[TomatoSoup]

Take a look at piCore Linux. Very stripped-down. If you don't add too much on top you may be able to run it from RAM.

I have a network music streamer based on piCore (piCorePlayer) and it boots pretty quickly from sdcard into RAM. Most of the boot time is waiting for the network to come up - which will not be an issue for you.

 

[kgschlosser]

Hey thanks for the suggestion. I will look into that for sure. I do need to run some level of a GUI in order to be able to use WX as the framework. It is something I am familiar with and I will be able to write the code extremely fast. The GUI portion if I am able to use WX will only take me a day or 2 to write. That volume knob example I just showed, I would be able to use a good chunk of the code from that for circular or arc style gauges. I have other "widgets" that I have already written where chunks of the code can be transplanted. This would save an enormity of time in development and bug testing the code because it has already been done.

And as you can see by the example of the volume knob I am not looking to develop an Atari looking cluster. I am talking about developing and OE grade display. I am also looking to develop something that can be used in any vehicle that uses CAN and it will also be able to be used ad a replacement to the factory cluster without having to do any kind of custom work to the outside of the dashboard. It will allow for movement of the various elements in the display in order to align with a bezel (like the Solstice/Sky).

 

[kgschlosser]

I am finished with the mechanical on the car, It starts and it runs. No leaks at all YAY!!!. The engine stumbles a bit when hitting the gas with a smidge of lead foot, this is to be expected because the ECU doesn't know what to do with the additional air coming in and also how free flowing the exhaust is now.

I do have an issue that I am not sure on what is causing it. The ECU drops the OBD2 connection to my scanner. I am able to reconnect it but then the ECU drops the connection maybe 20 seconds later. I checked that it was plugged in all the way more then once. I have to check and see if it drops the connection when the car is not running. I am pretty sure it's not a connection problem and it's the ECU dropping the connection because the length of time it takes to drop the connection appears to be identical. If it was a connection related issue this would not be the case. So now I am wondering if maybe the ECU is doing it because of it not knowing how to deal with some of the data it is getting. Nothing changes with how the car is idling, and no check engine light and all gauges are where they should be.

I am getting HPTuners next week and if I have not solved the problem I will see if it does the same thing with HP tuners as well.

Maybe someone has had this issue and might be able to shed some light on it.

I do hate problems like this.

 

[kgschlosser]

OK so i tried pulling the radio fuse. there is a forum post stating that may work.. didn't work for me. It's not my code scanner as I do not have this problem with my Lincoln. The problem persists even when the car is not running and only the ignition is on. One of the things i noticed is that the screen flashes once it makes the connection initially and then some seconds later it disconnects stating that the cars ECU dropped the connection. I am going to see if maybe there is an issue between my scanner and gmlan.

 

[kgschlosser]

So this is it. This is the final set of photos for the engine upgrade. I am still working on the 2 piece wheel well liners but you can see them cut in these photos. You can also see the modified Werks cold air intake. You will also see the duct that comes up from the radiator area to meet the opening in the hood. I didn't take any photos of the battery area as I am still wiring up the turn signals. That is where I am going to put the 80 amp 5 volt power supply and also the fuse block for the LED's along with the controller. I changed out my battery for a 1200CA dry cell that has a crazy small footprint and weighs 33 lbs. I changed the position of the battery due to the duct I ran from the turbo area to the fender vents on the passenger side. Everything is going to fit perfect. I am going to use some of the 1/2" thick poly-carbonate that is left over from the turn signal lenses as a shelf of sorts to hold the fuse block and the LED controller.

I will take some photos of my work in progress on the turn signals. I am in the process of soldering up the control board and I have added a display so I can get some debugging information out of it. I will probably add some kind of a directional control so I can have a menu system on the thing for changing some settings. right now I have these "settings" hard coded but it would be nice to change them without having to flash a new firmware to the thing each time.

One of the settings is adjusting the turn signal speed. I wrote the software so it learns the speed of the flasher and it will match the on and off duration but if it needs to be adjusted up or down I would like to have a way to do that.

I will tell you what.. having the open wheels like that is friggin awesome. I can lean on the tire and not have to worry about collapsing the fender liner. I can also set tools on the tire and they will stay and not slide down into a place that take you 20 minutes to get the thing out. If a tool falls it falls onto the ground!!!

