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azzurro's 1969 FIAT 125 Berlina


azzurro

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woops - missed a few posts...

 

24 Nov 2013:

 

i have now reassembled the majority of the block with a coat of paint and new bits (new frost plugs  :cyclopsani: , gaskets, waterpump etc) that i had lined up for the other worn 2L that is now put aside. Finally used up my can of blue engine paint!

lmkj.jpg

I checked the rings and bearings and they were all in good condition and within spec etc, and the engine was pretty obviously running well before the PO took it out (to use it in a 124 project that never eventuated), so ive just slapped them back in and tourqued it back up.

I just want to drive this car over summer instead leaving it in the garage!

Just the big valve head to assemble, and cam boxes off the head that came with fthe engine or this to be ready to go. Ill do that this week.

Im unsure wether to obtain a clutch, and pull the old engine/box and start on the 5 speed swap, or just swap the belhouding on the 4 speed to suit the larger flywheel and get driving faster, as ill just be pulling the engine out again to fit the 5 speed eventually.

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29 November 2013

 

Been continuing to work on the 2L engine, received a few shims today, so thats done, and the big valve head is ready to go on the tidied up block, with the cams and boxes from the head that came with.
Ive put the oil restrictors in, ended up just winding them to a sligtly opened up passage without a tap - the high grade steel grubs bit into the ally no trouble, much better than the tap which kept slipping out. Forgot to take any  photos before i fitted the cam boxes tho.

thought id compare the new 'big valve' head to the early 125 head-  the valves are only a few mm different so the valve size difference is not so visually obvious in these photos (43.5 vs 41.4mm inlets 37? vs 36.0mm ex) , but the difference in water passages in particular is interesting - i understand you can put a lete model head on the early bocks but not a early head on a late block?

Also the Combustion chamber is a wee bit different, later model 2L seems to be a bit bigger, but also more 'shaped'

y8ps.jpg
Big Valve Late Model Head on left, Early 125 Head on Right

I also noticed playing with cam covers that the older/crusty oil caps were quite hard to turn off, compared to my shiny and new (but not genuine Fiat) one on the engine in the car, which also appears to be the source of the major oil leak
Put a new gasket on the tightest feeling one i had and fitted that.

Im  kinda hoping its is that simple, but also silly to have  been chasing rainbows for a while, but i will also be stoked if it is as i can slow down a bit on the 2L build + 5 speed conversion and just use the 1608 over summer.

Test run tomorrow!

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yep, oil cap changed and alls well up top, only the bottom end crank seals pissing out now.

 

went to OS drags on saturday, was freaken awesome,

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/41074-oldschoolconz-club-drag-day-discussion/?p=1231716

 

Only ran 4 pretty consistent 18.7s @ 116km/h before figureing out that the slight miss that had turned into a  'rev limit' at 4-5k rpm was the mechanical fuel pump on the way out (low feul pressure - only noticed as the bulb on the regulator was half empty (i mean half full).

 

Decided id better save what pumps it had left for making it home, but couldnt resist accepting a grudge match against Chris and his Lada, which still won :-D .

He defo won the b-out comp!

 

Made it home fine from Drags and swapped it out for a spare today, and seems way better.

 

Cracks in the diaphram - no wonder my oil smells like petrol and its hard to start if its been sitting!

I was thinking the blowby was so bad and/or carb too rich letting petrol into the sump, and also of getting a drain back valve, lol.

 

pershied diaphram - i think you can get rebuilt kits - this is a weber one.

 

kn9o.jpg

 

but just bleh

- all that shit was on the sump side too and was probably falling into the oil with the gas washing though the diaphram

8lam.jpg

 

So the 1608 seems to be running well now, and only the front and rear crank seals need doing now (badly!), but as thats an engine out job, its not gonna happen.

 

THIS IS:

 

1995ccs of twin cammage - But, that looks pretty much the same as the 1608's you have already you say

 

- exactly :wink:

 

has the rebuilt (but no machine work) bottom end and cams/boxes  from the newer/cleaner 2l and the tidied up big valve head from the first one i got. Should be a bit better and certainly no worse than the 1600 in there performance wise and should keep more oil inside itself.

 

Will use quite a few parts from teh current engine when it comes out like mounts and stuff.

 

n72u.jpg

 

Just waiting on a clutch kit, and ill join it to this 5 speed, which is all ready to go, just hanging in my heavy bits corner (Gerhd - look at that surface rust! stupid sea air!)

 

qv23.jpg

 

spare diff waiting for a nice head - will pick up last chance head from red oxide tomorrow.

