Karl Hacken's RS Fiesta

There is a great article on Stanceworks about Karl Hacken's MK1 RS Fiesta Build.  Wipe drool from chin.

Read the article here:  Karl's Mk1 RS Fiesta

Bad Voltage regulator causes corrosion

I had recently had a battery fail.  My thinking was that it was a junk battery from advance auto.  There was battery liquid venting and causing corrosion around the battery tray and inner wing.  Turns out the voltage regator failed and the alternator was sending 17.6 volts to the battery...battery boils over from over charging and the acid starts corroding the metal around the battery.  The voltage regulator came from NAPA and I got it installed in 5 min.  Now it charges at around 14 volts. Job done.

Project Binky

I recently got side tracked from the Betty project by the guys over at Bad Obsession Motor Sports by binge watching the project Binky videos.  They are sticking a 2L turbo AWD Celica drive train and suspension into stock looking mini.  I can't believe the amount of fab work that has gone into this project.  They are over a year into the project and are posting videos on You Tube of the complete build process.  There are 7 in the series thus far showing some rather informative detail on customizing and fabrication. I am taking plenty of inspiration from the vidi. Keep it up my droogies!

Check out the series to date on their website: Project Binky

Bad Obsession Motor Sports

It's Twins

I picked up a set of Dual 40 DCOE Webers for the Fiesta.  I popped off a couple covers to examine the jetting and venturi sizing.

• Venturi 28mm
• Main Jet 115
• Air Corrector 190
• Emulsion Tube F11
• Idle Jet 40 / F6 Air Bleed

The Venturi is sized correctly for my power band, but the emulsion tube is for a cylinder size between 250cc - 325cc which leads me to believe these were tuned for a 1300cc crossflow.  I will have to order some jetting, but can hook it up and tune it on the Fiesta... Later.

These weber carbs are absolutely fascinating. In modern cars you tune by hooking it up to a computer and loading a different map. On these webers, you  swap out brass tubes and turn adjustment screws to dial in the perfect tune for your car.  Very steampunk!

|40 DCOE - 1600cc Crossflow initial sizing

|Venturi| Main Jet   | Air Cor | Emulsion Tube| Idle Jet

| 28     | 115 | 165       | F16 (or F9)   | 40/45 & f9 |

| 30     | 120 | 170       | F16 (or F9)   | 40/45 & f9 |

| 32     | 125-130  | 175-180 | F16 (or F9)   | 40/45 & f9 |

Current

| 28     | 115 | 190   | F11             | 40 & f6     |

Fuel Vapor return line

The fuel vapor return line was rusted out and leaking as well, so I had to secure a 25' long spool of 1/4" steel piping and bend it to match the rusty vapor line I pulled off.  It is nearly impossible to get an exact match on the bends, but this one turned out pretty close.  I am still doing it by eye.  My technique is pretty good, but I know a tape measure and some math would greatly improve the final fit.  I still need to create 1 more rear brake line and the fuel and return lines to complete this part of the project.

Rusty brake lines

After 30 years in the salty streets of Minneapolis, the brake lines finally acquiesced to snow melt.  The brake lines are longer than the standard 8 ft lengths you can get at the auto parts store, so I have to start with a 25ft coil of 3/16 brake line.

Step 1. Built a tool. Instead of spending $300 on a brake line straightener.  I found the general idea from a blogger building up a classic mini; but he's dropping in a 1.3l turbo from a toyota starlet.  I built my own for $50.  It will straighten 3/16" and 1/4" line.  I built my tool to mount to the bench vice.  It allows flexibility of a variable distance between the dies.  If you remove two of the five dies you can then use this set up to bend a large diameter bend in the brake line.  Something I needed to do to follow the contour of the gas tank.  This is the same technique used to bend curves in sheet metal with a 3 wheel roller press.

Remove the jaws and mount the tool

Step 2. Straighten the line

Bend the line as close as you can to the original

Once in a blood moon...you find NOS Fiesta fenders

Every once in a while the stars align and the moon turns blood red as a harbinger of good fortune.   I picked up some NOS genuine ford fenders for Betty for a fair price.  What a lucky break to find left and right NOS ford fenders(wings) together.  These are pretty rare these days.  The rest of the repair sheet metal I need is still readily available over seas.  With another sheet metal order we should be ready to take Betty into body and paint when it gets cold this winter.  Until then I will enjoy driving my rusty little motor.