my 3rd tercel build...

Still been chasing an odd misfire issue that has been plaguing the car ever since this latest iteration.

I redid the coil wiring...so it now has a connector so I can separate the ignition from the main harness.  I also made a dedicated high capacity power and ground circuit.

Made little to no difference.  I still get a misfire 8 times out of 10, typically right at 4200rpm and again around 5400rpm, and it happens even at light throttle not in boost.

I have tried it all.  Nothing makes sense anymore.  Its keeping me from racing the car, I have been using my Yaris this season.

So Earl has been running good lately.  Not 100% sure what fixed my issue.

I decided to evolve the car.

First I modified the lower control arms for more caster.  Will find out how much I gained tomorrow night.  It already feels better.  Eventually Ill make custom tubular control arms for next season.

Then I added aero

That's a pretty cool little car, Greg. 

Had the car aligned tonight.  Gained 1⁰ of caster bringing me up to a total 1.3⁰ per side.  My buddy was also able to squeak in a touch more camber.  Car feels really freaking good.

Sent you a PM, Malibuguy.

Vented the hood today

Does that much aero makes a difference?

In reply to chiquito1228 :

no reason why it shouldnt

Tweaked the tune, adjusted the boost controller to give a rising curve to fill in the natural power drop of this motor after 5500rpm.  So far I like it.  Initially it hits 7psi below 3000rpm...then 10psi to about 4500rpm then to 13lbs at 6000rpm with it dropping off at 7000.  I typically shift at 6200rpm, with flat shifts sometimes spiking 6700rpm.  Its a smooth progressive curve, no jumps or steps in power.

I also fine tuned the BC to limit part throttle boost, again to make the power more linear and help keep from seeing 12psi at 35% throttle lol

I made a couple new rear muffler sections in the last couple weeks.

First off, I got this 5zigen Fireball replica muffler about 6months ago.

I repacked it before even using.  I have a Spoon ITB replica muffler from the same company which I already repacked and knew they do not put much in to begin with.  Cutting this one revealed what I saw in the Spoon rep...

I already purchased ceramic mat to pack into this muffler.

Whipped up a new rear section, gave it some gangster JDM angle yo.  And I dunno just didnt feel it.  Flat bottom bumper cars make stuff like this look a little goofy.  It sounded good, but with that large tip it boomed a little bit.

That lasted about a week lol so today I cut that up, saved the muffler for another day.  I fitted one of the Bstock mufflers I keep in the shop, its a straight-thru SS no name unit.  I really like these and they always surprise me how well they behave.  I also have one on Floyd, my pink tercel and my Highlander.

This muffler is just perfect.  Nice clean sound, very subtle.  No drone at all.  Still has some character.  This will likely be the muffler that stays.  I still have the Spoon rep rear section if I want to be noisy...that has a nice crisp sound.

I had another rear section I made with an Edelbrock RPM muffler.  I liked it but it was just too flat sounding.  Ill save that for another project.

Yesterday Earl finally returned to an autoX event.

First time running with the new aero mods, also with the added caster. Originally the car was sidelined all year trying to sort out a backfiring/popping issue since installing this particular motor combination which forced me to change to an external crank trigger wheel. I did have a few instances of a light stumbing on a few runs, not nearly as severe with no major loss in power. I do not think its related to the original issue. Next on the list is to put in a new fuel pump (its still on the original one) and or build a surge tank.

Regardless, overall the car drove pretty well, I drove a bit sloppy, but I was having fun. I really need to get some seat time and some more tweaking done to the chassis.

Earl received a new clutch today.  This replaces the 6puck clutch from the same company.  I think I glazed it with street use.  So far initial impressions on this Kevlar clutch is it's BUTTERLY smooth engagement.  Its smoother then my normal clutch in my daily Yaris.

I do enjoy this odd ball of a car.  Last I saw it was the DC tour

In reply to camopaint0707 :

Its evolved a bit since then.  I was low boost, non intercooled and I believe I was on the stock ecu for that event

Latest changes.

New competition spec dampers from RedShift Motorsports.  10k front 7k rear.

