LM002 RHD Rolling restoration.. will be updated regularly

A friend of mine is looking for LM002 parts.
Basically, he needs everything available LM specific: transfer case, gearbox, differentials, suspension parts, body parts, interior parts and so on.
Please, let me know!

 

Damn! I've put the wrong video in the earlier post. I had some problems viewing youtube previews on the forums, so couldn't see it.

Here's the correct link to the movie and the scene.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPELOybP0kU[/ame]

 

Is the bigger A/C really that much needed? I've heard it was sufficient for deserts.

Basically, yeah. But he already got an LM002, so he has a car to copy from. He needs the LM specific mechanical devices more than anything else.

 

BTW, the central differential should be 75% torque-split. But I'm not sure how it was done, and whether it is prohibited to drive it on roads.
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wow, just found this thread.

is the car located in indonesia or anywhere else? would love to see this on the road.
Amazing restoration, that matte black is very nice on it.

 

I've made my LM002 finally go. As scheduled before, I've soaked the piston and combustion chamber in a special solution (that is proved to work) while running diesel-type 10W-40 oil, changed the oil to the final Agip 10W-60, rebuilt the ignition system again, the distributor and many other things, tuned the carbs with pyrometer (aka infrared temperature gun), changed the plugs to the final Denso Iridium plugs.
Well, it easily reaches 180 km/h and spins up to the redline in 4th gear.
I'm finally happy.

The thing is most likely in the distributor itself. If I set 13 degree advance, it only reaches 31.5 degrees at 4000 RPM. The distributor was checked, rebuilt and etc. There is just no space to rotate anymore. So I've set it to 36 degrees at 4000 RPM and called that a day. Without the manifold plenum, the sound was just sick. Too bad it's silent when it's on.

Can anyone confirm that Scorpion BK (sand lip) tyres are better for city driving because of the harder sidewall? When ompared to Scorpion Zero with softer sidewall.

 

Well, proper ignition obviously gives more power.
The distributor seems to have the wrong advance weights inside. Or maybe LM002s were too "ecological".
If you set 13 degrees, you will have only about 18.5 degrees to move the ignition point earlier. Which means with 13 degrees you will end up with 31.5 advance, while Countach engine wants to have 36-38 degrees at full power (over 4000 RPM).
So if you want full power, the 36-18.5=17.5 degrees at idle. That's what I've set. The car was then crazy quick over 4500 RPM.

I was into Nissan L28 (inline-6, 12 valves) tuning before (I've got a '69 Fairlady Z). My friend in Japan is making 410 hp from 3.2 L28 with carburetors. He runs 38 degrees advance fixed! So I wasn't too nervous about running ridiculous angles on our LM.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvtjIxwNEZE[/ame]


More about ignition angles:
At first, I've set 8 degrees at idle (for an odd reason), the car was really really driveable at low RPM up until 4000 RPM, but then it didn't want to spin any further.
I've started moving angles, the idle RPMs increased, but the actual low torque decreased, at the expense of better mid-high RPMs.
So if anyone would use a standalone ignition system, it is possible to map it better and have torque everywhere.
Or if someone has got a Sun Distributor machine, he could machine better ignition advance weights and keep everything original.

 

Also with greater power I started to have severe vibration from the CV joints in between the gearbox and the transfer case. I've spent many hours trying to find the P/N for the GKN CV joints, and finally I had some luck. The p/ns are GKN 302287 and 301169 (for Diablo CVs). I've used the first ones, which were identical to the ones I had on the car, but the other diameter should be 105.9 mm on one side for about 7 mm (so the CV joint would fit into transfer case / gearbox flanges). Replaced those, and the vibration was gone.
There are some small high pitch vibrations present, I suspect transfer case rubber mounts. Should be easy to fix.
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At 3000 RPM the advance would be like 24-25 degrees.
How? Well, it likes to rev. It easily revs past 3000 RPM, but I can cruise in 3000 RPM in 4th or 5th, no problem. I'd say that if the gear is not right, the 3000-4500 RPM range is somewhat blank. But if I rev each gear to 6500 RPM (that's where all the power is on a carburetted engine) it is really really quick to get me to 180 km/h!

With 8 deg advance at idle it was possible to let the clutch off without touching throttle pedal, with only 800 RPM being the idle. It is also possible now, but I've got the idle at the factory spec - 1000 RPM +/- 50 RPM (depending on the condition). On cold start I usually rev it to 1500-2000 RPM for the first 10 seconds, then it keeps steady 800 RPM for the warm up.

The only thing is that when the engine is hot, it wouldn't start unless you open throttle all the way. My friend says, it's probably because the hot carb's float chambers being within the same hot air volume with the venturis... It's somewhat difficult to explain, but the idea is that the vacuum is too small to suck the fuel into the engine that's why it won't start. It starts within 1-2 seconds if you open the throttles (I immediately let the pedal off once it catches spark, so the RPM would be below 1500 RPM). Such thing wasn't present when the manifold plenum was off. But it's common on the other carburetted LM we have locally.

Also under full power I get the manifold vacuum light (which means, the air is restricted). It's strange because all the filters are new, the Donaldson pre-filters are also like new.

Too bad I didn't shoot a video without the manifold cover, the sound was so mean and awesome. The acceleration was a hair quicker as well.

 

Oh, you can easily find the best spark advance on the dyno, simulating various loads.

Yeah, carbed engines featured wider cams, so they are a bit lacking torque down below, if set up to the maximum power spark advance. Guess, it's okay with Magnetti Marelli distributors.

 

A more intersting question would be: how's your reverse?
Does it always go in without any resistance?