Time to get the car fixed up. Frank is restoring cars (multiple) in the
time it takes me to think though a problem.
Car: 1978 Midget with a 1500, Twin HS4s, 9:1 pistons (0.30 over), shaved
ported and polished head, 285 Piper cam, 13 row oil cooler, good compression
wet and dry, Pertronix Ignitor on a 45DE4 dizzy, Vernier adjustable cam
gears (4 degrees advanced or retarded (I forget which)), 4-2-1 headers,
electric fan and mechanical fan and a Lucas sport coil.
Issues: Overheating at these 5 minute Texas traffic lights, revs limiting
at 3500 when hot, occasional miss that Frank, Chuck, and Kevin couldn't
figure out with 2 hours of fiddling a few years ago.
1. Hose/Spring recommendation: I need a 1/2" ID heater hose that can make
a 90 degree bend to mate the thermostat housing to the duct in the intake
manifold. The x:y distance is 1" X by 3" Y. The issue I'm having is that
the current hose is crimping (part of the overheating issue? Maybe.) due to
the sharp turn and short distance. Anyone know of a 3/4" spring designed to
keep hoses like this from crimping?
2. I have twin HS4s with wax stat jets. When the car gets hot (not
overheating, just hot), I sometimes have trouble reving up above 3,500 RPM.
Maybe electrical, maybe fuel. The wax-stats adjust fuel delivery based on
heat, so it's possible they are going bad. I'd like to change the jets to
another. Any recommendations?
3. I still have my original exhaust manifold and catalytic converter (in a
box) and 4-2-1 headers on the car. Will the exhaust manifold bleed less
heat into the engine compartment? Do you think it's worth switching to the
manifold with a cat bypass pipe?
4. Anyone have a few asbestos roofing shingles lying around on the floor of
the old garage/shed that they would be willing to mail me? I want to rivet
them to the SU heat shield for further heat reduction. I can't seem to
source them locally.
I'm installing a new set of wires, cap, rotor, coil, and plugs (NGK). I
want to check the cam timing (any thoughts on how to do it with a Vernier
gear set?)
More to come. I have pics of the dimensions of the heater hose if those
will help.
Thanks,
Mike
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