Mileage Limit Exceeded

For the first 3 years of owning the car I had an Insurance Policy with a 3000 mile/year cap.  I thought that was more than enough.   Unfortunately not so.   This year, with 6 weeks to go to the end of the Policy, I had only 100 miles left.   Luckily a quick call to the Insurance Company and £30 on my Credit Card and I had another 1000 miles added.   Now to make the most of them.

Air Filter

When he was building her the original builder had the sense to bring the air filter forward into the nose cone instead of attaching it direct to the throttle body.   That meant she was getting nice clean air instead of the hot, dirty air from the back of the engine  (This engine was originally designed to be transverse, across the car, so in that case the air filter was already in front, in clean air).

This worked well, but all he had available at the time was an 80cm diameter tube and the throttle body diameter was 70cm.  So it has been 'scrunched' up to fit.   I had always intended to replace it and some 70cm tube arrived while I was away.  So fitted that this morning. 

I had also recently realised the air filter was the original one from 2008, whereas they are normally replaced every couple of years, so decided to treat her to a new one at the same time.   Bought a universal one to fit any tube between 65 - 80mm and fitted that 

So now she looks like this (nose cone hinged up):

Took her out for a quick run to make sure she was breathing OK.  Didn't expect to see much difference.  Boy was I wrong.  Absolutely amazing transformation.   She's always been fast, but I found it next to impossible to keep to the speed limit.   Just a slight pressure on the pedal and she leapt forward like a scalded cat and I was passing 70.   

 

 

Engine unbelievably crisp and growling beautifully, revving so much more freely than before.

Who would have guessed a new air filter would have made that much difference ?    Am now thinking that I should split the pipe in two and use half of the 80mm pipe at the front as the filter will still fit.   That would act as a ram air system and force more air into the engine.   A very cheap supercharger

Windscreen Wipers again

At this blog post I described how I swapped the windscreen wipers over so I had an 8" blade on the drivers side and a 7" blade on the passenger side.  But it was still not ideal and I really needed a couple of 9" blades.   But that size blade with the correct mounting fit (7mm bayonet for those interested) were just not available anywhere.   Closest I could get was 10" blades, actually off a Bentley    But they were only £6 each so I bought a pair with the intention of chopping of 1/2" from each one.

Fitted the driver side one and had a pleasant surprise, it actually sweeps beautifully and just misses the top of the windscreen.  So no need to trim it.

But it turned out that I couldn't fit a new blade on the passenger side as it clashed with the driver one in the park position.   So I now have a 10" blade on the drivers side and a 7" blade on the passenger side.    




Which is fine.  Perfectly legal and I never carry a passenger in the rain anyway.

And I also have a spare wiper blade now:-)

Bonnet Louvres

Now the temperatures are warming up and the engine is running at a proper temperature I found I was sweltering when I got back from a run yesterday, the temperature in the cabin was showing 32C !!
So time to give the hot air somewhere else to go apart from up my trouser legs and I have at long last fitted the louvres to the bonnet.

I'll have to see what effect they have, if any.  Meanwhile they look rather good

But that was the LAST thing on my ToDo list, what do I do now ?

Grill Guard

Although I have never had a stone damage the radiator, it was probably only a matter of time as the grid is very open.   So having seen a lot of the cars at Stoneleigh that had mesh guards I decided it was time.

So a quick purchase on E-Bay, cut it to shape with the angle grinder, attached with cable ties and now she is properly protected.

Smart !

Spare Wheel Cover

Having been instrumental in helping a friend buy another Superspec car l asked if I could have his spare wheel cover.

The car has always been known as the 'Tiger' so this was too good to miss :-)

The problem is the number plate obscures most of it, so I need to redesign it to use a single line plate.

Windscreen Wipers

Although I try not to drive in the rain, I do get caught out.  And on occasions the air is damp and the windscreen mists up so I have to use the wipers.

And I have found that there is a large gap between the top of the wiper and the top of the screen, just at my eye-level, so I either have to hunch down or reach up to look over the screen.

While I was measuring the length of the wiper (7") I also checked the passenger side wiper and to my surprise it was 8".   


 So a simple quick fix, I swapped them over.  

Much better.

