FJ Land speed racer

[jscgdunn]

Yes it is pretty confusing.....I was looking into to build my own battery.....I know I saw the shrink wrapped ones like the one in your pic somewhere in China for $49.00...good quality individual cells (A23) are around $10.00 each. There are a few you tube videos on how to build your own.

Here it is:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/13-2v2-2ah-A123-18650-motorcycle-start-battery-12v-new-a123-battery-pack/191553460641?_trksid=p2050601.c100085.m2372&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140211132617%26meid%3Da5bf2c1093cf42bd803613d19476c2eb%26pid%3D100085%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D191553460641%26clkid%3D3852402997816413898&_qi=RTM2247625

[fj1289]

Yes it is pretty confusing.....I was looking into to build my own battery.....I know I saw the shrink wrapped ones like the one in your pic somewhere in China for $49.00...good quality individual cells (A23) are around $10.00 each. There are a few you tube videos on how to build your own.

Here it is:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/13-2v2-2ah-A123-18650-motorcycle-start-battery-12v-new-a123-battery-pack/191553460641?_trksid=p2050601.c100085.m2372&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140211132617%26meid%3Da5bf2c1093cf42bd803613d19476c2eb%26pid%3D100085%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D191553460641%26clkid%3D3852402997816413898&_qi=RTM2247625

Two gotchas on that one: it's only an 8 cell, and it's using the small 18650 mah cells vice the 26650 cells.   The AH rating of that battery is only 2.2 AH -- a 12 cell made with 26650s is 6.9 AH!  It would take three of the $49 batteries to come close to the 12 cell (2665part! -- on eBay can be had for $123.   

Since I know I'll be using this one hard I'm going with the built in BMS on the EarthX.   I've already lost $600 in entry fees due to a bad $100 part - so a little insurance seems smart to me!

[fj1289]

Went to test-n-tune at Bandimere last Wednesday night to do a good shakedown and systems check on the race bike.  Overall, a very good night testing - nothing broken!  I think we've got an ignition timing issue figured out (definately don't want to wipe out any more cylinder heads or worse!) and working thru a shifing issue (seems to be a combination of kill time and shifter linkage).  Uncovered a datalogging issue - that's going to take a bit more work. 

Good to get back out into a race setting again - suprising how out of practice you can get - remembering little things like turning on the bottle for the air shifter (1st run was foot shift only...) or having tools setup for particular tasks.  Even just getting packed to go I felt out of synch.  I'll make a few more trips out to the dragstrip before the Colorado Mile event in September to keep tweaking both me and the bike. 

I didn't set up the bike for the dragstrip since the purpose was tuning and shakedown vice putting down killer passes.  I went with the street tires and rims (Conti Motions on YZF1000 rims) and street gearing 18/42.  That gearing should be good for 150's -- a lot more than I'm expecting to see tonight. 

Plan was for one or two NA (normally aspirated) runs to check all the systems, the basic tune, and the rider.  Then start progressing to nitrous runs - starting with a small shot (25 HP) in 4th gear, then starting in 2nd gear, then up to 50 HP in 4th gear, etc.  No higher than 50 HP on the nitrous for tonight and all "fixed" hits to help keep the tuning simple.  Big concern for tonight was watching the spark plugs and making sure we don't get into detonation trouble again.  I had done a quick test of the 25 HP N2O jets on the street several weeks ago with very conservative settings and showed signs of melting on two of the plug straps again.  I double checked all the settings and everything was in order.  WTF - the whole plan is tanked if I can't get a handle on this nitrous - especially at such a small shot.  With a fairly rich tune (12.5:1 at WOT) and even with no timing pulled you should be able to hit 25 HP worth of nitrous on an engine of this size - even without adding fuel - and not hurt the engine.  So something is definately up - but what?

