Make that 14 loose ends that you have identified so far :-). Can't wait to see a video of that thing under full power.

How true. But those 14 at least are wires. Only thing is, they mostly need a little extra, like the LED display for the 4 gear position output lines, or the paddle shifters for the two up/down shift lines. I'd love to have a segmented digital display for the indicator but it's more likely I'll just find a spot to stick 4 LED lights and let it go at that, at least for now. Anyway I'm not that far off being able to test the jumper pins in the controller and apply power and then it's programming and tuning.

Plus of course going back and sorting out that mysterious oil leak. But I'll worry about that after it gets warm.

Jim

Found a neat little 7 segment display module that I think will fit in the brake warning/test switch that is on the left side of the dash. Right now it has a red LED for the wideband O2 sensor behind the red window and that will stay. What I intend to do is put the numerical display right beside it by cutting out part of the black insert that was used as a switch. I found two that were usable and ordered both, one is yellow and the other is blue (didn't consider red, really was looking for green but no joy there) the number is 9/16" tall. In case anyone wants to know, the yellow is: HDSP-5703, blue is: LTS-5503AB and the driver to run them from a digital input is: CD4511BE. The driver accepts from 3 to 20vdc, -5 to +5v on the inputs and powers the LED module directly so no resistors are needed. Pretty cool I think. I'll have to talk Lance into programming the BCD outputs for it on 3 lines instead of discrete on 4 lines but that shouldn't be too involved I wouldn't think.

Jim

Found something else pretty cool. It's a 2 channel touch sensor circuit on a narrow PCB that takes external pick-ups. Nice lady at the company said they had a sample they could send me. Apparently it is designed to go inside a car door handle to lock and unlock the door (not sure exactly how they planned to do that though without some sort of ID code but I guess it could work with an RFID device) It is a capacitive unit that supposedly can work through gloves, so I'll see when it gets here. If it works well, I may have paddle shifters that don't even have to move to shift. Just a touch. The board will easily fit inside the steering column.

Jim

Glad to see you have been able to make some time to work on the B!

Bits 'n pieces. You get to a point in a long project where it isn't done but the work you are doing on it, is because it needs to be done not because you enjoy it. At that point the project isn't any fun anymore and you just want to get done with it. How you handle this low point can make or break a project and often does. But there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Some will power on through and get it done just on sheer force of will, some will take shortcuts and just get the danged thing running, and some, like me, need to just back away from it until the creative urge returns. Sometimes that takes awhile too and it isn't an especially easy thing to manage. On the whole it seems there may be some advantage to walking away at the first sign of discontent so that the breaks are short, but there really are points where you don't feel like you can do that. Let's say you just tore down the transmission for instance with all those weird parts that fit together strange. Do you really want to leave it like that for a week or more before trying to put it back together? No. Not unless your day job is rebuilding transmissions, and that can sometimes be a mild example.

The transmission control part of this build has been like that though, and there have been points where my only real choice was to walk away. One thing I have learned is that if I hit a snag it often works better to just put down my tools at that point and wait for inspiration. Sometimes that takes awhile. Sometimes it doesn't. But the results are always better than if I forge ahead. OTOH, it's a big reason why it's taking so long. That and the fact that this is a Bigjob. If I stopped to add up the parts of it that are also Bigjobs I'm not sure I'd even want to know the talley.

So anyway, the display modules came in along with the driver chips. I have one ready to mount the chip to the back of it with a dab of silicone sealant, will wire it up and test it before fitting it to the switch housing. It looks like it will fit in nicely. The one thing that is an issue though (isn't there always that one thing?) is that I seem to remember that the O2 sensor needs a calibrate switch of some sort. The test switch for the brakes was still active, wired across the LED for the wideband O2 sensor and I probably had it that way to use as the calibrate switch. Well it's gone now, it was in the way. Which means I need to go back and study the wiring for the O2 sensor controller and come up with a compact pushbutton switch that will fit in between the LED and the numeric display. Space is tight but maybe I can come up with a miniature that will work. Always fun, eh? These little details are why the 90/90 rule applies. 90% of the time is needed to get the job 90% done and then 90% is needed to finish it.

Can't wait to see what the touch sensor board looks like. That will potentially add a great deal of simplification to my paddle shifter assembly.

Jim

Jim B, since I started doing this kind of enjoyment, which began a looooooong time ago, I have adopted an attitude, "I do not have to do this, I do this because I want to". I did our B 20+ years ago when my company was forced, to stay alive, make several tough decisions. I now look back and understand why I did what I did to the "B". I now drive my therapist and enjoy the results of my therapy. I like you have walked away for some time to recollect myself and my thoughts, then return with a new outlook and finish the project.

Jim, your display of deversity sometimes amazes even me.

O btw I feel anyone should be able to spell any word in the American language at least two ways.

Regards
charles

Pretty sure it is just a contact to ground for the sensor, and it has to be exposed to fresh air to calibrate, which means removed from the pipe.  That shouldn't have to happen very often. Do you even need a button, and if you do, it could be someplace harder to access than right on the dash so it wouldn't get bumped/pushed by accident or curious folks.

Charles, I like your insistence on unique ways of looking at things. Sorta helps keep the youngster alive you know?

Dan, do you recall if it was the lead to the LED that gets grounded to calibrate? I kinda suspect it was.

Jim

Yes, the LED goes from the calibration wire to ground.  So does the button.


