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David Stroud IM Roadster D posted:

FWIW, I placed my aftermarket heater core in that cavity behind the rear seat bulkhead / ahead of the engine firewall and the two hot air outlets from the core were routed via aircraft scat hose to the door rear bulkheads on either side of the car.

With or without coolant flow to the heater, there was always a slight flow of air into the car through those hoses without any heater fan turned on. With the fan turned on to speeds 1, 2 or 3 there was no shortage of air flow. Evidence of high pressure  in that cavity ? 

Hard to know, right?  It is all relative from one area to another, and how the heck do you know without doing extensive tests, which would be way too cost vs reward prohibitive?  The funny thing about the coupes is that they look exactly like a backwards airfoil/wing.

Just did something kinda nutty.  I emailed Emory Motorsports and asked if they know of any reference material on 356 aerodynamics.  Can't hurt, right?

Last edited by Todd M

@Todd M wrote- "Yeah, if I had it to do over again, I would have started with this..."   

I'll bet there's 20- $25,000 (or more) of metal work in that car before it's back to a solid shell (and you haven't painted it yet)- remember someone once upon a time deemed it un-savable and that's why it's been stripped of just about everything useful. Only the rise in value of older Porsches has kept that car from the crusher. And once you have it back to a solid base and painted it's still a car very prone to rust should you drive it in anything but the fairest weather. 

I bought my IM body long enough ago that real Speedsters were still considered the bastard child of the Porsche world and could be had for a fairly reasonable amount of money. I come from the VW world, was looking to build a late ('68, 69 or '70) 12 second Cal Look Beetle convertible and couldn't find a decent rust free car- this was pre-internet and anything on the West Coast of Canada or in the Pacific Northwest I looked at was rusty enough that it didn't make any sense to spend that much on it. I briefly considered a real Speedster, changing it to irs with Porsche discs/alloys all around, installing a 901 5 speed with a 22- 2300 cc VW engine but again, everything I found was rusty, requiring twice as much work by a custom panel beater than the car was worth (there were no aftermarket sheet metal parts available). And the car would have had no value (according to people in the P world) outfitted as I intended so that didn't seem to be the route to go. Then I stumbled onto this IM that now resides in my garage and nobody can tell me how (or more importantly, how not) to do ANYTHING!

Accept these plastic clown cars for what they are and enjoy your convertible. Al 

PS- and yeah, I know that with P prices today that car (even bastardized as I originally intended) would still be worth a fortune, but I did the right thing at the time. Oh well... 

Changed the spark plugs in my Fiat for the first time, and ran into a situation.  The plugs are located deep in the engine and require a long extension bar.  The problem is that when pulling out the socket, it stays on the plug and disconnects at the socket and extension connection.  My solution was to keep pushing the extension back on the socket and wiggling it until it came loose, but each time I pushed it back on, there was no telling if it was going to come loose that time.  Ideas?

Same issue with lots of modern, coil-on-plug, DOHC engines.  You put a couple of turns electrical tape around the junction of the socket and extension and get it done that way.

OR you can take out the rubber insert in the spark plug socket. Loosen the plug and the pull out the socket. Then take a piece of fuel line tubing and slip it over the end of the plug and pull it out. To put in a plug just put the top it into the tubing and hold the tubing to thread it into the hole a few turns, pull off the tubing and then use the socket to tighten to spec.  This works really well if you've got hot plugs to remove even when they aren't buried in a DOHC head. No scorched fingers!

JMM (Michael) posted:

Same issue with lots of modern, coil-on-plug, DOHC engines.  You put a couple of turns electrical tape around the junction of the socket and extension and get it done that way.

OR you can take out the rubber insert in the spark plug socket. Loosen the plug and the pull out the socket. Then take a piece of fuel line tubing and slip it over the end of the plug and pull it out. To put in a plug just put the top it into the tubing and hold the tubing to thread it into the hole a few turns, pull off the tubing and then use the socket to tighten to spec.  This works really well if you've got hot plugs to remove even when they aren't buried in a DOHC head. No scorched fingers!

@JMM (Michael) all the high tech stuff but the good old fuel line trick still does the job LOL

spoken from experience 👍

I've used the rubber fuel line trick and it works pretty well.

