Reflections

I was reminded a day or two ago of how much creativity I have lost in the last 8 years of my life. When I was younger (living at home, in High School), the sky was pretty much the limit. I felt like I had the tools at my disposal to do pretty much whatever I wanted to do. Generally, I did pretty much whatever I wanted to do, too. What I lacked in financial resources, I made up for in skills. I wanted an electric guitar, but couldn't afford one. What to do? I went online and to the library, found the books and parts that I needed and built a guitar for myself. It played great, but there were a few things that needed to be adjusted, so I did it. From memory, I seem to recall having all sorts of hair-brained ideas. Most of them never went to completion, as I was much to ADD (and probably not capable of seeing them through, anyhow).

Regardless, going to college and moving out into the "real world" seem to have made me less creative and unoriginal than I've ever been in my life. Its mostly due to the structure that is imposed on us by society; working 40 hours a week, primarily during daylight hours in order to fulfill some obligation that we owe our employer (oh yeah, in exchange for a paycheck, I was wondering what obligation we owed for a second). Beyond that, we owe certain people/organizations set sums of money on given days of the month, in exchange for things that we now maintain in our possession. There really is no room for creativity to blossom within a schedule. Compounding the issue is that I'm so hopelessly disorganized, that I have issues freeing myself from my work responsibilities long enough to allow creativity to occur again.

However, I think that another issue that has led to the decline of my creativity is the disappearance of my "brain trust". In high school, I generally had either my brother or my a group of close classmates who would goad me into taking on a project that I would randomly think up. I do have people who occasionally check in on my engine project, but its not really the same. I think that the concept of engine building is a bit too abstract for most people to really get a good idea of what is going on with it. Either that, or most people think that its a foolish thing to spend money on.

Regardless, I'm looking for stuff to do to spice up life a little bit, and get out of society's rut. Anyone have any suggestions?

More Engine stuff (exciting, eh?)

I know I normally get on here and post about how I'm almost done with my engine build, but it never seems to be any closer than it was the last time I posted about it. So without saying that I'm either closer or further away, I'll give a little bit of an update of where I'm at.

The head was a pretty big sticking point for me initially. I really wanted to put in either a Massive Ultimate CNC head, or the trick FocusSport Cosworth head. However, that takes a lot of scratch and seeing as I just don't have time to take up a second job to pay for the hobby, I figured I'd do my own headwork. I don't really want to get a lot of money tied up in this homebrew head, since I'm still considering a head in the distant future, so I don't want to be overly attached to the head I'm doing now.

I busted out the handy Dremel tool (if you don't own one of these, you need to stop reading this and procure one before living another minute) and started grinding away. I was pretty conservative with the cutting that I did, mostly focusing on taking some metal out of the top of the intake ports and cleaning up some of the casting imperfections. The other area that I really focused on was in the bowls where the CNC machine had cut the valve seats and transition to casting. I was considering putting a set of oversized valves into the head as well. Oversizing the valves helps provide a little additional flow at lower valve lifts (which improves torque and therefore streetability). However, a set of oversized valves is nearly $300, which went contrary to my plan to build a budget head. I did pick up a set of high lift springs and retainers from LCR. Having a top end that can handle high RPMs is definitely going to be important on this car, so I wasn't about to risk floating a valve on the stock springs (especially considering the low piston-valve clearances we're going to be working with). At this point, I pretty much realized that I was as far as I could go with the head, so I decided to take it to my machinist. Its currently at the shop, awaiting being milled 0.020" (which should bump compression up about 1/2 a point..ie ~11.2:1, I'm guessing that is going to be right on the edge of requiring race gas, but should be able to make good power with Premium). I'm still waiting for the springs and retainers to show up; as soon as they do, they're going to the shop as well for final assembly. I was lamenting to the machinist that it was so hard to re-assemble the top end because the keepers kept moving around and would lock the retainers in place. He showed me his mill and a little tool that he can put into the chuck, which compresses the springs. Then he can just reach in and pop the keepers in and release the tension on the spring. Apparently its even a piece of cake on the big block race heads that have springs rated greater than 500 lbs/in. I knew I needed an arbor press!

