A beating heart

Well,  today was a biggie...

First up,  a delivery - an air filter which was the final piece needed:

It was blue on the advert but hey-ho...

Emerald ECU temporarily in place and connected up:

Two trips to the local garage to put 10 litres of unleaded in the tank. Next step was to check the fuel supply stage by stage.

First,  disconnect the high pressure pump to stop it trying to suck up air and overheat itself. Disconnected the pipe from the tank to the swirl pot (at the swirl pot end) and switched on the ignition. The LP pump at the back kicked into life (yeehaa in itself) and petrol squirted out the pipe (into a jar)  - SUCCESS but also a problem; fuel leak on the LP pump. Removed the pipe and the brass fitting on the pump. Added PTFE tape to the brass thread (I'd already done this to the other side when I first installed it - dunno why I didn't do it to this side as well). Pipe re-attached , couple more cycles of the ignition and leak fixed.

Next was to fill the swirl pot by reconnecting the pipe and cycling the ignition a few times (the ECU switches off the pumps after a few seconds if it realises you aren't trying to start the engine).

Step 3,  check fuel going through the HP pump. Disconnected the pipe to the fuel rail and re-connected the live wire for the HP pump. Switched on the ignition and the HP pump came on (Yeehah) but no fuel out the pipe (Boo). Started loosening the pipe into the HP pump but fuel started leaking out so fuel was getting to the pump OK.  Stared at it for a while ('cos that's a known engineering technique) and had an idea - I'd been told the pump had one slightly larger terminal that was positive,  the other negative - maybe I'd got them wired the wrong way?

Quick swap of the terminals and voila,  fuel out the pipe - SUCCESS.

So,  checklist:

1. Petrol in and getting to the engine.
2. Engine oil in.
3. Filter attached.

Bit of hassle getting the laptop connected to the ECU - I'd bought a widget to connect the old-fashioned D-type connector on the Emerald cable to a USB for my laptop. I also didn't yet have the ECU maps from GBS but I was too excited to wait for this to get sent.

Dragged out the family for the ubiquitous video and this is what happened (excuse the video skills; couldn't find my tripod so I had to entrust my son with the camera and he is easily distracted) :

YEE - FLIPPING - HAAAAAAAA

Very loud,  very smelly,  very smoky but the heart beats!!

I later found a base Zetec map in the Emerald software that might have got the engine idling - might try that tomorrow.

But for now, I am spiffingly happy... no obvious leaks anywhere either,  all looking good.

I've finally managed to order some Carling rocker switches,  by the way,  so that will hopefully improve the dash quality and allow me to tidy up the wiring.

Exhausted

The correct bolts arrived so I was able to tighten up the manifold - next the silencer.

I cut two 10mm slots in the silencer end, opposite each other,  to get it to fit over the manifold end. Judicial use of a rubber mallet and my 42mm socket (don't ask) helped spread that end of the silencer to allow it to slip over the manifold end.

Then,  a minor panic - the exhaust end didn't get anywhere near the support bracket - about an inch to the right and too high as well. I could pull the can out the required inch but there was no way to push the end down more than a mm or so.

A thread on the GBS forum panicked me more when Simon started suggesting I might have fitted the engine too high!! Visions of having to take the engine out spurred me on to look at it again and,  thankfully,  I discovered  the problem.

I had angled the silencer pipe down 45deg, thinking to direct fumes away from my passengers. However,  simply rotating the silencer so that the exit pipe was horizontal lowered the end of the can perfectly. I had to still pull the whole thing out an inch but I think that will be OK.

So, with today being one of the hottest of the year (about 30degC in my garage) and me dripping with sweat,  I am both literally and metaphorically exhausted:
 

Also,  a bit of bling:

 

Vinyl resurgence

Having said I couldn't be an upholsterer,  I may have to revise that following my latest efforts.

Needed to do the main tunnel panel,  so started by cutting and sticking on a thin piece of foam (I wanted a bit of padding) :

Bit of cutting,  lots of glue and voila:

 

I'm very chuffed with this bit of work - I really expected to screw it up and I would be stuck with it for years.

UPDATE: the spray can glue isn't great and after a few days, some edges were hanging off. I've resorted to using my scarily powerful glue I had from RC plane modelling days, which seems to have done the trick.

Exhausting

The exhaust arrived mid-week but I had forgotten about the gasket so that only arrived today:

(I do have the can as well :-) ) 

All excited,  I tried to fit the manifold but came across the usual problem - bolts! I planned to use the original manifold bolts that came off the engine but they seem to be mm too long - I have to order some:

Minor job was to tidy up the headlamp wiring,  covering with loom tape and then rubber conduit.

I also made the hole in the top tunnel panel for the gear lever and decided to experiment with using the vinyl covering. I started with the small,  rear tunnel piece as it is much less visible. Lucky I did because,  suffice to say,  I'm never going to have a career as an upholsterer:

Looks OK from a distance but will have to do better with the main piece. By the way,  the vinyl is supposed to look mottled - fake alacantra/leather look.

From the ashes of despair

Well,  the electrical issue has been driving me round the bend. Simon from GBS has been trying to help but it takes so long - he suggests something,  I take a day or 2 to try it,  doesn't work and it takes a day or 2 for him to get time to look and suggest something else - tortoise- like progress.

A 2 week holiday didn't help initially but then a last ditch attempt at a fix; the GBS loom is supposed to be provided as a live switched loom and I checked it and confirmed that was what I had,  according to the wire colours in the fuse box. Simon suggested switching the polarity (a simple spade terminal to be swapped) just on the off chance and would you Adam and Eve it but it worked!!

Cue more pig-like squealing and much flashing of lights,  just because they worked and I could. What I'm most happy about is that my original wiring schematic was right and would have worked first time (see the 'Electrics' page).

I was planning on tidying up the wiring behind the dash but I'm going to try change the rocker switches first,  in case that affects the wiring layout slightly.

Next is to order and fit the exhaust system,  connect up the ECU and go for an engine start!