General questions and discussion - '87 323 SL

[JKuhn]

A bit off-topic, but could someone here tell me what the valve clearance on an injected B6 should be?

And getting back on topic, I did a thing today. Not bad for two quick coats of caliper paint, with minimal prep work.

[JKuhn]

Does anybody here know what can cause valves to bend without timing chain failure? It seems all 4 intake valves have to be replaced, and one guide is also broken.

Also, I decided to take a break from sanding and polishing the timing cover. So I got started on the carb.

Since taking that picture I did a bit more, and polished it with some metal polish and an old rag. So the first bit is like chrome now. I'll just have to find a cheaper supplier of wire brushes...

[FE3-323]

It is a matter of poor materials quality.
It was a known issue across Japanese auto manufactures and not uncommon in vehicles from the late 80's early 90's to see bent valves and or excessively pitted seats on tear downs.
Personally i've seen several b6's and virtually every honda D series i've ever looked at all had bent valves, without any timing belt issues.

[JKuhn]

Well, that would explain it then. One intake valve is bent, the other 3 are getting thin. So the intake valves are getting replaced, along with that one guide.

[JKuhn]

Time for a long overdue update.

The engine is back together, and waiting to go into the car. I just have to polish the engine bay paint (already wetsanded), and apply a ceramic coat. I'm planning to have the engine back in this weekend, and then I can work on assembling and connecting everything around it. Unfortunately I couldn't polish everything before hand, but I'll do the best I can after putting the engine back in. As it is now, the car really needs to get back on the road.

EDIT: Oh, and I also have a bit of overspray that I still need to take care of. But most of it will be gone anyway when I paint the parts in question.

[FE3-323]

nice update!!

[JKuhn]

The polishing and ceramic coating took a bit longer than anticipated, but the engine is in. Tomorrow will be the big day.

[JKuhn]

It's alive!

This was the second attempt, on the first the spark timing was too far off. And this time I had to kill it immediately, because the throttle cable wasn't installed right to the carb was partially open. The car is back at home, and I'm busy putting everything back together.

But now I have a question. If the brake pedal sinks almost all the way to the floor before the brakes grab with the engine running, does that mean the booster kicked the bucket? We bled the brakes twice, there isn't any air in the system. And if the engine is off the pedal is rock solid.

Also, I noticed the oil pressure light isn't coming on. I'll have a look, but it's probably just the wire that pulled off the sensor as usual.

[FE3-323]

its alive!!!!

[JKuhn]

It's mostly put together now, I even cheated a bit and went for wheel alignment (and to check the pressures, one wheel can only take nitrogen) before finishing.

Now to fit the fan, horn and wipers. Then comes a good cleaning inside and out, and then I can put some more work into the body panels. The left front corner still needs to come in 1mm (needs minor slotting), and the right front corner is loose (will need a new hole). I also still have to make two new holes for the bonnet latch, so I can mount it a bit better. Right now it's secure enough to drive a bit, but I can't trust it long term.

[FE3-323]

looks nicely done!

[JKuhn]

Thanks. It's a long way off from being up to my standards, but it's certainly better than before I started. At some point I'll even want to redo the engine bay wiring, because it's nowhere near tidy enough. But that's way down at the bottom of the list.

[JKuhn]

While looking for a speedometer cable the (cable snapped), I spotted an exhaust header on an old BD 323. I'm definitely interested, and will probably buy it if I can. But the thing I noticed is that the header is designed in an odd way. Instead of merging the two inner cylinders and the two outers (it's a 4-2-1), it merges cylinders 1 and 2 into one pipe, and 3 and 4 into one pipe. So that would mean each secondary tube has two tightly spaced pulses, followed by a large gap. Is that worth buying?

[FE3-323]

did you get a picture of it?? was it an aftermarket header? 4-2-1 is better for midrange power, which is more appropriate considering the engine.
ideally 1-3 2-4 should be merged, but it really won't make a huge difference

[JKuhn]

No pictures, no. It was getting late and I didn't want to waste time. In fact it was only at 16:57 (closing time is 17:00) that I managed to confirm that car still has a speedometer cable. I also don't think they'll appreciate photos without prior arrangement.

Anyway, it's definitely not stock. Either aftermarket factory, or custom. It merges 1-2 and 3-4 into the secondaries. I honestly would have expected 1-4 2-3 to be ideal, as it means equal spacing in the secondary pipes (but of course getting the length equal is harder that way, while 1-2 3-4 is very easy).

I've been mocking up some drawings with regard to the design and flow, so I'll also look into how 1-3 2-4 will flow. It's actually pretty interesting to look into the different design choices and how they flow.

EDIT: I made a mock-up for 1-3 2-4, and I see it's in effect the same as 1-2 3-4. In the secondary pipes, each design gives the following flow/pulses:
1-2 3-4 -- -- --
1-3 2-4 -- -- --
1-4 2-3 - - - - - -

And of course once it becomes single pipe, the pulses are evenly spaced. This all obviously assumes equal length, and the header I saw appeared to be equal (or VERY close to equal).