Canadian 1984 244 DL B21A/B6304 project log.

Ok, winter project time!

I'm going to be switching to Speeduino soon, and one of the companies that supports the system (DIY-EFI.co.uk) has come up with their own 'core' module that incorporates the Atmel processor from the Arduino Mega256, and all the main functions that the standard DIY Speeduino kit offers. It's seriously tiny, and I had to have it...because I am addicted to this stuff.

So, in order to use it, a daughterboard needs to be created. This module's main function is to be used in custom PnP projects, but since my 244 came carbed, there's no harness to adapt to. The MS2 harness is being pulled out and a new one will be made, which will plug into this new ecu. The daughterboard I made has a 42-pin TE Junior Power Timer connector and fits into a Hammond 1455N1202 case (the standard one that everyone uses). The stencil is mostly a joke between a buddy and I, but hey...I dig it. The bluetooth header is under the CORE4 module, and is set up to allow connection with a USB cable without unplugging the BT module.

Ha, I just noticed that my thread title has changed slightly. Thank you, whoever you are . I have no idea how long it's been like that, but I'm grateful for the edit, lol.

Well, it's winter. Too much hassle to work on the car because it takes too long to warm up the garage, and my wife's car is in there anyway since we can get by with one car for the cold months. No room to work.

I've been busying myself with other stuff, like building Speeduino boards (up to three now), building another POI-shift box, and poking away at some simple paddle-shift code for an Arduino with an OLED display. I'm really not a coder, but so far so good, thanks to the internet. It's compiling, and early versions seem to do what they're supposed to. Once I see the code do what it's supposed to, then I'll get to work on the relay shield .

Well...I went a bit far with the shift box building...



This one is Arduino Nano-powered, has an OLED gear display, and fits in a 52mm gauge body. Everything was tested and working on the bench, so fingers crossed I didn't screw up the PCB layout. I'll find out this weekend .

Broke4speed said:

Well...I went a bit far with the shift box building...

This one is Arduino Nano-powered, has an OLED gear display, and fits in a 52mm gauge body. Everything was tested and working on the bench, so fingers crossed I didn't screw up the PCB layout. I'll find out this weekend .

Click to expand...

Damn.
I'm impressed. Though I'd expect nothing less based on the rest of this thread .

Thanks man . It'll be the first time I've done any SMD soldering, but the components are kinda 'big' so hopefully it goes well.

This is coming together really nicely .

@Broke4speed, how is the 240 running?

Sadly it hasn't run since the fall, when I put it away for winter.

It was running great until then though, haha.

Broke4speed said:

Jeep TJ 'Ravines', 15x8 w/ 25ET. 25mm adapter in the rear and 15mm adapter in the front. 205/55-15 BFGoodrich G-Force TAs (yeah they're old, but they were free). I trimmed 10mm out of the rear arch lip, but it's not low enough to even warrant it. They may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I dig the look .

Click to expand...

Really digging that look!

Thanks! The Jeep wheels worked out wayyyy better than I had hoped .

Since 2020 has been...bizarre...I decided to cheer myself up a bit and dig the car out of it's storage spot in the garage. It usually doesn't come out until april or may, but on top of the apocalypse virus, all our snow melted early. Seriously, last year we had a couple feet of snow at this same time. I'm pretty lucky to live in a small rural town of 200 people, so the whole social distancing thing isn't really a big deal. Everybody talks to each other the same way they always have...by shouting from the road or across the yard, lol.

It was also just nice to go outside. I really needed that.

Haha. Right on, as far as the snow goes, same here it’s melted and I’m itching to get busy on the car. Keeping busy with cleaning small bits that’ll make a big difference in the end. Glad you got a chance to pull yours out. Looks great!

Thanks! I think we're all going a bit cabin-fevery, but better times are ahead...eventually...I hope, lol.

Until then I'm busying myself with all the small jobs I've been putting off...like 3D printing a better vent pod for my 60mm GPS speedo . Ignore the ricey blue shift knob, it's for my daily driver Subaru automatic. It needed a bit of colour .



I'm getting started on pulling out the MS2 and ****ty self-made harness in order to begin with the Speeduino install. I can't really go anywhere, so now's a good time to immobilize the car.

