Starting a 1973 restoration, Restoring a left for dead $500 914... Options

[FourBlades]

Thanks for the tips, Ken, I will open it up and see what is going on.

I still have to finish the interior and do some tweaking, still some eletrical issues.

My brother is visiting and we took the first ride with the top off, awesome.

The Tangerine header and muffler are on the loud side for a street car but sound
really nice.

I am talking to a soda blaster about doing the IMSA car, I hope to tear into it
big time next month.

John

[McMark]

Ya know....

You talked about photography awhile back. Why don't you post some more recent pictures. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

Last time you posted pictures was under an Easy-Up. Give us some proof it's moved. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

[FourBlades]

First time out of the backyard!



On the shore of the Indian River.



I need to seriously start carb tuning. The motor does not make nearly the power
I know it can. My oil pressure is over 80 psi on startup, I need to check it when
it is warmed up. I may go to a 150 psi sender and gauge.

I can take my hands off the wheel at 35 mph and the car goes totally straight. I
have only done an eyeball alignment so I am pretty stoked. I was worried the
car would be bent up from all the welding. I plan to get a Porsche dealer
alignment soon.

Those are 6x16" real fuchs with 205 kuhmo tires. The rears fit with 1/2 inch or more
of clearance. I think the fronts rub at full lock. These bigger wheels and tires
make the car more modern and aggressive looking in a way I like a lot. With
Bilstein shocks and 180# springs it is very comfortable, not harsh at all.

I want to take some really good pictures when it is a little more finished.

John

[Gint]

Looks great! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[dlee6204]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) The car looks AWESOME!

[McMark]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[RiqueMar]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

So I guess this means we will see you out here for WCR, right? Yeah, thats what I thought! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drunk.gif)

[watsonrx13]

Great job John.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

-- Rob

[FourBlades]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

So I guess this means we will see you out here for WCR, right? Yeah, thats what I thought! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drunk.gif)

I would love to do that but it would be even crazier than restoring the car in
the first place.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

John

[arkitect]

John,
Cool job, you are definitely determined. I am currently working on a 70 teener project with its share of rust issues.

I like your roll over wood device you made to work on the floor pan. Been thinking of making a rotieserie (sp?) but don't know with the long damage would cause additional problems from spinning it. With a roll over frame probably put a lot less stress on the body.

Hopefully I can achieve the same level of success as you.

Dave (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[FourBlades]

I am having a problem with my new 80 PSI VDO oil pressure gauge. I have the
matching 80 PSI sender with two terminals. I have the sender grounded. I have
the gauge grounded. I have switched power to the gauge. I have tried both of the
terminals on the sender. Either one causes the gauge to bury the needle past
80 PSI and never come back until I disconnect everything. So is this gauge or
sended just f-ed up? I think the sender is reading 245 ohms with the engine off,
did not get a reading with it running. I used the 4500 PSI grease gun extension.
What am I doing wrong?

I also measured each of the barrels of my carbs with a synchronometer. With
the car warmed up and a steady 1100 rpm idle, each barrel reads 11 mystery
units steady. I am guessing Blake balanced these before sending them to me
from Jake's. I need to start dinking with my cross bar linkage next.

I smell a sweet exhaust smell around the car after idling for a while. I think
this means it is running rich, right?

John

[FourBlades]

No one has any idea why my oil pressure gauge is not working? Do I need to
ground the gauge and the sender to the same place? Some gauges measure
the voltage difference in a way that requires all the grounds to be at the same
level.

Drove the car with a friend today and had a great time. I think the engine is
making more power the more I drive it and follow the break in procedure of
varying the RPM as much as possible.

John

[silver74insocal]

if you measure the continuity between the 2 grounds and you see a short, there is no difference in them. seems weird to me that both the gauge and the sender are grounded, check the wiring diagram that came with the system (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)
if not point me to it on the internet and we ll get it figured out. Dave

[FourBlades]

My engine was not making the kind of power I expected it should. Someone
suggested I try pulling each plug wire one by one to make sure all 4 cylinders
were firing. I am thinking, yeah right, but sure as hell only 2 cylinders were
firing, and on the same side of the car!!! The engine has about the same power
on 2 cylinders as my stock 1.8 has on 4...

I read on the world about someone having the same problem, where one side of
their engine was firing and the other wasn't. They switched their carbs
from one side to the other and the problem moved from one side of the engine
to the other. I spent an hour or so this evening doing the same thing and
had the same result!!!

Now the other side of my engine is firing and sounding pretty good while
the formerly working side is doing nothing.

To me, this means the problem is a clogged carb. I pulled some of the jets
and sprayed liberal carb cleaner everywhere but still got nothing.

Tomorrow I will take the whole carb apart and clean it. I noticed the float
bowl area was coated with some kind of white, spongy crap. These carbs
sat for 12 months after being test run, so I guess there is varnish
or residue somewhere in there that keeps them from flowing any fuel during
idle and part throttle application.

The accelerator pumps do shoot fuel on WOT so some fuel is getting in
there.

Anyone have any tips on how to clean this type of carb and which passages
must be clogged to get no fire at all in the two cylinders? I have two weber
books but you all must know some good tips.

Thanks...John

[914Tom]

hi john,

before you fiddle with the carb.
when your car is running for a while, take the sparkplug on the 'not firing' side out and look at it.
if wet, i think you should better interchange the sparkplug's and wires, maybe you have a ignition issue ?!
have you look the distributor cap, is the inside OK, maybe the contacts ar rotten out or the are green, this means also no spark ?

my 2c about, 1 hope to get my teener running next summer..

TOM

[FourBlades]

Tom,

I'll check all those things out, I did not think of that.

John

[ChrisFoley]

Maybe a stuck float in the carb that isn't working.
Better stuck closed than open though.
Weird that it lets enough fuel in to operate the pump jets but doesn't flow freely.
You can usually fix a stuck float with the carb in place. Unscrew the top plate and lift it up so you can see/feel that the float moves up and down, then screw it back down and re-test.

[FourBlades]

Chris,

I'll check the float valve out. That is a good idea. I pulled out all the jets and
unclogged them. The big ones on the top were righteously clogged but the
others looked ok. Still nothing.

I wonder if just enough fuel bleeds by the float valve to work the accelerator pump occasionally but not enough to get siphoned constantly into the venturi?

I think the float valve inlet is mostly clogged.

John

[McMark]

You should probably take both apart and clean them. If there's corrosion crap that clogged up one, chances are the other one is possible as well. Better to put in a few hours now, and avoid days of headaches later. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

Get a couple of tinfoil roasting pans from the grocery store and you have a nice clean place to put all the little parts as you work. You just need to pull all the jets out and the cover off and spend some time squirting carb cleaner down all the jets and orifices.

[FourBlades]

I am going to go through both carbs one at a time as you suggest. It is really
rather surprising that one is working and the other is not.

John