philwaters

So, I've got a Ford live axle that I am thinking about fitting a disc brake conversion to - probably from SPC - Brackets & Kit Here. However, just wondering about what my options are for replacement calipers? It needs to have a handbrake which I think will limit the range a bit, but I'd like something lighter than the XR4 type. Am I right in thinking it is the XR4's that are fitted as standard on the rear of a DeDion car? Cheers, Phil Waters

Check to see if Weber have opened up their Alpha ECU - it used to be that only them and selected dealers had the software to access them for mapping, etc. Fine for main mapping, as you may not want to do that yourself anyway, but it is a right pain if you just want to adjust the cold start / warm-up or something similarly simple - you have ot take it back somewhere, taking half a day off work, and then hope you don't have to pay for the privalidge. Sorry, but it's one of my pet hates - if I spend £500 on a mappable ECU then I want a system that I can program - not one that is just a revenue generator for the manufacturer. I took my car to Emerald to map it because a) they have a great reputation and b) they will know my ECU as well as anyone, hopefully better. However, I have had to tweak things since to fine tune the warm-up and also create 2 other maps for cruising and MOT (not emissions, just has a much lower rev limit). Just my 2p worth.... Phil Waters

Certainly a possible - it is cheap enough that you won't mind so much having to replace it to go FI later on, however, you may have some re-wiring to do to match the loom with the new ECU in the future. Another option is the Megasquirt - I ran one for a couple of years, but could never quite fix an earth issue. Phil Waters

I would confirm with whoever you deal with before you buy, but I can't see why the ECU would care if nothing is connected. Only issue I can think of would be if you were running a lambda probe and were trying to run the car closed loop - i.e. it wouldn't be able to adjust the fuelling to richen/lean off the engine. Phil Waters

I think anything that can cope with injection would be fine in ignition only running, can't see why it would care that nothing was connected to the injector outputs or the fuel pump relay, etc... It just needs the crank sensor, throttle pot input and connection to the coil pack. Personally, I'm running an Emerald and am very pleased with it. I know other with Omex (from Raceline) and another with MBE. They all seem happy, although I think the Omex is less user friendly for tinkering. I wish I had bought an injection ready ECU when I first fitted my Zetec - it was expensive to change over later Phil Waters

Alas, I don't have all the bits yet - pistons and rods outstanding... and just dold my house, so funds are needed elsewhere for a while.... Good luck though - you won't regret it 😬 Phil Waters

Might be worth thinking about taking the car, with engine in place to somewhere like Powerspeed for a custom set of pipes. Re-use your current can for a couple of years, but make it future proof by going for a larger bore diameter with a step down peice that can be replaced at the later date. I have the JW pipes, which are fine up to around 200hp, but are going to be limiting me on the next upgrade plan - which will be next winter. Not sure on your timescales, but if you are in the planning stages for next winter then I will have mine for sale (and maybe including the 7" powerspeed can if it can't be modified - you see, I've learnt from my mistakes ) Phil Waters

Oh, and personally, having also done the simple upgrade to an additional arm, I'd look for some second hand wishbones, get the brackets and fit a DD anti-roll bar or Freestyle adjustable one - gives you more flexibility. My initial upgrade info here - but it was superseded by the one linked to above. Phil Waters

Upgrade info here Phil Waters

I think they prefer to be warmer than x/flow's etc. Mine runs at about 80° on the water, maybe 76° oil temp, but it does vary a lot depending on traffic and outside temp. My ECU kicks the fan in at 90° and then it goes off once down to 85°. I 'think' I am running an 82° stat in mine. Phil Waters

I know where you can get them done properly 😬 Phil Waters

I recently made my own new carpets by getting a 1m x 4m length from a local carpet retailer. Used some large carpet poppers (which are good, but hurt your fingers when pushing on!). here Phil Waters

Comma fully-synth 10w-40. I know they say 5w-30 for the Zetec, but I've never had an issue with 10w-40. The only stuff I have had an issue with was Mobil 1 - which was just too thin. Phil Waters

Sorry, my dash readout is in bar... 5.2 when cold and revving, 4.7-4.8 tickover 4.8 when warm and revving, down to about 2.3 at tickover. Phil Waters

Mine is actually identical to the overflow coolant tank that came with my car when it was a x/flow - so it mounts on a tapered bracket. Raceline supplied it, but it is still on the Caterham website here - even after all these years The elbow thing you can see in the bigger pic is what turns the pipe by 90° so it can exit down under the car. You need to make a hole for it and the 2 pipes from the engine - big drill and then tidy up with a sharp knife. Phil Waters

