My '85 MGM, "Maisa"

[Arquemann]

Drivers door panel is back on, speaker is correct way up now, ran some errands before I put the panel back on, the correctly oriented speaker doesn't seem to rattle.
I slathered the window switch panel underside with some epoxy, the screwholes for the window and lock switches are all cracked and split, hopefully epoxy will keep the from completely breaking apart.

The BMW is ready for sale, but I'm in a kind of awkward situation with it. Work is starting next monday, so it'd be convenient to have an efficient daily. If I sell the beemer without getting another car in trade, I'd be stuck with commuting on the MGM for a while, which is far from ideal. I've calculated the approx. fuel cost, which would be about 30€ per DAY. 30€ off of a daily pay of about a hundred euros is a "bit" too much in my taste.

[Lutrova]

There's a video floating around the Internet from about a month ago of a guy putting a lawn mower carb on a 302. That might take care of your daily fuel costs.

[friskyfrankie]

There's a video floating around the Internet from about a month ago of a guy putting a lawn mower carb on a 302. That might take care of your daily fuel costs.

I included a link, about a month ago, if someone cares to look for it.

[Arquemann]

Yeah I've seen the video by Thunderhead289. Now the next step is to figure out how to adapt the TV cable to a mower carb.
Or maybe I'll just get a daily driver instead, the MGM is way too nice to ruin in the salt shit anyways.

[gadget73]

IMO its never a good idea to rely on a project car as your daily driver. Especially if its old and difficult to get parts for.

[Arquemann]

IMO its never a good idea to rely on a project car as your daily driver. Especially if its old and difficult to get parts for.

That's why you have another project car to drive if one breaks. I'm not financially able nor do I want to buy a vehicle that will be rock solid reliable for years to come.
Two not-a-project cars is a good balance, if nothing else.

[sly]

I have "my wife's car", my car, and the vacation hauler (Expedition). If my car has issues, I use the Expedition. I have yet to have them both down at once and need to use my wife's car. Basically all domestic beaters with plentiful mechanical parts. Thankfully all of mine are paid off as well. Helps allow me to afford fuel still with relative ease. "Not having a car payment lets me run a lot of fuel through my gas hogs." Only having liability/uninsured motorist coverage also helps, unless I wreck my own stuff, which is yet (and hopefully won't) happen. *knocks on all the wood*

[gadget73]

I have 4 legal at the moment but only one is actually officially able to be my daily. The other three are on historic plates and one of the restrictions is that it can't be used to commute. My insurance also doesn't really let me do that either, though I can get away with it from time to time.

I've been relying on GM trucks for more than 20 years as my boring "it just works" vehicle though. I don't care all that much about them, but they work and I can get parts anywhere.

[Arquemann]

Heh, China.

I got the new belt tensioner, obviously it doesn't look even remotely like the RA picture:


Here's the new and old side by side:


Let's see
-pulley size is different
-pulley "valley" is very shallow and the edges are sharp, definitely ain't gonna help the belt stay on like the old one
-the pulley is bolted on, convenient, but the belt turning the pulley CCW is mildly concerning
-pulley bearing only has the grease seal, no dust protection whatsover
-pulley is made of two halves, which are a bit misaligned
-the back piece is very roughly cut, had to deburr all edges so it won't gouge the aluminium accessory bracket
-square hole had some flash which I had to file so a square drive would actually fit the hole
-pivot point bolt hole was too small, which I had to drill out, old one was threaded

Kvaliteeh!
For now, I'll install the new one as soon as the rain stops, but I might look if I can save the original pulley atleast. Did someone say to dremel out the smooth "cap" on the bearing?

[sly]

Keep the old one on hand and work on taking the "hubcap" off the original pulley. Once you get that off, you can use just a replacement pulley on the original part. Should just be a snap ring holding the pulley on.

[gadget73]

depends how its made. The original for my Conti looked like the original off his car, but it wasn't held together with a snap ring. They used a solid post that was swaged over on the back side to capture it, more or less like a rivet head. I had to grind the swage off the back side so I could get the post off and evict the junk pulley. Once that was done I drilled through it so I could use a bolt with a locking nut to hold it back together and fit a standard idler pulley on there. Looks slightly goofy but tensioner assemblies for that car just do not exist, and now it uses a common $25 off the shelf idler.

[Arquemann]

I've ran through a tank of gas with the current jetting. A bit around town, most of the time cruising around 50 or 65 mph.
Fifteen miles per gallon, not a damn drop more. Just like with the CFI. At 14 AFR on cruising speed, obviously not ideal, but I would've expected a bit better.
Seeing folks get even 20 MPG and beyond driving way faster than that makes me question if we're even driving the same cars.

The tensioner pulley is that bit smaller so I could fit the AC belt above or under the tensioner. If I route it above the pulley, it's easier to install and tighten plus the tensioner would be on the longer stretch of belt, but the belt pulls down on the tensioner, which might bend the new one like the previous. The factory way would be better for the tensioner bracket but it's complete ass to tighten the belt. I can't find a stubby 3/4" square drive extension anywhere...

Also in heavy rain and higher speeds the driver side wiper still smacks the A pillar trim. Less rain and speed and there's like 2 inches of gap... Worn out much?

[gadget73]

With the stock engine in my car doing a fair bit of highway it never broke 15 mpg. With all the stuff that I've done over the years, its like 18 mpg on the highway at best. I've driven other people's cars and gotten 20, and they drove my car and got 17 so its not just my driving. Some of these things are just fuel misers for reasons I cannot explain.

[kishy]

Also in heavy rain and higher speeds the driver side wiper still smacks the A pillar trim. Less rain and speed and there's like 2 inches of gap... Worn out much?

My Lincoln does this. I'm pretty sure it's excess play being allowed by a crack in the assembly that holds the shaft for the driver wiper arm. Haven't been able to identify it positively as that, but it's my current theory.

[Arquemann]

Got the tensioner and belts back on, aswell as the smog pump bolt with a "spacer" (aka wheel nuts).
One casualty though...

The tensioner pivot bolt didn't feel like tightening, I feel around backside and a piece falls on my hand.
The AC compressor ear cracked off... The threads are fine, there's no gap between the ear and accessory bracket, I guess the compressor ear didn't want to keep going. Nut and bolt fix, not ideal but it'll work.


I did also clean up the AC bracket, I guess it wasn't painted black from the factory.


Belt's doing a teeny tiny sqeaky sqeak as I moved the car a bit in the driveway, but hopefully it'll go away, water or something. Belts are tight.