This is going to 100% solve the issue with the liners cracking and also having the paint rubbed off the hood or other areas. The part of the liner in front of the wheel and the part behind the wheel are connected together by about 2" of the liner where the shock tower is. I can keep the front and back bolted in place using 7mm's and fender washers so they will not wiggle about in relation to the fender or the bumper cover. because the liner is now allowed to flex between the fender and the bumper cover no more cracks are going to happen. because the top of the liner it going to be attached to the hood it is not going to wiggle about taking the paint off the hood.

I cam up with a fantastic way of sealing the 2 halves I am using a door seal from a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta, you can see the seal clipped onto the passenger liner. I made a fiberglass backing plate for the top piece of the liner. the backing plate is about 1/4" thick so nice and rigid and it is larger then the liner. the backing plate is what is going to sit against the seal. because the seal is higher then the lower portion of the liner when the backing plate makes contact with the seal the top portion of the liner is going to drop into the opening making the liner complete again.

Now don't laugh at this idea. It is actually quite ingenious. I hate the way that the turbo shield looks. I think it looks hideous. I am going to go and buy either an aluminum or a stainless steel cooking pot that is roughly the same diameter and use that as the shield. with a little bit of cutting and make a bend in it to make the mounting tab I think that would look pretty sick! and it would only cost 15-20 bucks!!! It would also be some pretty thick metal (has to withstand direct contact with a 1200 degree element) and not flimsy like the OE one.

This is a really cool perspective.

 

[joybill44]

So this is it. This is the final set of photos for the engine upgrade. I am still working on the 2 piece wheel well liners but you can see them cut in these photos. You can also see the modified Werks cold air intake. You will also see the duct that comes up from the radiator area to meet the opening in the hood. I didn't take any photos of the battery area as I am still wiring up the turn signals. That is where I am going to put the 80 amp 5 volt power supply and also the fuse block for the LED's along with the controller. I changed out my battery for a 1200CA dry cell that has a crazy small footprint and weighs 33 lbs. I changed the position of the battery due to the duct I ran from the turbo area to the fender vents on the passenger side. Everything is going to fit perfect. I am going to use some of the 1/2" thick poly-carbonate that is left over from the turn signal lenses as a shelf of sorts to hold the fuse block and the LED controller.

I will take some photos of my work in progress on the turn signals. I am in the process of soldering up the control board and I have added a display so I can get some debugging information out of it. I will probably add some kind of a directional control so I can have a menu system on the thing for changing some settings. right now I have these "settings" hard coded but it would be nice to change them without having to flash a new firmware to the thing each time.

One of the settings is adjusting the turn signal speed. I wrote the software so it learns the speed of the flasher and it will match the on and off duration but if it needs to be adjusted up or down I would like to have a way to do that.

View attachment 109400

I will tell you what.. having the open wheels like that is friggin awesome. I can lean on the tire and not have to worry about collapsing the fender liner. I can also set tools on the tire and they will stay and not slide down into a place that take you 20 minutes to get the thing out. If a tool falls it falls onto the ground!!!

This is going to 100% solve the issue with the liners cracking and also having the paint rubbed off the hood or other areas. The part of the liner in front of the wheel and the part behind the wheel are connected together by about 2" of the liner where the shock tower is. I can keep the front and back bolted in place using 7mm's and fender washers so they will not wiggle about in relation to the fender or the bumper cover. because the liner is now allowed to flex between the fender and the bumper cover no more cracks are going to happen. because the top of the liner it going to be attached to the hood it is not going to wiggle about taking the paint off the hood.

I cam up with a fantastic way of sealing the 2 halves I am using a door seal from a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta, you can see the seal clipped onto the passenger liner. I made a fiberglass backing plate for the top piece of the liner. the backing plate is about 1/4" thick so nice and rigid and it is larger then the liner. the backing plate is what is going to sit against the seal. because the seal is higher then the lower portion of the liner when the backing plate makes contact with the seal the top portion of the liner is going to drop into the opening making the liner complete again.

View attachment 109401



Now don't laugh at this idea. It is actually quite ingenious. I hate the way that the turbo shield looks. I think it looks hideous. I am going to go and buy either an aluminum or a stainless steel cooking pot that is roughly the same diameter and use that as the shield. with a little bit of cutting and make a bend in it to make the mounting tab I think that would look pretty sick! and it would only cost 15-20 bucks!!! It would also be some pretty thick metal (has to withstand direct contact with a 1200 degree element) and not flimsy like the OE one.

View attachment 109402


This is a really cool perspective.

View attachment 109403

How did you attach the top portion of the liner to the hood?