For those instances when I need to use a socket on an extension and the socket keeps pulling off of the end of the extension, I just put about 1/2" of a nylon tie-wrap end into the square hole of the socket and then press the extension into the hole - it may require gentle taps with a hammer to get the socket to go on and make sure you put the tie-wrap on any side that doesn't have the keeper ball protruding from the extension.  That should tighten things up enough to be useful and they'll come apart afterwards with a strong pull or tap the extension out with a punch through the other end of the socket.  If your socket/extension is worn, then two pieces of tie-wrap on opposite sides should work.

I have magnetic spark plug sockets, now, and love 'em.  Those old rubber-booty-insert things never were all that good, and they tend to petrify over time and become useless.

Todd:  For a once-upon-a-time Newbie, you've done pretty well with this thread - 23 pages and counting!

Last edited by Gordon Nichols
barncobob posted:

Fix It Again Tony

You would think, right?  but, 116,000 miles and only one non-maintenance issue, the unlock switch/relay on the automatic transmission broke.  The part cost $20.  The labor was about $500.  Tried to change the trans fluid once, and found out you don't change it, ... until the trans breaks.  Seriously, there is no drain plug and it is not listed as a needed service.  The worst thing about the car is that I can't take it to have the oil changed without the service person thinking they have to take off the air filter housing to get to the oil filter and they end up losing screws that cost more to have shipped than the cost of the screws themselves.  So, I end up changing the oil myself.

What is the rubber fuel line trick?

I did not even know there were spark plug sockets with magnets.

Last edited by Todd M

When I had my diesel pickup, the fuel injectors were actually driven by a 300 lb. pressure hydraulic pump.  When the pressure regulator failed (everybody's did, eventually), the part cost $23 bucks from the dealer - and $900 in labor to just get to it, change it out and put everything back.  Wish I'd had the designers of the engine and fuel system visit the dealer when it was in getting fixed  - Would-a given both of them a good slap for not thinking about future service of so key a part.

Need some advice.  Check engine light is on in the Fiat 500.  I hooked up the OBD reader and even though it did not recognize it as a Fiat, I chose from the list a Mazda, and later chose a Ford Focus.  It came back with a fairly generic fault for both, which was that the gas cap was not completely closed.  I twisted the cap, and rechecked.  The check engine light still comes on and the code still shows in the OBD reader.  I disconnected the battery and reconnected it, the check engine light still comes on.  The engine sounds fine.  Any suggestions?

Todd M posted:

Need some advice.  Check engine light is on in the Fiat 500.  I hooked up the OBD reader and even though it did not recognize it as a Fiat, I chose from the list a Mazda, and later chose a Ford Focus.  It came back with a fairly generic fault for both, which was that the gas cap was not completely closed.  I twisted the cap, and rechecked.  The check engine light still comes on and the code still shows in the OBD reader.  I disconnected the battery and reconnected it, the check engine light still comes on.  The engine sounds fine.  Any suggestions?

These codes are often just oxygen sensors on the exhaust. If it's the gas cap, twisting it on harder won't help because it's usually the rubber seal.

Had to sell my car because i am losing my garage space and i will have no place to keep it or work on it.

You guys are the best.  I am looking forward to the day when I can get another replica, (a couple for sure), and join you guys here and on outings.  I liked working on my coupe and seeing the progress, but I think I got more enjoyment from communicating with you all.

Todd M posted:

Need some advice.  Check engine light is on in the Fiat 500.  I hooked up the OBD reader and even though it did not recognize it as a Fiat, I chose from the list a Mazda, and later chose a Ford Focus.  It came back with a fairly generic fault for both, which was that the gas cap was not completely closed.  I twisted the cap, and rechecked.  The check engine light still comes on and the code still shows in the OBD reader.  I disconnected the battery and reconnected it, the check engine light still comes on.  The engine sounds fine.  Any suggestions?

@Todd M yes do t need to leave. Most car part store has a reader that can help check engine light. 

Panhandle Bob posted:

Todd, 

Don't leave!! Lots of guys on here don't have cars. Owning one isn't a litmus test. Plus you can keep an eye out for the right car next time the stars align for you.

Come to think of it, there isn't any kind of litmus test.

Maybe Todd got scared with all this registry nonsense.......

Cheers, and stay if you can Todd, enjoyed your posts.

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