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rascal wrote:Even cheaper if you use a cable tie, as you don't have to pay freight from america to get one.

I got my Haltech sensor from their stand at WTAC. They are a stocked item

I was referring to the cable tie not the sensor. Zip ties is the American word, just like aloominum instead of aluminium.

Hi Folks.

I’ve been enjoying spending time with my family over the last few weeks. The car is parked in the shed and hasn’t had any attention since Mt Panorama.

...except for one interesting finding...

I had some friends over, and my best mate’s son said “Come on, start it up and show us what it sounds like!!” He had helped me quite a bit prior to the race, so who was I to refuse. I warned him that it sounds like a sick VW beetle, but he insisted.

So I agreed, and sure enough, it coughed and farted to life sounding strangled and meek. I switched it off, and while they chatted whilst examining the engine bay, someone asked me which cylinders were running, and which were not.

“Very good question!!” I said.

The headers were the dead give away. Pipes 1 & 4 were hot, 2 & 3 were not. They are both fired off the coil that sits on the front half of the valve cover. Surely not a coincidence, since two of those coils had karked it previously.

I grabbed a spare coil and chucked it in. Sure enough, it fired on all four and settled into a smooth idle. Well I’ll be buggered!!

I could spend weeks studying voltages and signals and whatnot, but I can’t be bothered to be honest. I’m going to buy a set of 4 Toyota coils and go for the coil-over solution.

The throttle tip-in issue is still unresolved, but thanks to Russ G, I have a possible solution. It’s on a MAP tube at the moment, which is reportedly problematic when running ITB’s. In the Adaptronic software I can overlay a TPS table correction table, so that the fueling is calculated using both MAP and TPS. It’s called a “MAP x TPS” tune, and it’s my next plan of attack. I’ll be doing some test driving (legally, at a rural air field) and then lots of staring at data and making small adjustments. I’m not excited about this process, but I’m very happy to have a solution in mind. I’m not paying for more Dyno time until it’s running properly.

And all of this is going to wait until my camshafts arrive!!!! WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Competition Systems are crooks.
They have my money and they have failed to deliver anything resembling service, at every turn. Honestly, it’s beyond a joke.
I wouldn’t normally rant about vendors via channels like this, but I feel like you need to be warned. Stay away from Competition Systems in Carrum Downs, Vic.


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Forget the Denso ones

Get the Bosh version. stronger spark & less power loss of spark when voltage is down.

StanTheMan wrote:Forget the Denso ones. Get the Bosh version. stronger spark & less power loss of spark when voltage is down.

Great tip. Thanks StanTheMan!


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So your itbs have been tuned for map?
Or just the throttle enrichment?

Tuning itbs on map is less than ideal

Hi Folks.

The hunt is on for some Toyota coils. Can anyone help out with a Bosch part number, or a Toyota engine code that ran the right coils for the BP-Z3?

Regarding the tune, yes, it is currently a MAP tune. This was chosen by the Dyno guy, but I’m starting to think it was not the right way to go. Numerous people have suggested that a TPS tune is more likely to give better results. When the car/engine went to the Dyno for it’s first start and run, I didn’t even know what a “MAP tune” was, so I was in no position and to argue about what type of tune to start with.

As mentioned in my previous post I will be attempting a “MAP x TPS” tune. I will change the coils prior to that. Once the coils are in, I want to also check for system voltage stability. I have a suspicion that the system voltage is a bit unstable. I still don’t understand why the Mazda coils are failing. I may or may not engage the services of my good friend Dave for that part. He’s an auto-elec-engineer-type fella.

Round 1 of the MX-5 Club Vic Championship is at Phillip Island on 18 Jan 2020. I just floated the idea with my wife, and she’s onboard, so I guess I’d better pull my finger out. There’s nothing like a deadline to get you motivated!! (It appears that I have learnt nothing from my last exhausting experience).

Also, here are my favourite photos from my Bathurst adventure...

I have seen a thread discussing the COPs part numbers, here or MT.net. I just went to the local wrecker and got a set of "Toyota COPs" off the shelf for the racecar, so I have my doubts about the need for a particular p/n, but YMMV.

Scoota wrote:The hunt is on for some Toyota coils. Can anyone help out with a Bosch part number, or a Toyota engine code that ran the right coils for the BP-Z3?

Toyota COPs don't fit with the vvt valve cover, unless you machine the cover to get rid of the mounting for the standard coils.

Scoota wrote:Regarding the tune, yes, it is currently a MAP tune. This was chosen by the Dyno guy, but I’m starting to think it was not the right way to go. Numerous people have suggested that a TPS tune is more likely to give better results. When the car/engine went to the Dyno for it’s first start and run, I didn’t even know what a “MAP tune” was, so I was in no position and to argue about what type of tune to start with.

Hmmmm... Tuning it with map would have been difficult to say the least. Did they just do power runs? With no part throttle stuff?

Scoota wrote:As mentioned in my previous post I will be attempting a “MAP x TPS” tune. I will change the coils prior to that.

Personally, I think you could just get away with a straight TPS (or alpha-n) tune, without having to worry about the map x tps stuff.
Have you got any data logs? You should be able to look at the MAP, RPM and TPS, and duty or injection time - that'll give you a good idea of how much the ecu has to work with.
You didn't have the vvt tuned at bathurst did you?

