Well done mate, impressive stuff especially doing it yourself.
Learning so much from your adventures and upgrades, helpfully this box rebuild will be ace and then in the community we know of a good decent gearbox rebuilder
Hope to see it in action sometime soon.
Cheers gents, we’re getting there 
Last week the car got through it’s MOT, not quite plain sailing as I had another emissions hurdle to hop over. Mechanically, as hoped the car passed with flying colours but it was struggling with the fast idle test.
Fast idle test for a UK MOT is a bit odd, as it revs the car to 2.5-3k rpm with no load on it, essentially putting the car under a condition which it would never actually exist under whilst on the road! I also failed this test last year, but could fix it with a quick tweak to the map so I set out to see what had changed since.
After reviewing the logs, I could see that the car had been idling in the MOT garage for an absolute age (don’t they know how much petrol costs!!) and as such the coolant temp was in a range in which the fan was regularly cutting in and out. Weirdly, each time the coolant fan kicked in, it threw my lambda reading out a bit. It’s not clear to me whether this reading is accurate or not, I guess the alternator could have been under more load when the fans kick in, hence putting more load on the engine(?) or maybe my battery was a bit on the weak side which spoiled the sensor reading. Either way, my fan almost never kicks in under normal use and if it does, it’s because the car has been idling for ages. The ECU has idle compensation strategies for the fans/AC kicking in which prevents this condition under a ‘true’ idle, but sitting with the throttle pegged at 2.8k RPM is outside of the idle control parameters so it didn’t apply.
Retesting with the car at normal operating temperatures passed the test, so I’m not going to worry about it too much for now. Alternatives could have been to lower the fan activation threshold (so it was always on for the duration of the test) and tune the fuelling accordingly, or to disable the wideband feedback - if it was a false reading on the sensor, this would have prevented the ECU from chucking fuel at a phantom issue.
On top of all of this, ECUMaster have finally acknowledged some issues with the Bosch wideband controller they have installed in their ECUs and a new software version is due any day now to resolve - so more on that later. Readers of this thread will know that lambda sensors have been somewhat of a consumable since fitting this ECU.
With MOT passed, it was onto seriouslylotus for a geo check.
My rideheight was all over the place from the spring change, so John had to spend some time dialling that back in. Running slightly higher than before, so hoping to be repairing my arch liners less often.
After that the toe just needed a tweak, removing/refitting the wishbones at the back allows for some variance in toe angle so that just needed straightening out. Camber remains at ~ -1.7deg front and ~ -2.7deg rear.
The last thing John did was kindly review my gearbox cooler install, and check for leaks. Seemed pretty good, I lowered the threshold in the ECU for the pump to activate a bit earlier and it was running for much of the drive home without catastrophic oil leaks.
Early signs from the Xtreme clutch are very positive, as a reminder it was a bit of an experiment to see if their sprung/cushioned ceramic puck clutch could really drive “like OE” but handle the power boasted. I can’t judge it’s longevity yet, but so far it really has driven like the original clutch. The only clue that you’ve got something in different is that it makes a sort of light sandpaper noise when you’re slipping it to get moving. This may or may not bed in over time, but it’s not unpleasant even if it hangs around.
The gearbox rattle that motivated the rebuild has gone, but the box is not without noise completely. It’s almost like a fainter version of the straight cut whine you get when reversing at speed. The FD does have a ‘shallower’ helical cut, so it’s probably just that. It’s certainly not an unpleasant “this car is broke” noise as it was previously.
Paul who did the rebuild commented throughout that the tolerances with the Kaaz FD were much, much tighter than the many OE boxes that he’s rebuilt and as such he expected some noise from it so perhaps this is just the way it’ll be now that it’s correctly preloaded. I’m also conscious that my car has had a year of (pretty hard!) mileage on it with a loose preload, so perhaps there’s a wear pattern on the FD that I’m now working against. I think I’ll do some fairly regular fluid swaps this year and just keep an eye on it, see if it beds in at all.