I spent some time going over all the ignition settings in the EFI software and then double checked the recommended settings for dwell and spark duration for the coils I'm using.  Turns out, in the period of time I began using these coils (Chevrolet LS1 coils) and now it has been discovered that these coils are also subject to the infamous "early spark" issue the LS2 coils are known for.  These coils are "smart" coils in that they each contain a little electronic ignition module inside them and only require a 5 volt signal from the ECU to fire them.  Well, it appears as a self-protection "feature" these coils will fire uncommanded if they are over-dwelled in order to keep from burning up the coils.  Only problem with that is when your previously recommended dwell settings get you into this auto-fire behaviour while running WOT (with or without N2O)... Early spark = detonation.  So I've rolled back the dwell time a bit under the recommended settings for now -- hopefully the coils will still put out a hot enough spark to handle the chore with a larger load of nitrous.  I also have a selection of spark plugs to try too - especially as the N2O gets stepped up.  I have a set of standard plugs in a 9 heat range, a set of non-projected style plugs (also in a 9 heat range), and a set of surface gap plugs in a 10 heat range. 

Head to the track directly from work and get there reasonably early.  Weather looks a little iffy - but worth giving it a go for the night.  Get thru tech fairly quickly then get ready for the first run. 

First run is NA (normally aspirated) - just an easy takeoff and run it throught the gears and check the logs when done.  For all my street tuning I've used either a laptop (in a tank bag) directly wired to the microsquirt ECU, or a cell phone in a tankbag with a bluetooth transmitter wired to the micrsquirt.  The laptop/tankbag combo isn't going to cut it on the track, and the bluetooth can be fairly flakey sometimes - especially when cranking and shutting down and cranking agian.  So I try something new tonight using the data cable from the microsquirt going to an OTG cable into the micro USB on the phone.  IT works - so I set it to log automatically on connecting and set it all under the seat and go run. 

While waiting "on deck" I realize I forgot to turn on the CO2 bottle on the swingarm (now self-filled with N2O).  Since I'm in the burn-out box waiting for the car in front to launch, I decide not to try to turn it on and instead focus on the upcoming run and just foot shift for the run.  My turn now, skip the burnout (no need and I won't be allowed to do one at the Colorado Mile) and line up, leave early, bog on the launch, and just ride out the run foot shifing at the shift light.  Biggest disapointment of the run is the fact I don't have a datalog.  Crap!  Try to figure out something.  The wideband O2 sensor I'm using WEGO 3) datalogs continuously up to three channels - AFR, RPM, and something else.  I don't have anything hooked up to the thrid channel now, but do get the AFRs off the run and see it is just a little leaner than where I want to be (12.8 - 13.0 -- although stell in the safe range).  Bump up the fuel in the top two rows of the fuel VE table 5% (13.0 AFR actual divided by 12.5 desired = 1.04, round up to 1.05).  Check the plugs - they look good - just have to get used to the fact that E85 doesn't color the plugs much.  Also add a little fuel in the table at the low-load area around 3,000 to 4,000 RPM since it is a bit lean there while bringing the RPMs up for staging.  Now I'm starting to understand some of the differences between a "street" tune and a "track" tune since that area is usually seen on the street in a coast down mode vice a ready to launch mode. 

Plan for the second run is to leave the nitrous bottle turned off, but arm the nitrous system and have it set to activate in fourth gear, and ensure the extra fuel and timing retard occur as expected.  Line up, launch, bog again, have shifter issues into 2nd gear with auto shift, hit the shift button and get it into 2nd (thankfully didn't hit the rev limiter), and ride out the rest of the run.  Did get a good datalog this time, but forgot to arm the nitrous system before launching - crap!  Decide to run the 25 HP jets knowing the ECU has always added fuel and pulled timing when it should AND the nitrous signal is an output from the ECU that is tied to the same trigger as the fuel enrichment and timing retard.  Although I got a good log, I don't like where I put the phone - between the fron of the seat and the tank - seems like it is likely to break the phone, so try it under the seat again. No other adjustments to make other than turn on the nitrous bottle, check the shifter bottle pressure, and remember to arm the nitrous system this time!

Run three goes a little better - I don't bog the launch this time!  It's still a SLOW 60' time, but I'm not drag racing now - I'm testing - or so I keep telling myself.  Don't really feel the nitrous when I shift to fourth and wonder if it even fired.  No log on the phone again, but the WEGO does show it going rich.  So I know the microsquirt did it's job, but now I'm wondering if there is a nitrous delivery issue.  Can't think of a good way to check nitrous delivery without spending a fair amount of time on it...so decide to stay with 25 HP jets and activate in second gear this time since the plugs still look good.  Decide to set up the GoPro this time.  I have a mount on the clutch master cylinder - gives a good view of the dash and a fair view over, but it also adds one more thing to do during the pre-run routine. 

