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update time. out in the daylight and re assembled. with a new sticker

Update time. Vivadom daily driving has been pretty damn good. Especially when 2 months ago I finally got around to changing the voltage settings for the wideband O2 sensor on the ECU so that the ECU would get the same reading as what the Innovate gauge shows. It’s a common setting fault and took all of 5 mins to get them to read almost the same. What does this mean though? Well for ages the ECU and hence the tuning program, Tunerstudio, have been receiving a ‘leaner’ voltage than what the engine was really at. This meant that in tuning the final outcome was always a bit too rich. When the ECU was in closed loop ego control it would take my preferred AFR table settings and adjust to what it thought was correct.. which was not. With the ECU now getting the proper signal we re-tuned the car on the way back from Blenheim to Motueka. It was too rich everywhere and after not long was leaned right back. Driveability remained the same, but tail pipe smells improved J I have not gone super lean, sticking to around 15~15.5 on cruise. We filled the tank back up in Motueka and the cars economy had improved returning 32 mpg (8.8l/100km). There is still room to improve but happy with that. So this was all good and everything was fine and dandy for the last month or two. Then the other day while leaving town I started to hear a teeny whistle sound. I just put it down to the throttle body making the sound because sometimes it does just this. The other thing I thought it might be was the idle control valve. I didn’t look into it any further. However, over the next few drives I noticed it was hunting a little at really light throttle openings, like slowly accelerating away from standstill. Hmmmm?... Then that whistle again, this time when I got home one evening. I popped the bonnet and listened around. I couldn’t pinpoint it but when I ran my fingers around the back underside of the plenum box where one of the runners joins I heard the note change. An air leak. Bugger. I looked with a torch and could just make out a little crack on one of the welds I had machined down…hmmmm. Bugger. Oh well.. I was planning on doing a modification to the throttle body pulley so why not sort it out now. I drove the car into the Viva hospital and started surgery. It didn’t take long to pop the bonnet off, unplug all the bits needed and start removing the inlet manifold. The trickiest bit was the return fuel line which was stuck to the pipe and hard to get too. One hour after having parked the car in the surgery and picking up the scalpels I had the manifold on the bench. I worked out pretty quickly why the manifold had cracked where it had. To explain how we need to pop into the police box and go back in time…. Maybe not that far though. Lets try again… Nup.. still too far. This time… Errrgggg. Again… Oh dear lordy..one more time… Ahh… that’s better! Righto..now remember this original plenum chamber? Made from some bent up 2.5mm alloy sheet. It had buckled diagonally when welded and I had then set up the runner heights to suit when I tacked them in place. I had to try and straighten it so it sealed correctly (using our house as a press).. It all worked out OK at the time because it flexed enough to seal when bolted down to the runner flanges. However a few years later I had that backfire and blew the lid off. I then fabricated a new plenum from 5mm alloy sheet and its was nice and straight.. It did not flex. This is how I think the crack happened. I decided I was not going to try to weld up this little crack because I knew the heat would warp the runner flange and nothing will seal. So I bought some posh looking South African epoxy putty, a bit like minute mend or quicksteel. It requires a lot more mixing than the others but sticks really well and smoothed off nicely. Kevin kept guard while it set. While the inlet was off I did some measuring and worked out the dimensions for a new offset/eccentric throttle body pulley. Then I machined down a lump of alloy bar and ended up with a new pulley. I got to use our new mill with a 2mm slot drill ( I could have used a hacksaw and file but this was more fun..) The new pulley effectively gears down the cable pull at the start of the throttle pedal travel and speeds up at the end making for a much easier off idle transition. You can see the difference between old and new here.. No more kangarooing down the road for people not used to this engine with its lightweight flywheel etc. I refitted the inlet manifold, plugged everything in and tried it out. WAY BETTER!!! Went for a drive and its so much easier to ease the throttle on out of corners or from standstill. Much more user friendly and I now wish I’d done this mod ages ago!

