Slomove

Oh, got it. Maybe I should look inside sometimes.... Gert

I tried various silicones including the high temp copper variety. Did not last long. I think the problem is the soot film that prevented the silicone from sticking and after short time it just blew out. I did not try the hardening stuff because I wanted to be able to remove when needed. here is my solution: fiberglass woven "tadpole" tape cut to length around the header. The glass tape is then wrapped in adhesive aluminum flue tape (to prevent fraying) and tightend/held in place with hose clamps. Normal thick fiberglass tape would probably work but the tadpole cross-section tape helps even out the diameter step. After an hour drive the clamps needed tightening but otherwise it seals very well for the last few months. One problem: it only works if you have at least 1/4" clearance between the header tubes at the joint. Otherwise you can't wrap the glass tape and hose clamps around. Gert Edited by - Slomove on 25 Apr 2004 01:47:06

Maybe a dumb question: if the crud is that persistent and would not leave the expansion tank anyway why remove at all? Is it a technical issue or rather an aesthetical one? My overflow tank is black and I guess I don't want to know what is going on inside Gert

double post Edited by - Slomove on 24 Apr 2004 01:02:16

Moving around here in dry canyon country this happened to my steel sump guard. Broke even a rib from my sump. As a consequence I did this 😬 Pretty heavy, but munches every rock on the road without complaint. I could take it off for track days but too lazy. Gert

Anybodty has a real dyno optimized ignition map for this configuration (I suppose Zetec 2.0 with 45DCOE)? I have played with various maps from other people including the Emerald Z1800 standard maps. They all work but I am not really sure if there may be something better out there that is maxed out (but still safe). Gert

here is my spec after a few optimization steps. It si for a 2.0l Zetec ZX1: - 45DCOE152, running on 2.5 psi fuel pressure. Floats are adjusted to 12.5mm - 36 mm chokes - I had 55F9 idle jets, tried 60F9 which idled more smoothly but too rich on the mid-range and went back to 55F9 - I had 135 main jets and changed to 145 - I did not change the emulsion tubes and don't know what I have. I read in various recommendations that the emulsion tubes change is something for the real insider. There are no recipes for how to change. - I had 185 air correction on the 135 main jets and it did not work well with the 145 main jets. I drilled them up with a 1.95mm drill bit so they are probably close to a real 195 air correction - The carbs came with 3 transition holes and I added a 4th hole, see here: http://home.earthlink.net/~slomove/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/4thprogressionhole.jpg That made a big difference in light throttle drivability but I think I can still increase the 4 th hole or maybe even add a 5th hole. At minimal cruising throttle (barely opened to maybe 1 mm) the AFR increases to 18-20 and the exhaust begins to pop and bang. - The idle mixture was preset to 2.5 turns from stop and then fine tuned simultaneously to give an idle AFR of 12-13 @1000rpm. - I use a carbtune balancer (vacuum based motorcycle balancer) and mounted nipples in the manifold to tap the manifold pressure for all 4 cylinders. It shows all cylinders at the same time. I also plugged the connecting channels in the Ford manifold gasket (not sure if that is necessary or even a good idea). - I had a 45 pump jet, tried a 35 jet and went back to 45 - I have not dyno-optimized the ignition map yet. I am using a blend of various maps (mainly from a map picture taken from Emerald's web site but with less advance as safety reserve). Feels good but I don't really know how much I am giving away. - driving quite well with 20-27 mpg on the road and good throttle response. Track consumption is, well, .... - Engine starts with the first key turn, needs however some pedal pumping and nursing when very cold. I disconnected the cold start choke mechanism because it never worked and it is not needed. Edited by - Slomove on 22 Apr 2004 01:17:37

Thanks guys, good advice! I hadn't thought of titanium yet. It's a little pricey but it just came to my mind that I need a sample for the company I work for Gert

When I bought my (used) Birkin last year the rear wing aluminum protectors were in pretty good shape. I polished them up and it looked nice. After that year and driving a many California canyon roads with lots of gravel the protectors now look crap. Deeply pitted, small dents and beyond any polishing job. Well, at least they did what they were supposed to do. I am going to replace them but I am looking for a recommendation. - stainless steel? Does it hold up to a gravel barrage? - carbon? I know many people have them and they look nice but I can not really see why that would be tougher on impact than the gel coat of my rear wings? - carbon/Kevlar? Same concern as above but at least I still have some of that fabric in my garage. - other choices? Maybe just a thin rubber sheet Thanks!! Gert