Run four goes well - rmember to get everything cut on and don't bog the launch!  But still don't really feel the nitrous coming on.  No datalog again.  Frustrating - really want to be able to see some of the details of what the ECU is doing during the run. The GoPro (and the WEFO log) shows the biggest thing I need to know - the AFR goes to 10.4 as soon as I hit second gear and stays there for the run.  Being that rich on that small of a shot essentially killed the power gain from the nitrous.  The run was no faster than previous, but no slower either.  Check the plugs again and everything looks good! Decide to step up to the 50 HP nitrous jets and activate in 3rd gear.  Review all the new nitrous settings and add a little more fuel to the previous 50 HP numbers and ensure the retard is set (a very conservative 5 degrees retard).  Also decide to put the phone in an interior jacket pocket this times in hopes of getting a datalog again, so I run the wire up inside my jacket this time. 

Run five goes well, stating to get into a pre-run routine.  GoPro dies right after I turn it on, so no video on this run.  This time I FEEL the nitrous hit - it's pulling at least as hard in 3rd as it did in 1st!  Trap speed is up 12 mph from the last pass!  After the run I tear the cable out of the phone and fubar the new cable when I forget about the phone in the pocket still attached to the bike - oops.  Look at the plugs and things still look good!  Nothing melting - no signs of detonation -- finally.  AFRs look good too.  Hurry to prep for another run, but the staging lanes close before I can get ready.  Probably a good thing since rushing and hurrying are the last things I need to do at this point in the program!  All in all a good evening and a fairly clear path to move forward on.   

[Firehawk068]

Good stuff Chris! 
Shoot me a message next time you are planning to head over to Bandimere on a Wednesday, and I'll pop over there after work.
Would like to see the bike run.

[fj1289]

Will do.  Loosely planning on the 29th of this month or the 13th of July - depending on weather and work of course.  Gates open at 4:00 -- I like to leave work about 3:00 and beat the worst of the 470 traffic

Working now on a stand alone data logging setup.  Using a DL-32 logger and LC-1 wideband O2 previously used on the street bike and previously on the drag setup.   The DL-32 will log AFR, RPM, injector duty cycle, fuel pressure, and nitrous pressure. 
Also waiting on the delivery of a phone case to hard mount to the bike.  I think that will work with another OTG cable to reliably data log the microsquirt data too. 

[fj1289]

Registered for the Colorado Mile yesterday!  Feels good to have a running bike already!

Finished wiring up the new datalogging system and sensors last night.  Hoping to find some time to setup each data channel today and make a short log or two to verify everything is working as it should.  I'll feel a lot better being able to get good datalogs from the entire run - especially when using the nitrous system.  I'll still be checking plugs, but it's nice to be able to keep an eye on everything else as it goes too!

The datalogger system is an Innovate Motorsports DL-32 5 channel logger and recorder coupled with their LC-1 wideband O2 sensor.  The system is setup to "daisy chain" several devices together and the DL-32 at the end of the "chain" to capture all the data on an internal SD card.  This basic setup has the ability to log 6 channels of data - the AFR from the LC-1, plus 5 inputs connected directly to and processed by the DL-32.  Each data channel in the DL-32 is set to a default function, and has selectable alternate functions that vary by channel.  The plan is to use the DL-32 as the "nitrous" logger - capturing all the info needed to ensure the nitrous system is working as it should in an effort keep the "sacrifices to the gods of speed" to a minimum. 

