Configure Digidash and More

Objective:

Started by connecting the wife's laptop to the Digidash and see what was there and if I could change anything to make the gears and RPM look more sensible (the speedo was great, so nothing to change there).

On the "Gears" tab, changed the primary ratio from 1,521 to 1,000. I don't know why I had that value as the primary, but since I have the engine connected to the diff with a propshaft, I don't think it makes sense for this to be other than 1,0. It makes sense to be more with a sprocket on a chain-driven transmission, which is not the case. Let's hope and see... Pictures of before and after. Gears are from the Haynes manual.

On the "Calibrate" tab just changed the "Gear Cal Factor" to also 1,000 from prior 1,500. The reasoning is the same as above. Pictures for before and after. The "Speedo Cal Factor" was calculated with the DigiDash tools and should be correct because the car's speedo agrees with the phone's GPS in what regards to speed (as observed on track).

Also changed the display of the 1st screen to have, besides oil pressure, temperature and water temp to also show speed and gear. This can thus become my sole screen for track. Upped a bit the brightness of the gear-changing leds.

After this, went for other small things. Wired and placed some isolation tape on the lighter I bought so that I can connect it to the battery and use the tyre pump. Then tested it, the tire pump and the tyre pressure gauge to see how my tires were and prepare them for track. Have now all tires around 1,4BAR (20,3PSI). This should make the car bump a bit less on the track than the previous 1,7BAR I had. My friend (on track tires) recommended 1,3BAR but I have road tires so...

I then tried to see if the right stop was not working because of the plug I crimped. Pulled the plug out and connected the wire directly to the wire that comes from the pod and nothing. But connecting another (live) wire turns the light on, so... It must be something somewhere else. I'll have to ask Steve at Aries, because looking at the wire diagram it makes no sense to me that the left stop works and the right one doesn't. It should be a fail for both. As a last resort, I may consider pulling a wire from the working stop to the other one, although I don't like that (just because it is a workaround and not a solution).

Finally, I started the engine just because, watched it idle a bit, tested all nuts on the wheels and then closed shop.

During this week I'll pull the battery out to charge it. Next Saturday I'll be going on the track day again and I hope I'll have videos etc.

Open Hood Vents and Checks

Objective:

Today I spent most of my car time opening the vents on the hood. They look awesome open and it should help move hot air out of the engine bay. Lots of work but not much to tell.

After that, went around the car checking levels of coolant, oil and brake oil. All was good and ready for the next track day.

Spent the evening preparing a laptop to configure the Digidash (may try it one of these nights before the next weekend). Yesterday also got me a tire pressure checker and a lighter body. The lighter may end up installed behind the dash to charge mobile phones. But initially it will be used connected directly to the battery to feed the tire-filler pump.

On a side note, the Race Chrono Pro app I have on the Android phone had a new version. This one allows layering more than one gauge over the video (that can be recorded using an external cam and mixed directly on the phone). So, if all goes well, on the next track day I can have footage with the track and my position, speed and G forces and times all on screen. Makes me a bit sad the engine is not ODB2 compliant and, as such, I can't get RPM and gear on the screen too.

Action Camera and Fixes

Objective:

Had a very short list of tasks to attempt today. First was to brace the support for an action camera that I bought, in preparation for the next track day. It came with lots of accessories. After some trials, decided which ones to use and held the cam in place. It has a wifi functionality that allows me to control it (start and stop recording) from my mobile phone. The card holds around 4h20 of video. More than enough!

Then tried to fix the fog light that would not light up. After some fiddling, turns out it was just a bad contact. Bent one of the contacts the bulb sits in a bit to make more pressure over the bulb and success!

Moved on to the rear right stop that does not light up. The bulb has 2 filaments and the presence one lights up. With the presence lit, unconnected wires and connected the wire that leads to the brake filament to the loom's presence wire. It lit up. So, the problem is neither the bulb nor the terminal I crimped on the light pod wire. I'll have to study the wiring schematics and see where to test next. For now, I'll be on the track with just the left-side stop light.

