Updates: Brakes, Suspension, and Ignition Help, Please! =o)

[Mockmaw]

Ahh, another full week of work on the car.. I have some digital shots of it, but they're currently sitting on the computer at home (I'm in Berkeley.) Things I did this week:

- Dropped the engine (unbelievably easy if you have a lift and overhead crane.)
- Replaced push rod tube seals, no more leaks!
- Cleaned much of the gunk off the engine
- Changed the oil
- Bled the brakes
- New wheels and tires (wheels from Bee Jay, tires provided by tirerack.com: very good experience on both accounts.)

Put it all back together, and it didn't start! Oh no! Turns out the wires on the starter were a little mixed up.. oops. So the car runs like a champ now! A few minor things:

1. Front right caliper needs a rebuild. After bleeding the brakes, they don't feel as a good as they should be. The pedal is harder now and the brakes are significantly better than before bleeding. However, with the front caliper needing a rebuild, I think I'm going to make a trip down to Hayward this week to see if I can find some 320 ATE calipers. Any idea how much calipers are from pick and pull places? Is it better to try to get a rebuilt set from the local auto parts store?

2. The tires (195/60/15's) are rubbing up against the fender lips. How does one go about folding the fender lip in? (aside from the obvious) What methods have people used to perform this?

3. The rear of my car is riding a little low. Unfortunately, since it has the original rear springs I can't adjust the spring height. What can I do to raise the ride height of the rear suspension? If I need to get new springs.. what are recommendations for a non-autocross/racing car (not looking for bone jarring stiffness, but I suppose a better performing suspension would be nice.)

4. Lastly, I'm about to sink some serious change into ignition improvements to my car. It seems to me that money into a pointless system with an MSD unit is money well spent. (after hearing many, many testimonials, I feel it will be well worth the investment of time and money.) I'm not looking to spend a huge load of money into this (read as, I'm not looking for the top of the line feature packed units). Ultimately, I want to add:

Multiple Spark and a
Pointless distributor system

I have a whole bunch of questions though. I've read through many old posts and the tech articles, but I'm still stumped.

I. There are several MSD units in the 6 series.. since I'm not burning for rev limiting (admittedly, it is nice, but I'm not racing and thus it's not really necessary.), I figured that the MSD-6A would be the one to go with. I did notice, however, that there is a significantly less expensive unit called the MSD-5200 that also provides multiple spark except that it's designed for street cars, not racing applications. Does anyone have any experience with this unit. Will it work in a 914?

II. What are the differences between the Crane/Allison XR700 and the Pertronix Ignitor systems? I can't seem to find any differences aside from personal preference.. have I overread anything major? Do both fit like a charm into the 914?

III. Do I need a new coil? I have the original in my car, and it'd be nice not to have to replace it. If I do.. is it better to go with another Bosch Blue Coil (which makes me worried since I've heard of foreign made phony blue coils that outright suck) or is there gain to be had in an aftermarket (Blaster or Flamethrower, for instance.) Is it difficult to mount aftermarket coils? I can't seem to tell if it's necessary to replace the coil, or if it's only needed if the old one is bad.. ?

IV. I replaced spark plug wires a few weeks ago with a set from the local auto parts store.. just as with the coil, will it be necessary to get new plugs wires?

More questions to come, I'm sure. =o)

[Jim Smolka]

For the rear, try a set of Koni adj shocks and 140 springs.

[J P Stein]

If you are running the FI, an MSD unit probably won't improve your ignition (IMO).

With carbs, it's a different story.....and a lot longer.

Generally:

Adding just the MSD is of little value if a hot coil (like their Blaster)
is not also used. With the hot coil comes high voltge (40/45K).
This allows an increase in the gapping of the plugs, but.....the plug wires can't handle this and 8.5 mm Magnacore (or an equal) wires are needed to prevent "bleeding" voltage......then we can get into rotor problems.....he,he.....it never ends.

I just went down this road and the MSD was a big help for my carbed motor. It increased the usable rpm range downward and the plugs no longer foul. Even starts easier.
I gapped the plugs at .05 but think I need to back it down somewhat. I have developed a miss at about 6800. It may not be getting enough spark at high rpms......tuning never ends, either.

If you must do this, the MSDs are not that pricy IF you know where to shop.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Rubbing tires: The fender lip usually gets folded under with just about anything you can imagine. I have even heard of people using tape-wrapped channel-locks to do the job. Also round implements between the tire and fender, much like "rolling" the fenders.

Point replacements: Single best thing you can do for your 914 motor IMHO--get rid of those $$^#$%@~!! points. I really hate messing with them... Pertronix uses the "Hall effect", and is magnetic in nature. Fits inside the distributor with no external sign that it's in there--except the lack of a condensor on the side of the distributor. Deals OK but not great with slop in the distributor. Quality used to be great, got much worse in the past few years. I don't know if it's good again or not now.

Crane's setup is optical; there is an LED and photosensor that goes inside the distributor, with slotted wheel that fits over the distributor shaft. Deals better with a distributor that is dying, but can only cope up to a certain extent. Has a box (about 2" by 3") that needs to be mounted somewhere in the car. Mine is on the firewall.

Compufire is another Hall-effect sensor. QC seems to be better than Pertronix, at least from the limited number of reports I have heard. Almost identical otherwise. ...We don't carry this one...

It's annoying that MSD wholesales their stuff far cheaper to some places than others. In fact, at least one mail-order outift retails their stuff for less than we can buy it for wholesale.

--DD

[J P Stein]

DD wrote:

>It's annoying that MSD wholesales their stuff far cheaper to >some places than others. In fact, at least one mail-order outift >retails their stuff for less than we can buy it for wholesale.

Hummmm.....going to have to be more subtle to slip anything by ole Dave.
Maybe a vague reference to a mountain top would have wurked....

[Mockmaw]

So, does anyone know anything about/have experience with the the MSD-5 (or MSD-5200) Unit?

As for the suspension, I've found someone locally selling a set of Koni adjustable shocks with springs. However, is it the shock or the spring that adjusts ride height?

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

In the front, the torsion bar adjustment (or in more extreme cases, pulling the adjuster off the bar and putting it back on one spline off) does the height adjustment.

In the rears, assuming you don't have Konis or Bilsteins, the adjustment is done by swapping in a shorter spring.

With the Konis or Bilsteins, adjustment can be done by messing with a C-clip that goes around the shock body.

--DD

[rfoulds]

But if the raer is already too low, your stock springs are shot. If you want a decent ride, no autocross, 100 lbs springs will do. Order them from Pelican for about $100 if I am not mistaken.

Put new OE Boge shocks in at the same time.

Then the rear will come up right to where it is supposed to be. Then you adjust the front to match, then re-do the four whell alignment.