Friday, October 29, 2021

“Let us celebrate the stupidity of our endurance.”

I know, I know...what the fuck?  It's been raining quite a lot lately and that's slowed my progress on tuning the carbs.

To dig my heels in at a really weird time and place and opt to step it up a notch and go with a Bluetooth-enabled distributor.  What a weird thing to add now...well, yeah, indeed.  Welcome to how I got to this place.

So, I'm going to install this thing and see if the app can tell me anything new.  

The plan to enlarge the garage has hit a rather large obstacle for now.  We're either going to do it at a later date, not do it and pay for storage for the VW or move to a different house with a proper garage.  Those are the three options on the table.  For now, the car will go into storage over the Winter.

I should have some time to work on this tomorrow - I'm looking forward to seeing what happens...

Thursday, October 21, 2021

“My money is in the hands of strangers.”

 A little tweak here and there and the car runs...it's slightly rich and the idle is lumpy but it runs fine.  I drove the car around the neighborhood a bit while dinner was in the oven.  The steering box needs to be adjusted to eliminate play in the middle but it's otherwise good to go.

I'm going to have to play with the tuning of the carburetors to get them dialed in better to drop the idle and get them leaned out a bit more.  Once I'm closer, I'll hook up the wideband and see what's got to be tweaked.

Headlights need to be adjusted and the ground for the dash lights needs some attention - they flicker.

Timing is decent - the temps dropped 20°F in the last two days.  I might have it close by the time it has to be put away for the Winter.

Saturday, October 16, 2021

“It is only in our decisions that we are important.”

I bought gasket material, made the gasket and stopped that leak.  The coil arrived on Friday and I put it in the car.  I finally found my multimeter - with dead batteries.  You'd think that in a house that has a ton of toys and remotes and gadgets everywhere that I'd have two extra AAA batteries but you'd be wrong.  Once I got fresh batteries - I tested the coil and...it's fine.  Yeah, fucking noob error on my part - not testing the coil before I bought another one.  Not testing the coil before pretending to know what the fucking problem is with the car.  I've become so impatient with the car and getting it running that I just buy a replacement part right off the bat and that's an expensive way to get a car running.

Nevertheless, I installed a new oil filter and fresh oil, hooked the battery back up and the car fired right up.  The fuel pressure was a tad over 3psi - which is strange because I could have sworn that it was under 3psi last time.  I spent some time getting the fuel pressure right and then tried to sync the carbs.  The exhaust was smoking a bit, the engine was vibrating a lot and the idle was super high.  I got them synced, turned the idle down to 1,000 rpm, and set about getting LBI out of the carbs.  I managed to get the exhaust to stop smoking completely and almost got LBI sorted out but now the idle isn't consistent so I may be dealing with a combination of idle mixture, jets, and timing.  All in, I spent about 2 hours working on the car today - after doing yard work for the better part of the morning hours.  I was tired before I started working on the car.

Tomorrow is a busy day so I am unlikely to get any time to work on the car, so Monday after work is the day to get this thing sorted.  The next two weeks are decent with weather so I may still pull this one out of my hat. I just need to get the idle sorted well enough that I can drive the car and hook it up to the wideband and figure out the rest of it.

Thursday, October 14, 2021

“Healthy is a heart that still feels pain. Once we’re numb to it all, it’s over.”

 Oil has been drained, plugs replaced, carbs installed and silicone gaskets installed on the oil strainer.  I need to get gasket material so I can make a new oil filler pipe gasket and a new oil filter.  The immediate goal is to stop the oil leaks - change the oil and see if I can get the damn car to fire up again.

I decided to skip the thermocouple for the CHT this time around because I will most likely have to pull the top tin to get it installed.  I don't have the patience for that shit right now. 
The coil is scheduled to arrive on Saturday and I'm hoping to have everything else ready for its installation so that I can drop it in and fire up the car.  Once it's running, the tuning begins as long as the snow isn't falling.

Sunday, October 10, 2021

"The burned hand teaches best. After that, advice about fire goes to the heart."

Jim came by and we checked and double-checked the carb settings - no joy.  The engine simply didn't start.

The fuel pressure regulator was set and it's currently just over 2.5psi. It may/may not need additional adjustment but it's not that big of a hassle.  First hurdle is to get it running again.

After going through every possible scenario, we decided to pull the plugs and see what's going on - all four are black and wet.  We quickly surmised that there is no spark - and then I remembered that I'd just swapped the coil.  Bosch blue coils are notoriously mediocre in quality control and this one is likely bad.  I haven't tested it out of the car but it (and the fuel pressure regulator) are the only things that have changed and the coil being bad would explain why this engine went from running like shit to not running at all.  Another coil will be swapped in, plugs replaced and I'll try again.  The one 'up' side is that I can install the thermocouple for the CHT and then I'll get to see how well that works.

We both have other things to do today so this is where we left off - everything is torn apart - waiting on a coil and plugs.  I disconnected the battery since there's no need for it and it reduces the odds that I'll zap myself on the coil screwing around with the carburetor.

Seems like everything is a learning experience now.

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

"There is no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do"

The exhaust is back in the car although the heat shield is now rubbing the body in a new place.

I've decided that this exhaust is going to need to be fully welded and flanged - I have a couple of the slip fittings that aren't fitting as snugly as I'd like - so flanges are the way to go.

For now, though, I'll stick with what I've got and focus on getting the car running correctly.

I got the fuel pressure gauge installed - it's registering at just over 3psi - just a hair too strong. The fuel pressure regulator arrived and was hastily installed to test for leaks.  The car now doesn't start because the carburetors need to be reset (again).

Once I get the car running and the carburetors in sync - then I'll start fumbling my way through the wideband tuning...if I get to that before it starts snowing.