Race Engine Forum UK

In December I have been mostly at work and couldn't really do much on the car. But still I managed to put in a few hours to finish the brakes. So after completly covering myself in brake oil 3 times the brakes are finally finished (apart from the handbrake)!

First I had a problem because the banjo bolts had a head that was too small and the copper gasket didn't seal.

Second time the brake splitter haden't had enough clearance and didn't sit flat against the brake master cylinder.

And the third time I had a brake oil shower as I found the rear brake regulator was leaking heavily because I didn't assemble it correctly!

But all in all the brakes are working now.

I also didn't want to take any chances with the gasoline tank which was cracked and welded back so I bought 2-pack tank sealer and had a go at it.

I have to say I envy you guys doing the engines and metalwork... I am currently stuck with reattaching trim bits and I hate it. The plastic stuff allways fights you and you can only win if you brake something.

Finally a cheap solution :)

And I think a good one also!

All in all it only costed 3,5 € for a new bearing and a 0,2 € for the clip. Witouth that the thing was un-usable!

Some progress...

Hi Samo,

I have just been looking through your restoration project, thanks for the excellent write up and pictures taken.

Really well done, shows clearly the amount of work needed for an proper restoration. Keep it up, good luck!

Regards and all the best,

Remco

Regarding the aluminum radiators I have to agree.

I recently changed my old copper/bronze OE one for a light aluminum one and the difference was quite noticeable.

Okay maybe they won't last 3 decades but they are cheaper and cool faster and that is what we need.

Thanks for your input I don't really get much feedback from forum mebmers here...

After 2 attemps of welding the exhaust manifold i gave up and bought a new one. No high performance parts here, just OE cast iron.

"Thanks for your input I don't really get much feedback from forum members here"


Sorry Samo - I know how you feel!

Take encouragement from the number of times folk look at your photos though. I reckon most of us are in awe of what you are doing and how you are doing it.

For myself I am never quite sure what does interest people, to be honest. Sometimes I post things and imagine I'll get a big response. I rarely do!

G

Hi Samo,

Don't be despondent - I'm sure that many like me do read through your posts and are slightly jealous of what you are doing. It is the ultimate nut and bolt restoration and I for one look forward to your updates and pictures. Did you know that you have had nearly 11,000 views of your topic?

Keep your chin up, and carry on with the excellent work you are doing. The pictures on their own are worth a lot, just in terms of reference.

All the best

Darren

I'm still following :-) Can't fault your work so far.

samo wrote:Thanks for your input I don't really get much feedback from forum mebmers here...

After 2 attemps of welding the exhaust manifold i gave up and bought a new one. No high performance parts here, just OE cast iron.

Welding cast iron exhaust manifolds is one of those repairs that takes some practice to master. It requires an arc welder, oxyacetylene welding rig, and high nickel content welding rod. You start by bolting the manifold to a rigid piece of steel (as in heavy). Grind the crack in a vee relief, and grind off all the scale that has formed in the area. Wire brush away all the trash from grinding out the vee. Heat the area around the vee until it is a glowing orange and then begin welding immediately. As soon as you stop welding apply heat again to keep the weld orange. Slowly begin moving the torch away from the weld. Take about five minutes to move the torch back far enough that the weld begins to cool. After the manifold has cooled it will need to have the mounting flange resurfaced. If the crack is surrounded by metal that has small fractures chances are that during welding you will blow holes in the manifold. You can lay another pass of weld next to the first to close these holes. If this continues to happen you might need to scrap to manifold.

I have enjoyed reading about your project and apologize for not having complimented you on your good work. It is very generous of you to document the process for everyone to learn from.

Tim

Thank you all. To be fair I never noticed the 10k views so I guess people are reading my thread. Thank you for the encouraging words gentelmen! I started a few threads of my restoration project because of a simple reason. It was because I was getting sick of people trying to pass off bodged up cars as properly restored so I wanted to set a bench mark of what an ordinary mortal (with only basic knowladge) can do. Of course professionals can do it better and faster.

I realise that it is simply not possible for others to be equally excited about small details as I am.

Tim thank you for your input! I have no access to proper equipment for welding cast iron. I had a friend of mine give a go at it as he is a welder by trade. I really didn't want to spend money on experimentihg with welding as the new manifold "only" costed 160 Euro (including postage and tax).


Well on to tonights tasty treats!

Samo - I too am loving your resto project. You may think that proffessionals can do a quicker or better job, but I think you're wrong. I'm very impressed at your understanding of EVERY part of your car.

RE: the downpipe thread. Hmmm... perhaps to stop from putting in the wrong way round? Does the different sized thread mean its more likely that the nut gets undo rather than the whole stud comes out? Or maybe they had a batch load left over from years passed and re-used them ;)

I really don't know. BUT you've prooved once again that you are very thorough. Well done.

Fine pitch on the 'metal end' into a material like the type of cast iron used on these manifolds would give greater shear strength than an ISO thread form, important especially given how short the engaged length is. There are a number of things one can do with a fastener to achieve high holding strength in a turbo 'hot-end' application - this is, I have to say, a rather basic attempt at improving the joint strength.

G

Samo,

Your showing work that few can do, not common at all among professionals, not in the slightest and if you could find one capable enough the cost would be huge as the hours are long but I don't need to tell you that do I. I believe that work like yours is mostly found amongst DIYer's, you can rarely employ such care.

Keep at it, your doing a great job.

Nik