Caterham Blog
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Purplemeanie on The Express Website
A quick post to say I got a mention in an article posted to the Express Website: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1362578/classic-kit-car-restoration-vehicle-build-garage The journalist, Luke Chillingsworth, had spotted my build video on YouTube and contacted me for a few comments. The conversation resulted in the article. Here’s a couple of shots from the article.
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Build A Caterham 420R in 30 Minutes – YouTube Video
YouTube timelapse post condensing the Caterham 420R kit build into a 30-minute video, with the build archive and transcript context.
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Softbits for Sevens Boot Cover & G-clamp Hack
Note from Future John: The following post is a better way of doing this… Well, one thing led to another! So… for a while now, like many, I’d ditched the Caterham full-hood and have been using the Softbits for Sevens Half Hood (https://www.softbitsshop.co.uk/the-half-hood-8-c.asp). The half-hood is great, perhaps not as water tight when it’s tipping…
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Lowflying Article – If Only Caterhams Could Talk, June/July 2020
Background post for the Lowflying article that adapted the Caterham ECU diagnostics work into a broader explanation of CAN bus and MBE diagnostic data.
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Driving Clifton Suspension Bridge – YouTube Video
This is a quicky… The weather was good and we were coming out of lockdown, so decided to get the car out for its first small run of the year. The Video I took a much longer run to get fuel and out from Bristol to Leigh Woods, Failand and then back into Bristol over…
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Lowflying Article – Nervous Novices, April 2020
It was Brian’s fault! The local Bristol and Bath AR (Area Representative), Brian Hall had suggested my name to the Lotus7.club track-day co-ordinator Simon Maitland. Simon was looking for someone to do a piece in Lowflying (the Lotus7.club monthly magazine) about how good the club’s novice track-days are. Brian knew I didn’t mind putting pen…
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ECU Diagnostics – part 14 : Software Framework mbe.py
Introduces the Python mbe.py framework for sending requests to the Caterham MBE 9A4 ECU and formatting diagnostic responses into readable values.
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ECU Diagnostics – part 13.3 : MBE-ISOTP
Describes the MBE ISO-TP style protocol used by Easimap to request data from the Caterham ECU and turn the responses into useful diagnostics.
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ECU Diagnostics – part 13.2 : OBD-II
Summarises what standard OBD-II services and PID data the Caterham MBE 9A4 ECU supports and how that data appears on the CAN bus.
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ECU Diagnostics – part 13.1 : MBE-Broadcast
Documents the MBE-Broadcast protocol, where the Caterham ECU continuously emits CAN bus frames containing diagnostic data once the ignition is on.
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ECU Diagnostics – part 13 : Three Diagnostic Protocols in the MBE 9A4 ECU
Introduces the three diagnostic protocols found on the Caterham MBE 9A4 ECU: MBE-Broadcast, OBD-II, and the MBE ISO-TP protocol used by Easimap.
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ECU Diagnostics – part 11 : Logic Analyzer on the CAN Bus
Uses a Saleae logic analyser on the CAN bus to validate Caterham MBE ECU diagnostic code and compare captured traffic with expected requests and responses.
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ECU Diagnostics – part 10 : Decoding EC2 Files
Starts decoding Easimap EC2 files so Caterham MBE ECU CAN bus responses can be translated into useful human-readable diagnostic values.
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ECU Diagnostics – part 8 : Easimap uses ISOTP (sort of)
Examines Easimap CAN bus traffic and identifies ISO-TP-like message framing in the way the software talks to the Caterham MBE ECU.
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ECU Diagnostics – part 7 : ECU Maps and Mapping
Explains ECU maps and lookup tables, using Caterham MBE engine management as the context for how sensor data becomes control output.
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ECU Diagnostics – part 6 : Reading Material
Notes how The Car Hacker’s Handbook helped frame the Caterham ECU diagnostics work, especially CAN bus, ISO-TP, UDS, and request-response protocol ideas.