Syncing and tuning the carbs is a slow, methodical, and iterative process. You're going to go through everything more than once. Just accept it now.

If you want a type rundown of my process, let me know and I'll start the fingers working on it.

Yes, please on the procedure!

I have the syncrometer tool. I have an LC-1 wideband AFR I need to install.

Anyone using the CB Performance weblink???

Where do people get their CHT and EGT sensors?

John

In the Living room? Really?!?!? You are my Idol.

Looking Very Good

About a car without Title I agree. When I got #673, it came with a (really) Rust Free 71 914-4 ( from Albany New York, originally) The DAPO ( the guy that said I ruined #673) would not give me the Title for for the 71. I sold it for $500 as a Bill of Sale racecar. I later saw the car here on the F/S Classifieds with a $4k paint job. I asked the guy if he hadn't gotten a Title - "No, it is supposed to be easy here". Here like in Florida? Where cars go out of ports everyday?.


Now get to the IMSA car

T.C.

> About a car without Title I agree. When I got #673, it came with a (really) Rust
> Free 71 914-4 ( from Albany New York, originally) The DAPO ( the guy that said
> I ruined #673) would not give me the Title for for the 71. I sold it for $500 as a
> Bill of Sale racecar. I later saw the car here on the F/S Classifieds with a $4k
> paint job. I asked the guy if he hadn't gotten a Title - "No, it is supposed to be
> easy here". Here like in Florida? Where cars go out of ports everyday?.

I ended up getting a Maine title and transferring it to Florida. Getting a Florida
title seemed like a non-starter unless you know a shop or a towing service
that can put a lien on it.

> Now get to the IMSA car

I am back to buying parts for the IMSA car. I found a local soda blaster that
should be able to save me a lot of time. The big thing I need is an engine
that is reasonable $$$. I did some cleaning of floor tar and window bead the
other day and it felt good.

Driving the Rockin 914 today, the idle kept getting faster and faster. Would
having a vacuum leak in the intake manifold gaskets cause that? Looking at
Mark's post lately about how crooked the plates were on a new set of manifolds
has me worried.

John

John,

Definitely check those manifolds. I don't think anything was done to them, but better safe than sorry. Plus you'll be starting over on the sync anyway.

Syncing (somewhat abridged)

0. You want the motor nice and warm, because heat expansion can affect these settings.

1. Remove the linkage. Seat the air bypass screws completely (next to the idle mixture screws, 8mm lock nut). With the motor idling, check the airflow on both throats. Back out the air bypass screw on the throat that is flowing less air. Once the two throats are matched, tighten the lock nuts and double check. Now repeat on the other carb, but don't try and match the air flow on both carbs. This step just equalizes the individual carbs and must be done correctly before moving on.

2. Using the idle adjustment screws (by the linkage, not the mixture screws) to match the air flow between the carbs. You'll also want to get it roughly idling at the correct speed.

3. Now reconnect the linkage with the motor idling, and make sure that your linkage doesn't change things. Adjust your drop links as necessary to maintain the correct airflow. You don't want your linkage holding anything open when it shouldn't.

4. Shut down the motor and check that both carbs are hitting WOT at the same time (or at all). You may have to adjust the location of the arm on the hex bar in order to get both idle and WOT at the same time. Don't worry about if you drop links are vertical or equal length or anything else like that. If you're getting idle and WOT at precisely the same time, then that's perfection.

5. Restart the motor and check the idle airflows and check the airflows off idle (what RPM doesn't really matter, but you'll need to have someone help hold the RPM up). Any discrepancy here must be adjusted out in the linkage geometry. Expect to go back and forth on the linkage geometry for an hour or so.

6. Double check all of the airflows on all four throats at idle. And NOW you can start playing around with idle mixture screws to clean up the idle.

7. Triple check the airflows on all four throats and if they're off, go back to step 4.

If your idle airflows, off-idle airflows, linkage geometry (hitting idle and WOT), and idle feel/sound/vibe/mixture are all right, you can test drive it and see how that all feels and then start another round of tweaking. As much as you want it to be over quick, you'll get much more positive results by really digging in, assuming nothing, and triple checking everything.

Good luck!

Thanks Mark, that is really helpful.

I'm gonna start in on it tomorrow.

My manifolds came from Jake so I'll check with him if they trued them up.

