A reverse snuff video. Hmm, your giving me ideas for a nother video, this time of turd 280
Bonnet cable and sticky throttle, two things I can't forget.
I'm going to do timing today and do some poking round. I'm actually glad you experienced the cough/backfire. It kinda means I'm not dealing with any new problem. There's heaps of stuff that Ian typed up on carbs in general so I'm going to have to revisit that. It's a cold and crappy day too so no painting for the moment, I'll start on the engine (keep me hands warm).
It might be me... or it might just be these engines, but it sounds a bit "cammy" in the video...
Did you change the oil during your ownership of it Cam? If so what oil did you put in?
Until I have time to do the tappet adjustment and timing chain in whitey I've put in extra thick oil which has quietened the tappets a good deal - the sound is still there but its quite muted now. Drop me a PM if you want details of the oil.
I think if you check your spark plugs, timing, mixtures, and oel pressure and water temp are all within spec, take it for a bit of a spin and then make a decision on whether to put the Holley on...
I know I hear you Michel. I just need it to look the same hue. Different coloured panels are going to stand out like dogs.......ears in a bad way. Eventually I'd like to go with that red scheme but I also like the idea of traditional racing silver too. But I'll start off white. The paint is so thick in some areas and falling off in a couple of other areas along with bog where it has cracked. It's more of a practice without worrying too much about finish. to do it properly, it would need a back to bare metal rub down, no doubt about it. If it was the 350, whole different ball game.
Re the oil, it's as black as. I'll change it soon. I'll do a flush first then get an intermediate before spending $ on good stuff. I've also found that the brake master cylinder has been changed to the type that most of you would be familiar with, ie single chamber reservoir compared to the earlier two chamber reservoir. The wiring for the dual sensors is there but obviously only one connected. I discover something new everyday, almost.
For now, I put another couple of coats of paint on the panels. I wont be doing the whole car unless the panels look passable. I also spent ages on the wiring but didn't get far, still haven't solved the non working LHS park light. I also made the brackets for the fan. I was going to do a full boxed shroud and thought I'd practice on some sheet metal off the wrecked bonnet. Apart from being a little too small it weighed a tonne so I just made small brackets to support the fan which are ample. Got the fan temporarily going for a test and it didn't move whilst the fan spun up and down. Will take it apart again tomorrow for painting of a few parts amongst other things. I'll start putting some serious thought on how I want the fan to switch on. Works a treat but I reckon perhaps nothing outrageously more than the OEM engine mounted fan.
Oh BTW, you may notice the car has moved forward. I put small 11's in the garage . I also remebered to put a new bonnet cable in. Still have to fix sticky throttle though I haven't experienced it yet.
Finally went for a test drive this evening ;D I got jack of trying to get the paint perfect that I thought if I'm going to retouch the whole thing, might as well whack the panels on and go for a drive. But there was more to it than that. I've had two solid days working on the car and there's still so much to do. A couple things I've learnt about the body stuff. Again, suface preparation has such a big impact on the finish. Secondly, I can see why paying a pro is worth the money (presuming the pro is a pro in every sense). You know, quality workmanship etc.
Other things done today, replace brake caliper and pads on front right. You've all seen the flatspot Cam created on the left side, I thought it strange that there wasn't the same on the right front considering Cam stood on the brakes when skippy jumped out in front. I've also noticed in the past couple of days some kind of liquid leaking on to the front right tyre. Pulled the tyre off and sure enough, the caliper was leaking and coating the disc with fluid. So I pulled a caliper from the brown 280 which was different so far as the pad pins and retaing spring was different, put a thick pair of pads in, washed the disc in petrol to clean it and it now works tops. I also replaced both front tyres with ones of the red 280. The last thing I did before the panels went on was replace the tie rod arm on the LHS. I think my wheel alignment now needs adjusting :
So now, the vids and pics -
The first video is of the test drive. I'd be interested to hear what people make of the bunny hopping in 2nd gear in the "2nd takeoff". Is it clutch, carby, something else?? It drives alright and although it sounds fantastic, she aint that fast i think, but I've yet to change anything, still haven't done timing let alone shed some weight.
The second video is the fan fully completed. There was a relay already installed by an autoelectrician presumably when R134a was put into the a/c. After searching for wires and thinking about what I was going to do I thought I'd try my luck with the wires previously attached to the aux fan. At best it would activate when the a/c switch was on, maybe. Better!! The fan turned on when the ignition switch is turned to II ;D It's brilliant. I mean, a stroke of luck really, I didn't have to rewire anything, just reattached the existing wires to a female plug I pulled off the brown 280's cruise control which clicked straight onto the male prongs of the fan.
