Category: Working on my Cars

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Fasteners 4 and Engine 7: small progress

With all these market summaries and Spiders to write about I’ve been neglecting to have my postings keep pace with my progress on the SS.  This is not a total disaster because I really haven’t done anything momentus, just more plating and small jobs on the engine rebuild.

Over the winter break I torqued the lower end and head all together so the engine is ready for final assembly, but the details of final assembly have taken some time, mainly due to a missing lock nut.  Sorry for the quality of these pictures, they were taken on my phone because I didn’t have my camera.

These lock nuts that go over the main nuts that you torque down are strange.  They are sheetmetal and when you tighten them down they flex and distort, and I think the distortion creates a spring force that makes them not want to loosen. After torquing the lower end I found the bag of them from when I took this engine apart.  I was surprised to find only seven in the bag.  I must have lost one or maybe I used one on the Sprint engine rebuild last winter and just don’t remember.   Good news: I have extras, bad news: they are inside a completely assembled engine. Continue reading “Fasteners 4 and Engine 7: small progress”

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The rear view mirror.

Update 1/26/10:  So I got the correct mirror off eBay recently for $112.50 -in better condition than the Spider mirror I bought as seen below and cheaper.  Here is what it looks like.  Anyone want to buy a late Giulietta/Giulia Spider mirror?  I’m $150 into it…

THIS is the mirror I needed as seen in Aarons Giulia Sprint.

 And a good side view of the base.  If you have an SS, chances are this is the mirror you need.

Update 12/20/09: Okay, so I’m an idiot. I bought the wrong mirror. Oh well. I think I can clean it up and find it a home. The mirror I need has a base like an earlier Sprint mirror but with the wrinkle finish backing and chrome front. I’ll get a picture up of it soon. Anyone need a Spider mirror?

I’ve been watching, waiting, biding my time and bidding generously whenever I had the chance, but until today I was missing the important Giulietta Sprint Speciale -and a lot of other period 101 Alfa’s- ultra cool rear view mirror. Why so important? Why not just get some after-market deal? Well, you already know the answer coming from a guy who paid a lot to have a mold made in order to cast Carello marked SS tail light lenses (which have proven popular -email if you want a set). The answer, besides the fact that you look at it almost as much as the windshield, is that well, with so much effort going into everything else, this detail just needs to be correct.

Why am I going on about this? Because I think I got lucky!

This groovy little number is currently doing time on eBay and an adult bare-knuckle buy-it-now bid of $295 is required to feel the love. As someone I can’t identify from memory said, and I’m paraphrasing at best, ‘they’re making more money, but they’re not making any more of these.’

Continue reading “The rear view mirror.”

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Bodywork 8: a few more hours for Bill, a giant leap for me

Note: There is a link at the end of this post to Dante.  Don’t miss it if you like to see the process of classic sports car body restoration and construction.  Especially not to be missed is the SZ rebody and Aston conversion to a station wagon.

Big happenings at the shop when I arrived today. Bill was in the midst of another afternoon of toil on the SS. Lots more needs doing -rockers repaired, rear end repaired, headlight reattached, seat tracks fabricated etc, but it is looking more like a car that has the potential to get assembled and driven every day. I think I am going to wait until he is done to go nuts with the DA sander and wire wheel cleaning this thing up.

Starting at the end as usual. Here I dropped the pedal box in to see how it would fit. Perfect. My feet now have somewhere to go.

Continue reading “Bodywork 8: a few more hours for Bill, a giant leap for me”

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Fasteners 3: getting the hang of it!

My big mistake right now is being in a hurry to get this project to the driving part of it. All these little tasks are like making a familiar although long drive. I can imagine it going by -the blur of images, the familiar landmarks indicating progress, the dull stretches and finally the destination. Like that drive each task, like living each moment behind the wheel, has to be done. Today I spent an hour and and a half and got one little task done, like getting from mile marker 336 to mile marker 337 on the interstate when your destination is at mile marker 11,721. Enough about me and my psychology though, you’re here for the Speciale.

Before and after, you decide which is which. Yes, as a matter of fact I do wish the car was in paint so I could mount this piece!

Continue reading “Fasteners 3: getting the hang of it!”

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Body work 7 and Fasteners 2: saturday at the shop

I slept in until 10 am this morning! Two cups of coffee and the enthusiasm generated by seeing all the nice SS’s on the market I’ve written about this week saw me rushing out the door by 11am to work on the SS. I figured out everything I needed to make the plating kit work and wanted to get it all together, set it up and run some tests.

