azzurro

but...even the new ones can be cool* *(ish), from certain angles. Keen on BF after chickening out last time due to a spot of rain. Hopefully will beat the pending weather bomb, and WoF runs out on the 20th so get some miles in while i can. Also have a boot of things for people some mirrors for Triumphrod i think, sway bar for Bigfoot and maybe some lada stuff for a lada/fiat perve.

Inspired by all the enginey stuff going on at the mo, i thought i would make a start on stripping down the original engine that came in the car. Ive never done this (to a car engine) before so any tips welcomed! I have a few questions too. I wanted to see how this one looked compared to the one thats in there, that i painted on the outside only, and probably also needs a stripdown and new gaskets thoughout, so this is practice for that. Its also been on the stand in the corner of my too small garage for too long, so breakin it down into smaller parts makes it easier to lose them. The actually engine did run fine, if a bit smokey and oily (ie no worse than my 'new' one) and i would have been happy to fit it back in and drive it if i didnt have that other engine that has lumpy cams and new pistons which tipped the balance that way. Anyways, into it. Head off, relatively clean on the outside. But pretty coked up on the inside! Both the Inlet and exhaust ports were also grimy and carboned up. Starting to clean it up a bit more my rag kept catching on something...Oh noes! And a matching dent in the piston. Is a bit of 2mm diam hardened blue steel, looked like the tip of a sparkplug or maybe the tip of a valve spring or something Looks like it bounced around and damaged the head but not so much the piston or valves before the sharp end went into the head. The cams also seem to have these sections of flatspots (hard to photo but can feel them) but the lobes themselves seem smooth.. Both cams and all lobes are the same. Is it a casting issue or is a sign of something? The base circel seems like it hasnt been rubbing on the tappet surface. In other things, the bores seem smooth, no vertical scoring or ridges, and no taper that i can see with a flat edge enyway, and the crank turns over pretty smoothly too. Ive still pull the sump off, crank out or obtain a valve sping compressor, but will the head need welding up or that piston replacing? Whats up with those cams?? I was hopping for a 'clean up and change the gaskets' type thing, not really spending heaps on machining.

while on the grinding and welding buzz I also had to sort out the front passenger door for two reasons: 1: this is rust coming though bog on the lower leading edge, and was bubbling on the outer skin as well. Chopped it out, bashed out a new inner bit in and carefully put a section of new skin on top tapping it over to match the factory finish. 2: But mainly needed to shave about 2mm off about 100mm of the upper leading edge so it no longer binds on the fender when the door is adjusted properly. This was the least-hard method (the other was doing the same thing to the fender, which would have made a hard to close hole in it). I put a wee bead down it again and flapped it smooth and the door fits much better now, and it only needs a smear of blade putty to hide it (and some blue paint of course). I put the Wards on the front to remove the last of the hateful screw in stud extension/bolt things that held the meshies on (this is also a before of the door - you can see how the door looks like its not shut properly and the trim doesnt line up because of the mad camber i had to put in it so it didnt rub I also knocked out about half of Waiheke out of the upper corner of the fender - no wonder they rust up there! The base of the door is a much better fit to the opening now too. You can also see my new lower corner patch fits much better that the last repair... Better a bit more bog than warping the door skin. And of course what shows up but a package with some spigot rings for both the Wards right after putting the rims on I also got some rings for the Meshies and, some wobbly bolts 'for just in case I find some cool 4x100 rims'. (I know, I know Im a whore!) And of wheel bolt issues I also have a plan for fixing the wheel stud extension/shanked bolt combo issues for the Meshies once and for all!