Tried to inflate the tires with a new pump I got that connects to a car lighter. Since the car has no lighter, I also got an adapter to a 220v socket. Turns out that adapter blew after being in use for 5s. For an euro and a half, shipping included, from China... You get what you pay for. So, tires still need air and I'll have to do it later, when I have the tintop around.

Since when the car last weekend was on the ramp, I checked underneath to see if any propshaft bolt was coming lose. All was tight and nice, so I don't have to do that in preparation for the next track day.

Fired up the car and took it for two laps on the merry-go-round to test the camera. Regarding the wheels, I don't feel any difference in this short drive but the wheels no longer sound like rubber sliding when cornering slow. Must be a good sign!

After this, it was mostly pack up and call it a day. For the next track day I just need to check the tires' pressure, check the oil and water levels and put more gas... Well... Maybe still look again into the brake light. And try to configure the Digidash properly...

On the legalisation front, the contact I got provided me with their partner for that type of work. They guaranteed no issues with importing the car. Steve at Aries already told me when he is available to receive the car. Need to find a company to transport the car to the UK. I'm starting to believe I'll be able to drive my car on the streets to go to the track day that will happen in September...

Wheels Professionally Aligned

Objective:

Today the car got the wheels properly aligned. Called a tow truck to take the car to the shop. Drove from my garage spot to the street again to load the car on the truck.

The time spent on the car shop was mostly talking with the mechanics there, answering their questions, as this is not a common sight. The fact that I built it and I'm not a mechanic and did not study anything mechanic-related made it even more of a sensation.

In the end, these were the final values the car got. The "factory defaults" are for some randomly selected car since the machine HAD to have a brand and model selected to work (and did not know of locosts, caterhams nor the likes):

In English, "Sopé" means "Camber", "Avanço" is "Caster" and "Convergência" is "Toe In". I don't know how good these values really are. My gut feeling would have tried to match camber left and right a bit more and have less toe in on the rear. But the mechanic said the camber difference was almost nothing and this was a good setup. The track will tell!

In the process, received an improvement idea regarding the rear uprights: to replace the rod with a bolt in each end with a rod with a welded of cast bolt on one end. Idea is that, with usage, if the bolt near the toe alignment seizes, it will be a lot easier to loosen it.

Also got a contact of a company that does Porshe 356 replicas here and may know about legalisation and converting painlessly an UK registration into a Portuguese one.

The tow truck took me home and I did not have time to test or mess more with the car.

Fixing Throttle, Earth and More

Objective:

The first track day allowed me to understand a couple of things that needed fixing or changing. Wheel alignment being a main one but that I can't do on my own. That will be done next week at a shop.

Today I worked on small other things. First I drilled a new hole on the throttle peddle strut and, using one of the holes I drilled long ago on the peddle itself, I had the way to fix a spring. Last week I bought a couple different stiffness springs and fit the one that seemed more adequate. This spring makes the peddle a bit stiffer and helps with the return, that was based only on the carb's spring. Feels a lot nicer now (at least with the car standing still).

Then I dismantled the dash to tighten the high beam switch properly. Also placed some Nural 50 (threadlock fluid) on the nut to help it stay in place.

Since I had the dash out, switched the wires for the indicator stalk so that it works properly instead of blinking the side opposite to the desired one. Could not test because I forgot to take the car keys with me and the indicators don't work with the car completely off...

Enlarged an "O" wire terminal and replaced one end of the oil temp&pressure gauges earth wire with it. Then made that end go through the bolt that holds the spark controllers. This will ensure that earth will not go lose again.

Next week, besides the wheel alignment, I must open the tunnel to check the transmission bolts and then put some Nural 50 on the tunnel bolts as I tighten them again. Maybe also take a laptop to try to connect to the Digidash and enhance its configuration.

Fire Extinguisher and Brakes

Objective:

Started another night session by marking the position for the fire extinguisher on the tunnel top. Removed the top, drilled, fitted the holder with a couple of bolts and job done! Put some Dural 50 (threadlock) to be sure the nuts would not fall into the tunnel.

