How to make a pretty engine? :)

[stefhahn]

Jim, you are absolutely right - I did not talk about rubber but about plastic. And I have good experiences with armor all re plastic. Rubber - I use talkum powder or stag fat to keep rubber alive.

[CShroom]

It's entirely feasible. But it is a lot of work.

We have been doing a cosmetic restoration to the motor going into the '77.

We bought a full gasket set, and put the motor on a stand.

We then tore it down to a bare block and started cleaning.

Here is the list of what has been done so far.

Engine degreased. A few times.

Bought a new dremel, wire wheels for a 4" grinder, buffing pads for our old Shop Smith and a ass ton of paint and primer ( which is more than a butt ton, but less than a f**k ton ).

Pulled the head degreased it.

yanked off all the accessories, degreased them

Pulled off all the pulleys, degreased them (see a theme here?)

Then once we were down to the basic block, started cleaning the block with a wirewheel. Lots of time with the wire wheel.

Once the block was cleaned, it was masked off, and hit with primer and high temp spray bomb black.

The oil pan was beat back into shape and also got a coat of black. The pulleys have been wire wheeled and are in primer tomorrow they will getting the black out treatment. All the while things like the heads, cam covers from timing cover (using an earlier aluminium one) are getting wire brushed and buffed.

So far there is about 50 hours in the cleaning and prepping of the motor, and we aren't even halfway there. But we are hoping that once it is together, it will stop people in their tracks.

I will say one thing, that black block and pulleys make the aluminium stand out beautifully.

Patience and pictures is the key.

[seventil]

It's entirely feasible. But it is a lot of work.

We have been doing a cosmetic restoration to the motor going into the '77.

We bought a full gasket set, and put the motor on a stand.

We then tore it down to a bare block and started cleaning.

Here is the list of what has been done so far.

Engine degreased. A few times.

Bought a new dremel, wire wheels for a 4" grinder, buffing pads for our old Shop Smith and a ass ton of paint and primer ( which is more than a butt ton, but less than a f**k ton ).

Pulled the head degreased it.

yanked off all the accessories, degreased them

Pulled off all the pulleys, degreased them (see a theme here?)

Then once we were down to the basic block, started cleaning the block with a wirewheel. Lots of time with the wire wheel.

Once the block was cleaned, it was masked off, and hit with primer and high temp spray bomb black.

The oil pan was beat back into shape and also got a coat of black. The pulleys have been wire wheeled and are in primer tomorrow they will getting the black out treatment. All the while things like the heads, cam covers from timing cover (using an earlier aluminium one) are getting wire brushed and buffed.

So far there is about 50 hours in the cleaning and prepping of the motor, and we aren't even halfway there. But we are hoping that once it is together, it will stop people in their tracks.

I will say one thing, that black block and pulleys make the aluminium stand out beautifully.

Patience and pictures is the key.

Thanks for the info CShroom...

You have your pictures up anywhere? Would be interested to see.

Interesting for the black block, I'm sure it looks great like you say!

[CShroom]

We have pictures, but haven't pulled them off the camera as of yet. Anyway, right now things are still looking pretty bare. We are waiting for parts to get some of this back together.

But hopefully in the next couple of days we will get in good enough shape to post something up here. I think Tersta wants to start a build thread. So more than likely we will be getting everything online for that.

I should get off my lazy rear and get stuff up in my flickr account....

Edit

Got off my lazy butt for a few seconds.

Here is the motor pre-disassembly.


And how it sits right now...



And today is Tersta's Sunday. So guess what she is doing? Buffing aluminium.



That is an old Mongomery Ward's Power Kraft. aka and old Shop Smith II.

Nothing special but it certainly is neat to be able to stand it up and make it a press, lay it down to add a buffer attachment, and I have things like the table saw attachments and a few other bits and pieces.

[dantye]

Hi everyone,

Just getting into the Fiat Spider scene, thinking about buying a 1981 .....

To something like THIS:



(Picture is from Spring Fever thread, kuhndg's ride) ....

What is that round, apparently stainless steel, container resembling a Thermos Bottle in the corner of the above pictured engine bay normally occupied by the coolant overflow tank? And if it is a coolant overflow tank, where can you get one?

[wachuko]

Is a coolant overflow tank. You can buy it from Mark. http://www.allisonsautomotive.com/

Hi everyone,

Just getting into the Fiat Spider scene, thinking about buying a 1981 .....

