Brake Time (Post # 34)

The brakes were the first thing to go.  Not the brakes themselves, but one of the hard brake lines that finally rusted through, bleeding all the fluid out of the reservoir.  So it was fitting that the brakes were the Alfatross' first major system to be restored--well, that and the fact that brakes are easy and inexpensive to fix!

Brake Lines

Upon disassembly, visual inspection of the metal and rubber lines revealed no obvious problems, but the fact that one had failed made me wonder if other lines would fail under pressure.  Fortunately, new lines are easy to make and all of the original double-flare compression nuts and connections are intact.  If the original metal lines pass pressure-testing I will re-use them, but if even one fails I will replace them all.

The Alfatross has three flexible brake lines.  They are easy and inexpensive to
replace, but the new lines don't look like the originals.  The connection ferrules
are heavier and the hoses themselves are thicker on the originals. 

 The three flexible rubber lines also appear to be re-useable--but they're at least 58 years old and who knows what's going on inside?  These I will replace for safety's sake, relegating them to the "replaced original parts" box.   The set of three flexible replacement lines I found on e-Bay came from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and arrived about a week after I placed the order!  They are not "NOS," but made of stronger, more modern materials which might explain why they are smaller in outside diameter.  But they are the right lengths and have all the right connections. 

Cylinders

The front wheel cylinders were in good shape except for the
rubber parts. 

The rear wheel cylinders are a bit more complex due to the
emergency brake actuation parts.

The six original wheel cylinders were gummed up and their critical rubber seals had long ago given up the ghost.  The spring caps seem to have been made of a softer metal that was showing some corrosion but the other metal parts just needed cleaning.  Ditto the master cylinder.  I sent the whole lot off to White Post Restorations (http://www.whitepost.com/) and was delighted with the quality of the work and how quick the turn-around was.  It was one of the best experiences I have had with a contractor.  No-nonsense professionals! 

 

  

The wheel cylinders and master cylinder came back from White Post restored,
 refinished, and shrink wrapped!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drums

Although it looks primitive today, the Alfatross' drum brake system was pretty advanced for 1955. Disc brakes were just beginning to appear on high-end sports cars so drum brakes were still competitive.   The Alfatross has a simple, unassisted hydraulic system activating brake shoes that scrubbed against giant, steel-lined finned aluminum drums. The use of aluminum instead of iron both reduced unsprung weight and improved heat dissipation. The front brakes have two wheel cylinders each and carry inboard scoops to aid in cooling.  The front drums are 15 inches in diameter and the rear ones are 13 1/4 inches!  All the components are made by the British company Girling. 



The brake drums after bead-blasting and one of the front back plates with Bo Monroe's reproduction scoop.

Scoops

The Alfa Romeo engineers didn't stop with installing 15-inch finned aluminum drums.  They also provided sporting 1900s with front brake scoops mounted inboard of the back plates.  When I got the Alfatross in 1969 I could see spot-welds where the scoops had been, and notches in the perimeter of the back plates but no trace of the scoopes themselves.   In 2004 I began to inquire around to find out if original scoops could be bought or accurate replicas fabricated.  Joost Gompels  suggested I contact Bo Monroe who is also restoring a 1900.   Bo responded:

Donald --

I have indeed invested much time in this and have made a prototype scoop based on data sourced from Joost's car and supplemented with info from Peter M. and Carter H. Subsequently we have learned that the front screen interface is slightly incorrect, but otherwise is very close to the original in shape and (presumably) functionality. Once I modify this I will be able to provide the parts pre-cut from mild steel (or actually, just about anything you desire, from stainless to ???). The patterns are quite complex.

I am leaving it up to the end user to fold them up and tack them together.  Or, I would be willing to weld them up for extra "consideration" as... I am not looking to get rich at this, but I am looking to trade the pre-cut parts for 1900 parts or ?? to advance the cause of our Car #265, 1900TI berlina veteran of the 1954 Carrera Panamericana Mexico.

