dr bob

Shawn --

Just came up to speed on the last month of your spellbinding saga. Suffice it to say that your learning curve isn't unique, but sharing the challenges with us as you go is. That's what having a team is for, to back you up and buck you up when things aren't going as perfectly as we'd like.

My instant contribution: Get a nearby enthusiast over to help you get the timing set correctly. Correct timing is critical to making the right power, but more important it's critical to keeping the motor alive. The point where it "feels right" at idle is usually a little too far advanced for driving, with a risk of pounded bearings and damaged pistons and rings. Another set of eyes and hands, familiar with the tools and the procedure, will do wonders for your project. Plus you'll know how to do it next time, and for the time you are that other set of eyes and hands.

Shawn Stanford

Thanks for the advice, Bob. There's a guy in my PCA region who has several 928s, he ought to be able to help me out. I'll give him a call. I should have thought of that myself!

Shawn Stanford

So, I called my buddy and after talking for a few minutes he suggested that maybe when I'd put the distributor rotor back in I was a 'tooth off'. So, I lined up the motor at TDC (again), pulled the dizzy. It looked right: the rotor was a *tad* upstream of the notch. So, I decided to try going forward see if that would help. I'd already been there during the initial assembly, and the car wouldn't start. But, what the hell: Might as well eliminate all the chances I was stupid.

Sure enough, with the rotor a bit downstream of the notch, the car wouldn't fire at all. So, I lifted the distributor and backed the rotor up two teeth. The car started, but ran very, very poorly. I hooked up the timing light and the spark was retarded 10 degrees. This clearly was not right!

I lined up the motor at TDC, lifted the distributor and lined up the rotor one tooth forward. Right back where I'd started. Figuring it wouldn't be any worse, I gave it a try.

The car fired immediately and ran as smooth as silk! The idle, which had tended high, settled right down to 750. I hooked up the timing light and with no throttle it was exactly at TDC. When I goosed it a little, it advanced nicely and the motor revved willingly.

I buttoned everything back up and went for a quick run up a river road near my house. The car had good power, didn't stumble in the 3,000-4,000 range, and pulled strongly up to the red line.

I have absolutely no idea what's different now from before. I would bet money that the rotor is in the exact same place on the cam gear, but it's running like a completely different car. I don't think it's run this well since I bought it.

Adk46

Gosh, that's a very happy ending. And I do mean ending: no more wrenching for the rest of the summer.

Shawn Stanford

Oh, that is absolutely not the case, Curt! I've still got to re-cover the interior rear quarter and get the driver's side back together. Then I have to decide what to do about the passenger's side: Take care of it now or wait until after Frenzy.

But, yeah, seems like the major wrenching is done for this summer.

Shawn Stanford

Okay, I drove the car to the movies last night. About a 10 mile drive, mostly surface streets, 2 miles of highway. The car ran well, except that I remembered that I don't get a downshift going to WOT on the highway. I poked around and one of the causes is a loose Bowden cable. I looked and mine seems loose as hell. Something else to figure out.

Adk46

I've been messing with my various cables recently, to get my kick down switch to work. I was just reading some posts on adjustments.

I'm just going to let out a scream: Terminology is important! There is only one throttle, it's in the throttle body under the intake. There is a cable attached to it - call that the throttle cable. The pedal inside the car is not the throttle! Call the cable that goes to it the pedal cable. The cable going back to the transmission influences when it shifts; it affects downshifts and upshifts, so let's call that the transmission control cable, not the kick-down cable. No one gets confused about the cruise control cable, thank God.

And please: These cables are all Bowden cables, as anyone who works on bicycles knows. Calling one of them "the" Bowden cable is confusing. Yeah, I'm tilting at windmills on this one.

I try not to rant, I try to suppress my language **** tendencies. Sorry. I need a nap. Good luck, Shawn.

Shawn Stanford

dr bob

Shawn --

On your car, the actual timing is determined by the position of the housing relative to the "reluctor" on the shaft under the rotor. The rotor and cap need to be in proper position such that the rotor end is at the right connection in the cap when the spark is generated for that cylinder. A very slight rotation of the distributor body will change the timing of the spark relative to the rotation of the crankshaft and therefore the position of the piston in the cylinder. It sounds like your adjustment so far has you with the timing pretty close.

The workshop manuals describe the actual timing setting procedure for your car in Section 28. The vacuum lines are disconnected and plugged, and the timing is set with the engine at speed by rotating that distributor housing in the head. Make sure you follow the specs and procedure that match your 1982 car.

