[SMEDEN(=the blacksmith)]

Great work, I admire your skills and persistence!

 

[tamathumper]

I want you on my team when the zombies come. I'll bring the ammo.

 

[yoeddynz]

Thanks fellas. I'm working hard on the inlet plenum which is a bit tricky because of my design but you'll like it when I do an update

 

[NevsMate]

There are a number of similar designs used to convert thye Goldwing Flat Fours to single carbs....

 

[yoeddynz]

There are a number of similar designs used to convert thye Goldwing Flat Fours to single carbs....

Oh hey- thanks for sharing the pics. I'd somehow missed this post.

I'm well into my inlet build. Here's an update coming...

 

[yoeddynz]

Ok so I'm going split this next update up into a couple of posts spread apart because there's just too much to put up.

First off - the project and general life stuff was sort of put on hold for a while because sadly my Dad died about 3 weeks ago. I've been a bit over the place dealing with stuff and family things. I have not said anything about it except to a few friends but I wanted to mention it here now, not because I'm looking for sympathy but just to say what a cool old fella Dad was and in his memory I could pop up a few things I have learned over time more recently about the engineering history that's in my blood. Some of it is pretty neat I reckon and I thought I'd pop it up here.

My great grandfather, Alex Davidson and my grandfather, James Davidson, both worked at Argyll works in Scotland. Dad had written a letter to the NZ vintage car magazine, Beaded wheels, a few years ago about this along with some letters from Alex about his time at Argyll. I won't post it all up but here's the letter from my dad.



My great uncle Alexander Davidson was also an apprentice at Argyll but left after qualifying in his trade to join the Royal airforce. He went on to become Air vice marshell, served in both wars and eventually became director general of organisation. This was a pretty cool thing to find out. I have done some digging and found out more about him here..

A P Davidson_P

So in the last 2 months, going back and forth to see dad, finding out a few more bits of info about his past and dealing with his eventual downturn in health I have to say that other things like work, social outings, this project etc have been last on my mind. But I'm back into it. I had always wished that Dad might have got to go for a drive in the imp with the flat six but that just wasn't to be. Such is life. But at least he knew I was doing the project and he had knew full well that one of his sons was following in the Davidson footsteps of being a total engineer/petrol head

Dad was a good dude. I miss him and its a case of the the often heard thing - I wish I had spent more time with him and gained more insight into his past.

He was also very athletic. Must be where I got it from..

Its also neat that I have fallen for a wee Scottish car after all those years (although Dads last cars, and those of his Brother Jim who was a motor engineer, have mainly been Datsuns - but hey, there's a connection there too)

Here's dad in the last imp outing he had..



Yeah. So that happened. Back into it now, along with catching up on a huge list of (very patient) customers jobs.

Now where was I ?

Inlet stuff. I had some nice runners set up with some injectors. They looked like this when on the engine..





Now a while ago the very kind Chris @chris r sent me this package of delights. I'd only asked for an old Honda throttle body but look what I got...



Wow. The random framed cat picture was really the icing on the cake! As for the super charger pulley, well I'm not sure what he might have been hinting at there. Anyway- now I had a 55mm throttle body that was just a bit more in butterfly surface area than the original twin honda items and was pretty compact. It would possibly sit about here, where I had roughly planned (because I was sort of making this up as I went along, with a few sketches that you might get to see later)...



inlet pointing this way? maybe? not sure...



Now I had to start building the inlet runners towards the centre and make some flanges to join to a plenum. I welded some bits of 3mm alloy plate cut roughly to size.





On the inside too. Awkward getting in there at the right angle. Guess where I touched the tungsten..



Now this plate was some random plate we got from a friend who imports all sorts of engineering stuff and timber, old caravan bases etc from Germany. Much of it comes from scrap a scrap metal dealer there because its amazing what they scrap there that is still of good value here. I have used some of it for a few jobs here and there but shouldn't really have used it on this because its a very very hard alloy and it cracks quite easily. I welded the bits in and even though I had pre-heated the inlets to reduce localised stress one of the weld zones still cracked. Suspect the wrong filler used too. Mostly I weld 5000 series and use appropriate rods but this is probably 7000. Silly me. You'll see that this created a bit of extra work later on for me.

Anyway- I sorted the crack out and continued on. Cut the bit down..



Milled it square in the jig I still had left set up on the mill so everything with the inlet runners/plenum build that has to be will be square and parallel..



then I cut some flanges out (6mm thick normal, not poncy, alloy)



Drilled them in pairs, spot facing and tapping bits as I went..



I'd bought a load of shiny stainless dome head socket screws and it was playtime assembling things at the bench..



Nice place to be for me at this time. Focus on something and enjoy the ambience. Fire going, music playing and many cups of coffee etc...

