MV8

Morse / marine steering and shifting cables that can be 50 feet long and automotive cables for throttle (at least since the 80s) are twisted linear/axial wires ("compressionless") versus wound flat. Either is fine if the cable has enough clearance inside the housing for the degree of housing bend. Flat is often lined with nylon or teflon, and used for choke cable and lawn equipment cable housings. I retrofit a morse cable to my fiero when the outerjacket became brittle in the engine bay, allowing water to rust the linear wires and causing a burr on the throttle cable. I'd already fit a morse cable shifter to replace the original cables. All the cables are between six and eight feet long. Capacity is matched based on the size of the ends. 10-32 is fine for throttle, with 1/4" a better choice for shifting feel. Cable is also sold as wire rope when not bought as part of an assembly. Much simpler to buy a housing and cable made for each other and as thick as is available for a bicycle application for reduced "stretch". This is the elimination of air gaps between the wires with use and makes a bigger difference with longer cables. Load tested "pre-stretched" cable is preferred to hold a setting without eventually being too long. Thinner cable gets longer with use than thicker for the same load.

A shop that does custom mandrel bending and preferrably can also bead the ends and order 1-1/2 tubing in 304 stainless or aluminum. You can buy bends but the legs will not be the right length. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/afc-88090125#overview

Hello, it's a forum! I think Johnny's had about all the help he can stomach for now. Place your bets! Discuss among'st yourselves.

I'm shocked at how close they put the pedal arm to the steering shaft.

Gates "Barricade" fuel hose is essentially a traditional rubber hose with a soft, synthetic liner. No fuel touches the rubber and the rubber provides the reinforcement for the pressure and abrasion resistance. There are different grades of metal braided plastic lines. The cheaper ones build an electrical charge from the fuel flow that can create pin holes from static discharge to the braid. Rigid, dark plastic are typically nylon with carbon added to prevent that and provide uv protection. Steel with barricade hose is best all around and allows the line to be bent to follow curves. It is difficult to reform oem type nylon which still needs a flexible section (similar to barricade hose) at the engine for movement and barricade at transitions to traditional barbs for removable hose versus nylon barbs. I'm not aware of any way to repair braid over white plastic line but there are splices for oem style nylon and other types.

The seat to track mounting can be offset forward as needed without new holes or changing the rails. Fully rearward positioning of the tracks without a seat, setting the seat on the track with the headrest/seat back touching the rear firewall, then marking the track through the seat mounting holes would determine how far the forward the offset could be. I don't think two inches would be an issue. You can use 1/2x1-1/2 aluminum plate and thread inserts with 1/2" lightening holes or a lighter version using two bent mounting plates and 1/2" wide rails, all made of .080-.125" steel sheet/strip and require a little more hardware in four bolts or nuts. If the rails contact the cross beam, thin washers can be added to between the track and the frame at the front.

I've seen many examples where a tension spring was added to the linkage at the carbs. How it's done varies. Post pics of your linkage if you need a suggestion on how to do this. Generally, most all types of carbs have a spring on the butterfly shaft and a tension or compression spring in the linkage. Most older cables are not plastic lined and require periodic lubrication. The cable should have some slack in it (i.e., the cable should not pull the throttle pedal up to the travel stop). Similarly, full throttle at the pedal should have a slight amount of slack at the carb linkage to reduce cable fatigue.

A baseline mv reading after a coolant change and a few runs will provide an indicator of when the coolant should be changed due to additive break down, minerals picked up that increase current flow by making the water less resistant, and leaking head gaskets that make the coolant more acidic. Whatever electrical current flow there is can be offset with bits of zinc or magnesium. They key to that is being able to secure it inside the water jacket to know when to replace it, since it could break as it dissolves and possibly clog something until it dissolves enough to pass through. A zinc rod drilled to fit a piece of steel wire through it for mounting would work well. Industrial radiators used to come with anodes. You can buy special radiator caps that have an anode mounting rod, pipe thread anodes for replacing petcocks or other NPT holes in the system. Could also place galvanized hardware in the system so their is no danger of blocking anything as the plating goes away and it can be replaced when the hardware is bare metal again. If it rusts, that is a coolant issue of overdue (for the type) flush or weak ratio. I checked my vehicles today with the volt meter and found my Traditional green IAT all iron 5.0L 1983 ranger with a modern aluminum/plastic rad was .050v, and everything else was much higher, between .250 and .400v using the "universal" supertech walmart coolant with no nitrates, silicates or phosphates.

At that time, I was thinking the bypass flow was all through the heater circuit, but the duratec has it's own, dedicated bypass like miatas and should have a way to block the flow of one or the other so the total bypass flow is not too much to warm up in a normal amount of time and more coolant flows through the radiator than bypassing it.

The mod shown to eliminate the heater would increase bypass flow/make it worse because the heater is a restriction. I suggest keeping a stat that works, removing the red hose, cap the small fitting on the stat, and remove the tee entirely.

Silber, I suspected you had #6 hose but didn't see it buried in there. Pinch the #3 hose (in my diagram) closed with a vice grip or repair/position the heater valve to close and retest. I believe eliminating heater flow is the quick fix to get you through summer. Where is the indicating temp sensor located on the engine? Indicated temp, stat temp, and fan switch temp are usually not the same as they are in different locations. Stats are rated at the temp where they should start opening/finish closing. You could not know if the stat was completely closed. Relieving system pressure creates differential pressure in the system resulting in flow that could briefly warm the lower hose. I'd replace the stat as well, with a 180f and order two, so I have a spare at hand along with a replacement plastic manifold for the back for the head.

