360S in Charleston(ish)

[UglyFast]

3 minutes ago, Austin David said:

Thanks!  LMK when you get closer and I can burn you one

Heck YEAHHHH

[Austin David]

update: (some) new coolant hoses

 

My kit was mostly complete, but I was missing much of the coolant hoses.  I acquired some stand-ins on short notice to finish the build, but today I finally replaced the modine side with silicone.  Also I used heat-shrink clamps for the silicone-silicone joints, I love them so far.

 

I used parts from Pegasus, but there are equivalents in other places.  My build is a wet sump duratec, which I think contributed to the confusion -- the missing tubes were for the extra modine.  It's extra fun because the heater and water tank are 16mm or 5/8", and the motor side is all 19mm or 3/4".  So there are two adapters needed, or some lube and sweet talking.  I hunted a LOT for custom (single-piece) elbows with adapter fittings, but it doesn't seem doable in single-part quantity.

 

parts list:

• 19mm @ 1m tube, 19mm joiner @ qty 3
• 16-19mm adapter hose (qty 1)
• 135* 19mm elbows @ qty 2
• SB heat shrink clamps (for 19mm, qty 6)
• 19mm sleeved hose clamps qty 3
• 16mm sleeved hose clamp qty 1

 

In order of installation: the inboard fitting routes up to the tee between the motor and the coolant tank.  (modine -> tee) is a 135* elbow to ~ 0.5m of hose, with a single 19mm joiner + SB clamps.  I've got this one routing around the firewall and tied to the LHS frame support to stay out of the way.

 

view from below, which really illustrates why 135* vs 90*:

 

 

and above:

 

For the heater -> modine: 16-19mm adapter, about 0.5m of 3/4 silicone, and a 135-degree elbow.  Plus a pair of 19mm joiners and gates SB heat-shrink clamps.  The radius up from under the block is wide enough that I don't need an elbow there.  This line runs right between the accelerator stop bolt and the steering column; I've got a few pieces of rubber or plastic in the areas which look like they might rub.  

 

This line connects to the outboard modine port; the elbow is cut on both ends, lower side to fit inside the inboard run, the top side shorter to keep the joint below the steering column.  Still plenty of room to make it up to the 19-16mm adapter to fit on the heater side.

 

 

[Austin David]

speedo calibration.  I rightly guessed I had the Caerbont, instructions are here: https://www.caigauge.com/documents//product-instructions/spedometers/speedometers/pil042-460-3028.pdf

 

It's not too bad: 1) drive real fast, 2) measure the indicated speed (what the speedo says) and actual speed (GPS), 3) do the math and poke the thing.  4) rinse/repeat.

 

"real fast" should be probably the top end of what you usually drive.  Like, highway speed.  But very consistent, try to hold the same speed for a while.  Because the gauge and human, it's easier to hold exactly a *0 or *5 speed, like 65mph or 70mph or whatever.  I used a GPS app on my phone which showed a huge "actual" speed, and make sure that's stable and makes sense.   Then you just go at the constant speed, confirm the GPS speed, and do the math:

 

new PPU = old PPU * indicated / actual

 

Turn off the car, hold the button down (the trip reset button), turn on the car.  At the end of the gauge sweep you get programming mode, SETPPU.  Hold for 2-3 secs and it shows the old PPU, write that down.  Mine was 40816 from the factory.   Multiply that by your indicated speed (60mph) and divide by GPS speed (54mph) -> 40816 * 60 / 56 == new PPU; round up.  Per instructions you can enter this new value, retaining the leading zero (043731), when it flashes the whole number a quick press and it's set and shows DONE.  Then repeat the process.  On my first set, I was doing an indicated 80 and GPS 81, so I repeated the process: 43731*80/81 = 43192.  

 

If it doesn't start raining you can do that a few more times and tell your wife you were out all morning working on the car.

