44 AND COUNTING

In the spirit of friendly awestruck competion (jimSVO--congrats on your impressive stable!), I've decided to post some of the 44 vehicles that led to my screen name on this Forum. Most of these I've wrenched myself, from frame-up and frame-off builds to oil and filter changes: In addition to the aforementioned supercharged V6 Sunbeam Alpine, I've enjoyed 2 (two) low-mileage Citroën SMs. One sparked a LONG narrative on construction, specifically hydraulic and electrical systems; no reposting of that wordiness here. (No interest and no surprise at that!), 27 VW Beetles (I used to co-own a VW woodie kit car company back in the '70s); a lovely Diplomat Blue RR Silver Shadow from the "chrome bumper" era; an '85 Maserati Quattroporte--a real beast, Italian-Argentinian redefinition; several FIATs, two delightful Porsche 356s, an "A" and a "C", both coupes, and the Money Pit Trio, two 914s and a 924. Five 1955 chevy Nomad wagons, from a record-setting G-Stock drag car (my first car ever, in 1968) to a show-winning Coral and Shadow Gray restoration, in 1983. (Take a breath...) Two 1960 Chevy sedan deliveries that were parts runners amd semi-beater 6-cylinder reliables; two '64 Corvairs, of which one was a Monza Turbo COUPE; a pride-and-joy, mint restored '54 Ford Crestiline Skyliner glasstop; a gorgeous one-owner '65 Buick Riviera; one each '49 and '50 Mercury woodies--I love flatheads--and my first Jag, a '99 XJ8L in deep Amaranth purple. Those are all kinds of "highlights" that led to my career in auto design and fabrication, especially exterior design, fabrication amd full-sized clay modeling. I taught this when I established and then headed up the fabrication workshops in a university transportation design program for a dozen year prior to my retirement in 2014. All in the Past... Currently in my garage and on my street in Modena are my Final Selection, because I'm 76 and have cancer (in remission, they say...) are my '08 Maserati Quattroporte GTS--the last and only of the Ferrari-V8'powered sedans, faast and utterly reliable since I purchased it in 2014, and my wife's gorgeous BRG 2003 Jaguar X-Type 5-speed, purchased from the non-smoker OO with 40K miles on it, in 2022. I was not fond of X-Types until I bought my first one in '19 after driving it, and, soon after, selling it because the cigarette stench proved impossible to eradicate. These semi-Jags drive beautifully, are reliable and economical, and as everyone knows, they are Fords with better specs and builds, and lavish leather and burl interiors. Then there is my '06 Jaguar S-Type R in Metallic Red. Its supercharger makes it a bit faster (though a good deal quieter thanks to a stock exhaust system), than either QP. Last purchased is the '89 factory-built Westfield with about 21K that transports me here. if you've made it this far, thanks for sticking it out. Thanks to jimSVO for motibation ( "motibation" is a hybrid of "motivation" and another "m" word that I hesitate to use in an automotive Forum, (though we all should know that playing with cars is merely a sublimation of "the m" practice, with more satisfying and permanent results). Before I finish, can anybody on this Forum tell me why, with all of the implied and actual experience hinted at above, I can't get the 1600cc FF dual DCOE motor in my S7 to fire on more than 1 cylinder, since installing a pricey 123+ electronic Bluetooth distributor? Yeah, new coil, primary and secondary wires, tritium plugs, new blueprinted carbs fuel pump and regulator, to cover the obvious. Full workshop, of course. ANY AND ALL help is appreciated, and thanks to all! (To moderators--do I have to start a new thread on 123+ distributors?

Thanks!

Sorry, guys, for going off topic; didn't realise the etiquette here. Anyway, I said "K&N when I meant "B&M"...

CAUTION: ONLY PARTIAL 7 CONTENT! Twenty-five years ago I built a 2.6 for my Sunbeam Alpine. The only aftermarket parts available back then were cams and pistons. I had the block bored out to 3.0 or thereabouts. My shop was across the parking lot from Ed Isky's son's custom cam shop, so I gave him a core and he ground a custom cam for me. I had another friend who was an engineer who worked in development for Shelby, and he scored me a prototype shorty K&N blower. I machined a 19mm T6 plate to adapt it to a hogged-out stock intake manifold. This was topped with a rejetted 650 Holley. The blower ran at 2X crank speed. A local shop welded up a set of custom headers. Finishing touch was a scratchbuiilt nitrous setup that ran into the intake ports. First time I hit the button it made an unearthly roar and dumped coolant all over the road! Taught me the necessity of copper head gaskets...which I had to scratchbuild, too. Then it was crazy fast for a V6, though I never dynoed it. I wish I had this setup in my Westfield! Next chapter--photos of the faux V12 DOHC cylinder heads and distributor casing that I made with 6 actual and 6 dummy spark plug leads. Everything visible was finished in black wrinkle... The Cologne V6 had to have been one of the UGLIEST motors ever made, hence the cosmetic mods. When I took it to its first outdoor show, the "experts" were crawling all over and under it, scratching their heads. Maybe this was because of the raised aluminum "Isotta Fraschini" script that I inlaid into the cam covers... Stay tuned for more non-7 posts on this topic. I promise no more after this... Pre-digital photo. Sorry for bad quality.

