853 replies to this topic

[timmy850]

That is a really nice wheel. Mine came from Japan with one but I sold it and fitted the airbag steering wheel as I thought it would fail the pink slip without it....

That’s a shame, although it’s more important to be able to legally register the car than have a shiny steering wheel!

I ordered the new horn button today, but the shipping estimate is 14-45 days so I won’t be holding my breath..

[timmy850]

I’ve got a coat of paint on the head now and it’s all ready to assemble

[GraemeC]

I would try and clean up the spark plug threads - don't forget the plugs need to earth to the engine

[Jared Mk3]

Looks smart 

[timmy850]

I would try and clean up the spark plug threads - don't forget the plugs need to earth to the engine

Thanks, that's a good idea. I was going to use a set of old sparkplugs to cover the threads, but I couldn't find any old ones lying around.

 

Looks smart 

Very similar to yours in fact!

[Jared Mk3]

 

Looks smart 

 

Very similar to yours in fact!

 

Looks identical. Mine is listed as John Deere green.

[timmy850]

In a shocking turn of events my horn button turned up in 14 days from China, which is two days earlier than the earliest estimate! 

 

Estimated delivery Wednesday, Aug 29, 2018 - Thursday, Oct 4, 2018

 

Rather unsurprisingly despite the ad on eBay saying "The product center will have a random pattern" and having photoshopped blank photos of the horn button it's turned up with a Nardi logo in the middle. Seeing as eBay is full of fake Nardi wheels I knew there had to be a source of the replica horn buttons somewhere:

https://www.ebay.com...tm/263774516170

 

So it's pretty good for $12.50, especially when the genuine ones are more than 10x the price. Let's hope it fits the wheel!

 

[timmy850]

The button will fit, but I will need a new horn retaining ring. In addition to MOMO and Nardi wheels having a different PCD they also have a different horn ring size (50mm / 55mm). I’ve got a new horn ring on the way which should be here this week! At least it looks nice in place for the moment

 

Edited by timmy850, 28 August 2018 - 09:54 PM.

[timmy850]

I've now got the horn button sorted and working    

I made a cover plate for the heater valve. I will paint this with crackle black paint in the future when it's a bit warmer

[timmy850]

I went on the big trip to Rylstone again this year. I drove my friend James in his car for a couple of reasons, but mostly because his car has over double the power! We cruised up to the Gosford car museum on Friday and had a look through the cars

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Saturday morning we met up with the group. This year it was a 364km route (assuming no wrong turns)

 

 

 
We had a really smooth run out with no real issues all. There was a bit of scrubbing at the rear due to the extra weight of the luggage but that was it. We also seemed to use a lot of fuel, but that might have been due to the fact we were going full throttle the majority of the way there 

 
We made really good time this year, with still some sunlight left. We managed a couple of cold beers out in the beer garden before we headed inside for dinner and a catch up near one of the many fireplaces!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Here is a video driving the main street on Sunday morning 
https://www.instagra...ton_share_sheet
 
Over the three days we did about 800km. James' car has a tuned 1275 with a Dellorto 40 DHLA and Maniflow RCM exhaust. His car sounds absolutely awesome and we made a couple of noisy starts using the RPM launch limiter. I learned a couple of things on the trip:
Dellorto/Webers sound freaking awesome, but at the same time perfectly liveable on a long trip. I need some more of this in my life!
I need a louder exhaust for my car for the same reason
For a car that gets driven around once a week I've decided my car needs to be a bit louder and more enjoyable to drive... I already have a quiet and reliable daily driver, and sometimes you just have to do the things you really want to and make some irrational decisions.
 
So, step one towards a more involving drive, I've borrowed a KN cone filter for the HS4. It's obviously got a lot more induction noise which is a step in the right direction! It's about the same noise when cruising at a constant speed but there is more noise accelerating. The next stage might be a bit more drastic, so might be a couple of weeks yet.

 
We also had a local drive a two weekends ago, and the weather was perfect!

There was a stop for morning tea and then out to a pub for lunch

Edited by timmy850, 21 September 2018 - 04:34 AM.

