Technical Econ guage in a 60s - and other questions!

[rawill]

I am wondering where the econ gauge should sit in normal running in my 88 60s with 215000km on it. It seems to use a lot of fuel, but I have not done a check yet, the gauge is in the white or the right of the gauge and never in the green at any stage.

It also has a hesitation when you first accelerate. I have cleaned out the carburetor. Can't see many adjustments on it. Gave it new plugs today as a bit of TLC to see if it rewards me with good behaviour.

It now has new shocks all round and turbo front springs, but it still has lots of rattles in the suspension. Can I replace the rubber bushings in the suspension easily, and what kind of engine mounts do people replace the originals with.

I only paid NZ$200.00 for this car but it seems IO, except that it fumes a bit and someone had left the breather hose disconnected under the air filter and there is a layer of oily dirt all over the engine. It was a uni students car!!

Ouch it broke a fan belt last night and left me stranded at 11.30pm. Too much oil on the belt and it perished.

And the clock in the dash is really noisy, can this be repaired easily.

If all goes well and I can fix the rust around the sunroof this car is going to get my 1600 Tipo engine.

 

[rawill]

I have posted a pic of the carb, I think it is not the original. I say this because the attachment for the throttle has been modified, there are sections that have obviously been cut off. The same is true for the plate under the carb. A part of it is missing.

The carb seems to be leaking fuel on to the plate underneath the carb as well.

In the second photo there are two wires that go nowhere, see them on the brake reservoir. They were taped up. Where did they go originally.

 

[alexGS]

Goodness me - can't believe no-one's replied to this, I thought we had a couple of Kiwi owners of the 60S, I guess they come and go for six months or forever

My guess for the two disconnected wires - I think they should go to the fuel cutoff solenoid at the base of the carburettor. They would come from the control unit hanging off the right suspension strut mounting. No cut-off solenoid? Perhaps somebody has changed the carburettor for one off a 70S, as you suspected. Have you looked in Haynes... in various parts of the manual (Fuel System and Supplement) it lists various carburettor types for the various models. The type number (something like 30DMTE 12/150) is stamped into the carburettor base flange.

If economy gauges read low vacuum (white/red), that usually indicates a vacuum leak, which means you have to check all pipes and connectors. Additionally, in the case of the Uno's economy gauge, it is an electrical gauge, so there is a sender on the firewall behind the engine. In my experience of mechanical:electrical interfacing devices, they are never all that accurate and often go really erratic in old age. If it doesn't come apart to clean it, it would be worth trying a few wreckers around the country for a new one. And maybe ask about another carburettor while you're calling.

Most of the economy benefit comes not from the fuel-cutoff-on-the-overrun but more from lean jetting and correct ignition timing. If your carburettor is off another model, it could very well have the wrong jetting for your 1116cc engine. The carburettor on my '86 Uno 60 was a Solex, and it worked brilliantly - it was a crude device to look at, and the jets were all different shapes (not interchangeable with the Weber) but the engine ran so smoothly and pulled so nicely (no flat spots), it made the 1301cc Uno seem rough and rugged by comparison. I know that most people 'in the know' preferred the Weber to the Solex; my experience was the opposite.

The 1116cc motor can be a beautiful old thing. Doesn't have the economy of the FIRE, but is less harsh-sounding and more keen to rev (due to the very short stroke). I did have to put new piston rings in mine, due to a previous overheating incident, but since the bottom end was pristine (it's very strong), that was a cheap operation ($50) done with the engine in the car, ten years ago, and will probably be even cheaper now...

-Alex

 

[rawill]

Yes I have been looking in the Haynes. That is why I posted, I am slightly puzzled, but it is nothing major. edit - And now as I look at Haynes a bit closer I see it is the 1301 carb.

Judging by the pictures it is the Solex C30-32 CIC/1 carb, but not with the original accelerator attachment. Maybe it is not the original carb, so that would be the reason for the 'spare' wires. The attachment for the accelerator is different from the picture in the book and different from my 70s. But I suspect the accelerator attachment is from another carburettor, in fact checking again the accelerator cable attachment is similar to a Weber 30/32 DMTE

I do have a flat spot on hard acceleration, it is there immediately you push the accelerator. Worse when cold. Maybe the fact that it is the 1301 carb explains my flat spot. I will check the volume of the accelerator pump. When I cleaned the rubbish out of the carb I lost the plunger/weight and ball bearing and had to make a new plunger/weight and get a new ball bearing. But cleaning it never changed the flat spot.

You are right about the way the engine goes, it 'appears' to be faster off the mark, and rev better than the 1300 70s.

The vac hose for the econ meter comes from the brake booster hose. I assume this is correct.