Performance wise, without fan and at idle, the temp went to 96-100deg C. With fan, it was below 80degC the whole time.
Test drive
Fan
Close up of fan finished. The gloss black I painted it with ended up hammertone :-\ more to do with me cleaning the surface with thinners when the paint is actually acrylic. Thought I would've learnt that lesson by now
A pic of the fan wire and the pulled apart plug from a cruise control actuator
Brake fluid on the inner right front tyre
The reason there was no flat spot on that tyre. Disc is coated with brake fluid
Replacement and bent tie rod
Blurry view from the front
Blurry side view. Hmm, we had friends come round just before this and commented how the colour scheme resembles that of a Lebanese taxi. Smart asses.
Before the test drive - The young fella makes slight camber adjustments Nah, he was removing the mudflap ;D
OHHHHHHHHH YEAH!!! Great to see the ol' girl back on the tarmac!
So.... she's not that fast?! The carby could definitely be something that might help?! Eg.. cleaning, swapout for a holley etc.. Then maybe some ram air effect etc.. But prior to that, you need to get a tacho in there, and see if you're utilising the max of the rev range..
I know with the 450 when i had the big clock I would wind out 1st gear (holding it) till bout 65-70km/h, and by engine sound I thought it was cranking... now with the tacho I can push it to bout 85 in 1st (at flat redline) and past it to just over 6k where I hit 2nd gear at 90-95km/h.
Great info bout the right brake caliper... now I know.
Tie rod replaced, awesome!
HAhahaha... Lebanese taxi, only more pimped and much faster!
Are you gonna crank the rest of the painting before rego, or have a crack at getting it rego'd first?
I think the tuning has a long way to go so I'll retract the "it goes slow" comment for now. I haven't even screwed the dizzy on tight yet.
As I said too, my guess work of aligning the steering is way out. Both tyres scrubbed on the inside from the 1km test last night. I see what you mean about that 1st into second gear change and will investigate it. I'm sure too that I'm not revving it out like I could or should.
Also, the front upper control arm left side has perished rubbers. I'm going to replace that, might do both.
I'm thinking about getting the paint finished beforehand but I'm also looking at paint schemes too. The current issue of Unique Cars have pics of 70's muscle in simple but effective 2 or 3 colour race schemes. Even a hack like me could apply one of those liveries I reckon But the hint of a single GT stripe will make the rego inspection that much harder to pass IMO. At the moment I'm 50/50 about rego'ing at all. Purely for the cost factor and that money could best be spent on other supplies. Plus I've got a paranoia about the blue slip people that they'll pick it to pieces. Still got to sus it out, but I want to make sure there's nothing mechanically wrong.
The brake thing was a bit of a surprise. Wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the leak appearing on the tyre. I thought maybe the leak may have occured on the night with skippy but it just looks too old, too much and grimey. The accident may have just exacerbated the problem so it showed up on the tyre.
Do the rubbers for sure!! I'm doing all of the rubbers on ol' silver this week...actually MB spares are doing them but either way.. Should firm everything up! Definitely hold of on any race stripes till you do the rego check...if you do do it.
I'm hearing what you're saying about the saving cash for things that could be more usefull....entirely true!
Cool, you've discovered the 1st - 2nd 'clip'. see how it goes, i'm sure there's some sorta adjustment can help that...
That way you keep the enormous "I know what time it is!" clock in situ and mount this thing on yo steering column...
Cam and I use the stock tachos, but I tell you something, with a decent sports steering wheel in place its hard to see... Keep the clock for when oscarette calls to ask when you'll be home from "those stupid races" and get a tach you can actually read.
I never doubted you It's just one of those things that although I've read it on the web and books etc, it's really driven it home after trying my hand at this respraying game. Part of me wants to start again, which wont happen. I know I wont be touching the 350 at all until I build a bit more confidence and build a makeshift spray booth.
For the gearshifts, it was only a couple of nights ago and it seems so distant. I was concentrating on too many things in such a short time that I can't remember what I did and what it felt like. Really have to fix the suspension and realign the steering before I go for another test.
