Fire85GSLSE

iTrader: (29)

Get you some B12 carb cleaner, pour the whole bottle in the tank, and add 5 more gallons.
Let it soak a few days and slosh it around.
How long has the car sat?
Undo the fuel pump and see if you can push air from an air line up to the carb (take line off carb first, and stick it down in a coke bottle)
If you can get air, then it is from the pump back.

Take the Fuel pump off the car. take new line attached to the pump and drop them both into a plastic gas can. Add 12volts to the pump and see if it pumps. If it does then the tank is plugged.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Yep go back and look at Dave's photos and Chad's checks, they are gold right about now.

Which brings me to this one, Dave that stuff coming out looks a lot like water, not gas. Did you put water in the tank or is that what they sell for gas up there in Ohia:



Brett I'm just about as excited as you are about that new car, let's get it running tomorrow. Between Dave's photos and my spare fuel pump we can get it going.

More pics??

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

So here's the deal ya'll The previous owner added his own personal touches to this FB. The fuel pump is a universal Purolator fuel pump, and the wiring goes something like this: Wire plugged in to the positive side of an un-used fuse on the interior fuel box, ran under the carpet and out the car to the + on the fuel pump, and with the - grounded to the chassis. Problem was, he didn't have it on the correct side of the fuse holder thing, so I switched the wire over and bam, the fuel pump turns on when the key's on ON and the carb's getting gas now. Would this work long term, or should I search for the stock wiring and hook it up through there?

But, the choke isn't working. We covered it with our hands and could get the car to start after a few seconds on the key, but it wouldn't stay on for more than 5-10 seconds before dying. Can it not run correctly with the air filter/ blue thing on there? Anyways, I ordered a carb rebuild kit and it should be in tomorrow morning if the other store had it in stock.

Ray- If you really want to help me I'd hail you forever My uncle's a 'blonde' when it comes to Nikki's, and God knows he nor I could rebuild it right on the first try...

And for ***** and giggles, I sprayed off the car and ran around it like a mad man with a rag (just that, no soap), and sort of washed off the car and wheels. If wax makes it look wet, then it's going to look pretty snazzy And some pictures! (I took these before the rinse)

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

And my cat, Wankel. He loves walking all over rotary's, especially after you've just washed them

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Now that's pretty.



If you get that kit come on over we'll (you'll) put it in. Rebuilding your first Nikki is a rite of passage. I got an actual FB fuel pump if you want to use that, that Pruoloator thing looks suspicious.

PercentSevenC

If the pump needs replacing, don't replace it with an OEM unit. They suck. Get yourself a nice Carter pump or something like that.

bad 83

iTrader: (3)

The hose coming up from the intake beside where the fuel lines enter the carb needs to be blocked off with an old spark or something if your trying to run the car without the breather. That hose goes to the shutter valve. It will cause a massive vacuum leak if not plugged.

jshiz

iTrader: (4)

NP. I was just in theodore the other day. Are you talking about the white turbo miata with a cage in it?

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

Nah, it's a early red 1st gen with a 1.8 swap, turbo'd, 17's, a nice hardtop, and a perfect black soft top. I was going to buy it cheap from my uncle and sell the hard top, getting the car for practically free

I just plugged that up with an old plug that was in the back of the car. Thanks, and good eye.

I just went outside and looked at everything, and I have no clue where to start to take the carb off I'll see how it goes tomorrow!

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

So the kit should be here around noon, if the other store had it in stock. I went ahead and put the hood on, and vacuumed out the car for fun. I keep looking at the carb thinking where to start, but I'm lost I removed the 2 fuel lines, loosened the banjo bolts since I read somewhere that those can be a pain with the carb not bolted to the car. I see that I need to pop off the OMP rod, too. But what about all this other junk all over the carb? Do those come off before I remove it, or are they part of it? I need to search some to find a good diagram and removal instructions. Update later.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Yep all those connections need to be unconnected, seems impossibly complicated at first but after awhile it all becomes familiar.

74RX4

iTrader: (10)

I like to take off the carb and manifold as one unit. 4 bolts and 2 nuts that are not too hard to reach if you know where they are. Then you'll want a new manifold gasket and O-rings or freeze plugs also.
Ray has some prettier pictures, but you can get the idea from this.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

That's a very helpful photo 74RX4, Brett and I have been looking at that view of h is carb all afternoon, trying to figure out what was missing and what goes where. Turns out his carb had been recently rebuilt so we just had to go through it and check things, but a bunch of the tubing was missing so this pic will help him see how things relate to the base plate and intake manifold, should be real helpful when he puts it back in. The most amazing thing was his carb didn't have the center bolt that ties the top and bottom halves together (that's why we checked all the work on the recent rebuild, it was kind of half assed but still everything was usable).

