Jikovron

Im loving reading up on all the adventures this is getting up to , that's I many ways more important than even what car it is really,,better to see someone enjoy a Suzuki 'automatic' as intended and get miles down enjoyably than a prized classic kept as a first world show trophy in a resource hungry conditioned garage etc!

It's become something more than just a crap old proton, people's reaction to it out and about is very positive unexpectedly. I guess mainly as its incredibly unlikely of a car to be invested in including modified, additionally when I took it to a local meet earlier in the week, the very same chap who attempted to MOT the car at kwikfit in 2013 was there too, he was shocked but wholey pleased to see it had survived against the odds and had been through alot of life changes in 8 years! It's a shit old proton,,but to us lot it's our shit old proton!

Dodge cab Spotted this at random and thought of the bollox camper wagon mainly as its listed in Alfreton!

This is a marvelous car to see about in the flesh in 2021, complete with the epic plates!

Proton OTR So the Proton became a full blown proper load of excessive work and I trapped myself into a cycle of obsession with battling against severe fatigue to get it done whilst everything hangs in the balance,,for all those who are healthy and procrastinating,,life's bloody unpredictable and short! , there is a level of reward reaped in that despite now slowly recovering some semblance of function again,,ie walking more than 10m at a time the thing has come back onto the road and the entire family love the thing including me inexplicably, it drives like an 80s mitsubishi with competent smoothness and the typical feather weight precise controls these cars have, the engine is ultra smooth and the response is very lively with the 140bhp unit, even the homebrew driveshafts are happy conduits of torque. Ultimately it has to stay. Genuine clean pass, no advisories as I went through the entire car! This took an inordinate amount of time as I would make up a patch meticulously fit it till it was butted flush and carefully weld it,,then just snooze on the mat for abit. And to think it looked OK initially Sump was loose,,easy fix there really,,just clean it and use sump sealant As the sun sets here,,it could well be the last hurrah,,,but also there may be a recovery too so one way or the other really!

That's probably sitting at the 3x 5kg mig wire reels Haynes job rating 😄

In summary it's a badly facelifted mk2 cortinaesque car with slightly crap-er front suspension yet is likely considered drastically worse than a Ford or vauxhall et al of the time ,,,imo all are similarly dynamically poor compared to 2020s automotive standards but some brands have had better marketing brainwashing backup historically and in essence I'll be motoring around in this loving scrubbing the front sidewalls on the road and maybe just about getting some feeble axle tramp from that 1275cc muscle motor! Progress will occur when I can manage ,, my mind and body isn't that willing currently but still got to plan ahead regardless!

I spotted it on the Marina group on Facebook and decided for reasons unknown that it was ticking boxes I didn't know I had, must be that austin rover badge,,gets me every time!

Another sunrise and as always more to add to the life tapestry, a 1981 Ital which I didn't predict I'd be looking at upon the garden by any stretch of the imagination this week. Huge thanks to the combined efforts of the Walgrave transport team for delivering it with consummate professionalism and for a perfectly good price, excellent work! I'm instantly at home in an AR product!

Aye its definitely pointing at the carb, although feeling more responsive and zippier upon first run sort of points away from the jetting and float height etc, and more to a lack of starting enrichment. Popping back through the carb is a weak mixture condition which lends itself to that theory that the choke isn't doing quite what it should. Also if the float bowl and accelerator pump is partially emptying via evaporation then pumping the throttle whilst cranking will do nothing till its primed via the fuel pump (maybe a different design more prone to releasing fuel maybe?)

Just a couple of observations. Removing the float out of the carb will look like there is very little fuel in it as the float displaces quite alot of fuel, recheck with the loose float dropped back in (not forgetting the effect of evaporation) The float valve restriction on the new carb could only hamper max throttle @ max rpm, if it didn't then it was fine for all other conditions. Emulsion tubes are only used to limit richness at above half throttle and 3/4 ish rpm range so zero effect on starting. Usually starting issues with carbs like this is a case of fuel evaporating out the bowl and having to crank away to refill the carb and also wet the manifold, an electric pump would fix that for the most part imo Mixture adjustment only changes the amount of premixed fuel and air admitted to the idle drilling, anything above a tiny throttle opening reverts to fixed settings which are adjusted via jet change only. Float height tends to either flood the engine, or run weakly off throttle but being a moulded plastic item they're usually set correctly.

I may have crossed paths with Giles in the NGS macmillan unit without knowing it was him untill now! Cancer in any form is a horrible life struggle, RIP Spartacus and so sorry to hear about your loss.

Are the bracket holes quite big, just the large washers on the engine block bolts look to be stopping the bracket sliding over and meeting the downpipe? Maybe trim them to a D shape and elongate the holes in the bracket for another BL production line tactic!

Eventually if your driving old cars along side modern cars muscle memory becomes adaptive, I only notice the difference between old and modern vehicles if thinking about it, otherwise going from powerfull brakes and power steering to something with woefully heavy controls and vice versa is fairly seamless.

If you can't be bothered to get a jack out it doesn't seem to be a hurdle with these invacars, just lift it up by the wheel arch and kick a stand under by the looks!