altezzaclub

True, but $140 is two tanks of gas & I'd probably never use them again. Like the ratchet ring spanners I'd like to have but can't justify buying...

Here is the factory wiring diagram. The green dots show the low beam R/G wire has a junction at the dipswitch that goes off to the blue light. Flick to high beam and the power in the low beam wire goes through the blue light. Now, inside the dipswitch is a stack of copper fingers with contact buttons on, attached to the wires and controlled by a plastic column with steps on it. The fingers are drilled so they only get moved by some steps. In the 'rest' position, the lights are on high and power from the stock R/Y high beam is earthed. The column does nothing. When you pull the dipswitch back towards you it pushed the plastic column forwards and lifts the high beam finger off the earth, simultaneously pushing the low beam R/G onto the other side of that earth finger. When you pull it back again to flash your lights, even though they are not turned on, it earths BOTH sets of lights AND connects the stock headlight relay to earth which powers the lights. If it goes wrong, it can be fixed, although be careful of the plastic getting brittle. One other thing I found.... there is an unused headlight connector behind the driver's headlight, and if you plug a 3rd headlight bulb into it THE BLUE LIGHT WORKS!

Ok, with this thread revival I did some more work on things that niggled me about this conversion.The original diagram had a drawing of the three pins at the back of a bulb, labelled COM, HI, LO, which is the 'common', the power supply, (red/black wire R/B) and the pins taking power back through the 'high beam' filament (red /yellow R/Y) or the 'low beam' filament. (red/green R/G ) Now, I reckon they had this wrong. They have the LOW opposite the COM on the plug, with the HIGH on the top tab. Here is the diagram and a picture of my passenger's headlight plug facing towards you. It will plug into a bulb with the HIGH opposite the COM. This is important, as their wiring diagram in the top left corner is correct. The blue 'high-beam' light doesn't work when on low beam, as the low beam bulb earths out through the same wire. However when you switch to high beam, the power in that line goes to earth through the blue light and it shines. Without using the stock low beam circuit we need to fit that diode & resistor to make it light up.

If you have a 0-100deg thermometer around the house use that. Before you start it up remove the rad cap, put in the thermometer an let it idle until hot. Check the thermometer against the dash gauge now and then. If it is head gasket you should see it at the same time. With the thermostat in (in case you've taken it out!) fire it up without the rad cap and watch for flooding over and bubbles coming up over 5minutes. The moment the water gets warm to touch the test is over. What happens is the bubbles can't get past the closed thermostat very easily so expand downwards and push the water up from the bottom of the rad, then they come out. Once the thermostat opens they just bleed out. Not like the foam you had when you drained it at all, and if it was blown you would notice that you lost the top couple of inches of water but no more. If you filled the rad, you would lose it again, but then no more. If it can hold the temp at the halfway mark then the cooling system should be fine.

If it is suddenly working now it suggests a bad connection on the starter that you have inadvertently fixed. At least you now have some experience for the next time it happens. Idle speed doesn't burn that much fuel unless you spend a lot of time idling. You will see the screw at the end of the throttle linkage on the carb, screwing it in just opens the throttle a bit. I can't photograph mine for you as I gave it away & fitted SU carbs. Along with that is the idle mixture screw, which determines the fuel to air ratio at idle, and you should set that to give maximum idle speed before you set the idle speed screw. Wind the mixture in and then out in half-turn amounts to pick the fastest smooth idle speed, (with a warm engine) then adjust the actual idle speed screw to get it where you want it. Over heating is a separate issue, you may find your motor is running around the maximum capacity your cooling system can handle. That could be from a dirty radiator, poor thermostat, worn water pump, incorrect gauge or sensor.... you would need to do a bit of checking of the components to see if each is OK. Start a new topic on that if you think its a problem. Just a question- does your car have bolts and nuts on the starter motor, or just bolts that screw into a thread??

Take the thermostat out and try running the car without it, although if it is half-open when you take it out of a cold motor you have probably solved it. Head gasket also crossed my mind, but that is usually accompanied by starting problems or losing water. Can you pull the plug leads off one at a time when its running rough and see if it is one cylinder only?? That would be a step forward, although it will probably die each time you pull one off.... Also- if you leave it idling and keep it running, does the fan hold the temp steady?? That would mean the cooling system can handle maximum heat output. -or take it for a run up some steep hills then let it idle at the top. The halfway mark temperature shouldn't be all that much of a problem to the motor if the gauge is reading correctly, but it it is only going to halfway at 95deg it could mean trouble.

Do you want to go downdraught or sidedraught. The sidedraught DCOE will perform better, but will need a new inlet manifold to fit it. The downdraught DGAV are quite common 2nd-hand and the adapter plate kit can easily be boght new to fit it onto the existng inlet manifold. You could run anything from 30/32 to the usual 32/36, depending on what you can find at a wrecker- almost any old Euro car or English Ford. Someone on here has a 28/30 they are using I think. Alternatively a 40DCOE would do with 35mm chokes, like the 1275 Mini Cooper.

So, is it OK at normal running temp when you first arrive at the lights? Is it just the extra 10 degrees of temperature from sitting without the fan running that makes it rough?

haha! yeah, just phoned my Mum, her birthday... April 1st, must have been hell when she was a girl!

Can't put a 2" long spacer tube in the bottom mount at the bell housing?? Push the outside of the tube 2" back and leave the inner just the right length. If you take up that 2" slack, does the clutch work OK?? Fork moves correctly, clutch disengages? I'd make sure of that before changing cables and then finding another problem.

