Converting to Megasquirt

[QBee]

db484bhpv8 said:

I will be rubber mounting mine come Friday then.

.......and the radiator?

[AceOfHearts]

Got the coil pack mount made up today and mocked up the Ka HT leads ready for shortening once my crimp tool arrives. Need to get some more stainless bolts to mount the coil packs properly but I will do that at the weekend. Not looking too bad mocked up though

[Sardonicus]

AceOfHearts said:

Got the coil pack mount made up today and mocked up the Ka HT leads ready for shortening once my crimp tool arrives. Need to get some more stainless bolts to mount the coil packs properly but I will do that at the weekend. Not looking too bad mocked up though

Looking good Lewis nice tidy coil bracket you have there

[JimTC]

phazed said:

I think a lot of that is bolting the rad down unevenly inducing stress to the rad.

I agree. On my old 400 mods were needed to get the rad fitting correctly and not under twisting when fixings fully tightened.

[AceOfHearts]

Little update today whilst I'm still waiting on the loom. Since the plenum was off it seemed a good opportunity to replace the fuel hoses and I also got the correct bolts to properly mount the coils to the new bracket.

My MSD ignition lead crimper had also turned up so I shortened my Ka ht leads and added number indents to each. The new crimps actually turned out really well and it's a satisfying job to do yourself

[AceOfHearts]

[SILICONEKID345HP]

There is a coil pack bracket available for those coil packs .



Took mine around the back

[phazed]

I don't understand why people don't use the P38 coil pack?

[AceOfHearts]

I was just recommended the Ford coil pack from ExtraEFI so that's what i went for, plus they are cheap and supposedly reliable. I don't really think i would want to go at the back of the plenum anyways as my car is very tight back there and the coil packs and leads are nice and accessible on the side of the plenum, plus there is plenty of space there for them!

The only real downside is it is not as 'neat' but i would much rather it be easy to access if needs be (and its still a lot neater than the old dizzy)

[estutjaweh]

Just out of curiosity...

...how important is it to have the crankshaft rebalanced after fitting the trigger wheel? I havent seen one report of an engine being removed and stripped for this so I guess its not too bad.
Do any of you mill the pulley wheel back to retain the overall weight once the trigger wheel is fitted?
Is it literally a bolt-on and ignore the slight inbalance issue?

and finally, if any of us were considering going this route, how much does a conversion with all the parts actually cost (not including a rolling road mapping session)?

[phazed]

AceOfHearts said:

I was just recommended the Ford coil pack from ExtraEFI so that's what i went for, plus they are cheap and supposedly reliable. I don't really think i would want to go at the back of the plenum anyways as my car is very tight back there and the coil packs and leads are nice and accessible on the side of the plenum, plus there is plenty of space there for them!

The only real downside is it is not as 'neat' but i would much rather it be easy to access if needs be (and its still a lot neater than the old dizzy)

Not knocking it, in fact my 4.6 was the same as yours, cheap, reliable Ford packs.



I went the P38 way this time for neatness and yes, it is a squeeze!

Edited by phazed on Tuesday 9th December 08:45

[Chuffmeister]

estutjaweh said:

Just out of curiosity...

...how important is it to have the crankshaft rebalanced after fitting the trigger wheel? I havent seen one report of an engine being removed and stripped for this so I guess its not too bad.
Do any of you mill the pulley wheel back to retain the overall weight once the trigger wheel is fitted?
Is it literally a bolt-on and ignore the slight inbalance issue?

and finally, if any of us were considering going this route, how much does a conversion with all the parts actually cost (not including a rolling road mapping session)?

Critical for the 500 as it was externaly balanced. You need to send it to an engineers with the trigger wheel so they can balance the pulley and trigger wheel to the same offset. It is likely that unbalancing the crank would increase the chance of the crank snapping.

[Sardonicus]

Chuffmeister said:

Critical for the 500 as it was externaly balanced. You need to send it to an engineers with the trigger wheel so they can balance the pulley and trigger wheel to the same offset. It is likely that unbalancing the crank would increase the chance of the crank snapping.

