DUNE BUGGY

[Morris]

First off is a picture of the engine electrical connections. This was during wiring up. The left hand connector is the injection loom, the right hand is anything else.

This is the front of the engine, again early in making the loom. This is where the coil was mounted above where the distributor was. This is a simple remove and blanking plate. The alternator is a small Denso unit as the Ford one was huuuuge. Note the modified intake, more later.

Another view of the coil and mount.

The idle air valve was mounted here. You can also see the completed loom. It's fairly minimal but has all I need to pass IVA.

Next post to keep it manageable on my phone.

 

[Morris]

The IAV was connected with a stainless fitting I made.

Not the best photo, this is the injector side. I used the original injectors after having them cleaned and checked for flow. The connectors are original rewired.

View of the manifold from the engine side. The unit on the right is the MAP sensor, to the left of that is the intake air temperature sensor. On the left is the IAV with less than satisfactory connections because I couldn't find a correct connector. More on IAV's later.

A more overall view showing the modified intake manifold and (just) the TPS. That's pretty much the wiring, very minimal compared with the Ford original which is massive by comparison. The wiring at the bottom of the picture goes to the wideband controller (Spartan 2) and then the Bosch wideband sensor.

On to another post.

 

[Morris]

This is just a collection of notes and stuff I found out along the way.
IAV be wary of modern copies of Bosch ones, they have a poor reputation for reliability. I bought a second hand one from a reputable seller.
The manifold mods were because the Pop nose narrows and the manifold would have needed a hole cut in the side. Not happening! As it happened the manifold was symmetrical front to back so it was relatively easy. This wouldn't be needed in a Jago Jeep (I think).
If your engine has stood for a long time it is possible that the hydraulic lifters have stuck. This means stripping them to clean properly. Not hard to do.
Some parts are difficult to source. I had to wait for piston rings from Germany (via Burton's who were very helpful).
The timing chain has a bit of a bad rep for breaking at about 100,000 miles. This was often down to lack of oil changes. Timing chains are extinct but Dennis Welch Motorsport has a division that makes obsolete timing chains using the original chain manufacturer. The rest of the parts, tensioner, guide etc are Burton's.
Incorrect antifreeze caused issues with heads early on, also gaskets. The current head gaskets are much better.
It sounds like lots of potential issues but I covered everything I can think of. These engines are not high revving screamers, they produce great low speed torque and good fuel economy. Mine was an example of total lack of maintenance, the sump was a block of solid sludge, likewise the head. Despite this the bores still had the cross hatch honing and the crank was perfect. These are very substantially built engines, everything is bigger than most for the same capacity.

If you want any more photos or have a question ask, no problem.

 

[Morris]

Timing chains, might be useful for someone.

Motorsport | Yoxall | Timing Chain Solutions

Automotive Timing Chain distributors. For both modern and classic cars. United Kingdom.

www.timingchains.co.uk

 

[Baloo]

This is just a collection of notes and stuff I found out along the way.
IAV be wary of modern copies of Bosch ones, they have a poor reputation for reliability. I bought a second hand one from a reputable seller.
The manifold mods were because the Pop nose narrows and the manifold would have needed a hole cut in the side. Not happening! As it happened the manifold was symmetrical front to back so it was relatively easy. This wouldn't be needed in a Jago Jeep (I think).
If your engine has stood for a long time it is possible that the hydraulic lifters have stuck. This means stripping them to clean properly. Not hard to do.
Some parts are difficult to source. I had to wait for piston rings from Germany (via Burton's who were very helpful).
The timing chain has a bit of a bad rep for breaking at about 100,000 miles. This was often down to lack of oil changes. Timing chains are extinct but Dennis Welch Motorsport has a division that makes obsolete timing chains using the original chain manufacturer. The rest of the parts, tensioner, guide etc are Burton's.
Incorrect antifreeze caused issues with heads early on, also gaskets. The current head gaskets are much better.
It sounds like lots of potential issues but I covered everything I can think of. These engines are not high revving screamers, they produce great low speed torque and good fuel economy. Mine was an example of total lack of maintenance, the sump was a block of solid sludge, likewise the head. Despite this the bores still had the cross hatch honing and the crank was perfect. These are very substantially built engines, everything is bigger than most for the same capacity.

If you want any more photos or have a question ask, no problem.

Hi Morris
thank you very much for the info, most useful, what did you say the coil pack was off ?, how are you controlling all this was it microsquirt ?
is that difficult to set up ?
i will drag the auto engine back here over the next few days jet wash it and post pics up, l think the dohc engine would be a sensible fit into the jago, its a ford its the same cc as was fitted which was a 2lt pinto, it would stand scrutiny if they clamp down on historic vehicles entitled to free tax
thanks Again

 

[Morris]

Hi Baloo,
the coil pack is a VW readily available, not expensive and logic fired (compatible with Microsquirt).
Yes it is Microsquirt. I'm a complete novice and found it easy to install. I haven't got around to the final tuning yet but the engine starts and runs after some initial problems with sensor pickup angle, all my fault. The supplied loom comes with all the pins wired in. Approximately half of these are not needed (in this case) and the pins+wire can be removed. The dohc has a built in 36-1 timing wheel on the crank (it sits to the rear of the crank and the sensor goes in the block) which also suits well.
I'll chuck up a photo of the Microsquirt during the early stages of wiring.

