Thursday, December 15, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Cage
Erroll took the car off to Destroyer last night for the cage work. They apparently got a little lost and made the poor guy wait for them. The car wouldn't start to get it off the trailer, which I think may be due to a bad cold start valve. Small hurdles though, and there's just a few critical things left to do!
Monday, December 5, 2011
round all four corners
Back up to Dallas again. In spite of incipient bronchitis, we tackled the car again Saturday morning. While I took apart the leaky cam tower, the rest of the crew disassembled the Spider rear axle I had brought up and got out the axle shafts. They swapped perfectly with the shafts from the Brava, and now we had the mounts for the rear disc brakes, instead of the drums there before.
I found a broken bolt in the coolant tee, which is likely where our coolant leak has been. I managed to get the stub out with Vice-grips, and fortunately the first bolt I found in my pile of spare bolts fit perfectly.
Glen got a nice wiring harness and power points set up for our radios and camera.
Our friend Csaba showed up at this point, and brought a nice new gasket for the cam tower. I installed that, and he adjusted the valves for me. The crew in the back installed a couple of rear calipers from my stash that seemed to work (they are really hard to rebuild), and by that time the engine was back together and I went to install the new timing belt, only to find it was for an 1800 engine, not the 2-liter in this car. Fortunately, Csaba produced a spare and we installed that. I got the engine started, but it ran really badly and knocked, so we shut it off and inspected everything. I found that the auxiliary shaft had turned a bit during the belt installation, so I took off the belt again and set everything correctly, then installed it. Csaba found a loose exhaust manifold bolt which he tightened, and I took the plugs out and cleaned them. As I did that, I found that a rat had chewed our plug wires pretty severely, thus the missing. We routed them around to avoid grounding, then started the car again and it ran much more smoothly. It's still running rich and occasionally missing, but it's not bad at all.
The next morning Erroll and I bled the rear brakes, and the pedal feels really good now. While we don't have a parking brake, hopefully this will give us a little better braking than we have had in the past. We fixed the other broken bolt for the driveshaft mount, filled the gearbox with oil, and then I left - my work is done and the others will have to finish it up. Race is in two weeks!
I found a broken bolt in the coolant tee, which is likely where our coolant leak has been. I managed to get the stub out with Vice-grips, and fortunately the first bolt I found in my pile of spare bolts fit perfectly.
Glen got a nice wiring harness and power points set up for our radios and camera.
Our friend Csaba showed up at this point, and brought a nice new gasket for the cam tower. I installed that, and he adjusted the valves for me. The crew in the back installed a couple of rear calipers from my stash that seemed to work (they are really hard to rebuild), and by that time the engine was back together and I went to install the new timing belt, only to find it was for an 1800 engine, not the 2-liter in this car. Fortunately, Csaba produced a spare and we installed that. I got the engine started, but it ran really badly and knocked, so we shut it off and inspected everything. I found that the auxiliary shaft had turned a bit during the belt installation, so I took off the belt again and set everything correctly, then installed it. Csaba found a loose exhaust manifold bolt which he tightened, and I took the plugs out and cleaned them. As I did that, I found that a rat had chewed our plug wires pretty severely, thus the missing. We routed them around to avoid grounding, then started the car again and it ran much more smoothly. It's still running rich and occasionally missing, but it's not bad at all.
The next morning Erroll and I bled the rear brakes, and the pedal feels really good now. While we don't have a parking brake, hopefully this will give us a little better braking than we have had in the past. We fixed the other broken bolt for the driveshaft mount, filled the gearbox with oil, and then I left - my work is done and the others will have to finish it up. Race is in two weeks!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Innards
Over the Thanksgiving weekend I fixed all the vacuum leaks, then drove it a few miles down the road for a car wash (total miles so far, five!), really an engine wash as there were decades of encrusted oil and dirt on the motor. It came out looking really good, and it drove well too.
Jonathan and I then got the transmission out, replaced the friction disc (which was right at its wear limit, lucky us), and got it all back together again. Getting to the top starter bolt and top transmission bolt is sort of a Fiat rite of passage, although it's easier in a Brava than in a Spider. Our Mercedes bolt is doing a good job holding the rear mount together.
I then disassembled the rear suspension and replaced the shocks with the KYB GR-2 shocks I had mysteriously appear in my trunk. I am pretty sure I bought them right after the last race, but have completely forgotten from whom. Anyway, they're in. I noticed the driver's side trailing arms were pretty bent up.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Rolling in my 2.0
I went back to Dallas Saturday, and Erroll and Kendra brought the trailer over with the car. The trailer is a little bent up from the wreck. I found a good-sized dent in the front crossmember under the radiator of the Fiat but that was it, other than the rear bumper which had both torn partially loose from the bumper mount, and yanked out the rear bumper shocks.
We unchained everything and Collin climbed in, and it started instantly. He backed it off the trailer and we put it in Mom's garage and had a look. The AFM was gummy from aphids, of all things, but I cleaned it as best I could then squirted some DeOxit into it and that seemed to fix it. I found the cover in the trunk, which helped. Erroll vacuumed up all the broken glass that is everywhere from the other car. We started the car and let it idle, and it did ok, just running a little hot, and the muffler joints seem to be broken again so it's fairly noisy.
Next day we went to Pep Boys to get a few small parts, RTV sealant and such, and to my utter astonishment they had a new upper radiator hose for a Brava. This fixed the rigged hose with a kink that had been causing us some trouble with cooling. We fixed a few other little things then I took it for a spin down the street and back. The clutch is in pretty bad shape, so that's going to have to be fixed. The brakes are still really bad but work OK if stomped. I, however, know what they're like when hot, so something has to be done there.
