My '77 convertible...

[ADDvanced]

Don't worry about the oil. My car smoked real bad for years, to the point where people would ask me if my car was on fire. lol.

[ZeroHecksGiven]

Short update, but she’s running and idling. Need to acquire a proper tool to measure the air/fuel, so no road trips planned until all that stuff is gone through and a proper tune is done. Plenty to still address here, but at least it’s starting and I feel like easier to diagnose and work through.

Will do a proper update tonight or tomorrow.

Thank you again to everyone who helped with this. I’ll keep updating this thread as I work on her and clean it up.

[PeteKz]

Before I solved my oil leaks, I got some drips that would work their way into the HEs and cause smoke outside and oil fumes in the car. Also, when I was driving in the rain, I would get some water into the HEs and get steam on the windshield before it evaporated out.

I did a couple things: 1. I drilled two 1/8" holes in the bottom forward parts of the HEs to allow water and oil to drain out. 2. I used some high temp RTV on the upper seams of the HE to help keep water and oil from getting into the HEs in the first place.

Seems to work good.

[ZeroHecksGiven]

Thank you @ADDvanced and especially @PeteKz.

Update time.

Thursday, with the advice from Pete, we adjusted the mixture screw. We started with a 1/2 turn and it roughly idled with some popping and such. We turned another 1/4 turn and got it to idle pretty damn well, though, around 2K RPM. We played with it a little and let it idle, but after about a minute and we shut it down, we could hear bubbling coming out of the heat exchanger. My best guess is I pulled the n00b move of overfilling the oil and then had some go over and maybe even catch on fire inside there. We called it a night after letting it cool down.



Friday. Went back out, motivation kinda high, but also overwhelmed with anxiety that I something would go wrong. We had come so far, something was bound to get in our way, lol. We drained the two quarts of oil I had added early on, buttoned everything up and started 'er up. We made some back and forth adjustments to the mixture screw and the idle screw until it seemed "right" and then did a quick timing adjust.

Things seemed okay enough to see if this thing would roll down the street. We backed it out of the garage and did a lap around the block. Realized the brake pedal was sticking, but the e-brake seemed to work well enough. The fuel light was on, so we figured we'd also go add some fuel to the tank. No license plate, no turn signals, no brake lights since we're using the e-brake. Whatever.



I called my wife to come over and then we drove it even further. Did a good 45 minutes worth of driving around town. Got a few waves and for really the first time since I've had this car, had a smile on my face. Not just the momentary one. A little surreal at times honestly. The car was smoking a little still and a little sluggish up to about 3500 RPM, but no popping and started right up anytime we stopped to check on the engine or get out and admire this thing!



Made it back home in one piece. The next morning was a Caffeine & Gasoline event at Griots. It was Porsche themed, so I assumed mostly Porsches. Unfortunately, maybe half the cars were even german, so we parked down the street, walked around, met some folks, had some donuts and gave some our hard earned monies to Griots (so lucky to have this place in our backyard). Below are a couple of shots. One on the way to Griots and one parked on the street out front.






So what's next? Well, I need to make sure that mixture screw is set correctly. My brothers in law said he has a gas analyzer at his shop up in Seattle (Fine Tuning) and I can get up there in the next week or two. So I plan to get that dialed in. Redo the timing, dwell, etc. I'd like to get back to the fuel pressure as well, make sure all of that gets to where it should be.
Otherwise, just wanna clean up the car. Ditch the turbo badge on the back. Maybe get a ducktail. Replace the hideous rear view mirror. Dig into some of the electrical since I don't have turn signals or brake lights. Oh yeah, take a look at the brakes. Also trying to track down a vintage WA license plate so I'm semi-legal.

Just wanted to update everyone. I'm thankful for the help so far and super anxious to dig into some of the "smaller" issues and be able to take my time with it. Enjoy the process and stuff :P :P

[PeteKz]

Great to hear it's alive and driving. I'll have to see it at Griot's one of these days.

Brakes and lights are pretty essential, so I'd move those up the priority list. Change the brake fluid and check the pads, then drive the brakes hard and see how they work. If you need to replace the pads, use the Porterfield R4S pads.

Then back to the CIS. You can read up here about how to calibrate your WUR, but it's easier to send it to Tony. Gotta get those cold and warm control pressures set within spec before you do much else on the CIS. IDR if you gave your WUR number, it should be a 033.

And do something about that rearview mirror!

[ZeroHecksGiven]

Originally Posted by PeteKz

Great to hear it's alive and driving. I'll have to see it at Griot's one of these days.

Brakes and lights are pretty essential, so I'd move those up the priority list. Change the brake fluid and check the pads, then drive the brakes hard and see how they work. If you need to replace the pads, use the Porterfield R4S pads.

Then back to the CIS. You can read up here about how to calibrate your WUR, but it's easier to send it to Tony. Gotta get those cold and warm control pressures set within spec before you do much else on the CIS. IDR if you gave your WUR number, it should be a 033.

And do something about that rearview mirror!

Yeah, lights and brakes are definitely important. And that rearview mirror, ugh! I swear it blocks more of my vision than helps with it.

The WUR is an 033. I'll get that sorted, likely through Tony, but perhaps I'll tackle it (probably not). Thank you for the clarification on order of things here. Back to fuel pressure woes.

Would love to say hi if you end up at one of the Griots events. Seems to be a mixed experience for me, though it seems like they try to make it as inclusive as possible which is nice.
Thanks again!