tuned derv ZS update

[p_b82]

what was a concern is that the under-body where the tank was is still pretty much pristine - few little marks but nothing to worry about in the slightest... this is purely the tank itself that has deteriorated this much....

I know mine is extreme - but I think it is something all of us are going to have to check going forwards - and maybe try and get some-one to make replacements.... I think more failures will occur

[p_b82]

So I got the ZS running today with the new tank - started no issues with about 12L of diesel in it. Still got the rest of the old tank to drain and filter and there is still some more in the jerry can, but wanted to give it a chance to leak so if I have to drop it again it's not full again, as it is *so* much easier when it is empty...... that said, it is also so much easier when you don't have to cut the hanging bolts!

for the record the tank straps can be used both sides of the tank - you just have to thread the longer one a lot further up the hanging bolt, but it is not an issue that one side is now NLA.

Also you need a deep 13mm socket to do up the locking nut as the tank straps end foul a spanner (and it is a lot slower).

Next job is to drop it off the stands, then re-bend the front bumper hanging points back up again to stop the wheel fouling under compression...

Then it can be off for the turbo fitting I think!

[peterzs]

Good progress.

[stamford]

Sounds like it is getting there, so hard when there's a V8 nearby distracting you!

[p_b82]

Originally Posted by stamford

Sounds like it is getting there, so hard when there's a V8 nearby distracting you!

Agreed - the ZS is not quite the fun car compared to my other one anymore.... though it is a lot more fun on B-roads!

[dakta]

Originally Posted by ZS Phil

Sorry to hear this, I was in exactly the same position in 2011/12. Fitted a VNT on the basis that there would be a controller for me to buy from the same guy you've been dealing with. Never materialised so built an arduino controller myself as got tired of waiting (this is another option for you!!).
There is another guy running one of these elusive controllers but yet to see any dyno figures from it (unless they've been published and I've just missed them).
There's a post above from Jan 2016 saying the controller is virtually finished... I'd be peeved too! Hope he delivers the goods for you and you can press on.

Sorry to dig up an old post but I guess I'm 'that guy'.

Pete's going to get his controller, and we've communicated throughout the process - there have been technical issues, some required bug fixes, one in particular has been a right headache and i couldnt find an obvious causes for ages as it didn't affect all controllers even though I made identical duplicates. It also doesn't help that I don't have a test car myself and have to wait dats, weeks sometimes to get the chance to test a single firmware update.

It's why I've told Pete to drop his car off with us next year when i've got my new unit and we can do some intensive installation and debug work, it's a lot easier developing electronics for a car if you actually have an example of said car in front of you.

I'm a bit disgruntled because the way the l-series community has turned out, and I'm not pointing fingers, but i've always shared my knowledge and theories and in the dying days of l-series all i've got is a long list of people who have used me, or reverse engineered my work, or even taken malicious action against me. I'm quite open and where things haven't worked out how they should be i've always explained why.

Now, explaining why something isn't working doesn't do anything to make things work, but thats as far as I can go because making vnt controllers is at the very petty end of some of the changes we've made in the last 3 years, someone with a bit more business sense would have tried to run away from the project but I promised a controller to peter and he's getting it - i dont care about the opinions of anyone else in the community as there's very few genuine good eggs left, but i promised it to this chap, so he'll get it. It might take more time if more things go wrong in life, and they could - and if they do - pete might have to wait even longer. I hope not. He knows whats happening, and whilst we've been a bit frank at times he's been very good about it all.

But yeah, my commitment to petes project is all there, and there are going to be benefits for him holding out i think, because our facilities if things go the way ive planned will be better than i first expected.

