Ambient Lighting 
lol
Is it the LED's from the relay board like mentioned above, or is it from the digital dash?
lolIs it the LED's from the relay board like mentioned above, or is it from the digital dash?
Build Thread 1978 Mercury Cyclone. The pig is in the pen.
- Status
-
Sponsors (?)
Ambient Lighting
Is it the LED's from the relay board like mentioned above, or is it from the digital dash?
Naw, after extensive reflection into the possible cause,..
I've decided that it's the digital dash reflecting off the black gloss column trim ring.
Are the Switches used to Arm a Nitrous System(come w/t the kit) the same as the LED switches you Burned up?
Firstly, I didn't burn any switch up, they just didn't work the way I wanted them to because they're polarity sensitive.
Secondly, I'd say that the arming switch that may come in a N2O kit is a standard lighted switch, but it has been over a decade since I've even used nitrous, so I can't tell you for sure.
Saturday morning I set out with plans to build the battery tray, and wire the rear section so as to get that part done. The objective for the battery tray besides the obvious is to hold the battery w/o any visible top mount holding it down. I decided that I was gonna locate the thing immediately behind the passenger side rear tire, up against the quarter. For whatever reason, that endeavor took all day, but I got it done.
The thing hangs over the edge, so I had to build a cantilever to support the end against the quarter. An Optima has a foot around its base that sticks out beyond the actual battery itself, so I was able to build cleats that captured that foot, so the battery could be slid into the tray, and an end cap w/ two more cleats, that allowed me to bolt it onto the tray effectively securing the battery.
However..........
When I went to slide the battery into the tray, I neglected to consider the height of the thing. The top of the battery hit the crown of the quarter before the whole thing was in the tray, leaving about 1/4" hanging out of the tray.
This left me with two options:
1. Remove the thing, cut off the mounts, and slide the entire tray inboard 1/2 inch (for good measure). Reweld the thing, repaint the thing, and be done.
2. Put a stop at the back of the tray so the battery would't slide all the way against the quarter, and modify the endcap to accommodate.
Well,........which path did I choose?
Although the little dude on my shoulder wearing a white racing suit wanted method plan 1,...... I flicked that dude off, and chose the other dude's plan. This other little guy wears a black leather jacket w/ the cuffed jeans, and smokes a non-filtered Lucky Strike..
I cheesed out. I modified the endcap, and put a piece of 1/2" square tubing at the back of the tray as a stop.
If I'd only posted this pic w/o all of the drama, you'd believe that I planned it that way but obviously, I didn't. The fact that it took me two days to get to this photo is a little shameful,.....but it's done.
Once it was anchored, I hooked up the cables, and tested the water re-circulation circuit.
Full of soap suds.
When I assembled all of those -12 lines that make up the rear water pump/heat exchanger/intercooler circuit, I used dawn dishwashing detergent as a lubricant to get the barbed hose ends into that twist-tite hose. Now that there was water running through it it was sudsing up like a washing machine. It took 3 water change-outs before I got the water to run clear.
Now that the true battery was in place, instead of the temporary one I was using to wire the car, I decided to crank the engine until I saw oil pressure. Took about ten seconds, but once it started, it rose quickly to about 35psi cranking. I stopped at that point. I did a quick ck of the engine afterwards and discovered that I'm gonna have to modify the mount angle of the pump, as the belt was walking off the pulley. When I checked it, it was about 3-4 degrees different than the crank. Guess that's where my misalignment is.
The thing hangs over the edge, so I had to build a cantilever to support the end against the quarter. An Optima has a foot around its base that sticks out beyond the actual battery itself, so I was able to build cleats that captured that foot, so the battery could be slid into the tray, and an end cap w/ two more cleats, that allowed me to bolt it onto the tray effectively securing the battery.
However..........
When I went to slide the battery into the tray, I neglected to consider the height of the thing. The top of the battery hit the crown of the quarter before the whole thing was in the tray, leaving about 1/4" hanging out of the tray.
This left me with two options:
1. Remove the thing, cut off the mounts, and slide the entire tray inboard 1/2 inch (for good measure). Reweld the thing, repaint the thing, and be done.
2. Put a stop at the back of the tray so the battery would't slide all the way against the quarter, and modify the endcap to accommodate.
Well,........which path did I choose?
Although the little dude on my shoulder wearing a white racing suit wanted method plan 1,...... I flicked that dude off, and chose the other dude's plan. This other little guy wears a black leather jacket w/ the cuffed jeans, and smokes a non-filtered Lucky Strike..
I cheesed out. I modified the endcap, and put a piece of 1/2" square tubing at the back of the tray as a stop.
