Right, probably time for a bit of an update. Actually, there's not too much to report, but I'll report it anyway, as usual
First up, housings. It would appear that 12A engine components are becoming rarer than a rare thing. Yeah, they're still about, but you have to look. I looked as far as the inestimable MR TOOL, who was good enough to provide me with a decent set of used housings. If you remember, the ones that came out of the secondhand engine I bought looked like this;
The new ones look more like this, which is much more betterer;
There's a bit of that weird almost electrolytic pitting on the plug region that they all seem to get, and a tiny nick near one plug hole in the chrome, but hopefully none of this will be a problem. And let's be honest, they're a damned sight better than the ones I already had! It does look like this might be the last time I can build a 12A motor, though; hopefully this one will last a long time, but if it does it probably means the chance of getting affordable spares will be near to zero when it does finally go. With that in mind, we'll be looking for the most forgiving apex seal compound possible, because I'd rather easily-sourced tips wore out than impossible-to-source housings! So probably good ol' Mazda genuine ones, then
So, the collection of engine parts is getting near completion, then. The motor I accidentally bought is probably a Series 2 one, judging by the architecture and ancillaries it came with. The Weber manifold it came with is a short-port one, which obviously wouldn't have fitted with the tall-port plates, although that shouldn't have mattered because I wasn't going to use it anyway. Those who remember the wranglings a few pages back will know I intended going after a Racing Beat Holley intake and carb setup, so the Weber mani would be superfluous. However,the earlier (than my Series 3) engine obviously had the earlier simple oil filter pedestal and separate oil cooler. Which I don't have. I really didn't want to go the beehive route, because my personal feeling is it's a compromised design and a level of complexity and fragility you don't want, so I set about trying to find an alternative. Pretty much all the wisdom points to the FC bar and plate cooler being the best upgrade as it includes thermostatic control and is good quality. Finding one proved to be my Kryptonite for ages, somehow it always fell through or I missed by a day or whatever. Finally, however, Ian and me managed to have a cosmic alignment of the Fates and Planets on the same day and the deal was done.
It's got a big dent and some of the fins are flaking to dust, but it seems pretty sound. It took me so long to get one, I'm bloody keeping it now no matter what. Might even polish it, actually... What I really need is to get some lines made up for it, mind!
So, about that Holley, then... Well, RB were very helpful and prompt in their communication and basically it boiled down to; it's not gonna happen. The setup doesn't fit on a right-hand-drive car due to issues of clearance with the master cylinders and brake servo. Shoulda twigged really, but there you go. By the sound of it, the job of solving these issues would be major, so it seemed easiest to take the course of least resistance and fit the tried and tested Weber. Especially since I already had a manifold.
...which wouldn't fit...
So, the mani went off to Super 7 so Jason could open out the ports to match the tall port engine. Which was slightly annoying since I was half-way through polishing it up and now I'll have to start again. Anyway, this meant I now needed a carb. Mick Choi stepped up with his surplus 48IDA and we agreed a price that I think suited us both. And here it is
MMmm, they do look nice and righteous, I'll give them that. Not sure it it's nicer than a good ol' four-barrel but it just wasn't to be and I'll get over it. Got in some nice tea-strainer filters for now, so we can get it running when the engine's built and then maybe see about clearance for a proper filter if necessary. Also gaskets. Also Warpaint's new album, which is essential listening but I'm not totally sure why it's in the same photo. Oddly, the tea-strainers are genuine Webcon ones, in genuine packaging, and came from some eBaytastic shop in darkest Welsh Wales... and cost nearly a tenner less than buying them from Webcon
Err, how's that work? I don't understand the world
It's bloody spend, spend, spend, this malarkey, innit
A blessed relief came in the form of a pukka cheapy mod with some of Marc's quality decals in the name of this august forum. Small, perfectly formed, and pleasantly inexpensive after the last few months
Even better, a free mod and something I'd been meaning to do for ages was to black out the shiny alloy horn ring on the Nardi. On sunny days it would shine right in my eyes, and it was irritating as hell. Now, should we ever see the sun again, it'll be all good
All this time the car has still been my daily, and sadly it was starting to get a bit rough. It just wasn't pulling as strongly as I remembered, and after a long run on WOT it would start to hesitate. Most noticeable was after a pull to the redline, then the drop in revs when you went up a gear. You put your foot down and the motor would just lose all way and flap helplessly in a sort of blaaa---aaa---aaa---aaattttt kinda way and keep doing it until you backed right out of the throttle and waited for her to sort herself, then re-applied the gas. It was annoying, worrying, and embarrassing cos it meant I kept getting done up by hot hatches
Eventually fuel starvation was isolated as the cause. It was easy enough to diagnose; the fuel filter looked like it may well have last been changed by the same garage Noah used to service the diesels on the Ark. When poured out, it deposited some evil-looking black sludge that resembled the contents of a roadkill badger left in the sun for eight months and that smelled about as appealing, too. Oooops, my bad
Anyway, this was an excuse to go shopping for more shiny things, to wit;
I love these Malpassi fuel pressure regulators and filters, I've always wanted a car that I could justify one on since seeing the likes of Ford Racing big block GT40s and the like that tend to run them. Admittedly mine is a pee-wee little 82mm one as opposed to the twin wheelie-bin sized versions a GT40 runs, but y'know, personality counts as well as size
With the stock filter changed and this little beauty installed in the engine bay as a secondary measure and an easy visual indicator of the state of the fuel system, the car ran like her mojo was back. Happy days
So that brings us just about up to date. This morning found me out at half past eight, and lying in a puddle under the car while rainwater sluiced down on the parts of me sticking out from the car whilst the bits of me that didn't stick out were dripped on by water running down through the open engine bay. Why? Because my mate texted late knockings last night to say he was off to the refurbishers today and did I have anything I wanted doing. Well, yes I bloody did, actually, thanks for the warning
So at sparrows' fart I was persuading stubborn eezee-rust Mazda bolts that probably hadn't been undone in thirty years to release their hold on corroded and manky parts. In the rain. By the time Rich turned up at ten I'd managed to get the bits off I needed;
Yep, remember Trace the Brace's day out around London? Well, she's off on her travels again! Today she got a ride in a nice, brand new Fiesta, complete with unconvincing Aston-lite grille and turn-itself-off-at-every-stop planet saving feature, which we turned off cos it's unnerving and annoying
She was sharing the car space with the front grille/bumper from a 1972 Charger, wich is not only slightly over six feet long, it's also almost two foot deep as it's a double loop structure. Which,as it turns out, is too big to fit in the average chroming tank. And almost too big to get into a modern Fiesta along with two big blokes, a strut brace and undertray. Anyway, eventually we made it all the way across West and East Sussex and most of Kent (despite literally gales, flood and high water) to Trace's temporary new home;
The undertray is just going to be re-zinced. I figured I could paint it, but it's so rusty already I think It'll go straight through again so I'll get it re-zinced and then maybe repaint over that, black or possibly body colour. As for Trace the Brace... well, when I got her she was already a bit rusty in places and so when the car was in paint we blew her over with matt black. Since then the rust's come through again, so I thought it was time to get her properly dipped clean and start again. As to what finish she'll be in when you next see her... ahhh, that would be telling. You'll have to wait and see
...so in fact, it seems I was wrong. There actually
was quite a lot to report
I'd have been happy to even equal stock after nearly three decades, but to put and extra 20bhp or so on top was definitely a result. As for posting dyno graphs, in my experience the only reason for NOT posting them is if you've something to hide
