[trahanm]

More progress

Have made some recent progress. Heater box rebuilt with new heater core and water valve. Was able to disassemble fan motor and free up the bearings. Also heat wrinkle painted the controls to match the original finish and installed the unit. Both front and rear suspension also installed. Will start on the steering box today.

Only bad news is I think my machinist has ruined the cylinder head. Now the new exhaust valve guides are lose in the heads. My suspicion is they damaged the bores when they removed the original guides. Will see in the next week how they resolve this.

Also got a new dash from Mr. Fiat. Just dashboards in California wanted 1150$ with a 4 month lead time to refinish my damaged orginal (it had a cover on it). This new one was 650$. It looks and fits good.

Marc

 

[trahanm]

Dash

Here is a pic of the new dashboard

 

[Dr.G]

Very nice. Question: Did you check the angle for the bolt attachment points between the dash and metal? 67 and 69 are different.
Steve Hanniford at Progressive Automotive would never have done that kind of cylinder head job.

 

[lgbalfa]

Does anyone know if Dean Russell with Trail Auto is still open?

Excellent mechanic in the Detroit area.

Thanks

 

[gprocket]

Does anyone know if Dean Russell with Trail Auto is still open?

Excellent mechanic in the Detroit area.

Thanks

Dean is indeed still around and still am excellent mechanic.

 

[velocewhippet]

Very nice. Question: Did you check the angle for the bolt attachment points between the dash and metal? 67 and 69 are different.
Steve Hanniford at Progressive Automotive would never have done that kind of cylinder head job.

I just got my 1600 Cylinder Head back from Steve. I'd also recommend his services. BTW - Progressive Automotive is in Tacoma, WA

 

[IRONBLOCK]

Marc, your beautiful Duetto is progressing nicely. You have a great shop/garage and very eclectic taste in automobiles. I am sorry about the head work and was concerned that replacing the valve seats and guides would be an issue.

My Duetto engine and transmission are out of the car and the engine parts are scattered all over the garage as I am trying to decide what to replace and where to get it. Several suppliers offer 'OEM' pistons and liners but I thank Borgo and Mahle supplied them originally. I see yours are Niiral, which I believe Classic Alfa supplies. I doubt that they were an OEM supplier, perhaps the compression ration 9.0:1 is 'OEM'. Can anyone here vouch for Niiral pistons and liners; is one type better than another? How about rings? It seems like you always need to use rings other than those that come with the pistons...

I plan use Viton o-ring seals everywhere possible (with roll pins already in the block). The alternatives rubber seals all seem to dry out, shrink and leak! Viton seals are available as an upgrade to the engine 'kit' or they can all be purchased separately.

Engine OH 1600 9.5:1 STREET COMPLETE OEM Pistons - Spruell Motorsport, Inc - Alfa Romeo Performance Your Store for Sports Car Performance and Racing Parts

VITON Head Gasket O-Ring Seal Set (6). Add $7.00.
VITON Ultimate No Leak Engine O-Ring Seal Kit. Add $19.00.
6 head gasket double seal o-rings
1 front cover double seal oil passage o-ring
1 oil pump o-ring seal
1 distributor o-ring seal
Liner seals (?)

Just for the record, Paul Spruell is my kids 'great' uncle. I have no commercial interest there and likely receive no discount on parts I buy but strongly recommend Viton wherever you get it!

Oh and while we are at it, we should both replace our nasty ground straps as shown in post 10, third photo down. Dirt and corrosion diminish their ability to provide a good ground (as does paint and undercoating, if your strap was removed while the body was prepared and painted).

Mark

 

[otteud96]

From the picture of the heater box, you have installed the lower section 180 degrees out. The door for the floor heat is supposed to be facing the rear of the car. Also the axle straps should go nto the top of the body , then the aluminiun spacer then the bump stop. I can send some pic if needed. My car is on the way back from a complete restoration. Good luck nice job enjoy the the progress!

 

[trahanm]

Heater box

Mark,

OMG, I can't believe I made such an error on the heater box. This is probably the 5th one I have done.

How I got into all this Alfa stuff is a friend of mine that works on Alfas. We met at various car shows as we have similar car collections (although his is way better). In any event, I ended up helping him put a couple of days a week now that I am retired. One period of time I rebuilt about 4 of these in a row for him. I know that flap goes to rear. Over they years I have helped him build races cars, rebuilt GTA's, etc.

I guess what happened is once I had it together, I had to take it apart again as the fan motor di not sound right one it was installed, and obviously was not paying attention. Thanks for catching this.

