my an600 is finally road worthy... a few questions

[dawn_and_darrian]

After dealing with the DMV and jumping through a few hoops today I am finally ready to register my vehicle.  Apparently few people know that 2 cylinder engines smaller than 650cc are exempt from emissions.  I still had to take it to a testing station though to prove that I had the correct engine in it.
Anyway, on to the questions:
1) The noise.  I'm actually a little embarrassed when I drive this car.  It's SO LOUD.  Given that half of the problem is that my exhaust hanger is missing so the exhaust pipe will rattle against the rear of the vehicle.  This will be fixed soon.  The car is just so loud though... much louder than I expected.  I imagine there isn't much I can do about that, is there?
2)  heat.  The engine bay gets hot REALLY fast.  This is my first air cooled engine.  I didn't expect it to get THAT hot.  WOW!  Is the only viable solution the oil cooler?
3)  Gas mileage.  I think I saw the gas gauge drop from around full to 3/4 after driving 20 miles.  I know that these tanks are small, but there is really no need for it to get such poor mileage.  Could this be caused by the carb being improperly set up?  I have a newer style carb that the previous owner obtained from Mike O'Conner.  I also have an after market electronic fuel pump installed.  I'm unsure if this could be part of the problem or not.
4)  Exhaust.  I think there is another post about this, but I'm thinking of redoing the entire exhaust.  Right now it rattles, shakes, and leaks fumes.  It's rusty and not to pretty.  I imagine a new exhaust with a new muffler could in fact also help with the noise.  Can anyone recommend a muffler shop that can do this?  I guess I could start calling around local shops myself.  Are there alternatives to these mufflers that are cheaper than Mike O'Connor's $300 chrome muffler?
5)  Clutch.  Either the pressure plate is too old or the clutch cable needs adjusting.  I'm hoping it's the later.  I need to push the clutch all of the way to the ground and I still get a little gear grinding when I put the car into first gear and switch between gears.  Could this be something I'm doing wrong? I'm the first to admit I don't know a thing about the syncros vs. non-syncros.
I had a very full day today with this car.  i drove it to the honda dealership and asked for a few parts.  I then asked the lady working the parts counter if anyone inthe back was interested in seeing a 71 n600.  She said, "no, they're all into the 99 Civic SI's."  Maybe I'll go back when she isn't working.  I think this car is great and i'm certain that some of the honda enthusiasts would love to take a look at it.
Anyway, if any of you can answer ANY of my questions please let me know.

[Steve Wander]

The factory exhaust here in CA cars was a 2 into one affair right off the head, it went onto a 3 bolt flange/gasket to a heater intake which was just a hollow shroud over the pipe that air could be drawn into the get heated from the exhaust ala VW. My piped rusted out under that heater plenum. It then goes down to another 2/3 bolt flange and hooks up to a small glasspack resonator/muffler and thenback to the 4 inch case round muffler that was over/past the axle. It was all hung by rubber mounts. I put a Monza style tip on mine and it sounded really good, but the glasspack probably did most of the work. Any muff shop can do the work, just make sure they hang the exhaust.
They bolted mine to the floorboard and Ended up cracking the head about 3 months later. Make sure you have the belt operated fan operational and the fins on the head are not full of grease/oil/dirt. a good pressure wash can get this stuff out. there are some runner inserts that are supposed to be there to dampen the "ringing" of the cylinders when the motor is running. You should be getting 35+ easy on that small motor. Make sure the needle/seat is clean on the carb and the float level is correct. Mine came with an electric pump so I don't think that is a problem. Clutch can be adjusted with a 10mm wrench, just draw the cable tighter with the tightening of the adjuster nut. You should have 3-4mm of travel before the clutch starts to engage at the pedal (check that its been a while)

> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> Matt Timion
> To:
> 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> ;
> anzhonda600owners@yahoogroups.com
> Sent:
> Monday, June 05, 2006 11:35
> PM
> Subject:
> [2cylinderhondas] my an600 is
> finally road worthy... a few questions
> After dealing with the DMV and jumping through a
> few hoops today I am finally ready to register my vehicle.  Apparently > few people know that 2 cylinder engines smaller than 650cc are exempt from > emissions.  I still had to take it to a testing station though to prove > that I had the correct engine in it.
> Anyway, on to the questions:
> 1) The noise.  I'm actually a little
> embarrassed when I drive this car.  It's SO LOUD.  Given that half > of the problem is that my exhaust hanger is missing so the exhaust pipe will > rattle against the rear of the vehicle.  This will be fixed soon.
> The car is just so loud though... much louder than I expected.  I imagine > there isn't much I can do about that, is there?
> 2)  heat.  The engine bay gets hot
> REALLY fast.  This is my first air cooled engine.  I didn't expect > it to get THAT hot.  WOW!  Is the only viable solution the oil > cooler?
> 3)  Gas mileage.  I think I saw the gas
> gauge drop from around full to 3/4 after driving 20 miles.  I know that > these tanks are small, but there is really no need for it to get such poor > mileage.  Could this be caused by the carb being improperly set up?
> I have a newer style carb that the previous owner obtained from Mike > O'Conner.  I also have an after market electronic fuel pump > installed.  I'm unsure if this could be part of the problem or > not.
> 4)  Exhaust.  I think there is another
> post about this, but I'm thinking of redoing the entire exhaust.  Right > now it rattles, shakes, and leaks fumes.  It's rusty and not to > pretty.  I imagine a new exhaust with a new muffler could in fact also > help with the noise.  Can anyone recommend a muffler shop that can do > this?  I guess I could start calling around local shops myself.  Are > there alternatives to these mufflers that are cheaper than Mike O'Connor's > $300 chrome muffler?
> 5)  Clutch.  Either the pressure plate
> is too old or the clutch cable needs adjusting.  I'm hoping it's the > later.  I need to push the clutch all of the way to the ground and I > still get a little gear grinding when I put the car into first gear and switch > between gears.  Could this be something I'm doing wrong? I'm the first to > admit I don't know a thing about the syncros vs. non-syncros.
> I had a very full day today with this car.
> i drove it to the honda dealership and asked for a few parts.  I then > asked the lady working the parts counter if anyone inthe back was interested > in seeing a 71 n600.  She said, "no, they're all into the 99 Civic > SI's."  Maybe I'll go back when she isn't working.  I think this car > is great and i'm certain that some of the honda enthusiasts would love to take > a look at it.
> Anyway, if any of you can answer ANY of my
> questions please let me know.

[fourmusicians93063]

Hey I am sorry hear about the gas milage
any way next  time you go to the dealership   don't expect much from a girl that is probably to young to value a car like this     she did not know what she was missing any way how could she speak for the people out back
any way they are probably your usual young early twentys punk crowd that drives those stupid 99 civic s any way.
so bacily my point is they are stupid punks and all you you have to do to show of your car is well nothing
I drive an 80 toyota cressida on a daily basis and it turns heads when I least expect it
if I want attention I forget about it and people pop out of the wood work to see it.
 peope come after me in the wally world parking lot!
I get freaked out all the time because I forget I have such an unusual car because it is well my car and when it's you car it is normal.
you should have the same experiance people will start comming out of the wood work
Jamie