What is a "beater"? Just kidding; former Chicagoan who left after the '78 blizzard and never dealt with another rusty bolt again. (I'm a geezer, so I can brag a bit...)

Just a status update on this install... The Westfield with the stock coil, newly-rebuilt FF head, tweaked 40DCOEs, and old silicone wires (off-brand; came with the car) was a pussycat, I realized. It ran fine, was quick enough to satisfy my street driving needs, and was altogether agreeable with no bad habits but one annoying "feature": At idle (about 900 rpm), it had a "chirp" or "wheeze" that sounded like an old air-cooled VW with a bad valve. I've had tons of experience with these old VWs, and this was irritating. Pulled out the compression gauge and found a warped head. Not bad enough to leak except between cylinder pairs 1-2 and 3-4, hence the teplacement with the blueprinted FF replacement head. Still a bit of an odd exhaust note, but slight improvement in power. So, here the saga of the bluetooth 123 began, as described above. Now everything is happily bedded in and dialed up and having the Iphone app is a gas! It's running new 8mm silicone wires and a new set of Champion FF plugs. Followed directions to a T and it fired right up. Did a tiny bit of conservative tweaking to the centrifugal advance curve (no vac on this one) and have been taking it out for brief spins of 5-10 miles. The car is transformed. It fires right up, no misses or flat spots, and runs right up to 6K rpm as quickly as I can nail the pedal! It really accelerates like never before. There is no more "kitty wheeze" at idle. Indeed, the exhaust sound on acceleration--fairly reasonable in the past--is now a loud ROAR. Note that I have done nothing to the intake except carb dialing-in, and the exhaust tract remains as before the install. I suppose I should chalk this ROAR up to more efficient combustion due to the 123, but it's new to my experience. Does anyone else share this issue?

Everything was set up correctly except I was not getting the green LED. Once I turned the ignition on and rotated the distributor until I got the LED, I had it running in five minutes. In other words, there was no power to the distributor to tell the LED when to light up,

I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to everyone who replied to my query with their helpful himts and experiences! The crux of the matter could be captured in one four letter acronym: RTFM ...which I did, but skimmed over some vital information. Suffice to say that once I realized that the green LED was the key to the entire setup, it was a twenty-minute task to get things set up once I got that LED to light up. Now it's down to the fun of fine-tuning the timing and getting those 40DCOEs to work well with the new electronics, tying the wiring back, and heading for some open Italian lanes. This thing is simply amazing!

I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to everyone who replied to my query with their helpful himts and experiences! The crux of the matter could be captured in one four letter acronym: RTFM ...which I did, but skimmed over some vital information. Suffice to say that once I realized that the green LED was the key to the entire setup, it was a twenty-minute task to get things set up once I got that LED to light up. Now it's down to the fun of fine-tuning the timing and getting those 40DCOEs to work well with the new electronics, tying the wiring back, and heading for some open Italian lanes. This thing is simply amazing!

This greenbLED thing seems to be the key to static timing pre-loading any software. If so, I will begin again from the very beginning...Thanks!

In the installation manual, they instruct you to rotate the didtributor body until a green LED shows through one of the slots on the rotor plate. This never happened no matter what I did, so I proceeded with the installation without this step.

This may be my sticking point--the ignition curve! How do I load it? I thought the engine has to be running in order to load the curve? Yes, I've got the app loaded on my iPhone 11 with its latest software. Sounds like this could be my hangup? Thanks very much gor your reply!

I'm having a world of issues with the installation of this unit. I have lots of practical experience (55 years...) and a machine shop, but I'm obviously missing something here. New 8mm silicone wires, correct firing order, timing light, strong spark. Everything done according to the manual. It's not 180 degrees out. I never got the green LED on installation, BTW. 1600 crossflow, twin 40 DCOEs, FF head and valves. Ran well before I swapped distributors. Now it just randomly backfires. Repositioned wires in cap. At TDC the rotor is at 1:00 pm. Tried twisting the distributor back and forth a few degrees each way at a time; just random backfiring. Old distributor had centrifugal advance only. This one seems to have a brass fitting which could be a vac port? Should this be blocked? Completely puzzled right now. Factory website is no help...