not as cool but potentially more practical? http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/parts-other-makes/other/auction-601798249.htm

poked the rust some more. i should have left it alone achuly I should have fixed it properly the first time. One ramp slammage. Scraped out all the crud, replaced a bit lot of the inner arch and sloshed some rust converter up in there. I try to keep it off where you are going to weld as it makes the metal funny and outer skin made on the i beam with the hammer, formed and stuck on its done. Well mostly done. Took my time and it didnt warp but welding outside in the wind makes shitty welds !. Nice to have clean steel but its only backing for the bog really ill be slopping on the poop soon to bend it in with the rest, ive just slopped on some primer for now. You can see the rest of the arch is pretty wonky already so i only really wanted it to be solid and lower or flush than the skim of filler already on it. Ill hit the high spots in the reverse curve on top of the lip with the power file (love that thing!) I also rolled the guards a bit so hopefully a bit less rubbing on the wards, but its actually the side of the inner arch cutting in towards the boot quite sharply. I want to adjust the front door door fitment on both sides next, which might mean some grinding, so ill respray all my patches in one go.

i think that is the accellerator pump and so you dont want to remove it (for normal driving anyway). is that a DGAV?

]so since getting back from Nats and that i havnt really done too much. It was kinda pissing me off that the sideys didnt work properly + oil spurting/low pressure and coolant fan issues, so it has been in disgrace. But I have been getting back into it Ive removed and swapped over a combined 'new' light assesmbly to fix the LF indicator (Copper 'spring to mildsteel male plug was not so good), im goint to have to do the other side now! Not to meany photo of that, but its heaps better, Cleand out the lenses too. So that is one job from the long list: Indicator fixed. also, swpped the diff back overto the original part (the diff in there is from the green dream and the housing had come slightly apart from the nose while I was away.lost all the oil and had started making a bad noise and shunting on overrun) 0-my own faulkt (probably) for ot tigtening up properly i suppose. Anyway (you will need to fogive me, i got a new camera so ive been taking photos all over the shop): Picked up the sapre and pulled apart - in need of a clean up on the outside: Inside looks nice, 41/10 = 4.1 ratio, same as the current/old diff, but stamping style is differerent (but the ratio is 125 standard - 124s had a few different ratios over the years, so scweet - apprears to have not been apart before either which is not the case with the 'old' one - crap is just cheap cloths and splatter from wire brushing the housing (woops!) mmm nice - gun bluing and precision engineering all the shafts and housing bits cleaned and ready for reassembly (i only cleaned and painted the diff nose, no idea about how to measure backlash and etc, looked nice and clan so fingers crossed!) Pigs head! Cannot be unseen! All the bits from the 'old' diff swapped over, Leaf springs all painted up, discs/spacers, and tinware swapped and diff ready for installation; So that is thediff fixed... hopefully. Also tightended the shit out of th ehandbrake adjustment so im corssing that off the list too handbrake fixed This is the 'old' diff - it looked like the 'new'one. like 2 months ago: I also fitted the Wards for a change, (also 1 peice wheel bolts...) looked real nice in the afternoon sun - they are going to rub, so i may need to remove the spacer on one side,but i like them: Next job, some rust coming through on the drivers wheel arch (i never did it properly the first time), and fill the wobbles that are apparrent in those photos, shave a bit off the front passenger door so it can fit properly, and adjust the left turning wheel lock. Drivers rear caliper is also leaking (!!!!) and engine is a sieve.

sorry peeps who were picking up bits We wont be attending, someone forgot to disconnect the battery last time and its now dead flat. (that someone may or may not be the same person who was suposed to fix the electrics so it didnt flatten the battery anymore, but anyway... Its also hooooosing down out here, and the boss decided that BF was rain hail or shine, except for you know, this rain. Can bring bits to next meet or sort something else out if you are keen/desperate

ah, i grabbed a spare steering wheel from the lock up figuring you could see if it fitted at your leisure.