The other part of the build where I'm working on keeping costs down is with accessories. I didn't actually budget for a new starter, power steering pump, or alternator, so I'm hoping to spend as little as possible on them. I was certain that FRPP had an inexpensive Zetec starter listed in their catalog, but apparently that was several years ago and they are no longer carrying that sort of stuff. New accessories like that are more of a luxury than a necessity. It'd be nice to know I wasn't going to have to worry about replacing them for a few years, but I think I'm going to transfer the ones off of the engine that's currently in the car. They've still got quite a bit of life in them, so we'll keep them running. I do have a spare alternator that I decided that I would tear into and see if it was something that I could rebuild. Its the alternator that was on the engine I got from the salvage yard and it scratches something fierce when you turn it by hand. This afternoon I decided to really rip into it and see what was scratching. For once, the 1/2" impact gun that I bought came in handy. Its almost too large for my compressor to spin, but it must have some sort of clutch in it, because I wound it up, let off the trigger (which stopped the socket), put it on the pulley nut and goosed it. Sure enough, it spun that nut right off! I had screwed around with it for a good 45 minutes with a breaker bar and a screwdriver, trying to get it loose. As soon as I got into the guts of the alternator, I could see that everything was pretty rusty (hence the scratching which resulted from the finger poles rubbing against the stator). The bearings looked good on the outside, but inside were rusty and just looked bad. Its currently torn apart on my garage bench. I need to decide if its going to be worth trying to rebuild, or whether to just toss it. I polished up the back plate with my Dremel and the wire brush bit. It gave it a really cool futuristic look with the patina brushed away in places. I'll take a picture and post it at some point.

I have no real time frame for wrapping this project up. Ask Rachel, I keep getting sidetracked and work on something that I wasn't initially planning on. The exciting thing is that all I really need to pick up are a set of ARP headstuds and I can have an assembled long block. That's really going to be the big accomplishment, because at the moment, I have the block covered with a plastic bag to prevent dirt and stuff from getting into the cylinders. Once I get the head on, I should be good to leave it on the stand and enjoy it as artwork (or something like that).

Fortunately, I've been working on collecting fuel components as the build has gone along, so I have an FSVT fuel rail and injectors (which are slightly larger than the regular Zetec) and an SVT MAF and housing (which is calibrated to work with the larger injectors). The thing that I'm not entirely certain on is tuning the car. Unfortunately cars don't have carbs in them anymore (is it really that unfortunate?), so its not a matter of sitting down with a screwdriver and fiddling with the needle valve to get the car to run right. Now there are about a thousand spark and fuel timing tables that need to be altered to work with cold starts, warm starts, closed loop and open loop operation. Fortunately, the Zetec uses a surprisingly powerful ECU which actually has adaptive learning, so only a few tables need to be altered and it can figure out how to populate the rest. Part of me is thinking it would be really cool to learn how to do all of this myself, but I don't know if I have the time to learn it all and buying the software (to tune in on the street) is about as expensive as hiring a professional to dyno tune it. I'll have to see. If I come up with a new daily driver, there's a good likelihood I'll go for it and try to tune it myself. Otherwise, I'm going to see about putting in a call to McNews Automotive in Dillsburg, Pennsylvannia. Ray is the closest tuner with a large amount of Zetec tuning experience and from what I've seen, he's going to tune it the way I want it (to work well, not necessarily to make the biggest numbers).

I'm really starting to get excited about this build again. I've been excited the whole way through, but there have been a few months lately when I've wondered if it was ever going to get finished. It looks like it might finally, and possibly by the end of June, I'll be installing it. Once I get the head back, I'll try to photograph some of the work I've done lately and put up a photo post.