 

[yoeddynz]

So now I had some flanges that matched I welded one half of each onto the runners...



Great!!! I'm getting somewhere. Bolted the runners up and had a look.



Oh curse word!!!! What have I done here? Some things not right. I'd gone and forgotten that the runners are offset to each other by about 15mm or thereabouts. I could try and work around it when I make the plenum but it'll just get messy and not look right. So I had to cut some little bits of alloy up...



welded them in place..





...and accepted the fact that the bolts are not symmetrical at each end any more. But they are still pretty shiny s/s bolts so there.

Then I cut some alloy up in the table saw and milled them out like this...



The reason why will become known next time I post.

So that throttle body. Well it turns out that facing it sideways wasn't the neatest way I do it. I was going to have to use a very tight alloy bend to make it work and the TB would have sat at a really awkward angle in two planes. Also, a big also... the engine would not have been symmetrical !

I sussed out a neater way to place it that will also allow for a nicer path of flexible pipe to feed it from the remote filter. Now I had a plan I could make more things. I cut a out a bit of that aforementioned 3mm plate and made a rectangular hole in it, a bit larger in surface area than the 55mm TB. I then cut some lobster sections from some 60mm tube and pieced together a transitional bit of tubework that would connect the round hole to the rectangle hole from underneath. This is to allow the runners to draw their required air from the centre, evenly like with no favouritism.

Well it works like this in my brain so I'm running with it.







I put the 4 jaw chuck onto the lathe and I threw a chunky bit of 8mm plate into it. Drilled a big hole and bored it out to suit the TB..



Drilled and tapped some holes and cut it closer to the shape of the TB flange. It will eventually be welded onto the pipe..



Then I had a sleepless night thinking about that 3mm plate. Will it crack down the line?.. as yet, until the engine is run up to temp over a few cycles I won't no how much it might expand and will there be enough heat soak and flexibility with what I am building to allow for expansion. Phew ! Yep - some thinking gets done about this as I try to sleep.

It played on my mind. So in order to sleep easier I bought some bog standard softer 3mm plate and this happened..



Cleaned up and re-welded onto the new bit of plate..





And that is about where I am up to with the inlet so far. I'm pretty happy with the progress given some mistakes etc.

In other Imp news.. I finally got my new screen in place! Its been 5 months since I last drove the car, which was when a stone had decided to leave someone's tyre and make a bid for my cars interior. 5 months is the longest I've not driven the car since getting it on the road. But hey, it was safely stashed away in a very dry garage over a wet winter and I've had plenty of other things to do.

Screen fitted , a quick test drive to the beach. Its so fun to drive. I'd forgotten how nice it was.



Time for a warrant of fitness test. But I first had to sort out a number plate light. One that was hidden away and reliable. I made use of a couple of neat little sealed leds, 10mm in diameter, and placed them in some alloy. This was bolted to a stainless mount that I glued to the inside of the fibreglass engine cover. I ran the wires up the edge of the lid to hide them as best I could. Pics..







Finished the wiring yesterday morning in the comfort of the new garage. Very handy..



Took it for a wof and its now legal again

Hopefully back soon with more updates.

Alex.

 

[Nitrowing]

The quality of your work makes me look like I'm not qualified to dig up potatoes

 

[OnaWingAndaPrayer]

You Sir,are a man of many talents. And perform them all well ! I am thrilled watching the progress of the Imp.
My condolences on the passing of your father. I am sure he instilled a great bit of your passion .
i expect he was quite proud of you and the profession you have chosen.
Thank you for sharing a bit of the family history. it is interesting.

 

[yoeddynz]

Thank you for your very kind words Mike. I'm glad my project is entertaining you. Lets just all cross our fingers it works out ok in the end but what ever happens at least the process to get there is fun.

 

[yoeddynz]

I've finally finished the inlet plenum (although I want to add some paint/tidy some bits) and I'm pretty stoked with it.
The end result is a bit of fun. Just mucking about after I had some ideas pop into my head and wouldn't leave. I had to do it.

So where I left off last time I had made the base of the plenum which I continued on piecing together, changing some ideas and sussing out construction issues as I went along while keeping the design close to some original drawings that I'd done while visiting my parents.

Building the box...





made some stainless trims to smooth flow out of the rectangular hole feeding the plenum and also hide interior welds...



Tubey bit sticks up facing towards the front of the car...



Boxy bits getting tacked together. Welded on the inside too. Enough tacks and welds that it would hold fast and not 'pull' when the outside welds were added



Tacked together bits getting welded on the outside...



Stumpy elephant trunk... (it could be described worse)



Back to milling bits of alloy...



Making these bits..



Which were then very, very carefully bent to suit the curved lid of the plenum...



Drilled and tapped to suit the plenum body...