Shaneo, have you run out of new bits to put on, or has the mrs now fully claimed it? amily inform me that monthly BF mish is on, rail hail or shine.and ive got a boot full of crap to bring and dispose of/sell - steering wheel for euron8 - mirrors for triumphrod - swaybar for bigfoot or Ridal - bigfoot was in first will have to investigate this Cali thing maybe

screw you guy put in an enquiry on this but it was sold already. it was for the best i shall live vicariously

is it rich or lean when dropping cylinders?. are you sure its the front one & lean? might be fuel starvation from too low flow (fuel pressure or blockage in the banjo filter?) or floats if rich maybe dellorto drip? sure its not ignition related?

dude, just put a twin circuit on, i bet the only difference will be the cylinder and reservoirs. I have some resovoiurs you can have, and cylinders are cheap. your car must be a super early model to have a single circuit? Im intrigued, just looking at my manual, (only one of the 3 i have has the single cicuit mentioned), looks like no vaccuum boost either, but the servo has all the holes to hook it up to just blanked off? Come steal some bits bei, cant be too safe

hey sam, nice work. I had some black stuff a while back and it leaked/went soft, it was probably from the same roll at supercheap yours is of! lol. Stink about the leaks, make sure you get it off or your paint will go with. Also make sure that you get a tight fitting hose and use good hose clamps, as the seam from the mould on the plastic barbs likes to wick fluid out if its not a good fit. later on my nice colour matched blue cotton braided hose has probalby gotten all grubby as it soaks up the oil Thats why most hose is black. Before that it still had the original clear Cavis stuff that was working fine but it had gone hard and yellow so i took it off and binned it. You can still get it (from overseas) if you are keen on keeping the original look.

stick a volumex in it bei! looks pretty tidy apart from the brake fluid marks. good time to tidy that fiat spagetti too

awesome work man, i know it was a mission on my Fiat, but its mostly squares, roundy bits, sheesh! try an old sack with sand in it too good for bashing curves in, similar principle to shot bags but 0.1% the price. This photo here reminds me of my old one(s) - my first one was this colour, then i got a cream one (like MJ Foxs) and had those rims on it. Fuck yeah, student loan lump sum living costs! Would love another VW

Since the last update I have been in touch with Murray @ Weber Specialties to drop the DHLA carbs off asap for him to have a look at. I was hoping to avoid being upsold a new set of Webers, but hes been good the couple of times ive used him, and other potentially? good places including a couple that were reccomended are not handy for me to get to. All the other places i emailed didnt respond either, so, whatevs. Anyway, In prep for doing this ive swapped back in my old twin throat Weber 34DMS. I have always had trouble with it before i put on the sideys, (flatspots, missing under load etc), so i gave it a quick clean up, and took all the jets out and putting it back to early base model ones back in from my wee collection. Then took it for a test drive, went very well, esp when the secondary open up! revs smooth and strong to 6000 before hitting a wall, but it sings along now from 3500 to 5500 especially, but still a bit of a halt when moving from cruise to full throttle but nothing im going to try to 'tune' out. Highlights how much the issues with getting the sideys right are holding the car back, the dells have the definite edge in the midrange, but splutter and bog the car ones the main circuit comes on because of the internal leaks i guess. The dells have much more tourque down low, but the single Weber revs better! Surely thats the wrong way around! Im really happy to finally have the car running something like it should, damn carbs! If the dellortos can be sorted to deliver what they are capable of ill be super happy. It may or may not loose traction very easily, but predicably if you drop it into second (and sometimes 3rd) on gravel, with Slayer turned up

