Urba Centurion Update - (Kubota diesel, 100+ MPG in mixed driving - Fall 2012 on)

[changzuki]

Transmission back in and everything buttoned up.
Time for a test run and see what's what.
The good news:
- The exhaust is very do-able. Not nearly as loud as anticipated.
- The overdrive is back working again!
- The car feels markedly different in both acceleration and handling.
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The not-so-good news:
- The exhaust needs a small hanger to keep it from rattling at idle against the small hole it goes through.
- The overdrive worked for exactly 33 minutes and a couple of times disengaged sooooooo slowly that acceleration was not possible. It would actually freewheel in any gear. Luckily it did fully disengage and I drove home with the manual 4 speeds.
- The handling sucks. I'll need to check the alignment even though the heim joints were advertised to be a drop-in replacement.
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Shifting in any gear is not easy. I hate it.
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I will attack these issues with vigor!
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~CrazyJerry

[changzuki]

Hard shifting issue resolved:
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- Apparently the new aluminum bellhousing is a bit meatier than the cast iron. The clutch slave cylinder mounts in it's holder easy enough but the aluminum bell spaces it outward thereby causing the slave to not fully disengage the pressure plate.
- There are two easy fixes to deal with this.
The first is to simply slide something over the end of the clutch rod so it's effectively lengthened and then the thicker bell is addressed:
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- The other idea takes a bit more effort, so it is the likely winner. Remove about 3/8 inch of material from the body of the slave cylinder to it will push into it's holder further and engage the clutch rod early during the stroke as it should. The red area is where the material was ground off:
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It now shifts with effortlessly and the pedal grabs partway through the stroke - not 1mm off the floor and not 2mm from when your foot releases the pedal.
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Time to look at the overdrive problem...... Again.....
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~CrazyJerry

[changzuki]

Overdrive Issue Resolved!
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A bit of troubleshooting revealed the externally mounted overdrive solenoid was hanging up. The internal return spring has basically had it... Since it's old and nasty it was time to replace it. Herein lies the challenge!
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Sitting out on the floor, the solenoid is easy enough to get at. The jaw on a 1 inch wrench ground to about half its thickness is the ticket.
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Once the transmission is in the car it's not nearly as easy to get to:
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Luckily our planet makes things like a sawzall. An access area has now been created exclusively to make changing a faulty overdrive solenoid quick, easy and something the whole family can enjoy! The red area shows where the incision was made in the tunnel:
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Replacement of the solenoid now requires removal of the new "cap" but the entire process, from start to finish, takes no more than ten minutes.
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New switch in, transmission topped back up with Redline MT90 and it is premo! Manual shifting is superb and the overdrive is very responsive every time!
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Now, there's still a previous handling issue....
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~CrazyJerry

[nemo]

Nice solution.

[Hyperaboutmpg]

Any Diesel engine mods, especially for power and particulate?

[changzuki]

Originally Posted by Hyperaboutmpg

Any Diesel engine mods, especially for power and particulate?

In a round about way, yes. These references are scattered about the entire write-up. The engine is rated at 17hp which is plenty, so the goal in relation to your power question is to make sure that the engine AND everything downstream works together effectively in the engine's lowest BSFC (brake specific fuel consumption) and so it can run with traffic.

Related references about this are:

pg 17 - degreeing the engine
pg 24 - overdrive transmission
pgs 31-33 some details with the fuel system, etc.

Related to your emissions inquiry:
On page 12 "sheepdog 44" did a nice analysis on Centurion's grams per mile CO2 emissions on the trip down to Watkins Glen:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post426876

~CrazyJerry

[changzuki]

Recently, Centurion has shed some additional weight through both the exhaust system (now shorter and lighter), and the bellhousing (replaced cast iron with an aluminum version).
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In driving the normal test route, the car did seem more sprite-ly but the handling was a bit funky. On a hunch I decided to check the wheel alignment all the way around.
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Centurions using a Spitfire chassis will require a four-wheel alignment. If you're a do-it-yourselfer then be delighted to know this is something you can do - however - also note that it can be rather time consuming. This will be especially true if checking each wheel in relation to the frame. If the frame is good and has never been in an accident this may only serve as a piece of mind and no adjustments needed.
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Previously, great pains were taken to ensure alignment was no-less than excellent, so this initial check of front and rear toe-settings was somewhat of an eye opener! Both were well out of specs and were severely toe-in! Replacement of the trunnions to a heim joint may have helped throw off the front, but each end of the car was also affected as a result of removing weight and raising the ride height of the car - even a little:
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The front is simple enough to adjust by loosening the jam nut at steering rod/tie rod, then just equally rotate each rod to lengthen (or shorten) the distance between the steering rack and tie rod ends.:
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The rear is a bit more time consuming and is adjusted by removing (or adding shims) under the mounts for the radius rods:
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I have an idea that's bumping around - but this will do for now as Centurion has another appearance to get to!
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~CrazyJerry

[changzuki]

Centurion attends the 12th Annual Car-B-Que (Classic Car Show and Bar-B-Que) in Ogdensburg, NY!
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There is an urban legend that suggests the Car-B-Que/Bar-B-Que event was the result of a stale-mate between two well known figures of the classic kids tv show: The Electric Company.
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The segment was called the Adventures of Letterman:
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And the two characters were Letterman and the Spell Binder:

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Usually the evil Spell Binder would disrupt the scene by changing just one letter of a word, and, changing Car-B-Que to Bar-B-Que would certainly do it! Letterman would then jump in, pull the correct letter off his shirt, and place it over the Spell Binder's letter to then change the word back to what it should be.
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The best of both worlds is to have these two letter-heros agree to have both at the same time and location, and thus the annual event was borne!
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Like last year, the the cars and the event were both as hot as a backyard cookout in the sweltering summer heat! Neatly tucked in a row by the river, Centurion barely had a moment's rest for several hours as the guests swarmed in.
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Two delightful ladies who were introduced to Centurion last year, found the little car again after scouring through the show.
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Enlightened by the on-going adventures of this creation, they said they'd love to be part of the history and in doing so, the highlight of the day was captured in the photo below:
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Wouldn't it be something if they showed up at a future Green Grand Prix?
Centurion wholeheartedly admires them and looks forward to meeting more folks just like these two women at future events!
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~CrazyJerry

[GreenHornet]

The rear is a bit more time consuming and is adjusted by removing (or adding shims) under the mounts for the radius rods:
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I have an idea that's bumping around - but this will do for now as Centurion has another appearance to get to!
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~CrazyJerry
[/B][/QUOTE]

You need to get some adjustable rear radius arms I think They are pretty handy for doing the alignment.

Adjustable Rear Radius Arms, pair

for the Spitfire Mk1, 2, 3, 4 and 1500 models

Available for Spitfire Mk1,2,3 or 4 (Short drive shaft)

or Spitfire 1500 (Long drive shaft)

£ 118.00 per pair

You can get them here = New products from JIGSAW

[some_other_dave]

Or just rods with adjustable rod ends on the ends.... A great big Heim joint?

-soD