NOHOME said:In reply to CJ :
Saturday June 1 is the big day. There is a huge cruise in that I want to attend. Fingers crossed.
Not making any more bets with the wife.
Pete
You should for your next choice of a project. 
NOHOME said:In reply to CJ :
Saturday June 1 is the big day. There is a huge cruise in that I want to attend. Fingers crossed.
Not making any more bets with the wife.
Pete
You should for your next choice of a project.
NOHOME said:In reply to CJ :
Saturday June 1 is the big day. There is a huge cruise in that I want to attend. Fingers crossed.
Not making any more bets with the wife.
Pete
Fleetwood Country Cruize-In ?
In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :
That would be the one.
Pete
NOHOME said:Turn signals fixed. I am an idiot. A happy one though.
Proof that sometimes you have to walk away, and when you come back the solution is obvious. We now have a full complement of exterior lights for all occasions.
Next challenge is wipers. They work, just not with the Miata stalk controls only with the switch that came with the kit.
Pete
If they are anything like a 2nd gen rx7, they have power all the time and 1 wire for home position and the circuit is grounded to make them function. Not sure how that is gonna work with the wiper system you have. Might have to incorporate a relay or 2 to "reverse" the ground control (switch side) to a positive signal (wiper side).
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
That is kinda where my head is going. Have not sorted the details yet but I know it can be done. That might not be elegant in one respect, but it will allow me to use the Miata stalks to drive the wipers.
Fallback is to fab up a version of the wiper kit that I bought that uses the Miata wiper motor. As a project, that appeals to me the most, but with the plan to drive it this year, I need to not declare everything as a new project.
Pete
Your making good progress, it's the details that make it.
It's also important to have deadlines. I'm pushing for mid September so I can go to Luckenrod in the Anglia.
Anyone one see what is missing here?
After sorting all the fuel lines and getting the sender to speak properly to the gauge, I was seconds away from pouring in a gallon of gas so I could pressure check the fuel system. But then that stupid gut feeling kicked in and made a decision for me
I have never been comfortable with the bottom feed tank. No real valid reason, but it just never felt right, so out it comes and I have a new one on order. I puled the plug just before fueling so that this might get repurposed for another project. I can still weld on this one, but once fuel goes in, I wont even try.
The old tank was for a 53-54 Chevy.
The new one is for a 49-52 chevy and while the tanks are dimensionally exact, the filler necks are a bit different.
This is the 1953 variant I guessed at early in the project with no real idea how it would integrate. We ended up moving stuff around the filler neck ran right into the frame.
The difference is subtle, but the earlier tank has the neck and a vent tube located just a bit lower and at a better angle. This will allow me to tunnel the filler through the rear chassis leg of the car. The Volvo filler tube is conveniently located right at that location.
On the good news side, by getting rid of the underslung filler neck, I have room to move a muffler further outboard and away from the fuel tank.
I agree the OE Volvo tank design is a bit of a head-scratcher. I look forward to seeing how you make a top-fill tank work. My thought for my car is to replace the bottom outlet to the external fuel pump with an in-tank fuel pump system, although I admit I'm not thrilled with the idea of pressurized fuel in the passenger compartment.
In reply to Ian F :
My case is a bit different.
I have a flat floor that seals off the tank between two frame rails. So technically I dont have pressurized fuel in the cabin. Look carefully and you can see the filler neck from the tank as it goes behind the side panel. The one from the top filler will go in pretty much the same place.
The difference is that the current one goes under the Miata frame rail and the new one will tunnel through the Miata frame about where the red circle is located. I will cut a big hole and plate it to pass the filler neck. Look carefully at the picture below and you can see the hole where the current under-frame bottom fill passed passes through the bottom of the wheel-well. Now I get to weld that shut.
Is this any safer than factory or what I had before? Not really but it seems a bit more elegant than the underslung filler. Nobody was going to look at that and not think WTF?
Pete
.
Good weekend of progress. Made it into enemy territory and back with a stash of parts. Good start on getting the new "mufflers" located out back in a position that is NOT under the tank. This thing is going to be Loud with the current exhaust. Has been suggested that two turbos might be the answer cause of so little room under the car.
The most funnest thing was the throttle linkage. specifically the throttle linkage relationship between the accelerator pedal the linkage on the Fitech and the TV cable to the transmission.
In order for the AOD gearbox to not destroy itself in a few minutes, you need to establish a complicated series of lever driven events between the acelerator pedal and the TV lever on the gearbox. In a nutshell, with the accelerator pedal released, the TV lever on the AOD must be fully in the off position, and with the accelerator pedal to the floor, the throttle plates must be at WOT AND the TV valve needs to be at full travel. Failure of the TV cable to reach full extension means that the AOD wont be pumping fluid at full pressure and shifting will be weird. Research tells me that there is very little leeway to the whole game. Getting this wrong will be expensive.