 

[Morris]

The Microsquirt is partially hidden by the screen vent but you can see how small it is, also how few wires are needed to have a working injection and ignition system.

 

[Baloo]

thank you

EFI Extra's

www.efiextras.co.uk

EFI Extra's

www.efiextras.co.uk

is this the microsquirt you used ? so its about £400 ish ?

 

[Morris]

thank you

EFI Extra's

www.efiextras.co.uk

EFI Extra's

www.efiextras.co.uk

is this the microsquirt you used ? so its about £400 ish ?

Exactly that one and from that supplier. I think I paid about £365 but that was a while ago (as in years ago).

 

[Baloo]

this looks like the coil pack vw jetta ?

so that replaces the dizzy how does it know which plug to spark is there 4 coils in there and the microsquirt determines which one and when based on the ford trigger wheel mounted at the rear of the crank ?

 

[Morris]

That's the badger.
There are two coils in there. They are effectively double ended and both ends produce a spark when fired. Also in there are the igniters. These use the logic level input to collapse the coils field, effectively electronic points.
Imagine the engine at TDC. Two pistons will be at the top, two at BDC. The Microsquirt fires one coil which is connected to both of the plugs in the cylinders at TDC. One will be on compression and fire, the other will be on exhaust so the plug firing does nothing. Hence the name "lost spark ignition".
180deg later the situation is reversed and the other coil is fired. Again one cylinder fires and the other is a lost spark.
When the engine has rotated 720deg all four cylinders have fired on their compression stroke. Doing it this way means that there is no need for a cam position sensor.
This is all timed from the gap in the 36-1 timing wheel. The software adjusts advance etc using the TPS, MAP sensor and air and water temp (although the later two have more effect on injector pulse width)

 

[Morris]

Picture of the top of my coil pack showing my markings relating to cylinder numbers.

 

[sako243]

Doing it this way means that there is no need for a cam position sensor.

You'd still need it for the injectors won't you? Unless you're using a carb / bulk injection into the intake plenum?

 

[Morris]

You'd still need it for the injectors won't you? Unless you're using a carb / bulk injection into the intake plenum?

Microsquirt only does either bulk or a "semi-sequential" which fires two then two. You can play with which pair fire in what cylinder at which point in the cycle but that's it. It's a system that works perfectly well and was common on production cars for years (including the Sierra and Granada these engines came out of). Not sure why you would think it would fire into the plenum, does anyone do that?
EDIT I had forgotten about the old single point systems which were basically an electronic carb.

 

[sako243]

Microsquirt only does either bulk or a "semi-sequential" which fires two then two. You can play with which pair fire in what cylinder at which point in the cycle but that's it. It's a system that works perfectly well and was common on production cars for years (including the Sierra and Granada these engines came out of). Not sure why you would think it would fire into the plenum, does anyone do that?
EDIT I had forgotten about the old single point systems which were basically an electronic carb.

What I was getting at was without a cam sensor you don't know if you're on the exhaust or intake stroke as the crank rotates at twice the rate of the cam. If you're not doing single point injection then you're not really sprayed the fuel where it wants to go.

Granted given the vacuums involved and the likely design of the plenum it'll be sucked to where it wants to go. If you're doing direct injection then you definitely need a cam sensor. It doesn't need to know angles but you at least need to know when it's intake stroke at cylinder 1, after that you can time everything off the crank.

 

[Morris]

@sako243 do you mean direct injection or injection into the port behind the valve?
Into the port works very well indeed using batch injection or "semi-sequential" as has been proved by millions of production cars. Sequential only came about with tightening emissions and economy requirements.

 

[sako243]

@Morris what I'm getting at is your comment about not needing a cam sensor. This is fine on the ignition side of things where you can do wasted spark but if you want to spray the fuel near the relevant intake port then you need to know cam position as well as crank. Otherwise you end up spraying fuel at a port that's closed.

 

[m_c]

Plenty production cars sprayed fuel at closed ports.
It isn't ideal, but was good enough for the emissions requirements at the time and when fuel economy wasn't quite as major a concern, and gave a bit step-up in performance from single point injection.

 

[Morris]

@sako243 yes but that's how it was done. Fords were all like that until the Zetec engine came in. Intake manifolds are chaotic places, precise injection is not as essential as you think.

 

[Baloo]

That's the badger.
There are two coils in there. They are effectively double ended and both ends produce a spark when fired. Also in there are the igniters. These use the logic level input to collapse the coils field, effectively electronic points.
Imagine the engine at TDC. Two pistons will be at the top, two at BDC. The Microsquirt fires one coil which is connected to both of the plugs in the cylinders at TDC. One will be on compression and fire, the other will be on exhaust so the plug firing does nothing. Hence the name "lost spark ignition".
180deg later the situation is reversed and the other coil is fired. Again one cylinder fires and the other is a lost spark.
When the engine has rotated 720deg all four cylinders have fired on their compression stroke. Doing it this way means that there is no need for a cam position sensor.
This is all timed from the gap in the 36-1 timing wheel. The software adjusts advance etc using the TPS, MAP sensor and air and water temp (although the later two have more effect on injector pulse width)

i understand i even remember wasted spark ing sytems, did you use the standard ford crank sensor ? or are there any other sensor i would need to acquire ?