More Cooling System

Having 'fixed'? the cooling system I am now having trouble getting her up to temperature.   The gauge was hardly indicating and the ECU software thought she was running at only 73C.   I had been convinced by the other Rover chap that the temperature sensor was faulty and he sent me his spare to try out.   So I swapped them over at the weekend, I took her out yesterday and it had no effect except the ECU now thought it was running at 70C 

So hypothesis number 11 was that actually the radiator, contrary to everything I have ever said, is actually very efficient.   And although the thermostat is rated at 88C, that is fully open and it actually starts to open at 76C.   So the guess is that the moment the thermostat cracks open that allows enough water to flow through the radiator to keep the engine cool.   So I needed to make the radiator less efficient.

Decided it was time to fall back on the tried and trusted method we used when I was a 'lad' and partially block off the front grille.   So 2 roughly cut pieces of cardboard held on with cable ties was the 'Proof of Concept'.

Took her for a 35 min run and towards the end she stabilised at 84C  (the small rise at the end was me driving slowly through a village).  When I drove back home, scenic 20 min run, I didn't bother attaching the laptop but she warmed up to temperature much quicker and I got the impression she stabilised around 86-88C, which would be logical.

Plan now is to do a much longer trip tomorrow and see what happens.

Meanwhile, did a more permanent solution.   Two properly cut pieces of cardboard covered in baking foil.   Very Smoooooth :-)

Idle Speed Changed

Ever since I have had the car she has happily idled at 1000 rpm.   I wasn't worried, but did wonder why everything I read said that the engine should normally idle at 850rpm.   But now I know how to reprogram the ECU I sent the appropriate code to drop it by 150 rpm.   It seems to have worked well and when the engine is warm it happily quietly burbles along at 850rpm with no hunting or surging.

What I found during the investigation is that the Rover engines normally leave the factory with a default idle speed set at 950 rpm but with a tuneable offset of -100 rpm.   For some reason the (my?) Superspec seems to have left the factory with the offset at +50 rpm.

Driver Seat Belt Extension Fitted

Ever since I have had the car, the seat harness has been a very 'snug' fit, but there was no adjustment left in the buckles.   And with having to wear bulky winter clothes it was getting a bit of a challenge.   And I also noticed that I was unable to get the buckle right in the middle, but it was offset to the outside of the car.    So time to fix that.

Seat out, bottom mounting removed, 3" extension strap fitted, seat back in and perfection.  I now have the buckle dead centre and about 1" adjustment either side.

 

Looks great, pity no-one will ever see.  

I then strapped in the passenger seat, for the first time ever, and found it was exactly the same, it is impossible to get the buckle centrally positioned on the body.  Obviously all my passengers have been too polite to point it out
 

So another extension piece on order so I can do that as well.

Later.  Belt arrived, fitted, so now passenger has full adjustment available and can centralise the buckle.

 

Relays Revisited

When I first checked out the relays there were lots of questions left outstanding.   Since working on the lambda sensor change I have managed to answer most of them.   The original post is here, with the changes in Red.   Here are the specific updates:

 The 2 relays on the left appeared to be 2 of the 3 relays I could not find (ECU, Lambda & Fuel Pump).   While writing my software analysis program I found a way of testing the fuel pump relay while the engine was off.  And by holding it I was able to confirm that the one on the Right was the Fuel Pump.

Also, I had previously found that removing the one on the left stopped the Fuel Pump working so I think we can safely say that one is the main ECU relay as the first thing the ECU does when you turn on the ignition is prime the fuel pump for 2 seconds.

And it turns out the Lambda system relay actually controls the Sensor heater, not the sensor itself, as the heater is not switched on until the engine actually starts.   So removing it would not stop the Fuel Pump from priming.   The only problem is that I have absolutely no idea where it is in the car.   It must be well hidden.

And I have since been told that there are no headlight relays fitted to the car.  I find this odd, as the headlights are quite old and must have quite a heavy current drain and if there are no relays then all that current must go through the light switch.

So now just 2 outstanding questions:

1.  Where is the Lambda heater relay ? 
2.   Are there actually no Headlight relays ?

Clutch Revisited

Had a 'clutch' day today.    A couple of years ago I redesigned the pedal/cable join to eliminate the 'kink' that causes Superspec cables to break (described here).   That resulted in the cable being too long and I took up the slack with a piece of copper plumbing  pipe.