Update time on Viva two.... Lesson learned. Don't leave Vivas parked up for two months on damp ground. I went to move it the other day and the clutch is stuck ! I have tried all the usual things to fix it and no luck. Its now sitting out there with a stick holding the clutch pedal down. Funny thing is that I have only recently worked on a mates Viva HC and it had come in with the same problem, which meant we had to remove the box and free up a very corroded clutch. The reason for this mighty wagon of mine being laid up? Well it ran out of WOF at about the same time as I had picked up a genuine Viva '90' engine. I had plans to fit it but its not happened yet. Hannah went to the UK to see family and brought back some parts, seals etc so next week we will tidy it up and fit it soon. What is a Viva '90' engine you ask? Its the uprated 1159cc engine that was offered as an option on HB vivas, and standard in the Brabham spec model. It has higher compression, high lift cam (that found its way into the 1256 Chevette/Viva HC engine), twin outlet exhaust manifold and Stromberg carb. Possibly some other things too.. some foamer can quip in here.. It all combines to give a very useful jump in power from 50 to 70 bhp! Twenty extra ponies is not to be laughed at when you only start with 50. My wagons chassis plate states in the options that it came with one of these engines but at some point it has been stolen from the car. The engine I have scored actually came from this ropey old car here... ...which Slacker Sam had bought and then sold on to the fella I bought the wagon from. He split the car down as it was rusty as (although some of its shell has also made its way into my wagon) , hung on to the motor and I managed to score it a few years later for $100. Its been rebuilt and apparently goes really well he said, useful for towing other Vauxhalls around etc ... Came with all new ignition parts too. Pretty happy with this lot and looking forwards to fitting it! I have cleared a little area in the workshop to work on it....

OS logic; take wheels 400km south so that they can go 1200km north. Winning.

Hannah, Kevin and I enjoying the blue sky weather on our way East...

I have the wof booked for the diesel 260c on Tuesday. first one since 2009

Destiny...

Yes...yes...hell yes!!!! Boom!!!

ready For Hanmer

Sorry this is super late making an appearance. We are staying at the Alpine Apartments Camp Ground, the address is 200 Jollies Pass Road. This is the corner of Jollies Pass and Fowlers Lane. Enter through the gate with the oldschool.co.nz signs and arrows. parking will be the same as last year around the concrete oval. https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/Alpine+Holiday+Apartments+and+Campground/@-42.5198256,172.8534875,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x6d306308abc4f737:0xf746b4cbf8b0cb13 Here is the itintery for the weekend Friday: CHCH Convoy Departs @ ?? Check in at the Camp is open from 3.30PM (when you arrive at the camp come to the Gazebo that will have the OS Banner up and Check in) Check in will consist of assigning somewhere to sleep and collecting your event stickers Friday evening is normally pretty ruthless to be fair and can go on until the early hours of saturday morning (last year people were still going at 4am) no dinner is provided on friday so you will want to bring food with you or go into Hanmer township and get something (I recommend Saints Resturant) Saturday: Nursing your hangover with a blue powerade is probably recommended. (the 4 square opens at 8.30am) around 10.30/11 am we have arranged a group activity at the mini golf and a village cruiser scavenger hunt (provided as part of your entry) http://www.alpinecrazyputt.com/ 1pm ish we will be having a catered lunch at the camp. this will be a bbq. 3pm onwards - those who are going to the pools can head off for an afternoon/evening soak at the pools. evening festivities will be at the camp, Dinner is a fend for yourself, however there may be some BBQ food that might not have been cooked up earlier in the day. Sunday: Pack up/Clean up and go home. Things to bring food and drink towel and togs (for the pools) - these can also be rented from the pools sleeping bag and pillows - the rooms will have sheets and 1 pillow on the beds a foldout chair, for either lunch or around the fire Music - ipods, cd's etc for during the evenings a few reminders - YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EXTRA'S/MATES YOU BRING. BEING A DICK / WRECKING STUFF/THE VENUE WILL RUIN THE EVENT WE WON'T BE ABLE TO RENT THE PLACE ANY MORE = NO FUTURE OLDSCHOOL HANMER MEET SCOOTERS/MOTORBIKES MUST REMAIN STRAPPED ON TRAILERS/UTES DURING THE EVENING FESTIVITIES. ANY BURNOUTS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY SCOOTERS OR MOTORISED BIKES WILL SPELL THE END TO THIS EVENT BEING RUN IN THE FUTURE NO FIREWORKS - THIS WAS ASKED FOR BY THE CAMP AS A RESULT OF THEM BEING LET OFF LAST YEAR I think that is everything. feel free to ask if there is anything else you want to know

have hopefully fixed the worn out gas sender problem.I have no idea how much gas I have, but the old gauge don't work anyway, I can just look down the filler neck and at least I can full'er up now.And then as Sunday drew to a end...dells seem to fit. oh man those manifolds are right bastards! hooked up the throttle wire.made brumbrum noises.just need to finish wiring and install electric fuel pump, K&Ns should be here at the end of the month.So questions,1; I have a Red and a Blue wire coming from my 009 distributor, is one positive and one negative on the coil?2; loom has two large red wires in the engine bay, one goes to the Alternator?, and one goes to the starter?, and then I think one goes from the alt to the starter? my loom had no instructions, and because I've gone with alt from genny, this has changed a few things??Also how the hell do you keep the fusebox in place? I bought that little clip but I'm buggered if I can make that work!trying to avoid using a washer and wood screw like it use to have.