Commuter's view of the Economy (rehashed)

I think I need to rescind my comment about perceived economic trends in the types of cars that people drive. Since I've been working a bit later the last month or two, I have seen a few more Mercedes and BMWs on the road, and a lot more Audis. Either the economy is picking up pretty rapidly again, or I was just driving amongst a different segment of the population during my commute. However, I'll add as a side note, I have been seeing some of these cars during my morning commute as well, so it might actually be a sign of economic improvement.

Be certain that I'll keep my eyes out for emerging trends to find additional merit for my perceptions.

More Fiesta bits

Based on what's being said on the net, it looks like our model and color choices are going to be similiar to what China is getting, so I took the opportunity to snoop around and look at some Chinese Fiestas for inspiration.



This is the 5 Door "Sport" version. There hasn't really been any word yet as to whether we're going to be getting a sport version or just a basic version. I really can't see Ford only offering one trim level of the sedan and the hatch, so here's hoping.

Apparently another similiarity between US and Chinese Fiesta's will be the seats. The European Fiesta has knob adjustments for reclining the seat, whereas American customers find these knobs unwieldy and time consuming. As such, we much prefer a lever which makes it much easier to move the seat to its extremes, but makes it difficult to find a middle setting that works well.

Also, in order for the Fiesta to meet US crash standards (see my rant in the previous post re:IIHS), some external modifications were made to car that we will be getting. The inside word is that the difference will be "measureable in millimeters", but we'll see once its released. The differences between the USDM Honda Fit and the JDM Fit are fairly pronounced, which may or may not be related to differing tastes in automotive styling between US and Japanese customers.

Small Car Tidbits (primarily Fiesta Related)

The Fiesta is faring very well over in Europe. Hopefully that bodes well for those of us in the US, anxious for its release. According to Autoblog, Ford has sold 108,000 units this year alone already, with almost half of those coming in March. Not bad for a continent with a highly developed mass transit system.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/16/ford-fiesta-winning-hearts-and-minds-and-wallets-in-europe/

Other related news includes the release of www.fiestafaction.com, a website for Ford Fiesta Enthusiasts. Its being run by the same guy who runs www.focaljet.com, so its pretty much a shoe-in for being very professional and uncluttered. Most of the people on there currently are current Focus owners who are looking to get into a Fiesta for their next car, but all are welcome.

Finally, a small car enthusiast's gripe about the insurance industry: The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) put out a report last week stating that small cars like the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, and Smart ForTwo don't hold up very well in collisions with larger vehicles. Shocking news, indeed! Its no wonder that American's don't like small cars. We're still in the mindset that a larger car mitigates the need for active safety devices, like knowing how to drive and being aware of your surroundings.

Focus Update

Its refreshing to be so close to finishing up my engine build. As I stated in my previous post about Automotive trends, I try to justify the expense of my hobby to myself, but I'm having more trouble doing that as time progresses. Project cars are money pits and you can seldom throw a few bucks at them without throwing a few hundred. I don't want to sound disappointed with my car or the money that I'm spending on it, I'm not. The car is great and its going to be even greater once the new engine is installed and tuned. I'm mostly just saying that truly great cars cost money and due diligence (I like that phrase) should be excerised when building one. I have probably gone overboard upon occasion with buying parts, but this current project has stretched out over a long enough period that it hasn't seemed to be that bad.

I ordered the water pump and new oil pan that I need this morning, and I also bought a Mass Airflow Sensor that is calibrated for the uprated SVT Focus injectors that I bought a few weeks back. The oil pan that was on the engine looked like it had been driven over a rock at some point and the bottom was scraped up pretty badly. I could have overlooked some cosmetic blemishes had it not been for the powdercoat peeling on the inside of the pan. I didn't really want any of that getting up into the refreshed rotating assembly, considering the expense of the machining and the $50 for a new oil pan seemed like cheap insurance. A lot of folks recommend replacing most of the less expensive components of an engine when you rebuild for exactly that reason. You certainly don't want a $50 part to cause thousands of dollars in damage.