From the photos of his prototype I could see that there was a lot more to these scoops than I first assumed!  They are massive and involve a lot of cutting, bending, marking, test-fitting, shaping, grinding, more test-fitting, welding and finishing.   I placed an order and within a month or two Bo shipped them to me.  The cost?  Even with the "extra consideration" for welding it came to $208.50 for the pair! 

Bo is another straight-shooting man of his word and dealing with him was always a pleasure.  The Alfatross is better off for having made his acquaintance.  He is restoring one of the Alfatross' cousins, a car that competed in the Mexican version of the Mille Miglia in 1954.   



The right front brake scoop prototype fabricated by Bo Monroe.  Notice the
three separate internal chambers and the fabrication patterns in the background.
Bo Monroe.



Business end of the scoop.  Bo Monroe.



. . . and what mine looks like mounted on the right front brake
back plate.   

Reservoir

The brake fluid reservoir was surprisingly complex, too, but by the time I got to it I was getting used to surprises.  The reservoir was not attached to the master cylinder as it is in modern vehicles.  Instead, it was attached high up on the firewall, several feet away.  After I took mine apart and saw how complex it was I contacted Tony Stevens at Alfa Stop (http://www.alfastop.co.uk/) for a replacement just in case I couldn't make mine operational again.   I have noticed that a number of restored Alfa 1900s have the new, replacement reservoir like the one on the left, below.  Come to think of it, I have yet to see a car with the original reservoir.  Maybe that's a warning that the originals are more elaborate than they need to be, and consequently less reliable.  Hmmmm . . . another one of those "restore it or preserve it" decisions. 

The original brake reservoir (right) and the reproduction (left).  The reproduction reservoir is just an empty cylinder except for a tiny one-way valve at the bottom about the size of three nickels stacked on top of each other.   I like the fiddly intricacy of the original more than the reproduction, but making a set of rubber seals is going to be a challenge!

So if the brake system is "easy and inexpensive to fix," you can imagine what the "difficult and expensive" systems are like!





Wheel of Fortune (Post # 33)

One of the Alfatross' assets is its Nardi wood rim steering wheel.  By today's standards the wheel is large in diameter, but that was necessary to provide leverage because there was no power assist.  Enrico Nardi was a race driver, car builder and designer who created a company that exists to this day manufacturing high-end automotive performance-enhancing products.  Nardi began production in the mid-1950s, so the Alfatross' wheel may well be among his earliest creations. 



The Nardi stamp on the back of the lower spoke of the Alfatross' wheel before
restoration.

The five-speed floor shifter was also a Nardi product. Not all of the Alfatross' brethren have these features. Steering column shifters were at least as common as floor shifters, and factory steering wheels seem to have been fitted more often than Nardi wheels. 

One of the Alfatross' brethren equipped with a factory steering wheel and floor
shifter.

Nardi wheels are known for their elegant design and seamless blending of steel, aluminum and wood, but the wood rim of the Alfatross' Nardi wheel was beginning to de-laminate when I bought the car in 1969.  I studied how it was put together and very quickly came to the conclusion that this was going to be a job for someone with plenty of experience and the right tools.  I shopped around for seven years, reading ads, making calls, and asking around for recommendations. There are a lot of steering wheel restorers, but Nardi wheels are difficult.  In the end the selection process was akin to spinning a roulette wheel.



Front of the Alfatross' Nardi wheel before restoration. The black plastic inlay
ring has already popped out of its groove, revealing the rivets underneath.

The original wooden rim was beginning to delaminate in 1969.  Don't
forget your driving gloves!



The chrome plating on the Alfatross' steel steering wheel hub is flaking off--but the
hub cannot be separated from the aluminum spokes and rim. What to do?

I ended up talking to a wheel restorer in New York state who presented himself as an "artisan" with vast experience and the same tools used by Italian wheel-makers in the mid-1950s.  He was also the guy who "found" Ed Leerdam's 1900C SSZ, one of the best-preserved examples in existence.   He convinced me he could do the job so I sent him the wheel.  There followed 18 months of the second-worst contractor experience I have ever had.  In retrospect, I think the contractor--who once had a decent reputation--did not realize his faculties were failing and that he should have taken down his shingle a long time ago.  When I finally got the wheel back--poorly finished and with the plastic inlay ring in the wood rim missing-- it was a dazzling display of incompetence.

