Miata Mailing List: October 1996, Message #0201
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   From: Richard Dekker 

Subject: Reflections on Bell Autorotor

   Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 16:46:51 -0500



First off, I must state that the following posting is for a fellow member of

the Wild Rose Chapter, who, unfortunately, doesn't have access to the net.

Instead, he has related his sorid tale to me, to then post to the list.



Don't blame me for anything below this line!



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Wayne ordered his Autorotor kit (for his 1990 1.6L Miata)in March, at which

time, his credit card was billed for $2765 US ($2650 for the kit and $115

for shipping).  The kit didn't arrive until mid-June.  Once opened, the box

was missing one very obvious thing - that being the instructions for the

kit.  These were Fed-Ex'd the next day from Texas and Wayne thought that all

was well.



Once he began to really go through the contents, a number of parts were

found to be missing...the two most important ones being a throttle body

blanking plate and the boost gauge.  Yet another call was made to Bell for

the missing parts to which he was told that the plate would be on a plane by

the next day but that the boost gauges were back-ordered.  It's been over

three months since that phone call and neither part has shown up yet.



Once the installation proceedure began (Wayne made a plate for throttle body

himself) it was discovered that the front mount, between the supercharger

and the block was too long, and had to have a quarter inch ground off and a

number of oil lines/block fittings were the incorrect size.  Plenty of 1/4"

lines, but 1/8" blocks.  The instructions also do not explain thoroughly how

to disassemble the front pulley when adding the blower pulley to it, which

led to a replacement pulley having to be purchased.  They say to simply hit

the pulley with a rubber mallet to split it into two, however, the two

halves don't come apart on a pulley that's six years old...you'd think a

replacement would come in the kit as a whole unit.



When everything was finally installed, and the car started, things seemed

fine. That's when the real trouble began.  At partial throttle, the car

seemed, and behaved fine, making some unknown quantity of boost...no gauge.

At full throttle though, the car simply died.  Wayne began calling Bell in

ernest at that point.  After at least three calls, and one e-mail from his

mechanic, Corky responded once.  Things still had yet to be resolved though,

and the car was sent to a local speed shop specializing in blowers and other

custom work.  They also phoned and e-mailed...all with no further response.



Eventually, the culprit was found to be a "restrictor valve"...so labelled

in the instructions.  As a layman, a restrictor valve would be thought to

apply a restriction in the fuel line, but the valve installed is actually a

"check valve", which is a one-way affair.  No where in the instructions does

it state that if installed backwards (yes, there's no indication on the

valve itself either) that the car won't run properly.



Since working properly the drive belt is slipping, despite the tensioner

pulley providing all the tension it can, and the front seal on the

supercharger is weaping oil.



Sufficed to say, to date, Wayne isn't very satisfied, nor happy with Corky

and his kit.  The lack of support via the phone has perturbed him a lot,

considering what he spent for the kit.



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Don't blame me for anything above this line.



I do hope that Corky will address these matters with Wayne Smeader, as they

certainly are troubling to me, a person, who after driving a 1.8L Autorotor

this summer is still saving for one.  After seeing what Wayne has gone

through though, makes me rethink things a bit.  I have been a long time

admirer of Corky's kits, having seen a pre-production variable vane Cartech

kit on another member's car a number of year's ago, and enjoyed driving that

Miata too.



After talking with the owner of the 1.8L Autorotor Miata in Calgary this

summer, and seeing what Wayne is going through, it's my opinion that the

Autorotor kit is definetly still in a pre-production state, with lots of

bugs yet to be worked out.  Hopefully, all will be well when I can afford one.



Flame proof suit on, however, remember, I'm not the person resonsible for

whats between the two lines.  :-)



Regards,



Richard Dekker, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, M-Club #90, MCofA #41997

Founder & President, Wild Rose Chapter - Miata Club of America



1990 MX-5 Miata - Mariner Blue with double white stripes













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