Giulietta Berlina restoration

[Andrew]

Thanks Erik; I'll try that.
Andrew

[Andrew]

Ta Da! And the winner is, Erik! Just now, I reinstalled the pump, unplugged the fuel line, and closing off most of the gas filler, blew air into the tank, which pressurized it enough to move fuel all the way through the hard line, pump, and splashed out by the carb. So then I cranked the engine over with the plugs out, and got a nice stream of fuel out of the pipe all over the engine compt.

Feeling that lady luck was with me, I reinstalled the plugs, tinkered with the WO carb a bit, and the flamin' thing eventually fired up. Showed 45 lbs oil pressure at idle, and after a bit of revving to clear its throat, idled just fine on all four. Tons of crud came out the exhaust, in more places than one, but it seems mechanically to run pretty well. Reasonably quiet and smooth, and no smoke to speak of.

Now to put some water in it and see how much pours out the pump or ends up in the cylinders. Plus I don't seem to have any clutch at all, so I may be pulling the column-shift tunnel-case trans out sooner rather than later. I was hoping to be able to at least move it back and forth before rebuilding the brakes, but things may not work out that way. Whatever. It runs!

See pics below of (1) sooty crap that came out the back, (2) the bowl type fuel pump (rebuilt by Then and Now) and my other NOS later style pump, (3) the Carter WO carb, my hero, and (4) the fan blades turning of their own accord (no not just on the starter). WooHoo! Thanks for the excellent suggestion Erik.

Stoked, in Berkeley.
Andrew

[dretceterini]

Make sure that no little bits of rubber came out the exhaust from dried up lines, or the carb jets will get plugged up rather quickly....

[Andrew]

All that crap is old rust, etc from in the exhaust pipe and mufflers. All fuel hoses are brand new.

Andrew

[Andrew]

Update. I determined the clutch would disengage some, but not enough to start the engine, then be able to put the car in gear without grinding. However, I could start the car in gear, with the clutch in, and it would roll just a bit. The clutch is adjusted as much as it can be, so it clearly needs a new clutch.

Yesterday, I started it in reverse, backed it out of the garage, and after moving the Spider, drove it back into the "working bay" side of the garage. Moved maybe 100 feet under its own power. Yowzah.

The immediate project is to drop the trans, change the clutch, replace the worn shift rod bushings, and attend to any driveshaft, seal, and donut needs. I'm not planning to do anything internal with the tunnel trans at this point, though I will probably peer inside it and change its oil.

As long as the car is up in the air, I'll rebuild the brakes with the good access, and probably sandblast and paint the wheels, then put on either a set of Pirelli P3s, or Vredesteins, I have for it.

Further, with the exhaust off, I'll probably replace the middle (only) muffler, keeping most of the existing system. A Berlina like this should have a single-outlet exhaust manifold, but in fact has a 101-part-number two-branch manifold. The downpipe for it is either home-made, or more likely from the quality look of the collector, aftermarket from the period. The downpipe shape doesn't match any of the Sprint or Spider two-branch I've seen. We'll see. I have a whole Normale system I can put on if it fits, and if need be.

Fearing mission creep (and not wanting to do a total restoration).

Pics:
1. How far I drove the car out of the garage and back in.
2. Right side of the car (unseen, like the dark side of the moon), showing youthful acne.
3. Once up on jacks, view from underneath, of tunnel trans and donut.
4. View in LF wheelwell, showing two-branch manifold and downpipe.
5. Spare wheel, showing ancient Dunlop 5.50 x 15 racing tire.

Andrew

[GTD]

Andrew
Not to encourage you in a step toward restoration but while your doing the brakes... it appears it's past time for replacing your front suspention limit cables.

BTW: No need to change 'em; I'll bet you could nurse another 50 years out of those tires.

[AR58SprintV]

Bravo Andrew!
Laurence

[Andrew]

Don't I know it about the limit cables. I have a pair coming from a 750/101 list member.

