When it comes down to it, Stu, the whole car is just a collection of little dooky bits.

Some are more critical than others, but they all have a purpose. (Except maybe some lockwashers, heh.)

I needed to re-do the hinges and hatch because they were rattling enough to make your teeth hurt.

If I gotta work on something, I just feel compelled to make it "right" if I can, you know?

Day 269

It was SUPPOSED to rain this weekend (didn't) so I'd planned on finally making a storage bag for my sunroof; I needed someplace to put the steel roof when the glass roof is on the car, and vice versa.

I decided some time ago to make a bag that was fitted to be hung from the wall on hooks, so I could get the roof out of the way (they are hard to store safely just anywhere.

The short version:

Fisrt, have one of these (or something newer would probably be a good idea, this one's from the 50's, but it's just too pretty to give up!)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P4120032.jpg

Next, add:
2 yards of black vinyl
2 yard of red polarfleece for a liner
2 6-foot web straps, 1" wide, with buckles
Some brass grommets and setting tool
Black upholstery thread.

Cut vinyl to 36" wide, & figure out where the folds need to be to properly contain the roof:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P4120025.jpg

Square-cut one end of the vinyl and the fleece, lap-stitch one edge, and then figure out where the straps need to go. 16" spacing means hanging hooks can go into studs in the garage wall.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P4120026.jpg

Once the straps are in place, fold, pin and sew the "pocket portion" (inside out as always with sewing) and turn the edges on the "flap" part.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P4120027.jpg

Turn the bag right side out, and test fit:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P4120028.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P4120031.jpg

Install brass grommets in the loops left in the straps for hanging purposes, and you're pretty much done:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P4120033.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P4120034.jpg

Nice little one-afternoon project. I'm thinking about getting the RX-7 logo and the car's name embroidered on the flap, just for grins.

Day 297

Made some headway with my hot-restart-flood issue, I think;

Experimentation proves that the bowl vent solenoid is working fine, but unplugging the vapor line at the carbon canister (top of the air cleaner on SA's) seems to help prevent the flood-out; the bowls do not drain down when the line is disconnected.

That would seem to mean that the canister is plugged, but it tests out fine.

So, it might be a ventilation and check valve issue, or it might just be a problem that sometimes doesnt happen. Need to test it more times to be sure it wasn't just an anomaly.

Also, met up with "80's Old School" at the local monthly meet, and he gifted me with a fully-servicable stock front headpipe - - something I've been searching for since I started this writeup, nearly a year ago. It needs a little cosmetic cleanup, but to all appearances it's in perfect working order. I can't thank him enough for this - - I mean, the man brought it all the way from Texas for me!

So, I can finally take out my cobbled-up exhaust with its excessive restrictons, and get fully back to stock... or I can put my header back on, secure knowing that I can switch back to full smog when next needed, with known good parts.

I've determined that my idler arm bushings need replacement, too. I thought about swapping to the Moog arm (clearly stronger and better design, though not original) but unless the ball joint on the stock arm is bad, replacing the bushings only costs $12 versus about $70 for the new arm. I've replaced the bushings once in 20 years of ownership, so they seem like they'd hold up fine for quite a while again. I'm going to order some other bushings as well --drag links, sway bar, etc.--to tighten the front suspension back up.

Still in the middle of refurbing the replacement steering box I bought; when it's ready to go, I also will be pulling the instrument panel to try to figure why my speedo is reading very high; compared to GPS speeds, I'm indicating as much as 15mph high when above 75 actual. Some of that is tire size, but not all of it.

Hey Divin, it was cool to finally meet you. Now I can finally quit lugging that down pipe around!!
Anyhow, your car looked great....hopefully that does fix the flooding issue, or at least you are on the right track to repairing it!

It was great to meet you at last, too, and I'm happy to relieve you of your "trot-line anchor." Heh.

Day 302

Replaced the idler bushings last night, and the bushings on the tension bars.

Having taken all the slop out of the other parts, now I can see that the ball joint on the right control arm is toast. About 1/4" or 3/16" lateral movement. Didn't show up while the idler was loose.

Bummer. That's not a cheap part (about $145). It's also the only one I'd replaced (10 years ago). There goes my rear shock money I'd scrounged up this week. But it clearly needs to be replaced; it wouldn't even be possible to get a clean alignment with that much slop.

