Attila the Fun

iTrader: (1)

Those who have been closely following this project…probably need to get a life. After all, the last post was about three years ago, maybe longer. It was labeled: Part 2a, and it was kind of a downer, ending with the question “2b or not 2b”. There was some consideration of abandoning the project, and the car languished for a couple of years.

I finally found a little money and a little time, so I decided to indulge in more self-abuse. During the hiatus, I had given much thought to the fact that the car would idle, but not deliver power. I thought that it must not be getting enough fuel, so I had Bret dePedro install a fuel pressure gauge. It clearly showed the pressure going to zero, if I simply revved the motor to about 3200 rpm—even without a load. I figured that all the time sitting had produce a load of gunk (technical term) in the fuel system.

You may recall from Part 2a that I had put in a re-furbished fuel tank. To that I added a high-volume fuel pump (EFI – equivalent to Aeromotive a1000), a mile or two of braided, stainless steel tubing, and a new, aftermarket fuel filter (with stock fuel filters going for $70, the aftermarket refills at only $13 will justify the cost).

Voila! The car ran, and it ran pretty well. Conflicting schedules prevented me from taking it to an autocross where David Lane was already signed up. The plan was for him to drive my car, as well as his own (the world's most perfect GSL-SE), so there would be an apples-to-apples comparison: same track and same driver. However, there are times
to compromise, so I decided to declare victory and move on.

I sent the car off to the body shop, Auto Eurotec in Bel Air, MD. Joe, the owner, worked on the car as time permitted and got it smoothed enough to justify painting. I took it from there directly to an Earl Scheib shop (yeah, yeah, I know, but I already have too much money invested) and got the car painted.

And that brings us to the end of Part 2b. Yes, it runs well, defined as starts reliably and runs a good deal faster than a stock first gen. Stay tuned for Part 3 - Will this thing run faster'n a stripedy-@ssed ape?

If you want a few pictures (very few at this point) or would like to review the project from the beginning, I have a modest website at:

http://www.cris.com/~Asam/Res7/Res7.html