Roxanne - budget milano/75 track car

[geh458]

Hey Jes,

Wouldn't it have been better to mount the data logger and other electronic up high, say on the dash face on the passenger side? Where they are could be a problem if you ever get caught in the rain, or lets say your fire extinguisher comes loose and smashes the boxes.

Just a thought.

[AR4me]

For accuracy of the built in accelerometers it needs to be level and mounted on a solid surface. The part of the tray where it is mounted is flat and actually a slightly raised area (by a couple of inches compared to front and rear footwells.

Rain, I thought it didn't rain in SoCal and now you tell me (after windshield wipers and motor have been taken out)

So, can anyone help me with this one? I have a new used windshield ready to go in. Can the old seal or a generic seal be used? I called a few mobile places, one said I need to track down a new seal, another would look into it and call back. But when they ask if an Alfa Romeo is VW model I get a bit uncomfotable... Somehow my confidence in their experise just went down the drain

Jes

[BigSwede]

The DL1 looks to be mounted on the sloping surface under the seat so to say. From memory it's not very level at all there.

[Grant]

Jes, is your old windshield cracked or broken? I need a replacement to get me by.

[AR4me]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigSwede The DL1 looks to be mounted on the sloping surface under the seat so to say. From memory it's not very level at all there.

[AR4me]

Getting the last few things ready on the car before next weekend's race and enduro, which are in imminent danger of being cancelled

Anyway, this morning after attending Cars & Coffee, Colin and I modified the exhaust. I was sick and tired of the horrible slip fits and bands that are used on the stock exhaust systems. Instead I had bought some "hightech" V-band clamps. We cut and welded in 100F for a couple of hours and viola. No more slip fits, no more gaskets, just a single nut on each joint, and the exhaust only goes on one way, no more adjusting every time, etc. BTW, that's a stock exhaust center section - extended at the front and and with the flanges for the V-band clamps welded on.

I fired up the car to verify the new instrumentation (the Race-Technology Dash2), and all parameters appear to show correctly
- oil pressure
- oil temperature
- water temperatur
- transmission oil temperature
- fuel pressure
- fuel level
- battery voltage
- RPM

No leaks, good to go

Only "optional" items remain:
- rear-view mirror for in-car camera
- carbon fiber trim pieces
- change windshield

Jes

[AR4me]

and, some pics of the dash with stuff showing. First I added a voltage regulator for my own reference 12v power source for existing sensors. I run some sensors on 12v in order to better utilize the range of the AD converters on the DL1 inputs, the other sensors run off the 5v reference power source available from the DL1 (though limited to 50 mA).

The first screen shows:
- water temp (145 F)
- oil pressure (86 psi)
- fuel level (5.3 gallon)

The second screen shows:
- engine oil temp (115 F)
- transmission oil temp (85 F)
- fuel level (5.2 gallon)

The third screen shows:
- fuel pressure (41 psi)
- voltage (14v)
- fuel level (5.2 gallon)

All screens show:
- RPM
- speed
- gear
- warnings (at bottom)
- shift lights (LED above LCD)

The flash of the camera makes it a little difficult to see some areas of the display. I have also hooked up alternator warning light (one of the LEDs below LCD).

Jes

[geh458]

why is it showing 5 & 7 mph without a gear selection? And the idle seem kind of high.

[AR4me]

Glad someone is paying attention The speed reading is GPS based. The car is on jackstands in the garage, and the speed should show ZERO (at least the garage wasn't moving last time I checked ), but it cannot get GPS lock... For race cars it is recommended to use GPS speed rather than "wheel" speed since it is more accurate. For road cars it is recommended to use wheel speed since you will otherwise not have speed in tunnels. Guess they didn't count on me racing Roxanne at Monaco The RPM shows 2500-3000 since I held my foot on the gas to get a reading beyond a barely showing idle at 750 RPM - I verified the RPM reading with a digital timing light (with RPM readout) throughout the RPM range - spot on

Jes

[AR4me]

Long ago (probably 2 years) I bought a used windshield for about $60 on Ebay from a breaker in Alabama, shipped economically with Greyhound. All this time the box has been sitting in the garage, taking up space, constantly being moved around, much to the annoyance of my wife. Originally, I was planning to replace the multi-cracked, and multi-star'ed windshield of Roxanne when painting was up. However, paint time never seems to come around... So, with some vacation time at hand I decided to finally pull the old "broken" windshield and make use of the used windshield I had in the box - un-opened and un-checked. Having never done it before I looked up in the Milano manual - the External Trimming section. Seemed pretty straightforward and I could borrow suction cups, piano wire, etc.

The Alfa Romeo windshield replacement kit with glue seal, primer, and glue/sealant had not been available for years according to Alfa Parts in Berkley. Though, they did have the final weather-strip, which is only cosmetic, but necessary since the old ones are dried out and hardened by the sun.

First I removed the old outer weather-strip. Then I cut out the old windshield with the piano wire using the two handles - this is a two person job - a friendly neighbor comes in handy The first picture shows the ice-pick like tool to make the hole in the old glue for the piano wire. Folding up the old windshield in the last picture after jumping on it to break it a few places to begin with

Jes

[AR4me]

Next I cleaned up the windshield frame on the car - leveling the old glue, and I cleaned up the used windshield from the breaker - removing old glue, but leaving the primer on the windshield. A razor comes in handy, particularly for the windshield. Since the windshield kit wasn't available from Alfa I improvised a glue-seal by trimming a rubber weatherseal as shown in frist pic below. I ordered a 3M high viscosity fast curing windshield glue online - 3M 08690. The viscosity is so high I could barely squeeze it out with my caulk gun. After extending the grip by 2' with a handle from a jack it was doable. The old rubber blocks were re-useable, and after putting the glue on the glass outside the glue-seal, it was pretty straightforward to lower it in, rest it on the rubber blocks, and press it lightly along the edge to ensure a good seal between the glass and the windshield frame. I had the car on the ground while installing the windshield to make sure it is mounted in its natural position. The 4th picture shows the new weather-srtip from Alfa Parts in place, short of the final trimming - it needs to be pressed on before the glue dries.

The used windshield is in great shape, no pitting, without chips, and indeed a Milano windshield

We'll see how it holds up during all the twisting of the chassis on the race track. I imagine that's where proper installation will show up - the glue serves as both, well, glue, and as a rubber buffer to absorb some of the flex/vibration in the windshield frame. Since it is a race car in sunny SoCal where open side windows are mandatory, rain or shine, I haven't even bothered to test for water leaks, although it would be easy to do and correct as necessary.

Jes