[Austin David]

At the suggestion of another builder, I secured the o2 sensor line with a bracket in place of one of the body rivets, beside the catalyst.  My kit had a few leftover tie brackets and rivets, I just had to drill out a painted one.  I also retaped some of the heat shield which got chewed up on that side.

Edited October 4 by Austin David

[Austin David]

I added lighting to the rollbar uprights.  I'm not 100% sold on these, but they were cheap and easy and they look pretty good.  The mounts are temporary, if it ever stops raining I'll put some miles on them and see how they do.

 

The goal is visibility, secondary I want them to not get in the way and work if I (shudder) have to use the hood.  I actually made a much more complex setup, but went "quick n dirty" for this first pass.

 

I used a set of 4-pin econoseal plugs to make a splice-in extension / harness, it goes between the tail lights and the chassis loom.  The lights are spliced directly into this harness, fed up through the floor of the boot, then routed over to the rollbar.  Wiring up the econoseal was the most annoying part of the project, honestly.

 

The lights themselves are an amazon special, $11 run/brake/turn extension.  I bought two of these, and wired the turn signal to the "right" side; in this mount it's the top 1/3rd of the strip.

 

In daytime these are merely bright.  I need to figure out if they're too obnoxious at night.

 

in the pics below only the parking/running lights are on; the brakelight is BRIGHT.

 

[IamScotticus]

That's really nice.

And your boot cover is perfect.   Jealous. 

[Austin David]

11 minutes ago, IamScotticus said:

That's really nice.

And your boot cover is perfect.   Jealous. 

It came that way?  Like a DRUM.  

[Austin David]

Heated seats!  It's literally freezing right now due to some awful cold front, injecting a false winter into our false autumn.  40s in the mornings, ick.

 

I got this kit: https://leatherseats.com/shop/seat-comfort/seat-heaters/round-switch-seat-heaters/ because I like the round switch.  The dual-seat switch doesn't fit in the washer bottle switch spot, so if I'm cutting holes I'ma cut round ones.

 

My seats are the "signature" model.  I have no idea how they compare to standard seats, and CF can come with heaters.  This is not a "HOWTO" but I'll include enough photos and tips to get anyone going.

 

The seat construction is ... interesting.  I haven't done a lot of upholstery, I can just say this isn't the same as the Miata I refit.  The two sections (back and seat) are similarly-built.

 

In both cases the seat leather itself consists of large clear sections under the thighs and lumbar, and thinner ribbed sections at the butt and mid back.  The large clear sections are just a layer of leather bonded to thin foam, over a thicker shaped pad.  Those ribbed sections are a little more foam, but then they are spray-glued into the seat pan.  This is obviously very annoying.

 

The sides and edges of the material is sewn to a plastic strip, which is later (final assembly) glued to the pans.  All stitching cuts are out of line of sight / under the seats, and easily repaired to look great.

 

The heating elements MOSTLY fit thusly: horizontal under the thigh, and vertical at the back.  Because the heater needs to have at least 12" of element, I went ahead and separated the glued section on the back, and trimmed about 1" of element from the back heater.  There's about 18" of connector for each pad; on the back, the connector comes out the center / floor.  For the bottom, the cable emerges toward the tunnel.  Both will have to plug in under the carpet, with wiring routed up under the tunnel and probably forward (TBD) for power.

 

 

To separate the leather from the sewn-and-glued edge, it's better to cut the stitching out.  The glue broke cleanly about half the time, and not-clean the other half.  All repairable with zip-ties, but if I'm tied it up anyway, better to keep it clean.

 

On the pan, separate the front seam.  The sides are held on with double-sided tape, it's very similar to scotch double-sided tape you can acquire from your favorite office supply store.  it lifts right up, but has to be replaced to be useful (leather fuzz left behind).  At this point the cover can be rolled back, the heater taped down to the shaped foam, and re-covered (see below)

 

The back: there are zip-ties in a few places, cut most of them below where your shoulders would go.  Cut the stitching at the bottom edge.  The two side rails are just held in with tension, once you get the zip-ties free the molded back/pan comes off the rail, and the sides will slide loose.  And the fun begins.

