'84 Grab Bag

[sideways_s12]

Sounds like lifter tick but lifter tick doesn't go away when when you rev it it just gets faster...So I'm unsure...

[Wonderingraven]

My ca20e did the same thing.

[kelso840]

Almost 140 miles into the first tank of gas and I waver on whether that sounds is a tick or a knock almost the entire time I'm driving. It's a wonderful source of anxiety every time I have somewhere to go; sitting at a light in my oil burner with a gnarly tick looking like a successful, upstanding member of society in my 30 year old car.

[Cajun1guy]

Alright, another one of us! I get more and more questions about the S-12 as time goes along. Many positive comments about the car as memories come back. My 12 year old keeps asking why I don't ditch the old car and get a pickup. I tell him he just doesn't get it!

[weitrhino]

Aside from the UPS guy complimenting me on my Prelude nobody has asked me about my S12. Nobody. But I did run into a guy with an 84 300zx a couple weeks ago.

[S12_Lifer]

What!?  You mean no one has ever mistaken your S12 for the infamous Delorean or AE86?  Been hearing these names ever since that Back to the Future movie came out. 

[weitrhino]

I'm practically begging to get into a conversation about it with someone but it hasn't happened. I guess that's why I hang around here with you bastards all the time.

[Cajun1guy]

I get asked about mine every other week or so. My son's friends call my Turbo with the louvers the "Back to the Future Car". Remove all the emblems and Nissan stuff and make them wonder. My SE has no indications other than on the steering wheel, starts numerous conversations that way.

[kelso840]

I'm practically begging to get into a conversation about it with someone but it hasn't happened. I guess that's why I hang around here with you bastards all the time.

You could just pull up to people standing on the corner waiting to cross (on the wrong side of the road so you're closer), roll down the window and lean over with one elbow bent in the classic "cool guy" pose and say, "Ehhhhhh..... Whad'ya think, esse?"

[S12_Lifer]

LOL!  I did what Cajon1guy did, remove all stickers and badges to keep the public guessing what the hell your driving.  During my experience, 9 out of 10 times some young guy will ask if that's an AE86.  I always respond by saying hell no!

[weitrhino]

As luck would have it this afternoon the old lady running the convenience store asked me what year it was. Said she didn't like the designs of newer cars these days. "I can appreciate it!" were her words as I was out the door.

I'll count that as a near miss.

[kelso840]

I think my favorite thing about this car is the drive computer. I always liked BMW's wildly swinging dial, but a digital drive computer displaying interval'd MPG is dope. I like seeing it at  60+ when I'm decelerating up to a light in neutral. Seem to be getting around 25-30mpg cruising around town in 4th @ 40mph. 

The only thing that doesn't work is distance to empty. Nothing shows up on the display when I have that selected.

[8SixS12]

Man, I'd love to have a drive computer. It's so 80's!

[kelso840]

This car is so damn annoying.

Swapped out a TPS yesterday and changed a vacuum line that comes off of the back of the intake and runs to one of the diaphragm deals on the back of the fuel rail. Not sure what it did but it idled better when I changed the old cracked hose. I also tried to bring the idle down to 8-900 rpm by adjusting the screw just above the radiator.

Go to drive home and it sounds like my ignition timing is off. The car kind of thuds down the road. Then I lose all power and drove home @ 25mph in third with my foot down netting a solid 3.3 mpg on the display.

Humbling stuff.

I messed with the TPS angle yesterday and today but can't tell if it's making a difference or my problem. Doubt replacing that vacuum hose caused my issue, unless it did. I also messed with some other stuff that seems to have improved the driveability but not the root cause.

Probably going to learn how to use a timing light in the next few days.

[sideways_s12]

Timing light is easy to use, hook up the lead to the number one intake plug wire, hook the side to a solid ground, point and shoot lol

[kelso840]

Resuscitated the Grab Bag yesterday. As always, I'm not sure what exactly it was that fixed it.

Step 1: New Battery

Step 2: Pulled the distributor (clean contacts on cap/rotor with abrasive emery board)

Step 3: Removed exhaust side spark plug #1

Step 4: turned the crank by hand until the piston appeared to be at its highest point of  travel - good advice somebody gave in another thread - thanks

Step 5: Buttoned everything back up and it just spun without trying to fire

Step 6: STARTING FLUID STARTING FLUID STARTING FLUID  - my dad thought it would help, I didn't think it would hurt... got a little crazy with it. POP. Backfire that blew my air filter clean off and across the garage. lol stuff

Step 7: Pull distributor and reset to TDC at the crank pulley marks (noticed the cam gear can be 180 degrees off (is this what you meant a while back Sideways?) while the crank pulley is dead nuts TDC at the tang - do another rotation by hand at the crank and it lines up right)

Step 8: Re-stab dizzy and fiddle futz with its rotational adjustment - bob's your uncle.

Weird thing now is that the distributor wants to rest at its most clockwise position, whereas before it ran best at its most counterclockwise adjustment position. Weird. Either way, let it warm up and adjusted idle - put ten miles on it test driving up to 60 mph and it didn't stall out, drop idle at lights, or do its weird unhappy backfire at 3k rpm in 3rd as it did before. I can tell not all the same power was there as before, so the timing obviously isn't perfect as I was making adjustments by ear, but shit, it runs again. May try to fine tune the timing with a light today and clean out the interior if it ever gets above freezing.

Unexpected progress. I only intended to file taxes and do laundry yesterday.     

[iceageg]

Yep.  They key to the #1 piston being at the highest point of travel is that it must be on the compression stroke.  So either plug the spark plug hole with your thumb until you feel the air being forced out/your compression gauge is read pressure, or with the valve cover off you see the intake valve close just before the upstroke starts.  Any of those ensure TDC instead of 180Ã,° off.  Glad to hear it is running again.

[kelso840]

Needs another wax... could be this but I'm lazin':

[kelso840]

I should re-name this car "Uncertain Future"

Decided to take it to an exhaust shop yesterday and now I'm putting at least 1/3 of its overall worth into a new system. So... I'm keeping it? Or now standing more firm on the original asking price? Who knows... I don't.

Exigence for this decision was meeting up with a guy who wanted to trade his Taurus SHO. Dude's exhaust was also rusted out and I felt myself thinking "Is that what I sound like? That's not a good look."

Hoping that the additional back pressure helps the running condition. If not, at least I won't be a rattling clunky nuisance as I putter on down the road with my metronome valves.

[dustins12]

I'm glad to see that you still have this lol Honestly, a lot of that rust isn't as bad as I thought, at least in the pics.