Well, maybe not all the way just yet, but still, I gotz fire! I pulled the distributor assembly today and replaced the points, condenser, rotor, cap and wires. Special thanks to NoFuel’s Dad for the pointers on setting the point gap and all. Looking back now, it really wasn’t as hard as I thought is was going to be.
Still, I think I have some injector issues. I re-plumbed the upper fuel lines with honest to goodness fuel injection hose. A pain, but it had to be done. After getting everything back together I tried cranking it with some starter fluid, and it coughed to life. Maybe just for a second or two, but the fire was back, and it sounded good.
I went ahead and ordered a set of injectors and trigger points. I’ve come this far, why not have a completely new fuel and ignition system? I think it’ll be best in the long run.
The worst thing is I can still smell the ether from the starter fluid.
Woot. Parts are here. I was hoping that it’d be warm tomorrow so I could work on the distributor, but I think it’s going to be cold. The good news is that the primary coil is hot, it’s just not firing on the secondary. I’m going to pull the dist assembly and replace the points, condenser, rotor, cap and wires. If that doesn’t get some fire, then I got bigger problems.
Vintage 1988, shortly after restoration and upgrades. There’s a couple of pix of Dad and I at an autocross school in Radford, and a race here in town. It’s hard to believe that we were that young once.
Ok, so now I’m learning all about ignition systems, old school. I found my spare brain, and it has a Bosch referb sticker on it. I pulled the installed one and it looks like it’s original equipment. I swapped them out, but still no fire. And then there’s the distributor…..
There’s another kick to the nuts, I got no fire and no joy. Yet another subsystem that needs working on. I’m about ready to tow it to a shop and get them to fix it. It’s cold as a bitch and I’m frankly getting tired of finding shit to fix. I completely understand the fuel system thing, and the brakes, but damn, not even a weak spark at the plugs. Oh, and it’s not the coil, I checked that already.
Well, I encountered an issue with the fuel system. I have to re plumb the upper fuel system. Unfortunately it’s got fuel in it now, which is gonna be a hassle. And I have to replace the fuel injector seals. Meh, done it once, I’ll do it again.
The good news is that the new stainless lines are on the car. Woot! I’m considering this a major accomplishment. One of the clips that holds the union for the flexible lines is a real pain to get off. I won, nuf said. I really have to dump some pix and post them in the gallery.
That’s right, I’m starting to keep the tech down on the off hours. Anyway, I got through round two at the DMV, and I got my plates comming. Woot! Funny thing, back in teh day, the 914 was said to have a computer controlled EFI onboard, but looking at it now, I’d be hard pressed to call it a CPU (no IC Chips). I have a spare somewhere, if I find it I’ll try to get in and see what’s in the large sardine can.
It all averages out. DMV was an experience, and in my good fortune I got a good rep. Unfortunately a form was missing as well as a small section to be filled out on the old title. Bummer, but I know it’ll all flow smooth tomorrow when I go back, and not all up in a bunch.
Ok, so I went out and got some bling for the 14 today.
It’s coming along, slowly, but progress is being made. Special thanks to Jeff, Steven, Matt and Curt for lending a hand in one form or another. Big thanks to Matt for helping me swap the old fuel lines for the new stainless ones last Sunday.
Hit the jump for more history and the work in progress.