Then I tried holding a spring I had to the throttle peddle to stiffen it a bit. Seemed to work.

Placed the charged battery on the car and it fired up 2nd time. Lapped the garage 3 times. Did some hard (relative, since I'm driving 20Km/h in 1st) stops and the brakes are finally good! No sponginess, no having to pump twice... It just brakes!

In the end, the throttle peddle spring made its work but is already breaking up. I have to see if I can find a nice proper spring before Saturday.

Brakes Issue Solved?

The objective:

Today went with the wife to the car so that she could help me bleed the brakes. Cutting more than an hour of work in few words... The front brakes are great. The rears had one nut not well tightened on the "T" piece that splits the pipe to the rear wheels. It was dripping. After tightening we bleed it more and seems to be good. Could not test because I failed to get the engine going. It was unused for some two months and the battery died before I could get it to run.

Also placed the Aries symbols on the hood and rear.

And defined where I'll be attaching the newly acquired fire extinguisher. It will be on the tunnel top, behind the handbrake. Handy but not in the way.

I guess this week I'll be working on the car every night until the track day. And it's a go, by the way. Put my name down last Friday.

Front Wheel Wobbliness Solved

The objective:

Track day on the Estoril track (where F1 ran when there was a Portuguese GP). 7th February.

The front left wheel wobbliness had to be solved. It was because two of the stubs had the initial threads broken and thus the wheel nuts wouldn't fit adequately and the wheel was a bit loose.

Bought a tap and die set and, after almost 3 hours, fixed the two stubs. One of the nuts was garbage, the other was fixed with a tap. Good I had an extra nut around! In the end each stub lacks the 2 initial threads. But the four nuts now tighten properly and the issue is solved.

I'm in contact with a recovery truck company to get a confirmation of availability. I have to buy a fire extinguisher. And find a way to strap it to the car on the passenger's seat. I should try to bleed the brakes better. Will this be the 1st time the car sees daylight?

Engine Service Finished

After much postponing, I went to do the oil change. It was one of the jobs I liked the least, mainly because I don't like greasy stuff on my hands. But I hate wearing gloves. But let's get on with the details...

First I swapped the rectifier with the new one just arrived from the UK. Plugged the battery in, started the engine and tested the voltage. The Digidash still reads less than 12v when I turn on the lights... So the problem is not with the rectifier. I'll have to research what other components may be causing this. At least I now have a spare for a part that usually fails.

While the engine was warming up the oil, jacked up the car so that the pan would fit under the engine. Having the car up a bit, the Digidash was reading 22º for the oil temp. Should be more but having the temp reader on the end of a pipe is known to not be the best solution. When I untightened the drain plug, after turning the engine off, it SURE was hotter!

All oil drained, removed the oil filter. And made a mess of my garage floor. Forgot to put some newspapers under the car and the filter contained oil that was then spilled. Cleaned the mess, placed the newspapers and then closed the drain and moved the old oil from the pan to 2L Coke bottles. I now need to find a place that can take them to be recycled. There was almost no deposit on the pan, just 3 or 4 "flakes", almost like bits of paint. I hope this means I have a strong gearbox! To reach the filter, removing my side panel wasn't enough. Had to unbolt and take off the nosecone too.

Unpacked the new filter, smeared the seal with the new oil and fitted it. Then used a funnel to feed the remaining oil into the engine. I wanted to follow Andy's (from AB Performance) instructions but ended up just putting the whole 4L of oil inside the engine. It should be good as the Haynes manual said the engine would take 3,7L if I changed the filter.

I didn't recall the PSI figures when the engine was running. So I cranked with no spark and relieved a bit the filter. PSI rose to 7, I thought it should be enough. Added the spark and cranked the engine. It fired into life at around 40PSI... Ups :)

Left the car on stands because next task will be to fix the wobbly front wheel, that will imply removing the wheel. After that I should really take it to a track. Even without fixing the electric issues and the battery charging...

