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Post by snowbird1 on Jan 26, 2018 16:51:28 GMT
Won't the extra spring in the dual throttle cable cause a double dead spot? There is some compression of the springs, makes the pedal feel a bit 'spongy'. Maybe eliminate one of them.
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Post by snowbird1 on Jan 26, 2018 17:02:32 GMT
Working on the fuel tank: I'm mounting it at the front, one reason - to make room for the EVAP components: I've made a bracket to hold the fuel pump mount, it's fixed to the bottom of the tank with 'blind' pop rivets and sealed with Hylomar: (Plan 'B' - if it leaks, is to weld over the rivet heads).
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Post by buildityourself on Jan 26, 2018 19:30:35 GMT
Your pump looks different to the normal uk focus. Mine has an inlet and and outlet connection whereas yours only has one. What are the other two units on the tank? the return and filler? How are you dealing the roll over valves that are molded into the focus tank?
Thats brave drilling holes in the bottom!
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Post by snowbird1 on Jan 27, 2018 14:24:25 GMT
I think the ST170/SVT fuel pump is different, it is a non-return system, with the pressure controlled electronically via a pump control module. The white item on the top of the tank is the 'rollover' valve, the other one is the tank pressure sensor - part of the EVAP leak diagnosis system.
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Post by buildityourself on Jan 28, 2018 20:45:46 GMT
Is the roll over valve the ford st170 one? How did/does it fit. My ones were melted into the plastic tank so can't be reused.
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Post by snowbird1 on Jan 29, 2018 14:39:24 GMT
I'm very annoyed with myself for not taking pictures of the fuel tank and venting system when I stripped the donor - had to go to the junk yard and crawl under a Focus to find where all the pipes go! The SVT/ST170 tank has 2 vents with rollover valves - one on each corner, I'm just using one on the Sonic (the white one). They are welded on to the plastic tank, I cut them out along with the pressure sensor mount and the fuel pump/sender access assembly. I't fairly easy to grind the pump and pressure sensor mounts flat on a belt sander but I'm still working on how to get a flat sealing surface on the vent.
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Post by snowbird1 on Feb 18, 2018 14:57:18 GMT
Wiring all checked out, the engine actually fired when I cranked it, must have been some residual fuel in the system. Calibrated the fuel gauge but realised there may be a problem - the ECU uses the fuel level as part of the EVAP diagnostic but is gets that information from the OE instrument pack via CAN or SCP communications, we will see if it flags any faults. Starting final assembly - side and rear aluminium panels bolted in: Floor bonded (Loctite PL Premium PU Adhesive) and riveted, countersunk rivets along the sides, I plan to bolt the body panels on over these. Seemed to make sense to run the 'bottom hose' coolant pipe along the lower chassis, not sure if this will work but I'm giving it a try!
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Post by buildityourself on Feb 18, 2018 17:24:36 GMT
Looking good, Whats the electrical unit on the front bulkhead? Is this the GEMS unit from your donor?
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Post by snowbird1 on Feb 19, 2018 0:52:12 GMT
Looking good, Whats the electrical unit on the front bulkhead? Is this the GEMS unit from your donor? It's the fuel pump driver module.
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Post by snowbird1 on Mar 18, 2018 19:47:10 GMT
Underside all done, holes for the body sides swaged and tapped M6 (8 per side): Hopefully the last time the Sonic will be this way up for any reason! Cut the holes for side pod ventilation: Not sure what to use for grill material - stainless steel mesh? Thinking putting a couple of these in the sidepods to get air into the engine compartment: A bit of basic prep on the engine, having to fabricate a rear support bracket for the cat, the original had fallen off - part is available from Ford, list price $90 but I figure I can make a better one: Both HO2S sensors seem to be responding OK:
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Post by drbrian on Apr 13, 2018 3:20:54 GMT
Buy a new O2 sensor, the old one do respond but slower and that slows down the engine adjustment and tuning, i.e. you loose some HP because of a $40 o2 sensor.
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Post by snowbird1 on Apr 13, 2018 14:58:48 GMT
This was just a quick check to make sure the sensors where functioning, can't really check response time with a DVOM but had a chance to play with my $17 Walmart scope: Good enough to get it running, I'll probably put in new sensors when I pull the head and do a valve job.
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Post by snowbird1 on Jun 16, 2018 12:05:18 GMT
Update on the AZ Sonic build. Radiator connected with the help of some stainless tubing left over from a previous build that used the Toyota MR2 as a donor. (The MR2 has nice long 32 mm stainless coolant pipes with lots of useful bends.) Fuel tank is mounted and the EVAP gubbins (technical term) all hooked up. Fuel lines connected and engine fired up OK. Side panels are bolted in place, suspension assembled with new nylocs and all bolts torqued. I’ve put the car away for the Summer, Arizona is getting a bit warm (110-115F 40+C) time to do the Snowbird thing and head back to Wales. I was hoping the car would be finished before we left but there is still plenty of work to do on the car when we get back to AZ in October. Still have to figure out gearshift cables and I would like to find shorter handbrake cables, hoping to get some ideas at Curborough .
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Post by drbrian on Jul 18, 2018 23:54:21 GMT
The summer in texas were to hot to work on my car too , me and Dave generally worked for only 1 or 2 hours in the morning then pooped out
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Post by snowbird1 on Jan 1, 2019 17:44:18 GMT
2019 Arizona Sonic Update. Progress report – clutch and brake system bled, had trouble with a brake fluid leak at one of the Wilwood solid line to flex chassis fitting, checked the flare on the conifer brake line a couple of times, even checked the seating on the bench (with a spare fitting). Finally discovered I had a bad fitting on the car, it wasn’t threaded all the way and the nipple was bottoming on the thread before it clamped the flare: Finished the installation of the fuel tank and advanced evap system. Shortening the hand brake cables turned out to be easier than I thought – the plastic ends of the outer cable pull off, I cut about 2 feet off the inner and outer, the problem then is how to swage the nipples on to the ends of the cable – found these: Swageless fittings for 1/8” stainless railing cable – a bit clunky but they are as strong as the cable. I like to use OE parts when possible and have coupled the shift cables for the 6-speed box to the 5-speed shifter cables: Used the base of the 6-speed shifter and the 2 shifter cable brackets that came with the kit. Seems to work OK, we will find out when it is on the road. I used 16 mm nylon rod the mount the rear lights: Still working on the front lighting. Trying to make a decision on wheel/tyre combo – thinking of a 15 inch 50 profile tyre but the donor came with a decent set of 215/45R17’s so I will use those to get it rolling then decide later. Not as much progress as I hoped but it's getting there. Once the cooling system is all completed I'll be able to drive it
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