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My son and I like to have a project car going, he's 18 now but when he was 14 we picked up a 1970 Camaro and put in a new 350ci crate engine from GM and restored it to an SS Clone. We finished it by the time he got his license @ 16 - and he was hooked and we both share that passion. My other 16 year old is in the final stages of restoring his 1967 Firebird. No crate engine this time, but rebuilt, new disks up front with power brakes. OK enough about that.
We were itching for a new project and Mike wanted something with a manual transmission. There was an ad in the paper for a 1980 TR7 for $700 OBO. We went and had a look. The car had been stored for the past two years in a carport (2 open sides) and he left the top down (why?). The bigger question was why didn't he put the car cover we found in the trunk on it...? To say the least the car was FILTHY. I mean dirt and grime an inch deep all over the interior. There were plants growing beneith the car but the body was in good shape (no rust, a couple of minor dings one on the nose) but everything else was straight - 3 tires were good - he hadn't run it in two years - no battery - you get the picture.
I asked him how much he would take for it and he said he had a sight unseen telephone offer for $400, so anything over that and we had a deal. I offered $450 and we had a deal.
Thankfully, the DMV was only 2 blocks away and I immediately went over the record the sale and update the registration. Oh, oh - hasn't been registered for two years - penalties of $200 due on the car. I ran back to the seller explained the details and he agreed to hand back $200. Cool. Deal done.
Brought the car home and had the boys clean it up a bit. It cleaned up nice - needs new carpet and the upholstery on the bottom of the seats needs attention but everything else is OK. a 12 rip in the soft top - will need to have that looked at. Oh - the car also came with a Haynes manual, a gas can and jumper cables.
Bought a battery, took off the air cleaner, talk about the wierdest carbs I have ever seen before !! I wasn't quite sure how I was going to prime the pump, but oh well, we'll try just lifting up that piston and dripping some gas right in. Hooked up the battery starter as well as the new battery, turned the key and wham - it fired right up - for two seconds. That was terrific - I was very happy to say the least.
Couldn't get gas through the carbs = tried everything, drained the tank, replaced with new good gas, tested the fuel pump, everything working.
OK, last resort - pull both carbs and time to get dirty with this new engine. Found Moss and Victoria and ordered rebuild kits - rebuilt them - installed them and wham - fired right up and ran. Very cool.
Time for a quick road test and ride to the gas station. Engine felt fine, brakes another story, pushed all the way to the floor and ready to pull the emergency, but we got it stopped. Then our first surprise at the gas station (and I'm not talking about the price of gas!)
The prior owner had purchased a locking gas cap, one that wasn't made for the car. The locking mechanism knocked loose the aluminium tube within the tank filler pipe that has the hinged door at the bottom. So the pump isn't able to reach the hinged door anymore and it is almost impossible to get gas into it. You have to pull up the tube withing the filler pipe and quickly put the pump into it hopefully catching it before it falls all the way back down and you can fill gas.
IF ANYONE HAS REPLACED THE TOP OF THE TANK FILLER PIPE, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU.
When we got back home the first thing we did was bleed the brakes and make sure they were all working effectively. No problem, very easy to do. Oh, I had ordered the Bentley manual a week ago and it came today. It had the brake bleeding instructions - much better than Haynes in my opinion. Better pictures/ diagrams too.
Here's problem number 2: THE IDLE STARTS AT 2000RPM AND SLOWLY MOVES UP TO 2400 WHEN IT WARMS UP. THE MANUAL TALKS ABOUT THE THROTTLE ADJUSTMENT SCREWS AND THE FAST IDLE ADJUSTMENT SCREW. WE DON'T HAVE THE FAST IDLE ADJUSTMENT SCREWS ON OUR CARBURETORS. ALL WE HAVE ARE THE THROTTLE ADJUSTMENT AND CHANGING THOSE HAVE NO EFFECT ON IDLE.
At this point I think we have tried just about everything we could find and everything we could think of to get the idle down to around 800rpm as per spec in the manual.
