new distraction: no longbed or hatch, but a flying buttress!

picked this up recently, been spending ALL my free time on it, hopefully I should be able to finally drive it on Monday night when some more parts show up...

it needs to make it to the tail of the dragon and back in 2 weeks(start of trip) so it's been quite an exciting time around here

After towing it home after dying on the side of a street 15 miles away from where i bought it, 13 miles after i exploded the first muffler, it hasn't left the garage yet...

getting towed home.


exploded muffler #1


exploded muffler #2


repaired muffler #2


once it's running well, should a whole bunch of fun!

I still have that muffler you gave me awhile back.  Let me know if you want it returned and I will save it from the scrap bin.

nice ride!  why does it keep exploding mufflers? lol

Yea Harley, that might be a good backup. i think it's the muffler off the S10?

It keeps exploding mufflers from a backfire when i try to get it to run at 10degree advance ign timing (which is factory spec)
right now I've given up on trying to achieve that, it runs well at 35 degrees..
not sure why.

was supposed to be driving it tonight.... but unfortunately the strut cartridge i ordered turns out to be a front one, not a rear... sooo hopefully ill get the right part in by thursday blahhh

Dear Jesus man, you are a redneck. You have more houses that are mobile than cars right now, don't you?

hahaha no, fortunately my house is immobile, even with the tornado sirens last night.

i have 67% running cars in my fleet. I think that's actually a better percentage than the majority of you guys!
75% if you count my motorcycle, 80% if you count my girlfriend's car!!!

Ha.  I'm at 80% running and driving, but only 40% are registered AND insured.

I think the muffler was from something the size of an MR2.  I remember you saying it was from so and so's car haha  No matter.  It is in the back of the S10, now.

what the heck is it

what the heck is it

Ferrari

what the heck is it

Ferrari

lol, the only Ferrari built for short Japanese people.

what the heck is it

Ferrari

lol, the only Ferrari built for short Japanese people.

you know, older ferraris had horrible ergonomics.

id swear its an mr2 but what do i know

what the heck is it

Ferrari

yes it's an 85 MR2

it's in not the worst shape ever....
pics while i was waiting for the flatbed.






i hope to take it on it's maiden voyage tonight if my part comes in.... and if it's correct. the wrong part showed up on monday and i had to send it back and order the correct part again...

took it on it's maiden voyage yesterday since it was running so well in the garage i wasnt too worried.

Ran great for a whole 10 miles before it started to hesitate a lot, progressively getting worse until it started stalling.
startup was also very difficult, so i had a looong 10 mile drive home with a lot of hazard light driving and trying to start it at intersections where it would die.

pulled the plugs (new as of monday) when i got it home, they look very good.
pics below






so this whole time ign base timing is at 35 degrees because it seemed to like it best there.

i move the distributor rotor a tooth over, get the base timing now to 50 degrees, and it runs significantly better.

so i go for another test drive and about 5 miles or so in, it starts to hesitate and stumble all over again.
at this point it was getting late so i gave up and went to bed.

hot compression #s checked last week were
125, 135, 140, 135 psi, and with some oil, 155, 185, 175, 160psi
So not amazing, but not horrid. replacing the rings are out of the scope of this project.


any ideas anyone?

I will re-recheck the cam pulley timing tonight, and also check to make sure the cam to the cam pulley is clocked correctly (although im not sure that's even possible to screw up)

maybe the cap, rotor, or coil need replacing?

I'd change out the fuel filter too.

maybe the cap, rotor, or coil need replacing?

I'd change out the fuel filter too.

cap looks pretty fresh, one of the few things i think the previous owner actually replaced.
I did get a new rotor, hoping the coil is okay, they are harder to come by for cheap.
I plan on getting a fuel filter tonight. but because it runs so good when cold i have a feeling that isnt the issue.

is it a supercharged one or a older N/A?

reading up on those cars, the '84-'86 ones use the "T-VIS" system.  basically butterfly valves in the intake that open when you hit the gas.  I'd make sure that system is functioning correctly.  Which of course means checking the 1,000,000 vacuum lines 80's cars have. lol