Big G

I just couldn t think of the relationship between advancing the dizzy and carby and there it is... the vacuum line. I will give that a crack this arvo. Fingers crossed that will fix my issue. I will surely be back if it doesnt. Buccan is on the southside halfway to the GC.

You guys sound all grown up. Houses children jobs. Thats where I was 20 ish years ago. Its the circle of life here I am back working on cars again. This time they aren't even mine.

Hey Guys So I picked up the dizzy cap rotor button points and leads this arvo. Knowing the Princess has the day off tomorrow I thought I will swap it all out. How hard can it be. The answer to that is not hard at all. Until i tried to start her up. She coughed and spluttered and backfiredthrough the carby. So I shut her down and started looking for my mistake. Aaah lead 2 and 3 swapped over. Quick switcharroo and hit the key again she started and idled so I jumped in and rolled her down the driveway out onto the street and ....no power...so back to the shed.Looking looking for my next mistake......points set using the thou value on the feeler gauge and not the mm.....newbie error....reset them and away we go. Now this is where it gets mental. I kicked her over and the timing went through the roof.....she revved her arse off. So out comes the timing light it was like 20 degrees....so wound it back to 8 ish and it started to idle like she had a square cam in her guts. So long story short to get it to run the idle is wound up a bit to stop her stalling when you put her in gear. When driving she goes hard but idling she is rough. So what the hell is going on. I am baffled. Any donations of advice are tax deductible.

You should probably take it apart hoses and all and give it a good spray and soak in degreaser to remove all the oil based products. then give it a good clean with fresh water allow it to dry and put it all back together and see how it performs after that. If you have a lot of blow by it might have to be a regular maintenance thing. Remember that vapourised oil is super sticky when it returns to a liquid it clings to everything. So clean the whole system.

I worked out why I couldn't upload any pics last night...the Princess and her sister have sucked the last gasp of internet that I had. So its off to super cheap to get me some dizzy bits. I know I will probably have to order them. Thanks guys. PS. When the Princess was at work yesterday some late twenties dude approached her and said if she ever wanted to sell the rolla he would be keen at 8k.

Hey Banjo So I looked all over the dizzy for the name plate but without success. I did however see Bosch Made in Australia cast into the body. I do now recall that the denso dizzys were more compact. I tried to add a couple of pics but that failed a couple of times. And yes it does have points. So is that info of benefit or would having some pics be better.

Hey Guys So the Princess' 55 hardtop is in need of a new dizzy cap, rotor button and points. The current dizzy cap is a Bosch. My question is as follows coz the dizzy cap is a Bosch does that mean the dizzy itself is a Bosch and I have to use all Bosch replacement parts or is there a better product out there that will suit the application. I don't know if it makes any difference but the dizzy has 2 vacuum lines coz she is an auto.

Hey Banjo Just a query my repair manual says 0.45mm for the points gap and 0.8 mm for the plug gap. Have I been setting it wrong on the Princess' rolla?

I did exactly that about an hour after i posted that message. I am bit of a traditionalist when it comes to conversions. Its gotta be toyota I'm afraid. Except for the 3KB powered Morris Minor ute I built for my girlfriend in the late 80s. She could break traction in second. Good times.

Is there such a beast as a 7A-GE and are they readily available here in OZ.

Or as the engine has not been turned over for a few years it could be semi seized or seized completely. Have you tried turning it over by hand to prove it still rotates?

You didnt just save her it was a resurrection!!! .How can anybody treat such a beautiful thing so badly. It is beyond me. A job well done.

Well you are never going to believe this I took the rolla out for a quick run to the Happiest Place On Earth yesterday arvo with the Princess at the wheel and it ran like a dream no stalling no sluggish behavior. Its a MIRACLE. What ever the issue was it seems to have resolved itself. Thats great I hear you all say. You might think so but as I havent identified the problem and actually fixed it there is a possibility that it might rear its ugly head again in the most inappropriate time. So until it does I live in fear. Thanks again for your suggestions. Until next time KEEP THEM ROLLAS ROLLIN !!!

I fully stripped and rebuilt the carby with a complete kit mid last year. With the air cleaner off I can see a constant dribble of fuel at idle and if I give it a rev the fuel squirts in a steady stream. When I had the top off of the carby the other day the fuel bowl was clean so it doesnt appear that the fuel is contaminated. I only use fuel without ethanol in it so as to not gum up the fuel system. Using a timing light I can see the timing advance when revved so I discounted that as an issue however in saying that at idle the timing point did drift a little probably 2 degrees from 8 to 10 but just slowly up and back.

Hey Guys Well I thought I was finally in the clear with the idle issues we were having with the my daughters KE55 when I say we I mean me as it appears to be all my fault. She hasnt been driving it for a while so when she did take it out for a spin it stalled when she came to a complete stop. Then it would do its usual trick of hesitating on take off. So I did the usual checked all the vacuum hoses, pulled the top off the carby and checked it all inside all appeared ok, went through the ignition bits plugs points timing the whole 9 yards, put it back together and it ran like a dream... for a little while anyway. Now it has developed an annoying habit of chugging a bit when you back off the accelerator and give it some to winde back up a classic example of this is when you go around a roundabout take your foot off the gas on entry give it some to exit and it hesitates it catches up and away you go. It doesnt faze me but the princess is less than impressed. So any ideas on a remedy would be gratefully appreciated. She starts a new job in a week so I'm under the gun ....again.

