Piggyback ECU on ford boa 24v

[davegtcoupe]

Hi does anyone know if a piggyback ECU will work on a ford boa? My mate is thinking of putting a turbo on his and stand alone management is quite expensive. I can't seem to find any info anywhere. Any help would be appreciated

[mk2cossie]

You used to be able to buy a tweecer add-on chip, that goes in the expansion port on the EEC IV ecu. That would give you much more fiddling ability than a piggy back (and no wire chopping!)

That said, if it was me doing it, I'd just bin all the old Ford wiring loom and run an Emerald K6. More than enough tinkering on that, and lots of useful functions too.

A few on here have had good success with Megasquirt or Microsquirt as well, but I'm not that clued up on those

[melle]

I've just soldered a Speeduino v0.3.7 DIY kit for an injection/ ignition retrofit, which is very cheap. There also is a version that is intended to replace existing ECUs (v0.4, kit or built).

[Phil H]

Defined “quite expensive”.

Speeduino - from £250 new. Newbie to the scene, uses Megasquirt principles but with the code converted to Arduino. I see a lot of problems reported but don’t know if that’s dodgy code (there seem to be new releases more often than a new Microsoft OS), dodgy boards (there are a lot of different ones) or idiot users who think plug and play really is that..looks to be a mixture of all 3.
Megasquirt - tried, tested, matured and proven. Snubbed by some due to its high DIY content. £350 upwards bit old enough to be available second hand from £100 upwards. Pick your version carefully though - older ones are limited on what they can do for ignition.
Emerald/Omex/DTA - the “professional” option from seasoned companies who have been doing it for years. £750 upwards for new, but again a good s/h market (£250 upwards). Not all can easily do forced induction though..
Many, many others out there have I’ve not mentioned like Weber Alpha etc.

[comfortablynumb]

Mk2 son is fitting a BOA in his capri
We’ve bought a microsquirt dedicated management system which was just over £500, but includes everything he needs to make it run, and it’s programmable
Not got to the stage of building it and starting the engine yet, but it appears quite easy

[davegtcoupe]

May 26, 2020 19:44:02 GMT Phil H said:

Defined “quite expensive”.

Speeduino - from £250 new. Newbie to the scene, uses Megasquirt principles but with the code converted to Arduino. I see a lot of problems reported but don’t know if that’s dodgy code (there seem to be new releases more often than a new Microsoft OS), dodgy boards (there are a lot of different ones) or idiot users who think plug and play really is that..looks to be a mixture of all 3.
Megasquirt - tried, tested, matured and proven. Snubbed by some due to its high DIY content. £350 upwards bit old enough to be available second hand from £100 upwards. Pick your version carefully though - older ones are limited on what they can do for ignition.
Emerald/Omex/DTA - the “professional” option from seasoned companies who have been doing it for years. £750 upwards for new, but again a good s/h market (£250 upwards). Not all can easily do forced induction though..
Many, many others out there have I’ve not mentioned like Weber Alpha etc.

I don't have all the info as I'm asking for one of my mates but from what he told me the prices are in and around £1200. I can't seem to find any used set ups for sale at a good price either

[welshpug]

I have a DTA S40, they retail at £550,(got it on ebay from america for £400) made my own loom with about £60 of parts and wire.

You would need an S60 though as the S40 only has 2 ignition and 2 injection outputs, the S60 has 8 of each.

[Phil H]

A DTA is cheaper than I thought then!

I might have been a bit pessimistic with my prices but if you find a £750 one for £600 it’s a bargain!

£1200 seems like a plug and play one with conversion boards etc - or drive in/drive out - or someone doesn’t really want to do it!

The more you can do yourself, the cheaper it is and if you want something pin compatible to plug into your (Ford) loom I doubt there’s a BOA/BOB solution off the shelf. That could be where the £1200 comes from? Despite the number of conversions using it, I’ve not seen (but I’ve not been specifically looking for) one for that engine.

[ChasR]

May 27, 2020 8:28:34 GMT davegtcoupe said:

May 26, 2020 19:44:02 GMT Phil H said:

Defined “quite expensive”.

Speeduino - from £250 new. Newbie to the scene, uses Megasquirt principles but with the code converted to Arduino. I see a lot of problems reported but don’t know if that’s dodgy code (there seem to be new releases more often than a new Microsoft OS), dodgy boards (there are a lot of different ones) or idiot users who think plug and play really is that..looks to be a mixture of all 3.
Megasquirt - tried, tested, matured and proven. Snubbed by some due to its high DIY content. £350 upwards bit old enough to be available second hand from £100 upwards. Pick your version carefully though - older ones are limited on what they can do for ignition.
Emerald/Omex/DTA - the “professional” option from seasoned companies who have been doing it for years. £750 upwards for new, but again a good s/h market (£250 upwards). Not all can easily do forced induction though..
Many, many others out there have I’ve not mentioned like Weber Alpha etc.

I don't have all the info as I'm asking for one of my mates but from what he told me the prices are in and around £1200. I can't seem to find any used set ups for sale at a good price either

It's not just the DIYness for why people snub MS, it's also the fact that limited rolling roads are happy in using it. Most will be more familiar with the setup of DTA/Emerald etc. Sure, they may be able to tune MS, but time is money...

Add ECUMaster into the mix. They seem to have a decent rep, but have a wideband controller built into the ECU. Quite handy.

£1200 will be for someone installing it and dyno-ing the deal as well I'd have thought. I'd imagine you'd need to change the MAP sensor for one which can read positive pressure/boost as well. Some firms will make a conversion harness. I know a few dealers of ECUMaster will do this for you.