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Apr 17, 2018 20:49:17 GMT
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Its the car that just keeps on giving. Hannah gave it a clean out yesterday. Found $2.10. Then found what was thought to be a large rats nest under the rear seat base. But no... even better. Its our very own miniature Alien!.... I'm all fangs....
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Apr 16, 2018 23:08:21 GMT
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Hannah, Kevin and I are learning all sorts of things from my collection of old Chevette literature this smoko break....
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Apr 16, 2018 18:40:32 GMT
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Are you trying to do continuous runs with the mig? One you get to really thin steel, especially unsupported panel steel, that will always be tricky. Instead you should try using the mig welder like a tig welder and do short sharp zaps with more heat. It takes longer to do a run but you have more control and should get a flatter topped better penetrative weld. Much easier for butt welding.
Youll need to get used to doing long sections in small stages anyway so to avoid warping.
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Last Edit: Apr 16, 2018 18:43:10 GMT by yoeddynz
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Apr 15, 2018 19:35:09 GMT
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Wow!!!! I've missed this one. Bloody photobucket! Good on you for rehousing the photos for all else to enjoy.. Especially as you've sold it. Top work. What a lovely conversion. Ive looked through the thread you linked to but coildny find the page where you got the seats from and had them recovered? Are they recaros from a Ford escort turbo? Lovely job on them.
I agree with the others.. Its a shame you've sold it straight away without really using it. It would be lovely on some big trips. Why sell it so early? But I understand too about the fun part in a big conversion being the journey :-)
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Apr 15, 2018 19:07:33 GMT
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Is that for real? I've not heard of that but maybe I've just been lucky. I've always got away with giving them a nice clean with petrol and brake cleaner carefully using a toothbrush. I know your never to use metal brushes on plugs even though old manuals back in the day would tell you to (when plugs were strong real man's plugs....)
One thing I did learn recently from an auto sparky is not to be a cheap barsteward.. Buy new plugs if in doubt. He stated that even though a plug might show a spark when out of the car if its worn out it won't spark under load with 150psi of compressed air at the gap to jump.
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Apr 15, 2018 10:28:16 GMT
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So this arrived this evening.... It was looking sad and needing to be rescued. No one had offered to take it on with the intention to save it. I just couldn't see this get crushed or split down for bits. I had to save it. I couldn't afford monies but have some time so I'm swapping it for some future welding work. I like the colour (its Monaco Green since you asked...) Not too different to the HB wagon... The fella I bought my Viva wagon off a few years back heard about this car from me and is quite keen on doing it up for his son. But now I , well actually Hannah too as shes partial to a Chevette or two, have become quite excited about seeing it back onto the road ourselves. We couldn't resist. Just look at it. Its fantastic! That colour with that stripe and the added layer of patina. So this is the basic plan... Weld up the few patches of rot. Maybe pop out the worst dents. See if the engine is OK. I have no idea on its condition at all but it does turn over. Fit some better tyres. Put it through a re-vin. Drive it a while and collect some terrible music to play on the original Sanyo tape deck. Take photos of it next to the Viva and become 'that local bloke who has two curse word-ty old Vauxhall wagons' It'll be the 6th Chevette we have owned and the first Chevanne (wagon..) I now have far too many old cars kicking about to work on. 'Is now Gregs' Datsun 120Y is now first in line (I promise Greg..) then the Imp(s x3) and the Viva re-power of course. This Chevanne will just have to sneak in for little bits here and there. So many other local cars lined up on our white board for work too so I see a lot of car shuffling coming up. But for the carpets the interior is in great nick. Dash top superb. Great colour. Headlining is great. Useful sized boot area... There is a small issue of no keys though. We had to use the trolley jack to shift it into its current park. The structure is solid as. Arches are really good. Roof just surface rust. Dents are the main issue. Two rust holes on the floor and the usual Chevette rot under the battery. Windscreen seal melted by the sun. Interestingly (well to me...) its badged as a Chevanne. This is a wagon as far as I'm concerned with the Chevannes having paneled out rear side windows but nup... here in NZ they were all badged and sold as Chevannes. Also interesting... the attached rego plates come up as a 1974 VIva wagon. Hmmmmm? Oh well. It'll all be new plates soon with a new lease on life. Not planning on keeping it much beyond having some fun. Just doing my bit in a noble sort of way to rescue a fine and pretty rare classic car.
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The Fuego and renault 21 types? Yeah all those boxes are getting a bit tricky to find here now. Well at least at a sensible price...
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Loving your repairs going on. Neat welding! Plus one from me at filling everything with penetrating wax after its repaired. I reckon the Bilt Hamber S50 stuff is the best ive used for flowing into all the nooks and crannies.
Oh and I'm also liking the nice oldschool Selle Italia Flight saddle on that road bike. I'm still using one on my oldest 1990 mtb and its still comfy as!