Rockauto is your friend.

http://info.rockauto.com/getimage/ge.../5051071-4.jpg

Rock Auto says they are replaceable? Odd; Mazdatrix says they are not...

The one that failed looks to be a replaceable... Mtrix used to sell arms with replaceable ball joints, but don't list them that way any more.

Interesting. Thanks for the tip; I'll be looking into it!

You can replace them but you need to get some with a cclip on em to make sure they can't come out. I've read one here that its possible. Mine need to done and I'm thinking about do it instead of getting a new arm.

Did you restore the 7 back to stock

At the moment, it's pretty much "beautified stock," yeah, except for the interior.


Hmmm... none of the ones that Rock Auto, Kragen, or Napa carry appear to have "c-clips." All are just splined press-fit.

Never seen a c-clip on a ball joint, on any car--all the ones I can remember are press fit with a snap ring. And i've only done ball joints once on an rx7, and I dont remember how it was set up.

An alternative to c-clipping if you're afraid that in the removal process you may stretch the hole is to fully weld or tack the new joint in.

Day 309

Ordered a replacement ball joint and bushing from Rock Auto; the local NAPA shop was able to press them without issue.

Then, I found out that the balljoint's shaft was misdrilled for the cotter pin; it was drilled off-center, so that when the castle nut was lined up on one side, it blocked most of the hole on the other side.

I improvised by cutting one leg of the cotter pin off just short of exitting the hole; this still left one leg to bend for retention, and a full-thickness pin on the entry side, so no worries about it shearing.

Hopefully, my future Rock Auto purchases will turn out better.

I also got replacement tension arm bushings, and put them in at the same time.

Also a little out with the old...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P5200038.jpg

...and in with the new...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P5200037.jpg

... action took place at the rear; Those old Gabriels served well but were toast.

Test drive proved the pudding; Steering is like-new (for a 1980, that is)

I need to get new sway bar bushings for the front; the ones fitted don't look to be right for the application. Probably something I did years ago before I knew any better, but the spacers look too long.

Meantime, I spent the rest of the day cleaning up the car for MazFest tomorrow, and did a little more engine beautification.

My ratsnest wasn't too bad-looking as is:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P5210041.jpg

But I've given up trying to keep the little colored dots on the solenoids in place. The damn stickers fall off.

So, I finally decided to properly color-code the solenoids; tore each one down, polished the metal brackets, and metalcast them in the color to match the wiring harness connector.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P5220044.jpg

Silver for white, red for orange, grey for grey, and blue for blue

I think they turned out damned nice:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P5220047.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P5220045.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P5220046.jpg

If I gotta have smog stuff, I'm gonna have shiny smog stuff.

Day 336

Getting close to the one-year mark... Passed my one-year anniversary of joining the site last week. HBDTM.

Got the car aligned, and everything is tracking like a champ. Front-end repairs are now substantially complete, with the exception of new sway-bar links which are on order. Handling is good, though my body roll seems a little pronounced, which I'm hoping the new sway bushings and links will tighten up.

I am refurbishing a steering gear bought used off the site, but at this point, I'm not feeling real inclined to install it. Re-adjusting the old box seemed to work wonders. So I'll likely finish cleaning up the replacement box, and wrap it up for spare storage. I'll need one someday...

Bought some more Royal Purple, with the intent of refilling the trans with it since the diff apparently likes it. The trans still shifts well enough, but it's getting older; reverse is a bit noisy. New lube ought to help a lot.

Probably about time to re-adjust the rear drum brakes and do a general inspection in there, make sure all is well.

I've clocked just about 1000 miles since the car was brought back to life, in January. Virtually all of it going to meets or shows - - I think I drove it to work once, just for swank.

I've bought a spare dash cluster; One of these weekends, I'll pull the current one, get the clock working again, replace the cracked lens, and see if swapping speedos gets indicated speed somewhat closer to real speed - - reading waaay high just now. If not, I'll find me a speedo shop and get one recalibrated.

Hot-restart-flood issue has been slowly improving, though I still haven't gotten a clear handle on the cause. Relieving the vent tube from the carbon canister right after shutdown seems to help, but makes little sense, since the carbon canister flows fine. Still chasing. I'll probably swa in a spare vent control valve, and see if it makes a diff. I keep hoping to turn up a good spare carb of proper vintage for parts use, but haven't found the right one yet.