Jury is still out on the stiffer springs that I fitted, it’s pleasant enough to drive on the road in terms of comfort - the odd bang over a manhole cover or whatever is maybe a little harsher than before but the car is no real worse off on a ‘run’ than it was before. Road performance though is almost certainly compromised, much less confident pressing on around a bumpy back road and traction is a little bit limited too unless the road is nice and smooth. I will play around with damper settings to see if I can tune any of this out, I’m running them very soft at the moment but inversely to logical thought it may be worth stiffening them up a bit to control the springs a bit more.
I’ll judge them at Blyton, if the car feels significantly better then I’ll keep them on. If it’s much the same as the previous setup, I’d probably be better off reverting - or maybe going for some springs somewhere in-between the two.
I have the next few evenings to give the car a good clean, then it’s time for Blyton. 
Could this be electrical noise being fed back into the system from the fan? I have seen this before when playing with Renaults.
Possibly, I’m really not sure. When I’m driving I can manually trigger the fans by turning AC on and the lambda reading remains completely steady - so it’s almost as if at the low RPM range/idle conditions that the car was under for a pretty prolonged period that the alternator maybe just struggled to cover the additional load.
I will put some time into investigating at some point, but as it only crops up for a very specific scenario which I’ll encounter just once per year… it’s barely worth a thought atm.
really interested in the EMU S/W info as my car has also killed a couple of the sensors…
It seems like they’ve finally acknowledged failure rates, but also some accuracy/misreading issues too. Obviously nothing serious as there’s not a bunch of blown up EMUBlack cars out there - but enough that they’re working on a new software version, I believe in collaboration with Bosch who supplied the controllers in the first place.
The software update will make some minor improvements to sensor accuracy, but also will fix a bug where lambda readings would spike a lot when crossing over from 0.99 lambda to 1.00 or back again. If you look at a log of a car idling with a target lambda of 1.0 it will be very spiky as it occasionally crosses this threshold. That in itself is not a problem, it’s just a false reading - but depending on how your wideband correction is configured it may result in the ECU getting into an oscillating slippery slope resulting in a wobbly idle.
Then there’s a physical update that’s needed, future generations of the ECU will have it built in but Bosch(?) have recommended that the WBO VS pin on the wideband harness should be supplied with a 5v feed through a 150ohm resistor. I don’t know the details, but this specifically addresses the issue in which a sensor “dies” and reads max lean of 1.99 lambda. From reading between the lines, it seems like some sort of keepalive and it’s rumoured that this change may even bring a “dead” sensor back to life… unfortunately I butchered all mine for light switches 
The software version was released on their “test version” site, but then a few hours later they recommended that we hold off installing it - so I’m patiently waiting for a revision. The wiring/resistor change can be made independently of the software change and is hopefully the silver bullet fix for sensor life. RRR have offered to do mine for me if I’m in their neck of the woods, but I might have a go myself depending on how arsed I can be.
Let me know when the SW update is there, and I will get Back on Track to do the mod for me… Thanks Kyle
[quote=“The Hornet” post_id=249003 time=1648566179 user_id=21255]
Let me know when the SW update is there, and I will get Back on Track to do the mod for me… Thanks Kyle
[/quote]
There’s a new version out, it’s not explicitly listed in the change notes but they’re now recommending that people upgrade to this. http://www.ecumaster.com/testVersions.html
Happy to report that the car survived a day at Blyton last weekend, so be rude not to report in!
Need to go back a week first, after getting the geo sorted by Dave @ SL, I brought the car home for a good wash. I’ve been slacking and struggling for motivation the last few years for polishing cars, but after recently adding a couple of cars to the fleet and giving them a good going over, I thought it rude not to treat the Exige to a bit of elbow grease. It would be a tactical polishing, targeting a few specific areas for correction and then glossing over the rest of it.
I won’t go full Detailing World report on it, but the summary was:
Foam, wash, decontaminate, clay, wash, dry, mask, touch up some stone chips, cutting compound on specific spots (Megs 105 with Koch Chemie heavy cut pad), polishing compound (Megs 205 with Koch Chemie finishing pad) all over and then refreshed a couple of decals and sealed with Sonax NPT.
Whilst I was on the case, I dusted off (literally) some carbon tat that I’ve had sat on the shelf for many months now. I’m really not a carbon tart, but after getting the adjustable/extra width spoiler I kept my eyes out for some bits to match up the aesthetic for a bit. I then got it, decided I didn’t like it and it’s sat getting in the way ever since!