I may just need to tighten the nuts on the engine and carb up.

John

WOW Is all I can say. You did a great job and have given me alot of info in my rebuild my rust bucket. Congrats!

I retorqued the intake manifold and carb nuts and brought the idle down a lot.

Then I played with the linkage bar arms and got it idling pretty smooth at about
900 rpm. I compared my timing light against my tachometer and my tach is
actually working and fairly accurate. Each cylinder showed 910-930 rpm on
my timing light. Camera is dead so no pictures.

Bled my front brakes again and had zero air bubbles. Brakes are a little weak.
I can't come close to locking the tires up. There must be air in the rears still
or WTF?

Had my first break down!!! Wife and I went out for a drive and she was bitching
about stopping to get gas. 30 seconds later, car dies like it ran out of gas. I
walk down street, get gas can, still won't run. Open engine and the jumper I was
using to power my fuel pump had come off. Put it back on, car fires right up and
we go home. Wife still sure we ran out of gas. Its possible two things could
have hit me at once.

Not sure why I am getting no fuel pump signal. I have a brand new ignition
switch. I am thinking something wrong on my engine relay board.

John

I switched out my relay board for another one I had. Now I am getting a fuel
pump signal and some other stuff is working.

My brand new alternator is dead. I had noticed the posts about new Bosch
alternators shorting to the 914 alternator cover. I was confused about which
bolt was shorting. The longer bolt on mine has a rubber cover so I though it
was ok. It is the other bolt that shorted. I swapped alternators with another
car and my alternator started working.

Now I wonder if I can replace the diodes in the alternator I killed? Does anyone
know if this is possible or what the specs on the diodes are? I have a multimeter
with a diode test feature but I have no idea what it is telling me.

Still fiddling with getting my horn and headlights working.

John

Yup, diode replacement is easy if you have the right ones. For parts that old, the the part number might be on them

If my memory serves, the diodes have a hex base and screw in and out.

There's a section on diode checking in the factory manual.

Hope that helps,

Ken

Thanks Ken, I will check it out in the factory manual.

Maybe someone here knows a replacement diode that will work?

John

Awesome build!

Great Job John!

See your build come to a Happy Ending makes me want to finish my Suby Conversion NOW! (Except, I am being good and saving money rather than using the plastic )

Now give yourself a moment to step back and admire the teener before diving into the Racecar!

Cheers!
Nate

Wow, I didn't see that you finished it . Nice work John. This is simply amazing that you were able to bring this back from where it was.

Sorry for the delay, I've been out of town.

Open that puppy up. If memory serves from my alternator rebuild, there was a part number printed on or stamped into the diode. Diodes are one way doors and pretty easy to check.

Connect one way across the diode and the the meter should show a very low resistance. Connected the other way across the diode, it should show a very high resistance. If it is the same, the diode is an open door - aka piece of junk.

And, diodes are like playing horseshoes- close counts. It's probably a safe bet that any diode that mounts in the hole and is for an automobile alternator will work. Got a scrap VW alternator in a junkyard down there???

Do clip a heat sink to the solder area to prevent heat damage to the diode when soldering. On stereos and the like, I steal one of my wife's hair clips. For this, needle nose pliers (or a connector crimper) and a rubber band would suffice.

Thanks for the tips, Ken, I will open it up and see what is going on.

I still have to finish the interior and do some tweaking, still some eletrical issues.

My brother is visiting and we took the first ride with the top off, awesome.

The Tangerine header and muffler are on the loud side for a street car but sound
really nice.

I am talking to a soda blaster about doing the IMSA car, I hope to tear into it
big time next month.

John

Ya know....

You talked about photography awhile back. Why don't you post some more recent pictures.

Last time you posted pictures was under an Easy-Up. Give us some proof it's moved.

First time out of the backyard!

Click to view attachment

On the shore of the Indian River.

Click to view attachment

I need to seriously start carb tuning. The motor does not make nearly the power
I know it can. My oil pressure is over 80 psi on startup, I need to check it when
it is warmed up. I may go to a 150 psi sender and gauge.

I can take my hands off the wheel at 35 mph and the car goes totally straight. I
have only done an eyeball alignment so I am pretty stoked. I was worried the
car would be bent up from all the welding. I plan to get a Porsche dealer
alignment soon.