Talked myself into splurging on some nice RB 8mm plug wire, with shields; Jim Tanner offered to make me up a set with their original straight, rather than angled, plug boots, for that old-school look. They haven't sold that style for a lot of years, so I feel all special.

Gathering parts for an electric mirror conversion; I'll probably have that done before SevenStock this year.

Now that summer seems tofinally be coming to SoCal, I probably should look into an AC recharge, too. It's kinda weak.

It's sunny - - gotta drive tonight!

Day 369

Wow, I let this slip for quite a while... I've been working on several fronts, but not documenting.

Currently in progress:

1) Refurbishing of instrument panel to replace the currently-mounted unit is about 80% done. Pix and write-up to be posted soon.

2) Electric mirror conversion underway; I have mirrors and harness parts, but I need to fabricate a year-appropriate switch mount for it. Borrowed a rare JDM mount from Stu to use as a mold template, and got my first decent resin casting out of it last night. I'm going to try adapting some Jaguar joystick swtiches to the job; if they don't work out, I'll cast a customized version of the mounting plate to hold an FB square-style mirror switch. wiring needs to be adapted ineither case, as SA wiring is not equal to FB wiring on the mirrors, and obviously the Jag switch was not made for this application - - completely different approach. Also being written up.

Also, I'm having to carefully sand out indentations left in the paint by my aftermarket side mirrors, which used larger mounting bases. That's hairy work, there, as I don't have access to any touch-up paint for my color, so don't dare sand or polish all the way thru by accident. Not much experience at cut-and-polish, and I'm sure that Maaco paint is thin as can be. Nerve-wracking.

3) still have to finish up the air cleaner bottom part.

4) swaybar links are on the bench awaiting installation time.

Over a year on this project now, and once again, on the clock to get everything finished before SevenStock. Deja Vu, all over again.

Ironically, going to meets now that the car is running has been cutting into my garage time.

Day 397

Making headway:

Electric mirrors are in and working; still need a mounting bracket for the switch, but I'm working on it; I'm custom-fabricating a replica of the 80 LS switch bracket, from cast urethane.

Instrument panel refurb is done and installed; ready for testing the next time I start the car, which may be tomorrow night.

Sanding the door imperfections was a marginal success; didn't turn out as perfect as I'd hoped, but look a lot better than they did originally. Essentially, unless you look for them, you don't see the problem.

One things for sure; barring any new problems, I'm not going to miss SevenStock this year!

I've got a couple new approaches to try with regard to the flooding issue; basically, I'm going to disable the vacuum power valve actuators temporarily, and see if that makes a difference. Oif not, one circuit at a time until I find what's making it happen.

Day 408

The refurbed dash checked out in all respects except one: the "Add Coolant" light was not testing. Which meant I had to re-pull the panel (no way to reach it from the back). Problem turned out to be the bulb socket was "spread" a bit, not touching the bulb contacts. Fixed, works. Speedo even tested out properly. Hurray!

Late addition; the bracket work I was doing for the mirror switch was most easily done in a way that left a 3/4" hole on the left side. perfect place for a switch, but I detest having switches that don't do anything... So I had to get motivated and install the fog lights I bought about 10 years ago.

End result:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P8290076.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P8290075.jpg

Naturally, I'm not going to switch the full current for the foglights at the dashboard... no, we will do it the right way, and switch fleapower thru the switch, and use a heavy-duty contactor relay out at the front of the engine bay, so the switch will last forever:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P8290074.jpg

And here's the prototype of the mirror/foglight mounting bracket. The final version will have a much better, smoother finish, because I made a second, higher-quality mold from the original bracket which Stu graciously loaned me.

Prototype (poor quality, but Ok for testing)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P8290078.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P8290077.jpg

Final-version bracket, ready to be modified for swtiches, and painted:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P8230059.jpg

The air cleaner base is almost complete, but I still need to re-paint the inside, and it is too hot today to paint. It was 102 in the garage when I finally gave up and came inside til it cools down.

Things are looking good, overall.

Very nice man, alot of attention to detail! keep up the good work and never lose patients in her.

Day 418

Wow, you can get a lot of work done if you just don't go to work for a while - - I took a vacation day and stretched Labor Day to four days. Powered thru much of my pre-sevenstock list:

Air Cleaner is done, including fabricating a high-polish adapter for my CAI inlet.

CAI flange is now properly rivetted in place.