My '95 900SS Lightweight is still tied up in legalisation. Claudio Lusuardi's English and my own Italian are at rudimentary levels, but I'll be visiting his shop in a week or two for a motivation discussion. My bike has unfortunately been fitted by a previous owner with Staintune exhaust cans. Lusuardi has a friend with a dead stock SS, and will be exchanging parts for me for the Collaudo (inspection). There's some other stuff, too. The frame was replaced under warranty many years back due to headstock cracking. I've already done the chain and rear sprocket and will have to create art for the KM speedo. Bar end mirrors (which I dislike) will be replaced; rear turn signals also. We'll see what else has to be done. Poor baby looks defanged and pathetic on the floor of his shop covered in dust and inattention...

Ahem...Chinese. I got three pairs of "good for driving" driving shoes for US$27.00 a pair. Tan suede, maroon suede, deep blue shiny leather. Decent construction, feel and fit like slippers. The tan ones have become my daily knockabout pair, and they've lasted really well. Are they Pilotis? Of course not. But they are great value for money. Amazon. I dislike Bezos intensely, but here in Italy running a small biz, I could not exist without Amazon, which has next day delivery on most stuff from a huge warehouse a dozen miles from my house.

Older (74 going on 18) guy here, who never gave up his passion for special automobiles. As my screen name indicates, I've owned 44 cars since a somewhat late start in the USA at age 19. It was a good start, though--my first car was a 1955 Chevrolet Nomad station wagon that, though rusted and rough, still ran strong and did double duty as a street and drag strip car, running in G/S and turning in some respectable times in 1968 at Union Grove, WI. I was born and lived in Chicago at the time. I left Chicago with my second bride in '79 and moved to Beverly Hills having already owned 5 Nomads of nicer and nicer quality--last one was a show winner in Coral and Grey with all the tasteful factory options. I had been fortunate to design and license a Top Ten toy (younger members may remember "Wrist Racers"?), which sold jillions of $$ worldwide and brought me an early windfall before my 30th birthday. Prior to that I had designed and produced two kit cars--both VW Beetle-based--the VW miniWOODIE and the VW miniMARK I. I learned that the fastest way to lose money was to invent a kit car, no matter how unique it was. My kit car business folded after 3 1/2 tough and exhausting years. I still own the prototype car, which resides in storage in a small city in Brazil, but that's a long story for another day! Of course, once I moved to So Cal, I indulged my car passion with a series of new and classic oddballs ands exotics over the next few decades. My first real purchase was my then-new 1980 SAAB Turbo 3-door in Carmine Red with those madcap Formula Hammurabi mag wheels. A lovely car that I somehow got talked into trading in for one of Iacocca's first '82 LeBaron convertibles--handbuilt, pricey for what it was, but ,again, UNIQUE. Kept it for two years and traded it for another SAAB Turbo 3-door after almost getting killed as the under-tired Chrysler aquaplaned on the Long Beach freeway into oncoming traffic. This Turbo was sold on and I bought a '90 SPG, and then a '99 convertible. The fourth Turbo-- a GM convertible just didn't have the SAAB DNA. Sold it and bought a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Lovely car that I kept for five years, upgrading it back to as-new condition. It was followed by a pair of Citroen SMs--both reliable fast, and safe. Then a bargain-priced Maserati Quattroporte III that was reliable, comfortable, and a great daily driver until gas prices made its 7MPG an untenable situation. I'm leaving out my careers as a precision prototype fabricator (Product and Industrial Design, 30 years) which led into a career building manufacturers' prototype and dream cars (11 years), which led to establishing the 3D workshop part of, and teaching full-time in a university-level automotive design program (11 1/2 years). I'm also leaving out lots of vehicles here, as I want to get to my more recent years, my relocation to Modena, Italy, and the 4 cars I currently own. My wife and I decided to "retire" to Portugal, but a luxury vacation that we won to Northern Italy, and a one-day side trip to Modena, caused us to reprogram out dreams to that area, and after perusing nearly 800 properties online and visiting 7 of them in person the week before the pandemic struck the area in January '20, we purchased a loft conversion near downtown Modena and closed on it in October of 2020. We packed up our two houses (combined into one), my workshop, and two of our three cars--my Jaguar S-Type R, Maserati Quattroporte V--and my classic '95 Ducati 900SS, and headed across the Atlantic to Modena--a ghost town mid-pandemic! We've been here for over 2 1/2 years. Biggest challenge was legalising the two cars that we brought over. The Maserati took nearly exactly 2 years, wading through pounds of bureaucratic paperwork and