Those are 6x16" real fuchs with 205 kuhmo tires. The rears fit with 1/2 inch or more
of clearance. I think the fronts rub at full lock. These bigger wheels and tires
make the car more modern and aggressive looking in a way I like a lot. With
Bilstein shocks and 180# springs it is very comfortable, not harsh at all.

I want to take some really good pictures when it is a little more finished.

John

Looks great!

The car looks AWESOME!

So I guess this means we will see you out here for WCR, right? Yeah, thats what I thought!

Great job John....

-- Rob

I would love to do that but it would be even crazier than restoring the car in
the first place.



John

John,
Cool job, you are definitely determined. I am currently working on a 70 teener project with its share of rust issues.

I like your roll over wood device you made to work on the floor pan. Been thinking of making a rotieserie (sp?) but don't know with the long damage would cause additional problems from spinning it. With a roll over frame probably put a lot less stress on the body.

Hopefully I can achieve the same level of success as you.

Dave

I am having a problem with my new 80 PSI VDO oil pressure gauge. I have the
matching 80 PSI sender with two terminals. I have the sender grounded. I have
the gauge grounded. I have switched power to the gauge. I have tried both of the
terminals on the sender. Either one causes the gauge to bury the needle past
80 PSI and never come back until I disconnect everything. So is this gauge or
sended just f-ed up? I think the sender is reading 245 ohms with the engine off,
did not get a reading with it running. I used the 4500 PSI grease gun extension.
What am I doing wrong?

I also measured each of the barrels of my carbs with a synchronometer. With
the car warmed up and a steady 1100 rpm idle, each barrel reads 11 mystery
units steady. I am guessing Blake balanced these before sending them to me
from Jake's. I need to start dinking with my cross bar linkage next.

I smell a sweet exhaust smell around the car after idling for a while. I think
this means it is running rich, right?

John

No one has any idea why my oil pressure gauge is not working? Do I need to
ground the gauge and the sender to the same place? Some gauges measure
the voltage difference in a way that requires all the grounds to be at the same
level.

Drove the car with a friend today and had a great time. I think the engine is
making more power the more I drive it and follow the break in procedure of
varying the RPM as much as possible.

John

if you measure the continuity between the 2 grounds and you see a short, there is no difference in them. seems weird to me that both the gauge and the sender are grounded, check the wiring diagram that came with the system
if not point me to it on the internet and we ll get it figured out. Dave

My engine was not making the kind of power I expected it should. Someone
suggested I try pulling each plug wire one by one to make sure all 4 cylinders
were firing. I am thinking, yeah right, but sure as hell only 2 cylinders were
firing, and on the same side of the car!!! The engine has about the same power
on 2 cylinders as my stock 1.8 has on 4...

I read on the world about someone having the same problem, where one side of
their engine was firing and the other wasn't. They switched their carbs
from one side to the other and the problem moved from one side of the engine
to the other. I spent an hour or so this evening doing the same thing and
had the same result!!!

Now the other side of my engine is firing and sounding pretty good while
the formerly working side is doing nothing.

To me, this means the problem is a clogged carb. I pulled some of the jets
and sprayed liberal carb cleaner everywhere but still got nothing.

Tomorrow I will take the whole carb apart and clean it. I noticed the float
bowl area was coated with some kind of white, spongy crap. These carbs
sat for 12 months after being test run, so I guess there is varnish
or residue somewhere in there that keeps them from flowing any fuel during
idle and part throttle application.

The accelerator pumps do shoot fuel on WOT so some fuel is getting in
there.

Anyone have any tips on how to clean this type of carb and which passages
must be clogged to get no fire at all in the two cylinders? I have two weber
books but you all must know some good tips.

Thanks...John

hi john,

before you fiddle with the carb.
when your car is running for a while, take the sparkplug on the 'not firing' side out and look at it.
if wet, i think you should better interchange the sparkplug's and wires, maybe you have a ignition issue ?!
have you look the distributor cap, is the inside OK, maybe the contacts ar rotten out or the are green, this means also no spark ?

my 2c about, 1 hope to get my teener running next summer..

TOM

Tom,

I'll check all those things out, I did not think of that.

John

Maybe a stuck float in the carb that isn't working.
Better stuck closed than open though.
Weird that it lets enough fuel in to operate the pump jets but doesn't flow freely.
You can usually fix a stuck float with the carb in place. Unscrew the top plate and lift it up so you can see/feel that the float moves up and down, then screw it back down and re-test.