Channel 1 on the DL-32 is the default RPM channel.  I'll log RPM based off the #1 injector.  Right now it is setup to inject one pulse per "engine cycle" -- i.e. one pulse every 720 degrees of crankshaft revolution.  Set number of pulses per engine cycle and the DL-32 determines RPM by the time between events (vice averaging events per a period of time -- quicker response and more accurate).
Channel 2 is the default thermocouple OR lateral acceleration channel (sure hope I DON'T see any of that!).  This was going to be blank - possibly setup for something else later.  Now that I'm writing this - think I'll move the nitrous bottle pressure originally planned for Channel 5 to Channel 2.  It is a 1600 psi sensor - putting out .5 volts for 0 psi and 4.5 volts for 1600 psi.   
Channel 3 is the default duty cycle channel.  By connecting to the same signal as channel 1, I can keep track of the injector duty cycle.  Although duty cycle is something the microsquirt can provide, I want an independent source of this info to ensure the injectors are functioning properly.  Two things could cause the injectors to operate at too high of a duty cycle -- demanding more fuel than they can supply, or demanding more fuel than is being supplied to them.  I saw this happen last summer while testing with the nitrous - no matter how much additional fuel I added in the nitrous setup, I wasn't seeing a decrease in the AFR.  This turned out to be a restriction in the stock 90 degree fitting going into the fuel rail.  I replaced the stock fitting with a larger 3/8" brass elbow and gained enough fuel flow to support the fuel needed for that level of nitrous.   This will be a critical item to watch while stepping up the nitrous level. 
Channel 4 is the default MAP (manifold air pressure) channel.  The DL-32 has a MAP sensor built in - handy for determining engine load for tuning usually, but not needed for the nitrous tuning since we know we're only spraying at WOT.  This Will get reprogrammed for an external 0-5 volt sensor - the fuel pressure sensor.  It is a 100 psi sensor and puts out .5 volts at 0 psi and 4.5 volts at 100 psi. Another critical item to keep track of. 
Channel 5 is the default acceleration channel.  The DL-32 has a built in accelerometer that is used to measure acceleration as long as it is mounted level.  I'm not sure how accurate this will be for a motorcycle, but should be reliable in the higher gears where front suspension lift should be minimal.   

Also completed a hard mount for the android phone that's being used as a datalogger for the microsquirt (using an app called shadow dash).  The microsquirt provides a ton of info - the issue is capturing it.  A laptop, although the "best" answer and not an issue for tuning a car, it is a pain on a bike.  On the street I use a tank bag - but that won't work on the track!  Likewise for the backpack Marc Rittner used for tuning his Aprilia.   In the past I've used a bluetooth adaptor to connect with an android table or phone.  It works well, but tends to have difficulties synching up at times and requires multiples starts, stops, restarts, etc to re-connect sometimes.  Again, an OK solution for the street, but not the level of reliability you want for the track!  Last time out at the dragstrip, I tried using an OTG (on the go) cable from the phone to the data cable from the microsquirt.  This seemed to work well, BUT the main difficulty was lack of a mounting location for the phone.  This caused issues with the data connection at the phone.  Looks like having a hard mount combined with taping the data cable in place will take car eof the logging issues for the microsquirt.   

The end result will be one datalogger recording what the ECU is doing and another dedicated to the nitrous system operations.   This things got enough wiring now to look like an old Mercury space capsule!

[jscgdunn]

Good luck!  Very interesting research I think!

[fj1289]

Taking it back out to Bandimere on Wednesday afternoon to continue the testing and tuning from last time out.  

Both datalogging solutions appear to be working as intended - the fuel pressure sensor seems to have a different curve than advertised....but I think we are close enough now by tweaking the settings in the datalogging software while comparing it to a manual pressure gauge.  Not so worried about exact numbers, but need to be able to see if there is a dip or drop off in pressure when the nitrous is activated or as we up the horsepower levels.  

The plan is to check/tweak the 50 HP nitrous settings, then set up the progressive controller and adjust the ECU to match.  After getting those settings synched up and dialed in, we'll be ready to step up to the 75 HP nitrous jets.  If we get thru that point tomorrow I'll call it a complete success.  If things are going better than planned for, we'll try stepping up one more time to the 100 HP jets.  

I'm using a "dry" nitrous setup – depending on the ECU to add the additional fuel required vice using a separate fuel solenoid and nozzles (a "wet" nitrous setup).  