While I was underneath at the weekend securing the lambda sensor wiring I noticed that the pipe had actually settled at quite an angle, which was introducing a bend in the cable, the one thing I was trying to avoid.

So took it out and built a new spacer from a block of wood (more forgiving than copper) and a stainless steel bracket to mount to the bolt you can see (and covered it in black masking tape to disguise the fact it was wood ).    



So now the cable meets the hole at 90 degs, avoiding the bend I had before.


Took her for a drive and the clutch is silky-smooth    Bite point is a bit lower than I like so next time I have her on axle stands I'll wind it up a bit.

Redesigned Exhaust System

For a long time I have thought I should fit a flexible joint into the exhaust system to isolate the engine vibration from the catalytic converter and silencer.   Now I had 3 complete exhaust systems
I felt now was the time.   So out came the angle grinder and the result is very good.

Ignore the reflection, I don't have twin exhausts :-)

So now the exhaust consists of the manifold, then a short length of pipe that mounts the lambda sensor, then a short flexible joint and finally the combined catalytic converter and heat shield.

It's a pity that it will all be hidden when I put the heat shield back on. Maybe I won't bother.

Lambda Sensors

Having now proved that the lambda (O2) sensor was probably not working, it was time to do something about it.   I had a spare sensor, so the first thing to do was to remove the old one.  This turned out to be easier said than done, as it had been in the pipe for about 10 years and was corroded in.    So I took it to the local garage who managed to cut it out.  The sensor was wrecked in the process but that didn't matter.

While this was going on two things happened.   For some months I had been watching a Superspec exhaust, complete with lambda sensor, catalytic converter, silencer and heat shield that was on E-Bay.   The owner was gradually reducing the price and it was now down to £75.  As the RRP is about £500 I decided it would be a good buy.   At the same time someone I was working with on the software program said he had a spare sensor and would post it to me. 

So I suddenly found myself with 3 complete exhaust systems with sensors.

First thing to do was to mount the new exhaust pipe and sensor.  It looked good, but unfortuately when I took her for a run the sensor did not work at all.    That was rather worrying and I wondered if I had a more fundamantal problem.

But the next thing to try was to fit one of the new sensors instead.  I was actually quite pleased when I took the old sensor out and it was completely 'coked' up.  I suspect the previous owner ran it on his car without the heater connected and it just 'sooted' up.

So took her for a run with the new sensor fitted  (with the wires from the sensor and the loom simply twisted together) and this was the result (Shows before, with the original sensor, and after, with the new one):

So we can see the new sensor is working perfectly, rapidly switching between 0.1V-0.9V, which is how it is supposed to be.    And just as a check I tried the other sensor I had been given and got an identical result.

So I now have 3 complete exhaust systems, with 2 working sensors and possibly one more if it starts to work after I have cleaned it.
 

MEMSLogger/MEMSAnalyser

After doing a lot of work on my analysis program I decided it was good enough to release to other owners.

The final package comes in 2 parts.  The first program uses a batch file called MEMSLogger which produces a comprehensive log file while you are driving.   This is then read in by MEMSAnalyser, which produces a graphical display of the trip.

Here is an example screenshot of the RPM for the first 5 minutes of a trip. 

Across the top are the most useful parameters, each of which can be selected and displayed.    

Across the bottom are various selections so you can display segments of the trip over various times.    A vertical marker allows you to examine individual data points.    And on the right are red/green flags for the various fault codes.

There is also a User-Defined button to look at all 60 parameters, many of which are still unknown.  

Here is a screenshot using that button to look at the Short-Term Fuel Trim over a 10 minute period:

The whole package can be downloaded from http://www.rmrsoft.com/mems  All comments and suggestions are more than welcome.

I am particularly interested to know if it works with MEMS 1.9 and what the unknown parameters might be.

ECU Analysis

Busy time over the last few days.  Now I can 'talk' to the ECU I needed some way to interpret the results.   So I have built a program to do the analysis.   Took her out 4 times today (beautiful weather, perfect for driving) to get some data points.

Here are some results (You can see the parameters I can analyse across the top of the screenshot).

First the temperatures in and around the car:   Not bad
 

Now the ignition timing:    Again looks good, switching from 5-25 deg advanced.

