New to me 79 1500

[kmead]

How is the MC carb option? I happen to have a set of CBR600 carbs.... Is it worth doing without head work? I know the stock valves are restrictive sooo.......

It has been done. Like many things the benefit will be small without other work: compression, valves, exhaust.

Speaking of exhaust, bike carbs are generally never sitting above an exhaust manifold so heat soak and related will be an issue. Additionally building an intake manifold for carbs is no thrill given the space available.

There are some threads on this, you may have to delve into the old XWeb to find them though there was a thread within the last ten years for sure.

 

[ricar]

Yeah, I have looked into a couple threads. I have the CBR engine up for sale with little interest... Other than for the carbs. I figured maybe I would just keep them it it was a worthwhile future endeavor.

 

[kmead]

Have a look at this thread:
https://xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/bike-carbs-on-lampredi-sohc.35011/#post-301534

There are other threads under similar search for “bike carbs”

They do look cool, looks like a fair amount of bits and pieces to build

 

[ricar]

It looks to me that they only need a manifold and the rest is jetting. Not that the manifold would be entirely easy, but other than that a choke and throttle cable. The DPO already changed the carb, he told me what it was from but I could barely understand him so I have no idea what it is from. It bogs at high rpm so I don't know if it's the carb or the points.

 

[ricar]

I am trying to figure out what the DPO did with the attempted BWM. My headlights were barely noticeable, worse that if they had of just been left alone... I have some of it sorted, lights pop up and I have highlights, only passenger side low light but I think that's a ground. I have a heavy black wire behind the headlight switch and I can't figure out what it is for. Any ideas?

 

[ricar]

SOOOOO... Digging more into the electrics of the car I find a pink wide that is smoked. Seriously, almost no insulation on it. The PO had wrapped the wire and several others with it in vinyl tape and surprise! Following the wire from the fuse it seems only go to the hazard switch. I can't see the hazard lights drawing enough current to fry this wire, the copper is cooked and corroding, it got hot. Am I missing something on what this wire might be feeding?

 

[kmead]

Any wire can end up being asked to carry too great a load. The wire may have had a worn area that ground out on the body, an incorrect fuse would have allowed it to burn the wire out.

I would have a look at the wires leading from the hazard switch to see if any of them have suffered similarly.

I would have a gander at the wiring diagram for your year to better understand the possible loads.

In any case, verify the fuse is correct and I would splice in a new wire and label it along its length so that someday you can follow your own tracks.

Yes the Pink should be only feeding the emergency flasher switch, the orange one feeds the turn signals power.

 

[ricar]

Thank you.

Hmmm, I did not check the fuse yet but the pink is pretty torched almost the entire length, it's good for about 6" from the fuse and it fine after the point it gets wrapped in with the other wires under the steering column I have wire from another harness I can splice in for now. Eventually when I go to paint I may swap the whole harness for a spare I have. Now I know why the PO had the spare harness.

 

[AKimball92]

I drive mine at 65-85mph in 4th and 5th for several hours straight when I go to my main annual car show. So, it ticks over comfortably in the 3-4k rpm range. That's kinda like off-idle rpm for this motor

So you're saying my 2500 rpm idle is just right?

The weekend I bought my 1300 stock X with California emissions (minus an air pump belt) I drove it 12 hours home without any issues that would have occurred had I had a summer with the vehicle first. Left Philly, drove to York, PA. Wiper arms popped off on the interstate in the pouring rain. I have since removed and replaced with RainX in the trunk. The water pump belt broke pulling into York PA. Spent 2 days learning it was a 1300 to find the right belt. Drove from York to southern Indiana without any real hickups. Brake fluid slowly leaked all over my white suede Skechers, ruined. Had to stop for gas about every 75-100 miles as I didnt know tank size and gauge not working.

One summer with the car prior and that drive and this trip home would have been flawless and very enjoyable. Once you get to know the car and your skills with it, I doubt you would object to the occasional 3 hour drive. I am building my relationship with mine and plan to drive it throughout the state of Michigan for the occasional roadtrip.

