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Post by Charlie Francis on Feb 19, 2023 16:03:34 GMT
Well as promised or threatened I cant remember which I said i was going to post random updates as to how my Eagle project is going, well here is the first. Car is pretty much stripped down to the bare body and running gear. A friend has pronounced the chassis sound and all essentials like track rod ends, wheel bearings, brakes etc Basically ok. So now i can start on the bit that interests me which is its re birth as the lovechild of a DeLorean from Back to the Future and KITT out of knight rider. First Job has been to fix the fuel tank rigidly in place rather than hanging it of the body ! next job will be relocating the filler pipe and adding a new fuel filler cover onto the rear wing rather than in the boot. After that its onto creating a cradle to hold two heavy duty batteries at the rear of the car between the boot space and the rear differential I was sure i didn't need any of this lot so out it went Fuel tank firmly installed in its new location (well until it comes out again to have the new filler pipe brazed in and the old filler pipe hole blanked off) just a general pic of the "beast" Attachments:
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Post by Charlie Francis on Feb 19, 2023 16:44:07 GMT
Well as promised or threatened I cant remember which I said i was going to post random updates as to how my Eagle project is going, well here is the first. Car is pretty much stripped down to the bare body and running gear. A friend has pronounced the chassis sound and all essentials like track rod ends, wheel bearings, brakes etc Basically ok. So now i can start on the bit that interests me which is its re birth as the lovechild of a DeLorean from Back to the Future and KITT out of knight rider. First Job has been to fix the fuel tank rigidly in place rather than hanging it of the body ! next job will be relocating the filler pipe and adding a new fuel filler cover onto the rear wing rather than in the boot. After that its onto creating a cradle to hold two heavy duty batteries at the rear of the car between the boot space and the rear differential I was sure i didn't need any of this lot so out it went Fuel tank firmly installed in its new location (well until it comes out again to have the new filler pipe brazed in and the old filler pipe hole blanked off) View Attachmentjust a general pic of the "beast" View Attachment
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Post by Charlie Francis on Feb 19, 2023 16:50:43 GMT
and a couple more pics for good luck the first shows the touch screen (grey) that will be used to control most of the cars functions. I'm still going to keep the stalks on the steering wheel but everything else will be done through this screen. The black screen above is for the camera's Front, Back and Sides. No wing mirrors, just camera's and below is the brains, battery management system and main electrical distribution, the plan is to be able to "power" the car up as well as open and close the doors remotely, either via an app on my phone or a couple of RF keyrings. Everything like switches and signals to the lights, windscreen wipers, heater etc, including the ignition stop/start will be via "nodes" throughout the car. The whole system is based on a PLC (programable Logic Controller) as used throughout industry. Once the layout is finalised and some nice leathercloth is glued to the Board the whole lot will then go behind the seats. Well that's the plan
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Post by chrisbailey on Feb 21, 2023 12:21:32 GMT
That is a lot of hardware. Are you a PLC programmer by profession? Ive only played with ladder logic when I was in college. Will be an interesting project.
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Post by Charlie Francis on Feb 21, 2023 17:18:08 GMT
Chris hi Yes I did write PLC logic professionally for a good few years along with, Automation Project Management and other tasks. I'm now an automation consultant working in the food industry. The item on the top right is an alternator to battery charger, this tricks the alternator into thinking the batteries are flat. So the Alternator puts out full charge for longer, so meaning a quicker charge cycle. The item on the bottom right is a split battery charger, As I'm having two batteries, one for cranking and ignition, the other battery will handle everything else. The larger white box to the top right is the PLC, to the left of it is a 4Ch wifi and rfid switch, this will allow me to power up the system and open/close the doors either from a key fob or my phone. The black thing below the 4Ch switch is a Ethernet switch (minus its guts) to the right of that are primary fuses and relays, below those on the bottom left are two banks of sub fuses, the grey coloured things bottom middle are 12vdc to 24vdc converters (PLC and remote I/O boxes are 24vdc) and finally the black thing at the very top with the orange sockets is a WifI router that will have a SIM in it so it will attach to the GSM mobile phone network. Hopefully it will all work as i plan Still getting the hang of posting on here hence the slightly disjointed diary and pics above
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Post by Peter on Feb 27, 2023 10:20:00 GMT
Blimy and I thought mine was complicated but in fairness I am not in that business and it was a suck and see effort on my part. I used a transponder module to switch on the door circuit and power to the controls so no phone, no opening of the doors etc. All my relays for the doors and LED show lights also behind seat. I hard wired a remote for the 4 way relays to 4 buttons on the center console rather than hard wire all the ay back. I think I should have taken the time to hard wire though. Every circuit went through the connection board behind the center console, in hind sight it was a bit over kill and I could have wires things such as lights and indicators directly in a loom.
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Post by Charlie Francis on Feb 27, 2023 10:31:00 GMT
Very impressive. For me I'm merging different technologies that I'm used to and have used before. All be it in different situations. The PLC comes from my work experience. The Battery Chargers and Battery wiring comes from stuff I used on our Narrowboat, and the phone and keyfob stuff is all Chinese hardware for home automation.
Once I get nearer the time I'll be very interested in where and how you mounted the door actuators, I'm a bit worried about stressing the doors and body by applying all of the open and close force in a very small area.