 

Roll back the lumbar section.  I had a little spray-glue at the edge of the lumber foam, then liberal glue between that ribbed section and the back pan.  Very slowly separated the two, minimal tearing of the bonded section.  I went up to the last rib, leaving the one intact / still glued to the back.  I trimmed about 1" from the heating element for a test-fit to get coverage all the way to the bottom.

 

Because the back was glued, and the heating pad doesn't normally get glued, I added a section of carpet tape (heavier double-sided) to the center of the heating pad, so it was secured on the taped sides plus my new center tape.  Then I put three more strips of carpet tape on the center and sides of the pad, then pulled the seat material down over the back.  For the lumbar section, it's taped more like "normal" with the heater taped to the foam, then leather pulled tight over that.

 

The sides of the cover tuck back under the frame/pan and zip-ties get replaced.  For the last bottom edge, I punched zip-tie-sized holes in the leather and drilled two holes in the pan, then lifted the lumbar foam enough to thread the ties back through.  Five sets of these to get the edges and center, then pulled them all tight carefully to keep it straight.

 

Note that my *first* attempt (the bottom section) was not as "clean", I tried to preserve the hidden stitching and ended up doing more work, for little value.

 

The final product looks pretty good, I'll include more pics when I mount the switches.  by "pretty good" I mean "you can't tell I monkeyed with them."  The covers are nice and tight and apart from some new zip-ties in a spot that can only be seen with the seat frame unbolted.

[Austin David]

I've got the 4 seat-parts refit as planned, and driver side mounted.  Definitely easier on the second set.  And I did a "test run" in the garage.  It's nice -- I wasn't in long enough to make it HOT, but definitely enough to confirm electrical.  Warmup seems like ~ 3 minutes, which matches my expectation.  Not as good as factory (since it's behind the bonded foam) but still pretty good, and very even / no hotspots.  And it's invisible, apart from the switches.

 

 

 

Wiring:

- I ran a pair of dedicated lines from battery (positive fused 15A) back to the bulkhead, under the tunnel.  I happened to have some braided loom.  I also added a third trigger wire, which is hanging off a terminal tied to the fuse panel, hanging off the ignition supply fuse.  I'd previously used this to fire a relay for the cig lighter + my added USB charging port.

- those 3 lines run under the tunnel cover, along the brake lines & other wiring, and are tied to a terminal block on the top of the tunnel / under the cover, about where your center elbow rests.

- the Caterham has a *lot* of space under the cover in that spot

- I had so much space, I have no yet shortened any of the included harness wiring from the seat kits.  I riveted down a couple extra ziptie holders, just to keep things snug.

- added a clean terry rag to secure the control cans for the seats, to avoid rattling

- for now, the switches are temporarily fed forward through the handbrake boot and just hanging out.  More below

- the wiring to the seats: it is presently run between the two mountpoints for the seatbelt, under the carpet. There's a forward mount for my 3-point belts, and an after mount for (I assume a 4+ point.  My harnesses emerge from the carpet about there.

- The seatback is behind the seat, and just plugs in.  There's extra wire, and enough space for it between the seat and the bulkhead.  The pan / butt section wiring pops out at center.  This section of seat rests on the seat frame, and the wiring can avoid getting crushed by running out the outside of the seat frame, along the carpet/floor, to the back bt the hookup.  Again plenty of room to tuck the wiring out of the way.  In an SV chassis you might have more space, but in this S3 the seat is touching the carpet and hides that wiring just fine.  When lifting the seat back out the wiring stays exposed with plenty of slack, and will be easy to unplug.