 

[kgschlosser]

@joybill44

I haven't attached them yet. I am still making the fiberglass backing plates. I have the drivers side backing plate almost done. so I will be attaching that in the next day or 2. I had to shift gears a bit over the lat 48 hours. I had to sure up my portable garage, got 8" of snow and I didn't want the thing to collapse. The temps should be back up to the 70's again by this weekend so I can do some more fiber glassing then. My plan is to use polyisocyanurate foam blocks to act as spacers between the hood and the backing plate. I will epoxy bond some form of a T-Nut into the hood so I can use machine screws to hold the backing plate to the hood. I will be putting a screw through the backing plate and blocks. the plastic fender liner is going to be attached with the good 3M double side tape that is grayish/black foam with the red peel off backing. This way no screws are seen at all when the hood it raised.

My hood is the RKSport hood which is fiberglass but a similiar type if thing can also be done with the OE steel hood as well.

I made some boo boo's when I decided to do this and hanged my plans as I went. Had I known what my plans were going to be exactly when I started it could have been a much easier process. I should have made the backing plates before I cut the liners. I didn't know I was going to use backing plates which is why I cut first. Making there backing plates is a snap to do if the liners aren't cut.

I will write up a complete DIY tutorial on how to do this when I am finished.

 

[phil1734]

How does the weight of the RK hood compare to stock?

 

[kgschlosser]

@phil1734

well, that depends.. before or after I had to build out the hood and fix all of the screw ups in it?. I had to add onto the hood quite a bit on the drivers side and also skim coat the entire thing in order to get the wavy gravy out of it. probably close to a half a gallon of Bondo. I would say between 20 and 25 lbs lighter. It's really hard to judge because the thing is so damned big it always requires 2 people to lift the thing. I didn't weigh it at all.

If you are thinking of getting one it will take 6 weeks until it gets delivered from the date you order it. The other thing is set aside just as much money as you paid for the hood to get it paint ready if you are paying someone to do that portion of the work.

I am willing to bet that RKSport is using the same mold they had originally made for the car. The molds are only good for so long and I am willing to bet the issues with my hood are because of the mold and those issues will also appear for anyone else that buys the hood now.

Also from my understanding the hood is supposed to fit better if using the RKsport bumper cover. IDK if there is any truth in this because I have the RKSport bumper and I had to modify both the hood and the bumper cover to get them to meet properly.

If you look in the photos I have attached in previous posts you will see shots of how I have the bumper cover mounted. You will see a polished aluminum bar that runs between where the headlights sit and also on the outsides of the headlights. This you would have to make or have made, I suggest getting it done and having it put on before the hood gets put on. It will make the fitment process a lot easier. If you lift the hood on your sol and look at the mount point for the bumper cover you are going to see why you need to add those pieces. It makes a huge difference in how much gap you have between the hood and the bumper cover. To make the pieces is not that hard it's 1/8"x1" aluminum flat bar, home depot sells it for about 15 bucks. I cold bent the thing using a couple of blocks of wood and a lot of patience. I added more screws then the OE had. put an additional screw in between each of the OE screws. use #8 stainless steel flat head sheet metal screws. these fit right into the OE speed clips. you will have to counter sink the screw holes so the hood doesn't catch on the screw that is in the center.


The hood looks fantastic on the car once the time is spent to fix all of the meadow muffins.

 

[Super Serg]

Not gonna lie... that split wheel well is SLICK!

Looking fwd to more info as you progress.

 

[kgschlosser]

@Super Serg
Thanks.

It really isn't hard to do. it is time consuming because of the time that is needed to make the fiberglass backing plates. I am not doing both of my fender liners at the same time so it is going to take me longer to do. and it's too cold out right now for fiberglass to cure and part of the fiberglassing has to be done using the fender liners as a mold while the liners are in the car. Fiberglass doesn't like to cure properly below 50 degrees. and even working with it at 50 uses a lot of hardener and a heat gun to get the curing process started. right now the temps are in the 20's at night and in the 30's during the day. I should be able to do the other side come friday. the temps will be back up to 70.

 

[kgschlosser]

@Super Serg

I also wanted to say that the fender liners was the worst thing that GM did to the vehicle. You can't work on it from the front of the car because the hood opens up backwards. The liners made it so that every single time the car needs to be worked on it is a back breaking job, literally. You have to remember not to lean on the thing, and forget setting tools down on it. They slide off and get into a place that is almost always a pain to get it out of.

I have been working on the car now a few weeks with the liners cut and I cannot even begin to tell you how much nicer it is. no more back ache!! and no more headache (from the tools sliding off)!!

