EvanB (Forum Supporter) said:Ready for rallycross next weekend?
Ready to spectate 
EvanB (Forum Supporter) said:Ready for rallycross next weekend?
Ready to spectate
In reply to eastsideTim :
No spectators permitted on site.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to eastsideTim :
No spectators permitted on site.
What about volunteers?
In reply to cghstang_chris :
That is interesting, especially if only ten people show up. Need enough people to run the event.
Although the Dave Rudy school of "voluntold" worked rather efficiently...
Took the time to time it this evening. Had to mess with the idle speed, as it got kicked up with the new distributor. We'd already been running a bit over the correct speed (850-900) in order to keep it running.
Went out on a test drive, and it's like a whole different engine. Idles more smoothly. About the same power, maybe a smidge more, but there's no stumbling anywhere. Taking off from a start is so much easier. And no backfires when letting off the gas. I'll be much more willing to take it for longer drives than around the neighborhood.
Great story about getting the car after missed opportunities and getting it back on the road. Keep up the good work, its a cool car!
Finally getting around to installing the disc brake kit I bought a few years ago.
Still need to finish the passenger side, then bleed the brakes, but I am hoping to get that all done during the week. I really could use the garage space for some other projects.
Well, everything has been assembled, but I cannot get the brakes to bleed. Other than adding the disc brakes, I also replaced the hose from the reservoir to the front master cylinder. Tried to do a normal bleed, and that didn't go so well, so I switched to vacuum bleed, and it wasn't working, plus I broke my 15+ year old mityvac, so it's time to order a replacement. Tried gravity bleeding, and it seems to be working with the rear brakes, but no luck on the front. I cracked the front line at the master, and had my wife pump the brakes. A bit of air come out, but by the time we stopped, it appeared to be all fluid.
Not sure what to try next. I pulled the bleeder valve from the passenger front caliper, and just left it open. For the hell of it, pumped the brakes a little, and it is still dry. Left it out, and am hoping it gravity bleeds, but I have serious doubts. Maybe there is still some air in the master. Master and the rubber lines are only a couple years old, and were working fine when I pulled the car into the garage, so I doubt they have failed that quickly. Would rather not spend the money on a pressure bleeder, and the last time I tried to DIY one, it made a mess.
Any ideas?
What about putting a valve stem in a spare booster cap and pressurizing the system a bit?
wae said:What about putting a valve stem in a spare booster cap and pressurizing the system a bit?
Kind of like a pressure bleeder without the fluid. Might work, just have to be careful not to let the reservoir run dry. Hmm, now I'm off to see if I can find where I bought the aftermarket reservoir from, so I can get a replacement cap. Probably just use a bicycle pump so I don't put too much air volume through too fast.
In reply to eastsideTim :
That's the easy way to bleed an RX-7 clutch.
And with the rate at which the hydraulics fail, you get a lot of practice.
New reservoir (mostly importantly - new cap) is on the way. Will be interesting to see how much leaking there will be around the soft line connections to the master. There are hose clamps at the master cylinder, but not anywhere farther up.
New reservoir came in, so I drilled the cap and cut up the gasket, and tried to fit a valve stem into it.
It ended up just leaking around the valve stem area when I tried to use it, so in my rush to find a solution, I JB welded the assembly together, and it is settling up now. With the power of hindsight, I realize I should have just used some RTV, as now if this fails, I won't be able to take it back apart and try something else. Here's hoping it works.
In reply to eastsideTim :
erk. You're supposed to use a rubber stem, after drilling a 7/16" hole. Maybe 27/64ths.
That's the valve stem I had laying around. It has a rubber seal, but it was a lot of work getting it and part of the cap's seal in place.
did you adjust the rear brakes so the shoes are against the drums? If not you are just moving the rear wheel cylinders and not pumping fluid.
cfvwtuner said:did you adjust the rear brakes so the shoes are against the drums? If not you are just moving the rear wheel cylinders and not pumping fluid.
They were working fine when I put the car away for winter (in fact one of the rears was a little too touchy), so I had been assuming they are still good. Could be a poor assumption.
eastsideTim said:New reservoir (mostly importantly - new cap) is on the way. Will be interesting to see how much leaking there will be around the soft line connections to the master. There are hose clamps at the master cylinder, but not anywhere farther up.
Here's a thought. Maybe it is pulling air past the soft line slip fit connections between the reservoir and the master cylinder.
Well, with the JB weld, it does still leak, but slowly enough that I can build a bit of pressure. I also noticed the rear reservoir was empty, so I must have emptied it out gravity bleeding it and not noticed it, since it is well tucked under, and hard to notice, so I'll need to re-bleed the rear brakes, in case any air got in. It does explain why I was able to get fluid out of the rear wheel cylinders, and the level in the master didn't appear to be changing.
Secondly, I switched from trying to bleed the passenger caliper to the driver side, and it bled out fine. Checked the brake pedal afterwards, and there was actually some resistance now. Went back to the passenger side, thinking maybe now the other side was good, it'd bleed. No luck. Cracked open the hard line that went into the caliper and immediately got fluid. So, I need to pull the caliper, and maybe tear it apart to see what's blocking it. When I installed the kit, I noticed that only one of the calipers had a plug, so now I am wondering if the other one did, too, but was mostly broken off, and I am pushing up against its remains.
It's annoying to have a couple of (possibly) self-inflicted issues that have stalled things for a week.
It appears the caliper is just frozen. Kit is well out of warranty. I've ordered a spare caliper in case I can't get this one unstuck, or if I mess it up in the process.
The replacement caliper is installed, and the brakes are bled Haven't had a chance to take it for a spin yet, but the brake pedal feels better than it did before all of this. Still not sure what is up with the dead caliper, will take a look at it sometime.
At this point, the car needs a battery box, and a quick once over on the suspension, and it should be ready for rallycross. I'm skipping the April event, but in May I'll be fully vaccinated, will have had an additional month to shake down the car, and spend some time working out. I'm way out of shape right now, so I'd like to get a bit more fit before racing a car with manual steering and manual brakes.
Almost a month later, and eastsideWife and I took the Beetle for a spin. The difference in the brakes was amazing. More powerful, and more importantly, more progressive and controllable. Did not attempt any panic stops, as there was a lot of loose stuff in the cabin and frunk, but I think we made it a lot safer.
So.... Coming to the two-day event, then? :)
wae said:So.... Coming to the two-day event, then? :)
Someone's birthday is that weekend, and I am running behind on the S10 project, so probably not, but there's a chance.
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