Finally the lambda (Oxygen) sensor voltage.   This does not look so good and seems to indicate it may not be working properly.  More research required  






Worth pointing out I am temporarily running with both exhaust pipes open.   I will block one shut tomorrow and see if the data shows anything different.
 
Fascinating stuff.    If anyone wants to try the software you can get it from http://www.rmrsoft.com/MEMS.zip

Longer Wind Deflectors

The Wind Deflectors I fitted were a huge success, enabling me to dispense with the doors and still drive in windy conditions and even light rain.   The only slight problem was that I used to get a cold/wet elbow as they were not really long enough.  So today I replaced the 300mm deep ones with a set of 500mm deep ones, adding a third mounting bracket at the bottom for added stability.   Here is the old and new.

A Bit of Bling

I have always admired new sports cars that have painted calipers.  In my case it will have to wait until I take them off for servicing, but meanwhile there was nothing to stop me doing the discs.   So having primed them before, a quick spray of top coat of caliper paint and I love the look.

Suspension Check

It's always a worry with a hand-built car that everything is nice and tight.   A good tip I picked up from the forum was to use Tippex to mark the crucial nuts and bolts.   That way it is obvious if they start to undo.   So I started with the rear suspension,.

Handbrake Warning Light at Last

Ever since I had the car and got caught out by driving away with the handbrake on, the number one job on my ToDo list was to fit a Handbrake Warning Light.  As of tonight I have one.
 
A few months ago I bought a second-hand Sierra handbrake as a spare and found it had a warning light switch built in.  My idea was to replace the exciting handbrake with this new one, a fairly major job as the mechanism under the floor has been 'scrunched' a bit after repeated impacts with the road.  

But when I looked closely this morning I saw the switch was actually just clamped onto the handbrake through a couple of indents.  

So I whipped out the passenger seat to access the handbrake, checked it and bingo, it had the same indents.    So a quick transfer of the switch, wired it into the loom (the existing wiring was already present in the tunnel).  

And I now have a Handbrake Warning Light. 

Job done !! 

Later:  Turned out my original wiring route wasn't suitable as it chafed, so I drilled a hole in the tunnel wall, inserted a grommet and put the wire straight into the tunnel.   Much better.

Cooling System again

Another major breakthrough this morning, I think :-)
For almost 3 years I have suffered with overheating problems and water loss, and each time I have fixed something I have proclaimed it has been fixed only to be subsequently proven wrong.  But ever since I repaired the joint in the cooling system pipes, uprated the radiator cap to 21psi, chucked a tin of radweld in the radiator and re-fitted the thermostat, she has stopped leaking and overheating.
Unfortunately she was now running much too cold, such that the temperature gauge on the dash hardly registered.   And as I have access to a digital readout I could see that the ECU had her stabilising at 143F (62C), at least 30C below what she should be. First port of call in that situation is the thermostat (some of us are old enough to remember stage 2, which is a piece of cardboard across the grill:-) ) and I was still using the original thermostat.   So treated myself to a decent 88C Thermostat from Rimmer Bros, an acknowledged good firm for MG Rover parts.   Cost £20 inc P&P but I didn't want to skimp.
Fitted it this morning, and was pleased to see that when I took off the thermostat housing the cooling system was still full.  Last time I put any water in was about 3 months ago.:-)   So out on the test run.   She warmed up to 195F (90C) very quickly (right in the middle of the green on the ECU Gauge and on the 'O' of Normal on the gauge) and then stayed pegged there for the rest of the trip. Interestingly, although the ECU sensor temperature readout (which is below the thermostat) was solid, the car gauge (which has a sensor above the thermostat) did wander a bit from just below the 'N' to just above the 'M' of NORMAL.   It is obviously very sensitive and shows the thermostat opening and shutting.
Sitting back in the garage with engine idling she drifted up to 220F(105C) (Showing on the 'A' of NORMAL).  Technically above boiling point but being pressurised that didn't happen.  But when the fan was switched on she went back down to about 200F (91C).
So once again I am pronouncing her fixed.  Although time will tell, I am quite confident this time.    Remains to be seen what happens in the heat of summer.   Maybe I will need a 'summer' thermostat (75C?) and a 'winter' thermostat

ECU Diagnostics

Finally managed to get hold of all the parts I needed to build an interface cable so I can 'talk' to the ECU (Original one not been available for 10-15 years). After the usual teething problems I have it working. The cable terminates in a USB plug in the passenger footwell so I can rest the laptop on the seat during test runs. 

