Today's solex maintenance ...

[SLOroadster]

Will: I already told you about the homogenous vs independent Mikunis - like last year. It's on like the first or second pages of the manual. You have the manual, right?

Cheers
James

I do have the manual, and it was my understanding that the type 4/5s were all homogenous, rather than independent. I'm going to take a closer look at mine this afternoon and see what I have. The manual doesn't say specify that there were both in the later style so I assumed that the early style were independent, and the later ones were homogenous. This is also supported by the fact that the pilots and fuels will influence each other. With an interdependent system, that shouldn't happen. Still, I've seen it happen on every set of late style carbs I've tuned. The bodies are all the same, its the internal jet holders that can be changed to switch from one to the other.

Will

[aclever1]

Wow kyle your car is fast, my roadster barely makes it up little cottonwood and there is no way I can pass anyone.

[spl310]

Wow kyle your car is fast, my roadster barely makes it up little cottonwood and there is no way I can pass anyone.

Maybe Kyle skipped desert? LOL!!

[Down under 311]

Would suggest Skyman's perhaps colour tuned the car and the 37 venturis make all the difference! noise!

ok... well last time i left you all i was concerned about being maybe too rich at idle ranging between high 11's and mid 12's (although high 11's come off the back of hard accelleration which i would suggest is residual fuel in the exhaust) so i put the 55 idles back in to see if this would improve (helpful hint i marked how many turns etc on the screws before i swapped over)

the result... marginal more crispness on low revs, but lots of sneezing at transition.. verdict - just not enough fuel i beleive and the car just didnt like them - even after colour tune etc the idle wasnt happy...

so swapped them back and have slightly leaned the carbs to get around mid 12's to 13 at idle - after accelleration always stays the same as before..

however in all this i have discovered that i cant get my front carb to run rich by my idle screws? screwing down obviously cuts off the flow and on colour tune is easy to see it not firing.. however no mater how much i back them off they just stay blue and not trigger over to rich yellow?? this could be the problem of my slight lean bewtween transition (although i have almost tuned that out to being not noticable!)

so am wondering do i have different idle screws?? have read you can get various ones?? thinking maybe a new set will take out any doubt?? thoughts? any other reason anyone can think of? have blown carby cleaner though both jets etc all clear...

ps Will i checked my carbs.. both homogenous... interesting though, called around to see a fellow roadster nut on the weekend and he has the independant carbs well setup and ended up with a very different setup something like
52 idles
145 main
190 air
37 Ventruris
interesting - that may explain some of the variances between the cars??

happy solexing all!

[Skyman]

Would suggest Skyman's perhaps colour tuned the car and the 37 venturis make all the difference! noise!

however in all this i have discovered that i cant get my front carb to run rich by my idle screws? screwing down obviously cuts off the flow and on colour tune is easy to see it not firing.. however no mater how much i back them off they just stay blue and not trigger over to rich yellow?? this could be the problem of my slight lean bewtween transition (although i have almost tuned that out to being not noticable!)

happy solexing all!

Well, no colortune yet. Should make things just a bit better when I get a chance to.


Is it just the front carb? Will the others richen when turned? Maybe you need another step up on the pilot (idle) jet? I have another set of 57.5's I could send you to try and rule out the jets themselves.

[Skyman]

Kyle, I am jealous that you get to drive such a nice Roadster in such nice scenery.

I am lucky indeed. There is a piece of you all in this car. It is because of incredible members like yourself and others on this board who have made all this possible. Without the support given here, this would not have been possible given the scope of my experience and knowledge. 311.org RULES!

[Down under 311]

Skyman - currently running 57.5 idles and yes the back carb can richen.. just wondering therefore if its not the actual needles - perhaps they are different - its not such an issue at present as i have tuned the minor lean almost completely out (somtimes just hits 15) and is running great - balance between colour tune, 02 sensor and ear... but had me wondering why its so..??

completely agree- i have had my car for over 16 years and has never run this welll !! yay!

PS also think i found the main source of my oil leak... oil filter not quite tight enough! after driving in this morning only minor drop (i think is residual as there was a fair amount dropped!

cheers

[Down under 311]

Just had to post this.. Man am I impressed with this idle.... Play scrabble of it !!! Puurrrrsss



Not sure why the little play button doesn't come up - but press and it will lead to the link...

[nismou20]

That's with a B cam? Nice idle!

[Skyman]

Sounds nice and smooth. What RPM is your idle set at? Before, I couldn't get my car to idle very good under 1000 RPM. Idles nicely now at about 750 to 800 RPM. The valve adjust helped my idle as well. I think a couple of them were too tight. Adjusted valves and rebalanced and I now have a good idle. A little lopey due to the B cam.

[Gregs672000]

Just had to post this.. Man am I impressed with this idle.... Play scrabble of it !!! Puurrrrsss

WOW, that is incredibly smooth! Ok , you have convinced me that it is time to borrow my friends color tune. To get an idle like that also suggests that all four cylinders are flowing very very close. One of the things You can do with Dells is balance each carb individually, but it requires removing some facotry placed and sealed covers to access some bleed holes designed for this very reason. I have been hesitant to dig into them but after noting some differences in flow may do so. Sometimes I can get a really nice idle, but with all the changes I have been making it has not been the focus of my efforts (yet). Mine likes to idle in the 12.4 (too rich to me) to 13.4 range, but it has seemed to me that one or two throats may be throwing things off a bit at times... Need that color tune!

