I haven’t had much time to work on the DIYPNP this week but I’ve added the resistors and diodes.
Getting there
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My DIYPNP engine management kit arrived today. I haven’t had a chance to do much with it yet but I hope to regularly post updates of my progress.
As you can imagine I have a fair bit of work ahead of me. A workmate has given me a challenge of getting the ECU running and tuned in my MX5 by mid December. We’ll see how I go.
When I purchased my Mazda MX5 it came fitted with Koni Sport shocks which were set to their lowest setting. These particular shock absorbers have three different adjustments for height based on a sliding spring seat and a circlip. Whilst they are a very popular replacement shock absorber for many different vehicles the best guides I’ve seen for adjusting the suspension height refer to ‘compress the spring and then move the circlip to the next slotted position but without any photographs describing exactly what that is.
I thought having recently raised my MX5 from the lowest setting to the middle setting I would give back to the Koni Sport owning community with some photos of exactly what the circlip system looks like.
First step is to compress the spring to take the load off the spring seat.
I purchased the spring compressors from a generic autoparts store locally. They were pretty cheaply made but more than adequate for the job. Unfortunately they seem to have an extremely long thread which made them awkward to work with in the small space available to me around the MX5 rear suspension. I have considered cutting them down but I managed to get it to work ok.
Lifting the spring seat to show the next circlip slot.
Once the spring tension has been eased you can lift the spring seat up to expose the middle circlip slot. I just used a flatbladed screwdriver to lift the circlip from the low slot and slide it up into the middle position. After I had ensured that the circlip was securely placed I lowered the seat and released the spring tension.
The circlip and seat in the middle position.
This last weekend I have been helping a friend to paint their car. Well I’ve been getting them to do all the sanding and surface preparation and I’m silly enough to do the paint spraying (and inhaling). This weekend we got an undercoat layer on the outside of the panels and did a coat of colour on the inside of the panels just to seal them off. Next weekend we’ll do the final outer coats.
The unfortunate thing of spraypainting with just a dust mask for protection is you’re really without much protection. Fortunately I’m not spraying two pack but I’m still not feeling the best after the experience of spraying in a comfined space. Before I do any more I’ll be buying a proper breathing mask that can supply an external air supply.
Wet and dry sanding of the door.
The undercoat was looking so good my friend said he was tempted to paint his whole car that colour.
Inside of drivers door painted.
Inside of front guard painted.
Pallet used to hold panels whilst painting.
The wooden pallet and wire hook method of holding the automotive panels proved to be a very effective way to suspend the panels whilst painting whilst keeping them very solidly mounted.
I’ll try to post an update on our progress next week but it will depend on whether the weather is suitable for painting.
I am in the process of undertaking a DIYPNP project for my 1991 MX5. This new kit is based on the Megasquirt II design and won’t work with the existing Megasquirt I baseline maps.
I may try to use the 1.8L MX5 DIYPNP maps but I plan to double check these settings against the known base settings for the 1990-1993 B6 engine.
| B6 (MSPNP) | BP (DIYPNP) | |
| Standard Constants | ||
| Required Fuel | 13.4ms | 13.0ms |
| Injector Opening Time | 1ms | 1ms |
| Battery Voltage Correction | 0.10ms/v | 0.20ms/v |
| PWM Current limit | 100% | 75% |
| PWM Time | 25.4ms | 25.6ms |
| Fast Idle Threshhold | 80.0F | 140F |
| Barometric Correction | ON | ON |
| Control Algorithm | Speed Density | Speed Density |
| Squirts per Engine Cycle | 2 | 2 |
| Injector Staging | Alternating | Alternating |
| Engine Stroke | 4-stroke | 4-stroke |
| Number of Cylinders | 4 | 4 |
| Number of Injectors | 4 | 4 |
| MAP type | 400kPa | 400kPa |
| Engine Type | Even fire | Even fire |
| EGO Control | ||
| EGO Sensor type | Narrow Band | |
| EGO Switch point | 0.510 | |
| Ignition Events | 72 | |
| Controller step size | 1% | |
| Controller authority | 5% | |
| Active above coolant temp | 160F | |
| Active above RPM | 1500RPM | |
| EGO Correction Counter | Ign Pulses | |
| Idle valve frequency | 62 | |
Went out to pick up some 2nd hand racing tyres & found no less than 5 nails though the casing.
I instead came home with a perfect dasboard & heater box.
The MX5 club of Queensland is held a sprint track day at Queensland Raceway today. I recorded some video and photos of the action.
My NA6 ready for some track day fun.
This was my first time around Queensland Raceway and I completed 16 laps of the Sprint circuit and 23 laps of the Clubman. I even managed to do a alternator/waterpump belt change between sessions – I only made the next session by the skin of my teeth and was the last car out of the pits.
My best times of the day: Sprint 1.09.4168 and Clubman 1.11.5856
After the disappointment I received when Vista completely bombed on my aged but still functional Dell Inspiron 4100 (Pentium IIIm 1Ghz) I thought it had been pushed to the corner and I was only using it for testing new Linux distributions. Even that has recently become a chore as Gnome has become slick and fancy.
I am lending my old Dell to a computerless friend who is currently in need, and Linux was a bit daunting for them. I thought I’d try Windows 7 32bit as it seems to run just fine on my Intel Atom machine.
To be brief I’m stunned with the performance. A near flawless install (except for a XP networking driver I pulled from the Dell site). Sure it’s not the full aero experience but none-the-less a hugely impressive performance for a machine that is around 8 years old!
Whilst browsing through the Direct2Dell blog I saw that Microsoft has announced the release date for Windows 7.
This has been confirmed as a tweet from the Microsoft team and on their blog.
At work I seem to be getting a reputation of being a ‘Mac guy’ because I have decent OsX knowledge but in reality I like to have a go at all the current operating systems and I certainly like to explore technology.
I have had the Windows 7 RC1 running on a home machine for a while now and I am considering installing it on a netbook as I’ve heard it works quite well with the Atom processor.
Windows 7 already seems fairly polished with only the occasional driver issue presenting itself. Microsoft have managed to get 7 in better shape than Vista in a fairly short timeframe and I think this will be a successful launch for them despite the economic conditions.
If you haven’t already tried Windows 7 I recommend downloading it and giving it a chance.
The BBC today revealed that the companion for the forthcoming series of Doctor Who will be Karen Gillan.
Twenty-one-year-old Gillan will star alongside new Time Lord, Matt Smith, when the smash hit drama returns to BBC One in spring 2010.
With filming due to begin this summer, Gillan beat off dozens of hopefuls to land one of television’s most coveted roles.
Gillan said: “I am absolutely over the moon at being chosen to play the Doctor’s new companion. The show is such a massive phenomenon that I can’t quite believe I am going to be a part of it.
“Matt Smith is an incredible actor and it is going to be so much fun to act alongside him – I just can’t wait to get started!”
Lead writer and Executive Producer, Steven Moffat, added: “We saw some amazing actresses for this part, but when Karen came through the door the game was up. Funny, and clever, and gorgeous, and sexy. Or Scottish, which is the quick way of saying it. A generation of little girls will want to be her. And a generation of little boys will want them to be her too.”
Executive Producer and Head of Drama BBC Wales, Piers Wenger, said: “We knew Karen was perfect for the role the moment we saw her. She brought an energy and excitement to the part that was just fantastic. And when she auditioned alongside Matt we knew we had something special. It is a partnership that is ready to take on the universe!”
The new series of Doctor Who comes to BBC One, Spring 2010.
Source: BBC Press release
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