Well, I've taken someone else out in the Birkin for a scientific assessment of the performance in a comparitive situation vis a vie the performance. And the verdict is it's faster than most. Which is good, 'cause I was worried.
OK, so it's not exactly scientific, but it's nice to have someone tell you that, depsite the dyno report which showed the output was the same as theirs, the reality is somewhat different.
In other news - the lean cylinder is back, and is colouring up the exhaust once more, so there's some work to do looking at the injector. In addition, if you take the air filter off, you can see the spark flash actually in the intake, which isn't good.
So I had better not overdo it - running the cylinder lean means its heating up unevenly, which can lead to cracking and detonation if I'm not careful. So until this is resolved, I'll be driving more conservatively....
I did fill it up with petrol the other day, and someone was taking photos while I was paying. They either liked the car, or were sending the photos off to the police to report me under the anti-hoon laws ;-)
The Birkin
The finished article
Monday, July 21, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Back from the Tuna
So, after all the hype and hyperbole of this blog, saying how my car will be super powerful and go really fast, it finally went onto a dyno. Expecting a call with a figure of 'Gee mate, it's bloody great. Rips 230bhp off at the flywheel, and tore the dyno out of the floor', I was a little non-plussed to get something a little different.
The comment from the tuner was that, overall, it seemed a little disappointing. He kept saying things like it felt that there was a restriction somewhere - perhaps the throttle bodies are too small (they're 48's, so no). Perhaps the standard cams aren't up to much (oh, wait, they're 220bhp raceline cams, not standard). Perhaps the cam timing is off (nope, done by a guy who builds motorcycle engines - finer tolerances on a Ducatti than a Ford lump). So really no idea as to why it pulled the figures it did.
So, to be blunt, the dyno showed a paltry 106kw at the rear wheels. This translates to around 180bhp from the engine. Given all the fruit that's been thrown at it, there's either a serious problem with the engine, or a problem with the dyno.
As it turns out, it may be the dyno. One of the other Birkins just went in with a stage-3 CNC milled high compression head, cylinders bored out plus forged pistons and rods, which should have sent the power skyrocketing. Instead, they showed a 5kw loss. The guy at the shop also said his RX-7 seemed to have lost 20bhp somewhere, and a few other cars are showing lower than expected results, so my guess is that something has gone a little wonky with the dyno. Mind you, being at least 40bhp down is a little more than just a small issue. But I'd rather believe that than believe I just spent that much money on an engine that does just 25% above the standard Ford Focus.
The ultimate test will be on how it now drives. The tuner has worked the power and torque curves to be nice and smooth, so as long as the whole lot just moves up a few inches on the page, then it should all be fine.
I'll either challenge some of the other Birkins to a drag race (under controlled conditions with trained professional drivers, of course), or use my new toy, the Performance Box from Racelogic, which has a power estimation calculation based on weight and 0-100 times. Obviously the calculator is a little hit and miss (lots of driver, tyre and other factors), but if with my poor driving and cooked tyres it tells me I have anything like 180bhp, I'll know its much higher ;-)
Or, I'll drive it for 6 months and think it's great, then someone clever will say 'hang on, this looks wrong', make a tweak, and uncover another 40bhp for me. That would be nice.
So, not ready to scrap the whole thing just yet. But would have liked a little bit more certainty around what it is I've actually got.
The comment from the tuner was that, overall, it seemed a little disappointing. He kept saying things like it felt that there was a restriction somewhere - perhaps the throttle bodies are too small (they're 48's, so no). Perhaps the standard cams aren't up to much (oh, wait, they're 220bhp raceline cams, not standard). Perhaps the cam timing is off (nope, done by a guy who builds motorcycle engines - finer tolerances on a Ducatti than a Ford lump). So really no idea as to why it pulled the figures it did.
So, to be blunt, the dyno showed a paltry 106kw at the rear wheels. This translates to around 180bhp from the engine. Given all the fruit that's been thrown at it, there's either a serious problem with the engine, or a problem with the dyno.
