TireSmoke.org

I spent a little more time with the car tonight. I now have Megasquirt controlling the electric fan. It's completely programmable. I have it come on at 187* (running a 180 stat). I could also set a condition to turn it off if, say, throttle position is over 90%.

I won a new throttle body on Ebay. I'm running a stock TPI throttle body, which is twin 48mm. The new one is twin 58mm.

I drove the car more tonight. I checked the timing, and it had been at 10*. I moved it up to 20*, and that really woke it up. It's running really well. Once I get the ignition control working, I'll be in good shape.

I've been doing all the tuning so far with a narrowband (NB) O2 sensor, running datalogs through MegaLogViewer's (MLV) VE Analysis. This has worked very well for me. Whatever you read elsewhere, NB sensors are useful. Less than ideal, but definitely useful.

I have a wideband sensor too. It's been problematic in the past, so I didn't want to rely on it to get the car's basic tune. Now that I have it reasonably well tuned, I'm gonna try putting the wideband back in. If it works, great, the EFI will work even better. If not, the car will still run fine.

Yee haw, it's fun again!

-Dave

A couple of observations from the outside looking in:

1) Congratulations are in order after much hard work...with many trials and tribulations along the way.

2) Does Chupa work on 1040s?

3) When is Megasquirt set to go live and take over the world? Is it true that it's part of the new Sara Connor Chronicles? Will your Oxygen sensors save us from nuclear war?

Keep on keeping on!!

1) Thanks. It has been a ton of work these past couple of years, but I've learned a lot along the way.

2) Chuppa works on 1250s, not 1040s.

3) Megasquirt has already taken over my garage.

I will have no more carbs if possible. With the injection working as it is supposed to, it really takes very little time to get it tuned in. I'm now familiar with the newer tuning software for Megasquirt (called MegaLogViewer) and it really does a nice job. I think I can go from scratch to well-running in an hour.

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I went on my first long-ish drive today. I went up to Markss327's house and then met BP for a quick lunch at McDonald's at I-90 & 44. Took a scenic route back home via Auburn/Thwing/Fowlers Mills/Mulberry route. I found a nice cut-through from Mulberry to Wilson Mills, using Lyman/Merrie/Clearview.

The car basically runs well. I'm getting a few minor hiccups, which is showing up as errant data in the log file (RPM spike, in one instance). I'll wait and see if it gets worse. I've gotten into WOT a few times, but never for more than a couple seconds, less than 5000 RPM. It's idling real high at the moment, I haven't adjusted the butterflies yet, plus I have 20* where I'd probably run 13-15 normally.

It feels pretty damn good. Strong. It feels worth the effort.

-Dave

I picked up a Holley 58mm throttle body (stock is 48 ) on ebay for $220 shipped. It arrived today. They sell for $350-400 new, and this one came with a TPS sensor and Idle-Air-Control motor. Pretty good deal, I thought. Yay auctionstealer.com! It's prettier than my old one too.

This battle station is now the ultimate power in the universe. I suggest we use!!

I've been working more on the ignition control, but it's still not right. The car is hard to start, and absolutely dies if RPM drops under 700. It seems right when I command no more than 25-28* degrees of timing, but at one point in the map, it should've been at 36*, and it only read 25* on the balancer. I'm getting frustrated with this, as I don't know what why it isn't working correctly. It's something simple, something small, I just can't find it yet.

However, with the roads clear and mostly dry today, I just hooked up the distributor direct to the MSD box, timed it at 25*, and went for a cruise. I forgot to take my camera with me, as I meant to shoot some new in-car video. I love driving this thing. It's cold with no heater.

I drove out to Chris' in Chardon, and we went for a short lap around the area. No real problems other than a mis-adjusted idle-stop/IAC opening (new throttle body) than meant I had to keep my foot on the throttle at a dead stop in gear. This will be easy enough to adjust. However, on my drive back home, I had about 6 resets on the computer, very usual. These resets cause a very noticeable hiccup when driving. I have a datalog of all of it, but haven't looked at it yet. Resets are typically the results of a wiring/grounding problem. Maybe one came a little loose, as I think I have a very electrically-sound setup.

