Project Project Capri. Back on the road! Running like a scouse watch!

[danthecapriman]

9 minutes ago, Wibble said:

It just keeps getting better and better Dan! I like the chrome  tail pipe. I’ve had one on the shelf for the last 30 years and tried it in the Cortina last weekend. Doesn’t fit, too small, which probably explains why I’ve had it since I last had a Cortina!

I have the AA book of the car somewhere too😂

The tailpipe just finished it off nicely I think. The steel end of the exhaust looked a bit crap next to everything else. The one I used was a very old Halfords one, still in the packet, I got on eBay cheaply. There’s probably loads of similar ones on there though. 
This one was a tight fit but I’d prefer that (fnarr!) as it means less chance it’ll fall off!

[Wibble]

Yes, looks great. The one I have is also old Halfords still in packet 😆. I’ll have to track down another now!

[danthecapriman]

Shit cock!!

Modern crappy parts quality strikes again.

Went to get the car out of the garage this morning to fix the choke cable, turn the key - clunk. Nothing! Again - clunk. Fuck all.   
Tested the battery which was ok. Wtf is wrong!? Starter solenoid/steal me box working but starter itself seems dead. Surely the new starter isn’t playing up??? Went at it with the Tonya Harding 6000 then tried starting and it’d now crank, but then quickly die and refuse to crank again until the starter received another beating. No idea what caused that as it seemed happy before!

Pulled the original starter out of the box to see if I could at least temporarily press that back into use. Nope! The electrical connection post is broken and it’s now seized solid. Sprayed it and soaked it in penetrating oil which helped, but when I hooked it up to a spare battery to test it, it sparked big time followed by the sweet smell of burning electrics and that was that dead!

Im just enquiring about a warranty on the new starter. And there better be one because it didn’t even last two months, and it’s probably been used 4 or 5 times! If not I’m going to be seriously pissed off!

Thats dreadful quality though. I know occasionally you do get a turd straight out the box with anything but ffs, it’s a basic starter motor. People should be pretty good at making them by now given how many and how long they’ve been around! Not only that, the old one lasted nearly 50 years until it died, the new one barely lasted 50 minutes! 
All modern stuff iz wank etc…

Bastard thing means I’ve got no starter now.

[danthecapriman]

Managed to get hold of the supplier of the starter motor, he’s agreed the starter is definitely faulty and is going to send out a new replacement with return post on the dodgy one. Good service.

I did check a couple more things this morning, just in case, but none made a difference. Definitely the starter. 
Hopefully it’ll only be a couple of days and the car will be running again.

Without wanting to tempt fate, so far this has been the only major issue with the car after all that work…🤞     
So I can’t complain too much and if that’s the worst I get then all’s well really!

[Datsuncog]

It's nuts, but aftermarket components failing nearly straight out of the box seems to be more and more a thing... still, at least the seller didn't start quibbling.

With any luck you'll be going again soon - and indeed, fortunate that the starter went on your own drive, rather than out on a drive miles from anywhere!

[danthecapriman]

14 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

It's nuts, but aftermarket components failing nearly straight out of the box seems to be more and more a thing... still, at least the seller didn't start quibbling.

With any luck you'll be going again soon - and indeed, fortunate that the starter went on your own drive, rather than out on a drive miles from anywhere!

That is very true! Luckily it failed in the garage at home.

I don’t know what it is about modern aftermarket parts. Is it a price thing?? Is it things being made cheaply and badly (usually in China!)?? I just don’t get how the original part could last that long yet surely with modern materials and manufacturing a new part today should, in theory, be able to at least match that. 
On the Mercury before I fitted the electronic ignition kit I went through a load of brand new condensers, from different manufacturers, that were all either dead out the box or died shortly after fitting them. It’s piss poor really! Although all of them had one thing in common… country of manufacture…

Rubber parts are incredibly poor these days too. 

[danthecapriman]

New starter arrived today, just fitted it - so ridiculously easy on these cars!, and normal service resumed. Starts well and no issues. Just got to send the dead unit back.

Just in time for what’s looking like being a wash out weekend unfortunately so I doubt I’ll be getting the car out for a spin☹️

We’ll see… could do with some fuel too.

