Miata Mailing List: October 1996, Message #0251
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   From: Brett Stutz 

Subject: Re: Reflections on Bell Autorotor

   Date: Fri, 4 Oct 1996 15:07:58 -0500



The first 1.8 Autorotor I saw had been on the car less than two weeks

and had oil weepage at the front of the blower.



I, too, am hopeful that BEGI will fix these problems, as I like the

sound of the products otherwise.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



 : 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!

 : 

 : ============================================================================

 : ==

 : 

 : 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.

 : 

 : ============================================================================

 : ==

 : 

 : 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 on

 : e.

 : 

 : 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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bretts...











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