BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

Yes, yes, much TLC it shall get. It'll be fun though- it's barely worse than the FC was when I first got it, so I know what I'm in for

And the oil's only about a half quart low, it must be a bad gauge or connection somewhere. See you tomorrow at Zoom Fest!

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

UPDATE!

So I took off the carb again, cleaned up the bay a bit, swapped another good ignitor in, removed the hot start assist, put on another choke cable that's good, got the carb back on and got everything going where it's supposed to be, put on the air filter can and got those hoses hooked up, vacuumed the car out, cleaned the junk out of it (and found a dollar!), and painted that white junk black until I can get the stock pieces again. The car starts with the key just fine now, and tomorrow I'm going to put fuses where the fusable links are and get insurance on it. Then a good cleaning and everything. I've got a video, too, but it takes a while to upload and I'm tired. It runs well though!

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

have you taken the car for a small drive yet? have you pulled the wheels and gone through the brakes? change the fuel filter right away and put a can of sea foam in the tank and run it through completely. i'd also look into replacing the plugs (NGK BR8EQ14's) and maybe a coolant flush. looks like you're making some genuine progress! will look forward to more pics!!

ray green

iTrader: (14)

I can't wait to see it Brett, we should be able to pop that dent out of the nose piece in about 20 minutes. Slap some plates on that puppy and come on down!

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

Yes, I drove down the street and back twice, but I can't do any more until I get insurance (which I think I'll be getting around 1). I've only looked at one wheels' brakes, the drivers rear, but I do plan to go over it all. Money's short at the moment, so I can't really start replacing things until I've got this new job going. But I do plan to run a can of sea foam through it. The plugs look good, too actually. They're all the 14's. Those and the wires look to have been recently replaced. I replaced the fuel filter, too, when I first got it. It's going to be a nice looking $350 car

Getting insurance today, possibly. I'm trying to convince a family member to let me fix their truck for some $$, so if that goes good I can get some gas in it and come to your place to show her off. Any particular time you were thinking? I'm busy 'till Wednesday.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

How about Thursday Brett?

Bring her down in the morning, maybe you can help me with some gutters till noon or so, then we'll put her up on jack stands, do the brakes, check the suspension, exhaust, coolant flush, etc, look for rust. Then we can sea foam her (neighbors don't mind, they think I'm fogging the mosquitoes) and fix up some little things with parts from the shed.

If Thurs doesn't work, Sat is the next best day.

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

So the car's now insured and about to go on its first real drive. I put those FC fuses in where the fusable links were, using pink yellow pink like I saw on Mike's (msimoniv) car at ZoomFest. I cleaned the exterior today, got the wheels and tires nice and shiny, popped off the exhaust tips and sanded them till they shined then hit them up with some clear coat, and dropped in the tool bag just in case. It's really starting to look good, and I can't help but think what a good deal I got. Thanks again for all of you guys' help. I thanked you in my video, but it doesn't want to upload so I guess it'll be a while before it's seen.

Anyways, a teaser pic, with more up soon.



And Ray- Thursday just might do. I'm going on a litte road trip with the girlfriend to Hilton Head tomorrow (in her car, chill ) and working Wednesday if it doesn't rain. I'll let you know before hand though. Thanks again. (And I'm a gutter cleaning fool )

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

Alright, so I've driven the car about 50 miles over the last 2 days, and I'm really impressed again with my buy. There are a few things that still need to be figured out, but nothing too serious. Sometimes I get a hesitation that won't go away until I shift, bogging the car down. I really don't know much more than that about it. And the door seals are shot to hell and back, so the wind noise is horrible. You can see cracks of light coming through them That's really it. And the fact that it's pretty slow... haha

And Ray- I got the chance to work my new job Thursday, so I'm going to have to shoot for Saturday if it's still okay with you.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

looking AWESOME!! the sluggishness and hesitation may be due to the fact that the carb needs a full rebuild. i can't wait to see new pics and hear how this is going! you definatly got an awesome buy!

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

Haha, thanks a lot. The carb has actually been rebuilt, by the previous owner and then re-checked by Ray Green and I, so it's good to go.

I've got the vacuum line from the purge valve and rats nest that T's off to the air filter off because the line isn't big enough to fit where it's supposed to. And the line going to the anti-afterburn valve #2 to the air filter isn't the right one- I took it off of my FC 'vert and it sort of fits on there. Maybe those 2 not being hooked up right are doing it? Anyhow, Ray and I are going to go over the car this weekend and we'll hopefully get everything worked out. Another teaser pic

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

So I've been thinking... maybe the hesitation issue is from getting too much fuel- this fuel pump has no regulation, so maybe I should get a regulator and set in on 6 psi (that's the correct pressure, right?). I think this because when I let off the gas and the car decel's, it hesitates when I get back on the gas. And to make it go away I have to rev or downshift past 4K, and I hear a small pop from the exhaust (unburnt gas, i suppose), and then the car runs good until I decel again. Any thoughts?

