HMC- Mr Chowdhury’s Mercedes

[HMC]

Been pootling about with this nice little toledo. 
 

 

I found it was a bit fiddly to start and could pop back a bit and hold back, I got a timing light and adjusted the ignition timing to 9degrees btdc. It looked at though it was about 5 degrees after top dead centre before I adjusted it. I’m hoping it helps with starting from cold, it certainly has helped pick up and the spitting thing seems to have gone. 
 

[SiC]

The carb has the same mechanism as my Moggie. I remember @PhilA mentioning that, the design of that generation of choke is crap as it looks. Pulling the choke brings the idle up but doesn't always bring the jet assembly down. So don't get the richer mixture it needs. 

It ran really well once warmed up a tad, just that cold start could be a right pain in the arse. 

[SiC]

This is the mechanism on the Moggie which is pretty much identical.

 

This is your Toledo's carb when I last saw it:

Not as good photo but still can see the same mechanism with the screw in the jet and the bit of metal that pulls the jet down. 

The carb looked spotlessly clean and the new jet+other bits makes me think it's been rebuilt at some point reasonably recently. Even the needle valve looked clean and almost new.

I moved the choke clevis (?) across to give more pull on the choke with less pull inside. This should make it move but the slack in the mechanism may stop that happening too. 

Timing wise, it was set to what the workshop manual specified. However with fuel being very different to the 70s, it wouldn't surprise me if it needed tweaking to suit modern fuels. 

Are you running it on 95 or 98+ octane? It may appreciate 98+ octane as that's closer to old 4 star.

[Ghosty]

Been spotted! 

[HMC]

Fleet updates…..

The Toledo has gone to a repeat customer from the forum (x3 purchases now) I’ll leave them to do a reveal as and when.

Huggy has been a great companion but lately I noticed the rear screen glass lower edge  moving over bumps and could be pressed down with your fingers. I’m taking a lot more than the natural movement in the screen rubber. Also a mate of mine found a fair sized hole in the perimeter chassis. This all rather sharpened my mind.  

In the end and after a lot of deliberation I wasn’t as happy with the kids in the car and rather than store it (where?) until the autumn for surgery (which looked more involved than ever with the hole found in the chassis) I decided to sell it to a local American car nut. A tough call. 

Being myself I couldn’t quite just sell it, I did a deal and became the new owner of a 1977 ex California Chevy c10 pickup. 

 

 

[camryv6]

I bet @GingerNuttzis gutted about not being able to do Huggy now ? 😏

[GingerNuttz]

5 minutes ago, camryv6 said:

I bet @GingerNuttzis gutted about not being able to do Huggy now ? 😏

My welder has been inconsolable 😂

[gadgetgricey]

Blimey, only a month old.

Has it just been imported. Looks fantastic

[wuvvum]

On 5/25/2022 at 11:47 PM, Ghosty said:

Been spotted! 

The most surprising thing about that post to me is the concept that one can go up to Tavistock...

[HMC]

26 minutes ago, gadgetgricey said:

Blimey, only a month old.

Has it just been imported. Looks fantastic

Yes, straight from California. It was also built in Fremont, ca.  Apparently  labour (“labor”) relations were terrible at the plant. Drugs and prostitution were rife and apparently disgruntled staff used eg to put drinks cans in the doors to annoy the vehicle owners and give grief to the parent company.

The plant as a GM site was shut in 1982 but is now  a Tesla factory.

[Ghosty]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

rear screen glass lower edge  moving over bumps

That's because that wasn't metal.

 

[OM646]

43 minutes ago, HMC said:

Yes, straight from California. It was also built in Fremont, ca.  Apparently  labour (“labor”) relations were terrible at the plant. Drugs and prostitution were rife and apparently disgruntled staff used eg to put drinks cans in the doors to annoy the vehicle owners and give grief to the parent company.

The plant as a GM site was shut in 1982 but is now  a Tesla factory.

It actually became a joint GM-Toyota plant before being handed over to Tesla. Built the Geo Prizm, Toyota Matrix, Pontiac Vibe...

 

Basically GM brought in Toyota to tell those people how to build a damn car

[cort1977]

1 hour ago, camryv6 said:

I bet @GingerNuttzis gutted about not being able to do Huggy now ? 😏

I think one rusty yank is enough for now...

[Fumbler]

49 minutes ago, cort1977 said:

I think one rusty yank is enough for now...

Oof! that sounds like a  painful punishment in every sense of the phrase.

[Tickman]

3 hours ago, HMC said:

 

Being myself I couldn’t quite just sell it, I did a deal and became the new owner of a 1977 ex California Chevy c10 pickup. 

 

 

Fucking legend

[Jim Bell]

That Seat Hen is perfect. 

Moar pictures of this please. 

[dome]

That C10 looks ace. Right decision in getting rid of the Caddy I'd say, even if @GingerNuttz has to cancel his Carribbean holiday next year.

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, OM646 said:

Basically GM brought in Toyota to tell those people how to build a damn car

A rare, wise GM decision.

[eddyramrod]

Chevy pickup looks nice!

[dave j]

13 hours ago, wuvvum said:

The most surprising thing about that post to me is the concept that one can go up to Tavistock...

I was up Tavvy the other day, it's about 15 miles north from here! 

[wuvvum]

4 hours ago, dave j said:

I was up Tavvy the other day, it's about 15 miles north from here! 

Are you a fish?

[HMC]

Been out a few times in the Chevy. I’d got hold of it as a largely completed project as it needed a new engine. It has a replacement 305ci (5 litre) v8 with 3 speed automatic transmission. One of the consequences of the engine swap was that various vacuum lines had been hurriedly cut and not re instated. I made up a few; the the vacuum advance, pcv valve and auto box. The last of these means that the gearbox shifts up as it should as it was holding onto the gears for far too long.

The next decision is wether or not to add more silencing to the violently loud exhaust system. It basically sounds like a dragster which is partly hilarious but basically antisocial IMO. So I think I’ll certainly add more as the new looking system is pretty much straight through with a couple of minimal, demonic looking red painted silencers. I want some v8 noise but not to wake everyone up.
 

Anyway I took it for a quick spin in a sparsely populated area to celibate a functioning gearbox.

[Matty]

Pretty please do a driving video

[PhilA]

The cam timing on the smog-era engines causes them to be some of the loudest exhausts I have heard.

Get some big "turbo" style mufflers, that'll bring the WHAK WHAK WHAK WHAK WHIPPAWHOPPAWHOPPA-BAAAAAAABAAABAAABAAA down into the bass notes.

[purplebargeken]

Ooooh, a most wonderful outcome.

[Cookiesouwest]

In my opinion, that's the greatest motor you have had, in my time on AS

[andyberg]

Surely next step 😁

[500tops]

1 hour ago, Cookiesouwest said:

In my opinion, that's the greatest motor you have had, in my time on AS

Up there with the 504 break

[GingerNuttz]

Leave the cherry bombs and put in a thumper cam, got some of that lope life on the go 👌

[brownnova]

That truck is bloody awesome!!!