What's happening in your garage this weekend ?
Discussion
This evening I got the 390SE back on it's wheels and tightened up the recently refurbished suspension. Fitted a new set of BPR6ES plugs and tore off into the countryside to see how it felt - and the answer is bloody brilliant. As part of the rebuild I softened up the adjustable suspension and shocks and ensured they were a matched set of settings, which they weren't before! The handling is transformed into a smooth, predictable well handling car instead of the nervous uneven teeth jarring one it had been. Well pleased.
The wife is away so weekend work is one final compression check, full injector pressure drop check, rocker covers off to double check all valves are opening correctly from cold and then new shiny black with silver fleck rocker covers to refit.
Engine still starts lumpy for first 90 seconds and then runs clean. I'm almost 100% convinced it's just a mixture thing on cold start as plugs are the right colour after a spanking down the lanes and all is up to temperature.
Getting there.....
The wife is away so weekend work is one final compression check, full injector pressure drop check, rocker covers off to double check all valves are opening correctly from cold and then new shiny black with silver fleck rocker covers to refit.
Engine still starts lumpy for first 90 seconds and then runs clean. I'm almost 100% convinced it's just a mixture thing on cold start as plugs are the right colour after a spanking down the lanes and all is up to temperature.
Getting there.....
Spent all day on the 390SE but not very productive.
Drivers seat out and then investigated loose steering column and loose dashboard.Steering is buggered bottom bulkhead bearing so I've order a new one from Simply Bearings. Eventually I disconnected the steering column and dropped it down so I could get my hand up behind the dash to find the top retaining bolt. There was no nut attached so eventually managed to get a large washer and nyloc in place and dashboard is now nice and solid.
Big issue I noticed last night was the wiring into the drivers door had been rubbing for years and the wires had been virtually completely cut through so dismantled door to get at one end of the wires. Interesting note on the inside of the door card - anyone know Colin Sellers and why in 1990 when it was only 4 years old did the car need bringing back to life? Anyway eventually cut the wiring out and remade the loom with proper soldered joints and each wire also individually heat shrinked. Electric mirror is now working as is the window.
While the door card was off I swapped the existing shiny aluminium door pull for the original wooden one which I prefer.
Drivers seat out and then investigated loose steering column and loose dashboard.Steering is buggered bottom bulkhead bearing so I've order a new one from Simply Bearings. Eventually I disconnected the steering column and dropped it down so I could get my hand up behind the dash to find the top retaining bolt. There was no nut attached so eventually managed to get a large washer and nyloc in place and dashboard is now nice and solid.
Big issue I noticed last night was the wiring into the drivers door had been rubbing for years and the wires had been virtually completely cut through so dismantled door to get at one end of the wires. Interesting note on the inside of the door card - anyone know Colin Sellers and why in 1990 when it was only 4 years old did the car need bringing back to life? Anyway eventually cut the wiring out and remade the loom with proper soldered joints and each wire also individually heat shrinked. Electric mirror is now working as is the window.
While the door card was off I swapped the existing shiny aluminium door pull for the original wooden one which I prefer.
ElvisWedgely said:
The end of the plenum was badly taped up and partly blocking the intake, presumably done to seal the pipe. 
Inside the plenum pipe there was a trace of oil which I thought was unusual but wiped it all clean. Has anyone else had that? I thought maybe the breather needs cleaning so that's next on the list.
Proper bodge that...Bloody hell..The plenum get oily air as part of the crankcase breather...Some people re-route the flame-trap to a catch tank to keep the oily air out...The residue inside the plenum air intake is probably down to the de-acceleration..Change in vacuum albeit milliseconds...I have some before & after pictures somewhere of people plenums that i have detailed...In fact i need to sort my fuel rail out and so the plenum will get cleaned.Inside the plenum pipe there was a trace of oil which I thought was unusual but wiped it all clean. Has anyone else had that? I thought maybe the breather needs cleaning so that's next on the list.
Keith: Thats really good news...Wedges run rich from cold anyway...Plus you have a different cam...
Yearly oil changes are recommended from Range rover and its good advice...The zinc in motor oil depletes at such a rate that in 12 months there is not enough to protect the engine anymore..Not sure how many miles it would equate to though?...
Tried sorting out my fuel pump wires but the fittings on the pump are corroded as there was no rubber boots to cover the fittings...I should of put some grease on it....
mrzigazaga said:
...
This is an area of previous discussion...How much brighter is that?...I was sent some pre-wired 3mm LED's with a 1 red & 1 black wire...These i believe were for the switch illuminator...(Octopus).
...
FYI: The fiber octopus thing is useless as ... a very useless thing.This is an area of previous discussion...How much brighter is that?...I was sent some pre-wired 3mm LED's with a 1 red & 1 black wire...These i believe were for the switch illuminator...(Octopus).
