BenzBoy
Grand Master
Well since we are broadening the forum to include other marques, let me tell you a little about the 306 GTi 6.
It has taken 2 years on and off to get it to the stage it's at now. New clutch and lightened flywheel; tweaked ECU; new cam belt and water pump; new radiator and heater core and hoses; wheels/roof/both bumper bars painted by Jerry and new Michelin Pilot Sports. And a few other tweaks like new window glass which shattered because the goose who had installed it before I bought the car had it jammed it in on an angle so it cracked and then shattered under pressure and new window switch gear etc. and a few odds and ends that are made of very cheap and brittle plastic. Damn; the glass is polarised and expensive and NLA in Oz so I went with clear although since then I have picked up a heap of spares including glass.
We still have an issue getting the camber exact on the near side and there is no apparent reason for that unless the wheel aligner is on the grog - everything lines up with the laser liner but who knows what has happened to the car before I bought it... coil overs and dial up camber is under investigation.
So, today was my first real drive of about 300 kms out past The Oaks.
I found I could keep up with the bikies so long as I kept in 3rd gear and foot flat – at 7000 rpm. It was still pulling OK in 5th at 180 kph but I was a little unsure of doing much more. Much grinning and hopefully no letters in the mail in the next 2 weeks or I’ll be walking for a few months….
There can’t be any carbon left in the engine – or much left of the brake pads now. It certainly smelled of hot oil and hot brakes by the time I stopped. Nice smell.
Used no oil which is good.
This was supposed to be the cheap and cheerful car for drifting (which it does admirably) but the little bugger has become my favourite...
On the Spirit front we replaced the aircon compressor a few months ago with nice cold air being the outcome, except sometimes it seemed to get a little warm. Initially I thought it was my perception but since perception is supposed to be the new reality I returned it for appraisal. Nothing wrong was the verdict but after my favourite garage had kept and driven the car for a few days they came to the same conclusion as did I. That after about 20 minutes the air became warmer. Thus much investigation.
Now, the heater tap stays closed because every 20 seconds it gets a signal from the HVAC ECU to stay closed (or to open to whatever the selected temperature says) but at the 20 minute mark the signal would weaken, allowing the tap to open slightly. Not my imagination after all.
We traced this back to a partially burned circuit board and traced the cause of that back to some corroded Bosch relays. So, some judicious cleaning and resoldering of the circuit board and a new relay block and 6 new relays and the end result is air from the centre vent at 2.5 degrees Celsius in the garage when the ambient temperature is 28 degrees Celsius. Not bad! The ML (also with new compressor) and the CLK both hold 7 degrees under the same conditions and the Frog can hold 5 but then it has a lot less air to keep cool.
Enough for now.
I may need to sit down when the invoice arrives.
Maybe when the 306 GTi 6 is finally finished I might look at a Finnie for Fun?
Regards,
Brian
It has taken 2 years on and off to get it to the stage it's at now. New clutch and lightened flywheel; tweaked ECU; new cam belt and water pump; new radiator and heater core and hoses; wheels/roof/both bumper bars painted by Jerry and new Michelin Pilot Sports. And a few other tweaks like new window glass which shattered because the goose who had installed it before I bought the car had it jammed it in on an angle so it cracked and then shattered under pressure and new window switch gear etc. and a few odds and ends that are made of very cheap and brittle plastic. Damn; the glass is polarised and expensive and NLA in Oz so I went with clear although since then I have picked up a heap of spares including glass.
We still have an issue getting the camber exact on the near side and there is no apparent reason for that unless the wheel aligner is on the grog - everything lines up with the laser liner but who knows what has happened to the car before I bought it... coil overs and dial up camber is under investigation.
So, today was my first real drive of about 300 kms out past The Oaks.
I found I could keep up with the bikies so long as I kept in 3rd gear and foot flat – at 7000 rpm. It was still pulling OK in 5th at 180 kph but I was a little unsure of doing much more. Much grinning and hopefully no letters in the mail in the next 2 weeks or I’ll be walking for a few months….
There can’t be any carbon left in the engine – or much left of the brake pads now. It certainly smelled of hot oil and hot brakes by the time I stopped. Nice smell.
Used no oil which is good.
This was supposed to be the cheap and cheerful car for drifting (which it does admirably) but the little bugger has become my favourite...
On the Spirit front we replaced the aircon compressor a few months ago with nice cold air being the outcome, except sometimes it seemed to get a little warm. Initially I thought it was my perception but since perception is supposed to be the new reality I returned it for appraisal. Nothing wrong was the verdict but after my favourite garage had kept and driven the car for a few days they came to the same conclusion as did I. That after about 20 minutes the air became warmer. Thus much investigation.
Now, the heater tap stays closed because every 20 seconds it gets a signal from the HVAC ECU to stay closed (or to open to whatever the selected temperature says) but at the 20 minute mark the signal would weaken, allowing the tap to open slightly. Not my imagination after all.
We traced this back to a partially burned circuit board and traced the cause of that back to some corroded Bosch relays. So, some judicious cleaning and resoldering of the circuit board and a new relay block and 6 new relays and the end result is air from the centre vent at 2.5 degrees Celsius in the garage when the ambient temperature is 28 degrees Celsius. Not bad! The ML (also with new compressor) and the CLK both hold 7 degrees under the same conditions and the Frog can hold 5 but then it has a lot less air to keep cool.
Enough for now.
I may need to sit down when the invoice arrives.
Maybe when the 306 GTi 6 is finally finished I might look at a Finnie for Fun?
Regards,
Brian
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