Those JEEP wheels look right at home on that 244..... one of my favorite 2 series 4 doors on TB!

Eventually, you will need some dyno data from the straight 6 whiteblock. If I've missed it, apologies.

Holy moly, thanks man!

If the world ever returns to semi-normal, I'm going to try dynoing this summer. There's a local shop that I could buy a few pulls at.

So, since boredom is my new reality...I'm making things! First one was this: A USB type B panel mounted into a 3D printed switch blank.



The next one I didn't get a picture of yet, but it's along the same lines. It's a 2.1amp/1amp phone charger mounted into a 3D printed switch blank. Since Amazon is starting to focus more on important supplies (which is fine IMO), I couldn't get one of the pre-made ones to work with so I gutted a cigarette socket charger and made myself a custom one.

Yep, quarantine...isolation...flatten the curve...might as well work on the car!

Old MS harness out. The Speeduino is going to get a nice new one that doesn't look like a blind monkey made it.


New 60mm vent pod for my GPS speedo.


The traditional 3D printed cupholder, with a bit of a remix. Now I can use it for cans as well as coffee .

I've had plenty of time to work on the car, so that's what I've been doing...sorta. Motivation is slow, and my mood isn't always great. It makes me feel better do to something though .

A t̶e̶r̶r̶i̶b̶l̶e̶ artistic photo of the dash, showing the USB port for the Speeduino ecu and another switch blank I made for a dual phone charger port. This is before I got rid of the terrible shifter (image to follow below...)


The Amazon chinese fusebox for my EFI components being built. Yes, I cut myself doing wiring...I bleed very frequently due to attention issues and sharp objects. My wife makes fun of me, but she secretly loves the scars (I hope).


The Speeduino ECU and the finished harness .


Now, I love automatic transmissions, and the A340E/AW30-40E family of boxes most of all...but I have always hated the ugly shifter in the 240s. I decided to get rid of it, and while it was more work than it should have been...I'm stoked on how it turned out.



The shift ball may not be perfect, but I dig it. I designed it in Tinkercad, with the recessed letters, printed it in ABS, set it in an acetone vapour bath to smooth it out, and filled the recesses with paint in a syringe. Home made fun in these strange days .

The Speeduino install is off to an awkward start. Apparently, when making my harness, I didn't bother double-triple-quadruple checking my work...and had to de-pin the connector to reposition everything. I THINK I didn't fry anything, because the voltage and WB gauges are responding properly in Tunerstudio, and the fuel pump priming is happening exactly as it should. Tomorrow I'll do a bit more work on the harness and see if I can get a few other sensors going.

I was originally just going to solder the harness to the various connector pigtails, but I happen to have the right size JPT terminals here, and they fit PERFECTLY in the old euro/bosch style connectors from my original mess. I'm going to try to make this one with as few solders/crimp connectors as possible .

More (self-inflicted) Speeduino issues it seems. I accidentally switched a couple of traces on the PCB I designed, so I am not getting an RPM signal. I'll have to cut the traces and add a jumper wire instead, which I don't really want to do...but I also don't want to have to wait three weeks for a new PCB to arrive. Ah well.

To help pass the time in quarantine, I bought this to use as a many-parts donor for my 84. It's a 1993 model with A/C, ABS, heated seats, heated and power mirrors, power windows, etc etc etc. Black interior, non-cracked dash, OEM rear deck speakers, OEM big front door speakers, basically all the good bits I would love to have for my car. It's fairly rust free, with the exception of a few soft spots underneath, so now I'm torn. I've already got a daily I like (07 Forester), so I can't justify a fourth car in the driveway...but...

I'm now running Speeduino. Not much difference between this and MS2, really, but they're dirt cheap to build, have more processing power than MS1, and have a great open-source community (much like MS used to have, back in the day).

Plus, I like changing things for no reason, and this was cheap.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X85FA53HqXs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Yes...I know I should have filmed it horizontally. I boomer'd up .

[edit]The white car is getting stripped of all it's goodies so I can replace/add cool things to my 84. Can't wait to get started .