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  • 1 month later...

Hope everyone had a nice break, havent been doing too much with the Fiat, have been speding a lot of time in teh Van which is great.

\Oldschool.co.nz nationals coming up in March (omg is like 6 weeks!) , so hoping to get a few things sorted before then.

Im undecided abount doing the 2L swap before then as the 1608 (apart from oil leaks) is running really nice FINALLY.
Pretty sure im going to try to get the 5 speed in before then which means i need to pull the engine anyways, so which engine to put back in?

 

Devil you know or???

If i pull the engine i may as well do the bottom end seals (as i should have before i put it in!) as i know it runs well.
OTH why not drop the newly built 2L in instead? (and see if the Dellortos work on it?) and take a high risk high reward strategy?

____

The 1608:

It still had the wierd miss at 4000rpm from the drags after swapping out the fuel pump and i found this:
m773.jpg

That will do it! it was a small bit of rubber, totally blocking the needle valve inlet hole, and also being held in place by the needle valve. Kinda lucky as if it had got into the carb passages it would have never come out.

Also i had the inlet and oulet pipes around the wrong way on the fuel pressure regulator (i think after testing bypassing it at the drags) - but dont tell any one  :oops:

Seemed to go much better after that, but still a bit meh, so tried slightly smaller air correctors, to 170 on P and S from 180s, which is way better, then main jet from 125 to 132 even better.

Just top end remains a bit stumbly, but my next sized airs are 150 which is a bit of a jump, and the secondary jet is a 155. I have chucked the 150 air in and will see how that goes on Wednesday, but i suspect that air size < jet size is bad?

I have a 160 jet to try if its no good to run with the 170 air but access to it is way more of a pain.

At the same time I also reduced the plug gap to factory 0.6 from 0.8, and pulls much better especially pulling from down low.
However it now runs on a little (started doing it just before drags), and the BP5EY which before jet change where also a bit glazed, after jet change they were a little sooty but still ok (compared to teh oily crap that was on them pre- valve stem seals!)

 

I wonder if the seal job has reduced the need for the sparks to work through an oily mess and now are too hot? I also fitted a K&N Filter which may be increasing air flow (lean) over the old & dusty paper one thats been on it for ages (would havebeen full of bog dust and shit)

I have bunged in a set of BP6EY and see how they go.

_________

Diff:

Finally pulled the diff from my red car to check, I think it may be worn as well :( Will drop it into see, and pick up my other dud one.

If its also no good then an alternative may be in order, or maybe just a new CW&P which will probably be a similar price.

Aparrently Ford Escort diff head very nearly bolt up (4mm spacer + bolt pattern change required - shafts are same splines and diam)  so that could be an option too.

 

Lada LSD would be good but with me needing a CW&P as well, shipping becomes a drama (over sendinfg CC deets to the Ukraine!)

Interested in any suggestions or spare parts (WTB Cheap ESCORT DIFF!) to assist on this issue

_________

ive also polished up the 'correct' Wards and swapped the tyres over, dont know if im becoming a purist, but I reckon they look much better than the other ones, which will be for sale soon. in case anyone is interested.

Just need some Ward centres now...My swappers trawling at Kumeu came up nix.

before & after polishing (OMG soooooo boring! blew up my drill too)
e25s.jpg

Now ive got lierally nothing to wear!
e2af.jpg

yep, those ones
g0b1.jpg

____________

In 2L related issues, I got a few more bits, mainly a new clutch, but a ferw more things to make the shipping worth while.

Was still cheaper, even with heavy itme shipping and the extra bits than getting just the clutch locally which is a shame, but $ is $.

4bxj.jpg
Clutch Kit incl Bearing, manifold nuts, clutchcable nuts, shims, dipstick rubber thingees, fuel pump blanking plate & gear stick gaiter for the 5 speed.

I also have 2 dipsticks, both came with the 2L engines, both completely different readings:
r1rv.jpg

Low on One is full on the other! Which is the correct one for a RWD/2L?
vsq8.jpg
 

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First Pre-Nats job a success!

 

Popped in to Dr Trans to drop the diff from the red car and pick up my other pronounced dead one:

 

Yerp, shes toasted alright:

i38j.jpg

 

Must have timed my arrival very well, because Egan had a look over the one from Red directly and promounced it "mint, chuck it in mate" and charged me only small change, including the strip down & inspection of the other one and gave me a bucket to take the bits of the other one home in as well.

 

So got home early and popped it the already ready axle thats been sitting under the house, along with new o-rings and seals, ive had for a while which only took a minute to do as well.

