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Blueberry 60.17

Posted in Electronics on September 16, 2008.

09/16/2008: Version 60.17 (based on "Blueberry60") - Add timing back to AdvanceFromMapWarmFull so that retard window is from 2.5 - 10psi.  Also add a couple of degrees before and after that.  Scale FuelMonitorScaling down instead of up (duh) to try to match observed mileage.  Set StartFuelCompBaro back to stock to try to address insufficient fuel at cold start.  Change AdvanceFromRpms under 1500 back to original BB60.

The Daytona: July 29, 2008

Posted in Automotive on July 29, 2008.

A week or two after the convention, the car suddenly got a bad vibration when making right turns.  It seemed like the left axle tripod was bottoming-out.  I had recentered the engine when I had the old stock axle in there and never put it back, but I wasn't sure what caused it to suddenly appear one day.  It turned out that the aftermarket trans mount I installed had partially collapsed, which was enough to take out the last bit of slack in the axle.  Anyway, I put the poly trans mount back in (the engine vibrations were no better with the rubber mount anyway), fixed the front mount bracket so I could slip washers in there to space the poly away from the bracket, and recentered the engine.  Everything is fine now and the washers did seem to help a bit with the vibs.

I also cleaned-up the crab rims from the CSX, hit the lips with a scotch-brite abrasive wheel, and polished them a bit before installing them on the Daytona.  The Dunlop SP8000s from JT are worn down to the markers now, so I'm running the Kuhmo 712s from the CSX.  They have flat spots from the freeway spin-out, but they do have plenty of tread.  The Dunlops were awesome tires, but you can't get them in 225/50 R15 anymore.  I'm saving the last of them for the CSX when it is done.

Lastly, I made shims for the brake pads on all four calipers to try to shut them up.  They still squeak, but are better overall.  I think the notches that are worn into the brackets from the pad plates may be to blame.  Would have to weld them up somehow, but I have bigger fish to fry.

The Daytona: July 9, 2008

Posted in Automotive on July 09, 2008.

The first time I drove the car after coming home from the convention, the door handle broke on the drivers side.  Joe from the club was nice enough to pick one up from an 85 Daytona in the junkyard and ship it to me.  The rod had to be bent to match the old one, but it swapped over just fine otherwise.  While the door was apart, I installed the '87 power mirrors.  Man, the '91 wiring diagrams are horrible.  Not one single interesting circuit on the power mirror page was right and as such my splice job from way back when did not work.  I spent many hours trying to sort that out, but now I finally have working power mirrors!

Blueberry 60.16

Posted in Electronics on July 07, 2008.

07/07/2008: Version 60.16 (based on "Blueberry60") - Revert ColdEnrichmentFuelCurveA back to stock since AIS changes seemed to address part of lean startup conditions.  Remove more timing from AdvanceFromMapWarmFull to widen range down to -2psi.

Blueberry 60.15

Posted in Electronics on July 03, 2008.

07/03/2008: Version 60.15 (based on "Blueberry60") - Increase boost goals/limits to 21psi.  Fix lots of missing TBL entries and re-enable staging mod.  Get rid of "2bar/3bar" table names to permit easier comparisons to Turbonator and stock cals.  Revert AIS tables and FuelLeanoutFactorOffThrottle back to stock.  Bump FuelMonitorScaling to compensate for observed fuel useage discrepencies.  Retard timing between 0 to 15psi up to -10 degrees at 6psi in AdvanceFromMapWarmFull for improved turbo spool.

The Daytona: June 26, 2008

Posted in Automotive on June 26, 2008.

Another awesome time at SDAC has come and gone.  The performance driving school was a blast as always.  The Daytona did great overall, but the stress did highlight some issues.  The intercooler definitely needs to be kicked-out at the bottom to allow some air to get around it.  The loss in cooling capacity was very obvious after a few laps, though it will happen on the street in traffic with the A/C on as well.  I'm thinking of buying a new fan as well.  The other issue was oil pressure.  I know the pump has issues and when the oil temps got high, I was seeing only about 30psi of pressure at 5000rpm.  Not good, so I think it's time for a new pump.

I made 14 passes at the drag strip.  Times weren't what I had hoped (was shooting for 13s), but I didn't break the car.  I couldn't get the car to hook nor could I get it to make more than 18-19psi of boost...even with the wastegate unplugged.  I also trashed 3rd gear by the end and it seems that it will need a new syncro.  Did a bit of tuning, but most of the effort was spent trying to learn how to launch the car.  Best time was 14.269sec @ 98.87mph.

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The Daytona: June 21, 2008

Posted in Automotive on June 21, 2008.

So I'm going to SDAC-18 and have been doing a mad-dash to get the car ready.  The axle boot was the wrong one and tore itself up on the trans case.  I put an old stocker in there from the Shadow while I worked on other things.  Later I got the correct boots from JT and completely went though the axles.  Only the short axle has the tripod welded to it and it looks like they did it while the bearings were on.  They must have slipped and tagged one of them with the welder.  The tulip race is chewed-up pretty good there.  The outer joints have a lot of hammer blows on them and long axle's has a lot of play and binds much beyond the center.  I put them back together anyway and they seem to be holding up so far.  I don't expect to get a whole lot of miles out of them.

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Using Cals: What is Needed

Posted in Electronics on June 05, 2008.

To use any of these calibrations, you will need to get the necessary equipment and modify your Engine Control Unit (ECU).  There are basically two ways to go about putting a calibration onto an ECU.  You can either use a socketed EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), which must be removed and programmed outside the ECU, or you can modify the ECU so that the EEPROM can be erased and programed remotely ("flashed"), which requires the necessary software and cables.  The ECUs actually come from the factory with EPROMs, which must be erased with ultraviolet light.  The ability to flash the ECU is especially useful if your ECU is a SMEC (single module engine controller) or SBEC (single board engine controller), which are located behind the battery and have electronics that are buried in potting material.  If you have a logic module (1987 and earlier), it is located in the passenger compartment behind the passenger-side kick-panel and is not potted.

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