Engine progress, and other details

It has been quite some time since my last update, as I was recently reminded. I have been so caught up in getting the engine together, and dealing with a number of mostly paranoid concerns, that it's been hard to choose blogging over building. You may have read some of my Pelican posts, detailing these concerns. In a nutshell, the machine work that has been done to the case, by me, and perhaps that on top of what previous owners have done, resulted in some of the clearances being less than expected, and as a result the engine compression being too high to run well. At least that would have been the result if I just plowed through following a standard rebuild procedure. Fortunately, I WAS paranoid, and knowing this was a possibility made sure to measure everything thoroughly, including empirically determining the cylinder volume at the extremes. So I was able to make a few adjustments, and with a little strategic shimming think we're back where we need to be. In addition, I was concerned about the tightness of the piston rings, but after some discussions with other builders, was adequately reassured. All this slowed things down quite a bit, but finally things are back on track.

I found a day last week to dedicate to the engine, and got it very close to all together. I was nearly done timing the cams when I bumped my dial gauge into oblivion, and wasn't able to take the final measurements. Of course no one in Santa Barbara carries a metric dial gauge, so I'm waiting for a special order to arrive so that I can finish up. But after that it should be pretty quick work. I need to install most of the rockers still, but then it's just oil cooler, fan and alternator, and carbs, and the engine will be ready to run. Here's a picture just before I put the cams and chains all together.


In the meantime there have been countless other details to deal with on the way to getting the car running. This is my top priority right now, and finishing up the interior is taking a back seat (no pun intended) for the time-being. I really want to get some oil circulating through the engine because we know what happens to clean steel around here (and we're having a cooler and wetter than usual autumn).

Today I took apart the old grungy axles and CV joints. They needed complete cleaning and repacking. They're pretty complicated gizmos, which have been compared to Chinese puzzles to reassemble. I've always liked puzzles, so didn't have too much trouble, but when fully disassembled I was a bit anxious.


Other jobs over the past few weeks... The electrical system, especially engine related components, has still needed some attention. We had to get the alternator tested, and then when it failed the test, had to get it rebuilt.


The distributor needed some serious cleaning. The weights and springs that form it's mechanical advance mechanism were totally gummed up and non functional. It also got a new set of points. This distributor needs to be treated very gingerly, as it suffers from a bad case of NLA: rotors and caps for these are No Longer Available! There are others that will work in the car, but for now I'm going to trust the old Marelli to get us started.


I installed the new MSD (Multiple Spark Discharge) ignition box, replacing a bunch of obsolete switches and relays on our electrical panel.


On the other side of the engine compartment (actually in the fender behind the right wheel) I reinstalled the freshly cleaned and painted oil tank. Here you can see the filler tube and filter base sticking through into the engine compartment. I have to say, with all the difficulties these cars pose, it is going to be such a treat to be able to change the oil filter so easily!


Finally, with the oil tank in place I was able to install the right rear bumper, and with that could do a trial assembly of the whole back end. It's only a 'trial' because the center panel will be off for engine installation, but this is the first time we've seen it all together. Hopefully it won't be long before people will see this nice back end cruising around town!