As it turns out, it may be the dyno. One of the other Birkins just went in with a stage-3 CNC milled high compression head, cylinders bored out plus forged pistons and rods, which should have sent the power skyrocketing. Instead, they showed a 5kw loss. The guy at the shop also said his RX-7 seemed to have lost 20bhp somewhere, and a few other cars are showing lower than expected results, so my guess is that something has gone a little wonky with the dyno. Mind you, being at least 40bhp down is a little more than just a small issue. But I'd rather believe that than believe I just spent that much money on an engine that does just 25% above the standard Ford Focus.
The ultimate test will be on how it now drives. The tuner has worked the power and torque curves to be nice and smooth, so as long as the whole lot just moves up a few inches on the page, then it should all be fine.
I'll either challenge some of the other Birkins to a drag race (under controlled conditions with trained professional drivers, of course), or use my new toy, the Performance Box from Racelogic, which has a power estimation calculation based on weight and 0-100 times. Obviously the calculator is a little hit and miss (lots of driver, tyre and other factors), but if with my poor driving and cooked tyres it tells me I have anything like 180bhp, I'll know its much higher ;-)
Or, I'll drive it for 6 months and think it's great, then someone clever will say 'hang on, this looks wrong', make a tweak, and uncover another 40bhp for me. That would be nice.
So, not ready to scrap the whole thing just yet. But would have liked a little bit more certainty around what it is I've actually got.
Monday, June 30, 2008
New clutch, same old oil leak
This weekend was a little limited in progress, but I now have a clutch pedal that at least disengages the clutch at the start of the pedal movement rather than requiring me to put it all the way to the floor. So whilst everyone else is using a 5/8" master cylinder, I'm all the way up to a 1 1/8". There's certainly a lot of weight behind the pedal now, but the bite is a lot more noticeable.
What I did notice was that, on fast changes, there's a definite shove in the back when you take your foot off the clutch - I'll have to work on smoothing that out to save the drivetrain and my kidneys.
The mystery oil leak is still there. I suspect its from the take-off plate, however the oil only leaks when under pressure, so it won't leak while sitting still. I just need someone to volunteer to strap themselves under the car whilst I drive around in order to find it. Or we could just put it up on the hoist....
However, the car is drivable still. So took it out for a few laps around the place. I'm starting to understand its driving characteristics, including the significant understeer that happens when you feed in progressive power through a corner. Put in too much and it'll shift to powersliding oversteer, which was demonstrated to me by Frank at the end of the cul-de-sac. I think I shall look for somewhere with no curbs in sight before I start really throwing it around like that ;-)
I'm also quite suprised at how loose the end really is. Given the sticky tyres and IRS, the thought was that getting it loose would be a problem. I think the power developed by the engine has resolved that issue ;-) I can still slip and slide like a live axle, I just have to boot it harder. More noise, more smoke, and more consequences of getting it wrong, I suppose. I tried one or two fast launches, and had the rear wheels slipping in first and second, and third might have been a possibility but for a stop sign.
I think its fair to say the car has a lot of power at the moment, and it is still running off a standard Zetec engine map. This week its up at Race Torque Engineering for tuning - they have a guy who does Motec tuning, and he'll hopefully pull a few more horses out from under the bonnet.
So, next weekend it should be 95% tuned - I'll also be taking it to the track with the tuner (along with a few other guys) and we'll get the final adjustments made with real data from the Motec under track conditions.
What I did notice was that, on fast changes, there's a definite shove in the back when you take your foot off the clutch - I'll have to work on smoothing that out to save the drivetrain and my kidneys.
The mystery oil leak is still there. I suspect its from the take-off plate, however the oil only leaks when under pressure, so it won't leak while sitting still. I just need someone to volunteer to strap themselves under the car whilst I drive around in order to find it. Or we could just put it up on the hoist....