Servicing The Engine (Part I)

After a month, I'm back at the car. The idea was to service the engine and maybe take care of the issue with the front left wheel.

Spent loads of time removing the spark plugs, setting the spacing on the new ones and trying to fit them. In the end had to remove the new ones from the engine because they have a "fat thing" where the leads connect to and the leads don't fit. Probably those things can be removed but I applied some strength with pliers and failed. Before applying more force, decided to look online, so left the car with no spark plugs.

The old plugs are NGK CR9EH and the new ones are the upgraded NGK CR9EIX Iridium ones. The old plugs all had the dark colour from the photo. From the guide on the Haynes manual, it means probably too rich, idle screw problems or blocked air filter. Probably all... Otherwise it can be oil on the chambers and that is more problematic. But since the engine does not seem to lose oil, I guess it is not that.

Then swapped the air filter. Removed an original Honda and placed a HiFlo equivalent. Quick and easy job.

Next time I hope to fit the spark plugs so that I can start the engine to heat up the oil a bit. Then get the car on stands to remove the oil and replace the filter. Being realistic, the front wheel will be another session.

Finished (?!?) and a Drive

Well... All the parts I had are now fit to the car. It is actually finished. After 4 years and 2 months, what I thought would take less than a year is done!
Of course, I still need to fix the stuff I did wrong, service the engine, fit some needed mods... But... I have nothing more inside boxes. All is fitted to the car...

Today's session was to fix the tonneau. It was just a slow process of putting masking tape, marking a hole, drill, rivet the button in place, fix the tonneau, mark another hole, repeat. It took me a couple of hours. The buttons are a bit loose because the pop-rivet pliers could not hold the rivet correctly inside the button. Just as I was getting to the end of it (2 rivets to go) I noticed Steve from Aries had packed a bit of tube along with the buttons and rivets for this job. Putting the bit of tube over the rivet shaft allowed the gun to fix the rivet correctly in place and break the rivet cleanly. The last two are fixed as all should. Maybe one day I'll drill the others out and rivet them again properly. Maybe not... But another praise to Steve, he thought of these things and his attention to detail still amazes me.

Once the tonneau was fixed in place I decided I'll not cover the car again. So I took out the remaining bubble-wrap I had on the roll bar to avoid scratching. Vacuum cleaned the interior of the car and the dirt on the fiberglass body (that would not go out with a cloth due to static electricity).

Now I should take care of lights, no? Well... Let's fit the battery. This time I used the proper nuts and bolts that came with the battery instead of the temp ones I was using and were getting rusty. And sanded the terminals on the car loom. I wonder if the problem with the car was bad connections to the battery due to rust and incorrect bolts... Turned the key and... First time!

OK... Lapped the garage over 10 times. Like a kid. With a new toy. :)

After these laps I identified or confirmed a couple of problems to tackle.

With no lights or running lights, the battery gives 13v to 14v, which means the alternator is charging it. On low beam the battery drops to 12v. I'm not sure if it charges at all at 12v (with the engine idling). I'm unsure if this is a problem or not...

Brakes do need bleeding, although not much. For effective braking, I need to pump once to get the peddle hard and then it works correctly.

The front wheel, driver's side, wobbles a bit. It needs tightening...

The headlights are not tightly bolted and so they move. Which probably is good because when I turn the steering completely to one side, the outer wheel hits the headlamp and moves it inside. When I finished my laps seemed the car was looking to something on the tip of its nose. Must find a way to reduce the turning radius of that steering.

I want a spring on the accelerator peddle to give me more feel and help the cable return.

Some 10 minutes after I turned the car off, the radiator leaked a bit. I'm not sure if this was because I didn't leave the fans working a bit after I turned the car off.

Next session will be engine service and tightening the front wheel.

The Other Arch And Electrics

Based on prior experience, today I tackled the other arch. What took 2h30m for the right side took only 1h15m for the left side. I was amazed! And it looks a lot better! Well, on the pictures both sides look nice, but "on the flesh" it is different.

