From the archives: 2002

Following are the posts from my website beginning in 2002, shortly after we got the Alfa. Obviously many years have passed between now and then, but I thought it would be good to help document some of the early work and observations on the car.

12.15.2002-Zero Progress Sadly Mother Nature prevented any work at all in the garage this past weekend. Northern California has been hit by one storm after another the past three days and we've seen over 10 inches of rain here at Summit House. This, combined with high winds, conspired to knock out power for most of the weekend. We do have a generator, and we used it quite a bit, but it's not enough to light or power the whole house and we have to be judicious with our use of electricity during power outages. The wet and windy weather didn't exactly fill one with a lot of desire to work in the garage anyway, so the only work I did on the Alfa this weekend was in my head. I'm hoping that my motor mount will arrive before we leave for Christmas vacation and that I'll be able to start taking the engine apart. I'm just dying to see what the the crank and big ends look like. Since I don't have any pictures to update you with I've thrown in two pictures taken from the Concorso Italiano last August at the Quail Lodge. I'm hoping that our car will look much like the red one when it's done. Until next time.. Ciao! TJ Update 12.17.2002 I made a couple images of my camshafts and the engine being disassembled which I'll share here in lieu of any actual real progress. The numbers stamped/cast in to them at the back end are: 105020320001 The top one has a 'C' cast in to it just behind the first bearing journal (at the timing gear end) and is the intake. The bottom one has a 'D' in the same spot and is the exhaust. These camshafts appear to be in very good condition as there is very little wear on the lobes or journals. I will most likely just clean them up and re-use them. Finally, a picture of the filthy engine with the waterpump removed. I've removed all the nuts and bolts that hold the timing cover to the block and oil pan but I need to remove the oil pan before it can come off.

12.8.2002-A Tour of the Shop As a DIY mechanic who does not enjoy the luxury of a separate workshop I have to use our two-car garage for most of the work I do. I've learned a lot about conservation of space and maximizing efficiency. When serving as Alfa Restoration HQ the garage must house: 1 Ducati 916-The Cowpoke Racing Ducati 1 Ducati Monster-My wife's primary motorcycle 1 Norton Commando-Restored years ago, rarely ridden, but too much of a sentimental attachment and mechanical mana to let go of. 1 Suzuki RG 250-Wife's secondary motorcycle, a rather unique little gem but it's For Sale as we need the space and would love to put the money in to the Alfa. 1 BMW Z3-My wife's car. Convertibles do not fare well in this climate and everyone deserves to have their car stored inside. 1 BMW 3.0 CS-My car, which I just finished restoring. Believe it or not, I'm actually able to get all these vehicles in the garage and still be able to move around a little. It's hard to get to certain areas so when I'm doing serious work I move the cars outside. Motorcycles are fairly small and narrow, and easy to move around, so I store them up against the walls and in between the cars. They're a little harder to get out this way, but during the winter we don't ride that much anyway, so it's not a big deal. The real problems will start when I get to a point when the Alfa needs to be stored inside for paint, assembly etc. One of the two cars is going to need to move outside and neither are good examples of "weatherproof". Perhaps I'll build a carport someday. For now I'm just happy to have space be my biggest problem. After years of suffering through less than adequate garages I'm very fortunate to have a decent space to work in. It's warm enough to work in during the winter. It's bigger than anything I've ever had, and it's clean and well-lit. Here's a picture of the garage fully loaded. As you can see, there's not much room available, but everything is safely inside. It's very satisfying to know that your babies are safe and warm and dry on a cold and rainy evening. When we bought this house the first thing I did to the garage was to paint the floor. It was hard to not want to move everything in to the garage right away but I made sure that this was the first upgrade I made. The house was fairly new and the garage had never had a car stored in it so the concrete was in good condition to paint. Still, I followed the preparation procedure completely, etching the floor with Muriatic acid before painting. For paint, I used Griot's Garage Grey Floor Paint. After nearly 4 years of use and abuse it's holding up very well and continues to be easy to clean. It has been one of the best things I've ever done for the garage. Another feature of the garage which has been invaluable is my solvent tank. Years ago I was driving through an area with a high concentration of automotive repair shops. I saw a "going out of business" sign and pulled in to see what they had. There I found a Snap-On solvent tank and I did not hesitate to make and offer on it. I didn't have a truck at the time so it took a little effort to get the thing home. Moving was always a drag because transporting it is not fun, but now that I'm settled in all those worries are a thing of the past. From the first time I ever hunched over a dirty part in a oil pan pouring solvent (or something worse) over it I dreamed of owning a proper solvent tank. Now I have one, and it makes cleaning parts fun because it's so easy to use. Here's a picture of one of the finest additions I've ever made to my garage. As you can see, it has two adjustable, flexible nozzles which deliver the solvent as well as an overhead light. The tank holds 25 gallons of solvent. I buy Stoddard Solvent at a local industrial oil supply house for about $5 a gallon. Just to the left of the solvent tank is the oven with which I cure my powdercoated parts. I use the Eastwood home powdercoating system. It works very well for parts small enough to put in a standard oven. This happened to be one out of our kitchen as we upgraded our oven range last year, but you could easily get by with an older, used oven sourced from the classified section of your local paper. The most important part of any garage is the workbench for it's where we spend most of our time. This one was made for me by my father for my 33rd birthday and I love it. It's sturdy, has a replaceable top (MDF or masonite) and has two sliding drawers with compartments for smaller tools. Best of all, it's the only one like it in the world. Thanks Dad! It's taken a few years to get the workshop set up the way I want it, and now of course I'm wanting more space. For now I'm just happy to have a nice clean and well-lit environment in which to bring obsolete cars and motorcycles back to life