Got a few things sorted. Gear lever lock-out was all spiffed to fuck so you could hit reverse instead of second, not much fun on the way down the gears. Adjusted with hammer/drift. Fine now. It's been a bit crashy over holes in the road, I thought it was just a Beetle thing.Turns out the rear body mount bolts were loose. One needed a bit of a nip, the other had backed off about 1/2 an inch. These 2 things sorted have made the car totally different to drive. Also tried the rims on for size, they're 8" and they are going to look mint. Going to have to do 2 & 1/2 inch flares which is fine. Anyway, pics. Loose bolts/chrome shocks aye Phone shot Nice.....

I tried out its towing capabilities today...

WOF = pass

Been busy over the last few months A12 out and A14 in! Ended up building a fresh A14 9.8:1 Compression (pistons flycut) Cam with 2500rpm-6500rpm range 9.4kg Flywheel (2kg lighter than standard) Firmer Kelford valve springs Ported and polished head & manifold to my ability Twin 40mm dellortos & extractors New alloy radiator on its way, also have to install the e15 electronic dizzy at some point down the track. Here is a quick video of a small test start with single carb when I first installed the engine... Pics following Pistons flycut for clearance H89 head, water jackets tapped and grub screw inserted. Also drilled a small hole to locate a roll pin from the dellorto manifold to keep it alinged Discussion

All this talking of mountain biking. Fuck this shit. Im going for a drive up in them there hills. And at the same time keep posting this picture goat took from the first Hanmer.

In a week, I shall be listening to Bart sharns (which are the best) and knee deep in dobros with you weirdos. Good times ahead.

Very small next to the mk2

Jason managed to turn my "buck" (read: bucket and piece of wood) into a part that will hold the filter and funnel air towards the air box. the filter fits like a glove! Test fitted with some big hose: Gave it a wash and a paint. I didn't want to sand it too much because I hate fibreglass dust and don't have any masks at home, so it can stay rough . The setup has turned out good enough for now. I'll re-visit everything next time the engine comes out.

Top coat on, terrible phone pics but you can get the idea... Sat the engine in And all the bits have come back from the platers. Thanks to Phill at Electroless Coating Systems Next up is getting the front wheel sorted, Seat covered and the cream insert painted onto the tank. Then the fun part, bolting it all back together!!

Maybe there needs to be two mtb groups, one led by Alex the fucking goat for climbing big hills, and a second group of old and fat and unfit people like me who have not hit anything like a trail for a year or so and would puke trying to keep up with Alex. Felixx, I can bring my bike repair kit if you need it sorted...

Paid and car washed. Totally committed now.

Mine is 50 this year

Oops, missed a bit. Past couple of weeks I've cleaned up and put the interior back in. Cat helped - these had been out for about 10 seconds... Did I show you guys this? It's from Speedhut , they have a super cool gauge-face designer, can upload images and text and everything. Have a play, it's fun. Fitted in the hole pretty well (this was just a mock-up, fitted better after some more trimming inside and some sikaflex to fill the gap around the outside. It's tidier than it sounds, promise). Lights up all purdy-like too

Cool stuff happened this week A local stainless steel fabricator has been busy restoring the exterior door trims for me, I got them back today and he has done a great job. As I mentioned in an earlier post the trims were full of holes where the trim had been pop riveted to the doors, all the holes have been repaired and they look great. Here is a comparison picture. I have also finished repairing the rear door cards. Very happy with how they turned out

Just test drove Crown from Lock up to home. So far, so good. Best clean the windows tomorrow. Then, done. rad.

Finished the stand Some noise makers turned up

18 hour slow cooked marshmallows?