shelling out €5.500,00 in fees and road taxes. The Jaguar is caught up in red tape currently, and the Ducati is 12 months into a 5-month process, too. So, we decided to purchase a nice and economical Jaguar X-Type (never a favourite, though the styling has always appealed to me!) in BRG with only 44K miles and a 1.5 litre V6 and 5 speed. GREAT car, as it turns out, and my wife has adopted it with good enthusiasm. Then, last February, I was skimming through the EU's busiest car sale site (where I scored the X-type) and came across a factory-built '88 Westfield with only 29K miles in the clock. It was clean. The price was a bit steep for a Westfield, but it was complete, largely unmolested, and presented well. It was located a couple of hundred KMs north, near the Swiss border, and the owner was at his winter home on the island of Mauritius, but was glad to answer questions and meet me to view the car when he returned to Italy in early May. Curiosity satisfied, I drove up to meet him with bank draft in hand, and a good test drive and inspection satisfied me that it was a solid purchase. It was complete with side curtains, tonneau, boot cover, and top--still in its sealed plastic bag. It had been through three owners. The first was the UK owner who it had been built for (hence the RHD, which I enjoy very much!), then a German owner, who had had the seats redone in a poorly-matching Naugahyde, then the fellow whom I bought it from. We combined the legalities of title transfer and insurance with a nice three-day vacation on the local lake, and I drove it back to Modena on secondary roads and the M1 without incident. We arrived on May 12, and after a couple of days of walkarounds, health checks, closer inspections, and list making, peppered with thrilling drives around the country 2-lanes around Modena, decided it was to be Keeper #44, and began to order parts in order to turn it into "my' version of what I bought. First change was a set of Minilite wheels to replace the "oh so '80s" replica cast wire wheels. These began to brighten things up a bit. I purchased a leather/vinyl recoloring kit from the same US suppliers from whom I got my Rolls-Royce leather reconditioning supplies nearly 30 years ago! The seats are now a lovely light chamois color, and I'm working on recoloring the top, side curtains, and other vinyl parts to match. The results are quite satisfying, and from experience, I know the product lasts. My "retirement" career is building high-end electric and acoustic guitars (www.studio-california.com), so I have a rather comprehensive woodworking workshop. I put this to good use by building a highly-finished wooden instrument panel out of exotic Padauk. All gauge and switch locations were kept stock. I had the steering column reworked to make the steering wheel removable for ease of entry and exit, as I'm at the dimensional limit for this narrow-bodied Westfield--200#, 38 inch waist, and 6'0" tall. It's snug. I installed four-point harnesses and a fire extinguisher. Then I got to work on the engine. It's a Kent 1600 with dual 40DCOEs, a carb that I have some experience with. A compression check showed a mildly-warped head and inconsistent readings, so I purchased a FF-prepared head (ported, polished, 3-angle valve job and new valves shimmed to the correct height) from the States and gasket set, and had it shipped over. Fitting it was an afternoon's work. The engine runs very strong now with a healthier exhaust note. I'm dealing in the Webers and doing the UNISYN thing this coming week. In 'tribute" to earlier Se7ens, I have removed the ugly (to me, anyway) front turn signals attached to the nose cone and filled the holes, painting the area to match. The turn signals are now early chromed "bullet style", mounted to the tops of the clamshell front fenders. Another "tribute" to the earliest, aluminium-bodied Se7ens, was to remove the bonnet and nose cone (noice touch, those Dzus fasteners), and one which may cause some dismay among the "keep it factory" contingent: I removed both parts, sanded, filled, primed, filled, sanded again to baby-smooth, and ran the parts over to the Maranello vinyl-wrap guy who does the show Ferraris, Lamborghini, Maseratis, and other local high-dollar exotics, and had him wrap the hood and nose cone in polished aluminium vinyl. The transformation took the car from "hmm--unusual" to "neck-snapping--WTH??" The final change will be to get rid of those awful kit car/trailer taillights and replace them with glass vintage Lucas types: one pair of red and one of amber, after the rear fenders have been suitably modified. The last engine mod for now is a 123 distributor so I can keep track of timing and advance curve IRT. Haven't installed it yet, but I'll report back. The first photo is as purchased, but with the formerly dirty tan steering wheel already dyed black. Second is with the seats recolored, first step. Third is padauk dash, fourth removable wheel. Fifth is drive-by with vinyl wrap. Last is redone nose cone, deep red on bottom and aluminium wrap top half. Note pop rivets for looks only. Yellow nose band, it's a Lotus, sort of...