However, the car is drivable still. So took it out for a few laps around the place. I'm starting to understand its driving characteristics, including the significant understeer that happens when you feed in progressive power through a corner. Put in too much and it'll shift to powersliding oversteer, which was demonstrated to me by Frank at the end of the cul-de-sac. I think I shall look for somewhere with no curbs in sight before I start really throwing it around like that ;-)
I'm also quite suprised at how loose the end really is. Given the sticky tyres and IRS, the thought was that getting it loose would be a problem. I think the power developed by the engine has resolved that issue ;-) I can still slip and slide like a live axle, I just have to boot it harder. More noise, more smoke, and more consequences of getting it wrong, I suppose. I tried one or two fast launches, and had the rear wheels slipping in first and second, and third might have been a possibility but for a stop sign.
I think its fair to say the car has a lot of power at the moment, and it is still running off a standard Zetec engine map. This week its up at Race Torque Engineering for tuning - they have a guy who does Motec tuning, and he'll hopefully pull a few more horses out from under the bonnet.
So, next weekend it should be 95% tuned - I'll also be taking it to the track with the tuner (along with a few other guys) and we'll get the final adjustments made with real data from the Motec under track conditions.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Shakedown issues
Too the car out for a longer run - 80k out to the Mundaring Weir and back, so some nice twisty country roads. Still driving it conservatively, as it's all pretty new, and I don't know how it reacts at the edge (or even where the edge is). But took it past 5000rpm, and it screams along nicely ;-)
As with any build like this, there are always going to be little niggling problems. Luckily, in comparison to some of the other builds I know, mine are pretty minor.
First, there's an oil leak from the side of the engine where the remote oil filter lines attach. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure of where the oil is coming from really, but it's around there somewhere. So it's all come off, been re-sealed and re-attached. I need to take it out for another run, but hopefully that's fixed it.
The other is the clutch pedal, which is still too long. Even with the 7/8" bore, the pedal throw is still down to the floor before the clutch disengages, so we're getting a 1 1/8" to see if that improves things, and we'll move up from there. But as I'm the only person with an AP Racing clutch, I'm the guinea pig on this one.
I also had to redo the steering rack, as the steering wheel slowly got out of alignment after a drive. OK, that's not a good thing, as the steering rack is kinda important in the whole "pointing in the right direction" role of the front wheels, but no harm done.
So, I just have to fit the new clutch master, and then it's off for engineering and registration.
As with any build like this, there are always going to be little niggling problems. Luckily, in comparison to some of the other builds I know, mine are pretty minor.
First, there's an oil leak from the side of the engine where the remote oil filter lines attach. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure of where the oil is coming from really, but it's around there somewhere. So it's all come off, been re-sealed and re-attached. I need to take it out for another run, but hopefully that's fixed it.
The other is the clutch pedal, which is still too long. Even with the 7/8" bore, the pedal throw is still down to the floor before the clutch disengages, so we're getting a 1 1/8" to see if that improves things, and we'll move up from there. But as I'm the only person with an AP Racing clutch, I'm the guinea pig on this one.
I also had to redo the steering rack, as the steering wheel slowly got out of alignment after a drive. OK, that's not a good thing, as the steering rack is kinda important in the whole "pointing in the right direction" role of the front wheels, but no harm done.
So, I just have to fit the new clutch master, and then it's off for engineering and registration.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
First Outing
Yup, taken it for it's first drive today ;-)
Took a few last minute adjustments - the alternator, for example, decided to short out and start sending up smoke signals, so that was taken out and replaced. Windscreen and wipers went on (which proved to be important), and a few more bolts were tightened up here and there. We also had to bore out the clutch master to 7/8", refit and bleed. The clutch is still long, but at least it works. Once all that was, done, there was nothing stopping me from taking it out....
Of course, today is also one of the wettest days in Perth this year, with biblical rain showers, thunder and lightning all day. So I had a ten minute window to take it out on cold tires onto very wet roads - doesn't matter.
