Synchronising Ian’s ITBs
Well word got out that I was in possession of an amazing device (Synchometer), so Ian dropped by with his Daihatsu Mira Van to sync his ITBs. I've never used a Synchometer or played with ITBs before so it was a good experience.
It's a slightly tedious process because adjustments on one throttle body will affect the others, so it can take a few goes to get it right. Once the ITBs are synced though, the idle speed needs to be adjusted too, with Ian's car the idle ended up being higher.
ITB Synchrometer (Syncrometer)
I picked up a Synchrometer from a local Motorsport business, Dirt Devil Ind., just located 30mins from Brisbane. It's used to tune/sync ITBs or carburetors for a smoother idle and acceleration. It's not really necessary but why not hey?
It works by measuring air flow through the trumpet (velocity stacks). The synchrometer has a tapered rubber tip that inserts into the ITB opening, than using the bypass adjust screw to set each throttle body for the right amount of air flow at idle.
Custom Wiring Harness – Part 2
Over the last couple of days I finished off the main body harness, it's basically just wiring for the exterior lights and all in-cabin stuff plus fuses. It started out as a big mess but I think I did a pretty decent job in cleaning it up, also was able to relocate the engine bay fuse box to under the dash.
Another thing I did was remove all the stupid tape Mazda used on "wire splits" and replaced it with heat-shrink, I HATE TAPE!
I used zip ties instead of tape to bundle the wiring harness, all engine bay wiring will have convoluted tubing to protect it from stuff.
Removing the stupid tape and replacing it with heat-shrink.
Main body harness completed, now to start on the power and engine harness...
ITBs muhahaha
So I'm still waiting for the paint to dry on the ITBs, going to be a long 7- days... But I couldn't wait so I did a dummy fit of the trumpets (velocity stacks) on the ITBs.
I'm so WET with excitement!
ITB Clean & Paint
My ITBs were pretty dirty so I had them sent out to Chilton Engineering for some sand-blasting, got it all back today and they came out great! It was also recommended that I give the ITBs a coat of paint to keep them clean.
I picked up some VHT Primer Coat and Quick Coat in the aluminium finish, was considering painting them black but decided against it. Some clean silver aluminium will look spiffy in between the black adapter and velocity stacks.
Follow on after the break for my write-up and photos.
Fresh from the sand blaster, so clean. Had to mask the ITBs again to get it ready for paint. VHT Primer Coat and Quick Coat in aluminium finish.
Custom Wiring Harness – Part 1
I decided that since my car would be off the road for a month or two as I work on the engine, it would be a great chance to do a custom wiring harness for the car. This would mean the body and engine/ECU wiring harnesses would be separated and independent of each other. Try to keep it all as simple as possible, will be especially nice to have a dedicated harness for the Megasquirt =)
So I was lucky enough to pickup an entire wiring harness (body, main, power, dash) for a decent price and got started working on it.
I've stripped the following from the harness so far:
- All engine wiring
- Air Flow Meter
- Ignitors & coils (going COPs for the Megasquirt)
- IAC valve
- Purge valve
- O2 (going dedicated wideband)
- AC stuff
- Power-steering
- Clutch switch
- Neutral switch
- Fan switch (Megasquirt will control fans)
- probable more... can't remember
All engine/ECU related fuses and relays will be kept separate and located close to the ECU. The engine bay fuse/relay box will be made redundant and relocated under the dash as there will only be four fuses used at that location.
After a long day of peeling tape and cutting wires...
99% complete with the main harness, you can see the pile of tape and wires removed in this photo. Seems a bit excessive doesn't it?
This is the wiring kit from DIYAutoTune, pretty handy. Will be used for engine to ECU wiring.
I then spent the rest of the afternoon de-pinning the ECU terminals so I could salvage the pins to re-use. It sucks having a budget...
QR Midweek Sprints
Smashed out work really early today so I could hang out with some mates and head out to QR. Charlie was out with his MX-5 too, first track event since the rebuild. He managed some very good lap times even though it was the his first time doing QR.
I tried to take as many photos as I could, so follow after the break to check them out 
Offset Number Plate Bracket
Mazda's factory number plate bracket simply sucks... It's weak and always in the way, every one of us has experienced walking into it and bending it into your front bar causing damage. I've been lucky enough to work exclusively with MX-5 Plus to bring you the Offset Number Plate Bracket.
The bracket mounts the number plate to the side and is much stronger than the factory item, in addition to being stronger the relocated plate also increase air flow through your radiator. All hardware is supplied and you have the option to mount it either on the left or right hand side. No drilling or cutting is necessary, simply mounts to one of your front tow points.
Some of my old install photos can be found here:
http://omgpham.com/wheel-spacers-number-plates
All stock is located in Brisbane for immediate dispatch.
Price includes delivery Australia wide by courier.
$40AUD
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Now some photos of what it looks like installed on my car.
Downshift Meet April 2012
The monthly JDMST x Downshift meet was today, decent turnout considering the crap rainy weather. I was able to take a few snaps but spent most of time meeting new people and chatting about ITB tuning on the Megasquirt
I also spotted my previous car, Nissan S15, and was nice to see it out and about.
Click through to checkout my photos!
Stickers Now @ Zen Garage!
...
boooooyyyaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!
My stickers are now available for purchase at Zen Garage!!!!!
(can you tell I'm excited?)
They're located in beautiful Leichardt, which I had the pleasure of visiting last time I was down south. Definitely go check them out if you're in Sydney.
Zen Garage
7/99 Moore Street
Leichhardt
NSW 2040
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM
Zen Garage Visit - http://omgpham.com/zen-garage-visit
Stickers below are available immediately @ Zen Garage.
