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The American Dream - My Knight Rider KITT Project :-)



  Mazda Mx5 + Clio 172
Had a phone call from the garage this morning, they had to move kitt, and when they did he could tell immediately that there was something not right with the engine. Is firin on 6 maybe at best 7 cylinders. The main concern is that it's something serious. Like a dropped valve or bent cylinder. If so, then Christ only knows what to do :( he's gonna compression test it and strip down check plugs etc etc. just gonna have to keep everything crossed
 
  Mazda Mx5 + Clio 172
Things might be on the up. Had a few positive texts from Steve :-
Curiosity got the better of me..lol.
Just done a compression test on kitt..decent readings..not perfect but not 2 bad..should be within ten percent of each other..at 11.5 percent..couple a bit down on rest..maybe just a couple o valves a bit tight..think oil leak is valve covers so need to come off anyway..can re do valve lash at same time and go from there..oh and plugs are wrong ones..that won't be helping matters..and u got 3 massive vacuum leaks..

No prob..lowest was 135 psI..
Highest was 150 psI..like I said not fantastic but perfectly servicable..fear not sire..we shall sort it..;-)

They were...whoever swapped ecu controlled carb for the edelbrock should av changed distributor at same time..advance on timing was controlled by ecu..now that's out of action the ignition system can't advance itself..it will never ever run right with this dizzy still in..we need a new one..

Not a fortune..will phone round suppliers and c if I can get a good deal..need one for that 84 as well so if I'm buying a couple maybe get some decent discount..think last one was about 140 quid mark..
 
  Mazda Mx5 + Clio 172
Update form the garage :) sounds positive!

Had another couple hours on kitt today, sorted vac leaks, put new plugs in..sorted pcv valve in rocker cover..we on 7 n half cylinders now..lol..but can't c in unit..carb is dumping fuel in..my eyes are stinging its that rich..think we may av a tight valve as its still a bit lumpy but loads better than it was..need to do valve lash and sort carb out and get a dizzy then see how it runs..but we makin progress..
Gonna do a few more checks to determine engine health..vacuum test etc and just make sure he's ok mechanically and then delve deeper..hopefully we can get it purring like a kitten..lol
 
  Mazda Mx5 + Clio 172
Little bit of an update. Managed to organise a full brake system from my friends car which he sadly plowed into a lorry. They should arrive at the garage this weekend.
As for KITT.....well when they took the carb off they found some issues. Very sooty for a start, spring broken, etc etc. luckily it's fixable as he had the parts in stock. He's actually dismantled, cleaned, reassembled and repaird the carb today lol
Before:
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After:
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Still LOADS to do. Valve lash, new dizzy and of course the original list. All steps in the right direction.
 
  Mazda Mx5 + Clio 172
He he the wife got there before me, was just about to post an update!

The engine issues were becoming very very deceptive, after the carb rebuild, new plugs etc the engine was still running like a total bag of shite, and the garage was starting to get worried it could be something very very seriously wrong..... i went over yesterday so he could give me a proper face to face update and we decided we had two choices.....redo the valve lash and put it all back together and see if that cured it (most obvious issue and most likely) or go down the full strip down route......we decided on valve lash...... on doing it he found it was TOTALLY wrong and was causing valves not to open and close properly..... steve did it all meticulously and put a differnet dizzy, different leads and a new plugs in and then we tested it again......we were both OVER THE MOON when he fired up, running on all 8 cylinders, and was purring like a kitten :D the diagnosis was correct, when my mate fucked the valve lash 6 months ago, it was reset completely wrong and that was combining with the other issues to ruin the running..... so now a new dizzy correct for the car, brand new correct plugs and leads, are all on order, and once they arrive he can get them on, do a full service of the car and we should be on the home straight!
While he is waiting for the parts to arrive he is cracking on with the other bits on my massive list, today he is making a custom exhaust hanger for the centre section, and cleaning up and repairing the little rust patch we had missed on the inner cill...... both me and him are still BUZZING that a) the engine issue is solved and b) that is was nothing seriously fubard!
All going to plan he should be back with me with a clean bill of health and 12 months MOT by the beginning of march :D
 
  Mazda Mx5 + Clio 172
Lol I honestly dread to think how much has gone into it so far, and the biggest bits like pmd seat recovering and dash build are still to do lol - I think I'm better off not keeping track I would be terrified lol
 

MaLicE

Honorary Member
ClioSport Club Member
  Lazy v8
If valve timing was off and allowing leakage, that would give you a lower compression result.... If both valves weren't fully closing that is.
 
  Mazda Mx5 + Clio 172
Went over again yesterday for a catch up with Steve to see how things were progressing - were getting there slowly but surely....... after discussing with him, we have decided to go down the route of replacing the valve stem oil seals, just in case..... no point building up the engine if there is something deep inside thats slowly rotting (and given the state of the car bet they have never been changed) - good news in hes doing it included in the original top end budget so all good - and now that after today he will only have my car to work on my deadline is still doable.
Im popping over on thursday to keep him company and lend a hand (even if its just making brews lol) then we can try and crack on and get this bloody car finished......
 
  Mazda Mx5 + Clio 172
Well today's the day. After 6 weeks of work and a lot of money, kitt is off for his mot..... Ill keep you posted!!
 
  Mazda Mx5 + Clio 172
Well he passed. Couple of advisories. Biggest issue is that he seems to have developed another engine issue. On the right bank the plugs have fouled with a bit of oil so could be something under the engine that requires work..... I'm bringing him home to see how he goes and he may have to go back yet :-/ either way the bugger is deffo going to the Chester meet come hell or high water!!!
 
  Mazda Mx5 + Clio 172
Worst case I'm looking at a very expensive strip and re build :/ not good. And yeah he will be at the meets ;)
 
  Mazda Mx5 + Clio 172
Yeah it's a real downer tbh :( need money and need it quick! Having to sell all the dash electronics to fund it all :'(

And yeah I wanna put some dark tint on it if I can get away with it ;)
 

Waitey

ClioSport Club Member
  Alpina D3, AC Cobra
How is a new engine for that £1000?

You can pick up a LS 5.7 for that!
 
O

Oakley12

That's bad news about the engine :(.

On another note, you look abit like joe pasquale in this picture:

6a331bc2a96f48421e978429e87e4347.jpg
 
  E46 M3 & UR Quattro
You must have spent a bloody fortune so far.. All this one step forward, two steps back would have seen me scrap it ages ago lol! Fair play for hanging in there.
 


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