Tag: Car Restoration

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Project: Dads 1947 Chevy 3100 part 5

Sometimes taking it apart actually isn’t easy.  Last winter, when my dad called me to tell me the rear end was so locked up that the truck had to be dragged onto the flatbed, I got off the phone and looked up what the assembly looked like.  Torque tube rear ends have a bunch of extra bearings, some complicated assemblies, and lots of tapered splines etc.  I wasn’t looking forward to the day when I got to work on it, but today the day came and it really wasn’t that bad.

I showed up at my dads place about 11 and found him with a 6 foot pipe on the end of my 2 foot breaker bar trying to get the bolts that clamp the pre-load section of axles to the housing.  The four bolts pointing out at the camera.

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Project: Dads 1947 Chevy 3100 part 2

1947 Chevrolet 3100 Thriftmaster 6EPJ3165, original 216 engine, built in Oakland Ca, 65th 3100 made?
Today was a good day.  I woke up at 7, put a cup of coffee in me and a tank of gas in the Sprint at 7:40 -didn’t think I needed it but did it out of caution at the beginning of the 80ish miles to my dads house, managed to get almost 13 gallons in it.  Running out of gas would have been my fault but still would have dampened my enthusiasm for the Sprint.  It took about 2 hours to get there, getting wound up weaving through fairly uptight traffic from Oakland to Napa and then unwinding from Napa to Middletown on the pastoral two-lane sweepers.  Plan was to do some work on the truck engine, help with some garage organization and eat a good hamburger.
Part 1 of helping my dad on the truck in case you missed it.
The Sprint, still tink tink tinking from the spirited drive over the switchback dense hill from Calistoga to Middletown.  Our friend John couldn’t get over the Sprint, it’s simplicity, sophistication and style.  I don’t blame him, I’m still stuck on it.
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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.

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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.

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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!

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Market #27: Austrian Giulia SS project

Looking to out do me and have an even worse SS starting point? Look no further. 10,000 Euros ‘Buy it now’ and this could be yours. Based on the pictures it is a 10121*38XXXX, Giulia SS. Seemingly clean SS’s tend to hide rust very well, not so this car, it is clearly out of the closet.
When I and the internet were young I used to play a game where I used translation software to translate phrases back and forth from English to other languages. The results were often startlingly funny. Obviously translation software hasn’t improved much. The translated eBay text reads: “For sale is a rare Alfa Romeo Giulia SS, 1.6 petrol, with original Italian papers, restaurations object, partially disassembled and prepared to restore! Rollfähig vehicle engines and gearboxes are expanded, Interior Rooms with almost complete. Foreign facilities without Stosstangen and without barbecue. Inquiries under 0043 676 6500 954 Enjoy bidding 3, 2, 1, deins …… NO and NO GUARANTEE WARRANTY” Phew, I was worried about the barbecue…
Car doesn’t actually look too bad in this picture. Headlight openings, grill opening, hood alignment and all look right, bumper mounts are sticking out into space. I like the blue lower lip paint scheme, like a 4 year old after a blue popsicle.

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Details #1: IPRA Torino Heater box markings

If you are restoring a Giulietta Sprint Speciale or Spider (or possibly many other late 50’s or early 60’s Italian cars Fiat, Ferrari, Maserati, Lancia etc among them) to as-new condition and are obsessed (I mean really obsessed) with originality, then you may have given thought to reproducing factory markings. These cars were made by hand then assembled by hand from parts that were made by hand. Hand written grease pencil notes on the backs of upholstery cards and on interior surfaces, hand stamped serial numbers, hand applied decals and rubber stamps all characterize these cars and the circumstances under which they were made. Erasing, preserving or recreating these markings during a restoration is a matter of personal choice. I don’t know if points are awarded or taken away during judging at serious concours events but if the spirit of the competition is to recreate the ‘new’ car then it seems to me these markings should be present.

The first item in my ‘Original Details’ section is this heaterbox, as removed from a very original Giulietta Sprint Speciale.

‘E’ in a box with an arrow pointing up. Water Entrata? Continue reading “Details #1: IPRA Torino Heater box markings”