 

Pretty happy as it came up nice and clean, and even has the factory original stampings on it too :)

ni00.jpg

 

 

Even took special care to properly touque the bloody bolts this time too, with an actual touque wrench even instead of just goodntite

Done & ready to fit.

 

No more whine, clunking and leaks (maybe!)

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Diff went it pretty easy, im getting pretty good at it now!

 

This is the original one, dont let its apprearance fool you. It  has a bent shaft and or bearing on the way out and the nose seal leaks, and clunks & whines down.

 

7l9z.jpg

 

The towbar fell off. While its real good and solid one, its visually too 'chunky', so back to bare bumbums for now.

 

zitc.jpg

 

Test drive was all good too. Smoother and quieter all round, a bit surprisingly so.

 

Since its all going so swimingly, it must be time to ruin everything!

 

Pulled the front carpet, dash and heater out.

 

v4f8.jpg

 

This is for a few reasons:

 

1: Tidy random non factory wiring that some stupid egg has left all up and through that.

 

I plan on putting most of the add ins where the white polystyrene footrest thing is on the passenger  side, replacing it with a bit of ply to create a electrics box as the poly bit is about 100mm deep- they will be easy to access and all in one (hidden) location out of the way.

 

Ill also move the guages (Volts, temp, oil pressure) up to the stereo hole to line up with the clock, as the tunnel mods wont allow them to stay between the console and heater.

 

2: Heater Box - I think i found why its not very stong fresh air inflow despite the fan working well:

 

zbx8.jpg

 

The valve is seized (closed!) too, as are the ones on all my spares but one. Will see if i can buy a new one, else the one freed up one will have to go in.

 

x3bu.jpg

 

3. I also have a tidier dash to install: Guess which is which.

 

k3q8.jpg

 

Ive also decided that I will pull the currently installed 1608cc engine, and replace the crank seals for the nats run.

 

I know it runs and runs well, and is worth having a good blat on the factory fitted engine.

 

Will try fitting the Dellortos for extra last minute dramas.

 

While its out i will also do

 

4. 132 Adjustable steering column and matching box swap. Have the all bits for this for a while, its just a bit easier without the engine & dash in the way.

 

5. 5 Speed Gearbox - have all the parts for this too, except a longer (more common) clutch cable, which im ordering next week.

 

Only the tunnel needs modification, raised about 50mm at the shifter hole for 300mm forward, to make room for the remote shifter, but otherwise bolts in.

 

Im totally dreading cutting the perfectly rust free tunnel, and may not quite get onto it before nats!

 

6. New carpet? Old stuff cam out on 5 bits and is pretty much nonexistent on the drivers side. Autodec has a pattern for $310.

 

If i get all that done thats pretty much the end of my mods list, and  If i want to run the 2L engine later on i only need to swap the bell housing if/when the 1608 engine comes out :)

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Hopefully I have a lead on a donor tunnel,

im happy to wait to do the 5 speed conversion till later on if i can get one, so its both easy/neat and is as factory as possible.

Been busy today, Auckland Anniversary Day, woot.

Clean and working Heater assembly assembled from a 132 matrix up top, just change the control levers to 125 type including the cables, otherwise the heater exactly is the same as 132.

d4n2.jpg

Its ready to go in but ill see about a new valve just in case before i install it - may as well while its out eh. (note - 132 and Millicento heater valves are same as 125 - 124/lada doesnt fit)

Got the new dash in and moved the guages up to the stereo hole. Because they are mechanical and have long oil and cooland filled pipes (and im lazy) i had to push them out the hole from inside the dash out so the holder got hacked up and bent a bit.
Its pretty haggard but they still work and that will do for now.

I think if they are going to live there then i would want nicer guages anyway.
Silver Veglia ones from a 124 to go with the clock and dash.

You can also see my new passenger foot rest
n74q.jpg

Rest of the day was tidying up and extending, shortening, rerouting and whytfdidIdothat?-ing my various electrical addins to get them to the new footrest panel. I had semi planned this when installing these various mods (the 'Brown wire replacment', Headlight relays, Ignition switch relays and extra ACC fuses/supply)

b1lz.jpg

The whole lot is fed by a (fused) 4Ga wire from the boot to a distribution block under the choke cable - the alternator & starter hot wires connect though the firewall and one goes to this:
CW from R:
Main feed from dist block and relay trigger wires from Ignition Switch:
Ignition switch relays and fuses (Starter, Coil, Main Dash, Headlights & ACC Circuits),
Then to:
ACC Circuits fused distribution box (Electric Fan, Amp, Headlight Relay Supply)
Headlight relays are now tucked up above the fuse box out of the parcel tray.

