fr0st

Nice build up Out of curiousity, why didn't you go the RB24 rout? (if you have stroked it... my bad)

Whilst I get what your saying, the whole point of writing the article is to learn for myself aswell as inform others. At the moment I'm going to leave out fuel and ignition tuning and only have ECU modding and R&R, speed limiter, injector and AFM changes. I have a few ideas on how to accomplish fuel map and ignition tuning. If you could give your opinion it would be very much appreciated For fuel map tuning, in order to keep in the diy spirit I'm working on a custom circuit to read a 5-wire wideband sensor which replaces the narrowband sensor whilst your tuning. Since you can read the sensor through the consult interface you can also log it along with RPM, MAF voltage etc. The consult also does fuel map tracing so you can tell what cells need adjusting. This is all in the hope that the ECU doesn't scale the O2 sensor voltage when it gives the value to the consult cable. The datascan website shows screenshots with a 0 to 100 reading, so if its linear with would work perfectly. I pick up a consult cable later today so I'll be able to check soon. For ignition I had another (perhaps) clever idea. From what I understand, if you advance timing too much the combusted gas starts to push down the piston before it reachs the top of its stroke and hence creates a knock. The minimum best timing would be when the ignited gas pushs down on the piston exactly after it reachs the top of its stroke. Any more timing than this and knock should be present, even if its only small amounts. If I was too hook up the engines existing knock sensors to the microphone inputs on a laptop through a small amplifier I'd be able to record every small vibration in the engine. If I ran it through an FFT program to look at what frequencies are being generated I should be able to pick out anything irregular (like a small knock). It sounds good in theory but I'm not sure if it would work particually well in practice. Any suggestions?

I just had an idea.... Since the consult cable can read things like MAF Voltage, RPM and oxygen sensor voltage at the same time, I could replace the standard 02 sensor with a wideband and add a little circuit to give a linear voltage output between 0 and 1v. As long as the ECU doesn't convert the o2 sensor to lambda or an AF ratio I should be able to log a reading without needing an external data logger. Athlough you are right, I dout that you can reach the minimum amount of advance for the most power at high rpm without knocking beforehand. Low RPM you certainly will though.

You can actually trace the fuel map based on AFM voltage and RPM. The AFM voltage is stored in an 4 bit number i.e 0 to 64. This is looked up on the VQ Table to get a VQ value (16 bits) (VQ x K Value / CAS Value) / Number of Cylinders CAS = rpm / 50 x 256 Say we have an AFM value of 3.68v, this has a VQ Value of about 45000 (not actual value). The K value for a stock ECU is 257. If we had the revs at say 5000rpm we have a CAS value of 25600. So our TP is [(45000 * 257) / 25600] / 6 = 75.29 The actual value looked up is 75 since the ecu only works in whole numbers. The fuel and ignition maps have RPM and the Theoretical pulsewidth (TP) as there axis's. Now we have the TP you can use that and the rpm to trace the fuel and ignition maps. Simple huh? The consult interface sounds a little easier than datalogging the MAF sensor output and rpm to trace maps. The narrowband oxygen sensor is obviously going to be useless, so I'm probably going to be datalogging rpm and a wideband sensor anyway for A/F ratios. Whether or not I can come up with an emulator depends on the speed of the eeprom and my microcontroller skills. Eeprom speed is likely to win there. Reading, writing and modifying the eeprom is now problem. I found all the software and already have the eeprom reader/writer. Noone has a tomei or MINES rom dump they mind sharing do they? I wouldn't publish it, I'm just curious to see what they've changed in terms of timing and the fuel map. Cheers -Matt

I've now got my hands (well getting hands on... it hasn't arived yet) a spare RB20DET ECU to conduct some mods on. I've compiled a heap of info on remapping that I'm going to put into an article for the tutorial section once I have some pics to go with it. I've got all the info for things like removing R&R, the speed limiter and allowing for larger injectors and AFM. What I need is a method or information on modifying the fuel and ignition maps. The way I see it is an engine is a closed system. The AFM measures the air going into the system which is also the air leaving the system (ignoring the extra intake during spooling). Since you can measure the exact amount of air leaving the engine through the cylinders the ECU puts in fuel for a 14.7 A/F ratio plus the offset in the fuel map. Obviously this isn't the case in real life. What I'd like to know is what mods cause a change in the A/F ratio and by how much (approximately). For example (and probably not true), putting in a less restrictive exhaust creates less back pressure, hence less exhaust gas is left in the cylinder after the exhaust stroke so theres more fresh air that can be can be combusted creating a leaner A/F ratio. Ignition I'm kind of lost since I can't real time tune like a PFC that has a knock reading. Can anyone provide info on 'safe' ignition timing that would be a better compromise than the stock timing? The original maps have several retarded positions under load (probably the retard out of R&R) that could be changed to improve them, but I'm looking for a little more. Also, if anyone has a dyno graphs with AFR's for RB20DET's using the stock computer it would be very much appreciated if you can post it up with a mods list. Hopefully I can gain an idea on what mods affect AFR and by how much by looking at real world results. Thanks for the help in advance -Matt

PM sent

It should go something like - Wash with degreaser/detergent (to remove wax/polish) Claybar Wash again Polish (with swirl remover if needed) Wax or Sealant

My 32 sits on about 10.5L/100km. After some fair spirited driving on a cruise it went up to 11.5L/100km I just changed to a hi-flow 3 inch Cat and sofar I've managed to get 370km and the needle is sitting just above 1/4. The stock cat was full of crap, and that can't be good for economy. People have had good results with injector cleaner. AFM might need a clean, new spark plugs, S-AFC... they all might help.