 

Switches:

I have not yet cut any leather.  The tunnel padding feels pretty thick, like 1/2" (leather over ~1/2" pad over curved sheet aluminum).  The switches are designed to mostly pass through a thin, flat panel.  That tunnel area needs to stay pretty flush, so whatever I do needs to be pretty tight; I may end up making some sort of flush-mount fixture that can penetrate the leather and padding, back up to the aluminum structure, and secure the switches?  If I mount on the tunnel (elbow area) it will have to be more than just "drill a hole".  Another option I'm braining is mounting to the side of the seat; the side rails are mostly empty space and I think deep enough for the switch body + harness behind it.  Unfortunately because of the thick padding, I can't use the flat area in the handbrake boot -- after the pad and internal tunnel structure, there's almost no free usable space.

[Austin David]

I took a lil test ride tonight, about 40 minutes each way in FREEZING 60* weather.  The seats work great.  They start getting warm after about 3 mins, and by about 15 we turned them down a little.

[KenCat]

Would love to see this out on the road - I'm in DT Charleston so will keep an eye out for you on the roads. Also, if ever there was a chance to have a ride, or even just a "sit-for-fit", I'd love that too. Still saving the pennies to fulfill my own 7 dream......

[Austin David]

On 8/6/2022 at 11:37 AM, Austin David said:

On my first set, I was doing an indicated 80 and GPS 81, so I repeated the process: 43731*80/81 = 43192. 

 

I swapped out my factory 13x6 / 185 wheels & tyres with 13x8 / 225s.  The new math said 41417 for PPU, and it seems about right at 70mph.  I haven't yet screwed with ride height, but I do think I'll need to bring it down a little after this change.

 

Some quick side-by-side photos:

original fitment ^^ a little narrow for the wells, which are designed to hold the 13x8" wheels & 225 tyres

 

 

 

New fitment:

 

the 13x8 fill the well a little better, which was my goal.

 

as noted I haven't yet tried to exercise them, I assume I'll need to make adjustments to height all around, and maybe my rear ARB to account for the additional grip.  THis time of year with cold tires, it's basically ice-skating either way.

 

for anyone curious, my spare is 13x6 and would be for limited use in emergency, I wouldn't want to run the mixed size with an LSD.  For a very long trip I'd probably go back to 13x6 all around.

[MV8]

Those do look better. 185-60-13 versus 225-50-13? Spare hoop integral or does it slide off so you could fit new hoop for the new tires without chassis mods?

[Austin David]

Yes, 185 vs 225 is the "staggered" configuration which is mostly standard for the 420/620.  I went with 185s all around for longer road trips and to carry a spare.  They perform GREAT but the rear arch has a lot of extra space (to accommodate the larger wheels on a staggered setup).

 

The spare hoop itself would have to be updated.  It bolts to the chassis, and could probably be made to work, but it wouldn't really make sense to carry a rear-only spare tyre, as the fronts are still the original 13x6 / 185s.  At the moment I have the 13x6 spare and I carry a plug kit.  If I were to take any long road trips I would probably swap back to the 13x6s in the rear.  For around town I could use the spare, but it would put wear on my LSD so I wouldn't want to do it much.

[Austin David]

Build update: I mounted the seat heater switches.  Final wiring: 12v + ground leads directly from the battery, plus a trigger wire off the fuse panel.  The pad leads are very long, ran them under the console all the way back to the seats, then down under the carpet to pop out by the seatbelts.

 

I stuck a terminal block inside my fuse panel cover (RHS footwell, about over a passenger's knee) and wired the 12V + trigger there, and fed off both seats.  The excess wire was zip-tied and looped, and the two controllers were bundled in some terrycloth for noise abatement and tucked up there too; plenty of space.  The switches are about 12" from the controllers; I drilled out two spots under my fan & windscreen heater buttons.  Those two switches connect directly to the controllers.

 

Because I didn't trim the original cabling I have one inline fuse on each side, plus my "main" inline fuse coming off the battery directly.  I chose to pull power from the battery because I couldn't decide where to drag an extra 10+A from the fuse panel.

 

[Austin David]

more significant update: starting my ITB project.

 

Background: I want street (low-end) cams like my 360, but want to fatten up the curve a little.  At one time Caterham had an "R300" build or somesuch, RBTB without the cam swap, but with the locked ECU they no longer offer the package and I was not able to find anyone who would / could fix the ECU.