Tucked the Cross-overs in there too. Will put some yoga mat or something down to stop it shorting, but nothing touches.

Way tider than it was before scattered though the dash and parcel tray, but still ugly!

Gerd I hate wiring/being under the dash.
 

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Did quite a few jobs over the weekend, as i received a parts order:
Got a new heater valve from Mal at Fiatparts.co.nz (note heater valve is the same as on milletrecento (1300/1500) and early 132),

and a fuel sender float.

 

along with a 125 Special Clutch Cable and some 2L flywheel bolts,
All the 2L+5speed conversion parts required are all collected now excepting tunnel, which i have a laed on a car for a tunnel chop, still need to follow up on, and will do after nats. Will try to get it sorted to use OS pony express to bring it up from Chch to nats.

Fuel Guage
swapped the fuel sender's 'sink' out for a float and put an earth line in too, fuel guage works well and stays solid instead of waving around and reading low.

bumped the tank a wee bit further forward, all the boot linings seem much happier.

Wiring
Much tidier, all fits on my bit of wood, moved the amp back onto the top of it too which will be hidden by carpet.
Most surprising thing is sverything still seems to work!

Heater

Reinstalled matrix and valve, seems to work well and no leaks. Thank god because getting it in is even harded than getting it out, esp with my new wiring i routed without the heater in the way  :x
Fan i had tidied up ages ago started squeaking, swapped out for the old one (after a clean).
Test fit parcel tray, realised the heater levers were installed upside down  :rolleyes:
Managed to get them off, reversed and back in without pulling the whole thing out again or breaking anything.

Fingers crossed its job jobbed.

Carpet

New Carpet from AutoDec turned up today, so got straight on it.

Old Stuff out:

yqfl.jpg

New Stuff out of its packet to compare:

3wde.jpg

And in:

jdpq.jpg

Pretty happy with that, ordered Wednesday am and was at the Mrs's work late Friday. (she didnt bring it home till today)

Not bad for a custom made bit of kit for a pretty obscure vehicle.

Fitment seems good, (they even chalked the bits they left for me to cut which were also pretty spot on)  and i think there is sufficient slack on the tunnel that its made for a 5 speed, so yay.

My only complaint is that I paid $100 extra for loop pile to match the OEM stuff i yanked out, but the carpet feels really cheap which i did not expect given the price premium over the 'standard' cut pile, and that they could have used a nicer carpet as they sewed it rather than moulded it, but for the work thats gone into it, and speed of delivery etc,  the price was still very fair, and otherwise im a very satisfied customer.

My shoes wont be complaining about it anyway, and certainly looks 100% better!
 

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Reinstalled the interior on top of the new carpet last week.

Heater works, dash is uncracked, extra wiring is invisible and guages moved.

Fells really nice in there now. Will need to get a better photo at some point, but you get the idea

uhbi.jpg

That job done, so onto the next.

Was Waitangi Day on Thursday.

Happy B-Day Noo Zild!
pn1l.jpg

Best part of Waitangi Day (apart from Rainbows, obviously) is having a couple days off,
to lazily (in between other stuff) dig this lump
g70j.jpg

of of this hole (after a can of degreaser!)
1fbn.jpg

Replaced 3 seals (front and rear crankshaft and aux shaft),
put in 3 new gaskets for the seal carriers (front crank one had no gasket) and
extracted 3 broken bolts (one being a sump bolt fixing to the rear seal carrier).
8w6i.jpg

Missing gasket and sump bolt were the cases of front and rear oil leaks respectivley i reckon,
but new seals and gaskets wont hurt.
Hopefully that should stop the oil puddle in the bell housing and greasy cam belt.

Then Myte128 showed up on a 'free stuff from Fiat Nats Australia' swag delivering mission, (Cheers Bro!)

I put my new merchandise to 'work' directly:
622q.jpg
 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Woopsie, Missing update from 8th Feb

 

___

 

Todays job,

Something ive been meaning to for ages - swapping the steering column over from the single piece 125 job to a late 132 one, which has the following benefits:

- adjustable! up and down, but mainly also a bit side to side (125 steering wheel is positioned offset towards the middle)
- collapsable! - hopefully will never take advantage of this feature, but being speared through the chest in a crash is now slightly less likely
- steering box is ~20 years newer
- "bolt in" (lol) upgrade


Steering box is the same mounting bolt fitment, and column is the same assembled length and has same steering wheel fitment.
125 and 132 being otherwise basically the same car, I thought this would make it easy to swap but no, EVERYTHING else is different.
In retrospect, for the effort involved, its probably worth going straight to rack and pinion.