Forgot to mention, 

while doing the starter today I spotted a tiny blue puddle under the car. Antifreeze! Looked up and the elbow pipe that comes out the inlet manifold was weeping where the heater hose connects. Some dumb twat left the hose clamp loose! Easy fix though.   
 

[N19]

I think mine has the original starter on. Although it's perfectly fine, I'm lucky enough to have an old fashioned firm of refurbishers in the next town who will give it a once over, clean up and check for a contribution to the beer fund. Another job for when mine goes back together!

[danthecapriman]

36 minutes ago, N19 said:

I think mine has the original starter on. Although it's perfectly fine, I'm lucky enough to have an old fashioned firm of refurbishers in the next town who will give it a once over, clean up and check for a contribution to the beer fund. Another job for when mine goes back together!

I’ve still kept the original from this car, despite it being broken! I’m a hoarder! 
I can’t think of any of the old parts rebuilders round here now. Usually I have to send them off if it’s beyond doing at home.

Weirdly, everywhere I’ve looked for the replacement inertia starter’s only list this type (3 hole mounting) as suitable for the Kent engine. No mention of the early Pinto’s? Despite some Pinto cars using the inertia starters up to the very early 80’s.

[danthecapriman]

Little update.

Its running like a bag o shite!!😆

I took it out yesterday for a drive around the housing estate, just to give it a bit of a test run instead of going onto main roads. 
I noticed when it was idling on the drive it idles ok, but if you quickly rev the engine sometimes it’ll stumble and try to stall. But when driving it’s an absolute nightmare. If you try to accelerate it often bogs down and starts trying to stall, and starts popping and farting. This is particularly bad if pulling out of junctions etc. Eventually you can accelerate out of it or baby the throttle enough to get to a cruise and it stops.

Ive just pulled the plugs which look lean to me…

Ignore the oil/grease. I had to put that on to stop the engine paint gluing the plugs in!

They don’t look good though. The white deposits look like it’s running too lean to me? But, adjusting the carburettor seems to make very little difference?? Unless I’m just not adjusting it far enough?

Any ideas? Even if it’s just confirmation those plugs are too lean. 
I’ve tried to adjust the carb by ear but I’m struggling tbh as my hearing is absolutely shit!

 

[danthecapriman]

Found this chart to compare with.

Dunno!? Looks lean to me but I’m always doubting myself.

[red5]

Check accelearator pump - 

What carb is it running?

 

[danthecapriman]

28 minutes ago, red5 said:

Check accelearator pump - 

What carb is it running?

 

Weber ICH, it’s one of the Weber conversion kits you can get to replace the original carbs.

Accelerator pump is actually a good shout, I bought the carb 21 years ago and fitted it so there’s a good chance it now needs a full rebuild?

Just had a quick google search and a defective accelerator pump actually seems most likely, and has the exact symptoms I’m getting.  
If you quickly rev the engine it sputters and tries to die, which I’m guessing is because the accelerator pump can’t push out enough fuel to keep the engine running at that speed? If you slowly increase the rpm it’s ok but if you do that it’s not needing a big fuel increase from the accelerator pump so is irrelevant. 
It’s actually become very difficult to keep the thing running when backing out of the garage and driveway which, again, would need the pump to be working so it doesn’t stall. Same when accelerating out of a junction etc, which is when I’m getting problems.

[red5]

Slow increase in airflow (gentle throttle opening) the slow/main jets supply enough fuel. Anything else you need the accel pump to literally squirt fuel in. Take air filter off, peer down barrel and you'll see a jet of fuel from a small pipe into main venturi.

Or you won't. Diaphragm leaking or jet blocked. Probably.

[danthecapriman]

Despite the carb playing up now, which in hindsight is probably to be expected considering it’s now over 20 years old itself, it’s so nice to be able to get in the car and actually drive it.

When I was out the other day driving around the estate, when it was cruising along behaving itself, it was great. 
Im not blowing my own horn or anything, but, regardless of what vehicle it is, it’s such a great feeling to know that all the work and effort you’ve put in to a project has resulted in you being able to sit in and drive a car that you essentially built! It’s funny thinking about what it started out like, then seeing it in component parts then being put back together again and becoming a car again. It’s quite a sense of accomplishment really!

Anyway, just waiting on some bits to turn up and it should be good.

[Shirley Knott]

I've no idea RE carbs, and to be honest they baffle me.