Waxed my R32 today Used a single coat of Meguiars Yellow Tech Wax and left it in the sun whilst I vacuumed the car. Buffed it out with a orbital buffer and got all the little bits with a microfibre cloth. When I first got the car it had heaps of swirls. I washed, clayed and washed again. I went around a few times with the orbital buffer and some megs fine cut cleaner #2. Then I did the tech wax. Came up perfect for 13 year old paint. I just need some touch up paint to get rid of all the stone chips and scratches now. Megs Crystal polymer sealant is also decent substitute for the Tech Wax if you not into waxing your car every month. Shine isn't as great but it lasts for ages. I used it on my parents cars and they came up great after a cut and polish. They still look clean after 3 weeks now. Photo was taken with my phone so excuse the quality

If you just buy the dump pipe, you still need a 3 inch front pipe aswell. I havn't been able to find anyone that makes only the front pipe. Might have to be a custom job

Heartbreaking story I'd be organising some a cruise for our eastern states counterparts to do the guys lawn that sold it to you ... well after the solicitor anyway. Your going to appreciate the car once your able to drive it knowing its completly sound. Hopefully it'll be sooner rather later.

Whens dyno time? or better yet, when do you get to go cruising with it

can't you put the standard airbox back in whilst you go over the pits?

Fibreglassing looks easy... but is isn't Doing the whole dash is going to cost you a mint in raw materials. You can't just shape fibreglass to how you want it and it just dries there, it need a mould. Easiest way to do it probly buying a heap of cheap foam from clarke rubber and cut it to shape. Apply a light layer of fiberglass to make a rough shell, hack out foam, add more fibreglass layers. I've made door pods before using a wooden frame that I covered in material to give it shape. After a fair bit of bog it look pretty average still, it was a first attempt though. I just spray painted it after a bit of sanding so it looked shithouse. To get a decent finish you need to bog and sand it, more sanding, then apply a gel coat. Gel coats have a kind of filler/wax that smooths out tiny lumps and bumps that come out when you paint it. If your going to vinyl it you just need to bog and sand it. When you put the vinyl on put a thin foam backing on it and it looks awesome (and feels kinda squishy when you push it in). I got my stuff from - Kirkside Products 21 Roberts St West Osborne Park WA 6017 ph: (08) 9242 2990 They let you buy the matting and resin by the meter/liter. They also have a heap of gel coats of various colors aswell as weaved fiberglass if you got money to burn. If you ever want some help just shoot me a pm

Looks nice and clean. Puts mine to shame Did you end up needing the fuel reg?

Anyone know of a spray paint that looks like gun mental? I think those metal cast paints come in a 'smoke' color, might be my best bet

My steering isn't exactly light either. Could bleeding & flushing it and putting in new fluid help? Also d00dz, R33 hicas is electric so I don't think that'd be causing it

Skirts are the bits that run along the sides under the doors? Did you find out how much they are?

I did my cat today with one of BATML's small body cats on a RB20DET. The amount of carbon and crap that was in the inlet of the original cat was amazing. There was atleast a half centermeter of crap embedded on the pipe plus all the crap that was clogging up the mesh. There wasn't a huge difference in power (but noticable) but the car was alot smoother without so much restriction in the exhaust. Dump pipe is next to go on Also, do it yourself! Its only 4 bolts ffs It took me about 2 hours of screwing around. The main problem was the cat back pulling like a spring toward the back of the car. Made it a bit of a pain the ass to get back together, if I had somone helping it would have been alot easier. I think swearing definately helps it to go on. Dump pipe will probably be a bit harder. Just get a can of RP7 and a cheap socket set and go nuts

When you cool air down it also becomes denser, thus lowering the pressure. Your still cramming the same amount of air in the cylinder as before (higher boost & higher temperature vs lower boost and lower temperature) thats why you shouldn't see a increase in power. The main purpose of the IC to prevent hot inlet temps that you get with higher boost levels so you engine doesn't ping. The gain is probably the result of putting a less restrictive cooler in, thats just a guess though.

At uni I've seen a shitbox with the plates OMGWTF. It goes nicely with the rust it has

http://www.compsystems.com.au/Movies/2005_..._castellana.wmv Your link was missing the .com.au

nizmo_freek, in those pics is the intercooler boxed off to the front bar with fibreglass and then painted? I'm guessing you had to hack the reo a bit more aswell? Also, what are you using to cut it? I used a dremel and it seemed to melt the plastic as much as cut it, still wasn't a bad result. Sofar my front bar just has the grill cut out and it only exposes less than a half of my cooler I'm thinking about doing the same as you, but don't really want to repray the entire front bar if I don't have to. Keep the pics coming Cheers for your help

Theres an idle screw on the AAC Valve. If your standing at the front of your car looking over the engine it sits on the end of your plenium and the screw faces your left.

COPBAIT? When they pull you over it'll just prove your point