How do you make it rain in California?... buy a speedster.

Anthony posted:

Just to add to ALB comment on winter project. I have 3 friends and customers that I recommended to buy it in stages. Send berg a deposit. They average 2-3 months before they complete the kit. One must decide on what mainshaft gear combo and ring and pinion. Then your third and fourth gears, shifter, berg mount, core trans, axles, diff? And so on. Once your at the point of the kit being ready your trans builder will be needing a few weeks. A year goes by and enjoying that extra gear.

That's what Anthony suggested I do, a pseudo 12 step program.   I'm at the 'decide which 3rd / 4th gear' step. I admit that I jumped a head a few steps and I have my mid mount ordered and it will arrive with the 5 speed kit. The only parts I have left to buy are the 3 & 4 new gear sets, the 10 tooth spiders, and axle end gears. I'm not sure what I'll do about the axles. Maybe stock? Maybe used? Maybe Anthony's race axles? 

Can't wait!

Ted

Unless you're developing enough power (150-160 minimum) AND have enough traction (slicks and suspension specifically set up to drag race, which is contrary to what we do with our cars) to lift the front wheels I wouldn't worry too much about breaking stock axles. The important thing when you take axles off a car is to keep them on their respective sides. 15 tooth end gears go with 10 tooth spiders, and 17 tooth end gears go with 11 tooth spiders, and the superdiff housings are machined slightly different for each. You were talking about using a different trans builder this time around- given your reasons, I'd probably be doing the same. It's one thing to be loyal to the guys who take care of you, but if they're not, then.... Your canucklehead buddy Al.

Lookin' sharp, Ted!

Thanks!

I spent yesterday trying to flare the stainless steel fuel lines. Man, that's impossible. Flaring Stainless is grounds for sainthood. I need to buy a better a better tool. The die would push the stainless out of the jig and not flare the end. I decided to hold off on the stainless hard lines. I'll put them in when I install the 5 speed.

At this point the 2054 motor is back in the car. All hooked up and ready to fire. I went to key the starter and the battery just doesn't have the juice to spin er up. It had been giving me warning signs that it was tired. On cold mornings it would barely spin the 1915. A blip of gas would usually fire it to life before it lost all juice. I could have jumped it last night but I wasn't in a rush. I cranked it a few times to spread the oil around. I ordered a new battery on Amazon. It should be here today.

The SyncLink is on the carbs. I need to run the throttle cable to the front and get that all set up. Hooking that up will help with starting I'm sure.

One step at a time...

I had the same experience with SS hard lines. I tried to bend and flare multiple times and it never worked...especially the flaring part as my tool was doing the job.

I ended up ordering a spool of copper/nickel hard lines and it was a LOT easier to work with. I almost went full copper, but decided not too.

page 21 -- way to go!!!

Think of this as my personal blog about my car and the updates I've made. At the rate it's going so far, there really shouldn't ever be an 'end' to the thread.

yes, I have sensed exactly what you say.  Fascinating, really.  A lot to learn from all of this.

You can do what you'd like, but there isn't any reason I can think of to use SS lines over Al or Cu. I've heard all the arguments-- but SS is hard to bend, hard to flare, and hard to work with.

Considering the fuel lines in most of these cars are brittle old rubber with rotten plastic fuel filters hanging above sparky distributors, I think any hard-line is probably an upgrade/overkill.

I'm as insane as the next guy. All my hard-pipe is either Al or Cu.

El Frazoo posted:

yes, I have sensed exactly what you say.  Fascinating, really.  A lot to learn from all of this.

Hopefully some of it is positive and not just a documentation of a slow downward spiral into madness. 

As I think I said here or elsewhere, if you are bent (pun intended) on SS lines, they can be hooked up quite easily with Swedgelock fittings.  No special tools required.  Kinda pricey, but work like a champ.  A good tubing bender will be required to get the bends, and maybe a little extra muscle, but no reason it can't be done.

. . . and there is nothing slow about the spiral into The Madness.  Those afflicted go quite readily and fast.

Okay! We have a runner! I pulled the synclink and installed the hex bar linkage. I wanted to minimize changes so I could isolate any potential issues if they came up.  The motor starts and runs.  I gave synching the carbs a shot.  I think I got it mostly correct. I'm going to go back this week and try to double check the mixture settings. I'm concerned because I started with the mixture with one full turn out. I had to turn them out to get it to run better, not in like the documentation suggests.  I'm going to check the final settings to make sure I understand where the needles ended up.

Thanks,

Ted

One turn out to start with is a tad on the lean side (he says, knowing snot about what carbs you're running).  I usually static-set them at 1-1/2 turns out from a soft bottom and then go from there, playing with them in the usual turn-in-til-it-stumbles then out-til-it-smooths-out dance.  

Anyway, sounds like you're getting there!  Hurray!

If all you had to add was another 1/2-1 turn then as Gordon said, you're in the ball park. 

44 IDF with .60 idle jets. Need to pull one of the mains to get a number off those. Sounds like I'm in the ballpark. One frustrating item is that this distributor doesn't have a mark on the distributor body for TDC on number 1.  There is a sharpie mark on the outside, but that Mark is a 1/4" wide.  I'm sort of estimating the timing here. 

that mark is a starting point.  rotor should line up with number plug wire.

set initial timing at 8-10 BTDC. Total should be no more than 30 degrees.

Thanks! That makes sense as to why it wasn't as precise as I had expected it to be.

So yeah, the car runs strong. It's up on jack stands right now. I need to get under it and adjust the clutch and run the throttle cable for the accelerator pedal.  If everything goes as planned, I could have it back on the road this week... just in time for some rain. 

I appreciate all the pointers!

Ted

I just helped a Teby (okay I stood and watched Pat Downs do the work) adjust his Weber 44 IDFs and he ended up with 60 idle jets and 135 mains. It runs like a champ. 

Two years ago today I took delivery of my speedster. Hardly seems like it's been a year. The California weather this winter has made it difficult to get out and enjoy the car. I have literally put 0 miles on the new motor.  It's funny how the car looks pretty similar to how I bought it even though I've spend countless hours on it.

My modifications have slowed down considerably the second year. Looking back, I sure didn't do a whole lot to the car. I think I did the 1915, the trans, the head lights, and the Setrab, and the wheels early in 2016.  Recently I've replaced the Brazilian gauges with original VDO units. I'm on the fence about getting a paint job and new interior. Considering going with a much lighter disc set up. The five speed is looming out there in the distance. It'll happen, just a matter of waiting for the pieces to literally come together.  

I finally have the 2054 running. The California weather hasn't allowed me to actually drive it yet. I installed a new 5800rpm rev limiter, cap, and coil.  I static timed the motor to 10' BTDC. I did my best to adjust to best lean idle. The IDFs really seemed to quit being so damn cranky once I put the synclink on. Before they would pop and backfire when I applied the gas.  

Looking forward to driving the car more this year.