348 Engine revision/tuning plans

That was my conclusion as well. You can clearly see from the AFR graph that it's providing more fuel from 5750rpm onward, yet it doesn't bring any meaningful gain in terms of power/torque.

But my tuner was warning me not to jump to conclusions. He said the graph could also be read differently, that the injectors might be maxing out and therefore become less accurate and less efficient. Since the AFR is taken from the tailpipe, it might indicate a rise in unburned fuel due to the inaccuracy/inefficiency. If this is true, then the new injectors and a better map can provide gains.

Whatever the case, the next runs with the new ECU and injectors will give us more insights. I'll keep you posted.

 

Haltech Elite 2500. Here's a picture of the work in progress:

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The original diagrams were obtained and plotted:

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However, it turns out the diagrams are incorrect... So now the wiring must be resolved using a deterministic approach (test & check each wire). That's why it's taking much longer than anticipated. But there's still confidence it can be done.

In the meantime, here's a gratuitous picture of me driving at the Zandvoort F1 circuit last year that I discovered on a website last week :

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Many thanks for the diagram! I've forwarded it immediately to the guys working on the car. It looks like it contains more info and some different lines than the one they're currently using. Hopefully, this will help them along.

I don't know exactly what the problem was with the factory diagrams, but they explained to me they would attach the first few wires and test them, and found out that after 3 or 4 wires there were already inconsistencies. So they could not be sure that the diagram was entirely correct.

 

Yes, but less than I hoped!

About a month ago there was good progress, with the correct signals arriving at the new ECU. There was RPM and throttle position, I believe. But once they attempted to start the car, somewhere a circuit closed and the ECU went up in smoke... Since it was completely unclear how or where this could happen (all pins were attached correctly, yet on one of them voltage started coming back), it was apparent this could become a much harder and more perilous approach than anticipated. The biggest problem is the chance of smoking the ECU at every single step, then taking weeks to get a new one and make a new attempt - not even considering the incurred cost.

So 'Plan B' was devised, which is creating a separate loom for the engine and hooking that up to the new ECU, while the original computers take care of the rest. This is perhaps not as neat as a direct replacement of the original computers, but does still have the advantage it can be easily converted back to original. Also, since the new ECU will be in the engine bay (I have the battery in the front, so there is a nice little cavity to hide away a little black box) it will be easier to work on.

The new cables and plugs have been ordered and last word is that most of it has arrived. When everything is complete, it should be relatively easy to hook up, and then hopefully, it'll work and the ECU will not blow out again!

 

A little update on the project: the new ECU is mounted in the car and all the wiring done! Next up is ECU programming and testing.

The ECU is mounted on the rear left wheel well, the location where in early 348s the battery is located (mine is up front so there's a nice big space):

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The cabling - note the usage of correct Ferrari style metal clips with rubber inserts:

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With the cables tidied a bit, you have to look closely to see the difference vs. stock:

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In the picture above you can also see the original heat shields are removed and replaced by a custom made Inconel heat shield. Above this, the 512TR airboxes will be mounted, replacing the current single airbox. Since the dual airboxes will mount towards the sides (tubing from the engine will make a 90 degree turn and then straight to the airbox), the middle part will be unobstructed so from the back you'll get a direct view at the plenum.

I'm quite excited to finally get to see it up and running with the new ECU, and then of course get it on the dyno to tune it and add the new parts (not only the new airboxes but also the new injectors).

Another thing is the bucket seats. The seats are ready to go, but when trying to figure out how to do the seatbelts, it was clear that three point seatbelts weren't going to fit, or only in a very awkward way. So we decided to get four point seatbelts. The only problem is: there are no mounting points for four point seatbelts on a 348. They did make mounting points on the Challenge cars, but that was done by drilling through the firewall and then welding the points in place. To do this, you need to take out the engine (so for factory Challenge cars, they did this before they fitted the engine, obviously).

Since it's a lot of work and also a bit adventurous to do the drilling and welding (you also cannot revert it to stock at a later date), we made a different plan: behind the seats there's a piece of trim that is not flush to the back of the cabin. This cavity is just about big enough to fit a horizontal bar, extending to the original seatbelt mounts in the left and right corners - kind of like a strut brace.

This construction has been measured out, modeled and CNC milled. We're now making final adjustments and getting the trim pieces modified so it looks as if it's absolutely stock (it will look similar to 360 Challenge cars with little 'letter boxes'). Then the Sabelt seatbelts can be fitted, these are the same ones used on the 360 Modena, with the 'Sabelt' logos replaced for Ferrari ones so it will also look stock.

That's it for the moment! I'll report back when everything is hopefully up and running

 

Yes, the original plan was to have the new ECU in place of one of the the old ones (and then store the old ECU), but now we need to keep the old ECUs because the new one only handles the engine.

We did discuss making a 'black box' to keep the new ECU in and then mount that box somewhere in the area where the older cars have the battery. But the ECU is already a box itself, so it seemed easier to just mount that. I did not contemplate the mounting location, the guys working on it decided the wheel liner was the best location since that's farthest away from rain and dirt. I don't expect it will be too much of a problem structurally, since the ECU is pretty light, it's basically a plastic box with a PCB in it - nothing compared to the Bosch ones with the big heatsinks.

 

You got it, I'll put your name on the list!

Honestly, I still worry it won't make any difference in the end. I have to trust the tuners and they're pretty confident, having done 'advanced tuning' on all sorts of cars, also on cars of similar vintage (I think I mentioned the Ghibli Open Cup somewhere in this thread).

Out of curiosity, I looked up the IP rating for the Haltech. Turns out it's IP67. So it shouldn't pack up at first rain. We'll see, we can always go back and elaborate on the current solution.