The entire experience with the poseur in New York was a big waste of time and money.  After all that, the "restored" wheel still needed to be restored, so I started the search all over again.  This time I hit pay dirt in the form of Bruce Crawford at Hardwood Classics, Ltd., in Los Osos, CA.  I sent him the wheel with an explanation of all the misadventures and within three months it was back in my possession.  What a transformation!  Bruce is the go-to guy for rapid turnaround, reasonable price, and outstanding quality.  And unlike most other contractors I have dealt with, he sent good photos of his shop.

This kind of work requires special tools and materials to work in exotic woods, plastic, steel and aluminum.  Bruce got around the steel hub problem by simply polishing the steel to a chrome-like finish!



Part of Bruce Crawford's steering wheel restoration shop, Hardwood Classics, Ltd.

The Alfatross' wheel and hub after restoration by Bruce Crawford.

The plastic inlay ring, restored.

All told, the Alfatross' wheel took a little less than 10 years and $2,000 to complete.  From this experience I learned several important lessons.  There are a lot of charlatans out there.   Every time you let parts and sub-assemblies out of your sight you are spinning the roulette wheel, sometimes with tragic consequences.  No matter how carefully you choose contractors there are no guarantees that their work will live up to your expectations.  Most of the contractors I have dealt with have been one-man operations and most of the results have been good, but if something happens to that man . . . all bets are off!



Old Business (Post # 32)

Updates on Previous Posts:

Following the Where There's Smoke There's Wire post, Jason Wenig contacted me for more information on evidence for how Alfa and Zagato wired their cars.  His company, The Creative Workshop, is restoring a 1955 Alfa 1900C chassis wearing one-off  Ghia-Aigle coachwork.  This led to a three-way "forensic wiring" conversation including Scott, at YNZ's Yesterday's Parts deciphering how to restore the Ghia-Aigle's original wiring harness.  An excellent example of the kind of cooperation among enthusiasts that leads to a better, more original restoration.

1955 Alfa 1900C Ghia-Aigle.  One of the Alfatross' cousins.  The Creative
Workshop.

The Smoke and Wire post also elicited from Peter Marshall a copy of a modification he made to the wiring schematic created by Berge Bergesen which meant you could run the amber rear flashers statically in the fog together and use as back-up lights.  Peter did it for cars which have amber lights already and where one did not want to run extra wiring to the back.

Peter's modification to Berge Bergesen's wiring schematic for an unobtrusive lighting safety
enhancement.  Peter Marshall.

Also from Peter Marshall following The 39 . . . or 42 post, and made more timely by the Buried Treasure post, is his extensive updating and correction of the Alfatross' known siblings.

The List of the Alfatross' brethren, revised courtesy of Peter Marshall.

The list reveals some interesting observations:

1. Of the 29 known survivors, out of the original 41, 14 are now in the USA.
2. Only 5 remain in Italy.
3. 17 of the 29 have changed hands within the last 20 years or less.
4. Only 5 (or possibly 7) cars have remained in the same ownership for the last 20 years or more.
5. How many of the 11"Existence Uncertain" cars are still out there somewhere? 
6. There are at least two cars with the same chassis number (!?).  Only one is included in this list.
7. Some authorities have speculated that there are as many Alfa 1900 "Fauxgatos" around as actual ones. Caveat Emptor!

I can tell from the Blogger "page views" counter that a lot of people are checking The Alfatross out on a regular basis.  I invite viewers to post their comments, ask questions, complain, compliment or whatever.  The more participation, the better.

Buried Treasure (Post # 31)

Read All About It!

No. 01845, as featured in the latest issue of Octane Magazine

The recent exhumation of Alfa Romeo 1900C SSZagato chassis No. 01845 caused quite a stir in the classic car press. The May issue of Octane magazine contains a 9-page article titled "Buried Treasure" about one of The Alfatross' brethren, No. 01845, built in 1954. Under the News section of the alfa1900 Web site you can find both a newspaper article and a series of photos showing it being removed from its tomb of 40 years: http://www.alfa1900.com/photobase2/car_pages/01845/index.html.