 

And here is a picture of our first conversation (Note no fault codes )

Primer

Reasonable day at last, and warm enough to work in the garage.  So off to potter
Rubbed down and primed the rear wing again.  Probably ready for final blue coat now.

Always admired cars with coloured callipers and drums and have decided to paint them red eventually.

But while I had the primer out I thought I might as well at least prime the drums as they are looking decidedly scruffy,

And they look very smart back on the car.

Back End again

Sudden unexpected day off and good weather.    Doesn't take a rocket science to know what comes next  

Took one of the grandchild who is keen on cars and working towards being a mechanic out for a run over Xmas.  He loved it   But as usual with a passenger we grounded the exhaust pipe mount at regular intervals.    You will recall that I had raised the front suspension about 1" to stop grounding the sump, and much later raised the back end about 1" to compensate and to try and stop the grounding.   It was partially successful and reduced the grounding but not completely.

So decided it was time to raise the back end another 1"  and see what happens.   So did that, and also took the precaution of adding a lock nut to the lower suspension bolt.  Probably unnecessary but better to be safe than sorry.
 
Then took her around my standard 25 mile test circuit (Grantham and back on a circular route, nice mix of country roads, villages, turns and the A1).  First impressions are good, she didn't ground once and I even managed to stay on the left hand side of the road leaving the village when I normally have to go on the right hand side to avoid a vicious bump in the road.   Handling is fine, although I got the impression she was a bit more lively on the bumpy roads and jumped about a bit more than before.   Don't mind that, adds to the fun, as long as she carries on going in the direction I point here   And she was rock-solid at 70mph on the A1, which wasn't unexpected as raising the back end should increase the aerodynamic downforce. 

Fun day

Just Tinkering

She has been running well but I just felt after the last few runs that she was a bit reluctant to change gear, no noises but seemed to be a bit stiffer and I was having to put more pressure on the clutch.   I decided the clutch cable has probably stretched a bit since I installed it so first job was under the car and wound up the adjustment a bit.   Feels much better now.

I also noticed the exhaust had started to rattle again, but the cause of that was obvious when I checked, the rear mounting bolt had come loose again, like it was when I first bought her.  Decided the sensible thing to do was to fit a lock nut to prevent it happening again.

Then decided to look at the practicality of fitting the flexible joint to the exhaust pipe.   As you can see from the picture I can't replace the existing 'fixed' joint with the flexible one, there just isn't enough room between the 4:1 joint and the lamda sensor. .   What looks like the best solution is to cut the pipe half way between the lamda sensor and the bell housing and add the joint in there.   I don't want to trash this exhaust system but I have another complete one in the attic and another off E-Bay I hope to get soon for around £30-£40, so I can experiment on those.
 
While I had the heat shield off (again) I decided it was time to do something about the mounting.  The present system is that the top is mounted on 2 bolts in the side panel, which are fine, and then 3 self-tapping screws on the bottom.  I had always found them a pain to get back in, having to do it almost blind to find the holes and with the shield always trying to spring away.  So it was time for a better solution. 

So I got a piece of 1/2" x 1/2" wood and mounted 3 captive bolts on it, lined up so they exactly fitted 3 holes in the heat shield.   I then mounted the wood permanently onto the underside of the body, using the self-tappers and with the captive bolts pointing down.  

 

Although you can hardly see it under normal circumstances I did paint it black to make it completely invisible


 

Result, removing and replacing the hear shield is now a very quick and simple operation.


 



 
Finally had a play with the daylight running lights.   The original fit of some cheap LEDs mounted on the top wishbone was meant to be a 'proof of concept' and to get the wiring done properly before I mounted some proper ones.
   
So as some decent ones had arrived from Hong Kong (as they were proper running lights they cost more, £5 for 2 ) I decided to fit them.   

#

Mounted them vertically on the side of the nose cone, using some scrap stainless steel to move them out slightly and riveting them to the body.  

 And they look good and work well.  The only problem is that I have got quite attached to the original ones so haven't taken them off.   And they do provide better visibility for other drivers on these grey days.   