I bought 5 gallons of distilled water, a bunch of wire end alligator clips, a candy thermometer, a measuring spoon set, a spray bottle and a surge protector. I decided for my first attempt I’d use a 6 volt, 500 mA motorcycle battery charger I had laying around from who knows when. The day went like this:

The finished product first as usual. Plated engine lift bracket, head nuts and washers. I could probably have paid to plate every part on this car for what I am into my kit but this way I wont lose anything, I wont be driving back and forth to a plating shop and I can say: I did that!

Continue reading “Body work 7 and Fasteners 2: saturday at the shop”

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Bodywork 7: floor it!

Two years is a long time to wait plan and ponder but here I am seeing what has for so long seemed like something consigned to some later date.  Bill, old friend and recently arrived shop mate agreed to have a go at welding the floors into the SS.  I had a floor set I bought from Wolf last year and yesterday they finally saw some action.

The Veloce e-brake mount finally has somewhere to mount.  Looking good.  Welds will be cleaned up later.

Continue reading “Bodywork 7: floor it!”

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SS 00121 engine 6 and bodywork 6: the shop sunday

Update 4pm. Aaron put up a new post on his blog with a pretty cool video of his first trip in his 1962 1600 Giulia Sprint that spent a month in my shop getting freshened up to be roadworthy with some occasional, marginally helpful pointers from me.  Check it out.

Sunday December 6th, 2009.  I didn’t have any big plans for the time I would spend at the shop, mostly catching up on some small jobs and doing some organizing.  I was cold at the shop, even with long underwear and a thick hooded sweatshirt -hoodie in California stoner parlance, so I was moving slow and not very motivated.

Veloce intake side motor mount

Veloce engine mount receives a good cleaning, new bushing and used but good shape engine mount.  Note Bendix fuel pump in the background -the subject of a future post no doubt.

Continue reading “SS 00121 engine 6 and bodywork 6: the shop sunday”

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SS 00121 engine rebuild 5: assembling for real this time

Saturday December 5th 2009. I arrived at the shop at noon after eating three Al Pastor tacos from my favorite taqueria -sounds like a lot but it’s not. Initially my plan was to do some more scraping of paint from the engine compartment and front wheel wells but my hands are pretty beat up from the last session doing this, and I’m tired of moving internal engine parts around when looking for things so I decided to do more work on the engine, namely install pistons and liners, water pump and get the oil pan ready for assembly.

It went like this…

giulietta sprnt speciale engine

Beginning at the end as usual. I had just installed the water pump and pulley hardware as 5 pm struck -time to go home. It’s got my name on it!

Continue reading “SS 00121 engine rebuild 5: assembling for real this time”

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SS Bodywork 5: the engine compartment

I have been looking at this car for 2 years now, in pictures after sending $4500 to the seller in December of 2007, trying to come up with a coherent plan for tackling it, and since then as a sculpture of sorts, always looming in the background corner of the shop, watching me toil on other cars, patiently waiting its turn.  It’s turn is here.

Having a really snotty cold complete with a crackly sounding cough ensures your work wants you as far away as possible, and when you start feeling pretty good but your body is still in clean up mode you have to get out an do.  In this fit of new found near health I decided that since I lacked the parts to finish assembling the engine, I would start in on the body, and where better to start than the engine compartment.  It has been a hellish job, but, as with all jobs, took starting and doing if it was to be seen finished.  I guess I could have paid someone to do this, but that would have been cheating, and besides, my funds are already in arrears of the someones I will be paying for time spent exercising their skills on my car.

The starting line.  First order of business was removing the steering components, the wiring harness and some other odds and ends so this would be a long level run rather than an obstacle course.  Looks pretty bad doesn’t it.

Continue reading “SS Bodywork 5: the engine compartment”

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SS 00121 engine rebuild 4: the intake and mock up

I’ve got a pretty serious cold and in order to keep from spreading it around work I haven’t been there the last few days. I don’t feel horrible, mainly just spaced out from the cocktail of stuff in cold medicines and unable to breathe through my nose, so I’ve been spending a few hours at the shop in warm clothes working on the endless SS project. Today I decided I should mock up the engine pieces to try and identify anything I need to buy now so I can make one long trip and pick everything up at once instead of wasting days looking for one odd sized nut/bolt/washer.

I was quite proud of myself when this manifold turned up for a good price. Carbs are a matched set of early 60’s 40 DCOE2’s, the correct carb for all flavors of Sprint Speciale besides early 750SS badged cars (correct me if I’m wrong). I can’t wait to see these doing their job when I pop the hood on my daily driver SS.

Continue reading “SS 00121 engine rebuild 4: the intake and mock up”