Author Topic: 'ardest job in the world !  (Read 5311 times)

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bis13

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #15 on: June 17, 2012, 09:51:36 AM »
doh! don t talk about sandblasting to rusty he might blow a gasket!

Tate

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #16 on: June 17, 2012, 03:54:18 PM »
why sand blast?? Soda blasting is the right way...  :$
Fiat 126 -73 project
2 x BMW E21

Rusty's Uncle

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #17 on: June 19, 2012, 06:43:51 PM »
I would love to find someone local who would do some sort of blasting / cleaning at a resonable price but it seems that in this neck of the woods all of the firms seem to assume that you are minted or desperate. So when it comes down to it I just have to bight the bullet and get on with it  :$
Got onto more interesting stuff today . I had already put the crankshaft in the bored out 500 crankcase so offered up the 652 barrels & pistons. At TDC the piston tops were about 1.5mms above the top of the barrel  :o
I anticipated this problem and had been trying to think of a good solution for the last couple of days. I had a couple of potential solutions in mind so set off with a shopping list this morning. Had only gone a short way then remembered I had the solid copper head gaskets that I had made some time back so just bought a tub of Swarfega and headed back home. Result ! the copper is about the right thickness and just had to do a bit of fettling to fit them to the base of the clylinder.
Then got onto the rebored 662ccs 126 engine which now has Bis crankshaft & rods, Abarth camshaft, 500 lighter flywheel and an alloy sump  :)

1973/126

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #18 on: June 19, 2012, 07:29:56 PM »
 Shame you couldn`t take it up to 666ccs, it would have been just right for your little De ville.
1972 Fiat 500
1980 Fiat 126

Pete126

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #19 on: June 19, 2012, 07:42:34 PM »
Good Work Rusty :good:

Shame you couldn't take it up to 666ccs, it would have been just right for your little De ville.

I always thought you were from the dark side ;D
Pete.      il cavallo piccolo

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #20 on: September 18, 2012, 07:29:44 PM »
So after the summer recess , that is the period when the sun is suposed to shine and my wife gets me onto all of those essential non car , no fun jobs I am now back on the case. The 652ccs Fiat "500" engine is all complete apart from clutch & flywheel. 126 syncro gearbox with 500 bell housing all ready so removed the engine & gearbox from the 500 yesterday . I know that some of my "chums" on here enjoy the pains I go through so I used my tripod hoist to take the weight of the engine and positioned it to swing back from the engine bay. That went OK then I did the same with the gearbox which had an axle stand under it . Disconnected everything and the axle stand leant back a bit and as I slid out from under the car as a very dirty gearbox swung out and clouted me in the back of the head :$
Probably knocked some sense into me because I had been thinking that I could get it all back together by the weekend but the engine bay had 40 years & over 100,000 miles worth of crud all around it so I spent today with a scraper removing layers of it and still lots more work to do  ;D

Pete126

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #21 on: September 18, 2012, 07:44:16 PM »
I shall be inspecting your work at the weekend  ;D
Pete.      il cavallo piccolo

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #22 on: September 19, 2012, 05:48:56 PM »
Quick diversion this morning as the sun roof catch on the DeVille had busted last week. Got a new metal one from Chet at Ricambi Fiat 500 Spare Parts so all sorted. Forgot to mention that I thought the starter ring had gone on the 500 but in fact the starter motor mounting flange had broken and the motor was hanging down on two loose nuts, oops  :$
New engine will have an after market starter motor support bracket which connects to the gearbox  :)
So engine bay scraped & I got my big wallpaper paste brush and a bucket of petrol and "washed" the whole engine bay. Wiped it all round then followed up with Autoglym engine cleaner & a good hose down. Sprayed the appropriate areas with stonechip then a top coat of dark blue. Cleaned and tidied up the wiring with a reel of loom tape so it is all getting there. The jumbo & heater hoses were a bit scruffy so I bunged them in the washing machine with a pair of my wife's knickers  :o
Seemed to work OK on  hot wash  ;D