I've got a set that need the holes drilling out to 18.5mm with a fair degree of accuracy, so I'm interested too.

Well, that makes it cheaper- Buy the halfcut for $2K, drop the stock motor and box straight in, fit a radiator somehow, make up the mounts yourself, then all you have to do is sort a diff and driveshaft. Should make a mean paddock-basher. You don't need to worry about brakes or suspension or roaworthy/scrutineers, so it becomes pretty simple.

Actually, you're right in getting a ratchet ring and trying that. They are a great idea, just get a 12/13mm and a 14/17mm if they have combinations, or one of each of those sizes will do most things on a car. If I was 40years younger I'd buy a set, but its just not worth it these days.... I've got a 40year-old Koken socket set!

Well.. standing at the front of the car and looking at the starter, you turn it downwards, or clockwise. Lefty-loosy righty-tighty only works if you are looking at the nut or bolt directly, so if you were lying on the floor behind the starter leaning over the bell-housing it would be righty-loosy...

Seriously, I can't see it being either of those problems. What sort of airflow meter? I have a MAF on the Altezza that needs a spray of cleaner every year as the oil vapour from the motor coats the element. That's just a little plastic plug with a couple of wires sticking out, and the car is sharper in response afterwards but nothing as bad as yours when its dirty. So, you don't have a warmup cycle problem. It could be fuel starvation, it seems as though the pump can't supply enough flow... Fuel line blocked, filter blocked, pump dying... Wiring problems would involve a computer somewhere, some component gets hot when working and dies, cools off when you stop and starts working again.. Unless some wire is jammed against a sharp edge and it can short out while running, then somehow free itself when stopped. Do they have error codes in the system? You'll have to wait until the 4AGE gurus answer I think, some of the guys on here know all about them.

The killer strippers had some pretty toxic chemicals in, so they went to chlorinated hydrocarbons (perc & tric, drycleaning fluids really) then the Govt wanted to ban those so the new ones are environmentally friendly but as weak as shit. Try a couple of small cans and then buy the best one in bulk. About $16 for a Lindbide, but copies might be cheaper & just as good.

I don't think it matters, so long as the pump can pick up fuel from the tank is should run at the same output pressure. Whip the Weber off and strip it to clean it, and do the pump test while the pipe is floating there.

Nothing you can do to the bottom ed to give more power, but you can make the power more efficient by lightening the flywheel and balancing the whole rotating system. If you were building a racer I say lighten the crankshaft too, as lightening the rotating mass means the motor spins up faster. The increases in power come from the breathing, so better carbs & inlet system, a better cam grind, a better exhaust manifold and pipe system, and higher compression. Same thing, if it was a racer you could change the porting, the combustion chamber and re-shape the valves, but its not worth it for a road car.

Clockwise as you look at it from the front of the car. The KEs greatest fail I'm afraid, a tilted engine woth everything crammed on the worst side and the started under it all... I remember using long socket extensions and doing one bolt from underneath. Another good way is a ring/open spanner on the bolt (with the ring!) and another ring/open with its ring on the first spanner's open end. Kaffir job, but it doubles the length & leverage if you have room to swing it. If not, can you hold the ring on and tap the open end wth a hammer under the exhaust manifold somehow?

Well on a flat smooth garage floor, pull some heavy cotton or fine hard string around the car under the tyres. Draw along the string with fine chalk or a thick pencil or whatever. Drive the car out, extend the drawn lines to the corners of a rectangle and measure the two diagonals. That will tell you how far out that wheel is, and how it may be an optical illusion in the guard. There's probalby other ways to get a line down the center axis of the car, or paralell lines down each side, and see if that wheel really does stick out or not. Its certainly very odd if everything is matched side to side.

Paint stripper & a Lindbide scraper that you pull towards yourself, with replaceable tungsten blades. Be very careful of the edges of the blades digging in, but it does a brilliant job. We did the top edges all down one side.

If the oil leaks out past the seal, do the wheel bearings run dry? I assume you fitted a new seal with the last lot of wheel bearings, so maybe the axle is grooved where the seal sits and it can't seal. You might have got it slightly sideways when you put it in, or distorted the seal rim, or a bit of dirt where the seal sits... All you can do is pull the axle out and inspect the seal to find out where the oil is getting out- outside the seal outer or past the seal inner.

Grab a $10 multimeter at Jaycar and check the resistance going back to the battery -ve from the tail lights. Check the bulbs for any corrosion, as towe said there's a bad connection in there somewhere and the lights are trying to earth out back through the system. The dipswitch might be the problem in the headlights, I'm having the same problem myself. It has low beam only, yet full beam comes up correctly when I manually short out the wire under the bonnet. The dipswitch works OK on the bench with a meter, but doesn't seem to carry current in the car. The bulbs have power as soon as you turn the lights on, both high and low, and they earth to complete the circuit back through the dipswitch. Dip is 'default on', and full beam needs to be switched.

Manual gives it instant sparkle and go! Swap to a K50 later on when you find one, I'd expect the auto diff to be a lower ratio if it is like the KE70.

Only if they're gas and one has gone flat, or if a shaft is bent and jamming... What did the wheel alignment guy say? He should have measured the paralell track on each side. Are the cambers the same?? When you say the springs are the same height, that is measured from the base cup tp the spring top in car?? Can you measure from the base cup down to the bottom of the strut accurately? I'd say mismatched struts and/or lower control arm, the sad alternative would be a bent chassis mount.