Another zed

uk66fastback

Club Member
That's a really nice find ... how do you do it?!!

The stance wants evening up slightly as you have mentioned though, but otherwise, it looks pretty sound at first glance ...
 

johnymd

Club Member
Yes Rob, it was Tony. Seamed like a really nice honest guy and I believe him when he says the car is rock solid.
 

jonbills

Membership Secretary
Site Administrator
Is your sig up to date with what you've got John? Just checking my options on what to put in a bid for if I win the lottery this week.
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
Is your sig up to date with what you've got John? Just checking my options on what to put in a bid for if I win the lottery this week.

Can you believe an hour ago I heard that the son of a guy who works part-time for us has just won £4m on a £10 scratch card he bought in Waitrose! Not sure whether he's into his cars though ...
 

johnymd

Club Member
Spent the afternoon tinkering and driving.

I got the car up on axle stands and can confirm its a good un. Floors look very good with just a couple of patches towards the back. Floor stiffeners look good and aren't all dented. Had a good dig around and it all looks fine so very happy. One of the doglegs has a bit of rust on the front edge and there's are bit at the back of the rear wheel arches and that's about it. I keep finding more and move chips on it but it has been painted a long time ago. There's a few mods to the rear end. Drop links have been gusseted for strengthening and the rear lower arms have been strengthened as well. Not sure what car the half shafts are off but they bare no resemblance to z ones and look pretty beefy. Prop looks to be new and upgraded too. I swapped out the rear springs for the spare set of 250lb ones supplied and the car rides so much better. It sits nice too. the 180lb springs that were on it was causing the back to sag and nearly sit on the bump stops. Its now just how I want it and has plenty of travel to soak up the bumps.

That's it for today. Time for a meal and a cider in the local pub. Tomorrows another day.
 

jonbills

Membership Secretary
Site Administrator
Can you believe an hour ago I heard that the son of a guy who works part-time for us has just won £4m on a £10 scratch card he bought in Waitrose! Not sure whether he's into his cars though ...
You're obviously paying too much if your part-timers & their kids shop in Waitrose!
 

johnymd

Club Member
Carried on with the list of jobs today.

Changed the gear level (the one fitted had been modified) as I couldn't select reverse without hitting the handbrake. I used a spare I had. Also fitted a new rubber gaiter to stop the gale blowing though the gear lever hole. Replaced the drivers door handle so I didn't have to keep opening the door from the passenger side. Fitted a lamda bunt to the exhaust and rigged up my spare innovate afr gauge/recorder so I could check the mixture. Look pretty good under most conditions but a bit rich on idle and too lean on very light throttle cruising. This should give me something to tinker with.

That's most of the jobs done so I should be able to get on with onjoying the car.
 

SacCyclone

Club Member
innovate afr gauge/recorder

John, can you tell me which model number you are using, I need to buy one for my car after installing the triple Mikuni set up.

Thanks,
Mike
 

johnymd

Club Member
Been driving more than working on the car today but did a few jobs. Took it rounds Matt's so he could point out the bad bits. He insisted I look at the plugs so I removed them under protest. They show the car is certainly not running rich and maybe a little lean which the afr gauge was indicating. Did a compression test and got around 210 on all cylinders. Checked the timing which was 38 from about 3k up. Reduced this to 34 and see how it goes. Had a drive around while checking afr's under different condition and they were all as I would like. Very light throttle cruising is maybe a little too lean at mid 16's and you can feel it stuttering a lot. A tiny bit more throttle and it goes to mid 14's and very smooth. After checking the carb setting I found the idle mixture screw had to be wound out too far to get it running right so may go up a size for the idle jet. Which could be causing the lean part throttle condition. I'm no expert so allways open to advice.

Next job was change the fuel pump. Not that it wasn't working but it was just so noisy and really getting on my nerves. If you ever consider putting an electric pump on then DO NOT fit a Holley pump. I swapped it for a new red top that came with the car and its virtually silent. I e used the really nice Holley rubber mount and you just don't hear it.

Next job will be to get the indicators working properly as they are intermittent, do not self cancel, and there's no light to show if they are on.

It's looking more like I'll keep this one as it is really nice to drive and a good compromise between track and road car. At least until some more arrive :)
 

johnymd

Club Member
Its the Blue. I don't think they are worth much so may just use it as a fuel transfer pump as I always seam to be draining tanks.
 

johnymd

Club Member
Spent yesterday afternoon at the dyno. Not really to get any more power out of it but to just tweek the carbs a bit and safely increase the ignition.

The engine pulls well but it is running rough when you try driving at a constant speed with very little throttle. If you touch the throttle a tiny bit so it starts to accelerate slightly it cleans up and runs really smooth but take your foot off to cruise and it goes back to stuttering.

Ballanceing the carbs for both flow and mixture at idle then increasing the main and idle jet a little has got it a lot better. Timing next. When I checked it at Matt's it was running 38* total from around 3500 revs. I thought this was a little high so knocked it back to 34* until I could get it on the dyno. It's now set at 36 with 11 at idle.

Dyno results.
The curve looked really good with no dip at all in mid range. A very smooth curve and that's how it feels to drive. Power starts dropping off just before 6k and peak torque is around 4600 from what I remember. I didn't bother getting a printout as I'm not really into the numbers. They do have it on record though so if I do any mods then the graphs will be used for comparison. I think the top line hp was just under 220 (engine) which sounds about right I think. Only a drag run will tell me exactly what it makes at the wheels.

I've driven the car around every day for the last week now and finished nearly all the jobs the car needed. It's now back at the lockup and I've gone back to my nemo van for work. It's now time to think long and hard about whether to keep it or not and if I do keep it then when am I going to use it given the fact I will have a choice. The silver one will arrive soon so that may help me choose. I so miss not having a left hooker to drive.
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
John, that seems a good engine.

An interesting purchase. :thumbs:
 
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johnymd

Club Member
What I'm getting at Franky is that I don't trust the figures at dyno's and I'm sure if you take the same car to 10 different dyno's you will get 10 different figures. If you go to a drag strip the terminal speed and car weight will give you a better indication of the cars power output on the day.

Yes Rob, engine does feel nice.
 
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