Saturday, April 21, 2007

it happens in three's -

got me eyes lasered
got the car serviced
got the building warrant for me flat.

I'm gonna lie down now for a wee while

Monday, April 09, 2007

more chargecooler results -

er well the core water temperatures don't alter at idle even though the intake temperatures rocket so I'm confused to what the feck is going on. The results from testing the 185cc seem to be completely different from the 205cc and it's affecting the overall results I feel.

Under boost conditions the core water temps rise and then on throttle lift off the core temp cools down very quickly. This means the core is working taking the heat out of the boosted air AND the pump / rad combo is getting rid of that heated water and replacing it with chilled water.

Doesn't explain the spiralling idle inlet temps while the core coolant stays near ambient temps.

However on a lighter note here's a couple of pics of the 2nd gauge we hooked up today to monitor core coolant temps - the lead wasn't quite long enough but we improvised

looking from the inside of the car the temperature meter gaffa taped to the outside of the back window

looking from the back of the car the temperature meter gaffa taped to the outside of the back window

awesome work on the day I think

funny old world -

ok so been monitoring the air intake temps really really closely and found some weird stuff happening. Under hard boost conditions the intake temps are well down on the std air to air unit which is to be expected.

However at idle the intake temps rocket from high 20degC to very quickly over 50degC! Now a chargecooled lump should be much more stable than that so it got me thinking about the coolant pump I got cheaply. So I borrowed the recommended expensive Bosch unit and impressive though it's flowrate was the temp control at idle was no better.

The kick in the nuts is that when the cc pump is disabled at idle, the temps rise no differently that if the pump was running!!! Beats the hell of me. In an even more mind puzzling (for me) trick by raising the revs from 750rpm to 1200rpm while still in neutral and sat still, the intake temps fall back down to something reasonable. Going to do some checking on the cc coolant temps and see what they are doing cause something aint doing the job that was expected of it :-(

Under hard boost the chargecooler works almost as expected and way better than the std air to air unit. However there is something amiss and solving that will give us better results all round.

On another note, the Mongoose exhaust was fitted. It's a fair bit louder and has a drone at 3-4krpm which isn't ideal. It does sound well hard though so we'll see where it goes from here.

Monday, April 02, 2007

awesome day out -

went for a wee jaunt up to Aviemore Ski Resort. Was a monthly meet through the OC and the weather during the planning of it was a concern. However on the day the weather was just perfect. Ok it was maybe 10degC air temp but the sky was clear, almost no clouds all day and it was soo clear. Blue sky. Just perfect.

Started the day off by jet washing the car as it was manky and had some serious bird doo on it. Then went to get Shell's finest only to discover the garage had run out of the stuff! I mean that's like McDonalds running out of chips! It just aint right. So after a wee detour the car was fully loaded with V-Power and the run began.

A few wee blats on the road from Dunbarton to Tarbet when the road allowed and yes the chargecooler was working but more on that later. The road from Tarbet to Aberdour has turned into a ploughed field. Crap doesn't even come close to it. Anyway, past that and the climb to Crainlarich and I started stretching the legs on the car for the first time since last September I suppose. Yup the old girl could still run darn fast. Woo hoo.

Outside Crainlarich and met up with another club member and we got the t-bars off. Shades already on and off we went. Blasted through Tyndrum and on towards the climb up to Rannoch Moor. Awesome section of road and the roads were dry and grippy and fun was had indeed. I must get the dump valve plumbed back into the airbox as it's quite noisy but not to me as with the t-bars off you don't anything. The car behind however gets the full effect right in their face. As we climbed up towards Glen Coe the views were breathtaking and the sky was blue. Perfect open topped motoring. Some stunning views and look how clear the sky is





Once into Fort William it's just a wee hop to Spean Bridge and then the turn off for Newtonmore and some of the most fantastic roads in Britain. We hurled along that road having a blast, until er my brakes cried enough and started giving me a very long pedal. No matter it was just a stunning road and it's times like this I wish I carried a passenger so they could take some pics. Anyway, into Newtonmore then onwards to Aviemore and up to the Cairngorm carpark for the vehicular ride to the peaks. This was the view as we pulled into the carpark. Awesome or what!


The view that greeted us. Ah bliss


So after taking in the view and having a chat about the drive up, the smell of cooked brakes from my car and the odour of overworked tyres we got hungry and headed for the cafe. A wee photo shoot from the cafe looking down from the peaks, highest cafe in Britain don't you know...


just bliss


Before leaving we had to have a photo shoot of the event and so we acquired with permission a corner of one of the carparks and did this with it.



Alas after this and some chat the leaving began and with a fair drive ahead the car was pointed south. The drive back in the beginning was at a slower pace that the one up but that's because myself and fellow member were looking at our fuel gauges thinking it's gonna be tight. Really really tight. We had to get back to Fort William some 50 miles away where we ( ok I ) could fill up with Super Unleaded so it was touch and go for the last 15 miles. My fuel light was coming on softly but the other car was solid yellow for the last 30miles!! Lesson learned. Fill up in Fort William on the way up AND back lol.

It was late and while I was in no rush to get home the other dude had things planned for that night so he headed home on his own while I dawdled home. I had to stop at the Bridge of Orchy viewpoint and get some shots of the car. After that I sat there on the grass for awhile just taking in the view, drinking my Irn Bru and thinking, what an awesome day with great roads, great weather and great company. God damn what a place I live in and I have the perfect car for it (that I can afford anyway ;-) ).