I had to get on top of the engine a couple of times to get my hands behind the block to get the lower radiator hose connected.. and it was a breeze climbing up and I also had a place to put my feet without having to worry about breaking anything.

 

[kgschlosser]

OK so once again I have been bitten again by the RK Sport crap. The bumper cover is not symmetrical. the size of the opening on the right is larger then the opening on the left, the notch in the middle of the bottom is also the same way. It is off by close to 3/4" which is no small amount mind you.

I am really trying to grapple with how this company believe that they make a good product. The hood is not symmetrical either. one scoop opening is closer to the edge of the hood then the other, by 3/8". This again is no small amount.

I do not understand why they are off like this. It is not hard to make a form properly. and with all of the technology today all that would need to b done is a 3d scan of the OE hood can be made. make the changes needed to update the hood to a new style using CAD software. Then use a large scale 3 axis trim router CNC machine to cut the shape of the hood from a foam block. sand the inside out so it is as close to smooth as can be made. line the inside with fiberglass. Pop the negative out clean it up so the form can be made from that negative.

When making the lenses for the turn signals I traced out one side of the bottom of the cover and I cut the lens to match the trace. I then used that lens to make the other side. It should have been an exact mirror of the first side. I knew there would be some variations but 3/4", come on! It's a good thing that I used a piece of plexi glass that I had kicking around that was left over from another project as a test piece. If I had found this out using a $250.00 piece of poly-carbonate I would be extremely angry.

I am going to locate the CEO of RKSports e-mail address and send the guy/gal some photos with measurements telling them that I blame the poor quality of the product on them. The indians are only as good as the chief after all.

 

[TomatoSoup]

Everyone that's posted about getting RKS parts has reported that they are misshapen and what a bitch they are to fit. I never realised they were also asymmetrical too!

 

[kgschlosser]

Fitment is one thing. being made in a manner like that guy Sloth from the Goonies is a completely different story!


BABYYYYY RUTHHHHHHH

 

[kgschlosser]

I have the hood off the car and when it gets darker out I am going to set up a jig to measure the hood using laser levels and a taylor's measuring tape. I am also going to make a big compass and I will mark the curve of the hood at the windshield. I will draw it all out on the hood showing how far outta wack it is by making marks every 1/2 inch or so.

 

[kgschlosser]

Well I got HP Tuners in and after having to spend some time to get the thing to connect properly I m ready to rock and roll. I just got the base tune and I am going to be flashing it in a little bit. then it is off for a drive to see how she does. It is going to be a back and forth process to get it dialed in. I am going to study the differences between the stock file and the tunes and also between each tune to see what has changed. I am going to be doing a lot of research so I can learn how to do this myself.

 

[kgschlosser]

OK So I said I would post some photos of the hood when it was all marked off. I didn't get as involved into it as I thought I would. There were so many places where the measurements were as much as 3/8" off it was crazy. If it was off by a 1/16" I thought that was acceptable. anything over that was not. There were so many places that it would be easier to make the hood then it would be to fix it. Simple things like the distance of the scoops from the edge of the hood are not the same. The width of the scoops themselves are 5/8" different!!!.

I did correct the curve of the hood at the windshield as this was really noticeable. So I have those markings done so you can see how far off it is.

This was how I marked the hood.

I used a laser level, one that draws a horizontal and vertical line. I placed the hood on my driveway. I blocked the front edge of the hood so the horizontal line from the level went across the leading edge. This edge I had already made when the hood was fitted onto the car, So this was a great way for me to be able to see if the leading edge was right. It was spot on perfect.

By doing this it made the hood level and also square to the laser. I put the vertical line up the middle of the hood. I measured from the inside corner of one of the headlight openings to the other, then divided by 2. This is the "center" of the hood. I made the mark on the hood. I aligned the vertical line on this mark. I then measured from the body line to the center at the windshield end. I did this on both sides to check if they were the same measurement. They were within a 16th of each other so that was good. I then took the tape across the 2 outside corners closest to the windshield. the laser reflected off the tape measure to indicate where center was and this measurement was spot on perfect. This checked the work I had done to widen the hood when I initially fitted it... So now I know that the front edge is correct and I know that the center line is correct I had a place to base all of the measurements off of.

I layed a 2x4 on the ground along that center line at the windshield end of the hood I placed some weight on the 2x4 so it didn't move. with a screw and some string I made a compass. So long as the screw got put into the board on the red line I knew I was going to be in the center of the hood and the arc from the compass would be correct. After having to move the screw a bunch of times I dialed in the location the screw needed to be in so then when drawing the arc on the hood the arc came into contact with a point along the edge on each of the scoops.