I know a guy (Retired mechanic in his late seventies) who would have worked on these and other mainstream carb engined stuff day in day out.... I'm fairly certain from past experience he'll be happy to chat about the finer points of tuning/adjustments to TEDIOUS lengths. If you'd like a number, PM me and I'll send it across. 

[red5]

[red5]

#7 on diagram - should be a squirt when you open throttle quickly.

Check and report back. Chop chop.💪

Bear in mind  you mightflood it if you repeatedly do it, or run out of fuel.

 

[danthecapriman]

It’s intermittent. Sometimes it’ll squirt something, sometimes not, sometimes it’ll try but not as much comes out.

If you let the car idle it’s ok. But if you quickly blip the throttle more often than not it’ll either stumble or just stall. If you gently increase the revs it usually works fine. Likewise pulling out of a junction the same happens. Eventually it’ll recover but the initial acceleration is terrible, it spits and farts (almost like it’s popping and backfiring) but then eventually it evens out and cruises fine.

I don’t remember it doing this before it came off the road tbh, but the rubber bits inside the carb are getting old now so there’s that. And the carb was sat on a shelf in a box for about 4 or 5 years unused and dry so maybe now it’s being used again and getting wet with fuel the old rubber diaphragms etc are just cracking and splitting?

[danthecapriman]

2 hours ago, Shirley Knott said:

I've no idea RE carbs, and to be honest they baffle me.

I know a guy (Retired mechanic in his late seventies) who would have worked on these and other mainstream carb engined stuff day in day out.... I'm fairly certain from past experience he'll be happy to chat about the finer points of tuning/adjustments to TEDIOUS lengths. If you'd like a number, PM me and I'll send it across. 

I don’t really find them difficult to use or complex to see how they work, but I’ve never been much good at setting them up! I think it’s because doing so requires a bit of patience and sadly that’s something I’m just not blessed with!😆

You can adjust them (it’s how I’ve always done it) by ear and how the engine feels when running but I’ve never gotten particularly good at it. My hearing is shit anyway! Usually when I’ve done this it’s good enough to run and drive well but sticking it on an emissions tester usually shows how far off it really is. Since I don’t have an emissions tester and certainly not spending £shitloads to get one it does really leave you a bit screwed.

My plan here was/is to get it running well enough, then on Tuesday it’s booked in at my local garage and he’s going to give it a once over to check it’s safe. Then he’s going to test the brake efficiency and finally exhaust emissions and adjust as needed. 
Annoyingly though with this hesitation and spluttering problem driving it there wouldn’t be safe and even if I did setting a carb up that’s clearly defective would be a waste of time. I’m hoping the replacement bit’s arrive before Tuesday…

[artdjones]

1 minute ago, danthecapriman said:

It’s intermittent. Sometimes it’ll squirt something, sometimes not, sometimes it’ll try but not as much comes out.

If you let the car idle it’s ok. But if you quickly blip the throttle more often than not it’ll either stumble or just stall. If you gently increase the revs it usually works fine. Likewise pulling out of a junction the same happens. Eventually it’ll recover but the initial acceleration is terrible, it spits and farts (almost like it’s popping and backfiring) but then eventually it evens out and cruises fine.

I don’t remember it doing this before it came off the road tbh, but the rubber bits inside the carb are getting old now so there’s that. And the carb was sat on a shelf in a box for about 4 or 5 years unused and dry so maybe now it’s being used again and getting wet with fuel the old rubber diaphragms etc are just cracking and splitting?

When carbs are left off the road with petrol in it often dries out to a sort of light brown gritty sand that blocks stuff up. So clean out the pump chamber properly and take out the delivery nozzle and blow through the delivery passage with compressed air back down into the chamber. Be careful in case there's a ball bearing in there acting as a check valve.

Also, give the idle jet and idle circuit a good clean out. It's amazing how much of normal low speed running and acceleration uses the idle circuit.

[danthecapriman]

Bastard has been fighting back too!

Burnt myself on the heater pipe elbow fannying about with the carb! Bloody cars!

[Scruffy Bodger]

Have you checked for a split in the diaphragm  yet, it should be pretty obvious if it is? I've had the same problem with Webers in the past.

[danthecapriman]

38 minutes ago, Scruffy Bodger said:

Have you checked for a split in the diaphragm  yet, it should be pretty obvious if it is? I've had the same problem with Webers in the past.

