byakk0

Hah! That's funny. Ammeter...yes and no....I've got two and they're both messed up. I've got a new one on order, should be here any day.

Did the battery swap and the results were as I had expected and hoped--thank goodness. My GT6 battery started the Corolla easily, but after a few tries it quickly got to where it was struggling (and this without charging the battery to full beforehand). The Corolla battery fired the GT6 up quickly, a number of times. The only one who loses out in the end is my son, as he now needs to reset his clock and radio presets So although the battery does indeed seem suspect, is the starter drawing too many amps and will this problem remain even with a replacement battery? (I'm hoping the joint I bought it from will swap me for another)

I changed locations of my temporary mirror mount and like that position a little better (pics later) Also, I somehow melted a reverse lamp wire in my rear loom, so today I unwound it (all that hard work!!!), only to discover the only place it was melted was just last 2". Thank goodness. I spliced in a new end of the correct color combo and just need to re-wrap the loom. Still having troubles with it easily starting. I'm suspecting the battery at this point. I need to swap batteries with my Corolla (same battery) and see if the problem persists. I get about 1-2 seconds of good cranking but not quite enough to start. After that it struggles until I top it off with the charger. If it's not one thing, it's another.

Thanks guys! A little at a time. I'll eventually get there. John, I was able to use a long extension on my ratchet to get at that nut. Great idea though. Along the tool modification lines, I customized a 1/2" wrench for my carbs. I'll put up photos later when I take the rest of the set.

Reinstalled the starter. I bought a cheap 9/16" wrench and bent it so I could access the starter bolts from the engine side. Then a friend mentioned just welding a tab on the head of the bolt to keep it from spinning. Worked wonders. I recall R&R-ing the starter back when I was driving it and it took forever. My battery needed a bit of a charge but it fired right up without the charger connected. https://youtu.be/xu3OMy36tMk

Sheesh, I'm way overthinking this stupid thing. I finally bit the bullet and just connected it to my jumper cables as Paul suggested and vrooom. Spins easier and faster than before the repair. (That's the whole idea, right?) Next job is to reinstall. Just need to customize my el-cheapo 9/16" wrench so I can access the bolt head on the inside easily.

On the carburetor front, I think I've got it going decent for now. Something funny about by tach, whether the tach itself, the cable, or the connection at the distributor. It's working for now, and that's really all that matters. Need to make some adjustments to the butterfly on the rear carb now. I can get it to idle down around 1000 if I force the the trottle further towards close, otherwise it wants to idle about 1500. I'll get it there eventually, next time I feel like pulling the rear carb. (I bought a 1/2" wrench just so I modify it for the carbs.) Been having issues with my car starting. I've had to connect the battery charger to get it to turn over, even with a full charge, so something is funny. I cleaned the connections, verified everything, and still no luck. On top of that I had issues the other day with my truck not starting. Needed a new battery terminal and was hoping that was the problem, so I cleaned it up. Thinking maybe the corrosion had kept the battery from recharging I tried jumping it with my GT6, but no luck. I hauled that battery and my GT6 battery to a local place for testing and both passed with flying colors. My truck battery is even 17 years old and still going strong. Replaced the terminal end, which was severely corroded and about ready to split in two. Still no start. Ended up being the starter so I got that sorted. So, with the starter on my mind I dug into my GT6 starter. I noticed a few months ago sparks coming from the end of the armature (the rotating bit that pokes out the back end) so I ordered a new set of brushes and with them on hand now decided to pull it and replace them. (It's an L25079, so I ordered accordingly) Don't mind the color scheme. It was a crazy attempt of engine beautification back when I got the car. I had to replace the bendix and painted it while I had it out. Yeah, the follies of youth. With the brush cover pulled off. close up shot of the commutator. NOt surprised but not what I wanted to see. I've got an incomplete spare starter, so I pulled the armature out of it. My boy noticed before I did the bendix end on the spare is a clip on, while my current one is threaded. Well, that won't work... Here's the brushes, old and new, and a side shot replaced the brushes. Desoldering them was a job.I had to drill a pilot hole to center and then drill a larger hole. I think I used 5/32". Then I could put the tip of my iron into the hole and desolder. You'll notice the broken spring...oops. Good thing I had a spare. De-soldering these were a littler tougher. I couldn't do the drill trick. But, I was able to get them removed and replaced in the end. I dressed the commutators with 80 grit, 120, 240 and 600. All back together execpt for inserting the brushes. (notice the stripped case) Inserting the brushes. I had to lift the spring up with needle nosed pliers and then insert a screwdriver underneath to lift it out of the way. Then I was able to slide the new brush into the holder and release the spring. Repeat for the other 3. Inverted, but here you go, with the brush cover replaced. And...repainted.Looks a bit better, don't you think? But...I'm afraid this isn't the end of the story. While I have yet to test it I'm concerned I've got an issue with either the battery terminal or the brush wires (or both) shorting to the case, so I checked the continuity from the case to the battery terminal, among other areas and get continuity. I don't think I want to test it in a live circuit yet... There is a plastic non-conductive bushing between the case and the battery terminal, but none of the washers are non conductive, so I think this may be the culprit. I'll check when I have the time. ...the saga continues.

