I put a new fuel transfer pump in the Mazda today.
It's a simple in/out pump with 2 wires.
All it does is transfer fuel from one side of the tank to the other, and only when it needs to do so.

Sean bought a little universal pump for really cheap (like maybe $20)
The correct one is over $200 I think.

I asked Sean
"Why, if it's just this little simple device, is it so expensive for the correct one, and you can get one so cheap to do the same thing?"

He said
"Mazda probably chose that particular pump because it's quiet. Quiet costs more."

$200 apparently buys a lot of quiet.

edit: I found a pump for about $50 which might be a bit quieter. I'll harp on Sean about it.

I also put new rear leaf shackle bushings in the firebird, and helped Sean put new tires on the Cougar. We put new tires and rims on the Pantera the other day too... and lugnuts ;)

Also got Eric's new/old boat motor flywheel off to see the ignition points. It needs new points. (volvo outboard).

Posted by Scott Korb at 9:43 PM | Permalink

Sorry it's been so long since my last post.
I've actually done quite a bit, just didn't take pics or feel much like writing.
I did a little brake work on the Pantera, and Sean put an electric choke on it.
I did some work on Julie's Civic, including removing a mouse who thought the interior HVAC fan was a good home... it needed a new blower motor after that.
I've been doing some work to the 'bird of course.
Prob'ly some stuff I forgot too.

And of course, the Mazda.

Beware old low mileage cars.
This thing's fuel had turned to tar.
We replaced the fuel pump, and the injectors slowly got worse and worse.
Sean bought some used injectors and now it runs like a champ.
I replaced the fuel filter and pump screen.
It still needs a transfer pump (2 part saddle tank)
It has a slight stumble when you first get on it too.
Not sure what's causing that yet.
Sean replaced the ignition wires.
I changed the dizzy cap.

At least the ants are gone :)

here's a few pics:

no_ants.jpg

3 injectors (the 4th is somewhere?

new V. old pump screen. The old one has no cloth, is torn, and this is after I chiseled (most of) the tar out of it.

old fuel transfer pump. We still need the new one.
This one has twice the resistance (ohms) it is s'posed to have, and wont run at all.

It's only got 60,000 miles on it. Whoo Hooo!!!

Posted by Scott Korb at 3:51 PM | Permalink

I went for a cruise with Sean.

We picked up Laurie and Jason and went to dinner and dessert. My car doesn't like passengers much right now... we found out. I'll try to remedy that.

Other than that, it went fine. We all had fun I'm told ;) I had fun anyway.
I recieved a few compliments on the car... and not just from my party.

I think it went pretty well for a car which has been through what it has the last 6-7yrs, without being test driven hardly until now.

It has quite a few issues, but it's definitely driveable. I'll be able to somewhat take care of most of the issues w/o spending much more money too. Yayy! (other than what I still owe on the cylinder head and camshaft being delivered from my friends at Primatech)

Posted by Scott Korb at 11:25 PM | Permalink

i put something new on my car today.

I had to get this first though.

Posted by Scott Korb at 5:04 PM | Permalink

She's going back to Florida tomorrow :(

Good thing i got her car done ;)

DONE1.JPG
DONE2.JPG

Posted by Scott Korb at 10:07 PM | Permalink

It's not done yet, but we started it.
Antny helped a lot.
About 6pm I forgot how nuts & bolts worked. I had also forgotten to eat until just before that.
We're breaking until tomorrow, and going to eat Antny's birthday cake.

pics below

The Mazda is running better too. Sean worked on it a little before Jason and Laurie stopped by, and they all went to the Char-Grill for the car show.
Mom/Edith/Jason
Pantera

Posted by Scott Korb at 7:53 PM | Permalink

The Mazda runs... barely. The fuel system is full of tar from old gasoline. I didn't say it runs well.
The ant infestation seems to be dissapating though.
It has a two part fuel tank for balance, and thus 2 fuel pumps. Ugh.
The main tank has old gas.
The secondary tank fuel appears even older... cloudy, and mixed with solvent... or some sort of injector cleaner which never made it to the main tank. The transfer pump is inoperable at this time.

Even so, somehow the 323 has earned an exhalted space in the garage, displacing the Pantera.
I can think of quite a few reasons why it's in there actually.
I just feel bad that the Pantera is outside braving the piercing trees, plagues of birds, cats, squirrels, and of course, the recently arising daubers looking for a home.
----------------------------------------------

So...
Mom's here. She got here Thursday afternoon.
Sean set up a canopy for me to keep the sun off.
We ate yummy at E&A's.

I spent Friday getting ready to reseal her engine so she could quit being embarassed by oil spots.
View image
View image
Sean helped quite a bit to get things rolling for Saturday.
-----------------------------------------------
Saturday (August 5th) is Antny's birthday.
He may spend it with me doing my bidding ;)
really.
He'll help me to get my mom's engine resealed and back in.
Very mechanically inlined that man is.
I'd like to have it running again by tomorrow night or Sunday day.

Posted by Scott Korb at 12:57 AM | Permalink

Andrew's radiator popped in his Camry.
We just put it in last November.
It's not supposed to pop.
In fact, the radiator cap is supposed to relieve pressure before it builds up enough to pop the radiator.
The cap was also put on in November.

I went out there today to look... emergency housecall. I'm not sure yet why it popped. The top tank separated from the core.
He's going to try to bring it by tomorrow for some testing. In the meantime, it seems to be running cool now and not leaking. I carefully pushed the top tank seal back in place, and maneuvered the metal core lip back over the plastic tank to hold it in place. It appears to be holding. Looks fine now.
The radiator has a lifetime warranty, so we'll be replacing it for free. Hopefully it will make it at least long enough to get it here from Durham.
I need to find out why so much pressure built up, and try to make sure it never happens again.

Posted by Scott Korb at 2:24 PM | Permalink