removing the head and cam towers

[bigsi]

today i sat in the conservatory with the heater on full all nice and toasty, while in there i got on with one of the carbuerttors, as you know they are absolutely stinking.

i sat there with my drill and rotary wire brush and my small dremel with mini wire brushes.

some before and after pics, not fully to where i want them yet but close.

after

[Tentenths]

Good work Si... just be very careful not to overdo it!

[Splashout]

looking good mate hope your not doing too much!!

How do you plan to stop them oxidising again as soon as you put them back on?

I am gonna rebuild my carbs in the next couple of weeks and will obviously clean them up at the same time.

[bigsi]

frost do a paint that will sort it all out. here:

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?pro...0Renew%20(141g)

[bigsi]

is this kit ok for my dellortos? mine are DHLA40 H on the castings.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dellorto-DHLA40-Serv...25058QQihZ020QQ

[matk]

Si

I'm not an expert but there's a disclaimer at the bottom saying "not suitable for turbo DHLA carbs". That appears to rule it out?

[Simon350S]

Si

I'm not an expert but there's a disclaimer at the bottom saying "not suitable for turbo DHLA carbs". That appears to rule it out?

Thats right

Turbo kits are apparently different and way more expensive!!!!!

I'll try find one for you now

Dum De Dum Dum

See I'm not lying Bibs I can edit

Edited October 22, 2009 by Simon350S

[Simon350S]

Struggling to find them!!!!

Been some on e-bay before but i've held off as I wasn't ready!!!

Seem to remember they were about

[Simon350S]

Just fished through my in box as I vaguely remembered trying to source a set some time ago, I believe it was March last year!!!!

Here is the reply I got when enquiring about standard 40 kits...

Hi

The turbo kits have different gaskets, needle valves and diaphragms, price is

[bigsi]

the jrs guy is the one i was going have my carbs done with until he more than doubled the price i was originally quoted. thats why im doing them now then taking them to be balanced etc then re done when on the car by a specialist not far from here who comes to you and does the tuning ,balancing.

can someone please t ell me the correct way to sling or chain the engine/gearbox for removal from the car.

reason is as soon as my liner clamps are made i can get the car trailered to a friends workshop and he will remove it for me to work on.

i am going to get a larger engine stand to mount the engine on than the one i was orignally going to get.

also things to check when its off.

this wont be for 2/3 weeks but i can get ready to do it.

thanks

Edited January 18, 2007 by bigsi

[Splashout]

Si I think there is a picture on my LEW profile somewhere of how I slung it.

As for things to check pretty much as mentioned before you started

EDIT: Actualy just looked and its a bit small. I basically had two straps one around the engine mounts for the engine and one around the gearbox.

Edited January 18, 2007 by Splashout

[bigsi]

yes i did look at that it wasnt that clear for me to see it properly, i thought there may be a special way of doing it , just being careful.

i got what you said down here saved, but i just want to make sure i dont get it wrong.

[Splashout]

just ordered a service kit from sj

[bigsi]

thanks glyn, good to speak with you.

well my liner clamps were made today so i can clamp them up when the weather breaks and i can then think about getting the engine and gearbox out, cleaned and coated. I can then get on with cleaning and coating the rear framework etc and replacing all those bushes while its all out and much lighter!

[WayneB]

is this kit ok for my dellortos? mine are DHLA40 H on the castings.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dellorto-DHLA40-Serv...25058QQihZ020QQ

Nope

The Turbo kit has a different seals for the top of the carb floatchamber as they are pressurised when the engine makes boost.

If you run one of these cheap kits on a Turbo you had better carry a (big)fire extinguisher

Got my kits from Fast Road Cars sales@fastroadcars.co.uk in Wales. Ill look and see how much I paid

69.97 GBP for the 2 kits

Edited January 18, 2007 by WayneB

[bigsi]

im dealing with fastroad cars anyway wayne i can get a full set of metal cups and the rubber washers for my carbs from him for 8 quid and only a couple of quid for some gaskets i dont have yet for the carb to diffuser backplate. he is only a few miles down the road from me so i can go and pick them up

[bigsi]

spent today doing some cleaning and de-mucking.

i decided to do a bit on the engine then it started raining , so i did some on the turbo casings.

was going ok till the damn rotary wire brush caught tight and wrenched my damn hand round, now my damn wrist looks like a football!!

anyway heres pics.