Not sure why you are getting differences in idle mix ability. It does suggest some small obstruction in the feeder hole(s), maybe why you're getting the other issues? Clearly no vac leaks, at least at idle. You said you tried carb cleaner, and I assume you removed the progression hole covers and removed the idle screws during this? Have you tried compressed air? Cleaned off the idle screw?

I've also noticed that I can set them after doing some related maintenance or adjustments, drive it for a while then have to re adjust. Kinda like the engine has settled into the other adjustments and now needs that final bit of attention.

It has been very gratifying and fun for me to watch you and Skyman make improvements and have success! This is a great community, and a daily source of fun and happiness. So glad we can share knowledge, info and experience... It truly is a win win for all!

[Gregs672000]

OK, here is a post from Little Cottonwood Canyon. I do apologize in advance for passing on a double yellow. Very untypical of me. I was pulling about a 9% grade at this spot. You can hear the solexes singing!

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Kyle

Man she sounds GOOD! No stumble, no complaints, just a deep growl...VERY cool!!!! LOVED IT!!!
The area kinda reminds me of a drive a few yrs ago on the way to Shasta with the U20 Bombers. We went up to Crater Lake out of Roseburg I think... Truly awesome canyon to mountain top road. Carl Jeagar (very nice solex car,best of everything) and I were able to break free of the logging truck "log jam" and got mile after mile of hard charging, twisty smooth roads and we PUSHED it. When we finally stopped we both jumped out and started hopping around with all the extra adrenaline, laughing and grinning ear to ear. Carl's new girlfriend (Roadster virgin) was such a good sport and was nearly as excited (despite having her heart in her throat) and I knew right then she was a good match for Carl (he ended up marrying her I believe!).
Thanks for sharing! Hope to put up my own before summer is gone!

[Down under 311]

Yep thats with a B cam and running 20 BTDC.. its idling around the 800.. may backit off a tad although i think it likes the 800 the best.. Hence my somewhat self indulgence on postig the clip.. personally the engine has never idled so well - you can litterally hear each cylinder firing - without the coughing and sneezing of rich and lean cyclinders that is usually supported by a looping our of ballance carbs...


There also sitting at idle around the 12.7 - 13 on the 02 mixture... And just as important that was a drive home in traffic and a little blast at the end... so hot tested (often get a good idle only to drive around the block and have it looping wildly... ) so it would seem that the carbies are ballanced nicely - colour tuned so each cyclinder is firing nicely in the blue at idle and timing nicely on 20 BTDC...

of course as skyman noted - was only possible from the guys on this site, in particualr Greg and Will - thanks.. it is actually interesting when i look back on this thread and see how the car has come along now... and the good news is that its all not that hard - and has cost me about a $200 in jets and new venturis! grin factor... "priceless"

its just hard to look back and think of how the car happily ran around town and long journeys whilst being so out of tune! Dont know of too many other performance motors that would do that.. slight pun intended, but with a crank sensor or loose wire to the injector doobey and newer motors wont even run!

Once again Happy Solexing!

[Skyman]

Yep thats with a B cam and running 20 BTDC.. its idling around the 800.. may backit off a tad although i think it likes the 800 the best.. Hence my somewhat self indulgence on postig the clip.. personally the engine has never idled so well - you can litterally hear each cylinder firing - without the coughing and sneezing of rich and lean cyclinders that is usually supported by a looping our of ballance carbs...


There also sitting at idle around the 12.7 - 13 on the 02 mixture... And just as important that was a drive home in traffic and a little blast at the end... so hot tested (often get a good idle only to drive around the block and have it looping wildly... ) so it would seem that the carbies are ballanced nicely - colour tuned so each cyclinder is firing nicely in the blue at idle and timing nicely on 20 BTDC...

of course as skyman noted - was only possible from the guys on this site, in particualr Greg and Will - thanks.. it is actually interesting when i look back on this thread and see how the car has come along now... and the good news is that its all not that hard - and has cost me about a $200 in jets and new venturis! grin factor... "priceless"

its just hard to look back and think of how the car happily ran around town and long journeys whilst being so out of tune! Dont know of too many other performance motors that would do that.. slight pun intended, but with a crank sensor or loose wire to the injector doobey and newer motors wont even run!

Once again Happy Solexing!

You are absolutely right. Paying attention to the development of this thread is what started making me tinker with a car I "thought" I had running right where I wanted it. The car now has never ran better. Thanks for starting this thread up!

[SLOroadster]

Here is a short video of my motor. Who says you can't have a stable sub 700 rpm idle with a big cam?
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I have no clue what the rattle is. My best guess is that its the lower timing chain rattling against the timing cover due to not having a lower guide installed. It did this on the last motor, even with new gears, tensioners, guides and chains. I've never been able to pin-point the noise.

Will