Rusty's Uncle

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #23 on: October 02, 2012, 08:02:20 PM »
So trying to push back the envelope has kept me right back in the stationary department  :cry:
Engine & grearbox all fitted in the 500 & I knew that the battery was getting a bit dodgey so tried jumper cables, recharging battery etc. Engine will turn a few times then it all stops. Bought a new battery and it is still the same. The starter motor was a "recon" purchase friom eBay so thought it might be duff so rebuilt and fitted another one. Same thing happening. With the plugs out the starter whips the engine over but plugs in it is like a hydraulic lock after a few turns  :(
So was Smallcox right when he said that a 500 head on 652 barrels would be a too high compression ratio or have I got 2 poor starter motors here. Some people run these engines with a head so skimmed the piston hits the valves so how come this one wont fire up with an unskimmed head ?
Anybody got any tech data on later starter motors as I wondered if they had more power  :)

grubscrew

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #24 on: October 03, 2012, 10:15:21 AM »
Hi Rusty. Im sure you have , but valve timing check. Your no fool, (nor am I),but I once put the piston in one of mine 180 degrees out, having convinced myself I hadnt. Symptom : it Knocked a bit.
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Rusty's Uncle

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #25 on: October 03, 2012, 12:35:40 PM »
The good thing about this forum is that we get some clever guys & gals on here. After almost a week of wailing and much gnashing of teeth along with language that the BBC would not approve of You start to imagine all sorts of things and I wondered if I would have to take the engine out and do a strip down  :o At the end of yesterday I was running out of ideas but it seemed to me that the ignition might be way too advanced. I had dismissed this idea because I had fitted a 123 ignition set up and installed it as per the manual. Then clever old Pete rang me last night , first thing he said was "It's your ignition timing". So with renewed hope I got on it 1st thing this morning, ignoring the 123 manual because I knew I was getting a good spark and just tried moving the distributor . All of a sudden the engine turned over fine with the plugs in but would not fire  >:(
Then I noticed that it might work better if I reconnected the plug leads  :$
It fired up straight away and ran really well so well done Pete  ;D
I let it run for about 30 mins as the plan was to let the 10W/40 semi-synth oil have a good flush around the engine and get up to temperature then drain it and fill with the 10W/60 Mobile1 oil. I was amazed as the oil came out almost black  :o New oil now in , clutch to adjust then it is off round the block  :D

Pete126

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #26 on: October 03, 2012, 07:28:53 PM »
Whoopee  :wave We won't have to push it up the hill again ;D
Pete.      il cavallo piccolo

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #27 on: October 08, 2012, 06:41:53 PM »
Went round the block a few times then clutch would not release so guessed  it was just settling in and needed more adjustment also the throttle was sticking after the car has been standing for some time. I could feel that the engine had a lot more "grunt" but the gearbox was quite stiff when changing gear but I was confident that it would free off when the oil circulated. The engine starts very well so reset the clutch and went on a 20 mile run. The throttle cable did not free off as I had hoped and about 8 miles out the clutch started playing up and was on the floor so the car was a pig to drive. Made it to my destination then turned for home with fingers crossed  :$
I made it just ! as I pulled onto my drive I had to hit the brakes as the clutch woud not release and that stalled the engine about one foot short of a tree  :o
Now the clutch cable is almost new as are the clutch components . Bright blue sky on Satuarday morning and thought it would be a great day for a run. Got under the car and tightened the clutch cable by only two turns of the nut. Started the car , put it in gear and no drive. The clutch was just slipping. Got back under took off the bell housing cover plate to see if any bits fell out but all looked good. Released the adjuster nuts by one turn and I now had drive. Put a big spring on the throttle and set off across town, engine running great, gearbox now sweet. Got about 2 miles then back to no clutch and a tricky drive home and just made it again. So the good news is that the engine and gearbox are all good but the bit in the middle is giving me jip  :(

grubscrew

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Re: 'ardest job in the world !
« Reply #28 on: October 10, 2012, 06:39:13 PM »
Oh. :( Im trying to visulise the problem.  Is the release spring up to it. As for a nut needing such finite adjustment sounds odd, could the cable of the clutch also be sticking?
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