceleration stumble and the coolant temp gauge.
I got a gopro from my son inlaw and did some MicroSquirt data logging. I am editing the video and will post later.

_________________
John - Slow and Steady. . . Well slow anyway
Build Loghttp://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6245

Great video, thanks for sharing! She will remember that forever.

I guess the cluster came from a 4 cyl car?

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

Actually the cluster came from the doner which was an RX7. You would think that two rotors x three lobes would similar to a six cylinder conventional but because of the eccentrics the two rotor Wankel fires twice every revolution as opposed two three times for a six cylinder.

_________________
John - Slow and Steady. . . Well slow anyway
Build Loghttp://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6245

You can correct it with a resistor and a battery charger. Check out my zuki tracker v6 swap if you'd like to see how I did it. Works great. No issues.

I did have an unrelated issue where it would not shut off after starting, without the alternator connected at all. No power on the ignition before turning the key. Turned out to be backfeeding the oil pressure switch for the fuel pump through the computer to the ignition. Had to use keyed power for the oil pressure switch instead of the factory s10 schematic wiring.

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

I will check that out. Thanks

_________________
John - Slow and Steady. . . Well slow anyway
Build Loghttp://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6245

Well, I went to a local autocross and found the car oversteers much more then I was expecting. So I am installing the front anti roll bar that I have. I'm not to optimistic that it will be big enough, time will tell.
I have a video of the autocross.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/ppHciMN83oI[/youtube]

With the oil pressure gauge not working after cleaning and checking, the water temp gauge questionable, and the tach needing some work I am working on a digital dashboard. I bought a old Panasonic Tough Pad to run Tunerstudio. I am working on the dash surround now.

_________________
John - Slow and Steady. . . Well slow anyway
Build Loghttp://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6245

Very interesting, John. Sometimes it sounded like the rear end was just breaking loose under throttle. But, sometimes it just looked like the front wanted to turn, but the rear axle wasn't getting the memo.

One thing said my a handling expert that stuck with me is (paraphrasing), "the key to handling is getting both ends of the car wanting to do the same thing together at the same time." Of course, that's the hard part.

Good on ya for being brave enough to try autocross out this early on. You've only had it going for a little bit now.

Cheers,

_________________
Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Thanks Lonnie,
Yes the car is a long way from neutral handling I thought that would be the case just driving around the neighborhood with a neutral throttle the rear had a tendency to step out. I'm waiting for a couple of links for the anti roll bar and I put in some more negative camber in the rear. Went from 0.5º to 1.5º
I am setting up the roll bar with three adjustment points and the A-arm with two to fine tune but as I said I may need a larger bar.

_________________
John - Slow and Steady. . . Well slow anyway
Build Loghttp://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6245

Have you tried driving around in circles in a parking lot at a constant speed and seeing which end breaks away first? Springs and bars control steady state - you rarely achieve a good steady state on an autocross course since they tend to be tight and quick.

_________________
-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Sorry a.moore for not responding to your response I don't have easy access to a large parking lot as my car is not licensed yet. I have one corner in the non built area of the neighborhood that I can drive off, on, or neutral throttle and get a feel for the car. I got the links had to send them back as the length was to long (diagram showed center to center of rod ends, links were that length) installed them. What a difference! Just attended another autocross and with the bar in the softest setting the oversteer was only a slight amount unless under power. On my last run I moved to the firmest setting and added 4 seconds to the run as I had terrible understeer. These things really work.
I had to replace my dash as I couldn't get the oil gauge to work at all and the water temp was reading low even after cleaning adjusting and testing. The old one was from the doner car (1986 RX7). I am trying a digital dash using information from the Megasquirt. I got a Panasonic Tough Tablet at a good price and a Qstarz GPS receiver and am still trying to get the gremlins out. You must have really good connections! This is a car based on a British car after all. I may have to install The old speedo as it was working perfectly.

_________________
John - Slow and Steady. . . Well slow anyway
Build Loghttp://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6245

I had a shop do the basic ECU tune (fuel and timing for full throttle), then I handled tuning it to run like an OEM engine (partial throttle, cruising, idle, not stalling when coming to a stop, etc), and that took months.

_________________
Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

That sure is tail happy. What tires do you have on it? The way the tires squealed in the 1st to 2nd change and even when you were braking at the end on the final run makes me wonder.

Grounding the sensor lead should swing the gauge. A variable resistor can be added in series to calibrate the reading, similar to what I did with the geo tracker 4cyl tach cal for the v6. I understand there were two different sensors for the OP, one for a light (should be very small) and one for a gauge (probably about 1-1/2 to 2 inches in od).

There probably is a voltage regulator for the cluster that keeps alt output from skewing the indications.

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

First to answer a few questions.
KB58; It's running much better now I hate to admit it but the rich running was from the disconnected MAP line that I had forgotten reconnect.
FastG; The tires are 205/50R 16 with a wear ratting of 320. Definitely not track tires and were bought for the original purpose of cruising the country side not autocross.
Miatav8,MstrASE,A&P,F; I looked over the wiring schematic and couldn't see anything that would cause the problem. It's academic now as the new dash is in and working adequately.
I'm working on putting a mini windshield (deflector) on and side view mirrors. I am hopping to get the car licensed without installing wipers. We will see.
I bought some windshield stanchions from Jack and used them as a guide to make shorter ones from aluminum so if I need to go with a full size windshield I can use the same holes in the shuttle.
For now I'm going to start with a tall piece of plywood and test drive. Cutting down till I get wind in the face then go back to the previous height and transfer to Lexan.

_________________
John - Slow and Steady. . . Well slow anyway
Build Loghttp://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6245

I got the new dash working sort of. I am using a old Panasonic Tough Tablet running windows. The four screws below the screen are extensions for the buttons

I was getting erratic readings from the oil pressure sensor and O2 sensor. I got the O2 sensor reading smoothed out by wrapping the header. I had a slip joint just up from the sensor and fresh air was being sucked in on deceleration and confusing the sensor. The wrap seems to have done the trick. O2 sensor readings are nice and stable.

The oil pressure reading is still erratic, I think some of my wires are to close to the plug wires or it is a grounding problem. For now I hooked up a analog oil pressure and water temp gauge to double check and calibrate the MegaSquirt.
I started on the front fenders. I built a mold and made up one fender but my limited experience with mold making really showed up when I tried to remove the fender and the mold broke apart. The fender is in good shape so I am going to clean it up an use it to make a two part fiberglass mold that should come off easier.
I also made a former for the oval tubing I am going to use for the fender supports. This is the same method I used to form the lower control arm tubing.


It looks like I forgot to mention I installed the front antiroll bar I already had and the car corners neutral.
I went to another autocross and with the bar on the stiffest setting the car understeers bad, in the softest setting it oversteers just slightly.
As a side note I attended my first track day at Thunder Hill in Willows, CA on Sept. 10th. I only wanted to do this for about 50 years!
I haven't had that much fun in a long time.
One issue I had was from the elevation change. I had used TunerStudio autotune feature and it did a good job but I live at 5,000 feet and the track is at 140 feet so the VE table had not been tuned above 85kPa and that area was very rich. Every time I opened the throttle to far the engine would cut out and I was to dense to figure it out till I got home.
I am going back Oct. 15th and try again.

_________________
John - Slow and Steady. . . Well slow anyway
Build Loghttp://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6245