749 replies to this topic

[lawrence]

Small update from today, was playing in the garage from 9-12.
 

Heater finally refitted

20171207_115828 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

Had to lay on my back with my feet in the back seat area and also managed to punch myself in the face taking a pipe off! Ah well its fitted now

 

Right chore getting those pipes on, you can see the power cables going though a gromit there also.

20171207_115841 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

As you can see in the photos I also tidied up the floor inside the car and took stock of parts I need to buy etc. I've got some more spade connectors on the way which fingers crossed may arrive tomorrow. 

 

Plan for tomorrow

>?re Bleed brakes, I do need to raise the suspension all round so it would be an ideal time

>check over all electrics, I've got a few gremlins to deal with but nothing complicated such as the auto mirror is on constantly and there's something up with the alternator circuit that is intermittent.

>check windscreen washer pump, I'm not sure if it is shagged, didn't seem to work today when I was checking electrics

>wire in second rear light

 

I'm sure other things will crop up, let's all hope it isn't raining!

 

Lawrence

 

 

[lawrence]

So plan from yesterday was

 

>?re Bleed brakes, I do need to raise the suspension all round so it would be an ideal time

>check over all electrics, I've got a few gremlins to deal with but nothing complicated such as the auto mirror is on constantly and there's something up with the alternator circuit that is intermittent.

>check windscreen washer pump, I'm not sure if it is shagged, didn't seem to work today when I was checking electrics

>wire in second rear light

 

Well, didn't bleed the brakes, cba, I can do that another day it's not hard. 

 

What I did do:

>Raise suspension an inch all around

>Grease all my nipples

>Adjust rear handbrake as well as I can

>Checked washer pump. It's pretty tired, got no lift in it anymore so I have bought an inline valve to help it out, if not ill replace it.

>Checked my wiring - The auto mirror is now switched live and alternator was an unplugged earth. I had miswired the rear 3rd brake light onto the wrong circuit due to colours ( I'm bad with colours) but its fine now.

 

The wiring connectors did not arrive so no work with megasquirt today.

 

That's all for now. more work Monday, its supposed to snow!!

 

Lawrence

[thelegg]

You're braver than me lol I don't think I could work on a car outside at this time of year

[lawrence]

I do agree I would much rather avoid working on her but I haven’t got much of a choice unfortunately.  I am wearing my cycling thermals, 3 t-shirts, 2 jumpers, scarf, hat, motorbike buff, 2 pairs of thick socks all covered by overalls. If I am doing wiring inside mini she does warm up a few degrees when I have the doors shut so I survive

 

Few updates for mini

 

Finishing uni present bought for myself

20171212_132436 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

20171212_141830 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Some cheeky cams ;) ill fit them another time, let's get her working first

 

Onwards to Megasquirt, I've almost finished the wiring!

So I managed to get my old laptop to recognise it

20171212_145848 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

20171212_145915 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

20171212_145955 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

And flashed my info over to the CPU.

 

Then I stopped for the day as it was cold and dark and now today the laptop isn’t finding the squirt.

Getting quite angry at it now.

 

To do

>Fit IAT sensor when it arrives

>Work out why the connection keeps dropping

 

Thanks all for now

Lawrence

 

 

[Northernpower]

Well done for working in the cold.

[thelegg]

That those cams that were for sale on the nissan mini Facebook page ?

[miniaddict92]

Really enjoying this build nearly there keep it up !

[lawrence]

Cheers for the comments guys

 

Working in the cold isn’t so bad, it’s just when you stop moving and you cool down quickly so I have to switch about what im doing

 

Yep Ryan they are the ones that were on Facebook, the once Matt had on his car. They are suitable for my build now and also my future one that im planning next year.

 

And thanks miniaddict92 im getting there. Just waiting for parts to arrive is a chore!

 

One bit from today

 

Modified my scissor jack for the boot emergencys

20171219_112529 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

20171219_112536 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

fits in the tie rod area on the front frame so wont slip off

 

also fits the bearing back in to give a flat area to jack the rear with

20171219_114503 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

still waiting on my ordered parts to finish my wiring off L

 

Lawrence

 

 

 

 

 

[lawrence]

Right people, update from today

 

My parts have arrived so ive got busy fitting them

20171221_120858 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

I bought the connectors that work for them so ill have some good solid waterproof wiring like the rest in the engine bay. IAT sensor wired up.

20171221_122559 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

creating the mount

20171221_124001 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Finished

20171221_125741 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Mocked up

20171221_132956 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

So it fits inside the air filter and is then bolted down. The sensor itself is held in with the rubber grommet and screws into it. No way is it going to fall out and there’s also the benefit of it being rubber mounted and hidden from view.