New Battery Fitted

Went to start her this this morning and it was real chug-chug, although she did eventually start.   But as I have seen before, and now see all the time with my new voltmeter, the voltage, although nominally OK off-load at 12.3V, dropped off to 9.3V during cranking.   A sure sign the battery was really failing.    So swapped in the new one that my son had got me.  Fitted perfectly, although I had to incorporate some adapters to convert the battery pillar terminals to flat bolt-through types.    Also added a cut-off valve on the negative terminal that I happened to have lying around.
Result ?   Instant start the moment I turned the key.   Didn't even crank long enough to see the voltage drop.   Good job done.

Voltage Display

Back from holiday and she started first time and ran beautifully on a short run out.   But wasn't sure of battery status and whether I should fit the new one.  So bought this from Hong Kong.

Plugs into the 12V power supply, has 2 USB charging sockets and the LED display alternates between voltage and temperature.   After charging the battery looks OK, have to see what happens over the next few weeks.

Thermostat Re-fitted

After a couple of weeks driving without the thermostat fitted it has the desired effect of stopping the overheating, unfortunately it worked too well and the engine does not warm up enough to get into the Normal range.

This wasn't doing the engine much good and also the fuel consumption was dropping (engine running rich as ECU thinks it is still cold?).   So I have put the thermostat back in.   Unfortunately after 100 miles nothing has changed.  I need to do a long journey as a real test.

Brake Light Monitor

A couple of times recently I have found the brake lights have stopped working (reported by a kit car following me) because the switch has vibrated slightly out of position.   And because I tend to open the garage door before getting in the car I never actually notice.   So time for a solution.  I have now wired in an LED strip (£1.49 on E-Bay) in parallel with the brake lights.   Didn't want it to be a distraction as it is very bright, so hidden it inside the drivers dashboard.   So now when I tap the brakes I get a nice rosy glow on my right knee, very discrete.

So I am now in the fairly rare situation where all the lights actually work.


Later:   It also huighlighted the fact that the brake lights come on when the clutch pedal is pressed as well.

Hog Roast and Vulcan

Just back from a really great day out.   Weather just perfect so drove for 50 minutes through the country lanes to a Farm in Northamptonshire that was hosting a classic car meet with a hog roast.   

Car behaving impeccably, loving the cool weather and has now developed a lovely throaty roar (probably exhaust blowing again )

So after an hour or so chatting with friends, cup of coffee, 'pig bun', admiring other cars...   three of us left for another 25 min formation run to Rutland Water through back lanes, villages (and under a viaduct) so we could watch the Vulcan on her Southern tour.   Arrived at Rutland Water to find hundreds of cars parked up wherever there was a space, luckily the leader found a nice spot for us to park.

Short video of the drive is at https://youtu.be/4kjXfI4Al4k

We had originally intended to go onto the dam, as that was the official waypoint for the route, but changed our mind and stopped with lots of other people near the Normanton church on the South Shore.   Inspired choice as it turned out, the crew must have seen us and maneuvered accordingly

Here is my video of her flying over:  https://youtu.be/tRrQPn39aAQ

Then another lovely 30 min drive home.

Still grinning

Brake Lights Not Working

I had noticed the brake lights weren't working again (maybe I should wire in a warning light for brake light failure).  I assumed the switch had simply vibrated out of position so fiddled with the mounting, wiggling it about a bit).

And I was right, lights now working again.   This is a bit hit or miss, and as you never normally notice if the lights are working (I suspect they just work for a few days before the MOT and a few days after ) In the long term I need to come up with a better solution, so the mounting is rock solid and there is some sort of proper adjustment on the switch.

Revised Exhaust Pipe Block

At the Corby Glen Sheep Fair at the weekend I was asked over and over why I had a tea towel stuffed up the exhaust (except for one veteran kit car enthusiast who immediately recognised it was designed to increase back pressure.  He said he usually used a potato but it dried out and fell out ).   And there were dire warnings about it catching fire.   So I decided I should do something a bit more presentable, while still leaving it removable so I can test the emissions with and without it.   Having said that, when I pulled the tea towel out it was just carbonised at the end with no real sign of heat.

So I bought some stainless steel scouring pads and pushed them tightly up the pipe, then made a 'plug' by drilling a hole in a piece of wood and using the part that was punched out.   A bolt through the hole should allow me to remove it when required.

Looks much smarter.  Probably will still get the questions though