...
Even with the 1W LED, which is bright as... a very bright thing, the switches are barely glowing. Adding a more powerful LED is a bit of a no-no since the space is enclosed and the LED would get no cooling.
I mean, yes, the switches will likely glow a bit in the dark, but the difference from normal filament bulb was practically 0. The problem most likely is that the LED is very directional and the lense system inside the fiber octopus is useless as... another very useless thing.
I plan on doing more wire hackery to have LEDs directly at the switches. Will have to wonder a bit, have just ordered 2 new main light switches I plan on using for overrides for driving lights and cooling fan. Will try to see how to embed LEDs to the switches themselves and just get rid of the horribad fiber octopus.
Removed the steering wheel to refurbish. When I tried this a couple of years ago, the hex wrench actually twisted while the bolts remained frozen. Tried it again - no penetrating lube - and all the bolts came out without a fight.
Changed the driver seat. I've been planning on removing the 'test' MX5 seat since at least 2011 (based on a PH post). Put in an original TVR drivers seat. But I still need to install the head rest speakers from the MX5 - just afraid the pleather will spit. I'll need a helper to help tighten up the inside (nyloc) nuts as it's very hard to get a purchase on the bolt heads. Both seats will need to be refurbished and recovered. The MX5 seat I used was 1) uncomfortable at the shoulders and 2) too high at the front. Now much easier to slide in under the steering wheel.
Removed the old rear hood - completely dry rotted and split although the window was in good shape. Started to re-glue the interior cover to the hoop. Limited by only having 5 clamps and thus only being able to glue a foot at a time.
Good car day!
Changed the driver seat. I've been planning on removing the 'test' MX5 seat since at least 2011 (based on a PH post). Put in an original TVR drivers seat. But I still need to install the head rest speakers from the MX5 - just afraid the pleather will spit. I'll need a helper to help tighten up the inside (nyloc) nuts as it's very hard to get a purchase on the bolt heads. Both seats will need to be refurbished and recovered. The MX5 seat I used was 1) uncomfortable at the shoulders and 2) too high at the front. Now much easier to slide in under the steering wheel.
Removed the old rear hood - completely dry rotted and split although the window was in good shape. Started to re-glue the interior cover to the hoop. Limited by only having 5 clamps and thus only being able to glue a foot at a time.
Good car day!
Today, I took the plenum hose off again and cleaned the oil from inside the intake by using a carburettor cleaning spray and a tooth brush. I cleaned the flap and the plenum pipe. Then I put it old plenum pipe back and selaled it all up well with the jubilee clips. It has mde a big differnce to the way it performs and idles. It's something I'll now be doing at every service.
Tony. TCB.
Tony. TCB.
Edited by ElvisWedgely on Sunday 15th May 16:04
Just been trying to get the TVR tacho working with the Emerald .. wired in an Emerald Tacho driver and nothing on the TVR tacho .. dead, zilch, nada.
So I connected another v8 £20 ebay tacho and it works OK..
Anyone else have any issues with the TVR tacho - it was working on the coil driven system.
Also wired in the shift light .. that now works.
So I connected another v8 £20 ebay tacho and it works OK..
Anyone else have any issues with the TVR tacho - it was working on the coil driven system.
Also wired in the shift light .. that now works.
rev-erend said:
Just been trying to get the TVR tacho working with the Emerald .. wired in an Emerald Tacho driver and nothing on the TVR tacho .. dead, zilch, nada.
So I connected another v8 £20 ebay tacho and it works OK..
Anyone else have any issues with the TVR tacho - it was working on the coil driven system.
Also wired in the shift light .. that now works.
I had the same problem with coil packs on a DTA and the chap that wired it up had to strip the rev counter down to make it work but was way to lazy to ive replaced the clock but they sort of work.So I connected another v8 £20 ebay tacho and it works OK..
Anyone else have any issues with the TVR tacho - it was working on the coil driven system.
Also wired in the shift light .. that now works.
I had problems getting the tacho to work with megasquirt. The recommended tacho driver circuit (four normal diodes and a zenner connected to the LT side of the coils) didn't work; however there's a tacho driver on the EDIS system I'm using and that worked fine.
There's some info on the megasquirt website about how to build a tacho driver, maybe it might work with your coils.
There's some info on the megasquirt website about how to build a tacho driver, maybe it might work with your coils.
Whilst the starter motor is out being rebuilt I thought I'd freshen up the crusty looking headers. .....found a few small holes on the OS so tried some JB Weld as hear some good reviews. A good wire brushing with my drill and a few coats of VHT aluminium paint
Will keep em going for a wee while longer ;-)
Will keep em going for a wee while longer ;-)
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