Some ugly engine pictures

[bwilson27]

This is my 1974 engine block and head, just after removing the head.
(Right-click & "view image" to see full size.)



Head gasket (was it bad? )



Carbon & rusty sludge:



Valves & bottom of the head:



Top water inlet(?). there was a pile of gross granules down in there when I took off the housing... Like maybe vaporized antifreeze?



The head & cam towers. How it looks now:



The block:



Looks like a broken bolt for the water pump in the photo, but it's just a water journal... lol.. Scared me, I had to go take a look as I was posting this!


This engine hasn't ran since the disco days, I would guess. The PO was clueless himself as to when it last ran... Luckily, it's been an easy tear-down to this point- No broken bolts or studs

[mdrburchette]

Looks like you have your work cut out for you. After a good cleaning, it won't look so bad. Are you going to run an electric fuel pump on this engine? You may want to consider cutting the pump lobe off the aux shaft and plugging the hole so you won't have to deal with timing the shaft.

[azygoustoyou]

Hi Bwilson,
Do you have the body done already? Your avatar looks like it's ready for paint.

[bwilson27]

Hi Bwilson,
Do you have the body done already? Your avatar looks like it's ready for paint.

I wish. It'll be ready to paint in a year or so, maybe. Thanks for the moral support.

Are you going to run an electric fuel pump on this engine? You may want to consider cutting the pump lobe off the aux shaft and plugging the hole so you won't have to deal with timing the shaft.

Yes, I'm gonna use an electric pump. That's the first I've heard of cutting the lobe. Do you know any links that show this, or describe it all in more detail? Thanks.

[So Cal Mark]

that head gasket was definitely leaking between 1 and 2.

[bwilson27]

that head gasket was definitely leaking between 1 and 2.

Thanks! Mystery solved.

[bwilson27]

Today it got down to around 100 degrees in my garage, so I was able to separate the engine from the transmission and work on the head a little
(Right-click on a photo and select "view Image" to see full size)



Cam towers:



I spent about a half-hour with a wire wheel on the head. The red arrow points to a spot of erosion in the aluminum... Not too bad, but still a little sucky:



Gotta remove the valves in the near future:



The remaining paint on the body, not including the engine bay. The hinge on the gas filler lid (arrow) is insane to get out with my caveman tools, some of which you see there:



I'd say 4 more years, with luck.

[kmac33]

That hinge is actually pretty easy to remove - it's just a simple pin that is held in with a "horse shoe" shaped retaining "clamp" secured with a single screw. Remove the screw, remove the horse shoe "clamp", pull the pin and the hinge is out.
Good work on the restoration so far! What do you have planned for your motor build?

[bwilson27]

It's that screw that's so hard to get out. I can't find the right screwdriver for it. It's the very last thing on the body. Very Last.
I plan on new valves, pistons, bearings, gaskets, rubber, water pump, internal regulated alternator, New carb (or serious rebuild of the current Holley 5200 elec. choke Weber replica I have), new belt tensioner bearing, new belts, plugging all holes in the head with set screws- besides spark plugs and water temp sensor, of course.
I plan on sandblasting the block (I bought a compressor, sand blaster and sand-blasting cabinet) and painting it. I want to powder-coat the header also. Oh, and I want a distributorless ignition, like the one mark sells.
I'm putting in a new clutch and doing common maintenance to the tranny.

-That's just for starters.

I love this engine because it's a '74, and the radiator hose configuration looks more traditional (just two hoses). Stripped down to basics and polished up, these are great looking little engines, imo. Mine will be absolute basics, not even any routing for a heater core. With Mark's new ignition, it'll be even more bare, and mean-looking.

Here's what I did today for about an hour before triple heat-stroke set in:
(remember to right-click the image)

[kmac33]

You should be really happy with the motor when you get it done - it sounds like you have a good build mapped out.
I finished mine up just before FFO - the motor had 24 miles on it when I put the car on the trailer for the ride to Asheville.
I am extremely pleased with the performance of mine despite keeping her below 4 grand since it isn't broken in yet (still under 200 miles).
Unfortunately, I'm going to have to pull the motor back out soon to repaint the block - the machine shop that did the cylinder bore work painted the block with some type of anti-rust coating and despite scrubbing it down prior to painting, the paint is starting to flake off .
My build consisted of: Full intake and head rebuild by Jon Logan at Midwest 124 including bigger valves, complete porting/deshrouding, and a single 40/80 intake cam; for the block I went with went with 4.5 mm domed 84.6mm high compression pistons; Jason Miller's adjustable cam pulleys and lightened auxillary pulley, aluminum crank pulley, aluminum alternator pulley, stock fly wheel lightened per Jason Miller specs, new 36/36 synchronous carb and 95 amp internally regulated alternator from Auto Ricambi; Pertronix ignition with Pertronix Flame Thrower Coil (I am switching to Mark's distributorless system to fix hood clearance issue and get some variable timing advance- I already have it, just need to install it); high performance air cleaner; aluminum radiator with high flow electric fan; and of course had to dress things up a bit.

See if you can guess which picture is before and which is after .

[bwilson27]

THAT'S your engine?! Seriously, I was going to post that exact same picture on this thread as an example of how I'd like mine to look when done. The only thing I'd do differently is the air filter. I'm going to try and find some kind of domed aluminum K/N type of thing. Wow, your engine looks great!


This is my "Before" picture of the engine- About a year ago, when I got the car:

[Fiat88]

Keep us updated.

[kmac33]

THAT'S your engine?! Seriously, I was going to post that exact same picture on this thread as an example of how I'd like mine to look when done.

Thanks. I'm glad to hear it when someone likes the way it turned out. It might be a bit "over the top" for some folks taste, and obviously far from stock, but I'm really happy with the results - except for the damn paint coming off the block . The performance difference is like night and day...and the motor was running great before I pulled it for the restoration. With the steps you are taking, I'm sure yours will be just as nice, if not nicer.
I can't wait to see all of your before and after pictures when you get it finished!

[bwilson27]

I like how perfectly clean and spartan your engine is. I myself won't be painting anything other than the block and any steel parts. I'm going for an all-aluminum look.
Too bad about your paint peeling. I'll make sure to remember that when painting mine. How well has the red paint been sticking to the belt surface on your cam gears? I'd think that would have to be some pretty durable paint.

[kmac33]

The paint on the pulleys is holding up very well so far. I expected it to wear on the belt surface right away and I'd just have the edge remaining (which will still create the look I want) but it has held up so far. The pulleys were painted with the same acrylic that the body was painted with - top of the line paint materials. I was originally planning on going for an all aluminum look but was talked into going with more "contrasting" colors to set off all the different parts/components. The only thing I'm not completely happy with is using the same color for the block and cam towers - it ended up being too much blue. When we pull the motor to respray the block, I'm probably going to use a dark gray or black for the block.