A couple hours to spare at the shop this afternoon. First was the front marker/turn signals. Done.
Being crouched over with knees fully bent for however long that took was pretty uncomfortable. I took a break and disassembled the cart I built way back when to hold the Healey engine and trans. I used angle aluminum on part of that cart and realized it could be used to make some simple bumper brackets for the E36 M3iata.
I took off the side skirts sometime last week and I think it looks a lot better even with the rust. I'll likely make some patch panels for both sides at some point when I'm feeling energetic.
Tails done. Back in pieces. What a stupid design.
Found the shift knob. As with everything on this car, it wasn't easy. Apparently at some point during removal, installation, storage, who knows, the threads on the shift rod were damaged. Although now that I type that, it had to just have been in storage because I removed the rod every time I pulled the engine and trans... I had to enact the Dremel to excuse the offending threads. Now the logo isn't straight when threaded on but I've got a couple solutions in mind.
There should be a lock nut under the shift knob so that you can keep the logo/shift pattern/etc in the correct orientation
NOHOME
MegaDork
12/24/19 9:05 a.m.
In reply to RoddyMac17 :
the threads on the shift rod were damaged
Going to guess that by the time the offending threads were cutt-off there was not enough room for the knob and the locknut. I woulda gone looking for a die to fix the threads cause Healey shift levers are not thick on the ground.
Pete
NOHOME said:
In reply to RoddyMac17 :
the threads on the shift rod were damaged
Going to guess that by the time the offending threads were cutt-off there was not enough room for the knob and the locknut. I woulda gone looking for a die to fix the threads cause Healey shift levers are not thick on the ground.
Pete
Nope, never had a lock nut on it that I've seen. That's probably the route I'll take. There should be enough room.
I also wasn't worried about cutting it down because it had definitely already been cut before.
Tons of family activities over the past week (both sides) but I stuffed some car things into the mix. I brought E36 M3iata home for the first time. Drove it to a friend's shop on Friday to hang out before dinner at my in-laws. Saturday morning I drove it to the closest coin-op car wash, soaked my shoes and made the car only look marginally better.
Today, after about 2 hours wasted at an auto parts store, long story, I decided to spend time cleaning the shop. 3 contractor bags and some organization and it looks marginally better. I also picked at some things. Some screws that connect the front shroud to the scuttle, the hood pop rod bracket and the two brackets that the hood catches catch on.
I hooked up a little electric fuel pump up to the E36 M3iata battery to pull the remaining fuel out of the E21 cell...no dice. It did, however, inspire me to make a new ground for E36 M3iata.
Original. The stripped end was literally just smushed under the ground from the body harness.
New.
That is one of the many battery cables I pulled out of the E46(?) in the junkyard to relocate the E21 battery.
I also had a little fun with an old tool box that my dad was going to throw away a couple years ago. I adopted it and it holds track spares for the E21.
Been taking it easy lately which feels damn good. Need to order a few more things to really finish the Healey.
I put on my hazmat suit and started to clean the E36 M3iata. Found almost $7 worth of change throughout the interior. Some of it was so nasty that I ended up with just the inside of the penny after a CLR bath. Something I learned - the inside of a penny is a black disc.
It's technically a zinc disc.
i may have a cheap storage spot for the E36 M3iata next winter
Patrick said:
i may have a cheap storage spot for the E36 M3iata next winter
Groovy, just let me know.
I went through and greased all of the various spots required for the Healey suspension on Saturday. While doing so, I realized that I failed to put the cotter pins in for the steering arms... They are now in.
After that work on the Healey, I started drilling out the broken off bolt for the driver's seat. It this thing is going to jump, I figure I need all four bolts.
I had E36 M3iata on the rack at a friends shop last night changing the oil and checking that there was actually fluid in the diff when I get a very sad call from my sick daughter asking me to come home. That meant E36 M3iata came home with me last night and I got to experience icy roads with it this morning as I had to be somewhere at 8:30.
Welded diff + cheap tires + ice/snow = FUN
In Healey-related news, I've tracked down a source for all of the missing trafficator parts. Just need to order them.
In E21-related news, it looks like I'll be able to use a lift to do the rear main this spring. Hell yeah. My intent is to have it at the Mid-O vintage race in June.
Healey update - Misc parts on order to finish it aesthetically. Headlights and buckets, trim rings and rear reflectors. Will order the trafficator parts next month and that'll be it until we replace the steering wheel and get a tonneau cover. I was over there on Saturday with an exhaust expander tool to get the muffler installed. The tool works well but I'm worried about splitting the downpipes at the slits. Stupid car wouldn't start. It was getting fuel but I didn't dig any further. I'm thinking the battery was unhappy with all the testing I did getting the market lights done and these wild temp swings as of late. It was cranking kind of slow. Oh, and I think I'll need to adjust the radiator down a bit (which there is no room to do) because the hood is hitting something.
I'm starting to get the feeling that this car was really ready for it's life to be over. It just fights me every step of the way.
E21 update - It pretty much started right up on Saturday, came to an idle and held temp perfectly. I'm really itching to get it back on track. Mid-O Vintage in June.
Should be able to get over there on Sunday.
Yesterday: Sold E36 M3iata for a handsome profit, put one of the rear reflectors in the Healey and have started sniffing out a cheap, light, single car trailer.
E36 M3iata went on its way because I finally heard from the guy who sold me the M10 a while back. He's going to get me a bill of sale so that'll go in the Locost eventually.