[bigsi]

well today is nice and sunny but cold enough to make my noze hair freeze! so nothings been done on the car, however i managed to get my liner clamps made for me.

now i know they look a bit over the top, but at least i have got a set now and i can fit them in a later.

its 10X40 flat and the box is 25rhs section but they will do, and i can then when finished share them with the other members as and when they need them.

will show piccie of them on shortly.

the engine stand turned up today, just one problem... they pressed the rotating mount into the arm the wrong way round so when fitted the main upright arm leand forward, and not back ward as its supposed to, so thats being pressed out turned and re-pressed in later today... i hope.

i have to clean up the engine bay arms etc and re coat them in chassis paint, if i dont im not going to be happy, i have to get it all clean and fresh in there same as with the engine and gearbox, all painted up and clean ready for the mot in march. i want the underneath looking mint condition when those panels come off, less for the inspector to moan about and find wrong.

[bigsi]

todays update:

having a couple of problems today so took the morning easy and cleaned up a few bits just bolts, washers and fixings, nothing to much.

After a good sleeep i decided to get on with the cam covers and the diffuser box.

I managed to get some VHT matt black paint and decided to with that as i think that rough cast showing will accentuate the shiny silver bits that i will then rub down and polish.

heres some pics of the work in progress, you can see how flat the paint looks when its almost dry.

i also took my alpine amplifier out today as i noticed some of the contacts are corroding so im going to open it up check everything, rub it down and re-coat it also.

now though its time for a cup of tea and a good rest.

Edited January 25, 2007 by bigsi

[bigsi]

update:

today i thought i would continue cleaning things up etc and getting years of crud off them. while doing this i thought iwould check on the head make sure its all ok.

now i was led to believe or so i thought it would be acid-cleaned etc.. however when i started looking things over i find it wasnt so.

when i brought it back with the cam towers they were wrapped, but i took it off to take a few pics then covered it back up, not taking the time to inspect things(i wouldnt know what to look for anyway).

so today i notice all the corrosion and crud over the cooling pipes inlets, where the exhuast manifold bolts on there was loads of old bits of corroded gasket attatched, the studs were stinking.. the list goes on..

i really am beginning to think im bloody cursed with this car..

so now i have got to spend the best part of a day cleaning the head up and getting it ready for engine paint when i do the block.

here is a picture of one of the cam towers casings.. this is one of the better ones!

Edited January 27, 2007 by bigsi

[silverfrost]

Nice work simon,

Its nice to see your attention to detail, you should have one very gleaming engine bay when your project is finished, keep up the good work and dont forget to take it easy

regards danny

[bigsi]

right i have spent most of the day cleaning the bits down as best i could, they are now ready for some metal ready and then the paint.

i am really annoyed that they were not put into a head washer as im told this is common practice, before and after the head work is done.

i am strongly considering taking the head somewhere including the cam towers to be properly cleaned out in case t here is any crap in there.

addendum:

ok here are the afterwards pics...

wayneb: here is one of the cam sprocket wheels all cleaned up, the arrow points to the dimple i am on about.

before

after but not finished

the head with some slight cleaning done.

here are the cam covers, turbo to diffuesr pipe, diffuser back plate and diffuser box all painted in the vht paint.

Edited January 27, 2007 by bigsi

[USAndretti42]

Looking good, Simon. Nice to see that all sorts of setbacks aren't stopping you.

Do you wear a mask when cleaning your parts (oo-err missus) or do you tunrn your hanky black when you blow your nose? Take care.

[bigsi]

update:

imbeginning to wonder if its worth carrying on with this car..

i manged to get into the engine bay today with some help, and get to some bits i wanted to get to for some time.

biggest thing i needed to check was the thermostat.. guess what.. totally gone.. the seals had split and were haning out the end of it when i disconnected it and removed it.

then the coupling pipe that joins the lower pipe from the thermostat didnt look good so i undid the jubilee clamps which were not stainless so i had to rip them off. only to find this.

after a clean i find that its corroded all the way through the aluminium pipe so was leaking everywhere under pressure.

and then to top it all off.. i managed to rip all the damn skin off my leg and left thumb, with the bloody roatary brass wire brush on my grinder.

just come back from hospital to have them cleaned up and dressed up in case of infection, i swear this bloody car is fighting me!

Edited January 28, 2007 by bigsi

[silverfrost]

Simon im sorry to hear your cooling system is not turning out to good, looks like she has been not given much attention mechanically over the years on the to end on a good note at least you have found these problems now rather than when everthing was back on the car

As for your wounds im sorry to hear about them as we all say take it easy and take of yourself,

i take it your sitting down and doing the rotary brush thing on your lap, if so i would recommend you get hold of an old industrial weldind leather apron and a pair of rigger gloves, it will save your skin

take it easy regards danny