 

[rawill]

I adjusted the timing by about 2deg to 10 d BTDC. and adjusted the accel pump until it gets max petrol. When I get my repaired accel cable back I will give it a run and see if it made any change. i suspect it might, but then I might just be being hopeful. It did seem better in the shed.

 

[rawill]

Well maybe my flatspot is gone. A test drive showed only the slightest hesitation on full acceleration, say doing about 60kph in 4th then flooring it.

A question about fumes?
When I got this car under the bonnet was covered in oil, fan belt ruined and everything was a mess. There was a coat of crude over the cam belt cover and underneath the cam belt cover.

The breather pipe to the air cleaner was sitting loose under the aircleaner.

All I have done is clean everything - over a can of engine degrease and lots of water, and change the oil and filter. Now it does not appear to fume. How could this be? 215,000km.

Is the fact that it is a 1300 carb going to cause any issues. I assume richer jetting, but then again, because it twin throat and you can drive on one throat maybe that won't be an issue.

 

[alexGS]

Good stuff

The clock being noisy, by the way, sounds like luxury ambience to me ("At 100km/h, the loudest thing in the Uno was the ticking of the clock.") More like the mad chattering of the clock, I guess. You could take it apart and add some silicone grease. Jaycar, if you can find a Jaycar shop, sells a grease called Inox, in a tube, which seems very suitable for small electrical items. Or, you can use rubber grease - I find that works well on plastic gears. You mustn't use most normal mineral-type greases - that will make the gears brittle.

I loved how, after your tuning, you said "it did seem better in the shed". I had a Burt Munro-style mental image of a crazed old man revving the nuts off an Uno in some garden shed in the middle of a paddock...

The breather pipe popped out of the aircleaner will account for most of the mess, as will the fact that it won't have been cleaned in many years and may have an oil leak from the cam cover or cambox (usually filling the area around the rear head bolts with oil).

Incidentally it's NORMAL for there to be a fair amount of blow-by (smoke from the breather while idling), it's just a function of where the breather is placed and the oil that finds its way to the underside of the pistons. With the smoke ducted into the air cleaner, there's no problem.

These can be long-lived engines, maybe not as long as the FIRE, but definitely can be 'freshened up' quite economically and made to give good, honest service. Basically, it's an Uno Turbo without the turbo

The only thing I don't like about them is the infamous distributor problems (finned module, pickup wires) but at least the vacuum advance lasts longer than in the FIRE because the vacuum is ported - taken from above the throttle plate, not direct manifold vacuum like the FIRE has.

I still think the Solex carb is the way to go and think you would be better off with correct jetting - it would be a little smoother and more economical, though you might well be getting a bit more power at the top end at present. For the full effect, you should stick in a 128 Coupe camshaft like I have spare in my garage - worth an extra 5bhp at least Why do I say that? Because the 128 Coupe came with either 1290cc or 1116cc (rare), both had the same cam, and the 1116cc version had a surprising 65 bhp. The Uno 60 has the same engine apart from the cam timing, so I reckon you get 65bhp with the cam. I did it once, made a nice noise and revved a bit better, I think I gave it up in the end though in search of better fuel economy, and bought an X1/9 instead

-Alex

 

[dspit73]

Glad you posted this! I was wondering why the econ gauge would never make it over to the greenside.

The clock is quite loud. That sure would of been a great place to mount a tach instead. But I have to say it adds to the atmosphere of the car.

 

[Chas Uno]

The clock is quite loud. That sure would of been a great place to mount a tach instead.

Which is exactly where they put it on the SX models

 

[dspit73]

That's it:slayer:

I love your tweeter location. I see that in my Uno's future... Would you mine a picture of how you have the door speakers mounted? I have two in the back, but nothing in the front. The external location in the door pocket doesn't seem ideal for sound quality.

Cheers.

 

[rawill]

Good stuff

The clock being noisy, by the way, sounds like luxury ambience to me ("At 100km/h, the loudest thing in the Uno was the ticking of the clock.")

More like the mad chattering of the clock, I guess.

I loved how, after your tuning, you said "it did seem better in the shed". I had a Burt Munro-style mental image of a crazed old man revving the nuts off an Uno in some garden shed in the middle of a paddock...

Basically, it's an Uno Turbo without the turbo

-Alex

Luxury ambience - LOL - Mmm, at 100km/h, I don't think so. More like before I start the car!!

Bert Munro - I wish, my shed is a woolshed, complete with 2 woolpresses, shearing gear grinder etc etc. but enough room for 4 cars and room to work on them.

So maybe I can fit a turbo to it and forget my 1600 conversion!

But then what would I do with my 1600 motor, that I paid too much for.