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Post by Peter on Feb 27, 2023 12:56:22 GMT
The original mounting on the doors is halfway up the window area and pushes the bottom of the door out, not a problem with actuators as they actually pull the door in but not so good with gas struts that push but on the Cimbria the mounting is about 6" form the hinge line, I made a bracket from an alloy section I bought on eBay, a bit OTT but solid, there is a 3mm thick alloy plate inside the door molding with 'Rivnuts' in using M6 counter sunk screws. The lower mount was determined by the closed position of the actuators which have an 8" stroke and is about 10" above the sill but the doors do not lift enough at that so I was going to use 10 stroke units and hope the doors will lift higher, Only problem with putting the struts/actuators further up is the door twists as the weight of the door, about 25Kg, makes the front drop so it hits down first and then slides forward, there is a YouTube of it working, a bit noisy but in the open not too bad, Linek units or SUV tailgate unit would be better.
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Post by Charlie Francis on Feb 27, 2023 14:50:11 GMT
Thanks for the reply, pics and information, much appreciated. Did you do anything about the locking mechanism in the bottom of the door. Or did you leave it with the original manual handles, it sort of becomes obsolete with a actuator, but i wonder if it might make the door a bit insecure when driving ?
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Post by Charlie Francis on Jun 26, 2023 18:19:46 GMT
Well its been a while so thought id do a quick update, as usual life has gotten in the way and progress has been slower than id have liked, but at least there has been progress Various holes in the bodywork have been repaired and filled, fuel tank has been refurbished and the filler line repositioned and the tank is back in place and piped up to the new external filler cap. The battery box cradle has been manufactured and fitted in place. The brains of the beast are nearing completion, the layout of the board that will be behind the seats has been finalised at last and 80% of the wiring completed. It has been temporarily powered up and the remote I/O nodes connected, I have also proved the "theory" of the WIFI network and the use of the RF key Fobs. So next steps are to complete the wiring of the brains and then fit the board permanently into the car, not before carpeting the rear bulkhead behind where the Board will sit, then its a case of running the various Ethernet and power cables out to where the nodes will be installed. After that I think I'll connect all of the steering wheel stalk switches and prove all of those signals get to the PLC all ok, then its wire up the starter motor, distributor etc and see if i can get the engine to start again.
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Post by Charlie Francis on Jun 26, 2023 18:25:58 GMT
and some more pics (maybe)
or maybe not
"Unable to upload file IMG_1222.jpeg.
Error: This forum has exceeded its attachment space limit. Your file cannot be uploaded."
Ehh ?
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Post by chrisbailey on Jun 26, 2023 18:42:31 GMT
You will need to use an image hosting service and then just embed the BB links in your posts.
You can use imgur or vyg.me, there's many others too. The forums memory is all used up.
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Post by Charlie Francis on Jun 26, 2023 20:21:42 GMT
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Graham Wood
E.O.C. Chairman
Webmaster
User name = RAM
Posts: 534
Location, Town please: Southport, U.K.
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Post by Graham Wood on Jun 26, 2023 22:16:45 GMT
Charlie, Better get some spring loaded wheels under that box behind the rear axle ! !When the rear axle bumps upward, and body and chassis lower; it's going to hit the floor.
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Post by Charlie Francis on Jun 26, 2023 22:26:10 GMT
Hopefully not, I guess time will tell.
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Post by Charlie Francis on Feb 28, 2024 19:36:03 GMT
Well like everyone else its been a while since i posted any updates on here, but things are progressing all be it as slowly as ever. So The Board that i talked about previously is now the cars brain, its completely finished and installed behind the seats, it even has led lighting built into the trunking, for visual effects. All of the main power distribution and Ethernet communication wiring is installed including cable management in the "tunnel" where the prop shaft runs The Starter motor is wired up and will turn the engine over All of the steering column switches are wired up and giving inputs to the PLC The Dashboard "node" is all built up and ready to fit under the dashboard The Dashboard now has a hole in it to show of the "node" above.
So next Jobs Wire in the heater blower motor and add some linear actuators to move the damper position on the air box and the bypass valve on the heater water flow pipework. Wire up the windscreen wiper motor and windscreen washer bottle pump Add the wiring in for the indicator repeaters that are going to be fitted down the side of the car Wire in the solenoid for the starter motor and the ignition coil Connect all of the above to the dashboard "node"
After that's all done then its put some fuel back in the tank and bleed the system and see if i can get the engine to fire up. After I've got the engine to actually run again, its then a change of skills and fir the twin side pipe exhausts.
If I'm incredibly lucky I can get all of that done prior to the national kit car show I can at least load the eagle on a trailer and bring it down as a WIP
Photos to follow
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Post by Charlie Francis on Feb 28, 2024 20:05:49 GMT
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Post by Charlie Francis on Feb 28, 2024 20:23:33 GMT
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Graham Wood
E.O.C. Chairman
Webmaster
User name = RAM
Posts: 534
Location, Town please: Southport, U.K.
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Post by Graham Wood on Feb 28, 2024 22:24:07 GMT
Good work, but where's the toaster ? and the slots to put your money in to make phone call ?
( for us old guys on here ( public phones )- no button A or B incorporated.
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Post by Charlie Francis on Feb 29, 2024 8:56:03 GMT
Mmmm hadn't thought of adding a toaster I'll look into it, as to a phone, well it will have hands free calling, as there is a SIM in the router on the little parcel shelf at the back
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Post by Charlie Francis on Feb 29, 2024 8:57:05 GMT
does anybody know the resistance of the Ballast resistor for the ignition coil ?
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