Picked up a 10 fuse block with LED indication for an open fuse for cheap, but it only has a single hot lead in. I want one with 3, so here goes... Here is the schematic. I'll make new circuits, cutting at the red lines. with the internals exposed. The cover is just held in place by tabs, and they easily release. The power bar removed. I had to unsolder the black wire that supplied power to the LED's. I'll cut at the red lines and I added mounting holes where the blue circles are. before cutting I reinstalled it so I could transfer the new holes to the base. The main power was fed around the perimiter of the circuit board. I severed it at the red X's to create my three circuits for the LED's. Then I jumpered the power, indicated by the blue. Power was supplied to the board from each section at the yellow circles. You can see the power strip cut and each section bolted into place. With the circuit board back in place. I attached supply wire to the power strips. Red for the top 4, black for the middle 2. I added connection terminals to all three. Testing it here. With a good fuse inline the LED does not light. And with an open, the LED lights. I tested all points, and it works as intended. and the final product. Not too shabby. The question now is, how to mount it. Do I replace the OEM block or mount it under the dash and leave the OEM block in place, but unpowered and keep the stock look? Time will tell.

Coming right along, John. Question though. What's a swirl pot?

Think I've nearly got my carbs figured out but my tach packed up for some reason, so at the moment I can't tell the RPM...I've got a second tach, but at this point I haven't had a chance to troubleshoot anything. The past 2 days I've had literally 5 minutes each day to play with it. (on the way past the garage as I head to work) Tuesday I pulled the front carb to loosen up a sticky butterfly. I was able to reinstall it but not able to test. Yesterday I got it fired but when I closed the choke it died. Today I adjusted the idle and I could tell it was low, but it wasn't dying on me. If I can get a tach to work, or find a dwell meter to borrow or buy on the cheap I'll be good to go. Altogether much better than the 2k+ idle RPM when I had unknown vacuum issues.

enjoying the progress and the build. Always learning something ...Keep it coming, and enjoy the journey while you're at it

I guess I shot myself in the foot. Years ago when I setup my engine to run on the engine cart I have I put on a misc intake and exhaust manifold, not the ones I had on it when I was running the car. I never realized there was a difference. so first things first. here is the comparison of the manifolds: top 150CD, bottom 150CDSE and later. See how the bottom flange is slightly larger. with the CDSE spacer. You can just see the gap on the top one. I made a rubbing of both to compare. The red line is the gasket and the dark is the manifold. My original exhaust manifold had stripped out studs. You may recall in a previous post when my little helper and I replaced those. since then I never installed it, I just have been waiting. The one I have been using had 2 studs missing and one broken. I initially just wanted to tune my carbs today and call it good, but the more I thought about it the more I realized if I go to that effort I may as well have the correct setup all the way around. No need to tune the carbs one way, and have a possible need to change it later when I put the correct manifolds on. Now is as good a time as any...so anyway, here we go. Off come the bolts. I'm posting this sequence mostly as a reference for the mounting bolts and clamps for the inline Mk1 GT6 intake and exhaust manifolds. The rounded end of the larger clamp fits in a little pocket in the head. off with the intake off with the exhaust. Like my high-tech coolant plug? One side has a stud and the other has a bolt. My replacement is fine/coarse. I'll have to order the correct stud, but this should be fine for now. repaired and painted manifold installed and the correct intake Hooking up the hoses. Here's another high-tech plug. gaskets, with no gap! and ready to fire. And tuning. I got the RPM's much lower, but I'm not sure how low as the tach decided to act funny. It was bouncing around between 0-1000 but never stayed still enough to tell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7c405KJBZM I finished the session off with a short drive only to discover...my tie rod ends rub on my rotors. But that is another story I'll dig into later.

I'm good, but thanks. I rummaged around my gaskets and found some, including my old ones Judging from the age of the packaging these may indeed be asbestos. I believe the kits came with my car 20+ years ago.

I guess it does look something like that. It's a fiber of some sort. Maybe I should try and sand them a bit smoother-Thanks for pointing that out. What is normally there? Anyone have pics?

In using the sync tool I ended up with my idle speed sitting between 2-3k! All signs point to a vacuum leak... Well, I think I found the source of my vacuum problems. Chalk it up to this DCO (Dumb current owner ) I mixed gaskets on the intake side and have a huge air gap. I'll get the right gaskets and spacers installed and go from there. More to come...