Next step was to finish the electrics. Spent some time considering the best way to pass the cables from inside the arches to the boot. Final decision was to drill a hole, with the 12mm drillbit, on the rear panel, hidden by the arch. Put some rubber pipe to "line" the hole, avoiding chaffing the hires. Then get the wires through the hole.

All wires crimped and connected. Just needs testing, which I couldn't do since the battery was not fitted. Next session will be lights testing and to fit the buttons for the boot cover.

One Arch In, One To Go

My session started with a dying light. Four years ago when I bought my lamp, I also bought a spare bulb "just in case it blows and causes the end of a work session". It took some time, but turned out to be a wise move :)

The process of fixing the arch was not simple. Drilled on the arch two holes on the front-facing side and one on the rear facing side. Positioned the arch and marked the car where to drill to match the holes on the arch. Took extra care to centre the wheel correctly. Marked, drilled, bolted slightly in place, marked the inner of the arch where other holes should go, took the arch out, drilled it, masked the car, bolted the arch back, marked the masking tape, took the arch out, drilled the car, bolted it all back in... Through this process, had to do a couple of extra holes: one because behind the rear end there was a rail and I would not be able to fit the bolt. The other because of a marking error, hole should be 3mm to the side...

Then the hard task started... When I was trying to bolt permanently the arch, it would not fit nicely near the top chassis rail. There was a gap between the arch and the side of the car. Had to undo most bolts, file down the arch a bit to make it sit better and tried bolting all back in. The self-tapping bolt that holds that seems to be too short for the gap and the "stress" the part is in... I will either have to get a longer bolt, undo it all and file a bit more or just forget about it.

Lots of lessons learnt for when I get to do the other side. And yes, the light wires were not crimped nor connected. Next week or so...

Rear Arches With Lights

Some hours on the car to finish off the rear arches. First offered them to the car to validate that the lines drawn last week were level. Using the mobile phone app, it seemed perfect.

Using the circular adapter on the drill, prepared to cut the holes. First one was quickly done! This blade, that cuts aluminium, went through fiberglass like through butter. Adjusted the blade to make the next hole a bit larger. In the end, all four holes required different amounts of "enlarging by sanding" with the dremmel and a sanding cylinder.

When all light pods could fit, placed some masked tape on the arches again and marked the holes for the bolts that hold the light pods to the arches. Had to improvise some bolts and nuts (leftovers from the tunnel panels) and only bolted two (instead of three) because the third one had what it seemed like an earth connection above the hole that was preventing me from putting the bolt. Anyway, two seem enough.

Both arches were done, although I only picture one. Just need to make the holes through which bolts will go through to fix the arches to the car. Next session will be on the car, fitting the arches and the buttons for the tonneau cover.

Marking Wheel Arches

Had a small work session. Spent the beginning of it trimming down the cuts I did previously. This allowed the arches to sit better on the car.
Then took a LOT of time trying to place the arches on the car to mark where to drill to fit the lights. It was a job that, if I had a helping pair of hands, would have done in less than 10 minutes. Alone, it took me almost an hour. In the end, I have two spirit-level-drawn lines on the arches and centres for the holes I'll be cutting next session.

Rear Wheel Arches Trimming

Small session working on the car. First task was to tie-wrap the extension wires I did last week to wire up the fog light on a LHD position. I had forgotten about holding the wires down and this got fixed.

Then spent some time trimming the rear wheel arches. After some looking into it, the trimming does make the arches fit a lot better. The picture below shows one arch trimmed and the other one yet to be trimmed so that the difference is visible.

I've heard that Steve at Aries now has new moulds for the rear arches that do not require trimming. This could be nice although this trimming is not hard and didn't take long.

Next time I'll have to make the holes for the lights and then fit them to the car. I still have the boot cover buttons to fit, but today I didn't feel like doing that.

More Work on the Rear

Another couple of hours on the car advanced the rear. No pictures because it's not quite visible.