Got some quick stuff done tonight. I got a hold of some 2mm sheet steel to make up the inner frame rails so I marked that out and cut it up ready for folding in the brake at school tomorrow. I started by making up some test profiles to find out the measurements I was going to need in order to get the two skins fitting snugly over each other. The first one was too small, But the second one was just right. I then used the measurements off the second one to mark and cut out the blanks for the channels. This 2mm stuff is a pain to cut with anything but the big bench guillotine. The tin snips will just do it but it sucks when you've got girly grip strength. I also quickly knocked up a couple of dies to press in the "crumple zone" corrugation in the inner frame rail. It's pretty quick and dirty but it will do the job and it's going to be hidden so I'm not too worried if it doesn't yield a completely pristine result. Confirmed with the truck company the Mazda should be here Thursday because their truck has been in for maintenance. Looking forward to it.

Took the bonnet out to @Archetype's place on Sunday to have a go at wrapping it. We'd used a bunch of vinyl samples to choose the colour "3m Dark Red" which seemed to match well. The 3m 1080 film is amazing stuff to work with. It seems almost impossible to get a bubble! After a bit of mucking around we had it finished with new vinyl eyelids and "grille" too. We used matte black for the eyelids and gloss for the grille to add depth. Got it home and chucked it on - looks nice: But... The colour is different to what we thought it would be. 3m obviously has a different colours for the 1080 wrap vs the standard 30 and 50 series vinyl. This is called "dark red" but it looks almost orange compared to the test sample. After a bit of research it seems like there probably isn't an option in this range that will match my paint... Dammit. For future reference - it's best to wrap your panels on or next to your car to make sure the colour matches as expected. Massive thanks to Brent / archetype / Doozi / MotoringEvents for making it happen. The job itself turned out mint.

All you plebs need to stop worrying about the forecast. The weather will be whatever it will be. Aint going to change how rad of a time we have. Bring on Thursday morning, looking forward to boat rums

pining hard for this. warm beer on the bridge for sunset, someone else doing minibike wheelie-outs in jandals, sluggish yarns with GCs while wandering back to the river, a new wag/s to stand around each year, beaver singing soul greats in the gravel pit with the dial on 11. aahh

Rum

I am in a tiny tube of a plane

Bought three large bags of crisps. So my food is sorted.

I'm out of leave, but the boss was good enough to tell me to text him Friday morning and tell him I'm sick cough cough

Its a balance thing I know... but over time with a little practice you'll get it and soon enough the trainer wheels can come off and you'll be flying down your driveway. Then you'll understand what all this fuss about biking fun is

Went for a hoon over the hills and took in a few country pubs with some other 1200s and a 260, car went well and no issues. Today I butchered a couple of old standard A12 downpipes I no longer need and made a flange so this will make life a lot easier in the future! Not to mention tidier looking. There's a pie cut left open cause I don't know what angle it needs to be yet

It gets pretty slammed when I climb inside. Like your mum.

We are taking our 30 year old van (because picking up a lawnmower in chch etc) Its as modern as we get. A lovely way to travel though. On way to Hanmer meet last time.... (I'm so excited!!!!!) Must install our woodburner back in next week for them cold sleeps....

sTRANGE bED FELLOWs.our cars couldn't be any more different! finished mounting the fuel line, ended up going under the throttle tube. mounted the coil on the cooler scoop, the extra weight makes the scoop flap about, might need a couple more screws to hold the scoop now fitted up the crusty old heater boxes, so I could button up the tins. valve covers will be painted dark grey at a later date.found these little RUBBER NIPPLES at pineline, that place has everything! these block the vacuum ports on the carbs, very handy for keeping you walrus protected also.test fitted the old bugpack zorst, fuck it's shite!!get in there ya wee bugger!! guess I'd better install the rear engine bay seal.ah yeah....

You had me at marshmellows. Breakfast of champions.

Who even are you. 5x200 is the only way of life. We got a set of these for the buss

Replaced seatells Rs tail light Hand brake adjusted Skinny wheels borrowed Wof tomorrow?

Had a chance to check up on the progress of my new motor today while on the way past Tumuka. Not much to report really but the bottom end has been assembled so that's a start. Everything looks pretty good, all nice and shiny and turns pretty easy. Alex says he will try and make a start on the head next week which will involve the new valves and a bit of cleaning up. in other breaking news I've found myself utterly confused with options regarding the megasquirt computer and it's plethora of options but think I've settled on what I need. Just a small bit more brain work to figure out what I need to make the Bosch coil pack do what I need and I'll get that on the way too.

Took the Crown Coupe for a cert today. Passed with flying colors. Its been a few late nights at work prepping it for scrutiny. Lets hope the plate arrives before Friday. Plymouth is out of the running with a leaky rear axle seal. Whats the boose supply like in Hanmer? Load the car before leaving or buy local?

yuss.