It would be rude not to at least try the bits on, so I offered up and decided they were actually pretty nice - so they’ll stay for now. My previous sidepods/splitter needed a refresh of Halfords’ finest satin black so it saves me a job too.
I did pick up a pre-cut PPF kit for the splitter. The kit itself is fantastic, but I did a slightly less than perfect job applying it. It’ll do for now.
New rear decal, previous was hanging off.
I’m happy with the results I got on the areas which I “spot repaired”, but being honest the whole car could have probably benefitted from a full 2 or 3 stage polish rather than just going over it all with the fine cut/finishing compound. Still it came out great, acceptable for another year of trundling around.
It was then time for Blyton, I returned a hospitality favour for a friend who lives conveniently close to Anglesey and after a night of social shenanigans it was finally trackday morning!
Blyton was RAMMED. The grass was all closed off where the trailers normally end up so the paddock was completely filled with trailers and tow vehicles, meaning we were parked miles away. Oh well, we found a spot and pitched up for the day.
The morning went as you’d expect for an early season Javelin day. Seemed to get red flags as soon as I finished an outlap, and generally didn’t get much mileage at all. It was good shakedown material though, monitoring temps, listening out for bangs and rattles and sniffing for leaks.
In the afternoon things got quieter and quieter (as always at Blyton) and we could get the hammer down a bit. Had some great ‘social’ laps following/being followed by friends and swapping war stories in the pits etc, but still clear laps were hard to come by. Eventually I got a couple in, and I’m happy to say that the car felt pretty quick. Not quite my best around Blyton, but the information gathered told me everything I needed to know and there’s an achievable chunk of time still to be had.
https://youtu.be/oyagoIY07ys
Weather was very cold, but also very sunny with the odd 10min patch of what could only be described as a slushy snowy rain. It was barely enough to wet the track though, so didn’t hamper running. It did feel like the ZZR’s needed work though, didn’t retain temp between sessions and car was a bit bambi on ice for the first couple of laps.
The main objective for the day was to make sure nothing broke, leaked or fell off. I passed 2/3 of those checks, as a wayward centre cap went flying off into the weeds somewhere.
To break down the changes made over winter:
- Gearbox and clutch held up just fine, no weird behaviour and really no niggles at all. I might just have supercharger induced tinnitus but I think the final drive whirring was getting quieter later in the day.
- Gearbox cooler worked as expected, triggered on and off and my gearbox oil temps peaked at 90degrees (only 5 degrees higher than CLT). It was very cold ambient, so can’t really judge this too closely yet - but early signs are good.
- Stiffer springs for the Nitrons were a mixed bag. Jury is still out, but the car felt better in some areas and worse in others. Through the fast Port Froid section they had the desired effect of controlling body roll and as a result my minimum speeds through there were higher than previous years. In the couple of bumpy braking zones though the car felt worse, and as a result I ended up over slowing in a couple of areas and lost some time.
I didn’t touch my damper settings all day which is probably a mistake, but the car felt really balanced and I had no complaints about the way it felt mid corner.
- Smaller pulley and increased power wasn’t something I particularly felt on the day, but reviewing the data afterwards has shown significant gains. 10-15kmh faster at the end of most straights and much more aggressive acceleration. My traction felt worse (blaming the springs) in a couple of spots, but the logs disagreed with that. I was consistently grabbing 5th on the back straight too which wasn’t needed previously.
A snippet from some logging demonstrates some of this.
Red line was a lap taken from a random session last year and the blue line from Saturday. I frigged about with the stored track coordinates over Winter so unfortunately the start line for each trace is actually about 10 yards apart, so you can’t use the graphs to compare braking points, but the peak/minimum values can still be used.
I think on balance I would go back to the softer springs for Blyton but I’m intrigued to see how I get on at a smoother circuit like Dony or Anglesey. The correct answer is probably somewhere in the middle, but I’m not sure how far I want to pursue this - the car was always pretty good before, so maybe need to learn to trust the body language of the car a bit more when it’s pitching and rolling around.