Woopsie forgoto this one from 2 weeks ago: Since last update Ive done nothing I bothered to take photos of, but still plenty of fiddly jobs, and with a bit of a Nats push to get them done. I oringinally got the car from Palmy on Anzac Day (25th) 2010, which is nearly 3 years ago, so hopefully I will be finally driving a 125 back from there too! Ive trailered 3 125s from there now and thats enough of that! OIL - topped up the oil again, drops oil only when the engine is running, a little out of a few spots but a lot out of the area between the back of the engine and the gearbox. Rear Crank Seal i bet, Not terminal, but annoying esp with a new clutch BRAKES - fixed leaking rear passenger side caliper (replaced seal - i have 3 types, 124 ones that are way too small and some 125/132 ones, but i had a look though my spares and the new ones i put in are maybe 2mm larger in ID/OD and were not tight fit on the piston. I chucked in the smaller ones and they work better, i think was the fix i used on the other side too. SHOCKS - while i had the car in the air doing the rear brakes i pulled the Koni Reds from the rear. THey were on full soft which was a bit too soft and baggy. They have 2 1/4 turns so i did one full turn and put them back in. Wow! so much tighter in the back, the rear lets go a bit too easy now (honestly officer)! perhaps a bit too stiff, but they are such a pain to pull out and adjust ill leave them for now. PERTRONIX - installed Pertronix, and timed up, seems to run more or less as before, (points etc were near new anyway, in the boot now for just in case), hard to test high rpm differences as car didnt run so well at high before anyway! IGNITION SWTCH - installed the Lada Ignition switch, results are not as anticipated. I think my relays prevent some sort of weird back feeding that the original wiring require to work properly. Anyway, ive wired it up so ive no ACC much as before, and soldered to the pins with a molex plug between the switch and the relay feeds for easy hotwiring . Much less wavering on the volts and lights now so thats better i guess. Fills the hole in the srround better too and much more secure. HAND THROTTLE - went to replace the hand throttle cable with the new one, what a mission! From getting the clip off the handle to fedding the cable back behind the dash, it battled me the whole way. Ended up reusing the original one, a fitting on the cable on the inside of the firewall grommet was preventing me from extending it. Used an old needle valve as a stopper in the firewall for the cable sheath and extended the cable to the carbs. Might have to take a photo of that one. Works great Only 2 jobs i want to before going to Palmy. Get the carbs sorted so it FINALLY runs properly, and get the exhaust adjusted so it doesnt clatter on the bloddy diff going around corners (like a told the guy it would). I may even get the big centre muffler swapped out for a smaller one as it doesnt 'crackle' as it should and this is also whats causeing the rubbing. CARBS! - new jets seem to work better to a point, but i need to pay a guy to get the rear most carb fixed. Been reading up a lot, on 'dellorto drip' as its called and my syptoms are typical: - wildly different balance on barrels at idle - check - idle mix makes little or no differnce to vacuum - check - fuel bowl drains quickly when not running - check - driving is good/ok on idle and progression cicuits but 'flat' on mains, can sometimes feather through to higher rpm but WOT? - Check What happens is the press fit lead plugs to seal some of the inner drilling passages can be knocked/blown or corrode out, letting unmetered fuel from the bowl into the main and/or idle jet stacks. Here is a DRLA that somebody chopped up to show what happens. Im sure barell 4 has this in the main and maybe barrel 1 a smaller leak in the idle circuit. Fix is to pull the lead plugs and either tap the holes and replace with grub screws, or epoxy or amalgam.

^Cheers guys^ I thought id put my nats list here then i can tick things off as they are done: my relatively short and easy list: - fix leaking LH rear caliper (again!) - go back to exhuast place to get muffler moved so it stops taptaptapping on universal joint going around corners (just like i said it would .grr.) - pull carbs off (again) and see if i can find whats going on esp. with the rear one. Its deffo dellorto drip. need to pay a guy - fit pertronix/timing/sparkplugs - fit new lada ignition switch last weekend: ign switch in. one pin out doesnt work as anticpated. bodgey bridge effective - electrics are go, except lights/indicators work with the key off/out. may change the bridged pin source so only has off/run/start and forget about ACC. cleaned sparkplugs again. fitted the pertornix to dizzy/timed by eye. didnt start first go. went back inside. (I read the instructions again, - Step 1: remove capacitor... ) this week after work: with the help of my boy got the car running again with the new pertronix. I had the timing 'right', but for some reason wont run without a bit more advance. I had closed up the spark plug gap a bit as well, so maybe thats it? also had to trim back the steering wheel boss and plastic column shoud as the new switch sits a bit prouder.of the socket. took ages. Today: Spent the morning trolling the interwebs re my carbs, symptoms are classic dellorto drip (unbalanceable carbs, one (or both) barels rich/idle mix has no effect) - sometimes the lead plugs used to block drilled passages can work loose and let (unmetered) fuel from the bowl into the main jet stack. Ive emailed a few carb places to see what they say - the fix is basically to pull the outer lead plugs to get to the inner leaky ones and replace with grub screws. This means 4 teeny and 4 tiny grub screws (2 for each barrell) right inside the carbs so might not be cheap). Played with the balancer again anyway, idles nice again. Removed leaky rear caliper, ended up that the replacement seals i used when i refreshed the calipers was maybe not tight enough on the piston. Reservior was almost empty again! Swapped in an old seal and seems to be holding. This was the fix i did on the other side and that hasnt leaked again so fingers crossed. Ive left the rim off and a paper towel to see in the morning. Just the exhaust to be adjusted and the carbs to be fixed now.