So, first impressions. Well, for a start, the brakes are waaaaay off being anywhere near where they need to be, which is alarming to start with. They just need to bed in (new pads, new disks, new everything), but there's not much feel to them at this stage. What I need to do is get a dry day, then go for a drive somewhere quiet and stand on them a few times from 50kph or so. This should get the pads into good contact with the disks, and improve the bite a lot. Other than that, well, I didn't drive it that fast or hard to be honest - I mean, new and untested car, no brakes, and terrible weather doesn't lend itself to lots of confidence. So perhaps tomorrow when the weather is better, I can take it out again.
Oh, and the new video camera? I forgot to set it to record when I drove out. Idiot.... ;-)
Took a few last minute adjustments - the alternator, for example, decided to short out and start sending up smoke signals, so that was taken out and replaced. Windscreen and wipers went on (which proved to be important), and a few more bolts were tightened up here and there. We also had to bore out the clutch master to 7/8", refit and bleed. The clutch is still long, but at least it works. Once all that was, done, there was nothing stopping me from taking it out....
Of course, today is also one of the wettest days in Perth this year, with biblical rain showers, thunder and lightning all day. So I had a ten minute window to take it out on cold tires onto very wet roads - doesn't matter.
So, first impressions. Well, for a start, the brakes are waaaaay off being anywhere near where they need to be, which is alarming to start with. They just need to bed in (new pads, new disks, new everything), but there's not much feel to them at this stage. What I need to do is get a dry day, then go for a drive somewhere quiet and stand on them a few times from 50kph or so. This should get the pads into good contact with the disks, and improve the bite a lot. Other than that, well, I didn't drive it that fast or hard to be honest - I mean, new and untested car, no brakes, and terrible weather doesn't lend itself to lots of confidence. So perhaps tomorrow when the weather is better, I can take it out again.
Oh, and the new video camera? I forgot to set it to record when I drove out. Idiot.... ;-)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
It's Running!
Yep, the engine runs! And boy, it sounds vicious, let me tell you. Starts up quickly, idles nicely, but the slightest twitch on the accelerator and it spools up extremely quickly.
I wasn't there for the wiring that needed to be done - down at my parents for the weekend. So all of this is second hand, however it all went fairly smoothly. Only concern was over a small fountain that appeared from a blanking plate. We'd removed the EGR sensor and blanked off this area, however one of the holes covered up must be linked to the water system, and when placed under pressure it sprayed a 6 foot jet of water from the engine bay, all over the laptop, of course. Frank resealed this up, however we were also getting a lot of water coming out of the exhaust. This implied that water was leaking past this seal and into the EGR system, which in turn was drawing the water into the exhaust. The risk here is that the cylinder can fill up with water, or that water simply speeds up corrosion etc. So we've put an aluminium stopper into the port, and this should stop any further leakage. I've also ordered a proper CNC-milled blanking plate with o-rings to seal up the water and EGR ports.
So, at this stage the only thing stopping me from taking it for a drive is the clutch. Initially, after the first bleed, I had the terrible thought that I'd blown the slave cylinder. The slave cylinder is the part inside the bell housing that pushes against the clutch to disengage it from the flywheel. A few of the guys had managed to blow the seals by over-pressurising the system, which means you have to take the entire drive-train out (engine and gearbox) which also entails unplugging the fuel system, water system, drive shaft, engine wiring loom etc etc. I had the tell-tale puddle of brake fluid under the bellhousing, so for a little while I was, well, worried I'd have to do the same.