 

I got an ITB + ECU package from ME: AT Power mechanical, ME221 ECU and a pre-wired harness: https://motorsport-electronics.co.uk/product/at-power-ford-zetec-direct-to-head-itb-and-ecu-kit-copy/

 

I won't go into gory details here unless someone is particularly massochistic, but I will catalog the surprising gotchas.

 

0) if you are ever doing anything with wiring, spend a few hours making the scuttle removable.  There are videos, you basically drill out 26 (?) rivets and replace them with m4 rivnuts.  If you drive without a helmet, think about rattles while you're reassembling (strategic foam tape).

 

1) the CANchecked gauge is fantastic.  I would recommend this upgrade regardless.  It can take six analog inputs, CAN input (from my new ECU), OBD2 etc.  At the very least, would be a replacement for the water temp gauge, and could incorporate oil temp.  Not as pretty as the analog Caerbont, but it's a close match and not hard to integrate.

 

2) the factory ECU is pretty small.  The ME221 won't fit in the same location.  It MIGHT be made to fit if I changed the battery mount a little, but I'll probably just move it over one of the footwells, and lower the battery.

 

3) the old harness is wired in pretty hard, I assume I'll have to be cutting it out at some point, and re-wrapping a lot of old wiring.  Looking under the scuttle there's also a lot of extraneous, unused wiring; I assume Caterham has one or possibly two types of harnesses used for every flavor of build.  I'll also be removing a lot of this.

 

4) The new harness is pretty different.  Might be easier to just get a naked harness and crimp on my own connectors.  I think I'll be able to directly use a few (like 1-2) as supplied, but most will get replaced: injectors, coils, TPS, etc.  I assume this is not shocking for anyone who's rewired an engine, but I was hoping* a "duratec" loom would fit a "duratec" motor, but ...  here we are.

 

At the moment I'm reassembling my intake and will do some additional "homework" with the car running.  I'll be proactively checking ALL connectors, I've got some light mechanical work to fit the throttle cable, etc.  I basically disassembled everything: ECU out (harness still in), battery/heater/scuttle out, airbox/plenum out.  Got some notes on what to modify or fix.  Each new discovery requires either a domestic or occasionally international shipment, so I'll do the homework under a running car, rather than just leaving it out of commission for a few extra weeks.

 

[Austin David]

for reference: 

the "stock" 360/420 setup includes a control module up by the tank, next to the fuel pump.

 

Also the alternator generates not-insignificant noise that is heard by the crank sensor.  It's the OEM sensor still, so I assume the original ECU either ignored the noise, or was able to filter it better.  Once I get fans and fuel pump sorted, I'll figure out if I need to do something about the charging system.  

 

 

[Austin David]

quick: notes: I think I've got everything sorted and am ready to start test driving.

 

tl;dr: it was harder than I expected but definitely not out of reach.  The ME221 was a good choice.  CANchecked also good and would recommend standalone.  Expect to use a LOT of wire, crimps, connectors, loom, heat shrink, etc.  Invest in a crimper, good connectors, etc.

 

- Alternator is noisy when plugged in (triggers false signals in the crank sensor), but the noise does NOT appear consequential.  When disconnected it wasn't charging in any meaningful capacity, when connected it charges at idle.  ECU still showing full 720-degree sync with the noise, I'll continue to monitor.

- fuel pump : the driver module (old ECU harness #33) can be driven via PWM, 500 Hz signal.  5-50% duty -> 10-100% pressure.  I wired in a 0-100psi sensor to the former MAP sensor lines, MEITE has a section for the fuel pressure sensor.  I use a GPT to drive the FPDM from 35% - 100% based on ignition duty, or "off".  The FP relay is wired to the ECU (low side output to fan relay), but currently just slaved to an "always on" signal.  This has the FP prime on ignition on (default behavior from FPDM), then start when the engine starts turning.  Added a mechanical gauge to help calibrate, but the expected calibration was correct: 0.5v - 4.5v == 0-100 PSI.