Distributor has been refurbed, and polished/painted.

RB gauge block has been swapped out to a "Type-II" block - much nicer look. Polished the filter base, too, though you really can't see it without shoving your head into the engine bay.

Suspension techniques front sway bushings are in.

Fog lights are done and tested.

Final version of the lights-and-mirrors bracket is finished, just waiting for paint to dry before I can install it.

So, I've got two weeks left to tinker with my carb issues, and clean up some interior odds and ends. Plus wax and detail, of course.

Pics of this week's output:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9070012.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9070013.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9070014.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9070017.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9070018.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9070020.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9080025.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9080026.jpg

WOW!! amazing attention to detail man! Keep it up

Glen- wow! speechless ! where to begin noting all the tiny details? :)
OK - so - where did you get those delish spark wire holders?? I have the oversized Racing Beat wires and no way to hold them...
Thanks for sharing the Love-
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

delish??? I did not know that was in a mans vocabulary!!:lol:

Gracias, Sir Stuart.

The black wire spreaders came with the wires, which were custom-fabbed for me by Racing Beat (They have the "old school" straight shielded plug boots, instead of the more recent angled boots). I got wire spreaders and the lovely white snap-on wire ID tags (L1, L2, T1, etc, embossed on the clips) as part of the negotiation.

The blue holder you see on the ignitor box is part of an old (12 years maybe) Accel 8mm wire holder set which had blue plastic holders on chrome metal brackets. Came from an autoparts store ages ago. It's actually just taped onto the ignitor box bracket. I had to trim the ID a little bit to comfortably fit the new wires.

;D
Glen's engine is rated at my Highest Standard: clean enough to eat off of. Thus the details become delicious to behold. Mayhaps I carry the food analogy too far...??

*burp*

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

So ONCE AGAIN you've customized some bit to your own twisted perfection!? Don't you buy ANYthing off the shelf? You're building a car out of one-off parts. Its McGyver all over again. I'm busy _collecting_ unobtainium parts, you just go ahead and just MAKE them. Damn!

:D

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

Heh, thanks... Some of it is out of necessity, some of it is out of unique opportunity. I got used to making things I couldn't afford to buy. Now that I can afford many things I want (within reason, of course) The habit is still with me.

Now, all I have to do is fix this:
https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/oh-no-bizzarre-electrical-issue-862500/
... and do some touchups.

Hope you chase down the vexing gremlin and knock 'em dead at 7Stock Glen. Wish I was going...

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

Gremlins fixed (details in the above thread - - it were a weird one!).

Now I got two weeks to try to chase down that damnable flood-after-shutdown. That, and a wash and wax, is all that's left.

Stu, I wish you were coming, too - - I'd love to shake your hand.

Your praise for my half-assed wire support made me feel all guilty about it being just taped together, so I did a more competent job of it just in your honor:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9120048.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9120049.jpg

And here's the finished Mark I version of "Son of Precious":

I custom-made this mounting bracket by making a silicone mold of an 80 LS mirror-control bracket that Stu loaned me, and then casting a duplicate out of rigid polyurethane. Took over a month to perfect the process and wait for mail-ordered mold materials to arrive.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9120047.jpg

My fine-looking Fauge Lites & cleanly-stripped grille:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9120044.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9120045.jpg

And a couple out-in-the-sun-and-running engine bay shots:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9120041.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9120042.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9120043.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9120038.jpg

How bright are those fog lights? They look pretty bright, surprised me... They're so small!

They're 55w halogens, from Pilot; sat on the shelf new in the box for many years, but I just finally installed them.

Day 425

How do you spell "Danger, Will Robinson!!"?

Like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9140061.jpg

My first encounter with "modern" automotive finishes that don't come from a rattlecan; I hold in my hand an airbrush loaded with 2-part spray urethane clearcoat which the state of California swears will make me keel over dead after it makes all my chromosomes spin backwards.

I had to learn (on the first try) how to fix two-layer paint, after an unfortunate run-in with some overly-sticky blue masking tape peeled loose about two square inches of less-than-perfectly prepped paint that isn't quite a perfect match for the "factory" touch-up paints.

So far, it's not looking too bad; I have yet to polish it out but it's down, reasonably smoothly, and the color and flake is a surprisingly good match; so much so that it was hard to tell where I was spraying past the damaged area.

