The Mav is now Registered and Insured and can be driven on the road legally, and mechanically the car is now capable of running small errands. Although it's not exactly Five Star Safety Rated Took it out last Sunday wanted to get it out on the open road for the first time since I bought the beast in 2002 to really see how it handles and what problems need to be addressed. The List is as follows Horrible Front Alignment: The car shimmeys somewhat veers a little to the right and doesn't really seem stable. I know the right wheel is off to the right a bit could just need a toe adjustment. Acceleration is slooow: Before anybody pops off with the I6 jokes I know the V8's are better but even the 6's acceleration should be a lot better then mine is, pulling out of a Gas station after putting a couple bucks in the tank the car hestiated for a second after I floored it and then rocketed briefly. 1st Gear is when it's noticed, after the car reaches 3rd gear it cruises ok, I'm guessin I need to trash those points . Shifter: I just about broke it twice the three on the tree may be a unique thing and I do hate to get rid of it but for driveablity sake I must, a couple of times while downshifting I grinded and the clutch was pressed all the way in only does this on downshifting from 3rd to 1st coming to a stop, to curb this if I was coming to a red light I would stop without downshifting and then downshift at a complete stop, no grind then. Floor shifter in the future here as soon as it's affordable. Other then that driveablity is ok it stops fine, corners fine despite the bad alignment, and providing I don't hit to many potholes the ride quality is ok could be better though with some good shocks... Oh yeah and I desperatley need retracting seat belts the old 70's chokers just don't cut it, well that is except my circulation when leaning forward or slamming on the brakes .
m-j, glad you got to drive the car . i know that is a great feeling. the shifting thing is unique. talk to "kelly" about it. i think his has some of the same characteristics as yours. the running things could be just needing to be ran a little and then the points, plugs and fuel filter changed. good luck...frank...
Good deal!! As to the front suspension, check the ball joints THROUGHLY. I just found a bad upper joint on the 4 door while it is in the body shop when it was up on a lift. It likely explains the pulling that I've been experiencing. I've got a shimy , though not violent, it is there. I'm ready to replace all 4 joints and the lower control arms along with some other hardware as soon as it comes home this week. If I were you, I'd get it up in the air and really go over everything.
Downshifting from 1 to 3rd is not the best way. If you must downshift, do it one gear at a time. In the old days 1st gear was not synchronized and we old guys just never got into the habit of downshifting to 1st. 1st gear was gotten into once completely stopped. Floor shifters are cool, but I doubt any of the problems you experienced are really theshifter itself, unless it is completely worn out. Replacing the bushings in the existing shifter can do alot for what you already have. On the issue of poor performance, the fuel you had in the car was probably stale, will not combust well. Poor combustion = poor performance. Running a good tankful of gas thru the car might amaze you on how well the car can run. I really doubt you will notice much performance gained by getting rid of points. Electronic ignition is great though. Your front end shimmy could be flat spots on the tires from sitting. My cars do this every year on the first voyage after winter hibernation. Dan
"I floored it and then rocketed briefly.." yah... like Dan said, down-shifting from 3rd to 1st shouldn't be done (generally speaking). Get the suspension worked out, curb the downshifting to low and sounds like you'll have a fun car! Personally, if I had it, I'd resist dumping the 3-on-the-tree.
Hmm seems my initial reply didn't take well lets try this again.. I don't downshift from 3rd to 1st, sorry bout the confusion . As for the fuel thing I never thought about stale gas being a problem I was periodically putting gas in the car via the Gas Can and runs to the gas station with the van, and just the other day I put fresh gas in it when I took it out. I've noticed my two rubber fuel hoses under the car (the one by the drivers door, and the one attaching to the sending unit) are cracking for the time being I put some silicone gasket sealent on them to coat them this is just a temporary fix as I plan to replace them of course once the gas gets down to a low enough level to where my cheap siphoner can get it all out. I'm debating on steel braided line it's expensive though but I guess it's worth it if I don't have to constantly replace fuel line, these hoses btw are relatively new so I can figure out why they're cracking it's not the gas cause the ones in the engine compartment are fine. Ran an errand with the car yesterday (just a short Post Office run) but it felt good to actually drive it a distance (over a mile) and not just to the Shell Station around the corner. I put air in the tires which helped a little but the accleration problem resurfaced again i've noticed that the engine will act like it wants to take off quick but once the car actually starts moving it's slow and jerking (at times) almost like the engine is having trouble catching the wheels but then it finally gets going and speeds up, and now i've noticed a loud ticking sound emminating from the engine esp noticeable after the car has been running awhile, geez now what, more work ahead for me I guess.
My vacumn advance? I dunno bout that bein bad but I did not to long ago swap the vacumn hoses on it the one going to the Exhaust Manifold was connected to the advance nearest to the Distributor Cap and the one to the Carb was connected to the other port, at that time the car ran terrible and would take an eternity to get to start. I switched the hoses, car starts and runs alot better but now i've noticed the idle is waaaay to high if I had a tach it would probably read 3500 rpm at idle well maybe not but it sure sounds like it. Seems like everytime I make up my mind to keep the 6 cause of the fuel economy it drains my wallet a little more still not huntin for a V8 just yet but if I find one resonably cheap for what it's costing me to get this 200 up and going forget it may as well swap it out.
