My Ferrari buddy John gifted me a pair of vintage Cibie 7" Z-beam H3 headlights. Gonna put 'em on relays. Need to adjust. Daniel Stern style using my garage wall.
And ordered these -- Solex carb adjustment in my future.
Because the engine/carbs sit low in the bay, you need the adapter to raise the meter up so it can be accurately read. That "cone" on the adapter goes into each throat of each carb with the engine running. All air going into that throat passes through the meter and pressure drop registers on the scale. The idea is to have equal pressure drops at all 4 throttle bores. While the device measures pressure drop, the scale converts that to a flow number in KG of air/hour. There are adjustments that allow you to adjust one carb relative to the next, and then to adjust the two throttle blades in each carb relative to each other. Once you get things equal, more or less, you re-adjust idle speed - then go back through the procedure again. This continues until everything is equal usually 2 or 3 passes. Then you use the gauge to fine tune the idle mixture screws of each carb. Once that's done - then you could use spark plug reading or an O2 sensor to fine tune main and idle jets, accelerator pump, emulsion tubes. But - one thing at a time....
Adjusted lights today. Followed Daniel Stern’s guidance, but because this car is so small/low, I only lowered the pattern 2” instead of his recommended 3”. I put a carpenter’s level on the cowl and shot a straight line down the crease in the center of the hood as a proxy for having the car pointing straight ahead. With the bumper touching the wall I used the laser to mark the centerline of the car. Then I kept the laser on the centerline as I backed the car up 25’. It’s amazing how far off you can be if you just push it back what you “think” is straight. Adjustment was easy. Can’t wait to get these Cibie E-codes on relays. Then I can put in some more serious wattage on the bulbs.
Shot below is the laser on the marked centerline with the car 25' back from the wall. And my carb air meter arrived today -- so some carb adjusting in my future. If I'm able to get all 4 throats balanced (same amount of air moving through at idle) then I'm going to try something different for setting the idle air/fuel screws. If the same amount of air is moving into each cylinder, then mixture differences should affect the temp in the header primary. So I'm gonna use my IR temp gun shooting at each primary and try to set idle air/fuel by equalizing temps on the primaries. We'll see.
Fun stuff on the lights. The advent of affordable lasers for leveling and such is very handy.
I laid fifteen feet of cut vinyl 6” lettering, all in one line on a wall today. The laser level made it a ton easier than having to scribe a line on the wall, etc etc.
Will be interesting to see your results on balancing those carbs out. I’ve always heard multiple carb setups can be a bear to deal with.
Adjusted lights today. Followed Daniel Stern’s guidance, but because this car is so small/low, I only lowered the pattern 2” instead of his recommended 3”. I put a carpenter’s level on the cowl and shot a straight line down the crease in the center of the hood as a proxy for having the car pointing straight ahead. With the bumper touching the wall I used the laser to mark the centerline of the car. Then I kept the laser on the centerline as I backed the car up 25’. It’s amazing how far off you can be if you just push it back what you “think” is straight. Adjustment was easy. Can’t wait to get these Cibie E-codes on relays. Then I can put in some more serious wattage on the bulbs.
Shot below is the laser on the marked centerline with the car 25' back from the wall. And my carb air meter arrived today -- so some carb adjusting in my future. If I'm able to get all 4 throats balanced (same amount of air moving through at idle) then I'm going to try something different for setting the idle air/fuel screws. If the same amount of air is moving into each cylinder, then mixture differences should affect the temp in the header primary. So I'm gonna use my IR temp gun shooting at each primary and try to set idle air/fuel by equalizing temps on the primaries. We'll see.
That sounds more accurate than the old method with multiple vacuum gauges. My friend used to do that in the 70's, and he was used to the Honda CBX's(six cylinders and carbs). Now he's been playing with the V4 Yamaha he has, and one of the two carb's has issues with the fuel coming into the bowls.
Hopefully the IR heat gun is a new tool to help more.
My first car was a 72 Gran Torino, and I added Cibie lights to it in 1980 I think. Those four lights sucked the juice out of the stock 55 amp alternator. I had to added a large 80amp relay that was just like a starter relay, on the fender. Plus I drove to a local alternator shop on Magnolia Ave, they took it off and changed the windings, tested it to make 80amps, and put it back one, for about $45 back then. I miss that place, Knoxville Generator, they were great.
I had 55/100w H4 bulbs in one pair of lights, and 100w H3's in the other. Those were extreme when on as I recall, on the interstate they lit up everything for a long way.