First things first, remove one piece steering box/column from 125.
Hahaha. One manual suggests removing tie rods, another suggests removing the road spring and lower wishbone.
I went with dismantling most of my recently re-assembled dash to swing the meter long hardened steel shaft towards the passenger side suffiently to clear the suspension. Fan box off the bottom of the heater is the main obstruction + i mangled the firewall a bit.
I seriously considered chopping the shaft but as i dont have a spare handy, i resisted.

That done, comparison time:

132 top, 125 bottom
z6q9.jpg

With them out i could do a proper contrast and compare, to note the many differences, some of which i knew about, some i didnt:
- ignition/key are on opposite sides, and are different sorts/not interchangeable
- column switches are close (lights and indicators wiring same) but 132 wipers are 4 position vs 2 (neding about 13 wires vs 5)
- dash mounting different.

- column switch mounting arrangements is different, including static column (46 vs 48mm) AND upper rotating shaft diameters (18.5mm vs 19mm)


I wanted to reuse the 125 column trims (dont have the 132 ones anyway) and the ignition switching (relays) this meant swapping the ignition holder.

chop both key holders off (snap off bolts), drill the 125 one
Note 125 one needs the ID englarged by 2mm to slide onto the 132 column (which has a pressed lump as well)

To mount the column i reused the top half of the 125 column clamp to keep the use of the factory 125 mounting holes, and to clear a hump in the pedal bracket it mounts too, and added a couple more bolts in the lower section to steady the (heavy!) adjustment mechanism to the pedal box brace. Lots of in and outing to ensure i could offset it to the right (centre of drivers position) a bit as well as adjust, clear stuff etc. Some minor trimming of the very solid 132 adjuster parts required, interstingly had been drilled out a bit before, maybe to swap from late to early 132 based on where i got it.

 

Anyway it basically bolts up to the factory 125 mounts but I will probably improve it a bit eventually given the solid shaft/steering box bolts itself doenst assist in holding the steering wheel in position any more and the upper end is so much heavier.

Nest job is to make the 125 switchgear fit on the 132 shaft. I would have used the 132 stuff if it plugged in to the 125 wiring, and I even  made an honest attempt to figure the wires out but gve up mainly due to the wiper wiring (13 does not go into 5, 4 plugs vs 2 etc)), but also its been hacked about a bit before and was brown.
As you can see my 125 stuff isnt in the best nick, but it does work, its black and it plugs right in.
jycp.jpg

Main differnce is in the column mounting - they attach to the static part and extend over the rotating part between the column cover and steering wheel.

After much humming and haaing, I eventually swapped them over, 125 needed some descrutive force applied to seperate teh spot welds and drive the shaft off, with a strip of metal to pack out the OD of the remaianing 125 lip, the 132 parts attached with some slightly bigger than factory screw.
g32a.jpg

Have now got it all assembled/steering and plugged in, parcel tray needed a bit if a trim to clear the adjuster, and the top column trim will need a shave to clear the front of the dash when going up/down but thats pretty much done.

Steering wheel is now much better located, and steering box feels a bit less sloppy, but TBH im not sure it was worth all the effort...
The main reason for doing (collapsable in a prang) it i hope to never have to use.

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Since then ^ Ive got the engine and stuff back in time for for a shakedown run to Burger Fuel on Wednesday,

 

seems to go as good as it ever did which means i didnt break the engine/clutch getting it in and out, so thats a bonus.

 

Had to make a bit of a list of tidy ups as this was the first drive after quite a mjor overhaul and next couple of weeks pre nats will be busy:

- ajust nut on steering box - no more slop :)

- its also a 2.8 turn box (vs 3.6 from old one) still only has like 25deg of turn angle, but now i can get to it fast, lol

- Drivers rear brake super hot  - handbrake cable adjusted too tight

- No Left Indicators - fiddled with column switches, majically works again

- swapped secondary jets again, to 170 air and 160 fuel (from 160air and 155 fuel) - no discernable difference to drivability abd still seems to run out of puff at 5k rpm (should be ringing to 7ish)  suspect ign issue as its also a bit missy on load and those jets are quite rich for a 1600

- fix light in water temp guage - bulb had somehow fallen out of holder into it?

- fitted EURON8 special vacuum guage - such wow!

- fix dash parcel tray

- adjust bonnet

 

SO it seems im pretty much ready for nats mission with time to spare!