I'll probably keep the Dunlop race tire as the spare for kicks. But snow tires on the back, and Firestone Phoenix bias plies on the front, both of which lose air, are not exactly what I need. They've all got to be at least 40 years old.

Probably I will put on the Pirellis P3s and save the Vredesteins for the Spider when needed.

Hoping to get some quality time lying on the concrete under the Berlina in the next few days.

Andrew

[alfazagato]

Andrew,
I noticed that you used horsehair packing between the tank straps and the tank. How did you make the material waterproof and not hold dampness? The ones I have taken off appear to be coated in a bitumen sort of sticky material. I have been trying to find something which didn't, but was slightly compressible and impermeable. Closed cell foam is the nearest I have found but not too period!

[101/105guy]

I use rubber strips between the straps and the tank.

[alfabits]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alfazagato Andrew, I noticed that you used horsehair packing between the tank straps and the tank. How did you make the material waterproof and not hold dampness? The ones I have taken off appear to be coated in a bitumen sort of sticky material. I have been trying to find something which didn't, but was slightly compressible and impermeable. Closed cell foam is the nearest I have found but not too period!

[Andrew]

To be honest, I didn't even think about it. About half the strips on the car were usable, and the others I got from a 750/101 list member as new ReOriginals leftovers from his project. I just put 'em in.

In coastal California, rain is not a big concern, and realistically, this Berlina is not going to be out in the weather much, so it's not much of a concern. But it's a good point, and one I'll have to consider if I start using the car in wet weather. First I'll have to get it to the point to use it in any weather.

Andrew

[alfazagato]

Best of luck and may the sun shine on your endeavours. In the meantime I will content my self with rubber or foam.
regards,

[Andrew]

Because I had almost no clutch action, I pulled the trans out over the weekend. In a relaxed state, the clutch TO bearing actuating arm was about 3/4" from the rear of the bellhousing. So regardless of the state of the clutch (which I assumed was worn out), there was so little travel of the arm you couldn't get full disengagement of the clutch.

So over several hours on the weekend, I unhooked everything and pulled out the trans. Not hard, but not easy either. Tunnel-case transes are much lighter than split-case five speeds, and I ended up manhandling it out onto a floor jack. It also requires a good clockwise twist on the way out to clear the welded-in stud for the column shift bellcrank.

After getting the trans out, I pulled out the clutch, and was surprised to find that (1) the disk is actually pretty thick, not down to the rivets, and (2) the pressure plate is the original one to the car, dated 8/55. Amazing. It too looked pretty good, and its friction surface and the surface of the flywheel both look almost perfect. No bluing or cracks, and very flat and smooth. TO bearing is old, but not destroyed.

So why can't I get enough throw on the clutch? I see these possibilities:
* TO bearing actuating arm is bent.
* TO bearing is worn somewhat thin, and bearing race may have collapsed some.
* Pressure plate fingers and the surface they bear against have worn.

I installed a decent used pressure plate and disk, and found the installed height of the ring the TO bearing presses against was about 1/8" higher, measured from the flywheel surface. Some that is some help, but I'm not sure that's enough height difference to give me a good clutch. "Step" in the flywheel from the pressure plate mounting face to the friction surface is the same on this flywheel compared to two 1600 ones I have, one a 101 and one a 105. So I don't think that's wrong. More investigation is required.

Pics
1. Column shift trans before cleaning, with its floor shift cousin
2. Fore/aft shift mechanism on column shift trans (shift rod attaches to it)
3. Side-to-side shift mechanism on column shift trans (shift cable, and a short arm, attached to it)
4. General view of shift arm area under car after trans removal
5. Donut/output shaft ball relationship. This is an early, larger-style ball, that is integral to the output yoke nut, and not part of the output shaft. Its matching bushing fits on the front of the driveshaft, and is not in the driveshaft, like the later, smaller ones.

Andrew

[Il Vecchio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew ... So why can't I get enough throw on the clutch? I see these possibilities: * TO bearing actuating arm is bent. * TO bearing is worn somewhat thin, and bearing race may have collapsed some. * Pressure plate fingers and the surface they bear against have worn.... Andrew