If I'd only posted this pic w/o all of the drama, you'd believe that I planned it that way but obviously, I didn't. The fact that it took me two days to get to this photo is a little shameful,.....but it's done.
Once it was anchored, I hooked up the cables, and tested the water re-circulation circuit.
Full of soap suds.
When I assembled all of those -12 lines that make up the rear water pump/heat exchanger/intercooler circuit, I used dawn dishwashing detergent as a lubricant to get the barbed hose ends into that twist-tite hose. Now that there was water running through it it was sudsing up like a washing machine. It took 3 water change-outs before I got the water to run clear.
Now that the true battery was in place, instead of the temporary one I was using to wire the car, I decided to crank the engine until I saw oil pressure. Took about ten seconds, but once it started, it rose quickly to about 35psi cranking. I stopped at that point. I did a quick ck of the engine afterwards and discovered that I'm gonna have to modify the mount angle of the pump, as the belt was walking off the pulley. When I checked it, it was about 3-4 degrees different than the crank. Guess that's where my misalignment is.
I look forward to every Monday and this thread on Stangnet...
It's almost like a morning routine, After a 20 minute drive into my office I grab a hot cup of coffee and microwave some horrid breakfast for myself. I sit down at my desk and look forward to hearing about the trials and tribulations in Mike's garage. There is never a dull moment in the humors rendition of your weekend @madmike1157 . I will say that the battery tray does look nice and had you not said a word that I would have believed that is was intentionally built that way. The bigger question that I have is this: Is there still oil pouring down the side of the head from the head gasket fiasco? I would assume not by the lack of noting such a thing but am also just as curious to have a full report on the subjet
It's almost like a morning routine, After a 20 minute drive into my office I grab a hot cup of coffee and microwave some horrid breakfast for myself. I sit down at my desk and look forward to hearing about the trials and tribulations in Mike's garage. There is never a dull moment in the humors rendition of your weekend @madmike1157 . I will say that the battery tray does look nice and had you not said a word that I would have believed that is was intentionally built that way. The bigger question that I have is this: Is there still oil pouring down the side of the head from the head gasket fiasco? I would assume not by the lack of noting such a thing but am also just as curious to have a full report on the subjet
Now you'd have to know if there was still oil oozing down the side of the engine, you'd have heard me wailing about it by now. After the Hylomar application, the only thing that oozed out after that was the Hylomar itself.
Water is getting ready to enter the picture however, as I get closer and closer to the eventual start up, I'm gonna have to install that radiator, and fill it w/ water. The HG guy wanted me to wait till the dead last minute to add water/coolant after I was sure the engine would start, heat cycle the thing, drain the water below deck height, retorque the head, and refill it. I am gonna follow that recommendation.
Must be nice that you can just pull a valve cover to re-torque your head! I'll be spending most of my night tomorrow doing just that. In hindsight, I should have waited until right before I was starting the engine to add the coolant. I just never realized how every star in the universe must align for MLS gaskets to work properly.
I'd agree w/ you on that one w/ this one exception:
I have to strip the head of everything on top to get to the head studs. Do you have to unlash the valves, remove the guideplates, and studs just to get to the damn nuts?
Touche. Good point. I just have to take apart my entire turbo hot side and replace $30 worth of gaskets.
If it makes you feel better I have to wrestle the headers off one tube at a time and remove every last little trace if the shaft rockers to do mine... The rocker stands cover every single head stud. FAIL!!
Well then. Considering my options, I'll take I-6 head retorque over a V8 for 1000 Alex.
The priority project today was to get the oil pump aligned so that the belt wouldn't walk off the pulley.
After putting a straight edge on the face of the pulley, and then setting my degree gauge against it, and then comparing those numbers to the crank pulley when measured the same way, I determined that I was 3 degrees nose down on the oil pump.
As with all of the junk I do, fixing that problem took a little doing. In order to change the oil pump orientation, I was gonna have to rotate the pump counter clockwise to accomplish that.
In order to rotate the pump, I had to cut slots in the backing plate to allow that.
Not easy to see now that it's bolted back in place, you can just see the slots at the bottom of the plate. 3 degrees ain't alot, I would probably have been able to do that simply by drilling the holes larger. No matter, It's done.
It doesn't matter how many times I post this perspective, the end result always looks a little wonky. But trust me, Now it's lined up as good as it gets.
I also committed to the exit location for the breather tank.
Tomorrow is kinda cramped for progress, followed by two days of actual, real work. If I can get anything done, I'll make a bonafide version of Mikes PVC breather tank routed the exit side of that braided-12 to under the fender.