A little more progress today, thankfully. By now I finally have all of the wires routed and sheathed and can concentrate on the terminations. The display is coming along well, the assembled piece should look almost like the original brake warning switch but I still need to wire the chips and test them. I burned up the first one and I'm waiting on some clip leads to get here. The capacitive touch sensor came in and should be pretty slick, it can pick up a finger touch with gloves on. So I finally got around to bending the 1/4" titanium rod for the paddles. Each one looks sort of like a deformed D or a bean and will make up a little less than 1/2 of a 9-1/4" circle which will sit about 1-1/2" forward of the steering wheel rim. I'll weld these rods to a pair of flat plates that will bolt to the face of each cowl half. Another plate on the inside will sandwich the plastic and give a place to attach the wire to the sensor, which will lay inside the cowling. I ran the +5Vdc line from the transmission controller up to power it so I won't have to worry about exceeding the voltage limits. I have to wait on some Ti sheet and filler wire before I can finish that part.

So anyway, a little bit closer. I'll try to post some photos once I get the paddles made.

Jim

Jim,I just went back and listened to your start-up. Just simply a beautiful sound.
 charles

Thanks Charles. It's been too cold to start it for awhile and I spent today on wiring. But soon I hope. There's definitely less to do than there was.

Jim

Here's my new "Piranha" grille:







Jim

Nice!

That is one scary Piranha!  Plan to pump up those air bags a wee bit?

That looks like a nice meal for a speed bump! How tall is your radiator?

I've upgraded the air pump and plan to add a reservoir and solenoid valves so I can get fast ride height changes (and no Carl, I won't be "hopping" it). Yes the spoiler is a smidgen low but once the car is leveled a bit I think it'll be fine. The radiator is 17 x 32 if memory serves, same as in the MG-Roadmaster but mounted nearly 1" lower to give room for the A/C and I/C condensers stacked in front of it. Right now I'm working on the tilt/trim pump (old style Mercruiser) which will power the bonnet lift cylinders. Haven't any of you guys messed with the pressure relief valves in one of those have you? It looks needlessly complicated, with 3 internal and 1 external adjustments.

Still work to do on the spoiler actuators too.

Jim

So I've been working on the hydraulics. No, not the brakes, the lift system for the bonnet. You may recall that I had an old left over Mercruiser Tilt/Trim hydropack which I cannibalized and stuffed into the passenger's side dogleg in the trunk behind the rear tire. For the past week I've had that on the bench sorting out the pressure relief and valving. I made a new external port block and have replaced the internal springs with lighter ones and am now down to 500psi open and 400 psi latching pressures (the pressure is maintained on power off). That's still a little high for my cylinders, I think they are rated for 250 but the #2 lines will be a restriction and my best approach may be to add a pressure relief at the front so I can control the opening and closing rate with the line pressure and then limit the final pressure at the cylinders. But that sounds overly complex and it might be better to just lower the output further and see how fast it operates. The good news is that there is now a cylinder available that is rated for 1300psi at a reasonable cost, so if performance is disappointing I can upgrade.

Is this getting me any closer to Indy? Well, sort of. Having the bonnet lift and the wing attitude adjust working is not as important certainly as tuning the engine and transmission controllers, but then again, I'm not going to drive the car any distance with the wing set to full downforce, and I just simply *want* the bonnet lift to work instead of continuing to raise it by pulling on the front edge of the blower cutout. The grille obviously was necessary to protect the radiator, and so the bumper could be mounted. Unlike some, I'm just not comfortable without them, sometimes I nudge things. (Just fair warning, I don't generally do it intentionally.)

With a little less than 2 month left I feel pretty comfortable that I can make it and will if I can. But if the car isn't quite ready to travel, at least the trailer has new tires.

Jim

Great news! Sounds like the list is getting shorter. Can't wait to see you and your car in Indy.

Capt'n

QuoteWith a little less than 2 month left...

Geez, my math is a little more optimistic!!

78 days, Jim.  

Really? I never was good with calendars. Wow, what a relief! I might even have time to install the new air pump...

But before that I suspect I'd better get Lance started on the code mods for the tranny controller.

...and then there is still that oil leak to track down.

I want to thank you guys SO much for giving me this extra time!

Jim

You're Welcome Jim, I can not think of anyone more deserving than you,"piece of cake" :-)

So... it isn't looking good for Indy at the moment. I just spent the last week or so putting in the hydraulic plumbing for the bonnet lift and am not real happy with the results. At low pressure I got nada. So I bumped the pump back up to about the original settings, in this case 2500psi on latch and 2000psi on lift. At those pressures movement was still slow but acceptable, but the pump kept cutting out. Then completely unexpectedly I blew out one of the lift cylinders. Cheap junk anyway right? The baffling thing was that it blew the shaft bushing clean out of the body! Now how the heck does that happen when you're pushing on the other side of the piston??

So I ran some pressure checks. Turns out that #2 line is WAY more restrictive than I counted on, and pressure buildup just from the return line restriction was around 1500psi when I made a loop at the front and connected the gage up there. Well clearly that won't do.

My first thought was to just order up a pair of higher pressure wing cylinders, after all the ones that run off the PS pump are rated for 1300Psi and should work OK. But NO! My cylinders are 8" and the shortest ones available in the higher rating are 10". RATS! (Maybe I can get a pair of "specials"?)

So I ordered 50' of 3/16" Ni/Cu brake line. Guess I'll rip the 1/8" stainless lines back out and make 'em bigger. Mo' money, Mo' time. Hey, it was worth the experiment anyway, but that 1/8" line is just too small. Who'd a thunk it? Sure was fun to run such itty bitty line though.

I'm better off not working to a deadline anyway. Besides, I've got a snow blower to build. That has to be done before it snows again... ACK!! Another DEADLINE!!! YEESH!!

As for Indy, I expect we'll hop in Matt's car and head up. If the MG is far enough along we might trailer or flat tow it but I'm pretty sure it won't be ready to drive that far.

Jim