JohnCh

Trailer for the episode has been released. The poor Caterham -John

Thanks for the link, it's a shame he was comparing TB mounts to shower mounts rather than in head, but that one portion of the video showing the fuel spraying down the intake from the shower mount really highlighted the potential improvement at low rpm if the injector is in the head and hitting the hot valve. Jenvey claims that mounting in the TB below the butterfly is the best compromise for a modified engine. If this was a simple switch, I'd just try it. Slightly off topic, but if you are like me and interested in velocity stack length and design, definitely check out this guy's other videos. Very interesting stuff. Thanks, John

I'm curious if anyone with ITBs has experimented with injector placement? V1 of my Duratec utilized stock internals and cams. At the time, the recommendation was to leave the injectors in the stock factory location in the head. Apparently the fuel spraying on the back of the hot valves promotes lower emissions and better idle/low speed drivability. V3 of the engine has far more aggressive cams with an 8000+ rpm redline. I'm wondering if moving the injectors out to the ports in the ITBs is a better compromise with the current internals? From what I've read, at higher rpm, the extra distance gives the air and fuel more time to atomize, creating a better mixture that burns better, and hence, develops more power. As seen in the photo below, the difference between the two location is about 4 inches. The benefits of each location make sense to me, but it's the quantity of difference I'd like to better understand. If it's another 4-5hp at the top end with marginal difference to the low end, then I might give it a try, but if it's 1-2 hp and idle becomes noticeably less happy in traffic, then there's no point. The change will require removing the plugs in the ITBs (I have a feeling that will be a PITA), buying new plugs for the head, a new fuel rail, and doing a little replumbing, so not a quick, simple update. Thanks, John

My information must have been incorrect, I heard a different number about a year ago. Regardless, having seen the quality of Brue's work firsthand, it is as you note, a reasonable fee. I don't think we are going to change each others mind. Clearly there were two people who really wanted that car, but I remain surprised by the final price of $63k with buyer's fee. -John

Price what Bruce Beachman charges to build a car. I think you'll find it's surprisingly reasonable. Even the factory only charges 2395 GBP (~ $3170) for that option. -John

Fair point, but that was a significant premium. As Croc notes, the new price for a 420R SV is less. As a data point, Beachman Racing recently had a 420R SV listed on their site as ready to ship for under $49k. There are always people willing to overpay for immediate gratification or for a very specific color, but it's rare these kind of outlier prices reset the market. -John

Congratulations! Glad to see we wore you down -John

Yes, the book is still available, but not sure how much it will help. Dave is a well known engine tuner in the UK whose company makes the Emerald ECU. It's pretty popular in se7en circles over there and I use one myself, hence the reason I have that book in my library. You can find it here on Amazon. Definitely investigate the 123 Ignition. I have the Tune+ version which connects to an iOS or Android mobile device via bluetooth, and features real-time programming, rev limiter, anti-theft, and vacuum advance that can create a pseudo 3D map. That last feature is tough to implement with twin DCOEs though. -John

Ok, so it can't be Catzilla, but between CatKong and Croczilla? I think Kitcat has a point... or -John

According to Dave Walker's book, the Bosch 60-2 trigger wheels place the missing teeth at 120 deg BTDC vs. 90 deg BTDC for the Ford 36-1 pattern. I can confirm the latter is correct. HR2guy, it's probably an induction sensor, not Hall Effect, which reads a magnet passing over it whereas the induction just needs ferrous metal like the teeth of that trigger wheel. What are you trying to achieve by replacing the distributor? Are you looking for a true 3D system, or do you just want something with reliable electronics that allows you to adjust the shape of the 2D curve? If the latter, you might want to investigate the 123Ignition system. I'm not certain if they have a replacement for the Vauxhall, but if they do, it's plug and play and easy to use. I'm happy with the one I installed in the Elan. -John

Great catch Panamericano. I've updated the initial post with that information. -John

Yes. It came packaged with an anti-PC filter, nicknamed the Croc Filter, but apparently it broke from overuse. :jester: -John

Thanks, but absolutely unnecessary! No one did anything intentionally, the software just...well, there's a technical term for it, but I have a feeling the antiprofanity filtering would change it to something less entertaining. If you feel the need to do something, just spend more time in threads critiquing Croc's driving style -John

Hi KitKat, that's fine. Just go through the steps above and when PayPal's login page launches, have her sign in with her credentials and complete the process. Thanks, John