The microsuirt ECU works pretty well for a fixed hit of nitrous.  There are settings for min and max RPM for nitrous activation, as well as how much injector pulse width (PW) to add at each of those points.  Getting to a good (SAFE!) starting point takes a little work to begin with.  To make the math easy -- assume we have an engine that makes 100 HP at 10,000 RPM.  You can then look at the datalogs and see what PW at 10,000 RPM makes 100HP.  Lets say that number is 10 ms (miliseconds - again, not too reasonable, but easy maths!)  If we want to add a 20 HP shot of nitrous, we'll want to add 20 HP worth of more fuel.  If it takes a 10ms PW to give 100 HP at 10,000 RPM, then we'll need 12ms PW for 120 HP.  In reality, we'll go a bit larger than this for two reasons -- to start on the rich side in case our math isn't perfect (or reality doesn't exactly match the math!), and we'll want a richer AFR when on nitrous than we can run without.  Now, if we set the min RPM for 5,000 RPM (half the max rpm) then the same amount of nitrous - 20 HP - requires DOUBLE the added PW (4ms) since the RPM is halved.  That's one of the odd things about nitrous - the horsepower level of a "fixed" shot may be constant, but the added torque is not!  20 HP of nitrous at 10,000 RPM adds 10.5 Ft Lbs torque, but that same shot at 5,000 RPM adds 21 Ft Lbs torque!  That makes sense why we have to increase the add PW by a greater amount at lower RPMs.  

Now, when we want to go much over a 50 HP shot, we either have to wait for a later gear (like 3rd) to keep from upsetting the chassis - either wheelie or wheel spin.  But we have the potential to gain more speed the sooner we can start on the nitrous and the more of it we can use!  The answer?  Progressive nitrous controllers.  These use pulse width modulation (PWM) to reduce the amount of nitrous going into the engine for the same size nitrous jet.  There are limits to what this can achieve (solenoids won't actually "pulse" much below 40-20% depending on the brand and size) but it is still an effective way to combine both a larger shot and an early activation, as well as be kinder to the engine.  The microsquirt doesn't really "do" progressive fuel enrichment.  Although nitrous will "pull through" a richer AFR than a normally aspirated engine will, but there are limits and draw backs to using a "fixed hit" of fuel with progressive nitrous.  The microsquirt will do 2 stages of fuel enrichment – and can be set for a time delay for the second stage.  The trick to get progressive-like fuel from the microsquirt is the set the progressive nitrous controller to progress the nitrous for a slightly longer time than it takes to accelerate through the gear you are activating it in.  Then, set the first "stage" of fuel enrichment to start with a portion of the total fuel needed for the nitrous shot at the min RPM, then set the max RPM fuel enrichment to the full amount of fuel needed.  That gets us safely through the gear (2nd gear in this case) while the nitrous is progressing.  The problem now occurs when you shift to the next gear – and the RPMs drop and you are now lower on the fuel curve than the nitrous curve ... equals OOPS and a potentially large offering to the gods of speed.  So, set the time delay on the second "stage" of fuel enrichment to come in before the shift point and "fill the square" with the second stage – add the fuel that was "left out" of the first stage at min RPM and taper to no (or very little) added fuel for the max RPM.    I hope that makes sense – it has taken me a while to get my head around it well enough to be able to try it in the real world.  So, in our case above,  if we were  to progress the 20 HP shot from 40% to 100% over 2 seconds, the settings would look something like this:  1st stage min RPM PW added =  1.6ms (40% of our 4ms) and max RPM PW added = 2ms (full amount from above).  Second stage would activate at 1.9 seconds and at min RPM the added PW would be 2.4ms (the original 4ms we needed minus the 1.4 the first stage is providing) and max RPM added PW would be 0ms since we already added all we needed in the first stage (in reality I'd increase both second stage numbers by .1 or .2 just to be a bit cautious).  

Although this is a bit of a "brute force" method to get the fuel we want out of the ECU, it is actually a bit more elegant than the method being used by the gentleman (Ransom Holbrook) that has the fastest nitrous only 1 mile speed – 244 and change on a 1st gen Busa.  Real budget effort using a hacked Suzuki ECU and 2 stages of progressive dry nitrous starting in 1st gear.  He has been very good about answering my questions about his setup and how he works with the ECU to force it to work with a progressive controller (actually two of them!)

