Thread: Amazon: - tuning a b18a
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Old Jul 8th, 2010, 23:48   #146
redcar
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Last Online: Sep 6th, 2016 22:55
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Talking final word on my d-cups

evening gents,

well, had a great weekend blowing the cobwebs out, took her down to the car show and got a lot of positive comments, etc.. so very happy all in all. then coming home the radiator blew. turns out the rad probably had the hole before i even bought the car, and putting in the new coolant, seems to have washed the radweld away.. so, she's been off the road all week whilst the rad gets braized up.. hopefully i'll be back on the road on saturday

so to answer your questions. the car started off as a original 131, b18a, with a single zenith carb and frying pan airfilter..

while it wasn't the slowest car on the road, it was pretty sedate and my daily commute on the motorway was normally spent in the slow lane. the goal was to bring it up to in and around 123gt spec. i'd say it's fairly close, but i'd need to try a real one to compare.. anyone got one i can try?

so, on the advice of the lads here, i looked for a bolt on power upgrade, as i don't have a garage in.

the original shopping list was a d-cam, twin SU's and a decent exhaust.

this was the start, and for the last 9 months i've been collecting parts..

final list turns out at: -

d-cam
gas flowed, ported and unleaded head
simonz exhaust
twin SU's
p1800 inlet and outlet manilfolds (polished as best as i could)
head gasket set
new valves
new followers
steel timing gear set
fuel pump
k&n type filters
clutch master cylinder (late entry to the list )
choke components
tims tacho (non intrusive mounting)
full service kit (filters, rotor/cap, fluids, belts, etc)

it took ages to collect this stuff (you try hiding half a volvo around the house, without the missus noticing )

i'm glad i met Lloyd (Mr Rally) Hutchinson (http://www.tdp.ie/?p=840) who is the soundest bloke you'd ever meet. he was so excited about working on the car, he nearly forgot to charge me.. the SU's needed a good half day to sort out, and he got them spot on, the other silly things were the linkage coming off a lhd car (thanks derek for the tip on softening the braizing) and the clutch master cylinder needing replacement (see further up this thread..)

but that was it. lloyd said it was one of the smoothest installs he's done. thanks to all the parts being present and fitting correctly. the only reference material i left with him was the haynes manual and the Amazon Cars tech tip on changing the cam. the rest he winged it and got it spot on. he was only about 2 degrees out on the timing when he first started it up.

the end result? well i've had her up to 110 on the speedo, which is really only about 145-150kph on the satnav. there was still a lot more welly to go, but i chickened out first, as the brakes are single circuit and not servo assisted.. next project, i think

was it worth it? Definitely! i now sit in the fast lane and scare the sh*te out of the traffic.. no one expects the old dear to be right up their asses looking to overtake the induction and exhaust note is almost religious in its sound..

can't wait to meet that little '66 911 on the motorway again, and show it my taillights

some pics of the end result and of the car show.. hugh, you might have particular interest in some of the pics... a lovely pick up, parked right next to another nicely prepared rally amo.. matt, my son, loved the pickup, btw. might have to talk to you about where to get one for him..

so, like i said earlier lads.. thanks a mill for your input on this. this is only the first of many mods, i guess, so i'm pretty sure i'll be coming to you with more questions, options, ideas, etc enjoy the weekend, i'll probably spend most of it out on the road...

regards,

Gareth
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Last edited by redcar; Jul 9th, 2010 at 00:34.
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