My Help Me Get My $150 Milano Running Before May 1st Build Thread!

[superloaf]

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 . . . .

[sh0rtlife]

an o-ring that has been compressed and under heat for 20 years is not going to mantain its shape

course i could be WAY off but i doubt it

and your right one can never have enuf cars!!!!

[crankCase]

There were different oil pins but from what I've seen, the o rings are all the same. See
bulletin # 89.08.

Regards,
John

[alfa75 88]

Put the engine back together quickly and drop it in there, shove the rest of the parts in the car.. that's what I'd do.

I also have a headless short block sitting around, ha.

[HeavyMetalAlfa]

I wish we could descend on you as an Alfa collective "Git Er Done" crew and put her together. Sometimes getting too detailed slows or stops the process. Bolt it in, fire it up, drive it,,, thats my motto,,,

[benz-tech]

hey, thats the color of my $400 car. good luck with that.

[superloaf]

thanks to all for the support. i'm not too worried about the actual work of getting the engine back in, it's more about the money (i'm poor these days) and making sure i can get the parts i need. since i don't have the money right now to place a big order to IAP for everything i need to complete the project, i'm trying to get by with the basics. also, because of the short time i have, i don't really want to wait for shipping on the parts.

ok, some more pics.

first, the infamous o ring. you can see that the o ring on top (from my engine) has squared off shoulders. the ring on the bottom is just for comparison. it's a little harder to see in this pic but in person the o ring is obviously has squared edges and is not just deformed from use.





are the squared off o rings available generically? i'm guessing i should be able to find some at someplace local like "hollywood o rings" or maybe that's just for plastic surgery.

ok, here's some pics of the right side head gasket and the evidence of leakage. i was told by an alfa mechanic that the right side is usually the side that goes. (hmmm, that sounds hard to believe since italian logic would tell us that it should be the left side because that requires the whole brake booster fiasco!) you can see the chocolate shake on the right side of the pic. (it doesn't taste like chocolate though--more like coolant & oil.) is this where they usually leak? also, there was quite a bit of sludge/froth at the bottom of the head studs. looks like the oil made its way down the stud and mixed with coolant at the bottom near the gasket. not sure what's supposed to prevent that.






and here's some pics of the liners. i was afraid that the cylinder liner o rings might be bad and then i saw this wet spot around the bottom. is this common? it's actually not wet. just darker in color. should i be worried? really don't want to do those o rings. the local alfa mechanics said those almost never fail and that the liners are usually really stuck in the block & don't want to come out.

[slyalfa]

every old 'O' ring I have ever removed off anything looked like that, squared one.
the new look round.
I have had some square type but they look different. the edge is very sharp almost like you could cut with it.

[Grant]

Dunno if you are aware of this, but you must be very careful to not turn the crankshaft with the head untorqued. This will probably unseat the liners. I learned the hard way.

[superloaf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slyalfa every old 'O' ring I have ever removed off anything looked like that, squared one. the new look round. I have had some square type but they look different. the edge is very sharp almost like you could cut with it.

[Grant]

I know money is tight but a machine shop should be able to resurface a pair of heads for around 70 bucks.

[superloaf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grant I know money is tight but a machine shop should be able to resurface a pair of heads for around 70 bucks.

[Grant]

I believe we just dropped our heads off as is. The shop was recommended by our mechanic, but they really were just a machine shop that did mostly domestic cars. I think any competent machine shop will be up to task.

It is very important that they do not leave hash marks or shallow groves in the process...the head should look very smooth when it is done. I think I read on here about someone that installed his heads and constantly had improper sealing problems until he had the heads re-resurfaced at another shop. Maybe someone with more experience can chime in here.

You might want to call a reputable Alfa mechanic in your area and ask for a recommendation on where to go.

[superloaf]

but what about the block? that can't be machined without disassembly (which i ain't gonna do) so what's the best option for preparing that?

also, the valves which are in the open stroke are out far enough that any machining would grind them slightly so i don't know how they would be able to resurface with the cams still in. anyone know?

[Grant]

Good point. We must have removed the cams then. Actually, I remember doing it now. The head came back completely hot tanked... no cams or lifters.

What my father usually suggests is to get a clean, thin, steel putty knife and use that to scrape off the stubborn material. A hobby knife should be used as a last resort as there's a very high risk of gouging the aluminum. The worst thing is to have a gouge that goes all the way across the surface. That's a sure recipe for a leak!