Every edition of Unique Cars Magazine, Mick McCrudden answers your questions in the Mick’s Tips section. See below the questions and answers from Issue 507…
Charge me up
Hi Mick. Like a lot of people I have a classic in the shed (a Citroen DS in my case) that doesn’t get a lot of use, but which I like to have ready to roll, if it’s a nice Sunday and I’ve got time to play with it.
I want to get a battery tender that I can just have connected to the car without having to mess around too much, when I want to get going. There are lots of brands out there and the prices are all over the place. Do you have any recommendations?
Andy Goldsmith
MICK SAYS:
It does come down to quality. We know of a car storage place that suffered a fire some years back thanks to a dodgy battery charger – so this is something you don’t mess with.
We use Ctek chargers and at times fit them directly to the car so then it’s just a matter of plugging it in.
They generally come with a harness you can fit to the battery (rather than the charger), that does pretty much the same thing.
You want something capable of monitoring what’s going on and stopping the charge, when it’s no longer required. Also, make sure what you’re buying is designed for use on the type of battery you have installed.
The difference in cost between a cheap one and something mid-priced that’s decent quality is not huge.
Plus they’re generally a lot less costly than the battery you’re protecting.
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Grumpy Genki
I have a similar issue to Glenn in issue 506, with his stalling FGX ute.
In this case it’s an automatic Mazda-2 ‘Genki’ purchased new by us November 2008 and displayed similar symptoms to Glenn’s ute, but at around only 3000km.
This model has a tacho and, when stopping at traffic lights, the revs would often drop below 500 with the engine showing symptoms of imminent stall.
At that point selecting neutral, to eliminate the small amount of engine load in drive, would let the engine regain its correct idle speed.
If the accelerator was ‘floored’ the performance was not compromised in any way – all good with that!!
But the issue remained and both the Mazda dealer and a private business tried a diagnosis with their ‘laptops’ and increased the idle speed to get around the issue. But in both cases when unplugged, the revs returned to the factory setting and the problem remained.
I then took the Mazda to the young Toyota trained guy that does any complicated stuff on our IS200, like in-tank fuel filter changes.
Like Mick, he checked the throttle body and ‘butterfly’ for cleanliness and fitted a new set of plugs; still no joy.
Mazda told us we would just have to live with the problem.
‘Muggins’ here has always been pedantic about fuel, in as the location where you purchase, and preferably from one of the big names like Shell or BP. Price was only a secondary issue.
So apart from the delivery fuel that was in this Mazda, it has never run Ethanol mix, and with us ran 95RON from new.
I run the Lexus on ’98, (my choice), and so started doing the same with the Mazda. Within about six weeks the idle problem was gone and has never resurfaced, with kms now at 95,000.
So I am thinking stuff like auto trans sensors and such, but really don’t have any idea.
What do you reckon Mick?
Eric Waples
MICK SAYS:
You’ll find that, in 90 per cent of cases, the throttle body butterfly will be the issue. I would double-check it – the issue won’t have to do with transmission sensors.
What I would also be looking at is the auxiliary air control, which controls the idle behind the butterfly. It may not be working correctly or is gummed up – when the butterfly is closed and supposed to open just a small amount.
As for petrol, a long-term fuel systems repairer who sadly is no longer with us – Carburettor Tony – put Shell at the bottom of his list of brands. His order of preference was BP, Mobil, Caltex and then the others.
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Hot Ute
Mick, I have a bit of unusual project in mind, which is to grab my now pretty tired 1985 Nissan Navara single cab and turn it into a ‘street ute’.
It’s a D21 series with a 2.4lt petrol four and five-speed manual.
What I have in mind is lowering it a little, go for some nice wheels and give it a performance boost.
When it comes to warming it up, I’m trying to work out whether I’m better off doing something with the existing four-cylinder motor or try to squeeze in a six. What do you reckon?
Carl Kennedy
MICK SAYS:
NICE PROJECT! I suspect there is not going to be a lot more to get out of the little four-cylinder. My concern would be you could spend a lot of money for not a great return. My preference would be to fit a Nissan V6 or even a Holden V6 out of the Commodore range. There will be someone out there who can make an adapter plate, and I’d be talking to people such as the Castlemaine Rod Shop, or Waddintons or McDonald Brothers, as it’s likely similar conversions have done before. The good news is you already have a great transmission which you might freshen up while you’re at it.
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VK take 2
G’day Mick. I’ve been following your Project VK build and am looking at doing something similar with a sedan. I have a couple of questions.
For a start, why did you choose to go with a carburettor instead of EFI?
Secondly, can you tell me a little more about how you’re setting up the transmission, such as what level stall converter are you going for?
Thanks.
Damien Cunningham
MICK SAYS:
The reason we’ve gone for a carburettor is simplicity – the KISS principle.
We could have gone injection, but then you have a list of new issues to address such as the wiring and electronics required that take up real estate.
Then you have the fuel tank issue, where you need a custom tank for the return line and an in-tank fuel pump.
Then you need to address a pressure regulator. It can all be done, but in this case we questioned the investment in time and what we would really gain in return.
For the TH700 four-speed auto, the stall converter comes down to what camshaft you’re using and the vacuum the engine is running with. You’re looking at balancing what you’re gaining and where the transmission bites.
The stall converter gives you that little bit of slip when you put the transmission into drive, making it smoother, but the downside is it doesn’t respond instantly when you touch the throttle. Project VK has an 1850 stall converter which is about as low as you can go.
It’s a compromise that prevents it thumping into gear, allows a reasonable idle, and doesn’t slip too much from a standing start.
As for the lock-up, there will be some trial and error to set it. What we’ll be aiming for is it to kick in at about 90-95km/h.
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Cold Bimmer
Hi Mick. I have an E30 BMW, which I love, but it feels like the heater isn’t really doing its job and the mornings are now cold enough for it to matter!
I’m pretty sure you have talked us through this before, but can you give us a quick reminder on how you go about flushing out the heater core? Thanks.
Stacey Turnbull
MICK SAYS:
I have an E30 six and it’s a lovely little car. Basically you have to get the engine warm so the heater tap should be operating and you want it open – so the heater controls are set to hot.
You disconnect the heater core (engine off!) and use your garden hose to flush it out, with not too much pressure. It can get messy. What I would do first, however, is get a good radiator cleaner in there and run that for a day or two.
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Charger
VH Charger with 245 3sp manual – is a four speed a worthy change-over? How hard?
Con Dimitris
MICK SAYS:
The three speed is just what they had and, if you had to have originality, you’d stick with it. But I’m a bit like you and yes I think it would bother me as well. The change-over to a four speed is a popular modification and takes some effort – we’re talking different housing, driveshaft length and shifter location. Companies like Al-Ko in Melbourne or Hemi up in Queensland have kits.
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Got a problem? Want some advice. Drop Mick a line at uniquecars@primecreative.com.au