I got sick of not having a key for my red FB.... So I made one with a tiny file





FYI that door on the key hole is a TOTAL bear to re-install

 

Thank you, sir.

Low HC and high NOx would usually mean I'm a bit lean... but in the backwards world of thermal reactors, it may mean that it is in fact running a bit rich, letting the TR get hotter than normal & thus leaning the resulting gases. Plus, we're still running winter-blend fuel here (oxygenated). & the smot tech let me pre-heat the car just before the test run (per the factory specs) by running 3k for three minutes.

The last plugs came out very clean, with only a small amount of light ash on them. & she's got a fresh all-brass cap and rotor, fresh oil, clean ignition connections and a fresh air filter.

All in all, I'm totally pleased with the way she's running.

Now, I need to find a competent shop that can do a proper two-wheel alignment.


What I did today (yesterday) involved paper mache'. But it will probably involve plaster and gauze next.

 

What did I do today? I got some gas and drove it!

The wideband said the primaries were too rich at 10.0 at part throttle. I couldn't really look at it when I opened the secondaries.

It has a slight flat spot as the mechanical secondaries open. Then it gets crazy.

One of my goals was to break them loose in gear on dry road. It did.

What did I do after the test drive? I swapped in some 130 jets for the primaries. Then I looked around for some bigger secondaries and found a broken drill bit in the pile that measured out to 2.08mm. Hey, that's close enough to bad83's recommended 200 so I drilled a set of spare jets.

Something weird happened to the carb after shutdown. Divindriver, you may have experienced this: The accel pump became totally empty and the float level went way down. There was only a little bit of gas in the bowls that needed emptying before the jet swap.

I don't know what happened. Kinda weird. So I test ran the engine only, no driving yet, and let it fully warm up. Then shut it off. I'll check it tomorrow for bowl emptying. Oh one other thing I did was to remove the float bowl solenoid's spring, as I suspect the carb is flooding itself after shutdown when a temperature differential occours while the solenoid is in its resting position (held out by the spring when power is not applied).

 

My nemesis... Seems to happen on a hot shutdown if there are issues with the bowl venting system, like a clogged charcoal canister or a vent valve that won't open. Pressure caused by vapors above the fuel level in the bowls forces fuel out the jets. Usually takes from 30 minutes to an hour to mostly drain the bowls

Several times I've thought that I've solved this, only to have it come back later. I think modern fuel formulations, especially winter fuels, are more prone to it due to higher vapor pressures, but that's just a guess.

 

Drove to work! The poor thing's been covered with snow for the last week, and the first day of spring is just right.



There are things I'd like to do before DGRR, but none of them essential. She's running well, and I'd rather drive than tinker.

 

Odd games with plaster and cloth in the garage tonight. Not sure how it's gonna work out.

 

I had some degree of success by taking out the vent valve spring. The float bowls weren't empty today, but just kinda low (slow external leak caused by a set of one-time-use copper crush washers that have been reused during jets changes). But now the inside of the carb hat smells like gas. Not a lot, actually, but kinda reminds me of the older carbs that just had an open vent meant for a chacoal canister built into the air cleaner lid.

I also did a little more test driving today. Looks like I'll go ahead and swap back to 160 secondaries. The 150s work but a little lean in boost. Otherwise the carb is just about there. To make it perfect I'd get a set of 120s for the primaries just to have some precision drilled jets in there, rather than my hand drilled ones at 118. Oh and I think the long brass screw above the accel pump with a 30 on it is leaking a little causing a very small delay in accel pump shot*. This will sometimes happen when you increase the pump shot volume and duration giving you a little seepage up there under the gasket.

*The other possibility is simply the boost is pushing the fuel back down the accel pump nozzle. It could be happening.

 

Tonight: Aluminum foil and Great Stuff. Also, sanding.

 

Back to making the MAZDA badge for the rear of the car. I was cleaning the flash off of the clear badge with a belt sander and now that one is in pieces in the garage when it shot across the room and shattered. That is what I get for trying to take shortcuts. Here is a black one I cast a few nights ago and I have cleaned up the flash already. Top is the mold, middle is the original and bottom is the one I cast. I think it came out nice.

Because I have a black car I never liked the black badges. I am thinking of doing another clear one and then hitting the back of it with aluminum paint to give a contrasting color scheme.

 

Sure its not the middle one that was cast?

Looks nice either way.

 

Nice work Doug! I'm making a new set of plug wires using the MSD plug wire kit. Getting the lengths exact for a much cleaner look under the hood. Just need to find some nice plug wire holders to complement the look.

 

The middle one is the repaired master still attached to what was the bottom of the foam form with double sided tape. There were walls that I cut away around the rubber mold when I demolded the master. If you look closely at the bottom one you can see the impression of a dust spec in the mold on the left leg of the letter M and what I think might have been a bubble on the right edge of the diagonal of the Z. Very minor stuff though as I would certainly use this part on my own car.

Thanks!

 

huh? you scare me sometimes lol

 

I put 60 miles on it and swapped out the vinyl high back seats for some vinyl/cloth low backs. Better posture, and a sleeker look.

The rebuild now has 315 miles on it. No troubles as of yet except for the intermediate chugging feeling, which turned out to be a disconnected vacuum line. Once repaired it runs smooth as silk.

 

You should talk to my neighbors...

Kids won't come NEAR my lawn.

 

The foil-and-great-stuff experiment was partially successful, but good enough. Poor resolution in the corners.

Next try: plastic bag, vacuum cleaner, and more great stuff.

 

It's more of a: It may go on my 7, may go on my MR2 (somehow..lol), or may be resold for $500-$1500.

I picked this up off a Peterbilt at the scrapyard today for $150!

 

Hah! Going for that kiwi/Aussie style, eh?

 

Bought this to possibly drop in

 

Troll.

 

Just can't afford to rebuild my engine the way I want. So I'm swapping out to the v8

 

No offence but if you can't rebuild a rotary engine. What makes you think you can swap a V-8?


Yes, I'm feeding the troll.

EDTI: ok I miss-read. You said "afford".... Because all the suspension/custom exhausting/custom driveshafts/ rear ends/ fuel delivery things are cheaper than a junkyard Tii engine that you take apart and bridge port. (I'm assuming thats the "power road" rebuild you're reffering too)

 

I actually finally painted my LE snowflakes gold. At least the faces anyways

 

So, the bag/vacuum/GreatStuff experiment was also unsatisfactory in result, though somewhat better than the foil trick. GreatStuff is just not dimensionally stable enough, & ends up with too many large voids.

Project's kinda stalled until I come up with a new idea (without spending a fortune). & get a little more free time.

/headscratch

 

Cussed it out as I'm trying to figure out why it won't start.