This is a duplicate of a post made Wednesday in the Club Matters forum; a forum only visible to Paid Club Members. The data shows that since that initial post, 2/3 of the Paid Club Members who have visited the site, have not read the thread. This may be due to the location in that forum, a too benign thread title, or just the fact that smart people avoid my threads. Regardless, this is important information for Paid Club Members, hence this repost to the General forum and revised title. Please note: this only applies to people who are currently in the Paid Club Member usergroup. And now for the important stuff: While doing a little analysis we discovered that a bug from 10 years ago is not properly enforcing Paid Membership status, which is designated by the Paid Club Member usergroup. Approximately 90 users who have been members of the forum for over 10 years, but whose Paid Membership dues are not current, have not correctly reverted back to the Registered usergroup. In many cases the paid membership lapsed because the person never saw the renewal reminder or it failed to send. In others, it's because they no longer participate in the forum, or simply chose not to renew. To make things fair for the people who are current, we are undergoing a cleanup process next week. This post shows how to check if your dues are up to date, and explains what happens if they are not and your usergroup is changed to Registered. Note: this is not an effort to collect back dues. It's simply an effort to ensure Paid Club Members are in fact Paid Club Members. How do I see if my dues are current? Follow this link to the Paid Subscription page. http://www.usa7s.net/vb/payments.php You may also access it by clicking Settings at the top right of any forum page, then clicking the Paid Subscriptions link under My Account midway down the left hand navigation. If you have made a payment since late 2010, you will see a box at the top labeled Active Subscriptions that shows your subscription's start and expiry date (circled in red below). If the expiry date is in the future, you are current. If it's in the past, you are not. If you do not have the Active Subscriptions box, then your last payment was made prior to late 2010 and you are not current. http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=17848&d=1605153276 What if I'm not current and want to renew? If you opt to renew and remain a Club Member, simply click into the dropdown box on the Paid Subscriptions page, select $20, click Order, then click Order Using PayPal on the following page. PayPal is currently the only payment method the club can accept, however, their Guest option will enable you to input any credit card without having a PayPal account. What if I'm not current, but choose not to renew? If your dues are not current when we perform the cleanup process, your usergroup will revert to Registered. This has two key implications: First, you can no longer start a thread in the Cars for Sale / Wanted forum, although you can still reply to those threads. Second, your message box limit will reduce from 500 to 50. If you have more than 50 messages, you will be unable to send PMs until you delete the excess messages. However, your ability to receive new PMs will not be affected. To check your total stored messages, go to the Message page (http://www.usa7s.net/vb/private.php) and scroll down to the Folders Control box at the bottom. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, John

Andy, that makes sense and I missed that data point, but the size of the delta really surprises me. I may have simply never noticed this before when researching other tires and such a difference may not be that uncommon. Now I'm intrigued and will have to research it Regardless, any tire available in 13" in this country is worthy of celebration. -John

The treadwear rating on these tires is interesting. Both 13" sizes and two of the three 14" sizes are 460, but the remainder -- and they go up to 20" -- are either 240 or 260. I don't recall seeing such a dramatic spread for the same tire based on size. I can't link directly to the page, but if you go here and click on Specifications, you can see the details. -John

He'll need access to the ECU if he's making any deviation from the factory configuration: different cams, cam timing, compression ratio, etc that require map alterations, or if he's simply planning to put it on the dyno to optimize the torque curve, idle, or drivability for your specific engine. Dyno tuning is always a good idea, particularly if you have a person who knowns what he's doing. If, however, the shop is only reassembling the head and timing the cams, that's purely mechanical work and doesn't require ECU access. To complicate matters, Caterham generally delivered locked ECUs, so access may not even be an option. Someone here should know the answer for your particular unit. -John

Have you adjusted the gap yet? If not, that may be the answer. As per this post on WSCC, the person had the same issue with an Omex. Reducing the gap from 0.9mm to the recommended 0.3-0.5mm resulted in Stat Sync'd changing to on: https://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/topic/130245-no-spark-intermittent/?do=findComment&comment=1385171 -John

The fact you can see the teeth is good. The part that still confuses me though is the fact the ECU is reading an engine speed, but it's wildly off and seems to vary. Does the Omex have a setting for different sensor types (e.g. Inductive, Hall effect)? Perhaps that is set incorrectly? -John

rzempel, I shared your confusion. After doing some research, I finally found this photo of the setup. Rather than use the flywheel teeth with a reference peg like some cars, there is a large 36-1 wheel that bolts to the face of the flywheel. -John

Just did a little research. The only cars I'm familiar with that mount the CPS adjacent to the flywheel operate differently than the Zetec. I see now that Ford fits a separate trigger wheel, so my earlier comments are way off base. In addition to the wiring checks Andy suggests, make sure that the signal wires for the CPS aren't too close to the coil pack. That can be a bad combination for interference. -John

I just checked out your Instagram. I've done a lot of touring in the middle of nowhere over the years, but have never come across such an honest sign. It's a classic! Where was this taken? -John

What is the history of this engine? Was it previously running an ECU with the CPS in the back? If not, and I may be clutching at straws here, but did all Zetecs use the ring gear for the trigger wheel, or did some variants use a trigger wheel on the crank pulley? If there is a mix, then I wonder if your ring gear doesn't have some type of reference marker to tell the ECU which tooth corresponds to TDC? Second long shot; does the OMEX has an adjustment for the trigger wheel tooth count? If so, does it correspond the count on the ring gear? -John

You mention a faulty turn signal as well. Do any of the other lights (running, F/R signals, side lights) have issues? Have you checked the fuse box for a faulty connection? Curious if the fan issue is also lack of 12v+ reaching the switch or motor? -John