Gee, I thought mine was the last one ever. I used to have a '71
(as I remember). It was a great car. Its three failings were RUST
RUST and an auto trans. I hated that trans, and wanted to retrofit
the stick. Not possible, so I was told. The car had so little power
that I could not climb certain very steep hills. I attributed it to the
trans and the engine. I had to keep the car in perfect (as far as
I was able) tune in order to make it move at all. 0-50 in 20 sec,
0-60 in 30 sec, 0-70 in infinity.
My engine had an air pump and some other stuff. It was
IMPOSSIBLE to get it all to work properly. I eventually
disconnected most of the crap and then retrofitted an older
spridgit carb. Then tuning the carb was simple. Lots of books
on SU tuning. Not much to it unless you plan on changing the
needle, which is technically simple but the decision on which
needle is not.
If you have the same trouble I did, you might try to stealth
disconnect the emissions stuff, then tune the carb to be just a
little lean. Then get it emission checked, then re-tune to proper
running. I have seen a number of cars of this vintage able to
easily pass emissions tests. You just have to get everything
just right. If the engine is healthy, then it won't be too hard. If
you have the same 1300 engine I had, then it is virtually identical
to most BL 1300's. (I used an old midget head too! The top
radiator hose disintegrated one day, and I cooked the head.
Popped in the midget head, and presto: cured) I'd give you
my old engine (less than 30k mi when it went to the crusher),
but it is now a Ford.
One other way to make the car run lean is to create a vacuum
leak by disconnecting some vacuum hose somewhere. It is
then easy to reconnect and restore the orignial mix.
One reason I loved the car was that You could increase your
storage in it by removing all the passenger and back seat with
ease. I did that on a few occasions. I also retrofited a GM fuel
pump when the old one gave up. It was noisy, but then I could
always tell when the tank was running on vapors. I also hated
(and still do) the finger operated dip switch. When I was driving
one night I heard a crackling coming out of the steering column,
smelled smoke and then my headlights went out. I had to pull
the dip switch to "passing flash" to get them to come on. I then
cut the heavy light wires going to the steering column, spliced
some more heavy wire to them, bought a foot switch for $1.50
and screwed it to the floor. I LOVED IT. This car is so easy to
work on and even easier if you just want to be a DPO. I found
it tough to get those parts that were unique to the model. Luckily
the major running parts were not unique. I also learned the Art
of Bondo on this car. Sandpaper, hammer, Bondo, and yellow
rustoleum spray paint kept me on the road (yes the car was
buttercup yellow)! That plus some steel sheetmetal pop riveted
to the floor boards and some fiberglass to seal the wheelwell
joins to keep my feet dry. I LOVED THAT CAR! Finally the
front sub frame started to rust off the unibody, and I felt that it
was too unsafe, and sold it to my cousin even when I told him
about the terminal rust. He now has a cute spit.
Don't you love the hydraulic suspension? I thought it was
amazingly nice. It also helped me get air off frost heaves
in the road! This happened because I had to keep my revs
up. If I slowed down I might not make it up the next hill. It was
good training for driving in deep snow. Oh yes, that car was
GREAT in snow. Even with the plain old michelinZX tires I
used on it. I was amazed when I was able to get the 12" tires
off the shelf at a local tire store. It has been 19 long years
since I lost my baby, and I still miss my little Buttercup!
Reminiscingly yours,
Tony
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