Any questions you have before you begin buying, building and installing.
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By RTM
#40781
Hello everyone,
I am a college student in my junior year of aerospace engineering. I have a huge passion for cars and racing and so joined my university's Formula SAE program. I have a lot of automotive design and manufacturing experience and from FSAE is where I learned about Speeduino (some teams use them on their cars; hopefully we will too). Admittedly, engine tuning and electronics are my shortfalls (I lead aero design) and so have some questions about a project I will be undertaking.

I have a 1984 Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE (the one with the 13b in it) and have had grandiose plans to race it for a while now. Recently, the engine electronics went on the fritz. I sourced it to the igniters and, as the Mazda units are ~$400, I modified it to work with GM HEI units. That worked for about two days then those blew. Now, engine modification wasn't high on the top of my list at first (it was the suspension and a roll cage), but since the electronics are already shot, I might as well upgrade them to what I want rather than source older, more expensive OEM parts.

My idea is to strip the engine bay down to its bare essentials which means I will be removing the air pump, power steering box, A/C, cold start assist, oil metering pump, BAC, and all the other little emissions bits. As well, I'll be removing the stock intake/throttle setup and replacing it with a custom ITB setup.

Anyways here's my list of parts along with any questions associated with them:
-UA4C for Speeduino Seawolf Sea Fox
---This is the one from WTMTronics. If I order this with the soldering service, what other assembly is required? Will the ECU work (obviously I need the ARDUINO)?
-Mega 2560
---Are there any Teensy adapters made for the UA4C?
-Slim Hammond Case
-Bluetooth Module
-IAT and CLT
-SLC Free 2
---I've seen some posts about an onboard wideband controller; did anything ever come of that?
-Crank Trigger wheel 36-1 from DIY Autotune and Hall Effect sensor
---Will any hall effect work or only certain cars/OEMs? If so, which?
-Toyota Yaris Coil Packs
---I would like to do coil on plug and it seems these are the shortest, most accessible smart coils around. Will this work with Speeduino?
-Tuner Studio MS Ultra

There's a lot that goes into the ITB's themselves and I am still working through that design but as part of it, I would like to the 5th/6th port of the 13b to open using electronic control. These don't have to be a full-throttle by wire setup, more just open/closed with maybe some variation so would it be possible to run them using the VVT settings built into Speeduino?

Finally, is anything glaringly obvious missing from my parts list?

Thanks a bunch to everyone!
By yingste
#40791
I can at the least speak for the UA4C from WTMtronics. Works as is out of the box unless you need a signal conditioner like I did. SInce you are using a hall trigger sensor that will not be an issue. If you are lazy like I was you can get a premade set of connectors and wires from speedyefi (https://speedyefi.com/product/fishdog-a ... d-harness/). I found this very nice since their loom has the connectors premade with a different color wire for every pin in either 8ft or 2ft lengths. I would also recommend using shielded cable for your trigger sensor. You might want to look at the UA4C endplate and map kit from WTMtronics (https://wtmtronics.com/product/slim-ham ... endplates/) (https://wtmtronics.com/product/map-line-kit/). If you buy the bluetooth adapter from wtmtronics in the same order as the UA4c I believe they will solder it on for you as long as you specify. Personally I would recommend a spartan 2 over the slc free but my experience was probably a fluke. Speeduino will not control any drive by wire or electronic throttle body so you will need a seperate controller and have the throttle position fed back into speeduino if I am not mistaken.
User avatar
By RTM
#40827
Thanks for the quick reply! I’ll be ordering the EMS in the next week then, I just wanted to make sure it was everything I needed. Also, yeah I’ll definitely grab the endplates as well, thanks for the suggestion.

What was your problem with the SLC Free? I’m also considering the Spartan so I might just buy that to be safe.

And for the 5/6 port throttle, I’m not trying to do drive by wire there, just have it actuated using the VVT controller in the Speeduino. Maybe it’s something I’ll have to experiment with using a solenoid or servo, no idea if anyone has tried it. For background, on the 13b engine, those ports are actuated by exhaust back pressure and open up around 3500rpm and sort of act like VVT on the rotary. Maybe I’m misunderstanding the capabilities of the board however.
By yingste
#40832
RTM wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 5:42 am Thanks for the quick reply! I’ll be ordering the EMS in the next week then, I just wanted to make sure it was everything I needed. Also, yeah I’ll definitely grab the endplates as well, thanks for the suggestion.