Bill, I fully agree with your assessment of the wideband benefits. Even a carb amateur like me could set up the car now to run very nicely over the entire range (I had to drill the 4th progression hole, though). There is but one thing I am dissatisfied with: While I can set all 4 idle mixture screws in parallel from a starting position (e.g. 2.5 turns) to show a desired average AFR in idle, I don't know how to optimize the individual screws. Even if the Innovate wideband instrument is very fast, it can not measure/identify single exhaust pulses. Is there an easier way to do it than just fumble the screws up and down a little and listen to the tickover? Or is it a given that all 4 screws are always the same number of turns out? Thanks, Gert Edited by - Slomove on 2 Apr 2004 17:13:25

I read a few threads about the corner weighing and may do that sometimes but I did not find real cheap scales for that job so far. The idea with the single scale came because I had the car on the trailer anyway and was checking the hitch load. From there it took only 5 minutes more and I knew the car weight. Better than driving 15 miles to the next scale.... Gert

I apologize if that is already an old trick that everybody knows but I have not seen it before. I was successful to weigh my car with a single bathroom scale. Well, that means I also needed the trailer. Description here: http://home.earthlink.net/~slomove/id10.html Gert

I used thick stiff (glass fiber reinforced) rubber flaps from the local auto store (just had to grind off an ugly "Ford" logo). They go almost down to the tarmac with 1/2" clearance. Maybe I should have tried glueing but used pop 2 rivets each with large washers on the rubber side to attach. I don't have a mud problem here but it really helps to reduce the gravel and dirt shower. Picture here (flap is a little hard to see): http://home.earthlink.net/~slomove/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/mirrorlid2.jpg Gert

The Weber cold start mechanism never worked on my car, if engaged the engine won't start at all. I removed the attached cable and I can start easily with 2 or 3 times pedal pumping. But why should I remove the mechanism alltogether? For a few grams? Gert

Actually I found it not that hard to load the engine fully (although still accelerating). And it is even fun. Just find an empty street without cameras or with a 70mph speed limit and floor the pedal in 2nd gear. In my car that allows for about 4-5 seconds of full load before the rev limit kicks in, which is sufficient to log a bunch of data points with the Innovate wideband meter. Of course it is much easier to sort and interpret the data after the experiment if the throttle position is logged together with AFR (the Innovate allows for that). For my engine the WOT data read a pretty low AFR of 11-12 and I could improve that quite a bit by changing the air correction from 185 to 195. On the same token the AFR from 10% to 30% throttle opening was rather high, so I changed the main jets from 135 to 145. Pretty straightforward, I can see and compare the results right away. At least I don't need 10 years Weber tuning experience, a magic wand and a musical ear to get it right. Gert Edited by - Slomove on 27 Mar 2004 01:22:52

Rowly, don't do it if you don't need to. I thought they were great because it allowed me to attach some parts without a second person's help. I used the knurled steel type rivnuts that can bite into the ali sheet and don't spin easily. The problem came when I had to put in some screws under tension of the parts to join. With the slightest misalignment the rivnuts caught a wrong thread and were gone for good. No big deal if you are using a loose nut you just take another one. But if its riveted.... I am not aware that the rivnuts I used were especially bad quality. I think only if you have space to align the screws and feed them in by hand first it should be O.K. Once they are set they hold quite well and iIf you just don't get to the other side there is anyway not much choice. Gert

I followed Bill Shurvinton's advice a few months ago and got my own wideband probe. Very good investment (besides the carb synchronizer) and the first time I could set up the carbs correctly myself. I started to log and plot some AFR data vs. revs and throttle position, example here: http://home.earthlink.net/~slomove/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/IdleJets_AFR_Data.doc (30 min city and freeway) Looking at such a curve and the effect of setup changes everything suddenly begins to make sense. It also shows that the Webers (that means my Webers) are pretty unstable in the transition area. Bigger idle jets improve this but the fuel economy goes to hell. Something interesting I noticed is that the jetting dependent AFR curve is by far mainly a function of the throttle position. When the revs change due to the load (even over a wide range) at the same throttle position the AFR is quite constant. I did not know this. But that is probably why carbs work in the first place. I was not very successful with the tailpipe probe. I made one myseld that tapped the gas flow 8" inside. Kind of worked but the the reading was not very stable. Maybe the tailpipe is too wide and it still got fresh air. Anyway, I ended up putting in a bung. Gert