- cooling fan: wired a second output (low side) to the fan relay, very simple on/off

- tach: same 1-per-rev as stock ECU, plugged into former ECU pin 44.

- throttle: the original cable doesn't even sort of work, and would hit the air filter backing plate.  I got a 90* bend fitting, a make-it-yourself cable set, and a 1.5mm nipple from Amazon.  Had to cut down the elbow to fit the throttle hanger on the ITB, then tap it for 5/16" (the nearest-size die I had handy).  The pedal side was too small for the firewall hole, but a layer of heat shrink holds it still, with a nut to keep it from pulling through.  The nipple doesn't fit inside the pedal tube, but the wire passes straight through and I snugged up the nipple.  Full pedal travel (and more) for full TB sweep.
- standard kit assumed EU-style Duratec, which uses external plugs.  ME supplied a COP adapter harness, but basically just IGN1-4 + one wire, out to each of 4 COPs.  Simple to set up, otherwise.

- I opted for uprated 330cc injectors but probably didn't need it.  The new fuel rail is much, much prettier though.  Old rail is out, old injector holes are plugged with supplied injector-shaped plugs (provided with the kit)

- I ended up basically rewiring the entire engine.  This would have been easier with engine out, but was easy enough with coolant out (that top tube).  The old ECU harness is tucked pretty hard up under the tunnel, which itself is insulated.  I elected NOT to pull anything I couldn't reach, and will get to it if/when the motor is next out.  Hopefully never.

- In retrospect (see above) the only sensors and harness I reused were for the oil pressure gauge and starter/alernator.  IF I had motor out (and the good fortune to do this job again) I might have saved time making a harness from scratch and just disconnecting everything from the factory.

- CANchecked is the unsung hero here.  I replaced the temp gauge (external submarine) with an MFD15.  For reasons not yet determined either the gauge or the ME doesn't correctly terminate CAN, but a 120-ohm resistor at the gauge side took care of it.  I had already added an oil temp gauge in the pan, and wired the "submarine" water temp gauge directly to two analog ports on the MFD15.  I still have all my original Caterham gauges save one, and the "new" temp gauge now shows all sorts of cool things.  Including temperature

- while under the scuttle I rewired my AUX stuff for the 12V plug / USB charger, seats, roll bar light.  I moved it all over to driver side, above steering wheel.  Ran a ground lug through the firewall on the steering column brace, which incidentally helps stiffen the firewall.  Cut a ~ 1" penetration in the firewall and made a shrouded grommet.  Put 5 AUX fuses inside + relay (keyed to ignition), and 6 hot fuses outside on the firewall.  Also moved my horn power line to the new fuse panel, previously on the hot side (above passenger footwell).  It's much cleaner than my previous job, but required removing the scuttle to set up, and losing the original airbox.

- new ECU is mounted on a custom mount (3D printed) on driver side footwell.  For now I've removed the shims and lowered the battery, but it's on the same sheetmetal mount.

- the oil dipstick (wet sump) needs a new home.  Parking this to sort out "later".

- have not yet cut the bonnet.  

 

The air filter plate was NOT cut.  I ended up making a template (3d printed), then used that to locate the centers of each stack, then used a 60mm hole saw ($18, Amazon) and drill press with lots of clamps and a spoil board.  Worked perfectly, but took me a couple days to figure out.  The IAT is mounted in the center near the top, basically just in front of the throttle cable. 

[MV8]

For the alt interference, just twisting the pickup leads is effective. The more twists per foot, the better. LAN cable would work but many extra pairs, thin wires, and a ground would need to be soldered to one end of the shield for grounding.

[Austin David]

The first time I saw the interference I had the crank sensor line run a totally different path, nowhere near the alternator.  It doesn't seem like it's interference from the control line?  And, as near I can tell, those two lines are just a battery sense and the warning light on the dash, so I don't know why they'd even be noisy...