I also gave Brett a tutorial on the "correct" way to get to those 4 12 mm nuts and loaned him my bent 12 mm wrench. He got the job done on his own but he used some unorthodox methods.

I think Brett has a sleeper there, if the rest of the car is in as good a shape as that carb it has some real potential.

bad 83

iTrader: (3)

If you want to eliminate some of the "crap" of the Nikki, they look and function so much better

bad 83

iTrader: (3)

Mmmmm. Stipped Nikkis are so sexy!!!!!

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Sam is that the stripped Nikki I was messing with a couple years ago? That JB weld job on the altitude compensator interface looks familiar!

I totally agree a stripped Nikki looks sexy (no pun intended) but the reason I gave you the one I stripped a few years ago was that I couldn't get it to perform - no significant power increase, crummy progression and miserable gas mileage (17 mpg vs 23 mpg) compared to the dressed Nikki.

I really think all that peripheral stuff, working with the rat's nest, enhances performance, if you include things like gas mileage and driveability. A little complicated but worth the trouble it seems to me if you want optimal performance in a daily driver.

bad 83

iTrader: (3)

No, but that's good Ray. The last stripped Nikki I built for Stu yielded 32 MPG. So why you trying to dog the stripped Nikki. Homework before bashing keeps friends longer.

Anywho. The crap around the Nikki is strickly emmisions. No performance value from the factory. I have proven a bazzillion times that a stripped Nikki will out perform and get better fuel economy than one fully dressed. No thinking about it, proved it.

cmanns

^but would a stripped nikki with a good cat + air pump still pass smog?

bad 83

iTrader: (3)

Probably not But I have never tried it though.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

Ray, just clean old 89 octane, lol. i think the gas wasnt in the tank more than a week when i drained it. i replaced the sender and the pickup gasket on the tank. i'm a stickler when it comes to a fully functional daily driver, lol.

i like the stripped down carb, but i personally would rebuild the car to stock specs and work out all the bugs and then do what you want to the carb and emissions system when the engine is running well. this will help eliminate variables when troubleshooting.

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Welcome to the 1st gen world! Carburetted cars put the "assed" in "enthusiast," heheh... Only piece of machinery in the world that can take you from feeling like a genius, to feeling like an idiot, and back to feeling like a genius again in one day's work.

Each man's opinion is his own, but as an advocate of the full-dress Nikki, allow me to rebut thusly:







What you're likely to find inside the carb, when you crack it, after years of sitting:

ray green

iTrader: (14)

That's Runway stuff DD, something to inspire Brett as he puts his back together. Very pretty.



And of course there's always the stripped Nikki look:



"Only piece of machinery in the world that can take you from feeling like a genius, to feeling like an idiot, and back to feeling like a genius again in one day's work"

Truly the voice of experience.

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

So the carb's back on, and manually choking the carb and a few sprays of starting fluid got the car to run. I had to hold the throttle to keep it running, and plug some vacuum leaks up, but it ran for about a minute (smoking up the yard ). Now, I'm going to

1- fix the choke so it's operable inside the car,
2- get all these vacuum lines plugged in to their proper spots,
3- get the blue air thing back on with all the hoses attached, and
4- try to make it run once again.

I tried stopping by autozone to get the battery charged up but it's no good, so I'll be swapping the FC's in and out for a while since batteries cost $$

And Ray's just the coolest old dude ever. He hooked my up the all kinds of parts and pieces that I would have never known I needed. Half the lines weren't even on it right... Thanks again, Ray!

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Thanks Brett. I guess. I just seem old because you're only 18 and I'm over 50. OK, I guess that's old.

Congrats on getting it to start up! Did you check the view windows on the front and back of the carb to see if the bowls were filled correctly? (Hint: Borrow your mother's make up mirror for that one in the back). If you've got fuel in both bowls your fuel delivery issues should be more or less settled for now.

I wouldn't worry too much about the smoke for now, it will probably burn off and correct itself once the engine has a chance to even out. You might want to pull your plugs and inspect them if you haven't done that already, this can tell you alot (including whether you need new plugs).

Also chances are your throttle connection is way out of adjustment at this point so you may need to manually operate the throttle to keep it running, then adjust that cable so it's just tight.

I have a spare battery here that should still have plenty of life in it, you should'a asked!

Also it occurred to me that you should have taken the White One out for a spin around the block, by the time you got back you'd have decided to sell the FC, which would give you plenty of bucks for the Red One.

Oh yeah, here's some real dressed Nikki photos for reference: