Custard’s Tart

[Custardtart]

It’s out!

There was one little bug**r of a screw sticking out from under the timing pulley which was snagged on the front crossmember.

I feel the whole project is back on I’m feeling way more motivated to get it done.

So now I can get on with swapping bits over in the few hours I’ve got tomorrow and Friday.

This way I managed to keep the fuel and aircon libes in one piece.

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That’s the 2.5 wrapped in film and ready to get working on

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This was the angle needed, a leveller is a must

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This the offending screw

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[Snowmotion]

Well done getting it out.

[Red_Bullet]

Does Mrs Tart walk to work now?

[Custardtart]

Well done getting it out.

Thanks, finally there!

Does Mrs Tart walk to work now?

Haha there’s an idea! No, we have a shitbox Astra she’s using but I think her patience is at an end!

[Snowmotion]

Whilst you are doing all these changes, you should have a look at this idea about relocating the ECU for improved cooling.
I made up my own version of this the other week so it will be good to see what sort of difference it makes on my next track day.

https://trackdogracing.com/info/install/NC-SuperCool-Kit.pdf

[ozace]

Great to see progress being made

[Custardtart]

I’m such an amateur! I spent about an hour of my allotted 2 hours cleaning up the garage and tidying up.
Anyway, got the timing of the new motor done and double checked and swapped the 2.0l crank pulley over.
Tomorrow I’ll fit the 2.0l oil pick up and sump and start on the intake modification.
There was some good news, it turns out the clutch from the 2.0l is an Exedy one and has plenty of life left.
Interesting there were no diamond washers in the 2.0l crank pulley bolt.

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[ozace]

nice to see more progress and a little win

[Custardtart]

Whilst you are doing all these changes, you should have a look at this idea about relocating the ECU for improved cooling.
I made up my own version of this the other week so it will be good to see what sort of difference it makes on my next track day.

https://trackdogracing.com/info/install/NC-SuperCool-Kit.pdf

That’s a very thorough write up, thanks for sharing.
Although I’m going to get an ecutek tune initially, I’m leaning towards a stand-alone ecu so I can tune it on a rolling road once the forced induction is fitted.

[greenMachine]

Although I’m going to get an ecutek tune initially, I’m leaning towards a stand-alone ecu so I can tune it on a rolling road once the forced induction is fitted.

You know that replacing the ECU on an NC is whole different ball game to doing the same on an NA/NB? The ECU is integrated much more into the car functions.

I think Haltech have one for the NC, but I don't know of anyone running one off the top of my head. I would be wanting to talk to a user before jumping, if I was thinking about going down that path.

[Custardtart]

Although I’m going to get an ecutek tune initially, I’m leaning towards a stand-alone ecu so I can tune it on a rolling road once the forced induction is fitted.

You know that replacing the ECU on an NC is whole different ball game to doing the same on an NA/NB? The ECU is integrated much more into the car functions.

I think Haltech have one for the NC, but I don't know of anyone running one off the top of my head. I would be wanting to talk to a user before jumping, if I was thinking about going down that path.

Yeah, I’ve been researching it for nearly a year. As well as the complexities I think one of the reasons it’s not common is there’s very few turbo’d NC’s right now and the Supercharged one’s all use ecutek. With the entry price coming down we’re seeing much more NC’s on track so I think we’ll see more stand-alone ecu conversions.
When I first raised questions on some of the US forums I got lots of abuse and no help which I think shows how entrenched the ecutek community are.

[greenMachine]

Mt.net?

There is a build thread for a big budget race NC (Charlie Hayes I think) on MT.net, and I am pretty sure he works for Haltech USA. In a separate thread there was talk about Haltech doing work on the development of an NC pnp in which he contributed. That was some time ago, both threads have gone quiet. My interest is casual, as I don't have an NC and don't plan on getting one, so I may have some of the details muddled, but if this is news to you it would be worth having a look, and maybe even talking to Hayes. I also have a name or two in Haltech here who may be able to assist with info/advice - pm me if you want to follow up.

[Dan]

Yeah, I’ve been researching it for nearly a year. As well as the complexities I think one of the reasons it’s not common is there’s very few turbo’d NC’s right now and the Supercharged one’s all use ecutek. With the entry price coming down we’re seeing much more NC’s on track so I think we’ll see more stand-alone ecu conversions.
When I first raised questions on some of the US forums I got lots of abuse and no help which I think shows how entrenched the ecutek community are.

I think it's less of the community being entrenched and a matter of it not really being necisary to replace the ECU on a modern car when you are running the stock motor or something that can easily be controlled with the stock ECU like the 2.5l swaps.

I came from the Evo community before I got into MX5's and basically everyone just tunes on the standard ECU, this is the same for many other brands as well.

I'm sure some things like boost control would be better on a standalone but I'd speak to a reputable tuner before I even considered going to a standalone and made sure I had a really good reason to do it before I made the jump. A good indicator should be whether the big budget cars are running stock ECU's or not, if most are then I'd probably follow suit and use the money I saved from not going to a standalone paying for an expert to tune my car since trailblazing is expensive!

[Custardtart]

Mt.net?

There is a build thread for a big budget race NC (Charlie Hayes I think) on MT.net, and I am pretty sure he works for Haltech USA. In a separate thread there was talk about Haltech doing work on the development of an NC pnp in which he contributed. That was some time ago, both threads have gone quiet. My interest is casual, as I don't have an NC and don't plan on getting one, so I may have some of the details muddled, but if this is news to you it would be worth having a look, and maybe even talking to Hayes. I also have a name or two in Haltech here who may be able to assist with info/advice - pm me if you want to follow up.

I’ve seen the info on MT.net. Thanks for the offer to assist, much appreciated. Aussie mx5’ers seem much more helpful than the MT crowd

[Custardtart]

One thing I noticed was the PCV cover is identical on the 2.5l to the 2.0. Ive read so much about modifying or using a Ford part I wasn’t expecting it to be the same.

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