After putting a straight edge on the face of the pulley, and then setting my degree gauge against it, and then comparing those numbers to the crank pulley when measured the same way, I determined that I was 3 degrees nose down on the oil pump.
As with all of the junk I do, fixing that problem took a little doing. In order to change the oil pump orientation, I was gonna have to rotate the pump counter clockwise to accomplish that.
In order to rotate the pump, I had to cut slots in the backing plate to allow that.
Not easy to see now that it's bolted back in place, you can just see the slots at the bottom of the plate. 3 degrees ain't alot, I would probably have been able to do that simply by drilling the holes larger. No matter, It's done.
It doesn't matter how many times I post this perspective, the end result always looks a little wonky. But trust me, Now it's lined up as good as it gets.
I also committed to the exit location for the breather tank.
Tomorrow is kinda cramped for progress, followed by two days of actual, real work. If I can get anything done, I'll make a bonafide version of Mikes PVC breather tank routed the exit side of that braided-12 to under the fender.
Mid week last week, I decided to fill the trans w/ fluid. Since the imminent start up is any day now, I wanted to be sure that there was fluid in there so as not to start it dry. I looked up the trans capacity for a 4R70W and found that it was gonna need 9 qts of MerconV. After purchasing the stuff, I planned to add 6 now, and 3 after I got it running. On the 5th qt, I looked under the car to be sure nothing was dripping.
Good thing.
There was fluid in fast drip mode (coincidentally about the speed of my heart rate), we'll say that my trans was dripping at 78 DPM) That's 78 drips per minute. I slid a drain pan under there and went into the house, I wasn't remotely in the frame of mind to consider fixing it at that time.
The trans was dripping from the manual shaft lever. Obviously, I had somehow damaged the seal. Fixing that meant that I was gonna have to drain those 5 qts back out, drop the pan, and hope that I could remove that shaft w/o having to remove the valvebody, or having to lower the trans. On Friday, I stopped by a local transmissions supply store, and bought the new 1.58 seal, now even more disgusted that all of this crap is the result of a faulty, or damaged part that costs less than 2 bucks.
Yesterday, I did what I had to do to expose the nut that held the manual shaft in place. I was happy to find that it wouldn't require anything more than sticking a 13/16 wrench up there to loosen it. After getting it loose I start pulling the thing out of the trans.
It hits the tunnel before I can get it out. I mean it is so close, I can could get it out, but I had to finagle the stupid thing to the point that I knew that it would trash the new seal trying to put it back in. So once I got it out, I gave that part of the tunnel a couple of smacks w/ a 2lb hammer. Tested the reinstall, and that did the trick, gave me just enough room to get the shaft oriented dead straight before starting it back into the trans.
Once I had the shaft out, I inspected it for defects.
No evidence of any offending nicks, scratches, or burrs. Guess the shaft wasn't part of the problem.
Or was it?
DUUUURRRRRR!!!!
Wonder if this BIG ASSED HOLE had any thing to do with the leak?
That hole, and the seal at the end was there for some other sub-shaft to stick through. I had no such sub-shaft.
I tapped the hole, and sealed it w/ a 1/8" pipe plug.
I installed the seal, slid the shaft back in, bolted it all back together, and refilled the trans w/ 6 qts of trans fluid.
No leaks, Go figure.
Although I posted this pic a few times already this one is decidedly different.
There's nothing left to wire. I'm done. Now that that hurdle was finally behind me, I filled the rest of the space under the dash w/ duct hose.
This coulda been a real sunofabitch if that dash top wasn't removable. Getting that damn hose to stretch over the outlets was a major PITA.
Thankfully MY dash top is removeable.
I finished the engine to the point of being able to start it. The upper radiator hold down bkt's required major reconstruction though. The radiator is wider than the stock unit, and those bkts saddle over the end tanks. My end tanks are spaced wider apart, so that left alot of slop. Not only did those bkts allow way too much back and forth movement, they were also too high. So I cut them apart and Frankensteined them back together.
They're drying. (You know me and paint,...I had to force myself to leave them alone)
I'm gonna have to do something about the painted rigid tubing that make up the upper/lower radiator hose. If I even look at them wrong they scratch.
I was gonna make the oil breather/ catch can, but after doing the math decided it was just too easy to order this one from Summit for 50.00. By the time I added the -12 bulkhead, and the K&N filter on top it would've almost been that much, and I would've had to make it.
So,....that brings me to tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I'm running system tests. I'm checking for spark, checking timing, I'm checking for injector functionality, calibrating sensors, and the TPS. Then, I'm filling the tank w/ a couple gals of premium, and checking the fuel system, and setting base FP at 43 P.S.I..
