A 50 year old Japanesse lady: SRL311 01228

[2mAn]

You must be excited!

A little anxious too. Parking is already a bit overloaded and another car will make it bad but I'm actively trying to thin the herd by 1

[parkerbink]

You must be excited!

[2mAn]

Aiming for first weekend in August

[parkerbink]

Looking really nice. When do you think you'll get it home?

[2mAn]

I bugged Will to send me another pic... ironing out final details now

[BlackbirdM3]

Today I did a little tuning, I adjusted the floats in the carbs, and changed the jetting a little bit. I also added a throttle return spring. After making the small changes, It was time to go climb Atlas Peak again, but this time I went further back. It inhaled some crap from the fuel tank, and quit pumping fuel, but the fix was easy, I undid the hose clamp and blew it clear. Car started right up, and down the hill I went. At the bottom of the hill, the piece of whatever blocked the pickup again, and I came to a sputtering stop. Popped the fuel line off the filter, blew it clear, and drove home. I made some adjustments, looked at the time and decided to get bold. I went up valley to Yountville. It cruised along a 58 mph (60 indicated) at 3K rpm just fine. I made the trip with no issues, so I think its time to brave taking it to work. I must say, driveability isn't ideal, but its making progress. The car also runs really cold. It never got above the second hash mark. (My car usually doesn't even run that cold)

I'm not sure the alternator is actually charging. When I pull the lights on, it shows a big jump on the ammeter but I'm not sure if its actually charging or not. (I should have pulled the wires off to see if it still ran, oh well.) The giant cloud of smoke seems to be diminishing some.


I think the hard stuff is done. Now its just a matter of finding and sorting all the little stuff out. Hopefully it doesn't give me any trouble when I attempt to drive it to work tomorrow.

Will

[2mAn]

Wow, excellent progress. Simon I bet you are dying to get this thing home. Hope you are paying BlackbirdM3 some serious Freedom Bux for all his hard work ;)

Will's Freedom would be on trumps level if it's measured in the bux he's getting from me. The convertible top will dry my tears and wash away the shame haha

[IronJoe]

Wow, excellent progress. Simon I bet you are dying to get this thing home. Hope you are paying BlackbirdM3 some serious Freedom Bux for all his hard work ;)

[2mAn]

Awesome! It's been so long since I've browsed the project section I missed this. Subbed.

What's the timeline for it to make it down to LA?

I was hoping last weekend or this one, but not surprisingly, we have had some unexpected issues pop up.

I know Will wants it out when its ready because his M3 is annoyed by this ol lady

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Awesome! It's been so long since I've browsed the project section I missed this. Subbed.

What's the timeline for it to make it down to LA?

[2mAn]

The man has a wonderful camera! Makes crap look great!

Time for some pics.

This is the brake master that I couldn't make work. It clearly has some serious corrosion.

brake-master1 by 2mAn

brake-master2 by 2mAn

brake-master3 by 2mAn

brake-master4 by 2mAn

Shift levers, one is not like the other. I'm pretty sure this is the shortest shift lever I've ever seen on a roadster.

shift-rod1 by 2mAn

It might be time for a new shift boot.

torn-boot by 2mAn

So much better.

new-shifter by 2mAn

I took the car for another spin this afternoon. Its up to just under 12 miles! The power was good, still smokes like steam locomotive. I'm still working on carb jetting. I can't get it to idle down, it hangs at 1500 rpm, and won't come down no matter what I do. There was a makeshift throttle return spring attached to the hader that I removed. I might make something up that attaches to the heat shield.

Will

[BlackbirdM3]

I just took it for a hill climb, put another 10 miles on it. It still doesn't want to idle down. Its starting to bug me. There is also something in the gas tank that keeps blocking the pickup.

That said, the last trip the car felt good. No serious bog when you hit the throttle. And oh what a glorious noise the carbs make. :bow: Still blowing lots of blue smoke when you romp on it however. I'm hoping there is just lots of crap in the rings that need to be cleared out and then they will reseat. I also got it into 4th. The brake lights are working now, still working on the turn signals. Also, the shift lever is installed. You are going to laugh when you see just how much longer the stock one is.

Will

[2mAn]

Hooray!!!!

[BlackbirdM3]

So, a momentous occasion has happened. I got the carbs sorted out, and pretty well tuned, I got it to rev well, so I figured it was time to take it for a test drive. At 8:30 pm, the car did 2.7 miles under its own power! I ran it out to about 6k in 3rd, blew all kinds of smoke everywhere. (James Bond smoke screen? ) but the power was good, transmission feels good, clutch feels good.(Likely the first time its seen 6k rpm in 3rd gear in 30+ years) The brakes didn't lock either! They were soft, but that was totally expected since I know I've introduced air into the system without fully bleeding the brakes. That said, I think after I bleed the brakes they will be good to go.

The carbs don't want to idle, but again, a known issue with the early solexes. The pilot screws have some wear as do the carb bodies where they poke through into the throats of the carbs. The rear carb is worse than the front.

It did sound like it was backfiring into the exhaust under load, as well as pinging a little bit. I'll check the timing tomorrow, I might pull it back to 18 degrees and see if that fixes it. It might also be running lean. That could explain why it doesn't want to idle, but its not sneezing through the carbs indicating a lean condition.

Will

[2mAn]

Actually, the M3 wants its garage space back. Its miffed that it has to sit outside when there is an interloping Datsun in its place.

Will

Well hopefully you can spend the weekend and the upcoming week driving the car and letting the M3 get its garage spot back. Then I can fly up the following weekend and drive it home... then I will have to kick my own E30 out of the garage haha