What was your problem with the SLC Free? I’m also considering the Spartan so I might just buy that to be safe.

And for the 5/6 port throttle, I’m not trying to do drive by wire there, just have it actuated using the VVT controller in the Speeduino. Maybe it’s something I’ll have to experiment with using a solenoid or servo, no idea if anyone has tried it. For background, on the 13b engine, those ports are actuated by exhaust back pressure and open up around 3500rpm and sort of act like VVT on the rotary. Maybe I’m misunderstanding the capabilities of the board however.
Just to reiterate my issue with the slc was a fluke, I imagine my unit was a rare occurrence. On arrival my unit was dead, after hooking it all up to test before I installed it in my car I saw that the screen would light up but would never display anything. I also noticed that it never went into a heatup cycle or output a signal on the wideband out. From what it sounds like VVT should be able to work for you. It can output both PWM or just on/off. Unfortunately I can't comment about it more than that. So do you have an electric idle valve or are you going to set a idle screw on your TB?
User avatar
By PSIG
#40845
Sounds like a great project! 8-) Only suggestion, but after helping thousands of new tuners and projects, I would suggest trying Speeduino on the current setup to gain easy experience. ITBs pose some unique challenges, even to experienced tuners. Gaining easy experience after first setup on what you've got will make the transition to ITBs much simpler and quicker while adding some baseline data. Do as you like, but suggesting from what I've seen many times, and the quickest and fun path to success is one of our goals. ;) Do your thing!

David
User avatar
By RTM
#40847
From what it sounds like VVT should be able to work for you. It can output both PWM or just on/off. Unfortunately I can't comment about it more than that. So do you have an electric idle valve or are you going to set a idle screw on your TB?
I didn't realize the VVT can output PWM; that could make for some really interesting stuff! Also, I'm not sure yet, but I plan on using an electric IAC. I don't have one sourced, any suggestions?
Sounds like a great project! 8-) Only suggestion, but after helping thousands of new tuners and projects, I would suggest trying Speeduino on the current setup to gain easy experience. ITBs pose some unique challenges, even to experienced tuners. Gaining easy experience after first setup on what you've got will make the transition to ITBs much simpler and quicker while adding some baseline data. Do as you like, but suggesting from what I've seen many times, and the quickest and fun path to success is one of our goals. ;) Do your thing!

David
Thanks! The thing is my first car and my plan has always been to keep it and slowly convert it into something I can race. Kind of a romantic story, I think :mrgreen: Anyways, I started thinking about what you suggested and that's likely how I will go about this. I'll probably do some slight modifications to the stock airbox, electronic Idle and possibly the electronic 5/6 port, but I don't want to overshoot my capabilities and end up messing up and having to start over.
User avatar
By RTM
#40918
Thanks for the help guys!

I bought the stuff I had listed in my initial post along with the endplates and MAP line kit as suggest by yingste, a delete kit made by LRB speed (just getting rid of the auxilliaries/emissions I don't/won't use anyways), a new exhaust manifold (if you know anything about the thermal reactor found on the stock car you'll understand), and I switched the coils from those found in the Yaris to those found in the MR2 spyder and other Toyota 1.8 engines. I found they had more published data and far more aftermarket support for if/when I decide to upgrade them to something a little nicer.

My plan is to do like PSIG suggests and keep everything stock (or in this case, as stock as possible and simplifying where I can) so that I don't have to worry about the headache of my own design causing problems. For now, I'll likely leave the 5/6 ports exhaust driven and play around with the VVT idea once it's up and running. I'm starting to think I'll need to pick up an electric fan for my radiator and due to the constraints of the current rotary code I'll likely have to retain my trailing coil stock and just run the leading coils as COP, but I guess I'll figure that out once I get there. My parts will probably arrive around March and surely I'll have questions then, so I'll probably be posting a new thread here or in the user projects section at that time.

Again, thanks so much for the support!!

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