• Welcome to the new SAOCA website. Already a member? Simply click Log In/Sign Up up and to the right and use your same username and password from the old site. If you've forgotten your password, please send an email to membership@sunbeamalpine.org for assistance.

    If you're new here, click Log In/Sign Up and enter your information. We'll approve your account as quickly as possible, typically in about 24 hours. If it takes longer, you were probably caught in our spam/scam filter.

    Enjoy.

Return of my SIV!

Scotty

Silver Level Sponsor
Thanks to all of you and Al Mason, you can add another running Alpine on the streets; This morning I drove my SIV for the first time.

It has been a project since forever and this morning I got in, fired it up and put it in gear with the intention of driving her to DMV to get the inspection for her tags.

As you might have suspected, I did not make it to DMV lol. Here's what happend:

So I fire the car up and the Weber I picked up from SS runs abit lean, almost too lean. Once I rev her, put her in gear and drive and beyond a rough idle that kind of rattled, the SIV runs wonderfully. I'm a pretty new manual driver, so I chalk up most issues to user error and acquiring experience on a brand new clutch disc.

First gear SUCKS. I'm assuming it's for driving in parking lots and such. Second gear gets things done and third gear is where it's at. This sounds like a dingaling question, so forgive me, but at what mph does most of you shift into second? I was doing it around... 12 mph.

So I drove, stopped for gas (no leaks, a little smell but greatly improved after I tightened the clamps.). I have some issues with stopping at a stop light while driving a stick because I kept stalling it out. I'll learn, I'll learn lol. The Speedo came to life when I hit 20MPH, which surprised me. Ordered a Speedo Cable and will replace.

All this time my GF is driving right behind me to make sure my lights work and that I'm safe. Definite keeper.

I get about twelve blocks, stop at a stop light and the SIV suddenly loses power. Did I get mad? Nope, I laughed, got out and pushed it in neutral to the side. Like a moron, I assumed the battery wasn't getting charged and my gf took it to Autozone to check it. Turns out one of my distributor wires came off, something I knew about and totally forgot. I plugged it back in, wrapped it with tape and the car came back to life. Drove it home. I'll try DMV later on.

Even though his morning's drive turned out to be more of a shakedown cruise, all it did was excite and inspire me.

The one thing my GF was saying was my brake lights, which have new bulbs, were dim and one side worked but was kind of hard to see. The turn signals, which use the same Sylvania bulbs the brakes got, were really bright on both sides with no worries. I'm running a flasher on its own line that works with LEDS, so does anyone know of a brand or kind that would directly plug in to our sockets out of the box?
 
Last edited:

rixter

Gold Level Sponsor
Congratulations on your first drive. There are few things more exciting than that first one... in more than one way. Now go make it better and better.... little by little.

Rick
 

Alpine 1789

SAOCA President
Diamond Level Sponsor
Congratulations on the first drive! Very exciting.

As for the brake lights, you should get the standard ones working correctly before going to LEDs. Brighter lights are definitely a good idea, but LEDs won't fix problems with the wiring. Dim lights are generally a sign of a bad ground, although I am not sure why you'd have bright turn signals and dim brake lights, unless the turn signals are somehow pulling a ground from the flasher line you mentioned. The taillights only ground from the wing nuts that hold the light brackets in, which is a very poor system. I attached a wire from the tail light screws/wing nuts to a good ground (as I recall, where the gas tank bracket attaches). A bad ground is a simple thing to test, so I'd start there.

When the time does come to get LEDs, take a look at Joe Parlenti's website. http://velocesolutionsllc.com. Joe is a long time Tiger owner who provides a number of modern lighting solutions. I especially recommend his instrument lights. They don't have the classic yellow tint that stock bulbs have, but they are infinitely more readable at night.
 

Silver Creek Sunbeam

Gold Level Sponsor
I second Jim’s endorsement of Parlanti’s LEDs. I run them on my Series V. One drive out of the city after dark and I ordered them as soon as I got home.

As for the gas smell, when you fill your car up, after you drive it check for gas on the car below the gas cap.
If it’s there...clean it off, wax it...and order a filler cap gasket from either SS or CS. That’s where your gas smell is coming from...

Glad you’re rolling!
 

Tom H

Platinum Level Sponsor
The turn signals, which use the same Sylvania bulbs the brakes got, were really bright on both sides with no worries.
????

As I said on Aug 22 in reply to your post on Rear Lamps:

" I am 95% sure the flasher bulbs, bothe front an rear are #1056. And the dual rear Tail light / Brake light are a #1057."

The 1056 used for Turn signals are single element
The 1057 used for Tail and Brake have two elements - a bright one for the brakes and a less bright one for the tail light. Not sure what you actually put in your car.

Tom
 

Scotty

Silver Level Sponsor
????

As I said on Aug 22 in reply to your post on Rear Lamps:

" I am 95% sure the flasher bulbs, bothe front an rear are #1056. And the dual rear Tail light / Brake light are a #1057."

The 1056 used for Turn signals are single element
The 1057 used for Tail and Brake have two elements - a bright one for the brakes and a less bright one for the tail light. Not sure what you actually put in your car.

Tom

I pointed it out because it was weird; the turn bulbs are single and the brakes are dual and one was coming off dimmer than the other. When I flipped the lights on, they did brighten but they seemed duller.

UPDATE: I decided to try again and drive to DMV. This time I was successful and the SIV is now registered, new plates and all!

When I tried to drive earlier, I had a slight issue with what seemed loose wires on the distributor. Turns out, I ended up having a depleted dead battery. First time my GF took it to Autozone and it had 45% of a charge and on the way home, it died and I couldn't get it to turn over, no matter what I did. I got a jump and after a few minutes it fired right back up, drove until I stalled and I couldn't get the motor to turn over, so she got towed home. So, before I yank off the Generator and charge the battery, is there any common things with the charging system that I should look at first? Beyond the battery dying, everything else was working without a hitch except for the dimming lights. Ideas?
 
Top