Went to the shop today determined to make good progress. The Healey started right up. The battery may have been low last time but I also realized I likely didn't have the choke pulled all the way. It definitely seems to need some tuning but it runs and idles and didn't even get up to temp.
I was feeling good so I even started up the E21 and let it get up to temp.
Next was the Healey muffler. Used the expando tool I rented, got it on, and the thing sounds buttery smoooooooth. Until I heard a something. Almost sounds like a completely loose rocker at the back of the engine. It's rattly... it's not like the normal sound valves needing adjustment make. Hard to hear in the video, it's most clear in the end. It's not the end of the world to pull the rocker cover back off but I'd like not to. Should I run it all the way up to temp next time and see if it goes away? This was after it had been sitting after running for probably 10 minutes. Maybe it was at 110 degrees?
First set back of the day. The second is much worse.
No clue how or when it happened. Patrick suggested that it got bumped in transit or storage which made it crack and then closing the door or something else vibrated it free. I certainly haven't hit it with or opened it into anything so that's the likely scenario. The positive is that it's going back to the painter anyway to get the rockers done but I can't catch a berkeleying break with this car.
Tonight, or tomorrow, or this week or whenever I'll order some exhaust tubing and bends so I can whip up the side exit tips and hanger.
Spent some good time with the Healey this evening. It again started up no problem and it ended up idling at 160 for what had to be 25-30 minutes and would have gone longer.
I think the noise I was hearing was actually the muffler bouncing on the wood blocks holding it up. 
There is definitely some valve ticking in one spot but nothing I feel I need to address right now.
One thing I did discover is that, once up to temp, it will not rev up. First thought was to check the dashpots - they were a little low. Filled them with no change. I then started working on the mixture and realized the garage was really fumy so I stopped.
I put the second reflector on.
No more borrowing trailers. Heck yeah.
Edit: A story worth telling. The garage I rent is in a neighborhood in Cleveland with VERY tight streets that allows cars to park on both sides. I thought that maybe picking the trailer up on a Sunday would mean fewer cars...it did not. I had to pull along the sidewalk (blocking 1.5 driveways), quickly install the wheel jack, move when someone had to get in their driveway, unhook the trailer and then maneuver the trailer by myself into position there. Fun.
Yeah that's a particularly tight street. I wouldn't want to get a car trailer in there
In reply to Patrick :
My struggling also pointed out that the street has a pretty good crown and this trailer is quite low in the back. Good for a low race car, tough for this situation.
The replacement windshield arrived yesterday.
I'm dealing with some sciatica so bending over tuning SUs is out of the question at the moment. The front brakes on the E21 were sticking last time I drove it. I wasn't sure whether it was pressure being held in the flex lines or the calipers. I asked for new braided lines for Christmas and arranged for a friend to rebuild the calipers before the start of this season. A couple dust boots were torn when I put pads on three years ago... things haven't faired well.
The brakes aren't used very much and it always stopped fine on track but it will be nice to have fresh calipers and flex lines. These calipers also should be using vented discs (early E21) and I ordered non-vented last time (late E21 - what my car is) so I'll be getting new vented discs. I may have said this somewhere in the thread already but I found that someone swapped in all early E21 front suspension and brakes onto this car.
I was able to spend some time at the shop today. I went about trying to tune the Healey so it will rev up once warm. I spent I don't know how long and could not get the idle up past 500. I'm starting to think I must have rebuilt something incorrectly. I'll do some more research and give it another go sometime this week. If I can't make it happen, the carbs will be coming off.
I also got the trailer up on jack stands and removed the wheels in preparation for a suspension refresh.
NOHOME
MegaDork
3/29/20 4:26 p.m.
Loooong shot here, but something that I ran into with a friend's Healey. He had bought a new heat shield plate and the holes were much smaller than they should have been; think restrict plate. We berkeleyed with the carbs forever to no avail. How he figured it out I don't know. These are stamped parts, so if there was one part, there are bound to be others.
Do the test I mentioned where you blow a puff of air down the jet and see if it juuuussstt burbles into the carb throat. I start ever SU trouble shooting session with that test.
Pete
Pete - it's the same shield as before so I'm going to say it's not the issue. That's amazing though, that he figured it out.
Pasting your old response here so it's easier to find. I was sitting at the dinner table and realized I was adjusting the carbs with the linkages connected... Idiot.
Tip on SU float levels.
About five years ago I discovered that the manual's method for setting the fuel level does not always work. I blame random supplier specs for the needle and seat bits.
The way to set fuel level is to remove the bell. Pull the choke all the way down. With the pump running, look down the jet and observe if the fuel is like 1/16" of an inch over the jet. Do this with the jet set down the two specified turns from the bridge.
To check your work or just a quick check in general, get a small piece of tube and blow a small puff of air directly down the jet ( bell still removed) The fuel should bounce down and then jjjuuuusssstttttt slosh back over the top of the bridge. ( assuming you know what "the bridge" is). If it does not make it over the top or seems to flood the carb throat, then adjust as required.
Possible mental progress on the Healey. As I was falling asleep last night, it occurred to me that when I was putting the carbs back on, I didn't have quite enough new gaskets. There are 3 for each carb. One on each side of the exhaust heat shield and then one between the hard rubber spacer and the manifold. I don't remember how many of them I re-used but I wonder if they're bad and I'm just getting a massive vacuum leak causing things to be crazy lean...
If there's a ton of air coming in after the carbs the mixture will never be right and it would be nearly impossible to rev up, right?