Hey Guys I think I m going to stick with the status quo on this one and leave it all in place. She is running pretty well at the moment (i hope i haven't just jinxed myself) so thanks for your words of wisdom and advice.

Hey Guys. So I tracked down the issue to being a dodgey vacuum line after a New Years eve meltdown by the princess and me having to drive down the Gold Coast to pick her up at the witching hour. I had to drive the 55 home and it was a bit scary. I cable tied all but a few vacuum lines in position at the time and she has been running fine. Until Saturday night. It was the usual frantic phone call that I am accustomed to being my fault etc etc. So a quick check under the bonnet and i find the only 2 vacuum lines without a cable tie have come adrift. Easy fix. My question to you guys is are there any of these lines that we can do without. I have seen heaps of engine bay pics with next to none showing. Bare in mind it is an auto and it has 2 hoses coming from the dizzy. I am thinking the more things I can eliminate to go wrong the better. So if its possible and someone has a line diagram they could share I would be very grateful. Thanks in advance.

GEM were an engine rebuild company in the day. Everything reconditioned you could could think of. They were on just about every street corner. Then came the day of the Jap imports and they disappeared off the face of the earth. If you were buying a car from the local classifieds and it had a Gem reco in it that was a bonus. A friend of mine worked there and they had some dodgey practices like boring the block with the crank in place. Just a fun fact.

OK Guys time to get your thinking caps on. So the plot thickens I went through the ignition system checked this adjusted that made sure everything was as it should be and wouldn t you know it she ran like a dream. Idled contentedly pulled smoothly through the auto gear changes and the stutter was gone from the standing starts. Crisis averted, or so I thought. Now after some highway driving at 90 to a 100 kms/h when you back off to a much slower speed like going into a roundabout but not stopping completely when you accelerate coming out she coughs and sputters then she regathers her composure and away she goes. Any ideas on this new dilemma would be greatly appreciated as the princess is talkin demotion to stable hand and hate shoveling manure.

So I pulled the air cleaner cover off gave the throttle a squirt and a nice clean stream of fuel came out. So I started her let her warm up and checked out the idle jet was functioning the fuel was reasonably steady but was a little bubbly at times. So I gave it some throttle and the fuel stream was steady and direct. In regard to the electronic ignition are the complete electronic distributors on ebay any good seems like a whole lot less mucking around for a reasonable price considering I will probably need a new dizzy and rotor.

Hey Banjo I only just rebuilt the carby. Replaced everything that cam in the kit and thoroughly cleaned it all out of all the gravel that was in the fuel bowl and unblocked all the jets that were fouled by varnish. I will have a chance this arvo to pull the air cleaner off and see whats cooking. I will let you know if I come up with anything of interest.

Hey Banjo Thanks for the witty reply. The rolla is treated with kid gloves the princess has put all of her money and a bunch of mine as well as a lot of time and effort to get it to where it is now. She is aware of how it needs to be driven and is respectful of this. So there is no pedal to the metal. She cruises and enjoys the the many looks that it draws. It is hard to describe the fault. Probably bogging down would be a better description of the hesitancy to take off then it goes. It is only for like half a second which can seem like an eternity to a new driver with someone breathing down their neck at an intersection. When I had the dizzy cap off i checked the contacts and they were a bit oxidised so i gave them a hit with wet and dry. Like I said it is running well in every aspect just this annoying take off. It is baffling. I don t know if that gives you anymore to go. So let me know what you reckon.

Hey Guys I'm back again at the request of the princess. She has been cruising around in her 55 hardtop for a short while now and all is well in her kingdom of cool. However upon my arrival from work last week i was greeted by her scary scowl. I was soon berated about how badly her car was running. A quick sprint up the street and I have to say it was as ragged as my bank balance. It was coughing and barking struggling to idle and was way down on power all my fault apparently. So with her arms crossed and her foot tapping at an angry pace I popped the bonnet and looked for anything obvious. Nothing. I checked the plugs, the points had a small blast on the contacts which i filled flat and reinstalled. I found an emergency set of leads that i swapped out. Turned her over and away she went. Checked the timing a perfect 8 degrees. Went for a drive and she was back to normal. The only issue that is displeasing to the princess is when you take off from a standing start it hesitates not a great deal but enough to cause her concern. I have since changed the fuel filter as i found the element had come lose inside the housing and was doing nothing. The car is an auto and i was wondering could it be just a typical thing for the sluggish response or could it be something more sinister carby related bearing in mind I successfully rebuilt the carby only a short while ago with your help. So any advice would be greatly appreciated. Peace needs to be restored to the kingdom of cool

Oh no when she has seen those pics my life will be nothing but trolling the internet to find one or a matching set. I will widen my search overseas. i have noticed that some interesting bits and pieces come out of that area. Wish me luck fellow rolla fans. I will keep you posted on my progress in case i discover the lost garage of rolla spares somewhere out there.

I have gone to wise and powerful google and checked out images of lite ace vehicles and the mirrors don t look too similar and the mounting brackets are shaped to fit the profile of the door which is different to that of the KE55. There are some for sale on Ebay out of Thailand that are a completely different shape which displeases the princess. So any other bright ideas would be most welcome.