I had to drill out a couple of dozen and it worked O.K. if the drill bit is held at an angle of maybe 30-45 degrees. Even if the rivnut is spinning, the angled bit chomps out small bits until the flange is off. Once the flange is gone you may however plunge though the sheet making the hole a little oval. Hard to avoid and bad if e.g. the fuel line is behind it. I began to despise rivnuts. I thought they were a great idea and put in quite a few in hard to reach spaces. However, I screwed up many by cross-threading when the screw was not perfectly aligned and had to use additional nuts anyway. Even the steel rivnuts are pretty soft. Well, life is learning.... Gert

Chris, that is an alien concept. I thought water was the stuff you find in a pool or in the ocean But, contrary to public opinion and some song text, it does rain in Southern California. Just not really from May to December. But when it rains it can rain hard. A few inches a day do happen occasionally. Oh, maybe I should mention that the pictures of the boot cover were taken this week when it was around 27 C 😬 😬 😬 My boot cover is quite watertight. The joints are connected with the rubberized fabric and along the edges I stuck some stuff they sell as aftermarket car door weatherstrip. Pretty expensive at $ 35 per 10ft but thick, compliant and durable. The only thing I still need to do sometimes is also seal it around the Roll bar back stays. Gert

Arnie, you are right, with the forwad slanted Caterham bar the hinge location might be slightly different. But probably not much. Adam, it is 40mil (about 1mm) 6061T6 alloy. The edges are 1/2" x 1/2" x 60mil angles. The edge is epoxied to the sheet except bolted where the latch attaches. I did not use full length piano hinges (too heavy) but 3 individual stainless hinges per joint and a 1/2" x 1/8" ali bar as reinforment along the joint edges. This bar also secures a strip of rubberized fabric that is glued to the sheet (keep rain out). BUT: the whole lid is surely 1/2 to 1 pound heavier than the canvas. Maybe nothing for the weight fetishists. I just wanted give an idea and show what is possible with very limited effort. I did not even bother to prepare a drawing but transferred the dimensions directly from the car to the aluminum sheet. Gert Edited by - Slomove on 18 Mar 2004 16:33:17

I have seen metal boot covers on some pictures here but set out to do my own folding ali version (after I failed miserably to make one in Carbon/Kevlar 🙆🏻 ). Not sure if anybody is interested but I am quite proud of how it looks 😬 You can find it here: http://home.earthlink.net/~slomove/id9.html Actually it was not that difficult to do. Cheers, Gert

Hmmmm, makes me wonder: I am running 45 Webers with the usual K&N filter setup sticking halfway through the bonnet. That would mean the first two cylinders get the warm air from the radiator and the rear ones the fresh air from outside. That does not sound good for balancing, but I suppose the difference is minimal??? On the other hand, maybe a little shield would help. Gert

I put all the instruments and switches on a xerox copier and cut out the paper copies (not my idea, btw). Then I did some trial approx. positioning of the paper cutouts with scotch tape. You must try it with the dash and wheel in position and sitting in the car. Otherwise you may end up with instruments or switches you can not see or reach. Make sure you don't foul the tubes behind the dash or the steering column. Then align the precise position by measuring to the dash edge and between the instruments. Gert Pictures here Edited by - Slomove on 11 Feb 2004 02:31:03 Edited by - Slomove on 11 Feb 2004 02:56:47 Edited by - Slomove on 11 Feb 2004 03:04:39

Move to California Gert

My carbureted Zetec runs on an ignition-only Emerald ECU. The map is the Emerald factory-default map for an 1800 Zetec and it works quite well. But I believe it is just the EFI map with injection disabled. I am wondering if anybody ever took a 2.0 l Zetec with carbs to a rolling road and had the ignition map optimized. I would be highly interested to get a copy. Cheers, Gert