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

Good old Ray Check out this update.. Car runs great!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e3KzBwvoO0

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Brett got an incredible deal for $350. The car is fundamentally in great shape, no rust, no body damage, all original (even the muffler), just a bunch of things out of whack or adjustment.

We replaced a couple leaking vacuum hoses, checked the timing, adjusted the carb and throttle cable, bled the brakes, fixed the blower and horns (no fuse, unplugged, respectively), diagnosed a bad idler arm, aligned the X wheels, cleaned things up a bit under the hood and of course, as noted above, sea foamed it.

The car does have one very strange weirdness: It seems to run just fine with the fuel pump unplugged. Brett thinks the carb is sucking the gas out of the tank by itself, but I think I convinced him carbs don't work that way. But I have to admit I don't have a better explanation. There is something very strange about that aftermarket fuel pump.



Some more photos from yesterday:









And here's a brief video of Cathy helping Brett figure out how to use the forceps to retrieve a vacuum line cap that he dropped into the abyss.

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

Haha, I didn't know you were recording me searching for the vacuum cap. Great videos, as always.

I'm ordering 2 idler arm bushings as soon as I get my first check, so soon we can check that off of my list. Once I've got this nice red steering wheel with visors and floormats to match, and I've got those new bushings in, I'll have a pretty nice car Thanks again for ALL the help you've given me- the car would probably still be sitting in the driveway without your (and the guys one heres') help.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

replace the ENTIRE idler arm, not just the bushings. often the tiems the ball joint on the idler arm is faulty as well. you will also find that when removing the idler arm, the ball joint will be damaged in the pricess. you'll only fix half the problem at that point. i've been buying my idler arms from napa for like $60 and they seem to work great.

Crit

iTrader: (6)

Brett's charcoal canister / vent may not be up to spec, Ray. A pressurized gas tank would push fuel without a pump. Brett, do you get a whoosh when you pop the filler cap off the tank?

BrightEyes

wow this thread really inspired me, my neigbour's elderly lady friend has an fb in her garage that hasnt been started' driven since about 95/94 hahahaa
but its free and my dad's a mazda master mechanic so hopefully we can get it running soon

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

How long does it run with the pump disconnected? Normally they will run for awhile until the carb bowls empty. If the bowls remain half full after some time of running, then the tank may be pressurized as Crit mentioned.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Good thought Crit & Kent, but he had a lawnmower gas cap on there that couldn't hold a rat fart (we put a correct one on later).

And we gave her plenty of time to clear the bowls, she just kept on running.

No ****, this car runs whether the fuel pump is hooked up or not.

Now that's my kind of FB.

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

It's down to half a tank with 190 miles since the last fill up, so it's sipping it a little That is wild though. What is this about the Charcoal canister though?

BTW- drove the FB again today, got pulled over for the paper tag, but all was good. Lets see how many times I can get pulled over before the 11th of August for the tag deal (and hopefully only that!)

And I put in my lovely red floormats, steering wheel, and visors from Ray. They're awesome, too Thanks again.

Crit

iTrader: (6)

Every daytime cop in Suwanee stopped me in the REPU until I had tags on it. Eventually they all learned to leave me alone, but it took two weeks.

flyboyjuge

Seriously one of the best threads ive read in a long time. It's great to see knowledge passed down like this, especially in the rotary community.

BrettLinton7

iTrader: (33)

They were probably curious about the 'Rotary Powered' on the tail-gate

It's a GA thing- These guys helped me a ton with the FB, and I've got plenty of help from everyone with the FC. A guy came over to my place the other day in his 'vert that I barely knew and I took half his car apart in the driveway to mess with the window motor. I've got awesome rotary friends

Crit

iTrader: (6)

I don't know, Brett, the OGTA is pretty good, but so is the community as a whole. I seriously pissed my wife off in our old apartment once. I was going to pull the engine out of the RX-2 and needed to do it quickly because it was a 1-car rented garage, so I had to roll it outside in order to use the engine hoist. I left a note on an FC owner's car that I had never met.

The next morning, he rang our doorbell with tools in-hand. She was furious that we're all so damn weird. Good stuff.