 

If i get some time i may try fitting the sideys with new jets, but if they dont work that will cost me at least 2 inlet gaskets, lopts of time and a whole lot of mojo, so i may wait till after I get back.

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  • 4 weeks later...

POST NATS UPDATE

Phew, what a weekend. Was super rad and there are heaps of photos here:
//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/42690-os-nats-14-marahau-pic-chur-thread/?p=1283072

Basically my trip was:
Wednesday night: Finish work, pack car, Auckland to Taupo, stay at Toms
Thursday - Taupo Convoy to Ferry in Wellington, which is now delayed 4.5 hours. Get to Camp in Maharau at 1:30am
Friday: Cruise via back roads to Upper Motere Pub Lunch and then back to camp for beersies
Saturday: Over Takaka Hill to Golden Bay. poker run and park up/swim, then back to camp for beersies
Sunday: Cruise to Nelson, park up/carshow at Tahunanui Beach, then Grasskhana, then back to camp for beersies
Monday: Maharau to Picton via Queen Charlotte Drive, Ferry to Wellington by 10:30pm, stay at mates place.
Tuesday, Wellington to Muriwai via every Opshop in the lower North Island. Home at 10:30pm. No more beersies
Wednesday, WORK :(

Car went really good TBH, returning an average 10.6l/100km fuel on 98 and 2.6l/1000km of oil over 2500km, oil consumption reducing as the lashings of Moreys and cheap mineral 15W40 slowly replaced  the fancy synthetic 10W40 i put in before i left :D

Clouds of smoke on overrun going down Takaka Hill caused one wag to note that at least the smoke matched the car :)

Other than excessive oil consumption, which was not impacting driveability, the only other problem was On the way down from Auckland i stayed at Toms and had a revalation on the drive on the miss on throttle thats been plauging me for aaages:
the secondary idle jet!

there are two designs - one that has an o-ring, and one without - i had an o-ring on a 'without 'type, putting the jet slightly off seated.  :oops: after that doooort to 6k rpm and beyond!

 

Also at Grasskhana, seems blowby from the PCV glugged up the carb a bit (oil filter was dripping, so ok a lot), but that only shitted up the idle.

Other than that I only got my tools out to borrow them to others :)

_____

Since this is my blue car thread here are some of my blue car in profile against a range of bluish backgrounds:

@ Maharau, NO AMPING!.
v0e0.jpg

Outside a shop in Motueka, with coincidentally related Family injoke name:
xh90.jpg

Plenty of this, looking forward to a 5 speed now tho!
f9xu.jpg

But nowhere near as much of this as I would have liked! (Photo Credit: Roman)
i0z5.jpg

Queen Charlotte Drive, great road.
kvlk.jpg

Back in the north Island:

Foxton (up the road from Otaki but with worse pies, and second hand shops instead of outlet stores)
k2wf.jpg

Desert Road:
b3px.jpg

Taupo:
gmk3.jpg

I have a long list of mainly minor improvements, aethetics, and 2L/5speed related items now, but overall it went very acceptably, and Id take it anywhere confidently.

Better living everyone
 

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  • 3 weeks later...

since OS Nationals, ive not done too much.

Ive

- swapped out the noisy RR wheel bearing/axleshaft,

- swapped the column switches to the Special ones, and

- replaced the diff swing arms with adjustable ones (Toyota AE10* rear toe adjusters) to correct the pinion angle.

 

In other news, Euron8 (cheers bowl!)  and I picked up this yesterday:
sdhs.jpg
swq4.jpg
5vz5.jpg

for this:
uwmf.jpg

and especially this:
vvuf.jpg

and all the gubbins that make all that go.

 

Its a 1987 Croma Turbo ie, 2l fuel injected 8V Turbo. 155hps and some 115kw, that will (sort of, lol) bolt in to my 125.
Not that i was looking for it but it was too cheap not to BUY NOW!

 

It is the peak of '80s electroniques and design.
wjgt.jpg
4x3l.jpg
oa1y.jpg
sas4.jpg
unvp.jpg
ksl3.jpg
njly.jpg

unfortunately the factory sunroof has ruined it:
0ift.jpg

and the inside is totally minging. Shame because brown velour corduroy is my favourite cordoroy.

Good bits:
To keep:
unmolested 2L Turbo ie engine, and all the etc to make it go.
full stainless 2 1/2" exhaust

 

To sell:
rebuilt gearbox
full nolathane bushes all round
uprated shocks and springs
14" cromodoras with good tyres

If anyone wants any bits other than the engine, let me know!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Got this in the mail the other day, all of it will be needed in RWD too.