I’ll get the floor off the car in the next day or so and give everything a good once over. I’m contemplating an early gearbox oil change just to get rid of some of the bedding in glitter I’ve probably generated - but MT90 is expensive so I’ll sleep on that idea for now :lol:
Short term plans are to think a bit more about these springs and I have some ECU/Dash fiddling to do - but nothing major. Nothing booked now until June… that very much needs fixing.
The spring report is very interesting and stalking you for your update in the future!
Very enjoyable read for what sounds like a very enjoyable day.
That really is cornering nice and flat. Any introduction of understeer , or conversely oversteer?
No the relative balance of the car was really good, so much so that I didn’t really feel the need to tinker with the damper settings which may have been a mistake in hindsight.
I ran equal damper settings front and rear (15 from hard). Previously on the softer springs I had to run the rears much harder than the fronts to get the car to drive as I wanted.
The relative stiffness in the car changed ever so slightly to be stiffer at the rear with the new springs which may explain how it felt better on “equal” settings, but it’s probably not as simple as that.
Braking was a bit difficult, but post trackday inspection has shown my rear discs to be a bit lipped on the inside face so I don’t think I was getting proper pad contact, perhaps blaming the springs for the braking issues is unfair.
I also struggled for traction where the track is a little bumpier, but I maybe have room in adjustability to help that.
Still really conflicted on these, I wanted them to be either much better or much worse but they’re annoyingly in the middle. This in itself is making me lean towards reverting to the softer ones, because it feels a bit better on the road on those.
Are there any options for between the softer ones and these chiropractor specials?
Good read,once again . . . sounds like a great day out
Yep Nitron have a few options and you could in theory get just about anything made up.
500/700 I think would be perfect.
Following Blyton I put the car back on the ramp to just check things over, good job I did too.
I had a light spattering of gearbox oil on my subframe, and was initially difficult to track down. The airflow from the undertray naca ducts makes it very messy, very fast!
Initially I worried about the driveshaft output seals on the gearbox, because the oil was up near those and everywhere beneath, but after degreasing everything and letting it dry off - the leak soon presented itself again.
It was coming from my M18 to AN-8 adapter in the drain plug, my fault - I think I may have reused a crush washer which had a wear pattern on it different to the new adapter. It was leaking over a few hours even with no heat in the box - so it was a slam dunk.
This pushed me over the edge on a marginal decision to replace the gearbox oil. It’s a lot of money to throw away after just one trackday, but I was debating on treating it like a “running in service” on the rebuilt box, so I could flush out any glitter that may have been generating from meshing the new parts in together.
With some new washers and oil in, the box hasn’t leaked for the last week or so. Happy days, but big test will be once it’s back up to temp a few times and the pump has been running etc.
On a less happy note, whilst under the car I found my fancy new ceramic thermal barrier coating hasn’t lasted…
Very disappointed, but the coaters have been great. They admit it’s a new product/process to them and they completely blasted my exhaust again and started over, under the guidance of the coating manufacturer. They made a couple of tweaks to the process, so hopefully that’s it done now.
Having the exhaust back at the coaters did give me some downtime though, so I decided to revert back to my softer springs. I still think an intermediate 500/700 or so setup would be best for my car but I’m not sure it’s worth the 3-400quid that would cost me… I’d rather put that money towards some better dampers with some more adjustability in the future.
Swapping the springs did of course mean I’ve cocked up the rideheight that seriouslylotus spent time sorting for me, but luckily I took some reference measurements and I’ll dial it back in over the next few days.
Final piece of the Blyton damage is due to arrive today, replacement centre cap 
Hoping to get some road miles on the car now and enjoy it for a bit, getting it all prepped for Blyton was a bit of a rush. Enjoyable but a bit stressful, so hoping for some uneventful mileage now.
Some great progress there and troubleshooting. Glad the fixes were relatively straightforward. I am 100% investing in a lift when I get a double garage.
It is very handy. Even when the car isn’t being worked on, getting it up in the air gets it away from little hands (and bikes!!!).
Having my quarterly internal debate on whether I should put some more effort into a home/DIY geo rig. I’ll never get the repeatability or efficiency of a proper setup like what Dave/other specialists can do - but I’d like to be able to keep checking on my settings through the year so I know when it’s time to go get aligned again.
Might start with some bathroom scales for some Netto corner balancing