 

[ricar]

I am getting acquainted with this car a lot faster than I would like! I was hoping I could get a couple quick drives in before the weather turns. I hope to get the bad electrical stuff done this week.. Still no cabin or dash lights, who knows what else, and then the tranny seals. Then drop the motor when it gets parked for the winter.

 

[Dan Sarandrea (Phila)]

So you're saying my 2500 rpm idle is just right?

The weekend I bought my 1300 stock X with California emissions (minus an air pump belt) I drove it 12 hours home without any issues that would have occurred had I had a summer with the vehicle first. Left Philly, drove to York, PA. Wiper arms popped off on the interstate in the pouring rain. I have since removed and replaced with RainX in the trunk. The water pump belt broke pulling into York PA. Spent 2 days learning it was a 1300 to find the right belt. Drove from York to southern Indiana without any real hickups. Brake fluid slowly leaked all over my white suede Skechers, ruined. Had to stop for gas about every 75-100 miles as I didnt know tank size and gauge not working.

One summer with the car prior and that drive and this trip home would have been flawless and very enjoyable. Once you get to know the car and your skills with it, I doubt you would object to the occasional 3 hour drive. I am building my relationship with mine and plan to drive it throughout the state of Michigan for the occasional roadtrip.

So you ended up with the green one from DiCicco on Frankford Ave? That was a strange car, yep some of the FIAT manufacturing labels were in Japanese! Did I ever send you the pix I took of the car while it was on their lot?

 

[AKimball92]

So you ended up with the green one from DiCicco on Frankford Ave? That was a strange car, yep some of the FIAT manufacturing labels were in Japanese! Did I ever send you the pix I took of the car while it was on their lot?

Yup that’s that one! Strange car is right. A bit of buried history too I’ve found out. And yes I have a link somewhere to your pics. I wish I had seen it before buying.

 

[ricar]

I have to get a better picture.

 

[ricar]

A nit of wiring. Everything has been wires twisted together and vinyl tape.

 

[ricar]

SPEEDO CABLE!


I just did the speedo cable and it is a pain so I wanted to lay out what I did.

IMO it's easier to go front to back than back to front. Soooo

Remove the driver side grille, don't forget the screw towards the inside with the relief.

Pass the cable from the wiper section into the frunk

Shove it down into the passenger compartment. It will come through above the steering rack and is a massive pain.

 

[ricar]

I like to grease the grommet to help with getting it back into place.

Pull the carpet away from the tunnel and will will see very little BUT there is a rubber grommet under the gas pedal linkage.

Reach under the car and pull the grommet out from the bottom.

Then back in the passenger compartment push the cable down the carpet and using your wiggly fingers shove it through the hole.

 

[ricar]

Under the car there are a bunch of black clips. When you pull the cable (as gently as possible so you don't snap them but they are tough) and the black crap flakes off you may notice they are white.

The clips do allow the cable to slide through. Push the cable up into the clips and make your way to the rear of the car. I like to wait until I'm done before replacing bits because you may want to slide the cable forwards or back depending on how much slack you left. But you can grease up the grommet and put it back in shoving it up from the bottom of the car.

Tape the metal ring to the end of the cable

And shove it up into the engine bay. Bring it up to the clip on top of the trans and make sure the cable will spin with your fingers. IMO stop here and go back to the front of the car. Slide the big white barrel back on the cable exposing the little white fingers, clip those onto the short cable and if you have not, plug it in to the speedo. Go to the back of the car and make sure the cable will spin. If it does plug it in!

 

[kmead]

A nit of wiring. Everything has been wires twisted together and vinyl tape.

I have no idea why my car burned down...

Good grief

Why are my (insert your favorite accessory here) going on and off when I go over bumps...

 

[NEG]

Can’t see the pictures

 

[ricar]

Really? They show up for me.... First time I tried to post pictures here, so I am not sure I know what I am doing.