My friend supplied me with the pistons and cylinder's. I trust his judgment 100%.

Marc

 

[trahanm]

heater box

Mark,

All fixed. Again, thanks for catching this.

A far as the rear axle straps. I followed what is shown in the parts manual.

Marc

 

[IRONBLOCK]

give credit where credit is due...

Mark,

... thanks for catching this.

A far as the rear axle straps. I followed what is shown in the parts manual.

Marc

Marc,

Credit for catching the heater door goes to Otteud96, unless he is a 'Mark' as well. As far as the axle straps go, yours look like the (obviously original) ones on my car -shown from a different angle.



Mark

 

[ossodiseppia]

From the picture of the heater box, you have installed the lower section 180 degrees out. The door for the floor heat is supposed to be facing the rear of the car. Also the axle straps should go nto the top of the body , then the aluminiun spacer then the bump stop. I can send some pic if needed. My car is on the way back from a complete restoration. Good luck nice job enjoy the the progress!

You are correct. The straps goes against the body, then the spacer, then the bump stop.

Mark,

All fixed. Again, thanks for catching this.

A far as the rear axle straps. I followed what is shown in the parts manual.

Marc

Marc, please take another look at the diagram. There is an arrow pointing to the proper location of the spacer and that is between the straps and bump stop.

BTW, there should be two straps on each side, not one. The single part number is for two straps.

 

[SouthBayGtv]

I’m shipping you the GTV next, looking goood dad.

A

 

[otteud96]

FYI on the floor board were the passenger feet are there is a styrofoam piece that levels the floor upward incline. Good luck

 

[Steve105]

My understanding is that only 2L cranks were nitrided. So a 1600 crank wouldn't have any hardness difference between uncut, 1st undersize or 2nd undersize.

But sure, nitriding any crank after grinding would probably increase its life. As I recall, it cost me ~$100 to have a 2L crank nitrided after grinding - this was ~10 years ago. The cost of nitrogen may have gone up since then.

I chose to increase the life of my crank by doing things back to front to you! I nitrided my crank first, then found it was too big for standard bearings so then it was micro polished back to standard. Bingo! a new crank at standard dimensions.
I thought as soon as you grind a crank to 1st undersize or 2nd undersize etc you have decreased it's life. I guess you mean increase the time it takes you to get to the next under size.
Steve

 

[trahanm]

More progres

Got the chrome back Tuesday last week. Very happy with it. Custom Chrome in Grafton Ohio.

Had all the stainless straightened and polished last year, so just waiting for the other metal parts to come back from the local plater in Detroit.

In trying to finish the rear axle this week I discovered the left and right hand side brake cables are different length.

Also, the machinist I was using did ruin my cylinder head, Somehow they enlarged the bores for the exhaust valve guides when they removed them. So, I now have a replacement head and will search for a new machinist. I recall someone mentioning a possibility in the Detroit area. I want to replace the valve seats and guides as well. Any advice?

Marc

 

[lgbalfa]

Got the chrome back Tuesday last week. Very happy with it. Custom Chrome in Grafton Ohio.

Had all the stainless straightened and polished last year, so just waiting for the other metal parts to come back from the local plater in Detroit.

In trying to finish the rear axle this week I discovered the left and right hand side brake cables are different length.

Also, the machinist I was using did ruin my cylinder head, Somehow they enlarged the bores for the exhaust valve guides when they removed them. So, I now have a replacement head and will search for a new machinist. I recall someone mentioning a possibility in the Detroit area. I want to replace the valve seats and guides as well. Any advice?

Marc

That looks amazing!

 

[ossodiseppia]

The "backup light" in this pictures is not right for a roundtail. The one in this picture really looks like one for a Junior Z or some other car. The roundtail light should have two holes in it for the screws.

 

[trahanm]

Back up light

You mean like this?

This what the car came with, and the holes in the bumper look factory made.

 

[velocewhippet]

You mean like this?

This what the car came with, and the holes in the bumper look factory made.

That would work with the same mounting holes on the bumper as mine. I like the design of your housing over the ones I have.

Every one of my Reverse Light Housings are like what Osso described with thru holes for mounting and a drain hole. The original Mounting Screws are next to my NOS Housing.

Here's my collection of parts. Two or three of them actually came off of Duettos. The others came off of some Fiat model that used them for front Turn Signal Housings (that's why some have yellow lenses and there's one that's oriented opposite).
I don't remember what model of Fiat I found them on. They were readily available in Southern California in Pick-A-Part salvage yards back in the late 80's.