Built a few months before The Alfatross, 01845's interior is quite different,
with a flat-top dash, factory wheel, and plush seats. Octane.

O1845's engine room appears to be identical to the Alfatross'.  Reportedly,
after changing the oil and gas and attaching a fresh battery, it started and
 ran!  Octane.

Z inderella
Painted green, originally, with a light blue interior, No. 01845's history is very much like the Alfatross'. The first owner was Signor Ruggero Ricci of Lucca, about whom almost nothing is known. After only a few months Ricci sold it to his friend Otello Biagiotti, who was something of a racer.  The car changed hands 5 more times before ending up in the possession of Signor Strippoli in 1969.  Like Cinderella of fairytale fame, No. 01845 was consigned to a dark dungeon for most of its life--unknown, unloved, unseen for more than 40 years . . . until being rescued by Signor Corrado Lopresto, an Alfa collector, who recognized its deeper beauty--and value--in spite of its outward rough and dirty appearance.

Corrado Lopresto with No. 01845, in storage for more than 40 years!  Like me, the previous owner of 01845 bought it in 1969 and held on to it for more than 40 years.  Sr. Lopresto is 01845's eighth owner.  I am the Alfatross's seventh owner. www.alfa1900.com.

So Where's the Treasure?

For most people "treasure" equals precious metals and jewels--things you can sell imediately. When you add "buried" in front of "treasure" it conjures up an even more romantic image usually involving pirates, maps with X marking the spot, a certain amount of personal risk, and a great reward far exceeding the time and energy expended to get it. Because my wife and I are marine archaeologists, people always ask, "Have you found any treasure?" Unless you equate "history" with "treasure" the answer is always "No". 

Signor Lopresto stated that he has no intention of restoring No. 01845.  In fact, it is now presented in "as found" condition in a special Italian Cars exhibition at the Louwman Museum in The Hague.  To the average person, No. 01845 looks like it was "buried" alright, but "treasure"?  How so?  What can you do with it?  Show car?  Maybe on Halloween.  Reliable transportation?  Not hardly.  What about all the rotting tires, rubber water hoses, brake lines, weatherstripping, seals, electrical wiring, gaskets, and grommets?  What about all the peeling paint, dents, rust, foggy windows, creaking hinges? 

Octane Supplement

What sorts of things are "valuable" in today's world? Real estate, precious metals and gems, equities, bonds--and collectibles. Cars like No. 01845 are sought after by collectors, not normal people looking for safe, reliable, good-looking transportation. So you have to understand car collecting as a phenomenon.

A good place to start is the 19-page Special Supplement in the same issue of Octane, "Building a Classic Car Collection from the Modest to the Magnificent."  Significantly, the supplement seems to be sponsored by the international bank Credit Suisse.  It is pretty comprehensive in a "Cliff'sNotes" sort of way.  The several articles in this supplement help to explain why No. 01845 is considered "treasure" in certain, rarefied circles:

Under Why Collect? we have the simple explanation "You can't drive a house or a shares portfolio, so utilizing spare cash to build an interesting car collection makes a lot of sense."  Particularly when you look at how much certain cars--but by no means all--have appreciated over time.  Example: a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB that sold at auction in 1996 for $199,000 sold last year for $2,365,000!

The What to Collect? section boils down to whatever appeals to you and your idea of what constitutes a collection.   

The restored 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America: $825,000. Sports Car
Market.

The "preservation" 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24S Spider America: $805,000.
Sports Car Market.

Original or Restored?  Originality is the buzz word these days.  Original paint, original interior, original cigarette butts in the ash tray, original dirt in the wheel wells, original dents, chips, and scratches, original gas in the tank and water in the radiator.  Like paintings by the Old Masters or Greek sculptures, old, original cars are supposed to be "preserved" in their original condition, not restored to their former glory.  The word "stewardship" is replacing "ownership" in the car collecting world, and the vehicles are being looked at as important historical objects that just happen to be cars. 

