engine and drivetrain megasquirt install time

[madhaxor_3]

Hey I was wondering how long it took some of the megasquirt converters to put everything in? I have most of the parts just need to talk to Tom at 02again and get some of the parts he has. I ask because I don't have a garage, but I do have those neighbors that call the cops the second they hear a jack rolling or tools clanking. So I asked a friend if I could use his shop and lift but he wants to know how long it would take cause he needs the space for work. He said about a week is all he thinks he could spare the space for around Christmas time. Any info on the average time(and most common delays, ie. tuning/megasquirt errors, timing issues, whatever might come up) to install would be great.

Thanks

P.S. I'm not a mechanic but have replaced engines(on other cars) and the head gaskets and all the wiring in my 02, but I don't know much about tuning(megasquirt web site will help) so the learning curve shouldn't be to bad for time delays on this one....I wouldn't think???

[JHG762002]

I am currently in the midst of doing the install myself. It has taken a lot longer to install than a week, but I have a space and no time constraint. I don't see any reason that you couldn't physically install the system in the time you have available. The caveat is that you would need to have everything and I mean down to the last hose clamp you need on hand and ready to be installed. When you start having a clear plan will be essential. You may want to break it down into sub-projects and try to give yourself a reasonable time frame to complete them. If you are planning on having anything machined (are you running EDIS, i.e. trigger wheel) or fabricated get that done before you start. You will need to know where and how you are going to route wire, throttle cable/linkage and fuel lines etc. or you will probably waste too much time figuring that stuff out. If you haven't already a good way to get ideas for what works is to search the project blogs to see where and how others have installed the system components. I can't speak to tuning and trouble shooting as I am not there yet, hopefully in a couple weeks I will have gotten through those issues. But you should at the very least have a msq ready to install.

It sounds like we have about the same mechanical aptitude from your description. So to try to give you some perspective here is a comparison. Shortly after getting my 02 I worked under time constraints like you have. I had about two weeks before the shop I was using closed for good. I completely replaced the suspension, steering components, engine and installed side drafts. I spent many 12 hour days and a couple all nighters to get it done. In the end I posted a desperate request for help on the FAQ in order to get it buttoned up. I still owe a debt of gratitude to Jerry for his help, thanks again Jerry. All in all that was easier than the megasquirt install has been. The most time consuming thing with this install has been the learning curve, if you already know efi systems than you are well ahead of where I was when I started.

Good luck with the project

J

[beast02er]

If you are electrically handicapped like me, never It took me 2 years to give up. I had it running and driving (not TOO well), and then something happened and I couldn't get it to start. After a month or so bashing my head trying to figure out WHY, I wanted to drive the car and put the DCOE's back on. I put on a custom ITB set-up though, so a little more finicky than the 318 manifold etc.

Having said that, i'm back for round 2, this time getting the engine running on a test stand first ( this is for my new project, 66' Cortina GT with a modern Focus 2.0L engine Duratec)

GOOD LUCK!

-Bryan

red73

[Guest Anonymous]

I have taken my car off the road for the Megasquirt install. I don't have a time challenge for this. I am experienced in mechanics. Those in WA maybe we could get together to help each other?

[Guest Anonymous]

I have taken my car off the road for the Megasquirt install. I don't have a time challenge for this. I am experienced in mechanics. Those in WA maybe we could get together to help each other?

[JohnC]

It could be anywhere from one day to one month. As J said, if you have carefully planned and have all the parts ready to go, that's a plus. There is a bit of a learning curve with Megasquirt. How much time have you spent reading the Megamanual? The better you understand everything the quicker the install will be.

Do you have your throttle linkage/cable worked out? If not, that can consume a fair amount of time. Assuming you're buying the other bits from Tom at 02again, you won't have to spend a lot of time fabricating the VR sensor bracket for the EDIS. I had a bit of trouble with EDIS, and had to reverse the wires from the sensor to the controller. It took time to troubleshoot. TPS is another issue. I believe Tom has a bolt on solution, but if not, you'll have to make an adapter.

Have you relocated your battery? What year is your car? If older, you'll need to run a fuel line. How about your fuel pump? More fabrication/installation issues...

Just routing and dressing the wiring can take time, it just depends on how effective you are in planning. Me, I fumbled around quite a bit because of lack of planning. I changed things on the fly, and reworked things several times.