The Megasquirt has a provision to generate a fuel and spark map based on my engine, ignition, and injector size. I hope that that is enough to get it started.
Good thing.
There was fluid in fast drip mode (coincidentally about the speed of my heart rate), we'll say that my trans was dripping at 78 DPM) That's 78 drips per minute. I slid a drain pan under there and went into the house, I wasn't remotely in the frame of mind to consider fixing it at that time.
The trans was dripping from the manual shaft lever. Obviously, I had somehow damaged the seal. Fixing that meant that I was gonna have to drain those 5 qts back out, drop the pan, and hope that I could remove that shaft w/o having to remove the valvebody, or having to lower the trans. On Friday, I stopped by a local transmissions supply store, and bought the new 1.58 seal, now even more disgusted that all of this crap is the result of a faulty, or damaged part that costs less than 2 bucks.
Yesterday, I did what I had to do to expose the nut that held the manual shaft in place. I was happy to find that it wouldn't require anything more than sticking a 13/16 wrench up there to loosen it. After getting it loose I start pulling the thing out of the trans.
It hits the tunnel before I can get it out. I mean it is so close, I can could get it out, but I had to finagle the stupid thing to the point that I knew that it would trash the new seal trying to put it back in. So once I got it out, I gave that part of the tunnel a couple of smacks w/ a 2lb hammer. Tested the reinstall, and that did the trick, gave me just enough room to get the shaft oriented dead straight before starting it back into the trans.
Once I had the shaft out, I inspected it for defects.
No evidence of any offending nicks, scratches, or burrs. Guess the shaft wasn't part of the problem.
Or was it?
DUUUURRRRRR!!!!
Wonder if this BIG ASSED HOLE had any thing to do with the leak?
That hole, and the seal at the end was there for some other sub-shaft to stick through. I had no such sub-shaft.
I tapped the hole, and sealed it w/ a 1/8" pipe plug.
I installed the seal, slid the shaft back in, bolted it all back together, and refilled the trans w/ 6 qts of trans fluid.
No leaks, Go figure.
Although I posted this pic a few times already this one is decidedly different.
There's nothing left to wire. I'm done. Now that that hurdle was finally behind me, I filled the rest of the space under the dash w/ duct hose.
This coulda been a real sunofabitch if that dash top wasn't removable. Getting that damn hose to stretch over the outlets was a major PITA.
Thankfully MY dash top is removeable.
I finished the engine to the point of being able to start it. The upper radiator hold down bkt's required major reconstruction though. The radiator is wider than the stock unit, and those bkts saddle over the end tanks. My end tanks are spaced wider apart, so that left alot of slop. Not only did those bkts allow way too much back and forth movement, they were also too high. So I cut them apart and Frankensteined them back together.
They're drying. (You know me and paint,...I had to force myself to leave them alone)
I'm gonna have to do something about the painted rigid tubing that make up the upper/lower radiator hose. If I even look at them wrong they scratch.
I was gonna make the oil breather/ catch can, but after doing the math decided it was just too easy to order this one from Summit for 50.00. By the time I added the -12 bulkhead, and the K&N filter on top it would've almost been that much, and I would've had to make it.
So,....that brings me to tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I'm running system tests. I'm checking for spark, checking timing, I'm checking for injector functionality, calibrating sensors, and the TPS. Then, I'm filling the tank w/ a couple gals of premium, and checking the fuel system, and setting base FP at 43 P.S.I..
The Megasquirt has a provision to generate a fuel and spark map based on my engine, ignition, and injector size. I hope that that is enough to get it started.
Last edited:
Awesome man,sure your excited/scared to say the least. Hope it goes well and that you break out the Go Pro lol.
Fingers and toes crossed for you @madmike1157 , I wish you all the luck tomorrow as I'm sure you are ready to just know that it runs and runs well!!!
Ok.
Paint me a jumble of conflicted nerves. Don't let me veil any part of this update w/ some BS progress blather,....I'm am completely locked up, and don't know what to do next.
I spent the day slowly going over each step so as not to come on here and rattle off some tale of woe from some oversight or fck up that would cause the engine to fail before it ever starts.
I still had some housekeeping that needed doing first:
The hose that passes under the engine at the back of the oil pan was too close to the spinning torque converter bolts/flexplate for my comfort level. I made a plate to fit between the trans and that hose to keep it from getting sucked into the spinning carnage. Ordinarily, there was a factory solution in the form of an "inspection plate" that fit the bottom of the bellhousing, but my sandwich plate was modified by yours truly, and no small plate from the factory was gonna fit. So,....that said. I made the one that did,...and bolted it in place.
