Beef's scratch built ditchmeister

[B33fy]

Good day today, header tank connected, main earth cables done, all fuel lines fitted, along with a few other bits and pieces tidied up.

[B33fy]

More wiring completed over the past two days, just need to connect all the loose ends now and turn the key.. Easier said than done, lol.. Hoping for an attempt at starting late tomorrow or Monday.

[B33fy]

Did I mention the daily driver is finally being delivered on 1st April... Yeh yeh I know... I'm assured I won't be a fool.. Lol

Edited 26 March, 2016 by B33fy

[B33fy]

A few images from today, bulkhead fittings all done except for a couple of latching relays, when they arrive.. fuse box was made up off the car and fitted, looks neat on the engine side, not so good in the cabin..all the work is pretty much in the car with the wiring, quite a laborious process, but I'll keep chipping away at it.

 

 

 

 

[B33fy]

More wiring done and got a few noises out of the car today, bangs pops and generally rough running for a few seconds before it conked out, ran out of time to sort out the issues, timing is out and it probably also flooded. Had to leave it to another day.

[B33fy]

MB just called, new car will be with me between 0700 and 0800, it's being trailered overnight from a Newcastle Dealership. Did them a favour and gave my Dartford base as the delivery address to save traipsing round Kent and give the delivery driver half a chance to get back up north at a decent hour.

Edited 31 March, 2016 by B33fy

[B33fy]

Finally got the car, nice thing, well specced lovely interior, comfy etc, could do with a bodykit and fuel consumption not brilliant though that was expected.. On iPad so can't post an image, though link to a photo from this evening below..

https://flic.kr/p/FQAqyC

[Wile7]

Just read this thread from start to finish - fantastic and inspiring stuff Beefy - well played sir.

The fact that you threw in a bathroom refit, central heating upgrade, another car build, rose-jointed rat-look soap box special, your sons A-Level DT project plays a Maters degree tells me that they are not pushing you hard enough at work mate

Seriously though, great thread...kept it coming. Nice Merc too....

Dave

PS As someone who teachers A-Level and IB Diploma Design (and Technology) it's good to see a project actually being manufactured with proper materials and processes and tested in the real world. None of this 'push a button and 3D print it' mentality. Played sir (and well done to your son James for doing a great job on it...).

Edited 2 April, 2016 by Wile7

[B33fy]

Very kind words thank you Dave, I haven't got a social life lol

[skomaz]

Looks like it's coming on nicely... Keep on with the updates they make for great reading

[B33fy]

Thanks Skomaz, not much in the way of drastic changes, wiring continues with a late one last night which made up a little for the weekend, when I struggled to get anything done for one reason or another.. 4 days off from Friday so hoping to have finished the wiring and have the engine running smoothly..

[B33fy]

Viento is running better, ticking over though missing quite badly when cold, getting better as it warms up. Still needs more tinkering to sort but getting there. The oil filter let go today though, and spilled oil everywhere, luckily it was spotted quickly before any damage was done. Looks like the pressure feline for valve in the cannister failed, the casing distorted and then oil gushed out around the seal. Unbranded filter so a Fiam filter now fitted and all seems good to go... One to keep an eye on..

[B33fy]

Some serious progress made this weekend and today.. all wiring is completed and dash is back in situ for now, pending final fitting.

Engine has been a bit of a bitch to get running properly and we've slowly chipped away at it, except today....

Usual pattern, if you can call it that, is a cold start on a few cylinders running pretty roughly with quite a bit of overfueling.. eventually clearing to some degree as the engine warms up though not running as smoothly as I anticipated. On a few occasions the engine starts missing and backfiring then conks out. An attempted restart has resulted in the engine not quite catching, backfiring, or absolutely nothing,, just churning over.

Today with the tacho working straight from the coil, it was very erratic, swapped the ECU out, no change.. (well you never know, some fooker drilled a hole in the old one.. :lol:) Me thinks got to be an electrical issue rather than fuelling. Started looking around the coil connections and the connections to the ignition amplifier again.. (I had repositioned them from original spec) thinking, is it earthed? as Jay pipes up "that needs an earth.." Light bulb moment, Jump leads got, temporary earthing done, sweet as a nut. Jobs a good'un.. It will need an earthing strap done as a permanent fix. All makes sense now, with all the random ****e that was happening.. lol

The real acid test is a cold start at some point, though I'm very optimistic

A few niggles with the wiring as I'm trying to get the LED headlight/drl/indicator units to work as Indicators and Hazards, (long story) getting a bit of feedback through a relay that's required, so some diodes may be in order.