It wasn't... but it was the fuel cut-off throttle number value. Adjusted this back down and it is fine again now. So - basically the behaviour (to help those in the future) was that it idled fine and was fine up to the 1700rpm that I have set as my 'don't cut fuel below' value. Because my old closed throttle position was a higher reading, once the engine hit 1700rpm it was allowed to cut the fuel and the actual throttle value was still below the threshold in the settings. So it cut the fuel, the revs dropped down and then it would start fuelling again once the revs dropped below 1700rpm and the revs would pick up - and it would repeat this loop for as long as you could hold your foot steady. It was fine above about 2000rpm because it was then above the old closed throttle position. That'll teach me for not checking through the whole map - but then it has been well over a year since I used the software. Phil Waters

Well I guess you have 2 choices: a) re-route your current set-up into a bottle (can be an old milk or coke bottle for test purposes) and take a pipe out of the top to vent out under the car, like mine does. Got for a test blat. b) Get hold of the large breather box and mimic the standard install. Personally, I'd got for a) to begin with as it is a lot cheaper - you just need an old bottle and some 8mm fuel hose. I've checked my breather box tonight and it is just stamped with the Ford logo and what looks like DOJ2A but it isn't terribly clear. My memory is fading a bit now (it was 9 years ago) but I think it was a Motocraft box that it came in. Phil Waters

Hmmm, idle thoughts (I thank you 😶‍🌫️) - I think it might be the throttle position setting for the idle control.... First thing I'll check tonight! Phil Waters

No, shouldn't be as I took the wideband out last year and turned it all off. Planning to fire up the knackered old laptop that I keep in the garage again tomorrow night and double check the map and re-do the throttle pot. I'm just not sure what effect the throttle pot calibration would have - if it could cause the issue I was seeing. Phil Waters

Ran the Zetec for the first time this year after taking it out to fit a new clutch over the winter and having the inlet manifold matched to another cylinder head (big valve for another upgrade - coming soon). Engine ran fine (after a couple of attempts due to weak battery and probably slightly tight engine) - tick over was nice and steady although I did have to tweak the stop up a small amount to get the target tickover revs (TB's have been off the engine). However, when I lifted the revs to 1800 - 2000rpm and held them there, the revs started to drop away before coming back up - it would do this repeatedly if the throttle was held still - I would estimate the revs would drop to tickover over a period of about 2 secs before rising back over the same time frame. It didn't feel like the engine was miss-firing at all and I can't quite figure it out. The only thing I have though of since is that I didn't re-calibrate my throttle pot after tweaking the revs up. As throttle opening just above tickover is quite critical, could this be it? ECU is Emerald and running Jenvey TB's - everything on the engine is as it was last year (apart from fresh coolant and a new oil filter). No tax on the car yet, so no chance to go for a run and see how it drive to see if it happens higher up the revs - but it blipped up to 3500rpm with no problem, but I didn't hold the revs there to try it. Phil Waters

Just dug out an old price-list and on their 'kit' engines it lists a "Large capacity breather box" as included, but I can't find it listed as an individual item. Anyway, as you sure you need it? How is your current set-up differing from mine? Do you have a catch tank and where does it vent to? Phil Waters

Hi, it's a Ford item, but it came separate to the engine when I got it all from Raceline so I'm not sure if it is standard on a 2.0lt or if it has been taken from another variant (like the 1.8 - like the water pump). Try talking to Chris at Raceline (01483 811978 - sad that I remember that number!!) or if they can't remember, give me a shout via email and I'll get the part number off of it tomorrow evening. Phil Waters

Pic Here of my installation. The breather from the cam cover and the breather from the crankcase breather (a black slab that is bolted to the side of the block) are both fed into a catch tank (white plastic bottle) at the bottom of the image. From this a 3rd pipe then turns 90° and exits the bottom of the car. Thus, as the engine breaths, any fumes exiting from the catch bottle go out the bottom of the car. you can see the crackcase breather thing slightly more in this picture Phil Waters

If you can fit one of their (Raceline) geared starters then I would - best thing I've done to mine (apart from the 200bhp upgrade of course)... it always struggled to start, especially when hot and now it spins quickly here Phil Waters

If you don't find any there are some simple flush fitting ones on eBay - like here fitted on my CXR's - I've painted them to match. £6.50 plus the paint costs (maybe £15 or so) Phil Waters