There now,........no chance of that hose getting rubbed through by a spinning converter nut.
I bolted the upper saddle mounts that hold the radiator in place, and finished the electrical connection to the cooling fan. I hooked up the fuel sending unit wiring.
When it came time to turn the key to test everything, it was immediately apparent that I forgot to set the dip switches for the ford fuel level sending unit, because the tank was bone dry, and the gauge was reading 99 gals. I pulled Winkin back apart, and set the dip switches for the ford fuel sender, and the 6 cylinder orientation for the tach.
Then I turned on the computer.
I set the TPS calibration, I set the temp, and IAT calibrations, I listened while the injectors clicked their ass off in test mode. I confirmed that the fast idle solenoid was coming on, I pulled a plug and watched spark arc from the electrode to the tip, I fueled up the tank w/ 3 gals of premium, and set the running fp to 43.5 P.S.I..
Since this is EDIS, my dial back timing light is worthless. I could only set it at 0, and set base timing based on the factory timing marks on the graph that was part of the factory timing cover. That proved too hard to do because I could be at the key switch with one hand, and at the front end of the engine w/ a timing light in the other. I'll deal w/ how to do that tomorrow.
Herein lies the conflict:
I don't know where to go from here.
There is no "tune" in the MSII, so I cannot attempt to start it until there is. As opposed to lack of info, w/ megasquirt, there is too much. I could read for days, and still not know what I have to do from here to try and start this thing.
It's at this juncture that I would gladly pay somebody for a custom built start up map so that I would not have to worry about anything other than watching the temp gauge read 185, so I can shut it off, and re-torque the head.
If I am relegated to trying to formulate a start up map on my own, I am thinking It'll take longer to get it started than it took to build it..
Paint me a jumble of conflicted nerves. Don't let me veil any part of this update w/ some BS progress blather,....I'm am completely locked up, and don't know what to do next.
I spent the day slowly going over each step so as not to come on here and rattle off some tale of woe from some oversight or fck up that would cause the engine to fail before it ever starts.
I still had some housekeeping that needed doing first:
The hose that passes under the engine at the back of the oil pan was too close to the spinning torque converter bolts/flexplate for my comfort level. I made a plate to fit between the trans and that hose to keep it from getting sucked into the spinning carnage. Ordinarily, there was a factory solution in the form of an "inspection plate" that fit the bottom of the bellhousing, but my sandwich plate was modified by yours truly, and no small plate from the factory was gonna fit. So,....that said. I made the one that did,...and bolted it in place.
There now,........no chance of that hose getting rubbed through by a spinning converter nut.
I bolted the upper saddle mounts that hold the radiator in place, and finished the electrical connection to the cooling fan. I hooked up the fuel sending unit wiring.
When it came time to turn the key to test everything, it was immediately apparent that I forgot to set the dip switches for the ford fuel level sending unit, because the tank was bone dry, and the gauge was reading 99 gals. I pulled Winkin back apart, and set the dip switches for the ford fuel sender, and the 6 cylinder orientation for the tach.
Then I turned on the computer.
I set the TPS calibration, I set the temp, and IAT calibrations, I listened while the injectors clicked their ass off in test mode. I confirmed that the fast idle solenoid was coming on, I pulled a plug and watched spark arc from the electrode to the tip, I fueled up the tank w/ 3 gals of premium, and set the running fp to 43.5 P.S.I..
Since this is EDIS, my dial back timing light is worthless. I could only set it at 0, and set base timing based on the factory timing marks on the graph that was part of the factory timing cover. That proved too hard to do because I could be at the key switch with one hand, and at the front end of the engine w/ a timing light in the other. I'll deal w/ how to do that tomorrow.
Herein lies the conflict:
I don't know where to go from here.
There is no "tune" in the MSII, so I cannot attempt to start it until there is. As opposed to lack of info, w/ megasquirt, there is too much. I could read for days, and still not know what I have to do from here to try and start this thing.
It's at this juncture that I would gladly pay somebody for a custom built start up map so that I would not have to worry about anything other than watching the temp gauge read 185, so I can shut it off, and re-torque the head.
If I am relegated to trying to formulate a start up map on my own, I am thinking It'll take longer to get it started than it took to build it..
There are plenty of guys out there that could write you a map to get the engine running. I don't know who they are, but they're out threre. DIY auto tune probably has some people that could help you. I'd say it's worth whatever they would charge you. My dumb oversight in my tune cost me a $2k rebuild.
I'd be on the phone with Matt Cramer for sure. He's gonna tell you to go to the forums, but I think this is a special case and could use special attention.
- Status