I've also sorted out the potential V8 fuel consumption issues and wired the fuel gauge so it stays on full.

Overall a good 4 days spent with serious progress as mentioned. Oh and it does sound rather good, you can't beat a V8

I feel like I've seriously turned a corner now so well pleased. Cheers Guys and Kelly at Snodhurst for keeping me sane..

In other News, got 61.4mpg out of the MB today driving like a nun... (half hour commute, 30mph average speed). Image of the inside below, which is a pretty nice place to be....

Edited 11 April, 2016 by B33fy

[Lady Elanore]

Have you got a separate thread running for the MB ??

[B33fy]

Have you got a separate thread running for the MB ??

No it's just a daily driver rather than a project, I don't count washing a car or checking fluid levels as project car thread material. Building and blatting is more my thing.

[Lady Elanore]

No it's just a daily driver rather than a project, I don't count washing a car or checking fluid levels as project car thread material. Building and blatting is more my thing.

I was just interested in your thoughts of it and it's hybriddiddy system thingie. Also having owned the previous C350 CDi I wondered how it faired for Handling, performance and economy. Sorry to go OT

[B33fy]

I was just interested in your thoughts of it and it's hybriddiddy system thingie. Also having owned the previous C350 CDi I wondered how it faired for Handling, performance and economy. Sorry to go OT

It's no gti, though adjustable air suspension helps. Performance pretty good, midrange strong with ice/electric working together. Economy it's no Prius, electric range limited. Drive like a nun, over 40 mpg, drive like you stole it 20 something mpg. Class leading cabin great gadgets. Better off with a diseasal for high motorway miles. More of a tax fiddle (BIK) than a truly eco friendly PLEV. Grants offset cost and congestion charge exempt.

[skomaz]

Sounds like some cracking progress again - although the oil filter issue could hae been very messy and set you back a fair bit!

[B33fy]

Sounds like some cracking progress again - although the oil filter issue could hae been very messy and set you back a fair bit!

Looks like it's probably the uprated oil pump pressure relief valve, the "bullet" slides in an alloy casing and it's not unknown for them to stick, needs checking over and any rough machining removing. Though seems ok at present. Rather it let go in the workshop than loose all the oil on the road.

If I get a chance I'll do a quick film clip of the engine running and post up this week now it seems to be behaving itself.

[BossFox]

Sounds like we'll be seeing it on the road in the not too distant future!

Great thread Mike.

Keep up the good work.

[AJ7788]

Just caught up - seriously impressive stuff mate :clap:

[mdk1]

Well done Mike.

[B33fy]

Well done Mike.

Cheers Mike, I owe you a spin out in it, hopefully at the next meet if you are about. Should be a lot more reliable than the storm, with no overheating problems. Looking promising so far, running an electric pump, huge radiator and hovercraft lift fan with an electronic controller. A bit disconcerting looking at the engine with no water pump pulley or indeed a pump, seems to all do its thing well. I,ll drop you a PM if it looks a goer so you can bring your lid along.

[B33fy]

James went to Brands Hatch, I sorted some wiring gremlins out. Using some trick led headlights, with built in drl's and indicators, been a pain to get working legally for the MOT, especially the hazards. Won't bore you with technical details, all sorted now with the use of latching relays and a few diodes. Now just a few relatively straight forward jobs left for the MOT then a full geo setup by a local racing team, we should be good to go.

Big apologies for the lack of images, I always seem to be in a rush especially towards the end of the day, then it's too late... I'll do my best to make an effort this week to grab a few images and a couple of film clips of the engine running, headlight/drl's and the electric water pump arrangement, which is pretty trick (IMO)

James got the camera today, image below of his current favourite race car..

[B33fy]

Christened the MB today during journey from hell.. Got stuck on a level crossing because of a broken down Lorry in the oncoming lane and the traffic forcing their way past. Barriers started coming down, bloke in front wasn't moving nowwhere to go. On the horn in the end hit him in the rear and he eventually managed to move and I just about cleared the barriers which had sensed the car and stopped just short of my roof.

Number plate busted,,, could have been worse..

Edited 18 April, 2016 by B33fy