1972 ST Clone

[Bootsy]

Bootsy only requires a few words - he works on a different plane to most

[anglophone1]

Others seemed to enjoy what I had to say Kirk!
C

[BILLY BEAN]

Nice update Kirk and good to meet you at C&M

Hope you get to enjoy the cars a bit more regularly going forward

I really enjoyed talking with you at C&M and seeing your car. You have a wonderful car and I admire your "can do attitude" in respect of the work you have done on it.

[BILLY BEAN]

Others seemed to enjoy what I had to say Kirk!
C

Clive your sense of humour seems to have deserted you.

[BILLY BEAN]

Bootsy only requires a few words - he works on a different plane to most

Tiger Moth?

[Lightweight_911]

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Good to hear that you've 'reconnected' with the car Kirk - great shame that problems prevented me from getting to C&M as I was looking forward to seeing your car.

Having the car at home should (hopefully) mean that those impromptu drives will be easier/more frequent & allow you to build more trust in the car ...

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[BILLY BEAN]

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Good to hear that you've 'reconnected' with the car Kirk - great shame that problems prevented me from getting to C&M as I was looking forward to seeing your car.

Having the car at home should (hopefully) mean that those impromptu drives will be easier/more frequent & allow you to build more trust in the car ...

.

Andy, a great pity you could not make C&M or Boxengasse.
And yes hopefully with the car at home I may get some miles on it.

[BILLY BEAN]

Opened the garage last week and thought I would look at the engine of the ST as when I last saw it there were copious amounts of dust and other bespoiling stuff which needed a once over.
( I think my OCD is developing late in life). Open the passenger door and pull the cable release for the engine lid. Would not budge. Either I have not been active enough down the gym or the release is stuck. OK I do not go to the gym but I might one day.....Just to have a look.
Remove pull handle and rubber grommet and squirt some WD 40 between the pull ( solid rod at this point). Nope, nothing, danada etc.the rod is so tight to the tube it sits in there is not gap to get any fluid into. Make a little reservoir out of plasticine around the entrance to the pull tube and fill it with freeing agent in the hope of some 'wicking' will take place. Leave for a few days. Must help. Err no did not make any difference. Take out the EstWing Birmingham screw driver and give the end of the threaded part of the rod
( handle already removed) a sharp tap. If the release had been animate it would have been laughing at my effort. Did not budge at all. More drastic measures are being considered. In the meantime decide to start the car and go for a drive. Engage battery cut off and turn ignition key to activate fuel pump. Unlike my other 911 I can't hear this pump working. Two reasons for that:
1It is further away than the 911 S.
AND
2 I am stone deaf in one ear.
That might have some bearing on the matter. So leave the ignition on for a few minutes. Pull the leaver for my M Mouse choke ( fuel enrichment) and turn ignition key to start. Nowt happened apart from a click. I can now understand why I have been experiencing trepidation for a few days thinking about what could go wrong. A couple of mild expletives which could develop into something akin to the builder's language I hear from the workmen on the house next door. OK CALM. Turn the key again and the engine turns over but no sign of starting. On the sixth attempt I was losing the will to live or filled with frustration was I going to give the car a good kicking. Did that once to a car I had and had to have a new door skin. Seventh attempt and a slightly encouraging splutter. Eighth and a more pronounced splutter. Ninth and one or two cinders actually fired. Tenth and the single battery I have was starting to weaken as was my resolve. Eleventh and more cylinders joined in and were encouraged by my defy throttle work. Bit like pedalling when I play the piano. I lied I can't play the piano. Eventually all cylinders were firing and the engine was slowly getting going. Finally felt I could engage reverse and get out of the garage. Lots of blipping the throttle which would surely annoy the neighbours most of whom are even older than me. I was the new kid on the block when we moved here in September 2021. Although a couple of houses have changed hands, in the mean time, as the elderly fall off their perch and new blood has arrived. One of the neighbours asked "Why did you move here?". My answered was "To lower the tone of the neighbour hood". Which I think I have successfully done. You gotta have success in something! Bear in mind and to give you a flavour of my street of 19 houses there are two OBEs and a retired eminent surgeon along with a couple of retired captains of industry.
The builders next door downed tools for a moment to watch my departure in a cloud of black smoke. Choke still on and the MFI runs very rich anyway. Did an abreviated circuit of 20 miles or so and the car ran fine with no apparent maladies. It seemed quieter than usual inside the car but that is probably because of my poor hearing ( there is an upside to deafness).Decided to take the car to Autofarm to get their take on the stuck engine lid release. The car could probably find its own way to Autofarm's premises. As I had not booked in the car I left it there and took a taxi home. We await a phone call. I can forget about it until I get the bill.