 

Wiring almost finished

20171221_155547 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

Also spent forever making my wiring diagram for MS

Screen Shot 2017-12-14 at 09.53.45 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

So that’s all for now. More work tomorrow. The temperature sensor also arrived today but ive decided not to fit it in my initial place on after the rad due to fluctuations in water temp. Ive purchased an adaptor so I can fit it straight into the block to give a more accurate reading during warmup.

 

Lawrence

 

 

[l_jonez]

Why are you not using the standard Nissan sensor ? Tuner studio already has the default settings for it ( bosh iirc)

[lawrence]

Main reasons being i dont know what the current ones specs are and havent got the wiring plug for it, plus its a complete unknown so would replace it. By the time ive faffed about finding the resistance curve etc and bought a new one i may as well have got this one and an adaptor and this comes with the specs.

[l_jonez]

That's what I was trying to say tuner studio already has the resistance curve pre loaded

[lawrence]

I've got ms1, so I have to use easytherm and reflash the software for the IAT so it doesn't make much difference to do them both at the same time. It's similar costs I agree but equal effort

[lawrence]

So people, it’s time for another update
Got some new tools for Christmas, ratchet crimped and wire stripper
20171228_105153 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

Had a put back
Untitled by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr
Brass adaptor broke off in the block

Then had to get out the remains of the brass, ended up retapping the thread and then fitting a bolt with sealant and a copper washer and I have bought another adaptor for where the air valve way
20171228_151644 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

New adaptor arrived
20171230_105211 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

And fitted
20171230_105639 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

Onwards to side project
>Heated seats!
Taking off the covers
20171230_094348 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr
And the back
20171230_100532 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr
20171230_122011 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr
Where the switch is mounted
20171230_111714 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

Wiring all cable tied to the frame
20171230_113501 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr
Just need to run some switches lives there now.

Other one sorted too
20171230_130624 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

Also tweaked the fly off handbrake a little to make it work better, its loads better now
20171230_143235 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

So back to the wiring after that diversion.
Megasquirt now fully wired in. Easy therm set up. Need to flash the ecu and then it’s startup settings. Full day at work next week so more work next sat. I've tested my edis and that's working, I've got spark. No fuel as yet but it got dark today before I could investigate

That's All for now, heated seats are awesome :)
Lawrence

[lawrence]

Well then people,

Time for a new update. Ive started my new job now ive finished uni and had my first week of induction, this weekend im off.

 

So back to mini, my last update I had got megasquirt fully wired in and had checked spark which was existent. Fuelling was untested as it was dark so couldn’t see much plus was cold and started to rain so packed in.

 

Following the 30^th I had a few days at work and in the evening, did a bit of brainstorming to try and work out why it won’t start so had a to do list for today

 

>check fuses and wiring –all good

>pump is priming at ignition so fuel getting to the rail – all good

 

Took the air filters off, idle wound all the way in blocking air, well that doesn’t help does it – wound in screw to allow air in at idle

 

Flicked the ignition on and off a few times and checked each ITB injector with a piece of paper to show fuel – fuel on paper

 

So ive got spark, fuel and the engine turns over

 

Brainwave – ive got a can of this

13169 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

So thought hey what the hell I’ll give the engine a puff down each of the ITBs, cant do any harm

 

Then this happened

20180106_170129_1 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

The little bugger jumped into life like it was no effort at all and sat there at a high idle

 

I then switched her off. Checked all the joints on the cooling system and restarted her after filling the new system! No leaks as yet.

 

Got her up to temp and bled the system, all went nice and easily. Heater ran hot and the inside was soon warm and toasty :)

 

>Good bit here – Idle was fairly high I would say about 1400 and the engine fully up to temp. What was interesting was that the radiator coped very well. Top hoses hot to touch but the bottom hoses only tepid and warm although by then it was probably about 2degs outside. So im hopeful that I can avoid having the fan running at idle which was my aim with this bigger radiator system!

 

Then I stuck chair in her and put her in gear and she moved back on her own steam!– proof she lives!

 

20180106_185025 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

20180106_185131 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

 

So that’s all folks, hard bit is done I am happy to say.

 

TPS still needs wiring in and the o2 sensor is being odd on the display only showing a 7.

 

Full day ahead for tomorrow now and a nice early start with my alarm all set

 

Im getting excited now the end is nearly there, had tachycardia for ages when she first started!

 

More tomorrow people, also side note, may be buying a Honda civic to fix and sell, playing it by ear right now

 

Lawrence