Bought a Unisyn carb sync tool. Got a free carpet sample card too. Its marine grade with rubber backing. So far looks better than the El-Dorado style carpet recommened by a local upholstery shop. "All the hot-rodders around here use it!" The El-Dorado is the carpet I used for the floor mats I made a few posts earlier. The jury is still out on it, but I am pretty sure I won't use it. The backing is light and flimsy and frays easily.

played with it a little more today. I tried adjusting the carburetors and didn't get very far, but I'm afraid I neglected to disconnect one from the other while adjusting. More on this later when I get the time. I also shortened the horn brush a few millimeters to prevent the button from popping loose, but it still does, though not as readily. Few more need to come off. I also went for a short drive to test the horn out. I did not have it randomly sound as I drove, so I am hoping the electrical gremlin in there has vacated.

A friend rebuilt my carbs for me. I shipped them to him on a Tuesday and had them back the following Monday! He did a bang-up job on them. The shafts are nice and tight and he corrected some errors I made when I originally attempted a 'rebuild' nearly 20 years ago. Thanks Dave! Some of you may even notice I now have the proper choke clips. They fired right up on the first try, even though I need to get them correctly adjusted. I've got excellent airflow through both carbs now, when before it was minimal at best. If you placed you hand over either the carbs wouldn't suck your hand right up to it. Now they do. It still idles high, in fact much higher now than before. Haven't had a chance to do any proper adjusting or poking around for possible vacuum leaks yet. (I know, I know, that vacuum hose is a little long--it will be addressed eventually) https://youtu.be/Zu5o_y7LA4k Now comes figuring out just exactly how to adjust these buggers.

Now you tell me. I had one one the shelf right be hind me. 😀

good time as any to rebush the steering column as I won't be driving anywhere for a few weeks. Just got some new bushes, brushes for the starter, tail lens gaskets, and bushings for the gas pedal shaft where it goes through both sides of the firewall. More on all that later. At first I thought I could replace the bushings without removing the levers, but in the interest of not breaking my switches I just removed them. You'll need them removed to slide the top bushing into place. Looks pretty simple, right? Just remove the old ones and insert the new...yeah about that later. --top end --bottom end --new bushings First remove the cap from the bottom end. it just pops off with a little effort My first attempt at removing them was unsuccessful. I thought they would just tap out. I used a 1/2 copper pipe (that's what I had on hand) and slid it down the shaft, then rammed the pipe on the concrete, slamming the bushing down onto the pipe and hopefully forcing it up and out. Yeah, no luck. It didn't want to budge. The bushings are rubber on the outside with a steel spring on the inside, and then a poly layer of some sort inside that. I realized that spring needed to be compressed somehow, and I couldn't get any tools down in there very easily. Locate the 4 holes on the side of the column where the bushings are visible, 2 at the top and two at the bottom, on opposite sides and ends. You don't want to just start wailing on these rubber nubbers as you may ruin the tube, so the opposite nubber needs to be equally supported by itself. I put a long 5/16" bolt in my bench vice, threaded end up and clamped it down tight, with the head of the bolt resting on top of the vice threads. Then I used another 5/16 bolt and with the bottom nubber resting firmly on the bolt in the vice I wailed on the topside nubber with the hammer on the bolt. A couple of good smacks and both sides start deforming and relieved enough pressure I was then able to drive the bushing out with my above mentioned method. Took some doing though, but in the end I got both out. Here you can see the removed bushing and it's respective internals and rubber nubber. Replacement was much simpler and quicker. I matched a socket to the end of the bushing and with an extension drove it home. remember to align the nubbers directly above the holes in the sides of the column tube. Watch the holes and stop when you see the nubbers-tap it back the other way if you go too far. Replace the cap at the end and reverse the method for disassembly of the rest of the column components. This really tightened up my column. Here's to hoping it solved the shorting issue.

False air seems to be the issue. These cdse's have been de-smogged. Got a freind here in the states willing take a look at them and rebuild them for an excellent price. In the mean time, I'm going to take inventory of my cd150 bits and see what I lack.

Looks like I've got another issue to wade through in the somewhat near future. Loose throttle shafts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rji59ETuuEU Need to get new shafts. My carbs do not have any identification tags, and digging through the info at spitbits all Nigel shows is year/comm# ranges, nothing by carb model. Haven't dug through any other suppliers yet. I've got a pile of CD150 carbs also. Perhaps now is as good a time as any to refurbish a set of those, if I can find all the needed bits. Anyway, I had some help adjusting my carbs today. Got the idle down to maybe 12 or 1300 but it stumbles when revved and then idled, plus it stumbled when shifting when I went for a test run. Need to kick the idle up a notch before my next run, at least until I sort the carb issue. Also let some smoke out of the turn signal switch or surrounding area. Hope I didn't ruin anything. Maybe that will help me locate the problem area causing me grief with the horn and what ever may be blowing my fuse. I've got column bushings coming from spitbits.com, so I'm hoping that is the solution.

nice.

Bolting a backing plate on is a fine idea John. I've seen that method used by the pros in various applications, so I think you are spot on. Nice work!

If it's al-yoo-min-ee-um (lol) have it anodized, then paint the body the same color. Ehh. Just me thinking out loud.