Chris,

I'll check the float valve out. That is a good idea. I pulled out all the jets and
unclogged them. The big ones on the top were righteously clogged but the
others looked ok. Still nothing.

I wonder if just enough fuel bleeds by the float valve to work the accelerator pump occasionally but not enough to get siphoned constantly into the venturi?

I think the float valve inlet is mostly clogged.

John

You should probably take both apart and clean them. If there's corrosion crap that clogged up one, chances are the other one is possible as well. Better to put in a few hours now, and avoid days of headaches later.

Get a couple of tinfoil roasting pans from the grocery store and you have a nice clean place to put all the little parts as you work. You just need to pull all the jets out and the cover off and spend some time squirting carb cleaner down all the jets and orifices.

I am going to go through both carbs one at a time as you suggest. It is really
rather surprising that one is working and the other is not.

John

Got both carbs working and went for a short drive.

OMG....grin meter is pegged. This is one powerful motor...

Gonna go through the other carb now and get it balanced.

John

SWEEEET!

congratulation.

Finally had time to go through both carbs completely. I found that the float on
the side that was idling better was set at 1 mm instead of 11!!! The other carb
was not idling well most of the time until I corrected this. The carb with the
high float was running rich and preventing the other carb from idling at all
unless I set the idle really high. Setting the float levels of both carbs to 11
allowed them to both idle at the same RPM.

I also cleaned and blew out all the passages in both carbs, put in new gaskets,
and reset all the screws to the recommended starting points. I am learning a lot
about IDFs, I think I took the one apart about 3 times before I found the problem
was really with the carb I thought was working better. If the carbs had worked
perfectly out of the box I would not have learned anything at all about them so
it was worth all the fooling around.

Now the car idles much better and pulls even harder.

There is a little flat spot between idling and open throttle, but not bad. One it gets
on the open throttle it pulls very strong. I uploaded another video. It is not great
but it gives some idea how it sounds.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnbSE7vNqJ4


John

Yeah, the floats always seem to get f-d up during shipping. I suspect lots of bouncing with no fuel in the bowl to absorb the jolt.

Cool video! (I embedded it for you)

Thanks for embedding the video.

I guess lesson learned is always clean and go through new carbs before putting
them on the car. Now I can actually try to balance their air flow.

John

I just went through all 18 pages of this thread. I have to say I am just impressed by the dedication to getting the car back on it's feet. Most people I've seen that go for "resto projects" like this end up ripping it apart, see the rust and would go "OMG. Nevermind... taking this to the scrap yard."

But to see it go through all of that work, get put back together and restored back to working condition and get the treatment it has, that is very impressive. Great job. I bet it's the best feeling in the world to look back on those pictures and now go drive it and know you did that all yourself. Good job.

PS: This thread makes me wish I had a welder.

Its funny you say that, I was just going over some unposted pictures of the car
when it was really bad. Each little bit that you do is satisfying and motivates
you to keep going. When I flipped the car on the rocker, I thought I was nearly
done. That was 2 years and 2 weeks ago.

Click to view attachment

Mmmm...

Click to view attachment

Geeeeez...

Click to view attachment

I wanted to learn to restore a car more than I just wanted a car to drive. I was
thinking of making this a hobby business when I can scale back from working full
time. I think I could do it all over in 12 months or less now. I will find out because
I am starting on the IMSA car full bore soon.

John

Yeah that's quite a piece of work you had on your hands. My 924 has gone through similar issues, though the rust is not nearly on the level you are experiencing. I've had to cut out a lot of things, grind down others. It's come a long way. Feels good to do your own work indeed. Hats off to you my friend, that's a lot of work.

Took the car to its first event, a BBQ at the local 356 restoration shop.

I took along a notebook of photos from the restoration. People really liked the
car and many said they had 914s years ago and regretted selling them. Several
people wanted to know when I was opening a 914 shop so I could fix their cars.

Click to view attachment

Still have a lot of little cosmetic thigs to finish up. Also working on getting the
ride height and alignment set up right. I already have visions of tarret enginerring
sway bars, camber plates, etc.

John

Looks fantastic... thanks for saving one!

time for a trip over there in my 914.

I'd love to see your car Steve.

Maybe when it cools off a little more...

John

So what's up with my old IMSA car?