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With lots of help from the fine folks in the Speeduino discord, I finally did it! I am pleased to report that although it still needs some literal fine tuning, it runs better than it ever has during my ownership (April 2024). Ignition and fuel injection are batch fired by the standalone ecu and it drives :)
Here are are a couple videos, the first start with custom ecu and another video after a bit of tuning of me drifting in the snow :)
https://drive.proton.me/urls/QR2PRYMJB0#91RWAfXSkRoZ
There were a few different changes that I had to make to solve some of the issues that popped up along the way. I will be doing a full write up (somewhere?) on this project including many pictures, videos, CAD models, products I used, and whatever else. I will update this thread when that is finished.
Was it cheap? no... I spent lots of money I wouldn't have had to if I had known certain things. Ex: I ordered the trigger wheel I designed in stainless steel the first time, ~$40 USD mistake (It's not ferrous, so the sensor didn't pick the teeth up and I didn't have a usable RPM signal)
Would I recommend it? Probably not, if I had to guess, this project is for a very specific kind of person; That being said, I want to provide as much information as I can to assist anyone else who is interested in doing this, hopefully save them from some of the pains I experienced.
Was it worth the pain? Given that I chose this pain I am obligated to say yes. Now that its running and driving, absolutely. That being said, this is my only car, and having it down for nearly 3 months really sucked. I ended up having to go back to a food service job near my house that I could get to without a car. I burned through my savings messing with this car and getting it running. My stepdad let me use his car quite a bit and as a side-affect, I ended up how to drive a manual transmission. I greatly appreciate him for lending me it so often, it made my life a lot easier. When I bought this car, I didn't really know much about cars, but I wanted to learn about them and how to work on them. I had heard good things about old Volvos. How naive I was. For better or for worse, I ended up getting exactly what I wanted and I know my 940 pretty well now. There was a select couple long, cold nights when I was wiring and whatnot and this car broke me. I was yelling at the top of my lungs out of frustration. (I suggest living in the country if you're going to employ that strategy, I do not.)
I want to say that although I always had heard that you can get away with few/ cheap tools, it is surprising how much I achieved with what I have. I asked for a socket / wrench set for my graduation gift, as well as some other stuff. Say what you will about Harbor Freight, but I got the cheapest wire welder they sold, an auto dimming mask, a spool of wire (that still hasn't run out to this day; I don't weld too much), extra tips and other accessories for the welder and a couple of grinding discs for about $250. For my needs, that is amazing.
I would like to acknowledge a few people for helping me out and keeping me going through this project and helping me to see it through. My mom and step-dad were always rooting for me and offering an extra pair of hands when they thought I might need it, reminding me to take breaks and drink water. They also let me borrow their cars quite a lot since I didn't have enough wisdom (or money) to have two cars. My girlfriend Anna, although she doesn't know much or care about cars, has been encouraging and hopeful throughout the course of this project. A few of my friends: Caden, Frenchy, Keagan, and Noah. They kept me company which was very welcome, especially once it started to get cold. Keagan lent me a diesel heater to use in my garage which helps a ton. If hell wasn't so hot, I bet wiring in the cold would be a punishment for some particularly deviant sinners. I would also like to thank the folks in the speeduino discord, namely ggurov, Joesphan, paleppp. When I wasn't having much success, they gave me things to try and helped me diagnose as well as solve problems.
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Nathan Micklatcher
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