Good call I didn't read that post you could probably get away with it on the non TVR cranked/500 cars its just one tooth and before i went for the rebuild this is how I ran mine however I did retain the factory balancing (trapped studding under the dirt deflector) I removed the shield outer edge so my balance offset was very minor, its your call hope this helps

[AceOfHearts]

Sardonicus said:

Chuffmeister said:

Critical for the 500 as it was externaly balanced. You need to send it to an engineers with the trigger wheel so they can balance the pulley and trigger wheel to the same offset. It is likely that unbalancing the crank would increase the chance of the crank snapping.

Good call I didn't read that post you could probably get away with it on the non TVR cranked/500 cars its just one tooth and before i went for the rebuild this is how I ran mine however I did retain the factory balancing (trapped studding under the dirt deflector) I removed the shield outer edge so my balance offset was very minor, its your call hope this helps

As above I did a lot of reading on here and I am going to run the pulley without balancing as I haven't found any reports of problems in the 4.0. I am looking at getting a bigger engine built next year so will get it all balanced up then

[carsy]

On my 4.3 i didnt bother with re balancing the pulley and couldnt tell any difference. To be honest i suspect the vast majority of people just stick them on, 500`s included. Its only one small tooth thats missing from them which i cant see having that much effect, plus you dont know how well your engine is balanced to start with.

I agree with the 5ltr engines being more sensitive to the balance. Having said that they are so poorly balanced in the first place it will prob make little difference just adding a trigger wheel.

I have just taken the 5ltr i am currently re building to John Eales for a proper full internal balance. The crank was miles out with loads of meat having to be taken off it and then also more heavy metal re inserted in the right places. Quite surprising really.

[Sardonicus]

carsy said:

On my 4.3 i didnt bother with re balancing the pulley and couldnt tell any difference. To be honest i suspect the vast majority of people just stick them on, 500`s included. Its only one small tooth thats missing from them which i cant see having that much effect, plus you dont know how well your engine is balanced to start with.

I agree with the 5ltr engines being more sensitive to the balance. Having said that they are so poorly balanced in the first place it will prob make little difference just adding a trigger wheel.

I have just taken the 5ltr i am currently re building to John Eales for a proper full internal balance. The crank was miles out with loads of meat having to be taken off it and then also more heavy metal re inserted in the right places. Quite surprising really.

I tend to agree

[AceOfHearts]

estutjaweh said:

Just out of curiosity...

...how important is it to have the crankshaft rebalanced after fitting the trigger wheel? I havent seen one report of an engine being removed and stripped for this so I guess its not too bad.
Do any of you mill the pulley wheel back to retain the overall weight once the trigger wheel is fitted?
Is it literally a bolt-on and ignore the slight inbalance issue?

and finally, if any of us were considering going this route, how much does a conversion with all the parts actually cost (not including a rolling road mapping session)?

The total for mine is about £1100, which is including all of the parts, the wideband and mapping. This could be done cheaper but i have had the loom and ECU professionally built to save hassle and reduce the chance of any problems.

Couple this to the fact i have already sold the old ignition parts for £150 and still have the old ECU and loom to sell (which should get another £100 or so) I will end up all in around the £850 mark.

[Chuffmeister]

Removing the engine and splitting down to the block, then sending for rebalancing is obviously the best. How kuch did you pay out of interest? I was advised by a few, inc Dom to get the crank pulley rebalanced with the trigger wheel fitted. It can't do any harm, but could do a lot of bad is you're the unfortunate one if it goes pear shaped. Only costs about £80.

I'm interested to know more about send your engine off.

[AceOfHearts]

Little bit more done today, cleaned the air filter and re-oiled, and cleaned out the air filter area behind the grill whilst i had space with the rad removed. I also got the AFM replacement tube cut to size and fitted and mocked up the new radiator to make sure it all fits ok.

Going to get some new fan mounting plates made up and new stainless bolts before i fit it fully.

Next up is to cut back the old carbon canister breather from the engine bay and fit it with a small filter at the back of the car

[AceOfHearts]

The loom turned up this week so i cracked on with fitting it today. Have got about half the engine bay hooked up and also have routed the loom into the car. I have mounted the new ECU and fusebox under the dash as it seemed the neatest and most secure place for it. I have routed the cable so that the laptop lead is coiled up inside the glovebox so can be just pulled out to connect.



Also got the new rad properly mounted with new stainless steel fan mounts which i made