Dirk

Ah there is life in the old girl yet!

Idle should be about 900rpm. Does it still shake at this speed?

How do feel about modifying a rad yourself? I think the EA81 rad could be made shorter without too much trouble. Changing its width could be a little more tricky but it could be done. Do you have access to brazing equipment?

This one from an EA81: 720mm x 386mm overall 28 1/3 X 15" inlet and outlet: 27mm ID and 30mm OD See the flanges top and bottom are about 20mm. You could cut these off and gain 40mm. (1 1/5")

Have you tried asking on mini forums? A guy in town here managed to squeeze a honda Vtec engine into a mini clubman. The radiator is a work of art. Very spendy I'm sure but maybe there are cheaper options.

Sweet. BTW Kudos for having the motor out already. Here's hoping its not as terminal as it sounds Cuss words? I'm a builder man. Every third word has four letters.

Hey. I think I understand why you are so pissed at me. My comment about your grandparents paying for your recklessness was refering to your cars. Not you legal fees. My point was that you can not afford to push your dd like you have. You now have two cars that don't work and no money to fix them. My intention (all be it a little crude) was not to flame but to point out the reality. Dirk

One day you will look back on this, laugh at the irony and cringe with embarressment. Cheers

Sounds like it might be time to grow up a little. The cars are not breaking down on you. You are abusing the ************ out of them. You can't expect your grand parents to pay for your recklessness. Park both the cars. Get a cheap POS daily driver. Earn the money to fix them or buy a new one. Also: No one on this forum is going to be able to help you if you expect these old cars to put up with the ************ that you have given them.

Saw your post about compression. Numbers look ok to me. Not great but not a concern. Could your timing belt be out a touch on the 1 and 3 head? Other than the noise, how does the engine run?

Hey, My thoughts are as follows: If it is a sort of pinging or knocking noise then I wonder if you are getting some sort of pre-ignition in that cylinder. The number 3 cylinder is the farthest away from the water pump so it may be a tad hotter. Check the plugs and see if the number 3 plug is a different colour to the others. If it is this, you will have to consider why. Could be a one or a combination of things. 1. Timing 2. Plug values. 3. Fuel ratio 4. Carbon build up in combustion chamber 5. sharp edges in combustion chamber 6. clogged water passages 7. incorrect/faulty thermostatic valve 8. faulty water pump and so on...... If the sound is more like a pop. then I would be considering the possiblity of burned or sticking valves. A compression test would help diagnose this. More details on the noise would be good. Also when is it more pronounced and when less. Cheers

Try to avoid sythetic engine oils. They seem to be too slippery for EA emgine seals. (friendly advice I was given by a local soob mechanic) FYI: I have had rear main seal fail on me. Maybe not common but it does happen. Have also used synthetic 5W-50 that near enough poured past the seals like they were not there. Switch back to 15W-40 mineral oil and problem solved without even replacing the seals.

Thanks. Yeah, 1600 EA71. No new pics at the moment. Other than the engine bay the rest of the car is looking very neglected. Have a look at these though. http://s804.photobucket.com/albums/yy327/Dirk27/Green%20Machine/

Don't be affraid of hitachi. They are not as bad as people make out. Yes, they can be simplified. Provided your state allows for the emissions. Don't go tearing too much off at this stage. First step is to get the engine running sweet. Then you can start removing unnecessary components. Do yourself a favour and do a compression test. Whatever the results, it will be useful to know the condition of the engine.

This is about the only mention of your carb that I can find. Suggest you find someone on the forum who has one of these. Maybe they can help. Or maybe you just need to replace sensors? Failing that, you could converte to Hitachi. You will need to change the manifold for this. Happy hunting at the junk jard.........

Hey. Has the car been running good for you before? I.e. when did the troubles start? What colour are your spark plugs? Cheers. Do you have access to a compression tester or Vac gauge?

Flows good.

Custom air filter and some fresh paint!

Stainless steel spice pots, a couple of 3M cloths and some brass plumbing fittings. These aren't so much catch cans. More like coarse oil filters. I have only just done this so I will keep you posted on how fast they clog up. With luck, the left side will stay clean (drawing in fresh air) but I stuspect the right side will clog reletively faster since it is drawing blow by back in through the engine. We shall see.

SVX. No worries. Just rip out the passenger seat and throw it all in there! Check out the new paint on rocker covers and pulleys! Feels a bit like I have bought my mistress some sexy new knickers......

Not that the engine bay is that small for the size of engine but being a flat 4 its sometimes difficult to get access to the heads areas. So I have....... Moved the spare wheel to the trunk. Moved battery to where the spare wheel used to be. Moved Jack to the trunk. Fitted a larger fan belt in order to raise the alternator away from head. (had to make an extension for the tensioner) Fitted a slimmer radiator fan from an EA81. Generally made merry with the grinder and removed any surplus tags and brackets

Jet selection. This has been an ongoing challenge for me. The closer I get to a good jet size, the more subtle the colour changes are on the sparkplugs. Also the longer it takes for the plugs to show their true colours. Soon it will be time to invest in an O2 meter. Cruizing at 100km/h (60mph) on part throttle has allowed me to select the correct primary jet based on plug colour. Power valve and secondary jets have been more difficult to tune. Again monitoring plug colour has been a help. But largely it has been down to the feel and sound of the engine at full throttle. My spark plugs are now maintaining consistant colour throughout all throttle postions and engine loads. Can't be far away. Like I already said, time to get an O2 meter.

Further notes: The Vac advance has been somewhat of a distraction. For the moment I will leave it disconected while I continue to tune. I will have to go in search of a heavier diaphram when I am ready to reconect. Setting base timing with a vacuum gauge has been very useful for me. However I am still using my ear to confirm good running. Another indication of good base timing has been how smoothly the engine runs at full rpm. Regardless of timing curves, if my total advance (base timing plus full mechanical advance) has been too much the engine has not been able to achieve full rpm without wanting to rattle itself off of its mounts. At the moment I feel I can hold 5000rpm for a good length of time. I can run up to 6000 with confidence but I would be reluctant to hold that rpm for more than a few seconds. This suggests to me that my total advance is in the right ballpark.

Hey Doug, Thanks for the feedback. FYI: My VAC at idle is 20-21 inches. Not sure what my compression ratio is anymore but compression shows about 162 to 165 psi The high-ish vac reading made me wonder if the vac advance was messing with my part throttle too much. Cheers Dirk.