Woohoo!

        Two posts in less than a week?! Yeah, that's right! The build is getting some momentum since we're getting closer to being able to drive this thing. So what has been done? Mainly fine tuning, but I was running into an issue of a high idle. Now my tachometer is temperamental and only works when it wants to (probably due  to some of wires I just found twisted together under the steering column...) so in the last video, it was idling very high (the video doesn't do it justice) and judging by my ear, it sounded around 2,000 rpm with it climbing up and down to the 2,500 rpm range with it cutting in and out and it wanting to die out. Also, when pushing down the linkage or the accelerator pedal, the throttle doesn't snap back down but instead slowly climbs down the rpm range back to the high idle. So what do we do?

        While there was down-time at work this week, I researched tons of information about Webers and the issues I was having and after work (thanks to the time change and having more sunlight). I was able to tinker around. I thought I figured it out when I noticed the idle speed screw was on the other side of the Weber (duh!) and I forgot to switch it to the other side when I moved the linkage stuff. Although, I don't think it made much of an impact (still important though!). 

        Next, I've read that the slow rpm drop can come from the butterflies within the carbs can bind on the side or it can be any part of the linkage. I basically disassembled the whole linkage assembly first and moved things individually to see if there were any tightness or sticking anywhere. I found out through trying to slide the levers (pictured below) were actually not completely straight! The main offender was the middle lever, but all three had to be straightened out in the end. I tested it out by sliding them left and right and also how easily it flipped back and forth from the carb side to the engine side of the linkage. Tightened everything down and tested it. Boom! Snaps right back with no sticking or binding and it didn't even need the return spring that I had added! I still attached the return spring because it's better to be safe than sorry, I think.

Was pinching on the left and right side on the linkage bar

       I felt like my timing was too advanced because of how high the idle was no matter how I adjusted the Webers, they simple would not go down. I had marked with a paint marker the initial starting point just incase I wanted to do a reset. I retarded the timing by just guesstimating (bad, I know but no tool at home) and went to see if it would crank over, but almost forgot to reset all the Weber idle mixture screws to baseline (turned in, clockwise, until it gently bottoms and then turn out 1.5 turns). I have two videos of the process. Not really technical, just going based off my ear. The guide I followed said it should idle rough like a tractor so if it wouldn't idle and die, I would need to adjust timing or the screws or both. I decided if it won't idle at 2 turns to advance the timing a little more, but I got impatient when my starter was acting up, that I was going to advance it a little more. The rest can be seen in the videos. (Note: I put two fingers up signing I'm 2 turns out and later a 3 for 3 turns out, which is in the okay range I've read. Videos are too long for Blogspot so you have to click the links).

Video 1                  Video 2

        

       This video is right after everything is kind of set up. I still have to sync up the carbs and maybe adjust things here and there but it's pretty smooth right now! I had to shut it off because it's still relatively loud and my neighbors in their apartments probably hate me already from the noise the past few days plus the gas/exhaust fumes. It was around 7 at night so I wanted to be respectful to my neighbors so I can continue doing cool car stuff. Also, my old door locks won't unlock all the way (have to unlock going through the rear hatch) and the car came with two different keys which is one for each for the driver and passenger side. The driver side bent one when I was testing it so I went ahead and ordered new ones which came with a key that can unlock/lock either side and a spare. Much better than fiddling with 4 different keys.... especially with doors I use every time I drive.

       Door locks will be installed soon! Will probably install other goodies I have next time as well and will also need to order a new starter as this one is getting worse (and probably wearing out my ignition and key haha). Until next time!

Opps.

     A lot has been done on the car and I honestly forgot I even had this blog until I wanted to write about what I've done...haha. Not many photos were taken as I've become lazy about documenting what I have done to the car. I wish you all have not lost hope on me getting this car running and driving. Time has slipped by quickly and balance with life is sometimes difficult. The following is what has been done in the long time that I haven't updated:

     The expansion plugs on each side (8 of them total) have also been replaced, which was a lot more difficult than I thought! I had the help of my brother to get the really tricky ones out. I had to bribe him to help, but in the end it was worth it. Filled the car with coolant and squeezed the upper radiator hose to check for any leaks and to get rid of any air bubbles. Turns out the rear freeze plug at the back of the head has a slow leak... oh man. It's going to be difficult to replace that without removing the head or lifting the engine and neither sounds too appealing to me effort and time-wise so I might just pay someone else to do it later when I can drive it to a shop.

      I'll save you from the boring photos such as repairing existing wiring or wiring in a new fuel pump as there are countless write ups on  how to swap those (green was power and black is ground, done). I've deleted the mechanical fuel pump as I suspected it was going out as well as the previous electric fuel pump due to it not preventing vapor lock in the uphill climb when my brother and I had picked up the car. It has been replaced by a new electric fuel pump rated to 3.5-4 psi to deliver fuel to the triple Webers which have been re-routed with new fuel lines as well.

     Speaking of Webers, the Webers and other parts I installed (intake and exhaust manifolds) are now on the Z. The intake manifold had a difficult time lining up with the existing bolt/stud holes on the new head with the exhaust manifold flanges there. I dremeled  the exhaust manifold enough on both the front and rear runner to get the intake manifold to line up correctly as I've heard this to be quite common with the MSA 6-1 header. No gaps for exhaust leaks as of yet, which is a massive improvement since when we picked up the car it had a huge exhaust leak toward 6th cylinder when I bought it, which made Erik (my brother) not appreciate the ride home especially in the heat. I guess he didn't like smelling like exhaust afterwards.

     After fixing all of this, I found out that the relays for the electric fuel pump only turns on IF the car is idling. Not too much of an issue, except when you don't have a mechanical fuel pump, which runs when cranking. As part of helping prevent accidents from turning into huge fireballs by continuing to pump fuel to the carburetors to a possible existing fire, it shuts off when the car is not idling. I'm not one to deal with chance, so with the off chance I do get into an accident in this car, I don't want the chance of me (or any passenger) catching on fire. So I had to find a way to be able to put fuel into my NEW (empty) carbs without opening them up to put fuel in to start and prime everything, because if the fuel in the floats dry after not driving for a while, I don't want to do that every time. Turns out I could disconnect the oil pump switch, put the keys to the ON position, and manually push the relay switch to get the fuel pump to prime after I charged up the battery with a battery tender, that was gifted to me by my girlfriend ^_^. With the triple Webers primed, I was now able to start my car! With no experience with carburetors and too much excitement, I wanted to try to crank it and if it ran rough, it would run rough, but maybe it will run. Tuning the carburetors could wait.

She finally ran! It was really rough and wanted to die out, but she finally ran.

     She finally ran. I was so excited and happy. The exhaust was bolted on but not the muffler which is why it ran so loudly. The video did not do it justice as this was LOUD! After a week of being hyped, I was excited to get the Webers tuned. I've read up on how to tune and it was confusing but I'm slowly getting there and understanding more and more each day. I was able to get them running smoother (or so I thought).

Running a little smoother

    First "drive" was done by my girlfriend, who helps motivate me to get working on the car so we can go on a cruise down PCH. The brakes and transmission working just fine, which is a good sign! Still need to work on the brake lights and tune the carburetors better to get rid of the high idle. I thought the exhaust sounds alright, but the sound of air rushing into the carburetors sound exactly how I thought they would.

     Car is sounds like it's running better now to me, but still has a high idle which I think I figured out how to fix. It will all sound much better without the high idle, which I plan on fixing soon, I promise! It's exciting to see where the car is heading and finally making good progress. Only a matter of time until she's road worthy!