Lid fits nicely onto the body, sealed with high density foam and held in place with dome headed socket screws.

Then the throttle body flange needed welding on. I took my time so nothing warped but luckily it was pretty thick ally anyway. Tacks then welding. Added another layer so I could file it down flat and have a good sealing area. In pics..







Next thing to make was a little curved bit of alloy that would surround a bit of acrylic. I started with some small section alloy capping and milled it down..



It had to be bent in 2 planes. Out with the shrinker stretcher which luckily did almost all of what I needed, the rest being finished in a vice with hammers and pliers.



Turned out like this...

 

[yoeddynz]

I got some 5mm acrylic and cut it to the right size. I made a form from two bits of alloy, shaped to the same curvature as the lid. Out with the heat gun...



Setting the forms and squeezing together...



Checking the curves formed are correct ..



Pretty good matches the alloy rim...



Drilled some holes in the alloy and through the acrylic (carefully.....! )



Around the same time as I was playing with bits of plastic some leds with a controller that I'd bought online turned up. I chopped them up and reconfigured bits to suit the underside of the lid. Tiny little solder pads on these. I checked they worked...



A hole was cut in the plenum lid to suit the acrylic and alloy rim, which was then bolted in place with little socket head screws, again sealed with foam.

Neat.

Now I could look inside.

Then I stuck those led lights to the underside of the lid.

This was all needed because these little treats turned up a while back after I first had the ideas pop into my head. (thanks Ali express)...



Lego fun..



The detail...



I glued the Mandos so they'd never come apart.



They got screwed and glued onto a little section of alloy. They were then bolted into their new forever spaceship home complete with some signage ...





Zooming out from the front of the spaceship/engine...





Plenum sits nice and low...



I took a little video. I couldn't resist...

Fun is over. I now have to crack on with boring water pipes and exhaust manifold building (I must order some stainless bends!!!!)

But yeah- I'm pretty happy with what I have just made. A bit of silly fun I know but hey- I'm not a very serious person

I'll really enjoy seeing the response the 'Mandalorian spaceship' gets from the more serious type of enthusiasts at car shows in the future. I hope it works out for me and this is a thing that happens.

 

[DaveO430]

That's awesome.

 

[Rednaxs60]

Great work. Workshop jealousy here. Have you started to think of the EFI system?

 

[AZgl1800]

that is just so totally awesome, you do better work than Honda did when they created our great toys.

 

[yoeddynz]

Have you started to think of the EFI system?

Yeah - those fuel rails I've made will house Nissan Micra injectors, fed by either an in tank micra pump or an external bosch or similar external with a surge tank. I've got a Megasquirt 3 ECU which will run it all. I'll be making a 36-1 trigger wheel mounted where the standard 6 point wheel sits and use either a goldwing sensor or similar. A separate trigger wheel on one of the cam pulleys with a sensor so I can run the injection as fully sequential for the best smooth idle and low speed running.

 

[Rednaxs60]

Excellent. Your project makes my 1985 Gold Wing Limited Edition CFI ECU replacement with a Speeduino ECU look like a tea party. Cheers

 

[yoeddynz]

Oh neat- I like speeduino. I have most of a kit together but mines an early one that doesn't have the ability to do six on fully sequential (which isn't the be all and end all but this time round I want to have it that way - I had done batch injection on my 1968 Vauxhall Viva with a mazda V6 - an Epic Envoy to you Canadians)

 

[Rednaxs60]

Speeduino is quite good. I want to do as close to a straight swap of the OEM ECU as possible with minimal change to the existing system. Looked at the Mega/Micro Squirt family but the Speeduino really caught my attention.

No O2 sensor back then - have a 14point7 Spartan 3/Lite with an LSU ADV sensor coming with the exhaust boss, low-Z injectors -still good but the resistor pack can be an issue. Dual cam sensors, unheard of nowadays and not too many know about these. Looked quickly in the Speeduino forum and apparently there are some 6 cylinder sequential fuel conversions using Speeduino. May be a good read. Be a good addition to your project. Cheers. Following.

 

[yoeddynz]

On the latest speeduino boards you can now do 6 or 8 on fully sequential. But they are are more expensive setups, using the teensy 3.5 board and not so diy. I had kept asking josh if they could pursue a cheap diy option but the drop bear setup was coming out and he was busy with that. I think there's potential diy ways with the older units like using two boards etc but it would be very messy.

Anyway- I managed to pick up a megasquirt 3 for quite cheap , plus I already had a loom to suit and some relay boards etc. I've built and ran megasquirt 2 on my previous car and it works really well. I plan on using the speeduino for something else in the future

I'm keen on the spartan 14point7 setup as I had no end of issues with my previous innovate which doesnt have a proper heater control- the o2 sensor had short lifespans.