Rear View Mirror & Choke

afflora · #1 (**permalink**) 10-28-2004, 05:36 PM

Couple of Questions
My rear view mirror on the windshield is loose. What do I have to do to get in behind the trim and tighten it down, It is most frustrating driving down the road and the mirror wobbling
2ndly, the choke on the car is very hard to pull out for a cold start. Are there any tips that I should look at and what is the easiest way to maybe put some oil down thru the cable.
Thanks

Farace · #2 (**permalink**) 10-28-2004, 06:28 PM

The mirror base actually snaps onto the mount on the windshield. It's designed that way for safety, so it won't dent your head on its way to smashing through the windshield. One word of warning, don't try to snap the mirror back onto its mount just by pushing. The previous owner of my car cracked the windshield this way; I guess it flexed a bit too much. Use a squeezing action instead.

If your car still has its Spica fuel injection, then that's not a choke cable. It's a throttle designed to let you set a higher engine speed (although for the life of me I can't figure out why--if the linkages and pump gap are set correctly, and the TA is working, the cold idle speed should set itself.) Roadtrip will warn you not to use it as a cruise control, and he's right. There's no auto-off like on a real cruise control. Since I installed a rebuilt TA and adjusted the linkages, I've not had to touch my throttle cable.

afflora · #3 (**permalink**) 10-29-2004, 11:44 AM

On the rear view mirror, I took it off and looked at it. There are two studs there that sit on either side of the clip piece. They look like they have been broken. as they are extremely short and do not catch the holes in the plate. Is there any solution to this. Seems like a dumb question but someone may know the answer

Farace · #4 (**permalink**) 10-29-2004, 12:48 PM

I think if I were going to try to repair those studs, I'd try to drill and tap holes where the studs are located and then put in a short section of threaded rod or a set screw that's a bit longer than the hole is deep. Or just drill and glue in a short piece of rod. Since it's out of sight, it doesn't need to be pretty. Then again, I'm at work and don't have one here to look at; there might not be enough to drill and/or tap.

On the other hand, I might have a spare; hopefully it's in okay shape, but it might be missing a stud or two as well. I'll try to remember to look tonight or tomorrow.

jeremyburnan · #5 (**permalink**) 10-29-2004, 02:48 PM

I keep following Bob's sound advice to you!! My spider has been converted to a carburated system, but the components of the "choke" are still in place. As Bob says, it's not a choke. The lever end is part of the rigid accelerator linkage. If you need to use it, you should put your foot on the accelerator first, then pull out the plunger. I have totally disconnected the wire cable from that lever (driver's side just forward of the firewall), but still use the plunger in the console as a real choke for the carbs (2 twin bore dellorto) when I need it. If you do sever that wire linkage, be careful - it's stiff wire and quite taught: it goes with quite a twang!

Jerry

jeremyburnan · #6 (**permalink**) 10-29-2004, 02:49 PM

Sorry for spelling error - taut.

Jerry

Farace · #7 (**permalink**) 10-30-2004, 08:26 AM

I looked at my spare mirror mount/strut thingy. One of the pins seems fairly complete if a bit beat up. The other seems to have lost about half its length and the rest is a bit rounded off, mostly on one side. You may be better off putting new pins on the one you have, but if you want it, PM me your address and I'll stick it in the mail.