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Mike Self

Solex
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Everything posted by Mike Self

  1. Is that a 75 or 76 squarelight (or the engine from one?). It is indeed an air pump bracket, but it looks quite different from the one used on 68-72 (121ti head) cars. That one incorporates the dipstick holder, an aluminum casting that's bolted to the block, and fits much more closely to the oil filter housing--close enough to make removing the filter a PITA. mike
  2. Still looking...the one pictured above looks good, but owner found it all brittle and about to do what mine did... mike
  3. Oh nooooooo! A 165 tire is way too narrow for a 6.5" rim; even a 185 tire would be marginal. The tread on both tires would not sit flat on the ground, and the tread centers would wear quickly--not to mention that the car's handling would be scary. You need to go to a tire web site (like Tire Rack) and look for a "fitment" section that shows what width tires are proper for what width wheels. mike
  4. + 3 on one of those oscillating tools. To quote Will Smith in Independence Day, "I gotta get me one of these..." even more useful than an alien spaceship. I first used a cordless one (oscillating tool, not alien spaceship) doing a mission trip house build in Costa Rica a few years ago and it was fantastic. Couldn't believe how long it would run on one charge, cutting into 2x4s to run conduit and electrical wiring. Any suggestions on a good brand and corded/cordless? mike
  5. Good catch, Jim--shoulda remembered that as it happened to my '73 when the car was only about 6-7 years old. The "ear" that supported the outboard side of the seat back broke off from the seat frame. Had to dismantle the entire seat--remove the back and take all the upholstery and padding of the seat bottom--to have it welded. That will definitely make the seat back all catty-wampus. mike
  6. My '73 had head gasket problems at 204k miles back in 2004, and although I had a spare block, I wanted to keep the original engine to have matching engine/chassis numbers. I had been accumulating parts for years (even a set of standard and 2nd oversize pistons), so didn't have to go out and buy anything major. There was also a very good machine/engine shop locally that primarily built Detroit Iron race engines, but with all the spec/overhaul pages out of the shop manual had no qualms. about tackling an M10; "engines is engines." Rebuild was done in a month or so over the winter and all was back together (along with a 5 speed conversion) by the spring driving season. That was 71k miles ago and it's still running just fine. You have three basic choices--especially if you're gonna pull/reinstall the engine yourself and you have a good shop to do a rebuild: 1. find a good used engine, install it so you can continue to drive the car and have your original engine rebuilt 2. pull your original engine and have it rebuilt--try to have at least some of the parts you know you're gonna need, e.g. valves/guides/stem seals, gaskets, bearings, timing/oil pump chains, etc etc to cut down on wait time. 3. find a good core engine, have it rebuilt at your leisure, then swap out the original one--but save it for a future owner who may want to have matching numbers. Kinda oversimplified, but that'll get you started thinking... mike
  7. And if you're coming from back east or the eastern Midwest, our annual caravan is forming, , departing from Dayton on Sunday 28 April--with join-up points in Kentucky and (if necessary) Tennessee, with a further join-up point at our overnight stop in Paragould AR. If you've not signed up or want more information, PM me with your e-mail address and I'll send you our route and other trip details. Cheers Mike
  8. Is the whole seat leaning (cushion and back together) or is just the back leaning, and the cushion is level? If the latter, the shop may not have reassembled the recliner mechanism correctly, making it sit crookedly. Reassembling the recliner mechanism on the seat back isn't intuitive; I learned that first-hand. Ifthat's the problem, PM me for a column I wrote on the whole process. If the whole seat is sitting at an angle (i.e. one side lower than the other) then there's something wrong with the seat tracks or how they're fastened to the seat cushion frame. Pictures would help immeasurably. mike
  9. First, check out the very extensive wheel fitment material in the FAQ archives. All sorts of information on offset, tire/body clearances etc--way more than you ever wanted to know! Check out the 14x6.5 basketweaves from an E30 is model. They're the correct offset for a 2002, and are quite plentiful. So are the E30 steel wheels, which are 14x6, look like period Alpina wheels and are inexpensive even new. mike