New VW rotors require machining to fit the hubs. Take both your hubs, old rotors, and new rotors to a machine shop. Better yet, have them machine a few you can have as spares or trade.

On my vehicles, I usually restrict the bypass to make the cooling system more efficient when hot and reduce the warm up time. Not on mazda 4 cylinder engines (B3,B6,BP, etc) though, since they usually have a steel pipe from the pump to the back of the head with an oring on the ends. The duratec just uses a long, molded hose. After it is plumbed like the oem, note if your overheat and warm up are greatly affected by if the heater valve is open or closed. Also, even if the expansion tank is half full not running, this arrangement may be circulating through the bleeder line in parallel to the heater, increasing flow cold/stat closed (we want just enough flow to prevent hot spots). The expansion tank probably needs to be connected to an upper or lower coolant pipe instead of the heater if it will have bleeder fittings. I'm not sure the bleeder is necessary with so much plumbing around it already at the same height. I would pinch it closed and test.

The bypass is for the #6 fittings. Apparently you are using the heater core as a bypass (separate loop on a duratec) without the oem circuit. I suggest rearranging to match the way ford intended.

Well, they can try.... Bonus points for them seeing you. You wouldn't happen to have a ten foot pole, do you? Treat them like poop. Don't get any on you.

Can't see (reminds me of the Borg for some reason), but when the heater is not installed, the lines must be looped, not capped. Don't know if that is the case. Stat neck small line goes to a port on the back of the head. This is known as a "bypass". Excessive bypass flow will cause the problems you are having with warm up and overheating. There is some kind of tee manifold connected to the bottom of the expansion tank. Draw the components and post a pic of the connections like a schematic. Steve has a tee in the bleed lines to the top of his expansion tank on a zetec. You appear to have a tee in your bypass and trouble with your hippopotamus.

Did the birkin come with a duratec or was this a diy effort by a previous owner? Lets start with pictures. There are many ways to plumb the system and setup a cooling fan. If everything is as it should be, the car should not: 1) take any longer to warm up to temp than a ford focus. 2) Cool down to 150f while driving 3) Stop all coolant flow with a closed stat. 3) go above 215f with the cooling fan on. I'd like to see the engine bay, radiator, fan, back of the head, and the left side of the engine under the intake.

Pressure test the system cold and see what vents first and at what pressure. Is this the only cap on the coolant system or do you also have a traditional type radiator cap with a vent port? Systems specs vary so post a pic of your system components/plumbing. The opening pressure is usually indicated on the cap. EDIT: If you don't know what adapter may be required, the full set is not that expensive and you can use it on any car. https://www.ebay.com/itm/335869269586?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D284064%2C283795%2C284136%26meid%3Ddef62f6199f34ed6a04e1e503ba48a24%26pid%3D101875%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D186850068386%26itm%3D335869269586%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2332490%26algv%3DSimVIDwebV4WithCPCExpansionFastIMARanker032025eCPM&_trksid=p2332490.c101875.m1851&itmprp=cksum%3A335869269586def62f6199f34ed6a04e1e503ba48a24|enc%3AAQAKAAABMKaEcTHAUF%2B%2FFR4OHhWiUku5hIsQWp7fwGDMMkUVoKldyxhxN25%2BWKNssJUKVG9e02gVRepi30iCbg3e%2BnXeMjnUHvdoXWXLAvVMinoZNsPbKkbwJkpH2m5ocpYMWMP9naH87cAEiE%2F7DrwrbQexSmvRYaAKB%2FPREBgpqn%2Bs6SAOtQn09cDdeK7v3Jqp5Mu0BDJH09Tu7PjhU5FX1%2FDexGS3Fx68C82FgygWIjklC4dgrSc0RwCm2%2FLtGnGa%2B2Iuq1q6J1pE3sZc8FFiW%2BQs97VmhwYx0aRhUxQt1jtO%2F9PzeSt7m3oBgy1LpEpUoveua1D%2F0wMU4HG9eD1Y%2FJVB7mrWoc%2BDpwQtUV07mV0bXl7aIIML1Xcf0fvOCGJjr9BgWU7Z%2FqBTl1twqEwxUESN4Xs%3D|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2332490&itmmeta=01JRGY6S64RAX3V0XV5799M2PQ

There are different thicknesses of laminated glass available from most residential/commercial glass shops.

Does it know the percentage of ethanol or is it just a switch to indicate ethanol is circulating in the fuel lines?

No issues John. Considering the location difference and lack of info, it is highly unlikely the seller is the builder/designer so I think they don't know exactly what they have under the bonnet. I'm confident it is an FJR1300. An easy way is to adapt the bike driveshaft to a typical small auto sized shaft of 2-2.5 inch tube with a machined bush and the bike output shaft is welded to that. The larger diameter is needed for the length and rpm range. There usually isn't much linear travel on the splines with a bike, so a two piece shaft with a support bearing and telescopic section would be good with a live axle. Not much issue with an irs and fixed location pinion. I have a lot of posts about bec engineering on locostusa.

That is a strange request. My response was regarding your wish to see more installation photos.

Can also mill it from a $5 block of plastic (such as black nylon from mcmaster) using a good one as a guide.

What would you want to see? Looks to be Yamaha FJR1300 based shaft drive with a custom driveshaft to a typical live axle. IMHO, a good choice if wanting to go BEC. DIY paddle shift instead of a lever, return type efi with msd external pump, probably uses the bike radiator, and needing some work in the fuel venting area. I assume those bikes have reverse. I hope they fit an accumulator.