12.7.2002-Keep on Cleaning When you pull an engine out of a thirty-five year old car and then take said engine apart one tends to end up with a mess. Cleanliness is not just next godliness in the world of automotive restorations, it's an imperative so today I took stock of the parts I had so far. I boxed up those that wouldn't be needed for a while and then got to cleaning my garage again. There was still a lot of dirt and grease from the engine removal so I spent some time sweeping, mopping and organizing the Cowpoke Racing restoration shop before I did anything serious. After an hour or so this is what I had. I spent some more time in the solvent tank on the cylinder head letting solvent shower on the part while I got to work on cam cover. Someone had attempted to paint it crinkle black and the paint looked horrible. I intend to polish the bare aluminum so the first thing that had to happen was to strip the paint. Here's a picture before............ And now after stripping.......... The next task will be to sand the casting marks out and get a uniform finish before I begin polishing the part on the big Baldor polisher lent to me by good friend and fellow Alfisti, Glenn Zucca. I suppose I should get some polishing wheels first. I've also spent some time using my friend's bead blasting cabinet. The first item to get blasted was the fan shroud for the radiator. It is a little bent and requires some straightening, but otherwise it's in good condition. This part has the distinction of being the first one to be cleaned/blasted/restored on the car. It will be the first item to be powdercoated, and I'll make sure that moment is captured in pixels.

11.26.2002-Heads up! I continued cleaning pieces of the engine as I dismantled it. I removed the starter backing plate, the intake manifold, the engine mounts, and the distributor. I wanted to get the head off because...........well, just because I did. Let's face it. Who among us doesn't love looking inside old engines? It's like cracking an old vault and there's always the possibility you'll be horrified by what you find. It's also possible that you'll find nothing more than a high-mileage engine with some wear and tear that can be rectified with time and money and love. Given the fact that the cylinder head studs are steel and rest of the engine is aluminum I know it's common to have a lot of trouble getting the head separated from the block. Corrosion around the cylinder head studs can effectively weld the head to the block. Luckily for me I was able to get the head off with some gentle tapping by a rubber mallet. It immediately went to the solvent tank for its first bath. So far I have not found anything terribly scary inside the engine. The bores look like they've got some miles on them but they don't appear to be badly scored, glazed or otherwise unserviceable. Of course it will take a thorough disassembling of the pistons, rings and crank to determine what needs rebuilding. I was surprised to see a visible gap between the piston and the bore. I haven't measured it so it may be within spec, or it may just be an optical illusion, but it appears the pistons are somewhat loose in their bores. A little time with a micrometer will tell the truth. I've ordered an engine mount adapter from Jim Steck at AutoComponenti and am going to wait further dismantling until I get that part. It will be much easier to remove the oil pan and crank with the engine at proper working height and I won't need to remove the cylinder head studs to turn the engine upside down. I cleaned up for the evening and headed inside to tell the story here on the website. See you in a week or so after the Thanksgiving Holiday! Ciao!