can use vice grips in absence of clamps but be careful of over doing it and busting the soft lines. you say youve had the cylineder out so maybe you just need to adjust the rod between the pedal and booster correctly to bring the pedal up a bit? pedal sinking with revs* is a sign that the booster is working (from manifold vacuum assisting your foot pressure) but shoudnt really be that noticable. You prbably have air in the system somewhere that is compressing. bleed it again before adjusting the rod. *usual test that booster is 'working' is to put your foot on the brake when off and start car, pedal should drop slightly but be firm after that.

might have a few fiat 125 bits and pieces that may fit this in my stash if you get stuck. I definitly have some of the shiny centre cap things with the lada logo on them that go on the front wheels that i will bring to the next BF meet/nats?

Aaaaand I got some more stuff too, this time from autoricambi.us: 1. 78deg themostat fan switch for radiator (cool runnin's) 2. Ignition switch. I had a wee chuckle at getting a russian-made part from good ol' US of A. Current switch is an 850 style one, and despite cutting my own key from a blank to make it work after the locksmith gave up, and having it apart more than once its innards now require the odd jiggle to make connections even just to trigger the relays ive got to take the load off it it, and the ACC position has been bypassed. Anyway, Lada switch it is. 3. Choke cable (to replace the snapped & just-too-short hand throttle cable, and so save my pinkie toe from resting on the acellerator and nursing the throttle when cold (not connecting the chokes on the sideys!) - will try change over the knob for the nice smooth, small and cool OEM one, this one is ugly, big and has a modern style surfacing and poor finish - probalby another Russian sourced part - was only $10 so not complaining, just sayin). 4. Pertronix ignitor electronic ignition kit. No more breaker points for me The pertronix kit is remarkably simple and small, just a sensor, a fitting plate and some fitting gubbins. Came with a page of instructions, and fitting is no problem, but they are a bit unclear on a couple of points WRT to the wiring. They basically say "black to - on coil, red to + terminal on coil" which seems simple enough. BUT it doent mention anything about the condensor. I guess the red is to power whatever is in the little black box, and the black is the trigger to replace the breaker points, yeah. So, can i just connect it as per the points (ie to the condensor?) Isnt that a permanent ground? Do i leave the condensor connected? Do i still need it? Suggestions welcomed. While waiting for this to arrive I was also pondering how the Pertonix works - obv. it works much as any other electronic ignition does and senses the lobes on the cam in the dizzy as they spin past. This is an Uno electrinic dizzy (the shaft is ...just... too short to engage or i would have saved my pennies ) with an electronic dizzy rotor. Note the lobe design, made to create strongly differentiated wave forms in the sensor. However, This is an early 124B dizzy of the kind i have fitted, and has a 1" cam lobe. However the flats are only 1/16" less in diameter than the lobes. (all the other, later MM Fiat dizzies I have have a much smaller diameter cam with consequently even less min/max diameter difference). Given the lobes are very shallow and unpronounced they would not lend themselves to a creating a distinct waveform, i imagine it will have some trouble sensing (accurately) the lobes spinning past at engine RPM? So the benifit is less fiddling with points but still lack of precise timing? (or am i just inventing problems??) I was pondering trying to exaggerate the lobes by removing material (cant do because of rebate in base, oh, and a lack of any sort of precision tools) or somehow fitting an electronic style cam. Any suggestions? The other option would be to cut and shut the shaft on the Uno one with a bit from one of my twin cam ones, but again, no precision tools will likley mean wobbles. Or just fit the damn thing and stop thinking so much!

