'63 Giulia Spider Normale Restoration (Euro)

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Yup, it's a shame that the drum cover that all up!

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Hi guys, just wanted to give you all a heads-up that I'd started a thread on my 67 Sprint GT Veloce's restoration - when you run out of things to read, feel free to stroll by...

http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/gt-1...storation.html

Most of all, I need your help and advice there too!

This by no means suggest that I've abandoned my Giulia Spider project! I just spent an afternoon struggling with the windshield wiper rack - the wiper attachment points weren't sticking up at the right angle, and it was a nightmare having to disassemble tons of stuff behind the dash just to get to the wiper rack assembly... next opportunity I get would be to attach and "operationalize" the door handles. I need to get it ready to go into the shop to receive its engine.

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The past four weekends either went to the baby or to the rest of the family, meaning no work got done on the car. I finally eked out a Saturday today to go to Glenn's, and we completed the restoration of the pedal box and performed preliminary inspection of the crankshaft. The block and head are ready to go, so we just need the crank done and pistons/bearings ordered to put the engine back together.

We had a chance to look at the brake MC a few months ago, and due to the cylinder showing some scoring, decided to replace with a new one. You folks likely know that an old-styled MC is no longer available, so Glenn suggested using a modern version, which he'd previously installed on other Spiders with good results. We spent most of today performing some final cleaning and painting of the pedal box, and fabricating an adapter plate to go between the box and the MC (A plug for Jon Norman - he has this cylinder and plate in a kit for sale, if needed); the plate was easy enough, but it took time to also machine the old piston rod to fit the new MC, as the new rod was too long, and would've poked a hole through the heat shield that separates the pedal box assembly and the headers. A few bolts were too long or too short and needed grinding or whatnot - it seemed it would never end! But it finally did, and we were content.

Another concurrent project today was to take a good look at the crank, and determine if it needed work. Bad news here. Grinding was definitely necessary, but worse, whoever ground it last didn't bother to (or didn't know to) leave a "taper" edge (sorry for not knowing the correct technical term here - can someone elucidate here please?) between the journal and the webs, which means that we'd really need to grind the heck out of this crankshaft to reproduce the requisite curvature - estimated $2,000 off the top of Glenn's head. We went the cheaper route and found a Standard crank in Glenn's stash that fit the bill; it needed some grinding as well, but was otherwise healthy. It'll be sent out to Norman Racing next week, I presume. In the meanwhile, I'll be installing the pedal box at home.

I'll add a few photos of the complete, finished box tomorrow when I can take a few good shots of the assembly in the garage.

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Gordon's PM to me regarding my "cranky" problems below. I've also added two photos of the completed pedal box to the previous post.

Hi Patrick,
The term you are looking for is the "radius" at the intersection of the bearing surface and the crank proper.
The idiots that ruin these for use over time should be forced to do the repairs.

Years ago we used to "hard chrome" and centerless regrind these ruined ones back up to standard size. Unfortunately, every now and then, the job would peal or flake, taking out the bearing, and the whole engine with it. It was an inexpensive repair.

Next we used to "Plasma Spray" them (still do), and regrind to size. Much better, sometimes as good as a new crank, but much more expensive, and the crank sometimes warped and needed to be straightened as well.


Now, for the non replaceable, I have had a new crank made from a forged billet. These are far superior to OEM stuff, and all sorts of options are available. With modern computer assisted machining techniques, this job is quick, and much less costly than one might expect. I have only "made" one Alfa crank from scratch, and it was a couple of years ago. Cost was right around $3200 delivered.

I hope this information is interesting and educational!

Best, Gordon

[concept 101]

Patrick,

Tony at Alfastop has the Girling MC:s for your Spider in stock, but I guess its too late now.

Dennis

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Thanks for the info., Dennis; wish I had known earlier!

Anyway, no shop work this weekend, but did some minor stuff at home. I installed the pedal box and connected the clutch actuating rod - woohoo! Not much to it, but I did have to apply a layer of clear sealant to the lip of the bodywork where the box sits (inside the firewall) and is bolted down. While playing with the clutch, I noted a loud clunk every time the pedal pops back up towards me - I forgot to install the little piece of rubber at the bottom of the box that prevents this - I have a new one from Terry, but it's an easy enough piece to make oneself.

Project #2 was making a hinge to bodywork gasket. These are the hood and trunk hinges (bonnet/boot) that I'm referring to. The originals were naturally shot, so I purchased some black reproductions that didn't fit too well - some were too short, others too wide! So gave those up (cost me a pretty penny too!) and decided to make my own. The originals were thin and seemingly of a transparent vinyl material, so off I went to the hardware store and found some "ribbed", clear vinyl (apparently used for mats on which office chairs with casters to roll) that seemed soft enough to cut through easily. I procrastinated for a few weeks after buying the material thinking that it'd a tedious job of making patterns, with the bolt locations confounding the work, but tonight, while showing Tina what I needed the material for, she merely said, "do this, that, put it over this, cut, trim, and you're done". I did all of that, and WAS done! Never underestimate your wife!

Photos below of the installed pedal box, and in the next post of the hinge gasket project.

Next week we'll be finishing up some rear wheel brake cylinders, and finally back to rebuilding the engine.

Questions for you MORE POWER guys: WHAT CAMS SHOULD I USE? Big valves for both intake and exhaust? I'd like this car to be a high-revving screamer...

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Hinge gasket work. I won't know if these will work as advertised until they're re-installed onto the car; will keep you all posted.

Here, I basically cut the material roughly to shape (a rectangle), then poked one lengthwise slit with the knife (don't use your wife's WUSTHOF German paring knife!), sleeved it over one stud, then slit the other opening so the openings match the bolts exactly and tightly. The hinge was then flipped right-side-up, and scissors were used to trim the material off from all around the piece, taking care not to over-trim, as the metal ledge on the hinge that contacts bodywork is rather narrow, about 2~3 mm.

[101/105guy]

Two words....
Hole punch...
You can get a full set of them cheap at Harbour Freight. ;^)
Gerat work and attention to detail!

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No HOLE PUNCH! Makes too big of a hole that allows too much play, methinks.

[101/105guy]

Fear not!
The kit comes with about 10 punches from teenie to about 1/2" so one would be very close.

[user459]

Pat,
I found some plain plastic the same thickness as the originals (I didn't like the ribs). I made a jig that would allow the studs to pass through holes punched in the plastic and into the jig, and then traced the perimeter with an Exacto knife. Worked for me....

[Gordon Raymond]

I've done the same with the door latch pin assembly in the door frame, on both Alfa's and Ferrari's.

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Whatever works! If my version fails, I'll go with the thin plastic Terry used.

Hole punches come in a kit? Gotta add that to my amateurs' must-have tools arsenal. Tools are costing me as much as parts! But they're equally fun.

[user459]

Harbor Freight:
Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

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LIMITED LIFETIME WARRANTY? Now what does that mean exactly?