HB + Mazda 24v V6. Now sold and gone to a good home :-)

[yoeddynz]

This turned up from the states a couple of days ago....



Such a cool book full of great info. Its an older publication, 1984, which is why i wanted it- it mainly deals with carb based systems.

So after having started to fill my brain with turbo overload of info this book turns up...



From our neighbour a few buses up the lane.... it was her brothers. He was an aircraft engineer who last year had a fatal accident involving a jet engine on a test bed. grim!
She was doing a clearout of his books, spotted this one and thought it might suit me Bloody good reading. English book printed in 1982 and again mainly carb based systems. I had a quick browse before and found these two photos. first one is an early Elford engineering turbo setup in a early RX7. Note the early fabricated inlet manifold. Once they had decided to really properly pursue the project they started making nice cast manifolds which is what i have.



And this photo- not related to my car really..but still Vauxhall. Its a Chevette drag car powered by a turbo charged HS 2.3 16 valve engine. Built by Bill Blydenstein. I was never aware he dabbled with turbos on these particular engines. Very cool.

[pbottomley]

I can see its says 2.3 16v but that's an 8v engine lookie at the cam pulley (anorak alert) unless (and quiet possibly) I am blind dumb un edjukated and or anything else one can say about me?

[yoeddynz]

Yeah on the vohc facespace site a fewhad spotted that error. Oh well. Still cool. You could turbo your boat anchor too.

I have been reading both books and the yank one is far better info wise. It really is very simple to run a draw through turbo setup. Just some fettling.

[yoeddynz]

Today I thought Id better start on building my little catch can and sump venting setup. It was gonna rain later anyway so I took off to work. I love having the use of the workshop Even just having the car on the hoist so I can lift it up high enough that my back doesn't get all knackered leaning over the wings is great.

I measured up the one place I only wanted an extra item like this- on the bulkhead. Not loads of room but out of the way and I dont think i'll need a huge can anyway.

My design has two angled flaps of steel pointing down, one over the other. the bottom one has a section cut out of it and above that between the two I placed stainless scouring pad.





This and the flaps will hopefully pull away any oil in the mist getting sucked into the can. The sucking will come from just in front of the carb. Most suck after the carb but I dont want any upsetting of my mixtures and my carb always has good suck in front. The inlet into my sump is halfway up the filler tube and will be filtered- so constantly purging the sump with clean air.

I wish we had a tig welder at work- even though my tig welding is pretty *Bleep* it would still be easier and neater than mig welding thin sheet into a box. But hey- thats what grinders are for eh?





I added a drain plug at the bottom. If my is spewing out more oil than I thought then maybe I can screw in a drain back to my sump. I'll see how quick it fills up.

To hold some clear tube for a oil level sight I was going to make little elbows from copper pipe but brazing is too hot for them and I couldn't find any easyflow. So i did this instead- drilled some little holders up from 10mm square and brazed them in place then soldered the copper pipe in place.





I ran out of time so will finish the plumbing hopefully tomorrow. Will give tank the usual blast of my favourite stain black paint. Hopefully it'll blend in and wont stick out. I hate filling engine bays with stuff- i look at simple engines running a single carb with envy. Alas this is the world of hairdryers

I also found a little air valve which i might play with- thinking of making a lean off circuit for when at the lights to help combat the stumble associated with fuel pooling. Just more tinkering...

Car still leaked the other night in heavy rain- carpets got damp Still not sure exactly where its coming in

[pbottomley]

To cure wet carpets drill holes in floor to let water out... simple...

[yoeddynz]

I'm going to remove all carpets, put them in bin bags and then in the loft. This , I think, will keep them dry.

[yoeddynz]

left work at lunch time as I have a nasty sore back. On way home I pop into a shop and when I came out I discovered what my workmates had been up to this morning ....

[junkyarddog]

^^^^With mates like that,you certainly don't need any enemys ^^^^

[yoeddynz]

I've been fighting off lots of 14 year old girls wanting to drive in my viva now.

[yoeddynz]

Mini update. Well not a mini. A Viva update...

After having parked the Viva up for 2 months while away in the UK and India I thought it might not start- usual doubts about batterys, stale fuel, gremlins in the ignition eating wires etc etc. Went to start the car and it was all a big non event- it started straight away first turn of key. OK so this isn't a biggie for people out there with moderns but it always makes me happy when an old faithful car continues to be faithful.

Thought 'hmmm...I'm sure there was more fuel in the tank?..in fact I know I filled it up before parking!' turns out that the tiny drip from the tank outlet lost me about 5 litres over 2 months of dripping. damn.
Then I thought..better take car for a quick spin to remix 2 stroke oil in tank. good excuse. IT was so nice to drive the Viva again after having spent much time in the last two months being drivin or driving inferior cars..well except for the trip in bastardchild's lush 7 series bmw to shelsley hillclimb from RR gathering- that was nice.

Viva smells soooo good. leather, vinyl, petrol... all the smells that a car should have. We packed it up and fitted the new bike rack in order to take home the old classic Bontrager mountain bikes we had bought in blighty for the India trip. They looked great on the back. So handy it is to finally have a rack on the back too. A fantastically chilled smooth trip home and as its that bit warmer now the car ran perfectly smooth. Sadly over the Whangamoa hills between Blenheim and Nelson when performing a very fast pass to show the rude modern that not all old cars are slow it pinked again with me having to back off slightly. Its only under heavy load at high revs so I must continue on my search for a 12A turbo dizzy with its ignition retard vac pots or make some of my own to suit. The fueling is pretty good- its just too much advance while boosting. I keep expecting the poor old engine to blow, so loud is the pinking- detonation being the main killer of rotaries under boost. But still it soldiers on. Such a bloody loose old engine - I'm amazed how well it goes and if it dies at some point I wont be sad or surprised. So long as I don't break a tip from detonation and destroy a housing.

I think the turbo seals need attention soon. Its been slowly using more oil. It doesn't smoke much at all but I think when I shut the throttle, say like on a downhill and the turbo is still spinning it is starting to suck oil through past the old seals. This is always more pronounced on draw through turbo setups hence you always need a turbo with full 360 degree seal(usually carbon?) which this has but I think getting tired now.

I was planning on getting some nice photos of it in the hills now we have a proper camera (not just the phone) but I forgot to as the driving and music was so good. But I took these before and after.

unpacking and assembling the bikes in hot Blenheim sun...



Bontragers- sweet classy early 90's steel bikes. Now added to our huge fleet.



Home sweet home. Grass looking good and plenty of little daisys about..