Anyone having any thoughts for me would very much be appreciated. I am anxous to get this project to the next level, but this is the top priority and on the critical path.
OK, that's all about me (us) and our current problems for which we could use advice.
Thanks FRED from San Diego
We were itching for a new project and Mike wanted something with a manual transmission. There was an ad in the paper for a 1980 TR7 for $700 OBO. We went and had a look. The car had been stored for the past two years in a carport (2 open sides) and he left the top down (why?). The bigger question was why didn't he put the car cover we found in the trunk on it...? To say the least the car was FILTHY. I mean dirt and grime an inch deep all over the interior. There were plants growing beneith the car but the body was in good shape (no rust, a couple of minor dings one on the nose) but everything else was straight - 3 tires were good - he hadn't run it in two years - no battery - you get the picture.
I asked him how much he would take for it and he said he had a sight unseen telephone offer for $400, so anything over that and we had a deal. I offered $450 and we had a deal.
Thankfully, the DMV was only 2 blocks away and I immediately went over the record the sale and update the registration. Oh, oh - hasn't been registered for two years - penalties of $200 due on the car. I ran back to the seller explained the details and he agreed to hand back $200. Cool. Deal done.
Brought the car home and had the boys clean it up a bit. It cleaned up nice - needs new carpet and the upholstery on the bottom of the seats needs attention but everything else is OK. a 12 rip in the soft top - will need to have that looked at. Oh - the car also came with a Haynes manual, a gas can and jumper cables.
Bought a battery, took off the air cleaner, talk about the wierdest carbs I have ever seen before !! I wasn't quite sure how I was going to prime the pump, but oh well, we'll try just lifting up that piston and dripping some gas right in. Hooked up the battery starter as well as the new battery, turned the key and wham - it fired right up - for two seconds. That was terrific - I was very happy to say the least.
Couldn't get gas through the carbs = tried everything, drained the tank, replaced with new good gas, tested the fuel pump, everything working.
OK, last resort - pull both carbs and time to get dirty with this new engine. Found Moss and Victoria and ordered rebuild kits - rebuilt them - installed them and wham - fired right up and ran. Very cool.
Time for a quick road test and ride to the gas station. Engine felt fine, brakes another story, pushed all the way to the floor and ready to pull the emergency, but we got it stopped. Then our first surprise at the gas station (and I'm not talking about the price of gas!)
The prior owner had purchased a locking gas cap, one that wasn't made for the car. The locking mechanism knocked loose the aluminium tube within the tank filler pipe that has the hinged door at the bottom. So the pump isn't able to reach the hinged door anymore and it is almost impossible to get gas into it. You have to pull up the tube withing the filler pipe and quickly put the pump into it hopefully catching it before it falls all the way back down and you can fill gas.
IF ANYONE HAS REPLACED THE TOP OF THE TANK FILLER PIPE, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU.
When we got back home the first thing we did was bleed the brakes and make sure they were all working effectively. No problem, very easy to do. Oh, I had ordered the Bentley manual a week ago and it came today. It had the brake bleeding instructions - much better than Haynes in my opinion. Better pictures/ diagrams too.
Here's problem number 2: THE IDLE STARTS AT 2000RPM AND SLOWLY MOVES UP TO 2400 WHEN IT WARMS UP. THE MANUAL TALKS ABOUT THE THROTTLE ADJUSTMENT SCREWS AND THE FAST IDLE ADJUSTMENT SCREW. WE DON'T HAVE THE FAST IDLE ADJUSTMENT SCREWS ON OUR CARBURETORS. ALL WE HAVE ARE THE THROTTLE ADJUSTMENT AND CHANGING THOSE HAVE NO EFFECT ON IDLE.
At this point I think we have tried just about everything we could find and everything we could think of to get the idle down to around 800rpm as per spec in the manual.
Anyone having any thoughts for me would very much be appreciated. I am anxous to get this project to the next level, but this is the top priority and on the critical path.
OK, that's all about me (us) and our current problems for which we could use advice.
Thanks FRED from San Diego