 

- CPS sensor

- Dizzy cap and Rotor

- Cam Blt and Tensioner

 

my order came to $16.62 more than I paid for the car (but that included a mechanical fuel pump for the 125 and postage)

 

wptv.jpg

 

chcked that in (apart from the cam belt and tensioner) and Ive got it running now, after a bit of connector drama.

 

went to pickapart and stole some injectors (704 vs 401 so a bit leaner, but not sat for 10 years) from a BMW and a bunch of bosch connectors as well as the Fuel Injection is LE-Jetronic controlled + a Marelli Digiplex (with a vacuum line input!) to handle ignition so both can be standalone.

 

CPS connector swapped over - now have signal to the injectors! woot-woot!

pop in the bmw ones and she fired up almost straight away!

 

starts first pop now, and revs out, but i dont know if the turbo works as it wont boost without load.

 

Which brings me to the next issue is the clutch hydraulics, so i can take it for a test boooost on my private test track.

 

It seems the master and slave cylinders are jammed in thier bores,

 

Dont really want to spend $200 on new parts just to bin them after 10km, but i also want to take this for a drive to motivate me to put the engine in the 125.

 

Anyone got Fiat croma/Lancia thema/Alfa 164  or Uno clutch master and/or slave cylinders kicking around  in the shed?

 

Here it is in the slopy corner of doom having some wagon time till i get clutch bits to test drive it, then/or drag it onto the driveway to drop the engine out.:

 

f79v.jpg

 

______

 

Nothing much to report on the 125, been distracted by other stuff and the croma has been sucking up car time.

However did get it out it for the first drive since geeting back from Nelson the other night to a BBQ and then to Burger Fuel..

 

Before that I got a new mechanical fuel pump  in with the Croma parts order, and in, wow, heaps better, fuel pressure & flow must have improved considerably, bowl in regulator was actually getting drained before on hard runs!

old one had a slightly different angle on the 'foot' that would have made about 5mm difference at the aux shaft lobe which is only 10mm or so eccentric - i think it was probably pumping less than 1/2 what it was meant to.

 

---

 

I also sorted the steering column switches and swapped the steering wheel for a slighty larger one i got from an op shop (ex-subaru momo), which made a bit of differnce to turning effort.

Can also see all the guages :!:  and the steering wheel offset (which is a bit much the other way now ( :rolleyes:)
pqa9.jpg

Must get it out more!
i6l3.jpg

 

 

 

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also, have a read of this, i think im gonna be busy

 

124 Special croma turbo repower

http://www.turbo124.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2905

 

 

main jobs will be

- changing the head from 'reverse flow' to normal flow, but a normal head just bolts on and the manifolds bolt on the other way :)

- rwd bell housing bolts up, puts starter on (normal) inlet side

- tap 1 bolt for RWD engine mounts

- turbo/inlet/intercooler packaging

- ignintion - dizzy issues - no boss for the block mount and booster is in th eway of cam box mount, so cant use the Digiplex initially, (unless  do what Nick did above) but probably to EDIS,  just need a new trigger wheel and the module, is a common conversion in the US.

- injection - will use Jetrronic for now

 

May use the red car as a mock up whn it comes to that point so the blue one can keep running.

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  • 1 month later...

in Croma news, i have replaced the slave cylinder with a new one ($30!) and a uno master (+ extra flexi from the uno slave) from pickapart.

unfortunately i cant seem to get the thing bled properly despite pushing at least 3 liters of fluid though it.

Either that or the clutch is jammed on somehow (i can move the arm on the gearbox by hand quite a bit). I dunno.

 

Engine starts and runs fine, so its a bit annoying that i cant test drive it.

 

Grass is getting long around it so i will move it to the driveway and give it another bleed soon, and based on that either drive it then strip it, or just skip the driving bit.

___

 

Recent monarchy related long weekend, we went on a family holiday up to the Tutukaka coast (east of Whangarei), 3 adult sized humans + one medium sized dog + stuff for 4 days 3 nights, 2 surfboards and wetties, no worries.

 

Only drama was a carb blockage (a small bug/worm in the main jet?!) about 2km from our local servo, which was easy fixed and not really the cars fault.

 

Also a knock in the rear suspension was traced to (both!) top nuts on the shocks coming loose. One has worn the thread off a bit on one side, and both are missing the lock nut - WTF.

 

It is using a lot of oil tho, and i pulled the plugs before leaving - #1 was very ashed up to the point of no gap, and all the others were also ashes/oiled to lesser degrees, and these were brand new before heading to Nelson.