All in all, I estimate that I spent maybe 60-70 hours (and maybe more!) once I got the engine installed and started to install the MS stuff and associated wiring, fuel line etc. If I knew what I was doing, it would have gone much faster. On the other hand, I did spend an awful amount of time reading and re-reading the megamanual, so I was fairly well prepared as far as understanding how it works, but you really don't "get it" until you get your hands on it and configure and tune the system.

Bottom line: There's a high degree of probability that you'll wear out your welcome with your friend unless you are EXTREMELY well prepared!

[Grover]

I'd say a week is doable, but not easy. However, depending on the quality of the job you want at the end, you should do a lot of prep work ahead of time. Personally, when installing mine, I knew that I wanted it to look as close to "factory" as possible. I did NOT want ugly wires all over the place, cheesy brackets exposed, etc... So, since my car is my daily driver, like you I lined up two weeks (one week to pull the old motor and prep the engine bay, the second week to drop in the new motor and install and fire up all the MS stuff) and then spent a lot of time in advance getting everything lined up. As another poster mentioned, it's the small stuff that takes time: making custom brackets for the throttle cable, installing new metal fuel lines, figuring out a bracket to hang the fuel filter, all that kind of stuff that isn't glamorous or obvious, but takes time to do it right. If you have the space, I'd really encourage you to lay EVERYTHING out on the floor in something close to the orientation it will be in the car. Personally, I even started assembling the wiring harness and attaching the wires to the sensors, injectors, etc... since again, these small things add up in terms of time if you want to do it nicely with shrink tubing and stuff. If you are interested, drop me an email off line and I can send you the PowerPoint presentation that JohnC and I presented at this years Bay Area 02 meet in Brisbane. While not exhaustive, it is a good intro to MS and may have some info that you'd find helpful. Good luck

[madhaxor_3]

WOW! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! To everyone that posted responses already(and those of you who probably haven't seen this yet and will post). This is my first real post and I can't believe that I got this many usable responses in 1 day. Again thanks. You've all given me things that I've overlooked, dismissed as unimportant, or thought were unnecessary to change.

The car is a 1975 2002A<--I think that's the automatic designation(not auto anymore though) and some other extras. I do have an aftermarket fuel pump, but i think it's pressured for a carb(LP) I dont know. With that I ran a rubber fuel line in the car, again don't know the rating for it. Would stainless or some other type of metal be better? I'll keep searching cause some people have very detailed posts about this from what I've seen in the past few years.

I think I'm going to start a project thread so people can follow along and help point out the stuff I miss or help me figure out what I messed up in the process. If those that have replied, will reply, or know what to do and just read want to follow along that would be much appreciated.

Thanks again!

Mark

[bluedevils]

Tom, I would like to have the file for reference as well since I am about to start to tackle MS conversion. Youcan send it to al@psych.duhs.duke.edu

thanks in advance.

[JohnC]

Mark, I'm in Socal, you're welcome to stop by and check out my configuration. Then I can talk you through some of the details. Shoot me an email.

[SkidMarc]

Madhaxor,

Best of luck with your MS implemenation. I'm looking forward to following your blog charting your progress.

I'm planning a Megasquirt install next spring. I've got most of the stuff already, but the more info the better. Grover, please send me the Powerpoint presentation too. My e-mail is mdspiceratyahoodotcom.

Thanks,

Marc

[madhaxor_3]

I will definitely be contacting some of you guys soon. I've labeled all my wires and started lay out runs with length guesstimates for now. I'm waiting on the relay cable and I still have to order the EDIS sensor mount, dist. plug, ect, ect from 02again. I would have already but money started to fly out of my pocket landing with other peoples problems (tis the season for giving.....or losing whichever way you look at it). I should be ordering by the 16th so it'll be here soon. Hopefully before the 24th so I can get onto those lifts.

Oh yea please send me any info you guys have on anything. Tuning, mounting, wiring, breaking(well fixing the break), anything. I really want to make sure I get this right on the first shot. Oh yea and I dug up the 7+ year old pics of the car, now I just need the scanner and you all can see the Little Beamer(<--this is what my friends call me Beamer but spelled a little different) Beater, kinda works to have the 2002 with it's bimmer name.