so i'm trying to get my milano running and thought i'd start a thread since i have lots of questions and i'm sure i'll have a lot more to come.
ok so here's the beast as she sits now, not in the best shape i admit. first alittle history: i bought this car 2 years ago off ebay for $150. i knew it would take some effort and just assumed the timing belt had broken even though the previous owner didn't seem to know much and the car actually had a timing belt installed. it was partially disassembled but was all there. so i pulled the engine and after pulling the heads found that the valves were bent. big surprise
. (see the original block in the foreground after sitting as is for 2 years. i'm ashamed i left it like this since it's a good block but had nowhere to put it and even just the shortblock is pretty damn heavy.) anyways, i found an engine which i actually heard run before buying. the car it came from had only 65K miles showing which i wasn't sure was correct since the body was completely beat. after draining the oil though, i found the telltale signs of oil+antifreeze mixing. so i set the engine aside. for 2 years. cut to the present and i have to get it back together because i'm being forced to move at the end of the month. so even if it's not running, i at least have to get it in one piece so i can have it towed.
so i know what you're saying, "why don't you just sell it or part it?" well, if one more person asks me that i'm going to kick them. even if having 4 cars in LA isn't practical, i'm looking for more. and more. you can never have enough cars so even though i'm telling everyone i'll sell it once it's running, i'm really making that up.
but don't tell anyone. apparently, most people don't understand the inherent goodness of cars! idiots!
so here it is as it is today:
a little dirty. but at least my custom exhaust is installed and ready to go!
ok, not really but, hey, that's a $15 techtonics exhaust (from the pick a part) for my scirocco once i get the 2.0 block put in it. but that's another story.
ok, now some detail shots from today. apparently, the 65k mileage looks authentic. first of all, it has cleanest internals i've ever seen. looks brand new except for the water passages.
and second, it has the original head gaskets. has anyone ever seen these? with the original "flameproof rings."
wow, i'm going to make a necklace out of them--they must be collectible by now. they were actually hard to see--they really appeared to be part of the cylinder liners. good thing i'm smart--i would hate to install the new gaskets on top of the rings although it probably wouldn't fit but who knows?
also, here you can see the oil passage pin with the installed o ring in the notch. it's also much larger in diameter than the pin on the original engine so kind of wondering how the ring built in the head gasket works with either pin.
one problem is that the o rings appear to have square shoulders and not just the standard donut shaped o ring we all know & love (and which are easy to find!) the alfa shops i went to today gave me standard o rings and another shop told me the rings are just standard o rings. but, of course, they're wrong.
so is this o ring a special alfa part or just a squared off o ring? is it made of special italian rubber which we dumb americans can only dream of possessing? jeez, these cars are difficult! (sorry, i'm used to german cars.)
anyone know the specifics? i really don't want to put some $0.25 o ring in there only to have it fail and make all this work pointless.
ok, more to come . . . .