11.25.2002-Gentlemen start your cleaning Switching gears for a while I moved over to the engine. I was really looking forward to getting it apart as I wanted to see what was the cause of the knocking noise it was making. I suspect a con-rod bearing but of course you never know. I removed the flywheel, intake manifold, engine mounts and valve cover. The dirty pieces got put in the solvent tank for their cleaning session. I was just cleaning myself up when the dogs came out to ask me if I would mind taking them to the school to play some ball. It seemed like a good time to quit, so I put down my tools, moved the Z3 back in to the garage and said goodnight. Tomorrow night I hope to get the head off the engine and get it cleaned up. Thanksgiving is coming and we're off on vacation for a week so I won't be able to work on her for a while. There's certainly plenty of work ahead but so far things are looking good! Ciao! 11.24.2002-Beginning the clean up I headed out to the garage this morning refreshed and ready to tackle the work of the new day. When I turned off the lights in the garage last night I left a pretty big mess. It had taken a lot out of me getting the engine and gearbox out in one day and I was very dirty, greasy, and more than a little sore. I went to great lengths to keep myself, my tools, and my garage clean during engine removal but it's still dirty work and no matter how hard you try, you're going to end up needing a shower. I like to wear latex surgical gloves on my hands for a lot of this work. It prevents grease from being embedded in your skin and under your fingernails. After years of scrubbing in vain to get grease out of my skin after working in the garage it's quite nice to peel off the disposable gloves to hands that need almost no washing at all. Of course there's no way to prevent grease from getting in your ears, eyes and hair, but at least your hands are clean. I got out of my dirty overalls, cracked myself a beer and soaked a while in the hot tub, reflecting on the sense of accomplishment. It felt good to have the engine out and I was looking forward to beginning the cleaning process. The engine, gearbox and engine bay are very dirty and I was looking forward to cleaning them all thoroughly. My goals for the day were to get the car back down on its wheels so I could roll her out of the shop and down to my storage area so Chela could get her Z3 back in the garage. It gets pretty wet here in the winter, and there are lots of trees constantly dropping leaves and needles. We try to keep the cars out of that as much as possible, but sometimes we just don't have enough room. The Alfa body needs to be stripped completely, but first I need to get what I've already removed cleaned, dismantled and stored. I also needed to clean the garage floor as it was pretty dirty. I'll again plug Griot's Garage Floor Paint for its excellent performance. When we bought the house the first thing I did, despite my nearly uncontrollable desire to set up shop immediately was to clean the concrete floor thoroughly and to paint it. It's been one of the best things I've ever done for my shop. The floor reflects light, is easy to clean, and best of all it looks great. Before I could roll the Alfa out of the shop I still needed to remove the brake pads from the calipers. They were so solidly frozen/rusted to the rotors that the car was nearly impossible to push. I had a hard time getting them out, but some pliers, a hammer, and a punch helped the process along. With the pads out the car was rollable, and I put the wheels back on and set her back down on the floor. I backed her out of the garage and tucked her safely in her spot and covered her up. Back in to the garage I mopped and cleaned the floor thoroughly before lunch. After lunch I went back to my now clean garage and had a look at the gearbox and engine. Both were dirty, the gearbox was exceptionally so. Second to the floor paint, my Snap-On Solvent tank is the best thing in my garage. I was very lucky in finding it at a going out of business sale at a local auto shop one day and the trouble I went to in getting it set up pays huge dividends when it comes time to clean parts. It's big enough to put an entire gearbox in and holds enough Stoddard Solvent that I can run it for hours withouth any problems. I turned it on and started cleaning the gearbox. I've never seen so much dirt and grease on an automotive component in my life. After an hour or so of scrubbing I had nearly all of the gearbox clean. I spent some time cleaning the flywheel cover and some of the brackets that are bolted to the bottom of the car too. They'll get bead blasted and then powder coated black before they get installed again.

Switching gears for a while I moved over to the engine. I was really looking forward to getting it apart as I wanted to see what was the cause of the knocking noise it was making. I suspect a con-rod bearing but of course you never know. I removed the flywheel, intake manifold, engine mounts and valve cover. The dirty pieces got put in the solvent tank for their cleaning session.

I was just cleaning myself up when the dogs came out to ask me if I would mind taking them to the school to play some ball. It seemed like a good time to quit, so I put down my tools, moved the Z3 back in to the garage and said goodnight.

Tomorrow night I hope to get the head off the engine and get it cleaned up. Thanksgiving is coming and we're off on vacation for a week so I won't be able to work on her for a while. There's certainly plenty of work ahead but so far things are looking good!

Ciao!

11.23.2002-Pulling the lump out

Thank the gods for weekends! The goal for the day was to get the engine and gearbox out of the car and with my relatively early start I should be able to accomplish this task.. I had not called on any friends for help as I figured that with my engine hoist and a little creative thinking I should be able to get the engine out by myself. It is so much lighter and smaller than the cast-iron lumps in OTHER cars after all. If things got sticky, my wife Chela was in the garden and would be able to lend a hand.

Here's the way the engine compartment car looked before I got started.

With the car up on jackstands I creeped (Christmas gift from my lovely wife) under the car and began unbolting the the clutch linkage and transmission. The latter is a massive piece that is pretty impressive for such a small car. Back up top, I made sure all the hoses, accerator cables and wires were disconnected. After unbolting the engine mounts I connected my engine hoist and started lifting. I learned quickly that the forward progress of the engine was limited by that massive sway bar so I quickly removed the front swaybar mounts and let it drop to the floor. That gave me a little more forward movement but the transmission was now hitting the steering track rod. I removed the flywheel cover/shroud which forms the bottom of the transmission. This gave me a little more movement but the transmission was still hitting the trackrod. One solution would have been to remove that track rod and pivot it out of the way, while another was to simply remove the gearbox from the engine and lower it on to the floor using my floor jack. This was the option I chose, mostly because I did not have a whole lot of room around the car and with the gearbox still attached the whole assembly was much heavier and longer than I felt comfortable manipulating on my own. With another pair of hands it would have been a piece of cake. As it was, I got the gearbox out of the way and could then focus on the engine.