I had to pay an obscene amount for supplies, though, as the smallest quantity of paint I could get mixed was a pint (I needed maybe an ounce), and the reducer and clearcoat only comes in quarts. Plus the activator for the clear.

I learned a useful skill, and didn't manage to blow up the garage or gas myself in the process, so I'm counting it as a win.

Day 426

Didn't turn out too badly, for my very first "live fire" exercize with this particular arsenal.

Before:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9130050.jpg

After:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9150065.jpg

Day 433

The end of the long road to SevenStock is near... The event is day after tomorrow, and the car is about as ready as it can be, short of a wash and wax and vacuum it gets tomorrow. It's looking splendid, and is in far better condition overall than it was when this thread started, 16 months ago.

In the last week, I've taken the caburetor back off and gone thru it with a fine-toothed comb, checking all the jets & bleeds (proper number, correctly tight, right holes, nothing blocked) and all the electric valves (vent, coasting, richer) and yet I don't seem to be any closer to discovering cause of my after-shutdown flood. All seem to be right. Float levels are perfect. Opening the vent line doesn't seem to make a difference so I dont't see it as a venting problem.

I did notice the carb base-to-throttle-body bolts seemed a bit loose, and retorqued them. It MIGHT just be possible that the accel pump inlet weight and ball were un opside-down (ball on top) but I can't prove it as I didn't see the order that they actually came out. I do know that they are in properly now.

I haven't had any chance to do any real testing of the flood issue as it requires that I have time to drive the car, shut it down, and then restart it after 45 minutes or more, and events over the last couple days haven't allowed that. So, I may have dealt with the problem, and I may not have. Have to see.

If it's not gone, I'm willing to admit that it may not be a carburetor problem... but I don't see where else I can get the symptoms I see. Perhaps fuel return line, but that would seem like it would cause the bowls to overfill, not to unfill themselves after shutdown.

I may try to find an out-of-the-way place that I can drive to and pour some seafoam down the carb neck. That's harder to do than it sounds in my neck of the woods; not a lot of open country nearby, and with "red flag" fire danger in SoCal just now, a huge plume of smoke might attract unwanted attention.

I'll be taking abundant pictures at SS, and will update the thread with them probably Sunday or a few days later.

I still have a dozen things I want to do to the car, but they have to wait until after the show. No time to start new work.

Day 437

So, I missed SevenStock. Again. 18 months work, and I missed all the fun.

I ended up in the hospital Friday night, having worked my silly ass into severe dehydration and electrolyte loss - - trying to get my damn car ready for the show!

Finished the car about 9:30pm after hammering at it all day in the 98-deg garage:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P9250084.jpg

Washing, clay-barring, waxing, vacuuming, the whole nine yards.

She was looking perfect, and I got her all loaded; I went upstairs to shower and shave.

I got out of the shower feeling a bit wobbly; nothing serious, just really spent by a hard day's work. So I laid down on the bed for half an hour until I felt better, then went into my 'office' to log in to the site and get final maps and route info for the meetup early Saturday morning.

I sat down in front of the computer, and my vision started going all bright white - - like the screen was 10 times too bright to see - - and I started getting seriously dizzy. I bent down to get my head low (felt like I'd stood up too sudden after a workout, you know? So I figured getting more blood to the noggin was a good move).

Next thing you know, I'm lying flat on the floor, hit with a half-dozen bone-breaker muscle cramps; legs, arms, back, all locked up like a bitch. Cramps in my feet, even; toes pointing all funny directions!

I called out to my wife, and she tried to rub them out for me, but they just kept getting worse, not letting up at all. I've had cramps before (pretty common for cold-water divers), but nothing like this. I didn't dare try to move or the muscles would just sieze up like a rock.

After about a half hour of this, me gasping through clenched teeth (seriously hurtin'!) & knotted up like an old rope, we decided to call the paramedics, as there's no way I could have made it down the stairs to the car, and my wife being about half my size, there's no way she could have got me there without just dragging me.

Long story short: even though I'd been pounding water all day long in the garage, and took meal breaks, my electrolyte balance was totally hosed (potassium and sodium dangerously low), and I was seriously dehydrated too, kidneys starting to shut down the docs said. Even though I was drinking water all day long, I was just washing minerals out.

Over the last two days, they pushed 10 liters of IV saline into me. Hell of a way to gain 10 pounds in 48 hours.