Ian, funny you mentioned the clock. I wanted to rig it up somehow for oscarette's bedside table I've also thought about going tripple gauge too as you make a real good point about the steering wheel. My leather one's centre is offset so it sits higher. Still does bugger all for visibility of the tacho and speedo.
If this is the number one thread based on views it's my fault. Probably just me constantly checking in and stopping anyone who walks past me whilst I'm near a computer and me saying check out my race car
Plus I've kept everything in one thread until it's finished
The suspension - didn't notice anything wrong as such with handling especially since I was concentrating on the steering. Obviously I can't wait to put tight springs in but it's just the rubbers I want to check out and replace like this upper control arm. I thought I posted a pic earlier but didn't.
If this is the number one thread based on views it's my fault. Probably just me constantly checking in and stopping anyone who walks past me whilst I'm near a computer and me saying check out my race car
Plus I've kept everything in one thread until it's finished
The suspension - didn't notice anything wrong as such with handling especially since I was concentrating on the steering. Obviously I can't wait to put tight springs in but it's just the rubbers I want to check out and replace like this upper control arm. I thought I posted a pic earlier but didn't.
Now the upper control arms, where are those actual bushings?? Are they under the guards? I'm dropping ol' silver in to MB Spares on thursday for an overhaul / replacement of all the front end bushings to firm the f*kr up. Also getting the steering box overhauled. What sorta coin do the bushings cost through online suppliers? (yes i'm too lazy to look it up..)
In regards to the springs / firming etc.. I should have some custom King springs (1st run) done within the next 2 weeks. They'll be lower, firmer and speccy. Bout $500 all up (I hope). You could also go the other route of clipping the springs a little and seeing how it goes...
Speaking of which, Ian have you 're-adjusted' your springs yet??
I think I'll trim springs first just for the hell of it. If I can shed a few hundread kg's off the car (I plan on weighing everything I take off), shorter OEM springs should become stiffer, I hope. But new all round and little body roll would be awsome to achieve later on.
The upper control arms are right up there in the inner guard. That perished bushing, there's two separate ones there. The two bushings perished are on this page, first product image. Need 4. I think the sway bar bushings are also stuffed which are the second product on that same page.
A new upper control arm looks like this below. The sway bar to control arm bushings go in that hole visible.
Here's a pic I also took the other day, you can see where the front left upper control arm is mounted and the bushings coneecting the sway bar is visible at the bottom of the pic. I got a bunch of bushings and mounts replaced in the 350 in one go by my mech in Wagga and that part of the job came to about $1000. Beforehand there was a clunk in the front when you let go of the brakes. Thudding in the back as well. Subframe mounts front and back plus some ball joints, control arm bushes..... Not everything but there was a lot replaced.
See how it all goes. I'm pretty sure the upper control arm bushings will need doing.
I'm guessing with a total overhaul of all the bushings things should become nice and firm anyway.
Back to the painting part... say I was going to do a rough (read, very rough) job of re-spraying my car with a new scheme. Short of going to hard core, what do I need to do (in point form) to re-spray a section, let's say a door.
Eg.
1. Sand back to bare metal? (does it need to go all the way back to bare metal?)
2. Obviously I need rust treatment / protection of some sort - what should I use? (brand / price would be awesome!)
3. Get the equipment, paint etc....
4. Practise, then spray the door?
Maybe I should start another thread for advice, but thought since you've got a big chunk of it here, may as well continue it..
Cam, after the strip to bare metal on the two panels and front section, I basically just went enamel surfacer/primer first (a few coats) then the enamel white on top.
However, the rest of the car will be sanded down a little with a random orbital sander and fine grit paper then the topcoat, the same white enamel, over the top. Later when I decide on a proper scheme I'll just do the same thing.
With ol' silver, if it was mine and considering the finish doesn't have to be perfect and with the clear coat just about all gone from memory, I'd remove any remnant of clear coat, lightly sand as I'll be doing to povo, then spray what ever colour you want on. Prep surface first before painting by washing, rinsing, drying, then maybe a prepwash thinner. But don't scrub the thinner on, it'll remove the base.
Having said that, I'd recommend you perhaps start a repainting thread to see what the experts say. Remember I'm just a hack with hack advice but it would be interesting to hear what Michel, Parks, sclass or whoever else would have to say because I honestly don't know how compatible the metallic basecoat would be for a couple of topcoats of enamel or even acrylic or a 2K finish. I'm assuming that previous coats on povo is enamel and hopefully wont have chemical reactions taking place when I overspray it.