With the gearbox now off the back of the engine, the powerplant lifted cleanly and easily out of the engine compartment. There's nothing like those precious few seconds that the engine is suspended over the nose or fender of the car as you slowly pull the hoist back. Once it clears you're home free, but some very ugly visions go through your head while you're in the danger zone there. It's always easier removing an engine from a car needing bodywork and paint than it is reinstalling an engine in a freshly repainted car of course, so at some point in the future I'll have to deal with that scary scene again.

I moved the hoist clear of the car and set the engine down nice and easy on the little dolly I made several years ago. This is the second engine to call the dolly home as my CSs motor sat on it for over a year during that restoration. I'm waiting for my engine mount adapter from AutoComponenti so that I can mount the Alfa engine to my rolling engine stand. This will make the engine easier to disassemble and work on, and will give me a little more room in my shrinking garage.

Here's what the engine looked like sitting on the dolly after removal. You can see Godiva's wagging tail in the background. She was most excited to see the engine safely out of the car.

Both the engine and transmission were FILTHY. I was eager to get the really dirty parts off and in to my trusty solvent tank.

11.18.2002-Getting down to business With the little car up on jackstands and drained of its bodily fluids I could begin taking pieces off. I learned my first lesson about these sweet old cars when it came to removing the wheels on the left side of the car. As it turns out, the lugnuts are reverse thread on the left side to prevent them from possibly coming loose under acceleration. It may seem like a triviality but it goes to show you the lengths to which the Italians went in building these cars. It didn't take me a terribly long time to realize what was going on before I figured it out and disaster was averted. The size of the lugnuts alone (22mm) was another sign of the quality of this car. As I got underneath it and began removing the exhaust system and driveline I noted the stoutness with which this car was designed. Everything from the size of the rotors, to the swaybar and suspension components, to the quality of the fasteners was impressive. It illustrates the philosophy behind Alfa Romeo; cars that are built to be driven hard and to put up with a high level of abuse. The body itself may appear delicate and elegant but underneath that light body is a robust running gear and engine. I got the driveshaft and exhaust system out and quickly threw the latter in the garbage. It was completely rusted and full of holes. It was probably the orignal exhaust. As I looked around underneath the car I surmised that this car has not been tampered with too much during its long life. I don't think it's ever been taken apart, certainly not to the extent that I'm going to. This ended the work for the evening and I cleaned up to get ready to head inside for dinner. Before I turned the lights off in the garage I turned once more to look at the car. Sitting up on jackstands with its wheels off I knew there was a lot of work ahead before it would ever run again. After dinner that night I sat in my chair with a few Alfa books dreaming of the day when Shakespeare would once again sing her sweet and sexy song. Until the next time. 11.17.2002-The First Step Today is Chela's Birthday and perhaps fittingly the little car she named "Shakespeare" begins a rebirth of her own. She was driven in to the garage to begin a thorough restoration. It is winter and to me there are few better ways to spend an evening than out in the shop restoring a vintage car or motorcycle. We expect this project will take quite a long time but we're shooting for Summer of 2004 as a completion date. There is a lot that needs to be attended to on this car, but the process should be an educational one. I do believe it's a noble endeavor to restore an old machine and preserve it for future generations. Perhaps that's how I justify the huge cost of time and money, but in the end it's also rewarding. When it comes down to it, it's also just plain fun. The car was driven in to the right side bay of our two car garage and parked next to the CS coupe. We've got a lot packed in there so working in her will be a little bit challenging but at least our most precious cars are inside for the wet winter ahead. She has quite a bit of Italian exotica around her as the 916 and Monster are parked beside and in front. I put the car up on to jackstands and began by removing the battery. I then drained the fuel tank, engine oil, coolant, and differential. Then I removed the radiator and its metal fan shroud along with the fan itself. One of the blades was sheared off so that will get replaced when engine rebuild time comes. The next step was to begin removing the fuel lines and taking the carbs off. The engine bay is pretty ugly. It will be so satisfying to repaint it and polish the various engine components. These engines are like little jewels to me, and this one is definitely very much "in the rough". I began this first day of work fairly late so that's as far as I got. I haven't even scratched the surface of course. The next step will be to remove the wheels, exhaust system, and driveshaft in preparation for engine removal. Ciao!