Install tailpipes
Install Megasquirt

Sure wish my list was that short

Okay, so it's not really that short, but that's all I need to do before driving it, mostly.

Of course, installing Megasquirt involves 2 days of reading up on MSEFI and other sites to figure out exactly what I need and what I want, plus ripping open the computer to perform the mods, ripping open the harness to perform more mods, ripping open the tachometer to perform MORE mods, and then spending 2 weeks and $300 in gas tuning the thing.

And I'm crossing my fingers that this heap stays together this time...

It was a productive weekend!

me as well, even though i wont be able to raz you if it's running, i would rather see it running than not

and way to spell the title correct!

ciao

Update to tha list:

Um, I'm happy.

Drove the car for the first time on Friday, to the car wash. Brought it home, did the windows and dash, and futzed with some MS settings. Headed over to Dale's to pick him up, do some tuning, and then head to Race City. The laptop took that moment to decide that it didn't like the water that my drippy sunroof fed it, and locked up. Luckily, Dale had another identical $50 laptop laying around, so we loaded Megatune up and headed straight to Race City. Ran alright.

Today I went for an hour long drive, letting Megatune's Autotune do it's thing. Concentrated on 1-3000 RPM, 20-80 kPa mostly, 'cause that's mostly where I drive. By the time I got back from the back roads, Autotune wasn't doing any more updating, so I started playing with the acceleration functions and idle.

With that 100 kilometers of tuning I did yesterday and today, this thing drives better on MSII than it ever dreamed of with MS1. Holy crap... I'm not talking about outright power, 'cause I haven't played with it like that yet, but where it used to be all jerky and snappy, it's now smooth and refined. First gear used to be only for acceleration, and second gear was kinda like that too - if I tried to cruise slowly in either of those gears, it would jerk and buck and get into this horrible rythym that tried to twist the driveshaft out of the car, but now I can creep along in 1st gear at 1500-2000 RPM (NEVER, EVER could have done that before) and it's like a Caddy.

I did open the throttle once or twice, and so far so good. Makes lots of power, lots of purdy sounds, and so far the oil pressure is holding fast. Will see what's waiting for me in the oil, though - hopefully nothing.

The True-Trac is a beautiful thing. You'd never know it's there until you stomp on it, and then instead of the right tire fire you get traction and/or a smooth slide. It's just like an open diff normally, but with one wheel on gravel and one on pavement, it'll spin 'em both.

The R brakes, stainless lines, and Hawk pads are quite nice. Haven't broken them in yet, and there's a slight pull to starboard sometimes, but they're high, firm, and very easy to modulate. I did get some wingnut drifting from lane to lane and I had to hit the brakes... WHAMMO, and that's something I'll have to get used to!

Possibly the biggest surprise is that the big wheels & tires... well, I can't quite believe it myself, but they really don't care if the road is rutted or not. It just goes straight, no pulling or tugging or wandering at all. Just about every tire I had on Virgos on that car would make it twitchy and jumpy and two hands were needed on the wheel at all times, but these are silky smooth!

A couple of things to work out still, though - a squeak when going around bumpy right hand corners, I still have to fix that steering rack, and I have to hook up the oil cooler and make a duct for it, plus a pair of chassis braces, but it's rolling. Cross your fingers, and it might just keep rolling for a while!

Awesome Matt
Very glad to hear the good news.
I am hoping that I will have mine on a test drive tomorrow

why does that not suprise me?



good to hear it runs smooth! very nice to hear!



ok i am sold...screw the speedo...



to me this isn't a suprise, like when we were talking about those virgos at Andy's...if you have a wheel running tires not meant for it...it's going to change the characteristics, more than someone would think, plus a better tire/better wheel (more straight i would hope, as well as wider) changes things as well, for the better

i mean virgos were meant to have what 195/60R15's? maybe even a 195/65R15 series...i cant really explain it too well...but from what i see at work, we notice these things, i mean my bertone wheels don't run as bad as your virgos did, but when i get the 17's with 225/45R17 rubber on them, i think the "shakes" the car sometimes gets will disappear





ciao

My big tires are causing concern?

Vik,

I think it's more the tires than the tire/rim combo. Sure, you can have a bad combination and it'll mess things up. Matt had 205 tires on a rim that originally had 195 tires on it. That's 10mm difference. I really don't think that will make a difference. I'd be willing to bet if you put a set of 195 Kumho 712's on Virgos you'd have a car that's every bit as squirrely. I think it's to do with the tire construction. The 712's are very stiff on the sidewall and had that extra rim protector rubber that increases even more. That will make them less forgiving in lateral ridges and they climb all over the place...

I'm about to put mine back on...

I noticed the 225/45/15s on tonyas car made the front end rather twitchy, but having 195/50/15s on the front and 215/60/15s on the rear of the volvo worked just flawless

I really think it's the proportion of rim width to tire width. The Virgo is a 6" wide rim, which is decent with a softer tire like OEM 1980's tech Pirelli P6, but when the wider, shorter, and much stiffer 712 goes on there, the rim is way too narrow and lets the tire walk all over the place.

The Dunlops I've got aren't any softer than the Kumho, and they're both wider AND shorter sidewalls, but on a 7.5" rim they behave like a good tire should. I'll bet a Kumho 712 in a 215/45x17 would be just about as good as my Dunlops are.

there you go Dupuis, explained exactly what i was thinking, i just couldnt word it



ciao

Update: Don't overpack your wheel bearings and then not install the grease sling guards. Your brakes get covered in grease, compromising left/right balance. All fixed now, I think. Brakleen by the jug FTW.

good tip!!!

ciao

Yes, when repacking wheel bearings only pack the bearings, DO NOT pack the hub with grease, keep the hub clean. If you over grease not even seals will keep the grease in.

Have fun cleaning the parts Matt