Have not had much time for this lately but with nationals coming up and along drive pending Ive been thinking and ordering bits. I had a couple packages arrive from england (dellorto.co.uk) even with shipping this stuff was much much cheaper than local suppliers, which is a shame. some new jets, a malpassi regulator with filter/bowl and a rebuild kit for my DHLAs: and a carbtune thing for both intial setting up and also constant fiddling: the new jets are 60 idle jets (up from 58) and 200 main air correctors (down from 240). These should richen the idle and progression phase ever so slightly, and will also richen the main phase mixture (less air) but without adding more gas, as the main jets are already 145 which is big for a 1600. These are emmissions carbs wiith the very lean .11 tubes and unnumbered idle holders and these minor changes will *hopefully* fix the over rich (too much adjustement - beyond 4 turns) idle mix but nice progression phase, with a lean to the point of slowing down main phase issues. Hard to find info about these carbs on the net as most people bung the usual non-emissions jets and emulsion tubes in to 'fix' the lean settings and wonder why they run worse (hence the poor reputation), but these are the penultimate evolution of Mr E Weber's orignal sidedraft carb design and have slightly different operating principles to the 'performance' ones. The super 'lean' emusion tubes actually reverse flow and 'self tune' the main phase and work along with the many progression holes, so changing out the 'special' tubes for normal ones will make them run worse. It may also be that the original fuel pump couldnt keep up on WOT but it is so throttle position sensitive i doubt it. Tthe extra reservoir in the fule bowl of the regulator should act as a bit of a surge tank, and if that seems to drain too quick, i have a Facet to try as well. I popped the jets in along with a couple of easily accessible gaskets and o-rings from the rebuild kit, connected the Carbtune and fiddeled away. Seems to idle much nicer now, but interestingly barrel 3 has considerably less vacuum than all the rest (could this be choking on the fender???) and 4 needs serious air correcting (rich) to bring it back to 3 and the idle mix on either barrel on the rear carb made little difference to vacuum readings. I think the rear carb needs pulling off for a good lookover, as it may have the dreaded 'dellorto drip' as the fuel bowl drains overnight and the idle mix thing is all wierd, whereas the front carb balanced up super nice just on the idle mix screws and stays full of gas. No test drive as yet tho to see if the proof is in the pudding with my jetting. Has a bit more of a crackle on overrun now too which suggests a lean condition, despite the richer jettings and the exhaust is not as stingy on the eyes! Also popped the Malpassi on the scuttle, bolted right onto a couple of handy factory bolts in the firewall (parcel tray holder ) and seems to have smoothed the idle a bit more too. Looks the part as well i think. I also made a start to declutter the passenger side of the engine bay to smooth airflow to the carbs as there is all sorts of stuff on that fender, (coil, dizzy, relays, radiator bottle etc) and almost nothing on the drivers side fender (just the exhaust and brake master). The radiator is also offset towards the passenger side as well, making a perfect cut out and heaps of room for a cold airfeed, but on the wrong/exhaust side Its like the car was desinged for the carbs to be on the other side. I only have these two small holes for air and not a lot of much more room even with cutting which im not keen on between the rad (which also blows hot air to the carbs when the fan is on ) and the lights. Moving the radiator over a bit would be the best solution but requires major surgery. The rad overflow bottle seems big and in the way but doesnt really block any potential airflow, but i may try reversing the radiator (I need to get a new one or a flush/leaks fixed anyway) to put the hoses and etc towards the other side of the car. So only moved the 'colostomy bag' wiper reservoir over (which was blocking even those two small holes, and also resulting in a much shorter hose routing too!), with the coil and relays to still to swap positions and that is about all i can do i think. Im also expecting another package this time from the states with an electronic ignition conversion amonst other stuff, so she should be running top top soon.

nah, potatoplop, can you see the pixels? ha

yeah you do