[anglophone1]

My sympathy Kirk- had exactly the same experience with Tango 914 yesterday - finally big backfires starting the horses and it got into stride- Webers!! Worse yet is Martini 924 [also Webers] was fine late November but now I just can't get it to fire up at all - third attempt no good.
Conversely Jaffa 911 [3.2 Motronic] fired straight away.
When Flachbau finally arrives in April there will be another 6 Webers to drive me nuts..............
c

[RobFrost]

Maybe try a gentle press down on the engine lid whilst pulling the cable.

[BILLY BEAN]

Maybe try a gentle press down on the engine lid whilst pulling the cable.

Rob,
The issue was that the cable could not be pulled as it was seized solid at the cable handle end. The handle end is not a cable but a section of steel rod which had rusted into its tube. Now sorted but at the cost of a new cable pull.

[BILLY BEAN]

So after three months of inactivity time to start the ST. What could go wrong? Well given the car's history; plenty. The last visit to Autofarm was to get the stuck engine lid release sorted and I also asked them to look at the MFI as it is very rich at lower revs. There is also a 'fluttering' of the engine at around 2000 RPM in 4th or 5th gear on a steady throttle. Given some of the issues encountered of late with other MFI equipped 911s the technicians are reluctant to touch MFI. However, I insisted they weaken off the 'slow running rack' which was done. This has reduced the black deposit exiting the exhaust and the 'fluttering' has also disappeared. No negative effects and possibly fuel consumption might be improved a tad?
Manual enrichment device engaged, hand throttle up a little, ignition on and wait a while for the fuel pump to do its job. Three turns of the key and bugger me it started on all six cylinders. Usually starts with three or four until the rest join in. As it was after 4.00pm the builders next door had gone home so no one visible to appreciate the fine exhaust note. However, 'god's waiting room', which is my street, will probably be commenting on the various Whats App groups I am not party to.
Fuel stop. Shell 97 5% Ethanol. The preferred tipple is Esso's finest when passing an Esso station. My gut feeling it that the ST is about as accelerative as the 993 I used to own. It has surprising thrust in top gear which has something to do with the fuel injection, light weight of the car and fairly mild camshafts. Speculation of course. Although I must not discount my attempts at weight loss. Just after last Christmas and full of Christmas cheer; wine , cake, pudding etc I weighed in at 12stone 12lbs. It took many months to lose 6lbs. More recently I weighed in at 12 stone exactly. So pleased with myself. Weigh in the following morning and had put on 2lbs over night whilst asleep. How does that work? Decided on a new slimming regime; don't go to bed.
Back to the ST. Down the A44 and no traffic to hold me up. The 50 limit was ignored. Car felt great. Indeed felt the best it has ever done. The front end of the car is light as it is all GRP and when not burdened by 100 litre of fuel so 'jiggles' a little on broken surfaces but rides pot holes and iron works well indeed better than my standard S. Perhaps the big fat tires have something to do with this characteristic. The tires have tremendous grip which inspires confidence on the tight bends on part of my route. Of course the car is very noisy inside, no sound proofing, loud exhaust and no Schutz under the car. Without ear defenders it can be a bit tiresome except on short journeys.
I have never fully 'bonded" with the ST. Partly because of a series of issues and wondering what would happen next? The feeling of trepidation each time I got in the car. Well today the answer was nothing negative happened and I really enjoyed the short drive more than the S. Is this a turning point? So pleased with the drive I actually got out some polish and removed the black sooty deposits from the rear GRP overiders. This was a first but I must not get too enthusiastic. Must get the exhaust pipes extended. Jesus a positive thought.

[sladey]

Brilliant - thanks for sharing. They need to be driven

[BILLY BEAN]

Brilliant - thanks for sharing. They need to be driven

Thank you Mark.

[stretch]

Great news Kirk. Falling in Love with the car again then.! Dare you to take it to Le Mans. ?