Not had chance yet. Been busy this weekend.

It’s still an arse to back out of the garage though! Slightly up hill and a ridge to get over in the door so you need to put on a bit of throttle, which of course you can’t as it stalls. 
I noticed yesterday though there’s a light coating of what looks like fuel residue on the manifold directly below the carb, so something is weeping too. It’s not a lot but definitely there.

Hopefully I’ll get time tomorrow.

[Scruffy Bodger]

A split diaphragm can certainly do that, fingers crossed as it's a simple fix. Never been tempted to put a 32/36 on it?

[danthecapriman]

26 minutes ago, Scruffy Bodger said:

A split diaphragm can certainly do that, fingers crossed as it's a simple fix. Never been tempted to put a 32/36 on it?

Tempted? Yeah! 
But it’s a 1.6 so probably not really worth it? If it was a 2.0 maybe…

Leaving a little single barrel carb on this sort of fits with keeping the car pretty much standard too. Plus I can keep the factory air filter housing.

I wonder if the American trick of flipping the filter housing lid would work on this!? Let’s a bit more unrestricted air in but still through the filter. 
I tried it on the Mercury and it does work!

[Scruffy Bodger]

I always liked the feeling/noise of the second barrel kicking in, you can jet them accordingly.  Quite possibly, Vizard tried a few things in his book on Pintos iirc? I've run them on 1.6's and 2 litres as the first thing I'd do was bin the VV off and stick a Weber on with a manual choke.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

6 minutes ago, Scruffy Bodger said:

I always liked the feeling/noise of the second barrel kicking in, you can jet them accordingly.  Quite possibly, Vizard tried a few things in his book on Pintos iirc? I've run them on 1.6's and 2 litres as the first thing I'd do was bin the VV off and stick a Weber on with a manual choke.

 A mate had a 'twin choke Weber' on his 2 litre converted P100 'Tina pickup back in the 90s. It had no air box whatsoever from what I remember and it sounded fantastic when giving it a hiding out of work. I always liked the thing. 

[danthecapriman]

A mate had a Capri 2.0 laser (D reg) which had a Weber twin choke on it and that really livened up once the second barrel kicked in! Sounded great too.

Ive got a 4 barrel Edelbrock on the Mercury (came new with a 4 barrel Autolite carb from new) which is great fun for playing musical engines! That kick in the back you get when you punch the gas is a great feeling too. 
Id like a custom stainless exhaust making up for that at some point to really improve the sound though.

[danthecapriman]

Whipped the carb off this morning. I really love these cars! The entire carb assembly was removed in about 10 mins using a couple of basic tools with absolutely no problems or drama!  
I gave the throttle a quick blip after it was off the car and it did squirt fuel, although it looked a pretty poor effort. Pretty weak.

So. Fuel-make-it-happener on the bench (bin lid!).

Accelerator pump is the square bit on the side with 4 screw’s holding it together.  
Opened it up, removed the pump diaphragm and spring…

I couldn’t see any splits in it tbh. It’s clearly not new, but it seems intact and fairly pliable still.

While it’s off I opened the main body up just to check.  
Float works fine, needle & seat both work fine, filter element clear.

But, there was some mank in the float chamber. Stirring it up showed loads of tiny particles floating around in the bottom. I’ve been running this with an in-line fuel filter for its entire 21 odd year life, so clearly some stuff can still make it past a filter. I’ve cleaned all this out.

 

I’ve unscrewed all the jets and blown them through and their associated passages. 
The one in the below pic that’s removed is the one that goes through into the accelerator pump - this one had some gunk in the bottom of the jet. Looking into the jet itself  you can’t see through it but it looks like there’s a tiny check ball/valve in it, which I assume is to stop fuel from being squirted back the wrong way into the float chamber when you stab the gas. 
Blowing through it backwards didn’t allow any air passed which is right. However, blowing through it the way fuel is supposed to go (from float chamber into pump) didn’t do anything either! 
Increasing pressure eventually made it go, and when it did a load of crud and fuel shot out. 
I think this might have been the issue?? The check ball/valve had got stuck so when you stab the throttle it couldn’t let any/enough fuel through. 
It seems* to be ok now so maybe if I refit the carb it’ll be ok now?

Maybe??!  
Im still surprised the accelerator pump diaphragm wasn’t torn up tbh.