In last month's issue of Sports Car Market magazine there was an excellent example of how powerful the "preserved" vs. "restored" factor is in car collecting.  Two highly-desirable 1955 Lancia Aurelias were sold in February in auctions in Phoenix and Scottsdale one day apart.  The "restored" blue car went for "825,000 while the "preserved" red car with its dents, rust, scratches, tattered upholstery went for almost the same price: $805,000!

Buying Trends in car collecting are ever-changing and largely unpredictable.  My impression is that most collectors acquire cars that they like, for whatever reason, and hope that their "value" will increase over time.  A natural conclusion is that collectors will be most interested in cars that they always admired but could not afford until later in life.  This observation may explain why cars from the 1950s and '60s are so valuable now.  But will they decline in value as the Baby Boomer generation passes?  Does their "value" have a shelf life?

The exhumation of No. 01845 is an important event for The Alfatross. It brings another member of the family out of obscurity and into the limelight.  As one of very few "unmolested" examples, it provides verification of additional original construction details.  And its change of ownership provides a strong vote by a major collector in favor of "preservation" over "restoration."  I have to admit that if I were the new owner of 01845 I would probably do the same thing--it would sure be a lot easier and cheaper!-- but because it has already been disassembled, the Alfatross is not a preservation candidate and so it continues on the path to historically sympathetic restoration.

01845--an example of the "preservation" trend in car collecting.  Octane.

Cleaning Your Car--the Hard Way (Post # 30)

Not Our First Rodeo

Setting up to clean the Alfatross was not our first experience with soda blasting.  Many years ago we figured out how to clean pewter plates recovered from a ship that sank in 1686 using abrasive blasting.  Pewter is a very soft metal composed mainly of zinc.  There were fine patterns etched on the plates that had to be preserved, so we approached the task with caution.  We tried using fine pumice, then cornstarch, and even corn meal before we settled on wheat flour as the best medium to use.  Bread flour would not be the first thing that pops into your mind when you are looking for an abrasive substance, but in this case it was perfect.



Cleaning pewter plates that had been underwater for more than 400 years using
wheat flour.



After cleaning the plates even fine details such as this design etched into the
surface were preserved.

Not for Sissies

Like getting old, soda blasting is not for sissies! It looks so easy, so simple in the Eastwood catalog: "Soda removes paint without damaging or warping metal, is environmentally friendly and strips without chemicals."     Fact is, soda blasting is a great tool, it's just that there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. And we all know how men love to buy and try new tools . . . .



Tool envy:  Look guys! New tools you can't live without!

So why all the hype about blasting with sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3)?  In the first place, it is very gentle.  Soda crystals have a hardness of about 2.4 on the Mohs Hardness Scale.  That's the same as the average human fingernail: hard enough to remove paint, but not hard enough to damage the underlying metal--or even rust!  Soda crystals "explode" upon impact, turning into even finer particles that just seem to disappear.  It dissolves in water and is safe--even beneficial--to wash into sewer systems (once contaminants have been removed).

The Alfatross gets blasted.

The descriptions you read in the soda blastng sales brochures make it seem pretty simple.  OK, it isn't rocket science, but there is a lot more to it than you might think.  In addition to the blaster, soda, and rotisserie,  you're going to need a few other things:

• High volume, low pressure compressor
• 1/2" diameter supply hose from compressor to blaster
• 3/8" diameter air gun hose to blow off dust
• Large funnel to recharge blaster reservoir
• Ground tarps to catch debris for faster cleanup
• Weights to hold tarps down
• Wrenches for various parts of the blaster
• Many 5-gal buckets
• Sifter with 1/16" mesh
• Scoop for transferring soda
• Dust pan and brush
• Push broom
• Sun shade tarp
• Vacuum cleaner
• Goggles
• Respirator
• Head protection
• Ear plugs
• Jump suit
• Keffiyeh
• Heavy rubber gauntlets
• Sacrificial boots
• Cooperative weather
• Thirst quenchers
• Advil
• Long, hot shower

You're also going to need to do it long enough to develop some finesse.  You can vary the air pressure, the type of soda you're using, the volume of air vs. the volume of soda with the various valves and regulators on the blast system.  that provides a lot of room for experimentation and control.  Even the angle of attack between the nozzle and surface makes a difference. 