 

Smells of oil on overrun and puffs a bit of bluey smoke on startup, free revving and after idling for a while as well, all of which point towards worn valve stem guides. This is the head that came with brass sheet under the shims, so despite having new looking pistons and a rebore i also suspect worn rings. Way too many oil pressure light on oil surges (one is too many, but sump-baffles have cured this, probably a bit too late) and slowly reducing oil pressure over time also point to worn/wearing main bearings too.

 

Doesnt really seem to be affecting starting, idles like a top, or performance (surprised plenty of fellow holiday makers thinking they would pass 'that overloaded old blue car' on the hills  :D )  but time to pull finger and put the NA 2L and 5 speed in which are just taking up valuable room in my too small garage.

 

Anyway, pics:

 

ophor.jpg

y7vos.jpg

pbrg.jpg

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EURON8 came over yesterday afternoon to see if we could get the Croma moving, the only thing stopping it being the clutch.

 

Jacked it up, and managed to get the turbo winding up while in gear and applying the brakes :)
(also to try to jolt the clutch off the flywheel)

 

Thus motivated and after some epic bleeding and bodging there is enough clutch to just disengage the cutch while in gear and took it for a blast.

 

is actually really nice to drive and the engine will be certainly scary enough in the 125. 

 

The Croma were set up as a tourqy cruiser rather than a top end screamer and is pulled well.

 

I think it was leaning out on boost tho, so I will clean up the original injectors and put them back in and tidy a few other things before a couple more test drives :).

 

Success!

 

pj9b.jpg

 

ba80.jpg

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Moved the Croma to mow the lawn under it again.

 

swapped the original injectors back in (with new orings and filters) and took it for a blast. Goes great guns, if a bit laggy, and no skids (did a mean one getting it off the grass tho!)

 

Seems to cut the ingition or something, on high load - i think it may be fuel related (fuel pump too weak?) as the OEM higher flowing injectors have moved the cut sumptoms up the rev range a bit from the last time i took it out.

 

On the way back from the last run, it blew an intercooler hose off, but lucky the walk home to get a scredriver wasnt too far!

back on and now it wont idle and is hard starting, and i seem to have lost a park light cover, so thats that i suppose.

 

Mowed its patch before putting it back, but the next time it gets driven is to get its engine pulled out.

 

i <3 boost...

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Took the car out to Caffine and Classics today,

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/42367-caffiene-and-classics-23-febraury-smales-farm-akl-10am/?p=1349227

 

on the way there i got a puncture/flat tyre, but the tyres are a bit old and pretty stuffed had slow leaks anyway so this afternoon after taking this last photo with (3 out of 4) the wards on (for now):

 

of1b2.jpg

 

i swapped back to my meshies with nice near-new Direzzas, which i repainted to an off-white aaages ago, and some better wheel bolts instead of the (bloody rubbish!) two piece conversion studs i had before

 

Also took another half coil out of the front and put an extra 5mm wheel spacer on too, could maybe go another half coil, but ill wait till the 2L is in as its a bit heavier - suspension seems quite a bit firmer too.

hua4.jpg
oay2c.jpg
834sk.jpg

Pretty happy with that, hopefully the meshies will gain some depth when they dust up a bit.

 

the 1608cc engine still starts and runs really nice, but it left this mess on the driveway,
vc1f.jpg

 

This is just from from sittling while swapping the rims over today, which is very annoying after changing all the seals not long ago, and its embarressingly smokey on over run going down hills etc as well.

 

So Ive also pulled finger and built up the 2L and stuck the 5 speed gearbox onto it,
7t0sv.jpg

 

just waiting on a couple of small bits and bobs (which may turn into a big order now im getting them from overseas...), and hopefully getting the main missing puzzle piece :

a 5 speed tunnel section should be making its way up in the next couple of weeks  :D :D  :D

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  • 4 weeks later...

125S tunnel turned up the other day, thanks to nicks uncle ian:

0c72bb.jpg

fd5d9c.jpg

 

This one shows the hump for the 5 speed extension - in the 4 speed the seat mounts (the trapezoidal flat bit with a hole in each end ) are higher than the tunnel a head of it.

1edd9e.jpg

 

its all tidied up now, ill use the section like a removable cap to ease connecting the extention (which is required to slip the box in and out attached to the engine.

 

Also went for a small cruise the other day with a couple buddies:

 

d173f4.jpg

 

ad57e6.jpg

 

bc7696.jpg

 

a43ddc.jpg

 

7139b0.jpg

 

99bfd2.jpg

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