Also picked up some high caster top mounts from TB Developments (UK based)

I also modifed the lower mounts for more camber and omitting the aftermarket cam bolt.

Using a phone level app its looking like I now have 3.5 to 4⁰ of camber now vs before I maxed out (with this wheel fitment) 2.8⁰.  Wednesday night I go for alignment to confirm.  The cam bolts will be on hand JIC.

Also did an oil change back to 5w40 Redline for the racing season.

Car is definitely considerably stiffer then my previous blown FortuneAutos wirh 7k front and 6k rear...but in a sense it rides better.  The little stuff jiggles me now but then bigger bumps are damped and controlled.  What little zigzagging I did on the way home the car feels razor sharp. 

Aero goes back on after my alignment then the following Saturday will be my 1st event of the season.

Car ran and performed well for me yesterday.

Added a bluetooth module to my ECU so I can use my phone.  Insane.  $10 module and a free program allows me to see and tune anything and everything the laptop does.  I like that piece of mind of not having to lug the laptop to every event for the "just in case".  You can customize the gauges and whatnot, this was just after getting it to work.

In reply to malibuguy :

Please do you have more info on the Bluetooth option. I also have a speedy efi on my Festiva. Would love to have this option 

chiquito1228 said:

In reply to malibuguy :

Please do you have more info on the Bluetooth option. I also have a speedy efi on my Festiva. Would love to have this option 

https://wtmtronics.com/product/bluetooth-module/

Plug it in the labeled BT port on the board...on the module there is 6 pins...when you plug in the pigtail put it in the center so there is 1 exposed outer pin on each side.  And make sure the colors like up to pin labels, TX goes to TX, etc etc.

I chose to mount mine in the case with a foam rubber sleeve.  Its actually recommended to external mount it.  I can still get signal with the ECU behind my glove box and me standing 5feet away on the driver side.  Good enough for me.

I used MSDRIOD.  Go thru the settings to link the bluetooth (and its initial pass code) and its good to go.  

So good thing I did this BT mod.  Heading to the AX event sunday, my Innovate MTX-L wideband started showing "E8".  Turned the car off on the highway and popped the clutch to fire it back up and it was fine after that.

On the way home it did it several times and I could see what it would do.  It would start "sticking" to readings.  After maybe 30~ seconds it would show E8 again.

I fired up the app and checked to see what the ECU was seeing and it defaults to full rich when E8 happens.  So I turned off the wideband control.  Luckily I got my tune pretty spot on so the rest of the drive home was just fine, I just didnt beat on it.

Did some reading...apparently even tho Innovate recomends sensor recal or even replacement...they usually go bad seemingly at a faster rate.  I MIGHT have 2k on this gauge and sensor and I have the tune ran pretty clean.  So I ordered a different wideband from 14point7 to try.

I also have an oil temperature gauge coming in from SpeedHut.

Yesterday I installed my new SpeedHut oil temp gauge.  That gauge took the location where my Innovate wideband gauge used to live.  I had to do some thread chasing as apparently the bung I welded in years ago was not fully threaded.  So I used my existing RedLine 5w40 to help flush out debris.  The car now has HPL pcmo 5w30 oil which is vastly superior anyways.

Ima sucker for blue face gauges (i blame my mothers 82 MotoGuzzi for that) and this gauge looks the tits to me.  Its even more gorgeous at night.

I also replaced the old Innovate MTX-L with a 14point7.com Spartan Lite unit.  No gauge and it has an even more modern sensor on it.

The car runs and drives so dang good.

In reply to malibuguy :

Thank you 

Car ran awesome this last weekend even tho the turbo was actually on its way out.  Got another CHRA on its way.

Replaced the turbo CHRA today, I was originally planning to do it on car.  Then I decided to pull the entire turbo off to bench build it and chase and clean threads and also inspect the manifold.

Since now I have to clean and service my air filter, I stuck on an exposed AEM cone for now.

I also took the time to do a compression check while the motor had a little heat in it, but I was waiting for the turbo to cool down a little more.

235-240psi across the board.  Id say this motor is still plenty happy and tight.