Preen's Mk1 GLD

**Preen59** · 03-07-2011, 10:52 PM

Well, I had an eventful weekend.

Saturday..

Putting the engine back together was easy. Everything went smooth and I had zero issues.

The injector pump on the other hand.. That was a nightmare.

I wanted to replace the centre spring that I swapped from the other pump when I fitted the new distribution head seal. I used it because I dropped the original and couldn't find it (I found it after I got the thing going and reversed it back. haha).

So, pump off, distribution head off, swap spring, drop some bits on the floor, clean them up, reassemble pump. Well that was easy!

Fitted the pump to the engine, timed everything. Primed the pump and bled the injector lines.

Glow the plugs, hit the key and WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! Wide open throttle! Straight up! Holy ****! Shut it off. Check everything.. All sweet? hmm. Try again.. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WOT again. Hmm.. WTF??

Called Aydan (gldgti). "It's probably something to do with the governor. Check you didn't drop a shim putting it back together."

Pump off, dist. head off. Hello, missing shim. The shim had gone into the throttle side of the pump, so I had to remove the top plate to get it out. This meant removing the throttle lever. Pulled the top off, got the shim out and screwed it back together. The drama was that I didn't actually know what position the throttle shaft should be in. So I wound it all the way clockwise (Close throttle), moved it back open a touch and refitted the throttle lever. I figured if it needed a little more or less to get the correct idle, that could be easily adjusted... Right?

Righto, pump back on the engine, refit everything, prime everything.. Glow the plugs.. Kick it in the guts.. Nothing. It would almost start, but it pretty much just kicked over and did nothing. I tried everything, advance the pump, retard the pump.. Nothing! Not a thing! I did manage to get it to idle for 2 seconds and then shut off.. But that was it. I was out of patience and out of ideas.. Time to go to the pub. Have another crack in the morning with a fresh mind.

Sunday..

Fresh mind.. Figured the problem had to be in the the throttle mechanism somewhere.. As that was the bit that I had fiddled with.

I pulled the throttle lever off and removed the fuel return line fitting. I could see part of the throttle mechanism thru the hole. So i rotated the throttle from the stop, anticlockwise. The mechanism went to the right, then started moving left. Problem solved! The throttle mechanism was going over-centre, cutting the fuel supply off.

I left the throttle lever off, opened the throttle up a bit and kicked it over.. BRaaaaaaaam..... It fired to life (@ about 2500rpm). I wound the throttle back and it idled perfectly. Thank christ for that I thought!

Reassembled everything, filled it with coolant, took it for a run.. It got hot.. Fast. Got it back to the shop, pumped the bottom radiator hose and got the air lock out of it. Took it for another run, spot on. Came back, sorted the idle speed out properly and it's now purring like a kitten!

Once I got that out of the way it was onto the fun stuff...

I finally got to fit the Weitec Hicon GTs!!

Coxy came round when I was about 1/2 way thru the second front strut and lent a useful hand. We knocked the whole thing over in about 3.5hrs start to finish, at a cruise.

Here's a pic I took with my phone.

I'll get a wheel alignment sorted this week.. But the ride is excellent. Firm, but soaks up the bumps really well. Definitely worth the extra money over some of the cheaper brands in my opinion. Very impressed.

It handles a LOT better, but if I push it hard it understeers. This is a combination of the tyres and maybe needing to lift the rear a little (Or drop the front, right? haha) to get the weight distribution sweet i'd say.

Next up, roll the guards.