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Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 9:21 pm
by Tony Z
thats when it gets confusing, but it happens unfortunately.

Good luck with the starter. Before buying a refurbished one, give Diesel Electric a call and ask how much they sell theirs for. They sell new 1.4kW starters for the beetle. Might be worth spending another couple of hundred for a new one. I have never had to use one of theirs though, so dont know if they are good or not.

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 8:59 am
by Firebird
lol

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 9:09 am
by acpaterson
Got into Diesel Elec at 08:01 am this morning.. No one has stock. he's going to try find, and will call me back..
:-|

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 10:34 am
by Mustang Sally
Sounds like par for the course.
Zen Budhism was developed to help BYM's like ourselves stay sane. Deeeeep breaths!

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 2:40 pm
by acpaterson
Denzyl at Shelley's to the rescue!
Awesome Cash deal for BRAND NEW unit, should have this in tonight. Then to get the Carbs to run sufficiently that I can drive the thing to Jesse at the track..

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 7:18 am
by acpaterson
Awesome, things are coming right finally.. sort of.
45 minutes under the wheel arch, Starter's in. Crank, car fires up perfectly.. Starter sounds awesome. SCORE...
So put wheel back, and now start again with getting the Carbs to run.. After I found out there's multiple bloody vacuum holes , and closing them all up, the car idles.. Did my utmost to "balance" the idle screws on the linkages, these Carbs are so stable, I think I had the idle down around 5 or 600 and it still ran.. So for now, all good.

Have to again re-look at the wiring mess, as I seem to have lost an earth connection. Indicators, hazards, hooter not working now.. Will re-check wiring tonight and hope to have it sorted. Then I can take it to Jesse to properly balance and tune.

Alan

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 8:33 am
by flatfourfan
Good news Alan.......what make is the starter? Price?

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:26 am
by acpaterson
I'll confirm tonight when I get home, check the box\packaging. Diesel Elec wanted R 1280-00 (Although they had no stock so I think they were buying from Shelleys..) I paid a grand.

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:10 am
by flatfourfan
that sounds about right.......

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 8:40 pm
by acpaterson
The Box says "Auto Magneto" on it.. No other markings..
Works great. the "body" is slightly smaller in diameter, so although the two mounting holes line up, the Locking bolt doesn't but up against the side of the starter as it did on the old unit, so I had to replace with a long Bolt that I could hold with a spanner.. Otherwise, all good.

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 12:50 pm
by acpaterson
Right,

So I REALLY know my little car well already. He has a new Starter and Solenoid, Kick's his arse 6 -0 when I turn the key now.. :lol:

In my "attempt" to find why it started to "not start", I pulled and pushed around the wiring harness, and as I eventually solved my own problem by getting the new Starter, after I had got the car started again, I then checked lights and other bits were ok, and they weren't. No more Hazards or Indicators flashing.. just "on".. i KNEW a wire was loose, but to find it.. Oh well, back upside down.. and found it in a few seconds.. Had pulled out of a electrical connection block. Got that in, everything worked again, looks like a local earth distribution block for dash clocks and relays.. But all good now. :mrgreen:

Made an extension arm for my linkage system. basically, with the tall Manifolds, the 5 cm long bar that the throttle cable should go into is too high, the cable then does a sharp turn coming out the tube and up to reach the arm. So I made a very basic extension, which now has the cable straight into the back of the arm. problem tho is the return springs on the carbs are not strong enough, so popped into Paarden island and got two longer springs made up for me. Spring's 70mm long with long arm on one side, which I can take up to the Hex bar and fasten there. Should pull back the carbs properly, as well as the Foot pedal.

Now just a trip to jesse to balance and tune, and then that's done. New Lights are on the way from the USA, so now I need to get the Sprayjob done. 8)

Regards

Alan

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 12:54 pm
by flatfourfan
pics alan.............way more pics are needed.

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2014 5:11 pm
by acpaterson
Agreed.

Well it's a learning curve this crap.. Having never done a dual carb install or hex linkage myself before, there are puhlenty adjustments to be made. :|
I got some long springs made up, put them on, literally made zero difference.! Now what.. Clearly this extension arm I fabricated is a pile of horse :bn: .
So I pulled it off, and after staring at the motor for about half an hour, I decided the easiest way to make this work, was to re-route the accelerator cable and tube. So I drilled a new hole through the tin, and the inner tin. Pushed the tube in, finally got it at the back of the motor, pushed through the cable, used a clamp on the back to keep it in place, and all is well.

Image

I know it looks a little rough, For now I feel rocks. It's not a show car, and one day if I drop the motor, I'll do a proper cleanup. Reconnected the throttle to the normal point on the hex bar linkage, and with the new springs, the carbs reset 100%. :mrgreen:

Image

Image

So actually DROVE it again this morning, so much nice than the single, and there was a crappy bent something on the single which caused the throttle to stick initially, so I was always revving before I could pull off smoothly to "un-stick" the throttle.. Now it's all the way up on the pedal, and the engine rev's from the beginning of the pedal.. SOOO much nicer to drive..

Went to West Coast Tyres and they did the wheel alignment after the recent King and Link Pins were done.. It's now a different car. So much more settled, direct, and FUN to drive. In comparison to the rattletrap in was when I got it, it's light years ahead now..

Busy with Bluetooth audio now. :hangloose:

regards

Alan

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 8:07 am
by flatfourfan
Alan, how far can the lever on the hex bar come down? That's going to make your sticking problem much less of an issue if it can be clocked down a bit more.

Re: My 356 Speedster

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:09 am
by acpaterson
Howzit G,

No more problems here buddy. This is 100%. If I flat the pedal, the Carb Linkages are wide open. It's perfect right now.

However, a little disappointed. Just got off the phone with Mr Huggett, trying to confirm with him for tomorrow to do a Balancing job and just confirm they are all 'right'.. And it fell through. Not prepared to leave my car with keys in and so on, it's a ridiculous request.
Clearly business must be massive out there... :roll:

Cheers

Alan