Thanksgiving weekend is a big push, then after that we'll take it for cage work and to have the exhaust fixed.
We unchained everything and Collin climbed in, and it started instantly. He backed it off the trailer and we put it in Mom's garage and had a look. The AFM was gummy from aphids, of all things, but I cleaned it as best I could then squirted some DeOxit into it and that seemed to fix it. I found the cover in the trunk, which helped. Erroll vacuumed up all the broken glass that is everywhere from the other car. We started the car and let it idle, and it did ok, just running a little hot, and the muffler joints seem to be broken again so it's fairly noisy.
Next day we went to Pep Boys to get a few small parts, RTV sealant and such, and to my utter astonishment they had a new upper radiator hose for a Brava. This fixed the rigged hose with a kink that had been causing us some trouble with cooling. We fixed a few other little things then I took it for a spin down the street and back. The clutch is in pretty bad shape, so that's going to have to be fixed. The brakes are still really bad but work OK if stomped. I, however, know what they're like when hot, so something has to be done there.
Thanksgiving weekend is a big push, then after that we'll take it for cage work and to have the exhaust fixed.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Tow Rig Crash
Collin left for Dallas yesterday towing the Brava, and I snapped this pic of him leaving my house.
The Fiat ripped off the rear bumper and crashed into the front of the trailer - damage is unknown but hopefully not fatal.
Kendra rescued him and the car and took them on to Dallas, and my Jeep returned home on the back of a truck, very much the worse for wear. So at least the car is in Dallas, but we're short a tow vehicle now so things have become somewhat more complicated.
He encountered a sudden traffic stoppage on I-35 just north of Waco and some guy swerved into the shoulder ahead of him as he was trying to stop. Collin is ok, and the other driver unhurt, but the Jeep is probably totaled as the front is smashed in rather badly.
The Fiat ripped off the rear bumper and crashed into the front of the trailer - damage is unknown but hopefully not fatal.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
L-Jetronic
So I drained the gas the other day, and got about 8-9 gallons out of it. Since the tank was full, and I think it's a 12 gallon tank, we had lost a fair amount to evaporation, but the gas was still usable and I put it in various cars. I got new gas, put some in the tank, hooked the lines back up and tried to start the car, but nothing happen. I ran the fuel pump manually to pressurize the fuel rail, and tried to start it again. One cylinder fired once, and that was it. This was the pattern - after waiting for a bit, I would try to start, and one cylinder would fire once and nothing else would happen.
I finally pulled off the air intake hose to the manifold and poured a little gas in from the spout of the can. I tried to start it again, and the engine caught and ran for a second or two. So now I knew everything was working, and there was a problem with fuel delivery. Somehow either the airflow meter was sending a bad signal, the computer was bad, the injectors weren't getting a signal, or - maybe they were just stuck closed, which is what I was hoping although it seemed unlikely they would all stick closed at once. At any rate, it wasn't starting.
I left it alone for about a week, busy at work, and last night just randomly tried to start it again. Nothing happened, and I realized the emergency cutoff switch was being flaky. I wiggled it, the ignition came on, and I cranked the engine again. Two cylinders fired, and this time the engine stumbled and miraculously kept running, belching smoke and coughing on two cylinders while I did a delicate dance on the accelerator pedal. Then another one caught, and it smoothed out a little. It gained some revs as it warmed up, and then suddenly the last cylinder fired and it was running smoothly!
My excitement knew no bounds, in spite of the smoke beginning to pour from under the hood from a bad oil leak which had been caking on the manifold for two years. The injectors had apparently been stuck closed, and the cold start injector probably as well. The fresh gas sitting in the fuel rail must have dissolved some of the deposits - perhaps we'll run some injector cleaner through in our first tank of gas. The car sounded really good, missing occasionally, but it idled quite smoothly. We'll have to fix the various fluid and vacuum leaks, but we've taken a long step towards rectifying two years of neglect!
I finally pulled off the air intake hose to the manifold and poured a little gas in from the spout of the can. I tried to start it again, and the engine caught and ran for a second or two. So now I knew everything was working, and there was a problem with fuel delivery. Somehow either the airflow meter was sending a bad signal, the computer was bad, the injectors weren't getting a signal, or - maybe they were just stuck closed, which is what I was hoping although it seemed unlikely they would all stick closed at once. At any rate, it wasn't starting.
I left it alone for about a week, busy at work, and last night just randomly tried to start it again. Nothing happened, and I realized the emergency cutoff switch was being flaky. I wiggled it, the ignition came on, and I cranked the engine again. Two cylinders fired, and this time the engine stumbled and miraculously kept running, belching smoke and coughing on two cylinders while I did a delicate dance on the accelerator pedal. Then another one caught, and it smoothed out a little. It gained some revs as it warmed up, and then suddenly the last cylinder fired and it was running smoothly!
My excitement knew no bounds, in spite of the smoke beginning to pour from under the hood from a bad oil leak which had been caking on the manifold for two years. The injectors had apparently been stuck closed, and the cold start injector probably as well. The fresh gas sitting in the fuel rail must have dissolved some of the deposits - perhaps we'll run some injector cleaner through in our first tank of gas. The car sounded really good, missing occasionally, but it idled quite smoothly. We'll have to fix the various fluid and vacuum leaks, but we've taken a long step towards rectifying two years of neglect!
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