Shawn Stanford

Thanks, Doc. I followed some excellent write ups, which described exactly your instructions: cap the vacuum tubes, check the advance when on throttle, etc. I think I did it right, but just in case, I'm going to bring the timing light and some cigars with me to Frenzy and see if I can bribe Sean into taking a look.

Shawn Stanford

I'm kind of on hold at the moment. The interior rear quarter is ready to be recovered, but I'm collecting up pieces to install a new stereo, and I need to do the new cutout and the wiring before I start putting the interior back in. Meanwhile, I haven't pulled out the passenger side interior panels for the simple reason that I didn't take any pictures of the driver's side, and I want to see where all the wires and such run on the passenger side. Although I did get a good set of pics from a post by Andre of the door without the card showing the wire runs.

I need to figure out why I don't have high beams, so that's a puzzle.

I have a line on a good transmission for $50.

So far for the new audio system I've got a Nissan Bose spare-tire sub, a pair of tweeters, and a pair of crossovers for the doors on the way. I need to pick a mid-range for the doors, a low-mid for the rears (4x6, I think), an amp, and a head unit. Plus, a wiring kit.

The rubber in the driver's door was pretty shot, so I pinged Roger about a new set. The price on those things is crazy! (I'm not faulting Roger in the slightest, it costs him only slightly less.) So, I poked around for universal weatherstrip and I found a good replacement for the upper window channel on JC Whitney: 3m for $11. It went right in and the window is nice a tight against it. Win!

The lower exterior rubber with the scraper is a nice puzzle; it's a very odd molding and it fits into a structure in the door. I looked at a bunch of different sites and didn't see anything that worked nearly the same, but I ordered a couple things to try. At 3m for $10 each, why not? And if it doesn't work out, I can go back to OEM for that, since I've already saved $170 on the upper channel.

Further updates as events warrant!

Shawn Stanford

Okay, so, interesting movement today.

Last night I got two packages. One with a pair of 3 1/2" tweeters for the doors and one with more weatherstripping.

Tweeters first: They're perfect for the size of the surround and the screw holes line up perfectly. But the body of the thing is too wide to fit into the cutout.



I was really hoping to be able to not have to jury-rig some sort of a plate in which to mount a smaller tweeter. But, at this point, I don't know if that's going to be possible.

The weatherstripping: So, I picked up this weatherstrip with a metal pinch channel and a square rubber scraper. The existing window trim was too wide for it. BUT, when I pulled off the window trim, it was a perfect fit. It was also a good fit on the inside of the door (we're talking the lower edges here). So, I cut it and stuck it on there are it seems to work pretty good. It even looks okay against the door with the original trim piece removed.

The drawbacks are that the window is having to work a little to move because the scrapers are a tad bigger and pinch the window a little tighter. The other is that I still need about four inches of the original trim to mount on the rear vertical portion of the window where it approaches the curve. So, I'd have to cut the original trim piece.

But the window is stable and weather tight. It will do for the time being.

Shawn Stanford

I had some time yesterday evening so I went out with my label maker and started working out how the door wiring goes back in there. I remember that I need a new red guard light and I found out that the relationship between the door contact switch and the interior lights confuses the crap out of me.

I also ordered a new pair of 1" tweeters with the plan to cut a surround out of a piece of plexi (or something) in order to mount it to the existing hole in the door card.

I pulled out the kludge 12v plug I put in place of the ashtray for last year's Frenzy trip and installed the ashtray I picked up from Brett. I still need to work out a way to put a USB port in there. I found out that the holes next to the clock are the perfect size for one of the black plastic 12v or USB plugs you can buy anywhere for a few dollars. I wish my console bezel had the right cutouts to use them; mine only has the clock.

Speaking of the clock: My original clock was dead (I think I gave it away last year at Frenzy). I bought a 12 Luch clock from eBay and found that if you pry off the metal retaining ring holding the plexi on the face, it drops perfectly into the OB clock hole. It's lacking the 'ears' that the original clock had, but maybe I'll put a bead of silicone around the outside for a tight friction fit. I don't know if you've been looking for clocks, but OEM Porsche and VW clocks are fetching stupid money. Those Luck clocks are $10.

I also cleaned and regreased the guide shaft for the window, and the window not travels up and down smoothly and easily.

Little stuff.

Majestic Moose

Sounds like good progress, we want photos

My driver door card is still off I can take photos of any of the wiring routing you need.

skpyle

Sometimes little stuff makes all the difference in the world.

Keep up the good work!