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Ahhhh whoops. I wasn't sure if if the pics were in a public area. But hey.. Its all worth signing up to and checking out the forum... Think nz retro rides :-)
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Great read, thanks for posting. You can really put yourself in the grin factor (in my head anyway) just from your description of driving it! I too really enjoyed that part of the write up. Its great reading about how someone creates a car with all the ups and downs of the process being explained. But often once the car is finished the thread goes dead and readers get no idea of what its actually like to drive. When I read that description of you driving your Imp I was just simply fizzing. I could picture myself buzzing about in the Imp at (what seems like) great speed immersed in mechanical sounds and road noise. A proper experience. More of that please!
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Last Edit: Apr 9, 2018 20:18:00 GMT by yoeddynz
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Currently at the oldschool nationals and last night there was some brainstorming going on. Another member had come up with a solution so simple is laughable. I'll report back soon....
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Yeah I'd been after one of those for a future 'Nissan Np35 type' build using my spare 2.5 V6 (that's my dream there and a long, long way off.....) and they seem fairly rare and pricey now. Certainly not ideal for my budget right now.
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Does a rotary actually rev high as far as the crankshaft rotation is concerned? Do you mean rotor speed vs crank speed? The rotors rotate about 1/3rd the crank (eccentric shaft) speed. A stock 12A on standard ports will start to run out of puff above 7000 so not much point revving higher.. only extra wear on tips will be the result. However, build up a decent 12A/13B with the later stronger hardened stat gears, all nicely balanced and lightened rotors with suitable porting and you make a lovely high revving power plant. Turbine smooth. I've not driven anything as smooth as a Rotary. Its addictive. Gets in your blood :-)
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Last Edit: Apr 4, 2018 20:17:53 GMT by yoeddynz
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Ah, that's cool. Do you know how much the Datsun unit weighs? The standard Imp lump is about 80kg, but the engine I have in mine is 125kg or so! That said, I've lost some weight at the back and migrated it to the front end to try and balance things up a bit. Suspect the penalty is now around 20-25kg to the rear over a standard car. Don't really drive it fast enough for it to be a problem, I suspect. Biggest problem with a conversion is the transaxle. It's not very strong, and the gearing is very low (because it's designed for 35bhp or so!) I find mine is badly undergeared, which though good for acceleration, is not so great at 60mph, where it's doing 4000rpm! So for your next one, I'd recommend trying to find a way of getting round that. I'd have done it here, but to fit a bigger 5 speed box off something else would have involved cutting structural bits of car away, and that would have landed me into the fun and games of IVA, and re-registration. You know what I reckon the best lump would be? Rotary. It's not torquey (so kind to the Imp transaxle), it revs high and does it smoothly (so gearing isn't so much of an issue) and it's compact and lightweight, so handling isn't affected. If I was doing an Imp build again, I'd probably go rotary. I think the Datsun A12 weighs in at 87kg. This is what the internets tell me. But I plan to lower it onto my old scales and see what truth there is in this. I expect its about right because its a tiny engine and the head is alloy. Like you I will offset the bit of extra weight by moving the battery and radiator to the front plus there is a fiber glass boot lid (bonnet lid... although I am tempted to keep that for the next Imp which I plan to hang on to ) Yeah- for the next imp I might just look at other transaxles. Especially if I'm looking at substantial increase in torque. However the stocking gearing doesnt worry me too much at this point. Our speed limit in NZ is 60mph and often the best roads are the ones where you'd be happy just getting to that. So to get up there quick suits me. Anything faster than 60 is futile with the cops about here. I am interested to know what/how other boxes fit into imps like. I know nothing about VW units - are they available as a (cheap to buy) 5 speed ? Probably not in NZ... Rotaries....hmmmmm :-) I do like a rotor motor it must be said.. but a Mazda 12A weighs in at 120kg dressed. Actually quite chunky. Certainly very compact. Plus they have about 110 lbft at 4000 which is similar to a stock Pinto engine. Not that lacking in torque.. certainly enough to worry an Imp transaxle if abused I reckon.
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...As for the Imp Transaxle, upside down was the norm in a few Formula cars like the Vixen and Ginetta G17 with the Imp engine turned around to a conventional mid mount arrangement. ahh yes that would be a way round it but for the shift rod sitting quite a bit higher. you'd have to run a taller tunnel for the shifter rod to run down? plus raising the cg..
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Last Edit: Apr 4, 2018 9:39:47 GMT by yoeddynz
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Interested in how you'd do it and keep the Imp transaxle though... another sprocket or chain drive from the output shaft? Some sort of drop transfer case with 1 to 1? Yeah that's what I'm looking at. They have an idler gear setup. here's some pics :-)...
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If you could install a honda flat 6 could you not install a subaru flat 4? ....also the OHC engines are very wide so it would have to be an earlier pushrod engine. Oh- I tell lies. I ssemed to remember the scooby engine being really wide.. yes it was too wide for my Viva. But not too wide for an Imp it seems... But I'd still prefer the flat six sound :-)
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I had a Eureka moment (whilst on the shitter actually.. your mind concentrates under strain..) and I think I have worked out a way of doing it and keeping the Imp transaxle.
But I really must get an engine to play with.
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