More Than Meets the Eye (Post # 86)

A tall engine, to be sure!  Once the cams finally come back it can be completely reassembled. All the other parts and sub-assemblies are ready for installation. DeWayne Samuels.

The engine still ran when I bought the car 46 years ago, but just barely. It showed every symptom of having been rode hard and put away wet. It smoked, drank (fuel), and had difficulty waking up in the mornings. At that point it was, after all, just an old used-up sports car of a make most Americans had never heard of. But it was all there. In a way, the engine's numerous problems probably saved The Alfatross' life and maybe even my own: If you're afraid to drive it, you won't get into trouble.  

The engine in about 1980.  The air cleaner housing and
exhaust manifold shroud have been removed.  Evidently
the cam covers and cylinder head were stripped of their
finishes before I got the car when they were removed to
do a valve job.

The original matching-numbers engine looked pretty good on the outside. Sure, it was rusty, the carbs were gunked up, and the rubber parts had given up their ghosts, but until the initial disassembly and scrutiny I was still hoping that maybe all it needed was a good cleaning up and a little mechanical massaging--but no such luck. The cams were worn badly, apparently the result of inadequate lubrication. The exhaust valves were ground too thin to reuse and all the guides were sloppy. Piston number 3 had nicks on it from a foreign object that somehow found its way into the combustion chamber. The sprockets on the cam chain needed to be replaced. The distributor drive gear was cracked. The more we looked the more problems we found.

So the engine restoration mandate became to disassemble and analyze all parts for evidence of wear and injury, repair all items that could be repaired, replace items that could not be repaired (with better than original equipment whenever possible to promote reliability and longevity), and tune it to produce strong performance using modern fuels.

The Alfatross' engine is now almost complete.  Once the cams come back it can be completely reassembled, run in, tuned, and dyno tested.  Changes have been made internally, but the engine's outward appearance remains the same as when it came from Zagato.  

I will restrain myself from estimating exactly when it will be ready for me to pick it up, but it won't be long now.  Why does it take so long and cost so much to restore an old four-cylinder two-liter engine built more than 60 years ago? 

Oil pump internals. DeWayne Samuels.

Well, let's take a look at DeWayne's description of what needed to be done to a relatively simple part of the engine, the oil pump: 

Oil Pump and pickup: continue from receipt desassy for rebuild and restoration. Deburr, smooth, blend and detail oil passages and pressure cavity. Surface base and face plate. Fab gaskets as supplied units are shrunken. Assemble with friction coated gearset and install.

The engine block was a little more complicated. Following basic disassembly, cleaning and inspection:

Machining the cast iron engine block.  Roger Lorton.

Engine block: Prep as required after all machining work, including but not limited to chase and verify all threads. Oil pressure circuits optimized for flow. Glyptal paint internals for oil shedding and to seal the cast iron. Install all main cap alignment dowels and end cover and cylinder head locating dowels. Install all studs internal and external. Final prep and install of main bearings. Install crankshaft assy. Measure thrust end play--excessive clearance, no proper bearings available, send bearings out for additional babbit layer. Set thrust with rebuild bearings after many sizing fitments. Finalize mains and set torque.

The color of the deep oil sump was derived from a paint
chip from Jean-Marc Freslon's 1900. DeWayne Samuels.

Even the oil sump needed a bit of brazing and refinishing in a color computer-matched from a paint chip taken from a friend's 1900 sump.

But those procedures are child's play compared to issues posed by the cylinder head, valves, guides, and cams--which I described in a previous post. In fact, the cams are still what's holding up completion of the engine.

The cylinder head, cams, and valves needed the most attention. Where are those damn cams? DeWayne Samuels. 

Right rear view without the intake 
manifold in place. The cams are 
still MIA. DeWayne Samuels.

Intake manifold, painted and ready to be installed as soon as 
the cams come back from . . . wherever they are!  
DeWayne Samuels.

Why does it take so long? The main reason is because during the 40+ years  that The Alfatross spent sleeping like Snow White, waiting for Prince Charming to come along and bring her back to life, unforeseeable world events were conspiring to make her ever more rare and desirable. For such a car exceptional care must be taken with every aspect of its restoration. It has to run as good as it looks.