So, there's my car, looking the best it's ever looked... sitting in the garage.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...IMG_0029-2.jpg

Spotless and perfect engine bay:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...IMG_0030-1.jpg

And there I am, laying in an open-backed man-dress in a hospital bed, watching Animal Planet.

Bummed. Seriously bummed, to have missed my goal for a second year running... but it's not worth actually dying for, you know?

Glen, good lord....I hope you are OK. My father has had dehydration problems several times in the past. When we lived in the Inland Empire he got dehydrated bad and ended up in the hospitol in Loma Linda for 4 days!!! The air is so dry where you live....you sweat badly and don't even know it!!

Sucks that you missed Seven Stock....there will always be next year....the most important thing is your health!!

I'm right as rain now, thanks... and yeah, there'll be other shows. I just hate missing goals, especially when I was THAT close. If I just skipped claybarring and re-waxing it, I'd have been fine. It was just too much to cram into one hot day.

In fact, I've got an invite to go to the JCCS show next weekend. And this way, the car even stayed clean.

Well JCCS will be cool.... I wish I was able to go to both of them. Hopefully next year they will have 7 stock and the JCCS one week apart also... and....hopefully I will be able to make that!!

Hang in there Glen....we are not young bucks anymore....

Day 441

It's gone?

As any who have followed this mess through to here know, I've been fighting a really confusing carb issue for almost a year now; a couple months after my last carb rebuild, the carb started inexplicably draining down the bowl levels after being shut down, leading to a near-flood on restart if started while still hot enough to skip choking, and an occasionally amazing amount of smoke.

I'd checked everything that would seem to make sense, and a few things that didn't. The problem seemed to stem mainly from the rear bowl, but not always.

Checked the following, some multiple times:
Vent solenoid - fine
Tank vent lines - fine
Return fuel line restrictor - fine and in right way
Coasting valve - fine
Charcoal canister (in the airbox lid on 80's) - was fine and flowed freely
Vent check valve - fine
Richer Solenoid valve - a little worn, but fine
Vacuum Power valve - fine

The weekend prior to SevenStock, I was so concerned about making a big embarrassing white cloud and chokey-sputtery noises, that I yanked off the carb and partially diassembled it, hoping perhaps to find a blocked air bleed, leaking jet, corroded power pump ball, or some other problem that could be tied to
letting fuel leak out of what should be tightly sealed bowls & into the intake.

I didn't find anything that I was looking for.

The only off-normal things I found were:

1) My main-jet access plugs were leaking slighty, and had dirtied up things around the bowl bottoms. I cleaned them up and re-torqued them.

2) The four bolts that hold the main body to the throttle body seemed a bit looser than would be healthy. I gave them a good tightening.

3) I SLIGHTLY adjusted my front float to close a bit earlier (I know, Sterling... I know). It had run a bit high (maybe 1/8th inch above perfect) and since I was in there, I danced it a bit.

I've restarted the car hot a half-dozen times since I got everything back together, and my flood condition appears to be gone. I get a little bit (just a haze) of dark smoke, which says I'm a little rich on start, but it's gone in 3 or 4 seconds. The mosquito-killing, sun-hiding, I've-elected-a-pope cloud is gone.

Problem is, I can't connect A to B; I can't make the one resolve as a cause of the other. The bowls aren't sealed by the gasket involved.

Confused. Happy, but confused.

Oh, and I had a little friend show up tonight, to help me inspect my shiny, shiny hood.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/PA010006.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/PA010007.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/PA010005.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/PA010008.jpg

car is looking very nice

hmm weird, my old SA does this too...

I don't know which disturbs me more, the fact that you know how many days it's been, or that I don't have an explanation for this. This is not the first time I've heard of this, and I have had Sterlings returned to try to troubleshoot this. Because I yank the FBVS plunger on Sterlings, there's nothing sealed when the engine shuts off. Normally, when the FBVS seals the carb up, it makes perfect sense that if the fuel tank vent isn't breathing, the still expanding tank vapors would increase the preasure over the fuel in the carb bowls, blowing the fuel up and out of the boosters. But without the carb sealed, that isn't possible.