[Pat Conlon]

Thank you Chris for taking the time to write up a detailed explanation on your tuning endeavors.
I find it fascinating. Your examples make following your logic easier to understand.
A couple of Q's:

You are tuning at Bandimere, how's that elevation compare to Watkins? Race day adjustments needed?

What kind of aero improvements are you planning? The coefficient of drag is king and the FJ is not the slipperiest fish in the pond.(about as slippery as a barn door)

I really enjoy your posts. I think many folks would love to see you reach your 200mph goal. A 30 year old FJ that does the standing mile at 200mph......cool.
Remind us, are you accepting donations towards your goal?

Thanks again.  Pat

[jscgdunn]

Plus one on Pat's comments.  I had no idea nitrous could do so much.  Amazing you can get it at a gas station right next to the Red Bull.

[giantkiller]

Plus one on Pat's comments.  I had no idea nitrous could do so much.  Amazing you can get it at a gas station right next to the Red Bull.

Yah just pop the top open and pour it in the gas tank 

[fj1289]

Plus one on Pat's comments.  I had no idea nitrous could do so much.  Amazing you can get it at a gas station right next to the Red Bull.

Yah just pop the top open and pour it in the gas tank 

Wish the pop top can would do as much for the rider!

Pat- the altitudes are very similar...and...the ECU should adjust automatically. With a single pressure sensor like is the default, it reads the MAP sensor when you first turn it on and bases the altitude in all the calculations on that.  If you ride up an 8,000' elevation change though, it is still using your starting altitude.  Two ways to adjust for a large change like that - kill power to the ECU and restart it, or add a dedicated baro sensor and will adjust on the fly.  That is the nice thing about the microsquirt ECU (and several other aftermarket ECUs) - the fuel tables are based on VE (volumetric efficiency) values vice pulse width values.  If, for instance, you change injectors for larger or smaller, you only have to update the injector info - not the entire fuel table. Change cams or exhaust, then you will have to tweak the VE table - but it will be fine tuning vice wholesale changes. 

As for aero - the mods will be fairly limited for this year - part of the goal was to still have it look like an FJ.  I've got all the foam removed from the front half of the seat to get me lower, lowered the suspension front and rear to cut down on frontal area, 60 series front tire and lower the front fairing, and cleaned up the undertail.  I'd like to get two more things done for this year - a better front fender (stock Busa or a Busa landspeed style fender) and build up a seat cowl for the back half of the seat.  For the future I have a fairing lower for an 86 I think that will need quite a bit of fiberglass work to fit properly and do a good job of managing more of the airflow.  I'd like to extend that piece underneath all the way to the back tire.  I'm also thinking of an extended tail - widend in the front to match my backside and narrowing all the way back - this would also let the seat cowl be taller and still keep a gentle angle toward the back.  The FJ "spoiler" back there is all wrong - but is part of the look...not sure if it will stay for next year. 

Part of my answer (albeit a poor one!) for the lack of aero is to add more nitrous!

Some of the mods can be seen here:

Note - this is still with the street tires and rims - front fender not lowered in this pic.

I'll try to get a good picture of the flat bottomed tail tomorrow - I think it cleans up the rear quite a bit.


I think this year I am in a better position to be able to accept donations in good conscience as I am confident we will be there and ready to run hard this year!  Randy has built a hell of an engine!  And Harvy donated a T25 turbo I think will make a formidable addition to the program next year.  Anyone that does want to donate we'll add their name to the bike and see if we can get you added to the program - as well as a hearty thank you and a beer (or beverage of your choice) at a future time!  My PayPal is cwyatt257@hotmail.com   
Also, anyone is welcome to hang out for the event - plan to have the smoker/grill setup this year!

[fj1289]

I'm stumped now -- what's a good way to post videos?  Have the one run I got on video last time at Bandimere to post...

[Firehawk068]

I'm stumped now -- what's a good way to post videos?  Have the one run I got on video last time at Bandimere to post...

What's the link to the video?

[fj1289]

I'm stumped now -- what's a good way to post videos?  Have the one run I got on video last time at Bandimere to post...

What's the link to the video?

Right now it's on my laptop.  I can post it to youtube or to photobucket - whichever is a better way to go