My very first experience

[MrToon]

About time I made this post! I had taken a welding course years ago, but I've never worked on cars before. This is all new to me and I like it a lot! I've been working on the car for some time, but during the weekends and breaks as I'm in my first masters year of mechanical engineering. Car was taken apart by the previous owner, so I bought it in boxes. He sold me a very badly rusted (sandblasted and left like that for years) CSA spider body, but I've send that one to the scrapyard for this CS1. All the welding should be done and I got a bit tired of the sanding, so I wanted to do something more focused on the moving parts. I've replaced ball joints and bushings, a leaking pinion seal on the rear differential and installed the suspension.

Let's see if I can get some imgur links to work ( and the full album as insurance: http://imgur.com/a/IaSYC).
The engine is a Lancia engine, but if my research is correct it is actually the same as the one in the CS1.

Considering the engine had been sitting in a shed without the manifolds for a couple of years , I think the bores are in quit good condition.

One sheared bolt on the front of the left cam box and one of the smaller ones for the cooling elbow.

Feels like a thicker paste with tiny fibres of a cloth. Can someone verify this, or am I looking at metal shavings?

Silicone on the base of the oil pump used to plug a hole and seal others. Why would this be necessary?


The previous owner had the engine restored and so far it looks okay to my untrained eye, but we'll see.
I'd be very happy with just general advice, tips and tricks, do's-and-don'ts about engine rebuilding and I'll be asking way more questions when I run into trouble.
Questions:

• removing the 38mm crank nut and flywheel
• Should I keep parts in fresh engine oil after cleaning them?
• When the block is completely disassembled, should I degrease everything, even the inside?
• Best ways to polish the cam covers or paint them chrome looking?

Next up:

• removing the 38mm crank nut and flywheel
• loosening the pistons
• taking the crank out and checking the bearings
• let local machine guy hone bores and drill out bolts in the head
• replacing piston rings
• replacing seals
• valve lapping and checking clearance

[vandor]

You may have a 2 liter engine there. You need to check the small number STAMPED into the engine block.

Looks like someone used silicone instead of gaskets, not a good idea.

Use an impact wrench to get the 38mm (1.5") nut off. No reason the immerse things in oil, a thin spray of WD40 should keep rust abay. Yes, degrease everything.

[klweimer]

Take pictures of everything before disassembly and put everything in plastic bags and write what it is (or what you think it is) on the bag. Surprising what you forget over the months it will take to re-assemble. Check the aux shaft to make sure it wasn't hit by the crank at some point and bent. See if you can get your machinist to clean your block with a non-caustic cleaner that won't wipe out the aux shaft bearing. Typical hot tanking will destroy any bearings still in the block and the aux shaft bearing and its clearance is key to good oil pressure.
Kirk

[MrToon]

The engine was listed as an 1800 by the government. The picture of the stamp was unclear so I didn't include it, but it says: 828A10405 and 0097118. I've been looking through lists of old lancia engines and it's still unclear to me, but I'm pretty sure that it's the 1800.

Thanks for the advice already,

Toon

[vandor]

Sounds like a non-US engine. Where are you located?
In the US large cutout like the ones in your pistons came on 2 liter engines.

[MrToon]

I'm from Belgium, but the car was imported from the US. I found this website, but there isn't much out there: http://www.villevieri.com/tc/tclist.htm

So the block is probably an 1800, but the head is definitely a 2000. Maybe as the block was used to replace the original 2000 engine, the cylinders were bored to fit the larger pistons, as you say they look like they came from a 2000. I'll measure the bores when I get home.

[aj81spider]

I Googled the casting number on the crankshaft you have showing in one of your pictures. That comes up as an 1800 crankshaft.

[MrToon]

Disassembled the block completely and the bearings look very good, I don't think I need to replace them. Got the sheared bolts out of the head and repaired the thread.

Questions because I want to do as much as possible myself:

• Which product to use to clean the head? I read about non-caustic but it's hard to find things labeled like that in Belgium. So brake cleaner and carburator cleaner will work? I have heavy carbon deposits in the exhaust ports.
• Removing heavy carbon deposits on the valves using a wire wheel?
• Putting the engine in a bath of hot water and a light soap? Or cleaning the outside with a more heavy cleaner and not doing the inside?
• I have a 1800 block and a 2000 header, is this combination possible? Probably low compression but will it run?

Thanks for the help, guys. Link to my Imgur restoration album.

[RRoller123]

I used Seafoam and a toothbrush to get the carbon off the top of the pistons, etc; and it worked pretty well. A little slow, but I was comforted that it wouldn't do any damage.

[klweimer]

I probably wouldn't have the patience for cleaning the head with a toothbrush. I would try to find a wire brush or wheel with brass wires instead of steel. A Scotchbrite pad or wheel is also an option. No problem with brake or carb cleaner, but you could probably get a similar result with hot water, liquid dish soap and elbow grease.

I assume you are going to strip the head all the way down and replace the valve seals? Wire brushing the valves will be easier if they are out of the head. Steel brush is fine for them.

I would wash the block at thoroughly as possible, inside and out, using hot water and dish soap. Try to clean the oil passages as best you can. You can use carb or brake cleaner on anything in the block as well. Get some bristle brushes of different sizes and shapes to do the scrubbing.

Once cleaned, I would paint the exterior surfaces as soon as possible and spray the interior surfaces with something to prevent rusting, like WD40.

Kirk

[RRoller123]

The toothbrush worked well, get the "hard" not "soft" version. Brass brush for the tough deposits around the gums.

[MrToon]

So I cleaned all the parts thoroughly with a toothbrush and degreaser. Ready to start reassembling but my uncle thinks I have a problem:
Is it OK to run the 1800 engine with the 2000 head? I know people do it the other way around for higher compression so we feared that we wouldn't have enough compression with my setup.

Painted the propellor shaft and replaced the bearing and suspension, looks great.
Next up is rebuilding the best of my two carburetors: Weber 34 DAT vs Weber 34 ADF 250. The DAT is mounted on a Seat manifold, so I hope you guys tell me the other one is better . I also have 2 gearboxes so I'll be replacing the gaskets of the best one too.

[MrToon]

I found Brad Artigue's carburetor guide on Mirafiori and learned that the 34 ADF was basically a performance option and he speaks highly of it. I'm going with that one then.

[MrToon]

While rebuilding the head, I broke one of the valve oil seals. They definitely not slip on the guide like the Haynes manual suggest, so I didn't hammer them all the way down. Waiting for a new set of valve seals so that's put on hold for now.

I'm just checking the gears by removing the bottom plate, is that sufficient for the gearbox or do you guys recommend opening everything up? I have two gearboxes so I'll choose the best one.

[Nanonevol]

It's kind of a crap shoot. The gearbox is somewhat of a weak link. Might be a good idea to replace the synchro's now while you have access. Then again, if all looks good...