Fed Spec

[cellaway]

Well I’ve replaced the centre slider on the left hand side door and can now get rid of the wooden prop that was holding the glass up. Ken advised that it would require a fair bit of swearing before it ran correctly, he was right.
I’ve fitted the one way valve on the fuel purge from the back of the plenum, no change on the fuel consumption, still running rich but at least it’s something eliminated.

Now for the base timing as the pistolet stroboscopic has arrived from Leroy Merlin. 16 btdc with the engine in diagnostic. This will be a first. However the meteo is way too hot at the moment 40+degrees, hopefully tomorrow
If the timing is good and doesn’t need adjusting and doesn’t change the performance then the next move will be to take the plenum off, replace the vacumn hoses and generally clean any thing I can find.

[Tuga2112]

perseverance will get you there. it will be worth the effort. i can speak from experience.

[cellaway]

The base timing was at 6 degree, tick over at 1100 rpm, fuel consumption 280 miles from a full tank and that was driving sensibly. Hopefully now I’ve set it at 16 degrees btdc, the performance will improve. The tick over has dropped to around 950 rpm ish.

Is there any way to zero the boost control pointer apart from bending it? I’m about 10 degrees away when the engine is not running

Chriso

[TorqueHorse]

Is there any way to zero the boost control pointer apart from bending it? I’m about 10 degrees away when the engine is not running

Is it in the wrong spot even when the engine is off? Have you tried tapping the front of the gauge to see if it will fall into the right place? Other than that, all I know is to remove the gauge from the binnacle, and (carefully!) prise off the front glass from the white plastic body and then physically rotate the needle pointer down to "zero".

[cellaway]

After a test drive, after setting the base timing, the exhaust pipe looks to have a better colour, Certainly it’s a little greyer rather than pitch black

I guess I’ll have to take out the boost gauge and try and zero the pointer, either bending it or adjusting the mechanism. A gauge from this vintage should be mechanical

[Tuga2112]

After a test drive, after setting the base timing, the exhaust pipe looks to have a better colour,

yes that makes sense.
the sparks were coming too late and not burning the petrol very efficiently.

glad to hear your making progress.

as far as the needle. you probably can remove it and re-set it. but if i was you, i would leave it, specially if its not steaming the glass. onse you open it things usually get worse.

[cellaway]

I’m going to replace the front chassis cross member as I’m not too happy with my repairs, they are available and as I’ve got to replace the black air con seals with green ones to change to R 134 a gas. It would be silly not to. I thought it would make sense to spray out the stone chips on the bumper however it appears to be difficult to source Calypso Red B03. I’ll need half a ltr. Has anyone got suggestions ? Paint nuts sell aerosols and pro spray sell base coats that need a lacquer but apart from those two, nothing.

[cellaway]

Well, I’ve dismantled the front of the car to replace the front transverse beam. Apart from the normal problems with the fans, no real problems. Once you have removed the clam shell securing bolts, including the ones under the headlight motor brackets, you can lift the clam enough to slide the beam out. The new beam comes without the aluminium crumple zone matrix. Has any one removed the matrix ? At the moment, as it won’t prise out, so I guess I’ll have to cut it out of the old beam and then re glue it into the new. Any other ideas ?

[TorqueHorse]

I've only ever seen people talking about just removing that matrix because they found it was trapping moisture between it and the frame piece leading to rust. Never heard of anyone transferring it, but what you propose sounds plausible if you are able to do it without denting the matrix too much.
But they did describe it as having to scrape it out, so don't be too disappointed if you can't save it.

[cellaway]

Cheers TH
The matrix is only about 18 cm deep sonI don’t think it would do much in the event of a “front ender” so I guess it won’t mean the end of the world if it doesn’t go back in. I’ve ground off the top flange so I can get to to back end so tomorrow I’ll try and get it out with a wide bladed chisel
Chriso

[cellaway]

A wide chisel eased the matrix out so that will go back during the front rebuild. The next job is to replace the aircon black seals with green ones. Install the new drier, fit the new valves and fill with gas. I haven’t worked out how to get the old oil out of the system and the new PAG stuff in. Any ideas

[TorqueHorse]

I'm not an AC expert, but I have done those things on my car. Note, I think I still have a leak somewhere, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I used high percentage iso alcohol to flush the lines once you break them open to swap out the oring. To fill the compressor with new oil (after you drain the system), there is a refill port on the topside. I think it's a 12 or 10 wrench/socket on the little bolt/plug. Once you have it off, then get a small tube and fill it from the top of the engine bay. Have your stuff premeasured and pour it in, then retighten the plug.
Do some research but I think having a bit of the old oil left won't react poorly with the new stuff either, so it's ok if you don't get absolutely everything.
***EDIT: I was thinking of ester oil, which is what I used (but I also charged my system with R-152a).***

[cellaway]

Do you need to remove the compressor to refill with PAG ? It looks bloody awkward to get the receiver drier off but I guess that’s par for the course.

[TorqueHorse]

If you have the old R-12 style compressor, there should be a drain bolt/plug at the back of the compressor.
Attached is a picture with an arrow pointing to my drain. Also, my hand is over the top of the compressor and that is where the refill plug is.

[cellaway]

Cheers TH
I’ve just opened the drain plug, no oil ! Have you any idea how much goes in. I seem to remember that the “ book” mentions 1.7 fl oz. quite what that is in cl, I haven’t researched yet

Chriso

[cellaway]

The air con is mostly back together. I’m waiting on a new receiver drier and still have to put the new charging points on but hopefully it’s pretty much sorted. Thanks to Johnathan and Torque Horse for the advice . The front of the car is back together apart from the wheel arch protectors but they can wait until I’ve got the plenum chamber off so I can replace the vacumn pipes and give the EGR a good clean. Unless some one else has replaced them without removal but there doesn’t appear to be much room to work, Any advice ?. I’ve still got the exhaust mountings to change, which will necessitate removing most of the pipes except for the down pipe and the pre cat. I’ve tried to get the new mountings on with the pipes in situ but no chance. With this list complete we should be good for some summer use. “ It all makes work for the working man to do”

[cellaway]

Good to meet a few of the LEC on Saturday at Castle Combe. Especially Tuga, Dave Pink and Ron

[cellaway]

I’m putting the new receiver drier back before charging with gas. There’s a requirement for 60 cc of oil for a new bit. Unfortunately I can’t find out how you get it into the drier. I guess you don’t just stick into the input port. Any ideas ?

[TorqueHorse]

I'm about to change my drier too, and I was planning to pour it down the pipe that leads into the drier, going back down into the condenser. When the pump turns on, it'll move the oil into the drier and throughout the system.

Also, I'm curious what gas you are going to use, and what your vent temps are once it is running. I've done a conversion to R-152a, which should behave similar to R-12, but I'm only getting vent temps that are about 20 degrees F cooler than ambient. I'm thinking that might just be how the system was designed

[cellaway]

Well the next small issue has arrived.

I’ve got to convert the air conditioning from R12 to R134a. Change seals, change receiver drier, change condenser, change oil and change charging ports. The original Schraeder valves for charging on the fed spec, were the same size and look to be standard Schraeder valves. The new conversion low pressure adaptor screws on, no problems, however the high pressure ( red ) has a larger thread bore and obviously won’t secure. I haven’t looked at the thread yet but it is significantly larger . As only the low pressure side is used for charging, I guess I’ll have to use the original high pressure side and sort it properly when a solution arrives. I’d rather fix it now so I don’t have to mess around at a later date

Has any one else had the same problem and how did you get round it ?