Story so far series 1 resto

[lancianut666]

Matron did discuss airlifting me to A& E for the old red hot paper clip job but sticking the hand/finger in some frozen peas and plenty of painkillers kept the swelling down enough to keep the pain from becoming unbearable. It has eased of alot and now just hurts if you knock it on something say a Y10..
Clarkey

[lancianut666]

bits and bobs done today that old black finger nail is still quite painful so we just did some simple jobs...connected the carburettor linkage up....fitted the starter motor....stripped down the heater tap thing this needs a new diaphragm....fitted the pipe from the back of the head to the inlet manifold...and put the air filter on...looking good. Will set the timing up tomorrow.
Clarkey

[lancianut666]

Had a good start with being able to drill out and retap one of the boot lid hinge retaining bolts...Got on with the timing but not easy as the timing chain tensioner kept locking up as I rotated the crank anyway we set up the valve clearance as per the spec rotated the crank till the gap was 0.03mm and the took off the cam sprocket bolt but how to get the dowel out...I noticed it had an internal thread so used a pc case thumbscrew to help get the dowel out...on to the exhaust valve same routine but I forgot to put the retaining bolt back in so the sprocket fell off the end of the camshaft Hmm.. it went back on and the camshaft had not moved ...however when we rotated the crank to no4 tdc the rotor arm was pointing at no1 piston so I reversed the distributor cap...Hmmm I might have to revisit all this. A major problem is there is no o mark on the flywheel so will have to have a think on this.

[lancianut666]

Fitted the oil pipe and a set of gauges from a S2/3 so I can check the oil pressure and possibly the temperature. I have a list of 16 things I need to hopefully finish this rebuild so might drive to the 'pool on Saturday to pick up some things.

[lancianut666]

As I had run out of parts for the engine rebuild I had a go at sanding down the boot lid...I can see why Ed China uses a 6" disc . The bit I managed to strip back revealed lots of little dents.
Clarkey

[lancianut666]

managed to get most of the bits and bobs I need so weather permitting I will have another go at the timing and finish putting the engine back together. I have a deadline of Wednesday as my marking starts on Thursday
Clarkey

[lancianut666]

Hi all
nearly there...I had another look at the timing and it seems my guestimate of tdc was OK...by taking the plugs out I could see piston no 4  as it moved up the bore and when it stopped I checked the position of the rotor arm and there it was opposite plug lead for no 4 piston. So put the sprocket cover back on and then took it off again as I was convinced the spacer was not on ...it was so put the cam cover on again. Next we replaced the diaphragm in the heater tap and screwed that back onto the head linking up with a bit of heater hose to the inlet manifold. The water pump and dynamo were refitted along with a fan belt. I have fitted a down pipe to the exhaust manifold and I will have to think of a way to link the water pump to the top hose if we are to have a little test run...

[rogerelias]

I see the dog's not taking any interest at all, or knows something you don't

[the.cern]

I see the dog's not taking any interest at all, or knows something you don't

I think he feels this job will take a lot longer than anyone thought it would ...... but then we all know that feeling!!!!

                 Andy

[lancianut666]

That dog is bone idle it only likes cars when it can go to sleep on the drivers seat...Anyway disaster of biblical proportions (not really) but the Fiat 500C failed it's MOT so spent all day hanging about the Fiat dealership as they put the Fiat back together.
Clarkey

[frankxhv773t]

I'm interested in the idea of starting the engine on the rebuilding stand. I always assumed it wouldn't be stable enough and torque reaction would make the whole lot topple over.

[lancianut666]

I think a frame/legs fastened to the engine mounts will help.

[DavidLaver]

Sandbags over the base?

[lancianut666]

Bit more done today...had to dismantle and clean the contacts inside the ignition switch as it was showing disconnected across all the positions...then we had a little play at wiring the electrics up for the test run
Clarkey

[lancianut666]

Still mulling over the timing...may have to leave this till after the house move.
Clarkey