Lemme ask you this:
Are there one or two brass valves in the bottoms of the fuel bowls in your carb? These are richer or power valves. I get these on ocassion as 78-80 Nikkis, usually with only one, but sometimes a valve in both bowls. I still can't figure out exactly when these come into play. But the circuit drilled for these does link both the main circuits on that side up with the idle circuit, which might account for you losing fuel into the manifold if the carb was not snugged down tight enough. Let me know!

sucks that you didn't make it Seven Stock, but your efforts are still not in vain. your car is gorgeous! i remain VERY impressed with your work as i'm sure are everyone that sees it and can truly appreciate it. anyone that can't is grossly obtuse. :)

on a sidenote, i'm glad things worked out with your electrolyte episode. for the future, make sure to get some Gatorade (or similar product) in you while plugging away in hot days. don't overdo it as too much Na+ or K+ is just as bad as too little, but maybe alternate it with your water intake.

i love your work. i love your car.

Here's what my research over time has revealed about the Vacuum Power Valve system, which my 80 has in both bowls:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/IMG_0004.jpg

The only SA's with manual transmissions that had these, were the California builds; they were also used in the SA's with automatic transmissions. Which makes them a minority build.

The brass valve is a combination valve and jet (a very small jet, too) that is opened when vacuum at a port in the carb throat drops below a certain level. The vacuum is applied to a chamber above a pair of spring-loaded pistons in the top cover:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...G_0001-1-1.jpg

The pistons are pulled up by normal engine vacuum, which lets the valves close. When vacuum drops, the pistons push on tiny valve stems on the tops of the valves, opening them.

On the 80 California SA's, there is also a third solenoid valve (Power Valve Solenoid Valve), below the richer solenoid on the right-hand side of the carb, which is also part of the control system:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...2a1c739e-1.jpg

It's controlled by the ECU, and used to cut off vacuum to the pistons and force the PV's open during warmup and a couple other conditions, to rich up the mix and better feed the thermal reactor to cut NOX.

I'd checked this system carefully, and couldn't find any faults (the pistons responded to a hand vacuum pump, the valves closed properly, and the solenoid worked fine, the ECU signal matched the conditions in the FSM) but without a flow bench you can't really tell if the valves are actually "opening" at the right time, as no part of the system is visible on a running car.

By the way, Stirling, if you run into any "spare" carb covers with the vacuum PV pistons in them that you don't want, I have a couple spares that don't have them that I would happily trade.



One other thing I remember noticing on this last repair attempt, a couple weeks ago; when I pulled the center stud out of the carb, the bottom third of it was wet with partially-evaporated gasoline "varnish." I had to use a dozen q-tips to clean the goop out of the well that the stud screws into. Puzzled me, but I didn't think about it too much at the time.

That would also be a strong argument for a throttle-body-to-main-body gasket leak, wouldn't it? Fuel should not normally be able to get into that well!

Yes, that would. The other thing is that even if the power valves were sealing (-and I do use 'sealing" as a relative term because they are simply spring-loaded brass on brass...), as long as the gasket was not sealing below the circuit, it would give the opportunity to "test" the integrity of the powervalve seals. And as you know, the internal springs are so light, there's just no way they are not going to leak.

Is the nipple on the back corner of your airhorn plugged? This is the port for the power valve actuator pistons.

Day 443

May have spoke too soon; Had some smoking this AM and after the JCCS show, but neither were hot starts; both stone cold.

I'll have to check and see if those bolts loosened up under operation. Too tired now - - all day at the show.

Car ran well, though I think I need to look to my secondaries; seemed to lack a little pull in hilll-climbing compared to memory.

More later, including pix; rest now.

Day 464

Show pix actually went into the "JCCS" thread, so I'm only gonna duplicate one here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...9/IMG_0017.jpg

Car's mostly sat since the show, as I had a pile of honeydews a mile high to clear, but I did this weekend get a chance to finally finish up an item for my upholstery that I've been seeking for years.

Rotary13B1 was selling parts at JCCS, and one of his nicer items is a epitrochoid shaped chrome gauge surround. Turns out is was nearly the perfect size for the door trim emblem I've always wanted to do. I stitched a rotor-shaped pattern in the door panel when I first did it, years ago. It was centered on the hole for the original manual mirrors, in case I ever switched back, but the panel always felt a little blank to me:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...%20stuff/v.jpg

After modifying the pieces to mount 4-40 brass studs on the back, then mounting them, I'm pretty happy with the results:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/PA240039.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/PA240038.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/PA230035.jpg

Nice and shiny!

Anatomy of a Failure??
 

