S122A project commencing

Jamie R · July 16, 2021, 06:06:17 PM

Looking very nice !

Should be very proud

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Casey · July 16, 2021, 07:09:17 PM

Looking awesome!

Eccentric shaft · July 16, 2021, 07:26:27 PM

Thanks! Yes, totally in

with it. Just faulty earth connections to sort on the front side indicators and then start up time. Problem is we're forecast another week of rain, rain, rain, and more of the same. Anyway, promise the next picture I post will be taken outside the garage!

Eccentric shaft · July 20, 2021, 11:04:03 AM

Familiar turf to followers of this thread, but in case someone wants the short version:

And the start-up? Well, this morning had icy rain, fresh snow down to 600 masl and +5C.

Jamie R · July 20, 2021, 01:26:38 PM

Christ were all melting here !

Eccentric shaft · July 20, 2021, 02:37:33 PM

Dunno if this helps cool you down, but it'll make you feel lucky:

Eccentric shaft · July 29, 2021, 06:13:25 PM

Sun came back on Monday. Had a nearly successful start attempt, then car went dead. After discussing matters with my chief expert, I returned today. Re-did the accelerator connection on the carb (thanks, Kevin!). Found a faulty connection on trail dizzy and a connected old condenser on the lead dizzy. Since I'm running MSD-boxes (no live current over the contact breakers), those are superfluous, and might have caused some of the interference trouble.

Also took plugs out and checked they weren't flooded. Still no luck. A brief sign of some life, then nothing. Now battery needs a proper charge overnight. Then plan is to take the plugs back out tomorrow and give them a good warming with hot air, then try again. Wish me luck!

clive · July 29, 2021, 08:34:12 PM

Do you know you have a spark on every spark plug ?

Eccentric shaft · July 29, 2021, 08:41:50 PM

I definitely had when I parked up in October.

Will check again, of course.

Eccentric shaft · July 30, 2021, 02:21:50 PM

Yup, sparks are there. Have done 90 mins of starting attempts. First no life at all, then a little sign of life in the beginning.
No choke and a few shallow pumps on the accelerator prior to start made it fire up, first on one rotor, after a few more attempts on
both. Ran nice and even and sounded healthy, but still refuses to run more than 10-15 seconds max. Initial response to throttle good, but
the third time I apply it, it doesn't go down well. Engine dies. Got as far as to nearly put it in first gear, so very-very nearly there.

Now a break for contemplation and double-checking settings with Torstein the Carb Man.

All signs of pinkering and/or interference gone, so at least that is sorted. Phew! Sounds like ignition is correctly set. Filled the tank in October, so can't believe the petrol's off yet. Although they left tank lid off for quite some time at the paint shop...

Jamie R · July 30, 2021, 07:54:39 PM

Well that's progress ! It's a fine looking machine. Get it done

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Eccentric shaft · July 31, 2021, 12:41:44 PM

Carb settings were too lean:
Idle mixture was set at 1 full turn from bottom. Re-set at 1,5.
Idle adjust was set at 0,5 turn from bottom. Re-set at 1,5.
Once the plugs had cooled(!) engine fired up and ran for 20 sec. Died before I had time to give it some choke.
Think it would have worked.
Now battery is re-charging. Patienca amici!

Eccentric shaft · August 04, 2021, 11:06:58 AM

Why do I call my Rx2 Noriaki? It's named after this living legend, also a Japanese 1972 model:

Eccentric shaft · August 04, 2021, 06:56:38 PM

Not quite back to square one, but waiting for parts. Yep, it's that story again...
In the meantime managed to tidy up a bit in the engine room.

Eccentric shaft · August 12, 2021, 06:55:02 PM

Finally, today, the Rx2 let out an almighty ROAR and fired up. Throttle linkage is all wrong and getting stuck, but that is less important right now. What a relief!

What's been going on? Well, the refurbished carb, gorgeous as it looked, for some reason didn't let through any fuel. So the car would only run on what I managed to feed it through the accelerator pump before staring up. Once that was burnt up, the engine died. The company kindly and promptly gave me a refund on the job. Nice as that was, it didn't help me get out driving. So it was our good Rotary Enthusiast Elves came to the rescue. I was sent a replacement carb in the mail.

Eager to whack it onto the engine and hit the road, I have to admit I was more than a tad disappointed when I opened the box. What stared me in the face, was a sad Nikki corpse that looked and smelled of zombie. This (pardon my expression) choke-deprived piece of junk reduced to two-barrel function was rumored to have worked recently. It appeared, I was meant to combine the top of my "refurbished" carb with the bottom part of this decaying corpse. Overcoming an initial phase of denial and refusal, Dr Frankenstein (played here by yours truly) set to work in some kind of mad euphoria and constructed a monster from the parts, nearly suffering a couple of mental breakdown in the process. The monster that came out of this desperate effort could scare the socks off seasoned mechanics. Nonetheless, it was installed, in all its hideousness...

..and no starting attempts were made that day (Frankenstein had hit rock bottom by now, and there was no Igor there to boss around either).
First attempt drowned in fuel (which was probably the only positive aspect of the ordeal). The experiment was then put on hold while the sinister doctor tended to other matters. But then, after a few more hours of checks and adjustments, and without any great hope of success: It came ALIVE! (feel free to add a classic, mad professor laugh of your choice here)

The age of miracles made a swift return visit. Let's hope the going gets easier from here, or the Angry Villagers will soon gather and threaten to burn my garage to the ground!