Yup Don - I've got the Hella E-codes (4 4x6) in the Volvo on separate relays. The good news is that with the stock 55w/60w (lo/hi) bulbs in them, they really shouldn't take any more juice than a stock sealed beam would. But the bigger problem is that there's likely a good 1.5-2V drop in voltage between battery (engine on) and what's getting to the bulb. Adding relays will take all the current out of the stock wiring/switches which should preserve them for a long time to come, and will also reduce that voltage drop to near zero which will increase lumen output big time. I'm pretty sure this has an upgraded alternator in it....still have to confirm.
Well, first attempt at carb synch went well. But more to go. Wanted to start off by setting the timing -- but my timing light (30 years old?) bit the dust. Without being able to check/set timing we didn't want to go too far. But the synch gauge showed us very quickly that we had an imbalance between how far the rear carb throttles were opened compared to the front. Easy peasy -- 9kg/hr rear, 6 kg/hr front -- turn one screw clockwise until they both read a hair below 7. Done. Couldn't have been any easier. And much more throttle responsive than before. Then began playing with idle air mixture screws. Started by turning them all the way in and then back out 1 turn. Then played with them looking at header primary temps. 3 of 4 were pretty close -- 375F or so; one around 315F. Runs much better (and it ran good before) - but now have some popping on decel that wasn't present before. Don't want to go too much further until I figure out the timing situation.
A deceleration pop thru the exhaust is a sign of being lean. Once again there is a slight acceptable level of this but it is always nice to know what the AFR is doing. A quick look with an 02 you should have a good Idea. You could also slowly richen up the mixture till it goes away and see how much you had to adjust it. And then see how the performance is affectedl.
Have timing and (possibly) old fuel to work through before we play with the carbs anymore. One thing at a time guys. Mostly, it just needs to be driven! As my friends (one Italian, one with Italian cars) say -- Drivah da car!
Oh - no O2 sensor to rely on, although one could be added, but not without trouble. And mixture issues aren't the only possibilities for decel pop -- retarded timing will cause it as well - unburned fuel finishes itself off in the exhaust system. In fact, in a system that's working perfectly, just slamming the throttle(s) closed will often result in a bit of a pop as the sudden loss of air to the cylinder results in a small portion of mixture that has more fuel than air (rich) and that fuel finishes itself off in the exhaust system. That's the problem with decel pop -- many things can contribute to it, and, something in perfect working order can do it.
That Datsun Michael? Cool car, back in the early 80s they were a dime a dozen. I'd been looking for something like that for a new project.I settled on this B-GT.
Currently its cut to pieces. Today I welded up some rear frame. Getting ready for the 9 inch,lol. Then onto the coilover front suspension, 351 roller, 4R70W trans. That's the short list.
Im not heading the MS Paint route. My goal is a wide body Sebring style
Discovered vacuum advance not working at all. And distributor interference with the intake manifold means timing is off and can't be adjusted any more without a distributor re-position. I can get a new vacuum advance module for about $60, but a whole new distributor for $85....so I've got one on the way. I'll rotate it 90 degrees and re-wire the dizzy cap --- don't know why the PO didn't do that in the first place. Probably didn't know how. Got a feeling this will make a big difference - excited!
Bid for the chance to own a 1988 Ford Mustang GT 5.0 5-Speed at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #27,129.
Easy enough. Took longer to get the wiring unplugged than to remove the dizzy! One of those plugs where you don't have a clue whether you're supposed to press 2 tabs down, or lift them, or lift one and press the other --- all while underneath the intake mani and carbs. Rotated it about 65 degrees -- didn't even have to reposition the dizzy wires - had enough slack to just rotate the cap. PLENTY of room to rotate it to any timing setting I want. So now it's set at 10 BTDC - I'll fire up later to day to see if it works before I do the same mod to a brand new (reman) dizzy. Luckily I had a screw driver long enough to rotate the oil pump drive slot. Temp hold down bolt/washer. Might be able to repurpose the piece I cut off -- or get to the doodad section of the big box auto parts store and pick up a SBC dizzy hold down fork.
Rock Auto amazing - ordered at 8:30 pm Fri night. At 11:50PM got a message saying it had shipped via FedEx. Checked the FedEx tracking number Sat. morning and they say it'll be here tomorrow - Sunday. Don't ever have to leave the house anymore.
I'm in NJ and considering a long-distance vehicle purchase in northern AL. I'd like to find someone to look the car over to make sure I'm not wasting my time. Willing to compensate for the help. Please send a PM or reply if interested. Thank you.
Okay boys and girls....
1991 Foxbody, has a cervinis stalker hood and front bumper. Original Oxford White car with pain that while garage kept has a few golf ball marks, swirls etc. Really wanting someone to do a great job on this car but I'm unsure what is a realistic price to pay. I've heard...
Looking for Southwest Florida Shops
Can anyone recommend some good or specialized shops for fox body and newer Mustang work in the Naples or Ft. Myers, FL area (engine tuning, suspension, axle, welding, exhaust, parts, etc.)?
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