Day 596

As mentioned several times over the course of this thread, I've had a recurring problem with my carb flooding the engine after a hot shutdown. But it's an unusual flood; instead of the normal case with a flooded carb where the carb bowls fill completely and then overwhelm the jets, in this case, the bowls were EMPTYING after the car sat for around 20 mintues to an hour; you could see the levels drop in the sight glasses, and the fuel would end up in the carb barrels. This would flood the engine on re-start, requiring a lot of cranking and eventually producing a huge cloud of fuel smoke when she'd finally light. Annoying, embarrassing, and over time excess flooding can cause your oil seals to wear, as the gas washes off the oil layer on the side housings.

I've tested the carb every way I could think of, or that others could suggest, and found nothing wrong. Theoretically, it should be impossible for the bowls to drain without a pressure differential between the bowl and the throat; there's no gravity path from the bowl to the throat.

The obvious suspect was the bowl vent valve, since it not opening after shutdown would allow vapor pressue to build up in the top of the bowls, forcing fuel out the jets, but it has tested perfect a dozen times.

Checked my vent lines, my vent and check valve, my fuel return line, my tank vent line, my crankcase vent lines, my carbon canister... nothing. All fine. Fully within spec.

However, based on a lead from Stirling's forum, from a guy who had a similar problem on an FB, I may have found the culprit. I say "may," because the flood doesnt happen all the time, and I've only got one successful shutdown by way of test so far, but I'm hopeful.

Under the rear of the car, behind the fuel pump and in front of the gas tank, is a plastic valve called the "Check and Cut Valve" (not to be confused with the "Fuel Check Valve," which is in-line with the fuel pump).

This dingus does two things:

1) It relieves overpressures in the gas tank to prevent damage if the emissions-mandated vapor vent line gets clogged, and.

2) It has a rollover valve in it, to cut it's own vent off should the car flip.

It doesn't connect to anything else; gas tank, to this valve, to atmosphere. It takes a tank pressure of at least 0.78 to 1.0 PSI to make it open, which shouldn't happen if the vapor system is OK. So mostly it does absolutely nothing.

Mine has failed. Blowing into it produced no flow, well past 3PSI. Failure of this part was reported as causing a similar problem to mine, by one person on Sterling's forum, back in September.

Strangely enough, I had a spare; actual New-Old Stock, that I had bought in 2003 and for some reason never put on the car.

It's on the car now, and after one test, so far, no problems. The bowl levels didn't drop after shutdown, this time.

Curious as to whet might have gone wrong, I hacksawed the old valve in half. Here's what I found:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...f/P3050002.jpg

See that little blob of goop around the small ball valve at the base? Yep; that's the failure.

If it turns out that I've spent the better part of a year chasing that little blob of goo, I think I'll put it in a display case and hang it on the wall.

Stay tuned for updates; I've got a smog test in 10 days, so I'm motivated to solve this dilemma!

Day 597

After sitting all night, the front bowl level was absolutely normal. The rear bowl level had dropped slightly, fuel still fisible above the edge of the sight glass.

Turn key on, wait 5, pull choke, hit start... car started in less than 2 secs of rotation without touching the gas pedal, no smoke, virtually no exhaust smell on startup. Continnued through the warmup cycle completely normal, shut down. smooth. Now waiting to see what the bowl levels do as it cools down.

Hopeful.

Day 801

Nirvana has been achieved, and the holy grail is now mine... some 114 weeks after this latest resurrection project was begun; I have had the most stunningly successful week in my...ever.

Starting last Sunday with my attending JCCS 6, which was awesome:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0/100_0555.jpg

Where I was greatly surprised to come home with 3rd place among RX-7's from that show:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0/100_0527.jpg

The week capped off today when finally, after 2 1/2 years and two failed attempts, I realized and then exceeded my goal as laid out when I started this thread:

Not only did I finally and at long last get my car and myself to SevenStock in one piece (primary goal)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0/100_0572.jpg

I got a coveted courtyard parking pass (hoped-for but considered unlikely outcome)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0/100_0622.jpg

And then, coming completely out of these blue, This crew of guys in "EVENT" shirts come up and puts THIS on my windshield! (Totally unexpected surprise)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0/100_0624.jpg

Folks, I kid you not - - I'm still in shock. Flabbergasted. Gobsmacked.

And really, really happy.

I gotta go sleep now. I can't wait to see what happens in my dreams tonight!