  10. A little over-the-top for street use...a real gendarme magnet! But fun.
  11. Sounds like you disturbed the neighboring wiper relay in its socket while futzing with the turn signal relay... mike
  12. Could also be a problem with the emergency flasher switch. The circuitry for the turn signals passes through the emergency flasher switch, so a malfunctioning switch can affect both, as can the relay, which is also used by both turn signals and flashers, just circuits via different circuits. Remember that the flashers work ignition on or off, but the turn signals work only with the ignition on--thus two circuits. I've done a column on troubleshooting the flasher relay, as well as troubleshooting the pushbutton style of emergency flasher switch; PM me if you'd like a copy of either or both. mike
  13. All those extra duties assigned to the big red warning light on the instrument cluster were no-no's for US spec cars. The Feds thought Americans were too stupid to separate any functions other than warning of bad brake things, so we didn't get those nice choke on and, low fuel warnings that rest of the world cars came equipped with. Pore, dumb Americans (per our own government). mike
  14. Admittedly from an example of one--but one very original car: my '69 has the dizzy vacuum advance connected to a port high up on the carb body, above the throttle plate, and a second vacuum hose connected to another port at the very bottom of the carb body. It runs to the valve cover breather hose connecting valve cover to air cleaner. There are no vacuum ports in the base of the 1 barrel manifold like there are on the two barrel manifolds. Oh, and on my '73 (2 barrel Weber, 9.5 pistons, 284 Schrick, so not stock) when I had my dizzy (vacuum advance only) rebuilt, it was recurved to take advantage of the cam, eliminating the vacuum advance altogether. It's there for visual purposes, but plugged at the carb end. The advance curve is different from a tii dizzy and it seems to work fine. mike
  15. Suspect the hatch's weight is due to making it stiff enough to (1) help maintain body shell stiffness, since it's (hopefully) closed when you're driving, and (2) provide sufficient rigidity to prevent any torsion from exceeding the torsional limits of the glass. Example: A friend had the glass shatter on his hatchback Vega while crossing a rough railroad track, due to a combination of body shell twisting and inadequate hatch frame strength. The Touring was designed well before cad-cam designing so I'm sure the designers built in a "little extra strength" for-just-in-case situations. Ever seen a Touring hatch shatter from torsional twisting? mike
  16. Only used mine once, and narrowly missed breaking my arm when the car fell off the jack. That was in 1970 and it hasn't been used since. Display only. I fit my scissors jack in the trunk between the top of the rear wheel arch and the underside of the rear package shelf, tightened just enough so it'll stay in place. mike
  17. Yeah, that 9.5 mm wide belt is the correct one. Ran into that many years ago and learned a valuable lesson: don't make significant changes to your car the day before leaving on a trip. I was given the wider belt, assured it was the correct one and spent the first two days on our vacation stopping to re-adjust the belt, 'till it finally snapped--on the highway, mid-summer--and it was 104 degrees. Returning from vacation, I did not have kind words for the clerk at the auto parts store that sold me the wrong belt when I brought him the shredded remains of the belt that failed after fewer than 300 miles. mike
  18. The only caveat: make sure that early "silver dollar" speedometer isn't from a 1600, or it'll have the incorrect gears for the 02's 3.64 differential. Check the ratio stamped on the back side--should say W=1.297 for a 3.64; a 4.11 will say W=1.4. mike
  19. OK...after the 30 minute sitting, did you check to see if you were getting a spark at the plugs? And...there was a recent post with a similar problem.... have you tried turning the ignition on, then using a jumper wire to energize the starter solenoid? That will eliminate a possible problem with both the ignition switch and the resistor wire that's engaged when the key's turned to start. The possibility of simultaneously and suddenly losing compression on all four cylinders is pretty slim... mike
  20. More than a few of us (still) take long trips in our 02s...Our Ohio to Arkansas (and return!) caravan to Mid America covers a bit over 1600 miles round trip...a 100 mile range isn't gonna help very much. Nor will it to the much shorter (800 miles round trip) to Vintage and back. Think I'll stick with my 1961 design M10 ICE engine to get me there and back...but that's just me. mike
  21. After taking the parking brake linkage out of play as you have done, short of linings that are loose on their backing (I've seen that happen several times in the past year or so), I'd suspect that something in the brake shoe department is shifting--on a random basis. Have you checked the "bitch spring" at the bottom of the shoes to make sure it's not relaxed or even cracked. It's a very strong spring, and if it's too weak to position the shoe bottoms, they're gonna flop around and self energize. The other thing I found when (recently) installing new shoes and drums, the new shoes required a lot of grinding/sanding/filing down to be able to install the drums. And more recently, brake shoes that had delaminated and shed small pieces of friction lining that was flopping around inside the drums and periodically wedging themselves between shoe and drum. mike
  22. Welcome to the 02 fraternity/sorority...lots of excellent advice, friendly folks and most importantly, corporate knowledge. So don't be shy about asking questions. We were all new owners once upon a time--even going back to when friends thought you had bought one of those British Motor Works cars--when you could have bought a Buick for the same money... As I'm sure you know from lurking, automatics are ideal candidates for 5 speed conversions due to their wider transmission tunnels. I'd be really leery of that chin spoiler on parking blocks and steep driveways, It appears to have very little ground clearance and is gonna get scraped or damaged easily. I've learned that the hard way with a lowered E30 318is--I've knocked my spoiler off 4 times (fortunately it's a breakaway design) in places I didn't think it would hit. And...since your car has a nice bumper conversion from the original US-mandated (unfortunate) 5 mph bumpers, there are lots of archive posts on how to get 'em level. Cheers, and again, welcome mike
  23. Interestingly in the past couple of weeks I've seen on the road--admittedly around town, not I-75--but both instances not when there was a car show or cruise in--a 1915 or 1916 Model T Ford (brass radiator/electric lights were only used together those two years) and a week or so later, a circa 1929 Pierce-Arrow touring car. Made Wolfgang feel positively youthful! I think the old car hobby is too well entrenched, too popular and economically too wide-spread to ever have our cars permanently legislated off the road--but we all have to remain vigilant to insure it doesn't happen due to our own inattention. Witness California's inane laws requiring emission inspection for 48 year old cars! mike PS Those Tesla trucks look like escapees from a 1950s science fiction movie...
  24. Main drawback with using jute under the carpet: if you either have a heater or windshield leak, or your A/C condensate drain hose gets plugged and the pan overflows, or you track a lot of water in on your feet when it's raining, jute will hold water like a sponge--for days or weeks. Water = rust even with paint on the floorboards. Suggest using 7/16" "rebond" carpet padding--the kind that's "pet-proof" since that stuff has a waterproof barrier that's equally good for pet pee and water. You can usually scrounge free pieces from a local carpet store--either by asking or a little dumpster diving. Just get new stuff 😉. mike
  25. Pictures of the cam's front (sprocket) end would help with its ID. And a picture or two of the head itself would help--valve chest side as well as combustion chamber side. mike
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