As I've mentioned previously, I'm still planning on doing my own headwork. I was doing a little bit of reading this evening regarding that. Most folks generally construe porting and polishing as a black art, with which I won't disagree. However, it seems like one of the more straightforward black arts; much simpler than say, levitation or invisibility cloaking.

The other new project that I've brought on is to diassemble and rebuild an alternator. I have a handful of the accessories that came on the engine I bought at the junkyard and one of those is the alternator. However, when turned by hand, it makes a pretty nasty grinding sound, so I suspect that the brushes are pretty torn up and the commutator (or its respective bearings) might be rusted. I have no clue how to rebuild an alternator, but its got to be easier than building an engine, right?

Thanks Mom and Dad for the adventurous spirit! When I get in over my head, I turn to the internet for inspiration (or cheap(er) replacement parts when there's no getting back).

The commuter's view of the economy

Being a car person, I find it interesting to watch automotive trends in the general populace whilst driving to work and back. I bet most folks don't even notice these sorts of things, right? I drive a relatively remote stretch of US30 for about 15 miles, so its pretty easy to see trends.

I've heard Dad make comments on it before; you kind of get used to seeing certain people while you're either on your way to or from work. Everyone kind of has a routine and you start to recognize cars that you see everyday. You'd wave if it didn't completely creep other people out.

That's not really what this post is about, but it kind of is. The thing that I've noticed that is most interesting is the change in the makes and age of vehicles on the road over the past, say 9 months. I used to see a lot of Mercedes and BMWs out on 30, presumably commuting between Akron and Columbus (or points of similar magnitude). Surprisingly or not, I can count on one hand the number of both makes I have seen in the last week. I don't know whether this group of people were running around in leased vehicles that were stretching them financially, so they traded down and now travel incognito in the Camry that I just passed or whether they've been forced to completely relocate to more feasible commutes. I still see plenty of these German cars floating around town, just not out on the open road where they belong. This is kind of a trend that I would expect to see in light of our economic situation; people cutting back on frivolous expenses...I've heard that the luxury car market is a buyer's market at the moment.

The trend that seems to run counter to the current economic trend is with the age of the vehicles that I see. I used to see a bunch of older vehicles (primarily Crown Vics, Buicks, and Cavaliers/Sunfires) on the road, but recently, it seems like the majority of the cars that I see are newer Mazdas, Chevy's and Jeeps. Maybe these are the people who used to drive the German luxury cars, or maybe the folks with the old Buicks finally got tired of dealing with a headliner that kept falling into their eyes while driving. Regardless, the state of the auto industry has probably been a boon to those who were on the fence about picking up a new(er) car. With a lot of attractive offers and most companies being willing to practically give away their cars to avoid huge inventories, now certainly is a great time to upgrade to a newer car.

Sure, everyone's afraid of the economy and that their company might have to lay some people off, but even in times like that, you've got to be able to see when an opportunity presents itself. Maybe I'm a little bit naive, or maybe I'm not as aware of how lucky I am to be in a segment that seems to still be growing as I should be, but the whole situation doesn't seem as grim as most media outlets are portraying it as. On a personal level, things seem like they've gotten tighter, but it seems like they have stabilized (or even rehabilitated) to an extent.

There's another trend that I've been seeing a bit more of as well. That's the hot-rodding trend. Obviously as a bit of a hot-rodder myself, I catch these cars quite a bit, but it seems like a larger group of people are driving vehicles that they've modified to some extent. I've noticed a few in the parking lot at work, especially. I can't really call it a positive or negative trend. I try to justify the expense of a relatively pointless hobby with the gratification I get from learning new skills and making things work (better?), but for people who pay other people to trick out their cars, its a lot of money to blow on stuff that makes your vehicle less reliable. The money is better spent elsewhere, trust me.