I do unfortunately see the l-series tuning community in a very poor light compared to how i used to though, so many people leeching, nobody developing but everyone wants a whinge when the developers resources are so stretched thin noughts seems to be happening. lot of people over the years, especially on the mapping front (wanting to be seen doing the whole gubbins but nobody wants to sit down for three months of evenings with IDApro actually reverse engineering **** to discover it

thankless task this l-series lark. On the bright side though, anyone who has issue with my dealings doesn't have to deal with me at all, there is the arduino setup which will no doubt give you something to play with, rover ron now does a controller, i've my doubts about the algorithms behind these but my opinion doesnt matter - they're options, or if you want something like mine and a bit quicker you can always commision a freelance developer to do it, cost a penny though.

lifes free, make ya choices, i'll be sticking with pete but its a loyalty thing not a commercial thing, i promised so he'll get. once we've solved the challenges and thats pretty much that. I haven't really worded this reply well but reading through i just thought i gotta say something. Pete I will take criticism from as he's done all he can to help, but theres a lot of people in this world who once upon a time wanted a vnt controller, or other stuff from me, expect to me to give all my development work out on a plate and will at the same time complain at my weaknesses whilst producing nothing themselves.

It's why I don't bother with the l-series scene these days, nobody into actual development, more a case of what they can get

[Drew]

How much are they

Hope it goes well for you both in the end.


Drew

[Mark S]

dakta,

it’s not just the l series scene, the whole mg zs scene is plagued by penny pinching plum sacks who either copy or repeat what you do as if they owned the patent or simply want the whole deal handed to them on a plate for the price of a penny chew, then delivered and fitted as part of that deal.

glad to say this old forum hasn’t attracted the halfwits that vacate the facebook pages!

[dakta]

Thanks, I re-read the post from last night and I thought 'what a rant'

but it needs to be said, because I'm commercially active you don't get the opportunity to dish out the other side of the tale at times, though I can tolerate that.

What I really can't stand (and I'm learning about what I can and can't stand on the job) are people who aren't involved in a project, or who aren't stakeholders making out that you're being lazy, or are otherwise lacking. Pete's a grand exception because he's the only person who at any stage has put into the project but i do want to empthasize exception. He's tried to make my life easier actively not passively to keep things moving, most people are just happy to sit and wait whilst i save up for bits for test modules and the like.

There's people in the L-series and MGR tuning scene right now making money off my evenings spent with an emulator finding pathways in the code you don't just accidentally stumble across. We had the initiative (once) but all people want to do is take, and then voice their opinions when there's nothing left on the table except for their displeasure at their being nothing left on the table.

Another way to look at this, lets say I was somehow incapacitated and couldn't make a vnt controller, no hope at all - its bad news but not end of the world, because as quoted above there is the rover ron, or 'arduino' controllers already available, just waiting for people fed up of waiting for me to use...


...so where are the vnt controlled rovers?

Nah push come to shove it sometimes seems the only way a vnt is going on a rover is if I bolt one to one. People have reverse engineered my work, and i haven't kept my ideas or algorithms secret so there's no real reason why any tuner with some brains couldn't get to where we have, and beat me whilst i'm distracted so to speak.

they've had two years, it's not happening is it, so let's just focus on getting Pete sorted.

I feel a bit mean but I'm getitng a bit weary of it sometimes.

pricewise i don;t have a rate for the controller, it's not a commercial project. if it was it wouldn't have been made because it wouldn't have been viable. So I don't expect it to be a profit, I just had a solution that seemed to work so offered to duplicate it.

I can and will make more when im confident bugs are ironed out but i don't see any demand, which isn't surprising because nobody really subscribed to the idea of properly fitting a turbo upgrade to the l-series. except charles, who is enjoyng his vnt at this moment with our controller, and pete who's hopefully about to, once i can get it fitted to a car to figure out why its a bit more temperamental.

We'll keep on plodding but lots more serious stuff happening as well, not to say pete isn't serious but ya know. Lifes a bit more complex than it used to be

[p_b82]

The irony is, is that he who shan't be named had bolted the bits on when/how I asked him, I'd be tootling around with the turbo on, I'd have been able to get it up to you with all the bits fitted + you'd then have had the test mule to work out the bugs - or ID if they were actually an issue. It's a pity as we both lost the time waiting for that to pan out I think with hindsight

There's not usually one "long pole" in a project

Still - We've got Jan as the time period where we try and get everything together.

I've worked through most the post lay-up niggles now - just tracing why there seems to be so much condensation build up atm, and should replace the blower motor as I'm convinced it's shot now...