Engine.................STARTED :-)

A momentous occasion this evening......The engine started, and whats more seemed to purr like a kitten.

I'll be honest and say it's not been all plane sailing getting it up and running the map the Omex came loaded with did not want to open the injectors (still really don't know why), but a little help from the Omex helpline and a new cal file sent had me underway....a big thanks to Omex, their support has been great thus far, and worthy of a sticker on the side of the car when finished :-)

To recap - the ECU being used is an Omex 600 which uses one of it's aux outputs to control the cam solenoid. The function is an on/off function rather than that used on the Ford Puma which changes the cam timing on the inlet cam gradually as the revs and load rise making it not detectable. using it with the Omex means it will act more like the Vtec found on a Honda. I wired it in using a relay to be safe, although the ECU would probably have been capable of driving it.

The theory is that the cam can be switched in lower down the rev range (around 3000rpm), with the car mapped correctly (which it will be at Northampton Motorsport) should give a worthwhile performance gain........that's the theory anyway...we will see. So, in the Puma, the engine is rated at 125bhp, I've added individual throttlebodies from a gsxr750 motorbike on a homemade inlet manifold, and a decent (I hope) exhaust system...anyone care to guess what the bhp will be?.....I'm hoping for around 140bhp, and I also have a set of ford racing puma camshafts in the crosshiar when the cars through Iva and the bank balance has recovered a little.

Apart from joining the appropriate wires to the lights (that clearly can't be done until the body work is on), that's pretty much it for the wiring, I have some tidying and securing to do.

I'm pleased that I managed to keep the main loom from the puma, this connects to to the ecu via a 16 way connector, but it makes for a very neat install, and keeps the engine bay un-cluttered.

I'm hoping Mr Christmas brings me a few bits....I still need seatbelts, rear lights, some carbon panelling and driveshafts....