Instead, it looks like I just stuffed up the bleed process (hooray!). It also appears that my master cylinder (the cylinder attached to the pedal) is too small, so it's extremely unlikely that I've done any harm. Instead, I've removed the master, and it's off to be bored out from 5/8" to 7/8" to give more pressure. Once this is back, I can install it, bleed it (extremely carefully), and take it for a drive. Should be on the road this Saturday ;-)
I wasn't there for the wiring that needed to be done - down at my parents for the weekend. So all of this is second hand, however it all went fairly smoothly. Only concern was over a small fountain that appeared from a blanking plate. We'd removed the EGR sensor and blanked off this area, however one of the holes covered up must be linked to the water system, and when placed under pressure it sprayed a 6 foot jet of water from the engine bay, all over the laptop, of course. Frank resealed this up, however we were also getting a lot of water coming out of the exhaust. This implied that water was leaking past this seal and into the EGR system, which in turn was drawing the water into the exhaust. The risk here is that the cylinder can fill up with water, or that water simply speeds up corrosion etc. So we've put an aluminium stopper into the port, and this should stop any further leakage. I've also ordered a proper CNC-milled blanking plate with o-rings to seal up the water and EGR ports.
So, at this stage the only thing stopping me from taking it for a drive is the clutch. Initially, after the first bleed, I had the terrible thought that I'd blown the slave cylinder. The slave cylinder is the part inside the bell housing that pushes against the clutch to disengage it from the flywheel. A few of the guys had managed to blow the seals by over-pressurising the system, which means you have to take the entire drive-train out (engine and gearbox) which also entails unplugging the fuel system, water system, drive shaft, engine wiring loom etc etc. I had the tell-tale puddle of brake fluid under the bellhousing, so for a little while I was, well, worried I'd have to do the same.
Instead, it looks like I just stuffed up the bleed process (hooray!). It also appears that my master cylinder (the cylinder attached to the pedal) is too small, so it's extremely unlikely that I've done any harm. Instead, I've removed the master, and it's off to be bored out from 5/8" to 7/8" to give more pressure. Once this is back, I can install it, bleed it (extremely carefully), and take it for a drive. Should be on the road this Saturday ;-)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Nearly there...
Despite the lack of postings, there has been a lot of progress on the car - it's just that none of it is terribly exciting. Once you get the engine in, there's all sorts of prosaic things to do, like:
* Install dipstick
* Install water pipes
* Install radiator overflow tank
* Tighten suspension bolts
* Do a wheel alignment
* Align headlights
* Install throttle cable
* Put oil in diff, gearbox and engine
* Install car horns
All this and more has been done, but that's not exactly riveting stuff. I'm just waiting for the engine loom to be put in and the car will be drivable.
That said, the bills keep rolling in. For example, the oil I'm using is Redline Lightweight Shockproof for the diff and gearbox, and Redline 10W40 for the engine. The total oil bill was over $300, which suprised me. But I should be coming to the end of the bills as well.
I've also tested all of the electrics, and everything works fine - headlights, brake lights, reversing lights, indicators etc are all fine. There were only two problems - I'd installed the high beam switch in upside down (disaster ;-) and the indicators initially didn't work as the wiring to the relay was back to front. Both easily resolved.
So, any day now, I'll be posting the video of the car starting up for the first time - can't wait.
* Install dipstick
* Install water pipes
* Install radiator overflow tank
* Tighten suspension bolts
* Do a wheel alignment
* Align headlights
* Install throttle cable
* Put oil in diff, gearbox and engine
* Install car horns
All this and more has been done, but that's not exactly riveting stuff. I'm just waiting for the engine loom to be put in and the car will be drivable.
That said, the bills keep rolling in. For example, the oil I'm using is Redline Lightweight Shockproof for the diff and gearbox, and Redline 10W40 for the engine. The total oil bill was over $300, which suprised me. But I should be coming to the end of the bills as well.
I've also tested all of the electrics, and everything works fine - headlights, brake lights, reversing lights, indicators etc are all fine. There were only two problems - I'd installed the high beam switch in upside down (disaster ;-) and the indicators initially didn't work as the wiring to the relay was back to front. Both easily resolved.
So, any day now, I'll be posting the video of the car starting up for the first time - can't wait.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