To something like THIS:



(Picture is from Spring Fever thread, kuhndg's ride) ....

What is that round, apparently stainless steel, container resembling a Thermos Bottle in the corner of the above pictured engine bay normally occupied by the coolant overflow tank? And if it is a coolant overflow tank, where can you get one?

[Raze]

Mine isn't as pretty as many on here, but I don't have much $ or time invested, I went from:



to this:



and here's the steps, tools, etc you'll need:

1st: Engine bay paint, since it was already half painted black over the original yellow paint (car was resprayed red by PO) I went with Rustoleum high temp grille paint, it's flat black, self-leveling, cheap as hell, and 100% not oil or solvent resistant, so touchups are necessary. If you wanted a better option, Duplicolor engine enamel that's heat, solvent, etc resistant would be prime, but it's not flat and would require proper prep, the high-temp grille paint sticks to everything...

2nd: Wiring clean-up, since everything was just wrapped in brittle old electrical tape, I stripped all that crap off. Next I got some high-temp wire loom, zip ties, in various sizes, blam, wires all nice and tidy...

3rd: Header, since I didn't want to spend $100-200 on power coating an old rusting pace-setter header that came with the car, I said hell, and got a can of high-temp header paint and some Must-Rust. I treated the header with the must-rust and then cleaned it with alcohol to make sure the paint would stick. Then it was paint time, this does require baking, though I cheated and let it cure for a month before heat cycling it on the car, end result, not perfect but good enough considering my wife won't kill me for the smell of header paint lingering in the oven...

4th: Replaced battery and all necessary wiring, and chopped down plug wires. I did everything I could to tuck and clean up the engine bay so it wasn't such a tangled mess. This includes replacing every bit of wiring that looked even remotely suspect...

5th: Remove the head, replace all seals and gaskets (get a full head gasket set, cam seals, headgasket, cam towers, cam covers, etc, and while you're at it, clean every surface and repaint only the outside. I used some chemical cleaners approved for aluminum and didn't let them soak too long as you can damage parts with too harsh cleaning agents. Then I used engine cleaner/degreaser on any remaining places that needed cleaning, scrubbed with a bristle brush. Finally after drying I went and got a set of cheap brass brushes for my Dremel and worked to strip any remaining paint and or 'gunk' off the head. I used blue painters tape on any gasketed or inside part using a razor blade to be exact. Then I used Duplicolor engine enamel. I did this on every external head part.

6th: Clean up your rubber. Got rusty clamps and bulging hoses? Time to clean/replace all that junk with new hoses and clamps.

You may think this sounds expensive, and sure if you had a shop do it for you it'd cost $$$, but all of the above mentioned items cost me less than $200 including gaskets kit, paint, tape, hoses, clamps, new battery and bracket (Southwest Speed), and a proper overflow coolant bottle. It was a time-consuming $200 but I think the results speak for themselves...

(the radiator was from Allison Automotive and I have a separate write-up on it: http://fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=17009 that cost $400, but made a world of difference)

[124JOE]

raze that looks good
somthing to think on
paint"red"the brackets for the overflow,brakefluid,airfilter cover and clips
also the relay thinggy on dr side inner fender

jusy to set it off

and wrap that headder

[Raze]

Joe,

I like your style sir.

-Jeff

[thechadzone]

This is what's been keeping my hands dirty over the winter. It's the 1608 from my BC Coupe. Though it may be "overly painted" for some tastes, I'm being careful to not make it too garish. The time spent de-greasing and preparing each piece for paint a bit trying at times, but the results so far have been quite good.

I started with the bare block, and I've been doing as much paint work as time allows. I've had more time than money lately, so this is what I can do until I can afford the standard stuff for a rebuild. Next up for paint is the painting of the factory IDF manifold in grey.

You might just buy a motor specifically to tear down and detail to suit your tastes. During that time you can also still enjoy driving your car. When your super pretty motor is finally installed, you can then begin doing that which you wished you would have done to your super pretty motor to the old yucky one...



[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/thech ... .jpg[/img]
Fiat Coupe engine paint latest progress by thechadzone, on Flickr[/url]

[Redline]

Thanks for posting your picture, because that was exactly the motor that came to mind when "pretty engines" was mentioned. I quite like the idea of rebuilding and detailing an extra motor while still driving around. Depends on availability, of course, but seems like a wise plan.