[Vinay-RS]

That is a properly long drive. That car museum looks like a must-see type of place for any petrolhead. Where is it located? My brother lives in Sydney and I think he'd love to go to visit this place.  

 

Is your friend's Mini an S? I see it has the right-hand fuel tank.  

[Jared Mk3]

Nothing wrong with a few mods 

[timmy850]

That is a properly long drive. That car museum looks like a must-see type of place for any petrolhead. Where is it located? My brother lives in Sydney and I think he'd love to go to visit this place.  

 

Is your friend's Mini an S? I see it has the right-hand fuel tank.  

Hi Vinay, the car museum is at Gosford. It's about 90km north of the airport in Sydney. The cars are always changing, so there has been something different to see the last 3 years. 

 

My friends car is a Deluxe. They had windup doors, hydro and 998 engines. This one has had a lot of work done to it, extra tank, engine swaps, couple of different carb setups, different wheels. He lets me drive him in his car whenever suits. He is also very good at doing exactly what he wants to the car and trying and experiencing different things

Nothing wrong with a few mods 

Yep! It really hit home on that trip that you can have a really fun to drive car and take it long distances without any problems or drawbacks at all. I hope to have some more of the spirit of his car soon!

[Vinay-RS]

 

That is a properly long drive. That car museum looks like a must-see type of place for any petrolhead. Where is it located? My brother lives in Sydney and I think he'd love to go to visit this place.  

 

Is your friend's Mini an S? I see it has the right-hand fuel tank.  

Hi Vinay, the car museum is at Gosford. It's about 90km north of the airport in Sydney. The cars are always changing, so there has been something different to see the last 3 years. 

 

My friends car is a Deluxe. They had windup doors, hydro and 998 engines. This one has had a lot of work done to it, extra tank, engine swaps, couple of different carb setups, different wheels. He lets me drive him in his car whenever suits. He is also very good at doing exactly what he wants to the car and trying and experiencing different things

 

Thanks. I'll let him know. He's got to go see this place. The cars look amazing. 

 

He's got the right idea. Modify your car as you want to and enjoy it. If the mod is reversible, you can always swap things back if it doesn't suit what you're looking for. 

My only reservation on fitting a weber carb is the need to cut the box in the firewall. 

[timmy850]

 

 

That is a properly long drive. That car museum looks like a must-see type of place for any petrolhead. Where is it located? My brother lives in Sydney and I think he'd love to go to visit this place.  
 
Is your friend's Mini an S? I see it has the right-hand fuel tank.

Hi Vinay, the car museum is at Gosford. It's about 90km north of the airport in Sydney. The cars are always changing, so there has been something different to see the last 3 years. 
 
My friends car is a Deluxe. They had windup doors, hydro and 998 engines. This one has had a lot of work done to it, extra tank, engine swaps, couple of different carb setups, different wheels. He lets me drive him in his car whenever suits. He is also very good at doing exactly what he wants to the car and trying and experiencing different things

 

Thanks. I'll let him know. He's got to go see this place. The cars look amazing. 
 
He's got the right idea. Modify your car as you want to and enjoy it. If the mod is reversible, you can always swap things back if it doesn't suit what you're looking for. 
My only reservation on fitting a weber carb is the need to cut the box in the firewall.

 

A Weber carb doesn't necessarily need a box in the firewall, the car above has a 3.75" Warneford manifold with a filter and makes plenty of power without cutting the firewall. Webers and Dellortos seem to be a bit more popular over here for a couple of reasons. The HIF44 that's popular in the UK was never factory fitted to any cars out here so they aren't available everywhere as cheap. I think there is a bit more local experience with Weber carbs than SU carbs. Why else they are popular I'm not sure!
 
It was a nice sunny day today and I had a day off so I washed and cleaned the car (which I think is the first time since the show in January) and thought it was a good chance to take some photos of the car at the moment.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went up to help my friend James with his car. He is going all out at the moment with a vmax weber supercharger kit, which has turned into much more work than we ever thought!