-Dave

Fast cars are cool. I had to run over my parents house tonight and decided to hop in the Chevelle. No laptop, no checking anything, just hopped in and went. I can't wait to bolt on the slicks, open the headers, and launch this thing.

It's amazing how 10 minutes of drive time can wipe away months worth of anger and frustration.

-Dave

where you wearing socks at the time?

Well, it was another successful day at the dragstrip. I didn't get out there till almost 2pm and it was noticeably warmer than it was 2 weeks ago. Chris rode out with me and shot some more video.

After the bogging and soft leaves from last time, I looked into the acceleration enrichment. I had the default settings in there and it was super sensitive and putting way too much fuel in. So, I tried completely disabling it, and it seems to work pretty good. No stumbling or popping. I was able to stand in it as hard as I could! I was rewarded with a 1.74 60ft. It was pretty consistent out of the hole -- 1.74, 1.76, 1.74, 1.78 (felt spin). Sadly though, I got no real improvement in ET. 12.44, 12.34, 12.43 (hot lap), 12.38.

I got the idle figured out. The adjuster screw for the throttle blades had a spring on it. That spring was getting into coil bind before the screw could open the throttle enough. I removed the screw and spring, put the screw back in, and was then able to adjust the throttle blades to get a decent idle. On the drive out to Thompson, I stood in the throttle just after the Chevy dealer on Rt 6. When I let off, the engine stayed at 3000 rpm, like the throttle was stuck. The screw had vibrated (clockwise) and was holding the throttle open. We were able to turn it off and coast into the car lot at 6 & 608. We pulled the screw out, wrapped a single wrap of black tape on the threads, and put it back it. It provided enough vibration-turning resistance. I'd like to find a different spring, though.

I now have 8 passes on it in 2 trips, and have made it home and back each time. So far so good!

-Dave

Rock on Dave.

I made it out to my first Wednesday night tonight. I got there kinda late, so I only got 1 time run, and I spun.

1.85 60-ft
12.44 @ 109

First round, I came up against that mid 80s Hutter camaro -- some young kid was driving it, dialed at 11.55. I dialed 12.34, since that is the fastest it has ever ran. The car hooked great this run, 1.75 60-ft. Camaro has a bad start, and I have him *covered*. Covered HUGE. I hit the brakes in the last half of the traps, even though I could tell I was on a strong run. I wanted the win.

12.30 @ 101. Breakout. UGHHH. My best ET ever, on the brakes.

I waited around a long time to get a time run, and it spun again. Another 12.44 @ 109. It was damn cold tonight, maybe in the high 40s.

But, I've now made 11 passes in 3 trips and no issues. I haven't touched the tune at all since the first time out at the track and I gotta say, it seems to have some consistency. If you throw out the best and worst ETs, the remaining passes are all within 1-tenth on three different days.

Now that it is running well, I should really re-mount the electronics under the dash. They are mounted on the plate that I made to fit under the dash, but it's on the passenger floor currently.

I need to start making arrangements for body & paint work this winter.

-Dave

I think for launching purposes, you're going to need to do something to the suspension also. I would also move your battery to the trunk (although that will make it harder to haul your tires to the track).

109mph is pretty fast in the 1/4!

-BP

Isn't it funny how you can tell when your having a great run. The car leaves like never before and
then you only have a few seconds to decide if you should go for the win or go for the numbers.
I'd forget the win, when I had it going I would usually run it through. Good things (11's) are coming
for that Chevelle.

Personally, I'll do whatever I gota do, to make it into the next round...
I've learned (the hard way) how to work the finish line.

I'm with Mark - take the W, which you tried to. It'll go that fast again.

Better start thinking about a roll cage.