How hard could it be? All you need to do is figure out the motion through 4 levers. Oh wait, and the levers also have to mount to something somehow and not interfere with stuff.
Finally figured it out after revision five. all that is left is to reposition the throttle cable end to the same spot as the gold colored nut because as is, the throttle pedal will not attain WOT on the Fitech. I could mess with the Miata pedal ratio, but I am so done with wanting to be under the dash doing anything!
Pete
Before
After
Going to be loud but hopefully manageable for a season. There is room amidships to replace the X with a muffler that does the same function. And or get rid of the cats and use that room.
Kinds no fun going back and spending time and money on stuff that already ate time and money, but if it is not right it is not staying. Hopefully the new tank will be in place this weekend.
Pete
goddamn it, this car is so tasty!
Job description:
Install new tank.
Drill two holes
Connect new tank to Volvo filler tube using fuel-safe rubber pipe
How hard can it be?
That ate a whole calendar week to do that little task. And I still have two things to sort out. The easy one is to modify the filer neck that came with the tank. I got lucky in that it is a bolt on afair that I can get wrong and re-make without the drama of blowing up if I need to re-weld. Not on yet because I want to make a bead on the end and have not figured out what method to use for that.
This worked out well in that I managed to harvest the roll-over valve from the miata filler neck and it looks to be an easy weld-in to the Volvo filler tube. If it does not let me fill the car at a reasonable rate, I can take the ball-valve out.
Ironically, the last "Hard bit" is finding a hose or tube to complete the last few inches between the hose and the filler neck. We are getting close and still on target to be moving under own power by end of month.
Needed to run:
I almost forgot...Bought new headrest speakers from MOSS. Supposedly the hot fix for headrest speakers. Turns out they might be the most mis-rerpresented thing I have ever bought. They are NOT a direct fit, or a fit of any kind for that matter. They require that you hack the E36 M3 out of your seat headrest to install, and the instructions are useless. Thank you Youtube for the way forward. Would have been way ahead to go buy universal speakers of a different dimension from anywhere else.
Pete
Damn... I thought you knew about these replacement speakers. I remember a discussion on the forum years ago about Miata seat speakers and these got good reviews.
Woot, Woot. The factories have to do several iterations, too. Looking Great.
So, exhaust and fuel fill tube were the main items on the menu yeasterday.
Starting here, needed something to support the back of the exhaust besides axle stands
I am embarrassed to admit how long these took and how over engineered they are for what they do. Now that the exhaust is supported, I will weld the mount to the muffler and get rid of the clamp. Allows me to move the muffler around to get the ideal location in the rear-apron cutouts.
Reason for the re-do was to leave room between fuel tank and hot mufflers Mission accomplished. I can even see room for different mufflers is these are too loud in the long run.
Fuel intake all buttoned up. Decided to go with a single piece of fuel-safe hose rather than piece it together from various pieces. Should be ready to dump in some gas next weekend.
Pump and fuel gauge wired and both working.
But life would not be complete without a setback. While the new tank fixed a few issues, it came with a new one. The mounting surface is recessed from the top of the tank. For some reason, the outlet from the pump points directly into the wall of the recess. The fuel line in the pic is kinked trying to get over the hump. I am going to try and use a metal line since it is smaller diameter and might tolerate the bend a bit better.
Pretty close match for the original Volvo door panels.
That seat looks great! I bet it will cause many to do a double-take before realizing it's not the original seat. Where did you get those covers from?
OK, so far, the Fitech was almost anticlimatic. With no real instructions to follow, the handheld pretty much led the way. with the timing set, it was a case of turn the key and it ran. Was kinda smoky and smelly at first with an AFR or 13ish, but once that was chaged to 14.7 it not only ran smoother at idle, but also the smell and smoke cleared up.
In reply to Ian F :
Seat covers are from "Mr Mikes" in FL. Well known in the MG boards for his Miata and Fiero seats that get put in MGBs. Other than the aforementioned speaker fiasco, the kit is easy to use; they include everything including hog ring pliers and extra padding for damaged foam repair. Any more complete an there would be beer in the box.
Pete
Last night was fiddling with the tune, setting timing and making sure the cooling worked and the fan came on.
Wanted to know what it was going to be like from a cold start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwM_rqUr-_Y&feature=youtu.be
This is absolutely on my "Top 10 cars I'd drive across the country to sit in" list.
I really wish that had existed when i started megasquirt. Id have been done years ago.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
Coming form you and the rides you have drove, that is high praise. Thank you.
Might have to do a drive over to your summer shop in MI. Mrs NOHOME likes that part of the world.
Pete
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