This photo is great because it shows how fucked the hood was. You can see the notch between the scoops, This is how the hood came. I made no adjustment to this notch at all. The bondo between the scoops was the start of me fixing the wavy in the glass.

This is what I ended up with.

Look at how far off that thing is. It's BONKERS! and that notch!! Holy ****, a blind man could have done a better job. The angles on either side where it steps in are not the same either...

What kills me is they called this thing paint ready!!!!!!!!!!!!

So there is the hood write up. The hood is a good looking hood once all of the problems are fixed. There are not many options for buying items like this. I believe there are only 2, Norms fiberglass and RK Sport. Norms takes a long while to make from my understanding, I have not personal experience dealing with fitment or checking of the hood is symmetrical or not so I have no basis for comparison. But I will say that I would avoid using RK Sport if possible. If you REALLY like the look of the hood and are willing to spend the money or do the work to get the thing right. Then go for it. If you had to pay someone to correct the RK Sport hood by time you are said and done with the cost of the hood the cost would be close to what Norms charges for a hood. I would love to be able to measure up a hood made by Norms and see if it is worth spending the money on. So if someone has a Norms hood that they just got and are fitting it and want to know in detail how to measure the thing PM me. We can set up a phone conversation and I can tell you step by step how to get the measurements. I really want to know if the additional money spent on the norms hood gives you a product that is closer to paint ready then the RK Sport one is.

 

[kgschlosser]

Ok so the base tune is done. My dumbass put the MAF in backwards. Actually I knew it was backwards and that I needed to flip it. I had forgotten to flip it. So that caused some issues.

I have the turn signals installed partly. I have the lenses attached. I have to finish up some of the mounting for those. Here is a photo of what they look like.


Can't see the turn signals?? Good that's kind of the point!!!

Here is a photo where they are more visible. This also shows you how far off the bumper is symmetrically. You can see the gap between the 2 lenses. This gap should not be there. The lenses were supposed to meet in the middle.


I still have to finish mounting the lenses. I only have the front of the lenses attached. I have to attach the back of the lenses. The back of the lenses are an aluminum heatsink to get rid of the heat generated by the 1100 LEDS.

I have some pretty small box steel that I am going to use as a frame to attach the lenses to.. because I wanted to keep the lighting more uniform through the lenses I needed to keep the distance as close to the same from the back to the front of the lenses. Because a bumper cover is curved the only way to do this would to also curve the back of the lenses. This would have made the heatsink design and the housing for the LEDS more complex. So I opted to angle the backs. The angle also solved another problem. How to support the center of the frame. I didn't want it to sag in the middle. I am going to heat and bend the steel I have to match the angle of the 2 lenses. This bar is going to go from over side of the car to the other in a V shape. Right where the bend is in the steel this point ends up being just in front of the intercooler. This is nice because I can run a piece of steel up to the bottom of the steel bumper in the car. And it's hidden by the center of the bumper cover.

To attach the front of the lens to the bumper cover I used 1/4" flat head socket screws. On the back side of the cover I used. 1 1/2" stainless fender washers and a special kind of nut. This but took an Allen key to tighten it. I wanted to spread the load out over a larger area of the bumper cover.

I picked up some steel leveling legs for furniture. I am going to o use these and skid plates, so of I happen to scrape the nose I won't be dragging the lens on the ground. The leveling legs will contact first.

 

[kgschlosser]

Here is a photo of the wiring harness for the fog/turn lights. There is 300 feet of wire in this harness and I went with 14 gauge wire not because of current draw from the LEDS but because of voltage drop caused by the current draw. LED's are really voltage sensitive and even tho the operating range is 3.8v to 5.8v I wanted to keep the voltage as close to the nominal 5v as possible. So with the length and the gauge wire I have used I see < 0.8% voltage drop across all wires. Each strip is individually fused. There are multiple strips for each turn signal. so if I have a problem with a strip I will not get a ticket for having a turn signal out. St the moment I have not designed in a way to have the OE signal indicators hyper blink if there is an issue. I will be able to do this If I get a channel expander for the processor I am using to control the LEDS. I would need to monitor the current draw on each LED strip and if an LED strip was not within spec I could then disconnect the load resistor on the side that is having the issue. This would cause the OE turn indicators to hyper flash. This is something that I am planning on doing and I am contemplating doing it now instead of later.