Scoota wrote:Once the coils are in, I want to also check for system voltage stability. I have a suspicion that the system voltage is a bit unstable. I still don’t understand why the Mazda coils are failing. I may or may not engage the services of my good friend Dave for that part. He’s an auto-elec-engineer-type fella.

You need to make sure the dwell time is set correctly - else you will ƒü¢k every coil you install, regardless of brand, type, quality etc.

have a look here - https://www.miataturbo.net/adaptronic-63/please-post-your-dwell-settings-here-42434/
Also, you could contact adaptronic/ haltech about dwell time for the vvt coils.

Scoota wrote:The hunt is on for some Toyota coils. Can anyone help out with a Bosch part number, or a Toyota engine code that ran the right coils for the BP-Z3?

Bosch - BIC714 Toyota Corolla from https://www.efisolutions.com.au/

Hi Folks.

It’s been a long time between posts, but I’ve made significant progress. Here are some highlights...

1. Toyota coils installed and functioning beautifully.
2. TPS tune created from scratch in the Adaptronic software, now working a treat.
3. Throttle tip-in issues sorted.
4. Tuned the car myself (no Dyno required).

These significant improvements led me to bag a new Personal Best at Phillip Island! My new PB is 1:59.8. I finally cracked the magic 2-minute barrier!!

...but not without some issues. I’ll post a more detailed account of the recent work and the story of my Phillip Island milestone in the near future. It was great to get out there and have a largely successful meeting. I had an absolute blast!!




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Keen to see pics of the coil install

Which coils did you use?

I used the Toyota 1ZZFE coils, number 3 in this photo (photo credit goes to Sam at SQ Engineering)...



Here’s a link to the full article on Sam’s website... https://www.sq-engineering.com/tech-art ... nfo-guide/

These offered some unique challenges, and I don’t think they’re a popular choice, but I didn’t know of all the different varieties when I bought them. I was a bit hasty, I must admit. In retrospect they are a fine choice.

Most of the challenges with this installation were in relation to the shape of the valve cover. I’ll put up a more detailed story soon, but here’s the (almost) finished product...




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Magpie wrote:
-Does it need to be emissions legal in any state? (what state)

I know this is a one-issue response in a thread about a lot of things but there's a decent argument to be made that emissions legal on an NA6 is no longer relevant, becuase the rules that applied when the car was built are the ones in force over that car still, and those rules set a time limit after which the car doesn't need to meet any standard. The phrase in the ADRs is "useful life".

You will still need to pass EPA emissions testing (but that should be easy on a <2l I4 on any fuel. I was, from memory, less than 1/4 of all the limits when I had mine done.

Hi Folks.

It's been a long time between posts, and I've made a lot of progress on improving the car since my last post in Jan. I will attempt to fill you in on recent efforts, but let's jump straight to the present. I spent the day at Phillip Island yesterday and managed a new personal best... 1:57.5!! YEAH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another recent achievement (last Friday) was to finally get the Adaptronic to take control of the inlet camshaft timing. Yep, I got VVT working. It hasn't worked until now so the inlet camshaft has essentially been in the "fully retarded" position. Well, I have to say, I was surprised at how much difference it makes. It punches really hard in the mad-range now, which has the effect of absolutely hauling out of tight corners. Turn 3 (Honda) and turn 10 (MG) at Phillip Island are now an absolute grunt fest! It's awesome!! I don't know how much time I spent testing the various parts of the VVT system (VVT solenoid/cam triggering), but in the end it came down to an inappropriate output selection in the ECU. I just had to select the right signal (VVT1 duty) to output from the ECU.

I've had no issues with the ignition since installing the Toyota coils, so that's a good news story too.

The biggest electrical issue that I have is electrical "noise" causing spiky and noisy signals such as TPS and VVT1 position. I've tried shielding the TPS cable and filtering the signal wire, but it had virtually no effect. I think I may have a grounding issue. More research and investigation required. Noisy TPS signal messes with how it runs, because every time it spikes by say 20% for an instant the ECU throws in more fuel. It's not preventing me from racing, but it needs to be resolved.

I also managed to pull 20kg out of the car. I'll post pics and the story another day, but first, another good story...

The Vic team took the victory in the VIC vs NSW annual face-off held at Winton in March, and I was there to share the victory!! I didn't take any points for the team, but hey, I was there. Thanks team!!!

I'll close out this post with a question that has been haunting me for the past 3 months or so.... What sort of camshafts should I install into this engine?! I've looked at lots of different profiles and chatted with a few people to get their perspectives. Here are some dot points to guide your feedback:

* I don't want a "peaky" race engine that needs to be above 6000rpm to be making power.
* I want to stick to a 7500rpm rev limit, and I'd like to be shifting by 7200rpm.
* The head has been worked to flooooooow. I have installed 1mm over-sized valves on the intake and exhaust, and the head has been ported by a pro. In other words, it's ready for "bigger" cams to really get it breathing.
* I want this build to last, hence the low-ish rev limit. I know that more revs = more flow = more horsepower, but I'd rather have an engine that lasts.

What do you recommend? If you've got "big cams" please tell me your story.

Lastly, a couple of pics, because who doesn't love pics!!