Chip Off The Old Block

 

So been a few weeks since the last update, but remember I set no timescale to this project and ongoing progress. I have spent a good length of time on the chassis now, given it a serious good pressure wash down and cleaned up to the best of my tools and ability. I have decided just to get it blasted and protected as opposed to acid dipped. I talked myself out of dipping after reading up on the acid not getting washed out from all the internal chassis box voids and it then continues to eat away at the metal. After all the use it will get going forward will be no way near as hard it’s had for its first 40 years of life. 

So onto the engine…. I’m fully committed to the little 1500 block now, and after a trip away for a proper strip and clean its rebuild is well underway. The crank and cam are both new as the originals were showing signs of wear and scoring so replacements are now in along with all the bearings etc…The head has also been sent off for pressure testing and valve seat replacement so running unleaded will be no issues whatsoever, and so long as I’m careful with all my new fuel line hoses and carb rebuilds then I should be ok with this crappy E10 shite getting pushed down our necks.

I will possibly have to replace the fuel pump diaphragm as that will react badly to this E10 rated fuel however I will probably replace the full thing anyway when I get round to it as I want to guarantee that fuel pressure will not be compromised with whatever carb set up I go with. I have been getting a little carried away with myself and looking at twin Webber side draft carbs but if you have any concept of what these cost then you can understand why I’m kidding myself really…. However never say never!!

I think to start off with I’ll stick with the original twin carbs but remove the wax stat which are notoriously shite according to anyone that runs these engines. The rest of the bottom end of the engine is relatively easy now, I will replace the oil pump and pressure relief valve with new units to simply guarantee no issues upon starting. I have used a feeler gauge on my cleaned up units and checked tolerance with the Haynes manual and they both are ok, but why take the risk for the likes of a few quid now, or risk premature engine wear from an already 40 year old oil pump.

I have trial fitted the head back on the block but I’m not going to torque this down until just before dropping back to the chassis. I have the flywheel to check out and balance along with clutch replacement needed first and I also need to paint the engine end plate for the starter motor housing, non of these can really be done whilst on the engine stand, so it’s time to really start throwing some time onto the chassis and running gear now I think, but after the chassis blast and offside suspension refurb then that “should” be the last of the really dirty work…. I hope. 

I have cleaned up the sump and given a serious going over with a wire wheel and proper degrease and clean with petrol. It’s cleaned up really well and is solid all over so I have given a good protective clear coat outside to keep the patina but I will have to replace the sump plug, as this had been welded together a few times previously by the looks of it. I have also given the same treatment to the rocker cover, however I envisaged red for the final engine appearance so this one might change in the near future… a new rocker cover would make a great Christmas/Birthday gift from someone and relatively cheap also. 

Finally to conclude this update, I have cleaned up the fuel tank and made sure it’s all serviceable. The fuel gauge sender was giving no resistance on the multimeter and even when removed it was intermittent on its capability’s so off to the back of the garage it went. I have read up on the forums that new gauge senders have piss poor quality floats that can fail quickly, so I’ll hang on to the old one for the moment as I might need to create a Frankenstein gauge sender when I order my new one. 

Fingers crossed the next update will have a blasted chassis to look at but not sure how long that will be, come back soon to find out.