Jacked the car up and riveted the rear panel to the chassis. Used 4 rivets under, two on the sides also under and two nearer the top against the chassis rail where the upper side of the coils fit.

Then used a bit of old wire and crimped an extension to the fog light wire. Connected it to the light pod and closed it. Just forgot to cable-tie the wire to the chassis, will have to do it next time.

Last job was to drill and fit the filler cap. This took a bit more work because the bolts were 4mm in diameter and I only had 3,5 and then a 4,75 drillbits. So I drilled with the 3,5mm and then used a file on the fiberglass to enlarge the holes to fit. Some time later, the fuel cap was in, bolted to the fiberglass and the ties on the hose also tightened.

Also removed the battery from the car and charged it in preparation for a drive soon.

Next session will be the buttons for the cover and then start on the rear wheel arches.

More Bodywork Done

Got to the car and something was niggling the back of my head. I still had the rear loom in one roll on top of the fuel tank. So, my first task was to lay out the wires and fix them in place with wraps, ensuring there would be no chaffing. Tried several layouts, specially because photos I saw had the loom between the rear panel and the fuel tank. In the end I opted for having the loom between the diff and the fuel tank. Now I just need to buy some more electrical wire to make an extension for the fog light wires to reach the fog light on a LHD position. Used one of the fuel tank bolts to attach the earth wires to the chassis.

After this, opened up the sikaflex and grabbed the front wings. It was a bit messy but not much of a story to it. Wings are wired, sikaflexed and bolted into place. I haven't tried the indicators to confirm all is well, need to recharge the battery, but at least it looks nice.

Then it was time for the rear panel. A lot of sikaflex around the top and bottom, to hold it in place. Left that to dry, will put the rivets underside next time.
Crimped the plate light wires, connected them and closed that light pod. Also put the filler cap in place, although it is not drilled and bolted to the panel yet.
Finally, fitted the boot cover just to see how it looked and where I would need to drill to install the buttons the cover attaches to. Not bad... Not bad at all...

Next session will be mostly drilling the rear panel to rivet underside, fit the filler cap and the boot. My driller's vacations are about to be over!

K.I.S.S. on the Rear

Often used and often forgotten acronym in IT is "K.I.S.S.": Keep It Simple (and) Stupid.
Grabbed a plastic sleeve used to fit bolts on walls and cut it to size. Got the size right at the third attempt. Bolts tightened and now I have the fog light in place, correctly angled, without more messing with aluminium scraps.

The session was small and most of the remaining time was spent looking at tasks ahead and trial fitting things. Trial fitted the rear wings. They fit quite OK (or I'm lowering standards as I get near the end). I could almost fit it straight away as is...
Then I unpacked the leather boot cover and looked into the buttons that I have to fix to the rear to button the cover to. They are held with rivets, so I'm not worried about having to look for yet another tool.
So, planning next tasks, by the correct order... 1) Open the sikaflex and fix front wings in place; 2) Fix rear with sikaflex; 3) Crimp loom wires, connect to rear lamps and close them; 4) Jack the car up and rivet the rear underside (as per instructions); 5) Drill rear for filler cap bolts; 6) Drill rear for boot cover buttons.

Continuing with Rear of Car

Another session dedicated to the rear panel. Started with masking up to mark where plate and fog lights should go. Regarding the fog light, to run in Portugal it has to be on the left but for the UK's IVA it has to be on the right. I marked and drilled on both sides. After IVA I'll install a reversing light on the UK's holes. Using an old licence plate I had, tested how it would look.

After fitting the plate and fog lights, took the rear to the car and checked how the fog light had to be. The problem is that the rear has a slope and the fog light must be perpendicular to the road. So it has to take some wedge behind to make it stay in place. With a piece of scrap aluminium I made a part to go behind the light and that should do the job. Using the mobile phone with the inclinometer app, could check when the light was on the correct position. Unfortunately, the part I made was not a good fit, requires more work and I didn't have more time.

Still had time to look into the rear loom and check what connectors I need to add to the shop list.