Project \'rotarvette\'

[yoeddynz]

If you are happy to come and remove what ever you need and buy me a pint ( very lucky me as I have a pub but 1 minutes walk from my garage...this could be a problem now as I have just discovered that I can get a wireless signal...there goes work on the car on a cold winter night out the window....) then come and grab the bits.

The window is intact. the demister matrix seems fine. switches are all there and working.  the wiper motor works.

alex

[yoeddynz]

door locks fine too- take the whole lot and the keys.

[shaunwil]

oooh sounds like a plan. Only real downside is your 180miles away Will have to get back to you ! Doh, Doh, Doh !!!!

Shaun

[yoeddynz]

OK- see what you can do and I\'ll see if I can get hannah to remove whatever to keep her busy....

Meanwhile I just bought another chevette.... very nice too....I\'m very happy. definately only done 25,000 miles and seems really solid! So far I\'ve not found a spot of rust- wicked.
drove it back from london village last night and the auto box was much better then i expected.
interior is mint. tonight i\'ll messure up and see what room there is for NORMAL pedals...


Its BROWN!!!!!!

Wow- This is now my 4th chevette. Does that mean I have a problem?

[shaunwil]

Not to worry, if you could give me a price for the locks that would be great !

Shaun

[mullins]

yoeddynz, can you email me - hayden at aotearotor.co.uk thanks

[travellinbob]

Yes you do have a problem. But there are people that canhelp you! if you find them let the rest of us know!
  If you are not going to use the wiring harness out of the 7 would you be interested in parting it out of the shell and sending it on up to me for a fee? I also need the little black thing that the wires go into, sorry being a ****, think it is called the voltage regulator? Nice wee shed too. Like the way you have personalised it with the hanging baskets!
 cheers,michael.

[yoeddynz]

Voltage regulator...hmmmm....I\'ll have to check as I\'m not sure if i\'ll be needing that bit for the conversion? All the wiring in the chevette will be redone with veiw to hiding it so I\'ve taken out loads of bits in case they are needed. I\'ll read the haynes bedside reading book and see if I can work out if I need it- or if I have it? I think the alternator has been changed for one with an internal reg though..

Shaunwil... I\'ll remove the locks and ignition and work out a price depending on how many times I scrape my Knuckles.

I checked over the car last night- climbed all about underneth and looked everywhere and could not find one spot of rust anywhere!!!
Things like rusty stone chips and scratches etc but nothing needing more then a quick sand, neutralize and dab of paint.

I\'m so so happy. And I\'m warming to the brown- in low light it looks black. I\'ll just drive it at night.
master cylinder is going and its missing some badges.

I measured between the two and there seems to be about an inch or so less space in the drivers well to the left of the column...so out with a big hammer then.

Now the problem of what do I do with the other one? I\'m going to need a few bits and peices off it like pedal box, master cylinder and other little odds and sods but Its too solid to scrap!
My solution to stop me losing sleep over the death of a chevette is to take the bits I need and sell what ever else I can to make up what the first one cost me. Then offer the rest etc to someone who needs a good solid shell for free.
I\'ll soon have a 25,000 mile motor and a great brown/beige interior up for grabs plus loads of other goodies.

Does this all sound sane?

[shaunwil]

Cheers that would be great !

Shaun

[mr.bishi]

I will be ditching the standard carb for a Weber IDA

Mad project dude......out of interest,where are you getting the Weber and manifold from?

[yoeddynz]

I got the manifold from NZ when I came over and and the Carb I will probably buy new from eurocarb...
cheers
alex

[mr.bishi]

I got the manifold from NZ when I came over and and the Carb I will probably buy new from eurocarb...
cheers
alex

What do you do with the oil metering gubbins when you switch carbs?

[yoeddynz]

sorry for late reply but I dont get on the net that often.
If you check out the old school rotarys section I started a thread titled \'13B NA\' and its got loaads of great info on there including stuff about metering units. Its been a big learning curve for me- I\'m still learning loads!.. and guys like \'old one\' seem to know all the stuff so check it out.

Do you have a project in mind?....

alex.

[mr.bishi]

Do you have a project in mind?....

alex.

Nah,nothing specific yet......i\'ve only owned my first rotary for about 3 weeks so far so i\'m trying to learn as much as possible and what\'s possible for what budget..

I\'ve been reading about the use of 2stroke pre-mix rather than the omp but there never seems to be a definative answer..

[yoeddynz]

No posts recently but work on the car has been going well!
Hannah took it out for a day of general hacking about town and even with an autobox she came back well happy with it which is good as shes paying half of all costs...

First thing i did after that was to give it a good clean. Then some Halfords cutting compound to take off the dull paint followed by some really good wax I brought over from NZ.
Looking nice and shiney on the outside- and showing all the dents dammit.    
Next step.. the inside- my theory on car projects is that if the interior is a nice to be in then everytime I hop inside  I\'ll just want to finish it and drive it.
And when drinking tea (or whatever else) inside car it\'ll be more satisfying making brmmm brmm sounds..

So out with the mint but yucky brown interior and in with the grey from the other car. Whille all the cards were out I cleaned out the dust and other crap that accumulates in doors- found a diasbled parking permit - and waxoyled the lot. It looks as if its had some waxoyl or something in the past unless the factory puts some thing in there? Swapped the dashes over- now black not brown. Swapped over pedal boxes.

I removed the carpet and found the factory build sheet under the noise insulation! Among all the info it lists the optional extras that car was to have including heavyduty suspension which explains the US made bright red Gabriel front shocks I spotted.


I\'d bought some recaros from ebay. Out of some rs fiesta they bolted in really easy- pictures later when its all sorted inside.

Engine bay time. Removed old lump. Then weighed it. 115kgs with both manifolds and alt, starter etc. auto box weighed in at 45 kgs!
I then weighed mazda engine with new inlet manifold but old heavy carb plus starter and alt.....130kgs! I did think it would be lighter but there is alot of iron there. Mazda box weighs in at 35 so overall sod all difference then.
Sod nows what my old 2.3 in NZ weighed then- I know a pintos about 190kgs!


Removed the front crossmember and with loads of petrol and a big old tray to sit it in removed the 23 years worth of gunk. I cut off old engine mounts- no going back there. Discovered bad surface rust under them so its a good place to check on a rusty car if you\'ve got the crossmember out.


Treated it all and on with some black hammerite.

Refit crossmember and then cut out all the wiring, removed the master cylinder, vacuum unit and brake lines.
On with cleaning engine bay out- loads of paint gone from a leaky master cylinder. I\'ve now decided that once engine mounts are sorted i\'ll paint the bay shiney grey as the brown makes the bay seem small and dark.
Removed heater box and found loads of leaf matter lurking. What the hell is the sticky blu-tack like goo used to seal the lot in place? I think i\'ll use silicon to replace it..

Today I lowered the rotary in place- then took it out. It seems that compared to the Aussie geminis where they just hammer the hell outta the tunnel my tunnel is lower? Maybe autos have a low wide tunnel but I didnt want to hammer it that much as it would only end up with loads of dents and cracks. So out with mr makita jigsaw and chop the top off.
I didnt like the shape of the tunnel top anyhow...



Lowered it back in (easy too) and with a jack under the box I have it where its going to sit. Looks nice in there and sits almost smack in the middle.




So the gearbox is long!  Gearlever will be to far back but the aussies shorten the linkage and 100 mms forwards would be fine. My haynes RX7 manual shows a different box shape so I\'ll pull the top off and have a gander...
Tomorrow i\'ll measure up and build a engine crossmember.