More photos from the 1980's.

I was given a few more photos of my car from the 1980's when it was owned by Andrew Kubienski then Ara Vartoukian.

Amaroo Dirt circuit.

Amaroo dirt again with Ara.

My car left with Andrew Kubienski, John Kitchen's R1134 in the
 middleand Ara with his earlier 1135 which was raced in the
 Hardi ferodo in 1972.This car was written off at 
Catalina Park in the 80's, rebuilt, sold and never seen again.

John Kitchen's car left, mine in the middle and Bruce Colliers
red R8G on the right.Bruce's car was destroyed in a bush fire
 a couple of years after Bruce sold it.

Road trip.

Distributor rebuild update.

With the 1/2 worn weight post needing replacing I sent a second distributor to David to be used for parts. It is an R10 Ducellier unit which is basically the same however with a shorter shaft length. One of the good posts from the spares distributor is removed and will be tig welded into the Gordini distributor.

Gordini Distributor shaft on left and parts shaft on right
showing the posts are the same size.

Drilling out the new post.

Post removed.

Removing the worn post in the Gordini shaft.

Replacement post.

Replacement post ready to be tig welded in position.

Webers should stop leaking now.

No matter how many times my mechanic tried to stop the Webers leaking from the bottom bowls they just kept leaking. So while the distributor is away for a rebuild I removed the Webers purchased some new, longer stainless screws (he replaced the originals with shorter black screws) and put it all back together using a small film of Locktite 518 sealant. Hopefully this will stop the leaks.

Distributor woe's.

The distributor has been pulled down and we have found a few problems that need attention. The shaft and bushes are OK but will receive some love. The main problem as you can see in the last photo is the 1/2 worn weight pivot post. Got a good bloke on the job.

1/2 worn pivot post will need to be replaced.

Distributor rebuild.

I am having the Gordini distributor overhauled by David Andrews at Vintage Racing Developments in Sydney. Have a look at the attached data and plot for the test and note that raw data is listed in crank RPM, whereas plot X axis is distributor RPM (crank RPM / 2). Crosses on the plot are the values from my distributor overlayed on the OEM limits. Note that the total advance of my distributor is only 12 (distributor) degrees vs the 13 to 15 factory total advance tolerance and that this discrepancy is of course magnified by a factor of two when considered in terms of crank values, ie. I will have 24 crank degrees total, whereas the prescribed factory limits for total advance are 26 to 30. I expect the total advance shortfall is a legacy of lost motion due to the play in the weight pivots. The distributor was spun to 8000 crank RPM and the advance does not increase beyond the maximum 12 distributor degrees initially seen @ 3250 crank RPM. Information supplied by David Andrews.

So as you can see the 48 year old distributor is not working to its best (The x's should be in the lines) so it will be re-furbished. When re-fitted the engine should run better and a few missing horses should be returned.

Original tools and tool roll returned to the G

At the recent 4CV muster held in Bathurst I met up with some of the previous owners of the G (see previous posts). One of those owners, Andrew Kubineski gave me the original tool roll and tools that came with the car when new. I have since clarified this with the original owner who believes these items are indeed the original tools. I'm so chuffed to have so much of this car's original bits back where they belong.

The original tool roll and tools. I believe the roll only came with
the 3 open ended spanners.

2 videos of the G on Mount Panorama.

I took a couple ov video's of the G driving around Mount Panorama. The first link is taken following the Luthi A110 Alpine and the other is taken from the outside of the car.
Copy the link into your browser as it won't live link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV_b7qT4Skw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewFm0fXJYKo

Four of Seven. Po's reunited.

Today I reunited 3 previous owners with the Gordini. Andrew Kubienski, Ben Emmelkamp and John Kitchen. Only 3 more to go.

Andrew Kubienski.

Ben Emmelkamp.

Four of Seven.
Four owners unite. From left- Andrew Kubienski, Ben Emmelkamp,
Paul Tomlinson and John Kitchen.

A couple of old photos.

These 2 photos were given to me today by PO Andrew Kubinski. Not very good resolution as they are scanned from 30 yo photos.

Car Trailer.

A few weeks ago I bought a car trailer to carry the G when on a long trip. I had to move the axle forward as it had been set back to carry an old dragster. I have infilled the inside of the mud guards so stones wont flick up on the car and re designed the ramps and the system that holds them in place and made a few minor adjustments.

Perfect fit.

Out for a drive.

After installing all the electronic ignition I though I would take the G for a bit of a drive. I took one of the previous owners with me being John Kitchen who drove part of the way and really enjoyed himself. We covered 104km around the back roads of Bathurst. The G used 10.53L per 100km which converts to 26.83mpg. It still needs some further tuning.

On the O'Connell Plains Road about 25km south of Bathurst.

Nearly there.

After having trouble tuning the Webers I have installed the factory correct and genuine needle and seats being 1.5 and adjusted the float levels being 5mm to 11.5mm.
The fellow in Sydney who rebuilt the Webers used Fuel miser brand 1.75 needle and seats and had the float levels set at 5mm to 17.5mm.
I put it all back together today and fitted the new Flamethrower 3ohm-40,000v coil to assist with the new electronic ignition. There is no doubt it is running better however it is still "hunting" at about 5000rpm when cruising. I think it is still running lean at this rpm.

Correct Weber made needle and seat on right. 1.50.

Adjusting the float levels.

It's pointless.

I finally got my Accuspark electronic ignition and fitted it to the car. It took about 2 hours to fit and has made starting so much easier.
I had to remove all the old point parts including some plastic bits fitted to the plate that the module fits to, so I removed the top plate of the distributor to make the job just that bit easier. I will replace the 2 ohm coil with a 3 ohm Flamethrower 2 coil in the coming week.

Accuspark ignition kit #23.

Distributor prior to removing points.

Points removed.

Points carrier plate removed.

Ignition carrier fitted.

Ignition fitted. Now only need to replace the rotor button and cap.

Its back.

The G has been siting at my mechanic for the past month having the Webers tuned and re jetted, it finally came home today.
It was running rich and now is a bit lean and will need to be looked at again when I install the electronic ignition which I am waiting for to be delivered from the UK.
I couldn't wait to put the MIOFILTRE sticker on the air cleaner as it is the last thing to go on for originality.

Engine start video.

I just thought I would post a video of the first time we started the engine. Cut and paste the link into your browser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zDMgEkRkGs

AFCD and a new sticker for the air cleaner.

I have just ordered an Accuspark electronic ignition kit from the UK. I will fit this along with a new Pertronix Flamethrower 2 coil when it arrives. Besides all the obvious benefits it will also help with hot starting problems. I will up date photos etc when I complete this next job.

Still having some problems with the Webers. They have been re jetted and tuned complete with new bottom bowl gaskets to help cure the leaks. Just need some final fiddling after the new ignition is installed.

I attended the All French Car Day at Silverwater park on the weekend. Unfortunately my G was not able to attend due to fixing the problems that have appeared. However I did manage to get hold of the last needed sticker to complete the authenticity of the car. It is the sticker for the air cleaner as seen below.

I have included a few photos from the 2016 AFCD, enjoy.

R1135 re-bodied into a R1130 shell

Alpine V6 Turbo

My previous Gordini. Sold it in 1988 to current owner.

R17 Gordini.

R10S

A now rare standard R8.

Dauphine Gordini.

R15.

Alpine A110 Targa car 1300.

R750.

Recently restored Caravelle with R1134 engine.

R1134 engine fitted to the Caravelle with 40 dcoe Webers.