The actual experience of soda blasting is a lot like working on a shipwreck excavation under water. By the time you're suited up, masked, and ear-plugged the sensory deprivation is much like being in a wetsuit underwater. All you can hear is yourself breathing. You've even got an umbilical hose connecting you to a compressor! Open the valve on the soda blaster hose and visibility goes to zero for a few seconds until the water--I mean air--clears enough to see what you're doing. After an hour or two of this you're more than ready for a "surface interval" so you can peel out of all that equipment and hear, see, and breathe again!

Shipwreck excavation underwater is surprisingly
similar to soda blasting,

As soon as the work starts, visibility drops to zero.

To complete the analogy, in both cases you're uncovering something important albeit with slightly different arrangements of compressors, hoses, and life-support systems.

But There's a Catch . . . . 

Unlike sand, which can damage lung tissue, sodium bicarbonate is as harmless as a useful substance can be. Also unlike sand, soda doesn't recycle well, so you need a lot of it! About the only down side is the cost. The initial cost of about one dollar per pound almost doubles when you factor in shipping. Cleanup is easy, but even though the soda is harmless the paint and debris removed from the car might not be, so it has to be disposed of properly. Soda is good at removing grease, too, through the process of saponification (grease + NaHCO3 = soap). Its chemical composition makes it amphoteric (a good pH buffer), meaning that it has the characteristics of both an acid and a base. As such, it inhibits flash rust on newly exposed surfaces. Finally, because it is water soluble there is little danger of abrasive entrapment in moving parts.

All this is good news for the Alfatross, but what's the catch?  Stripping the Alfatross naked of its paint and other coatings leaves it vulnerable to oxidation (corrosion).  Fortunately, Northern New Mexico is in a protracted drought and  relative humidity this time of year is in the single digits.  Still, even though soda leaves a film that inhibits rust, it won't last forever.  Before the Alfatross is ready for paint we will have to pressure-wash it to remove all traces of the soda used to clean it.  One company recommends adding a product called Hold Tight 102 to the pressure-wash mixture for optimum results.  It seems to be some type of surfactant (a chemical that makes water "wetter").  So we can add "pressure washer" and "Hold Tight 102" to the list of equipment and supplies needed to do a proper job of soda blasting. 

But before we get to the paint stage we still have to make repairs to the Alfatross' steel frame and aluminum body.  As the soda blasting chapter comes to a close, the more expensive, time consuming, and expertise-intensive body work and paint chapters lie ahead . . . .

Carchaeology II (Post # 29)

Updates on Previous Posts

If you've been reading the posted comments you know that Jason Wenig of The Creative Workshop in Dania Beach, Florida (www.thecreativeworkshop.com) contacted me after reading the Keeping Cool post because the Ghia Aigle he is restoring for the Pebble Beach Concours was also missing its radiator shutter linkage.  I sent him my parts so he could copy them and in exchange  he will send me a radiator thermostat "widget" so I can replace the faulty one I have.  Win-win for all!  Both Jason and I are now beneficiaries of Ed Leerdam's generosity and trust when he loaned me his original linkage for duplication many years ago.  Thanks, Ed!

After reading the 39 . . . or 41 . . ? post, Peter Marshall wrote with very interesting updated information about the Alfatross' siblings which I will pass along in a future post.

Matteo Bosisio of Ruote Borrani, the source for my knock-off hubs mentioned in the Wheels and Spinners post, sent me addresses for knowledgeable people in both the Zagato and Alfa Romeo companies.  I will be making contact with them shortly in the hope that they can answer some persistent questions.

So I don't know how this blog is working for you, but for me it's becoming indispensable!

"Partifacts"

Why does a restoration take so long?   I am continually impressed with how well a career in marine archaeology has prepared me for restoration of the Alfatross.  Not only am I already accustomed to long hours spent in the tedious, repetitive, and seemingly endless task of cleaning and recording thousands of artifacts, but also familiar with the principle that unless you finish the job, there are no rewards!   

Archaeologists used small pneumatic chisels to clean the thousands of artifacts
from the Molasses Reef Wreck, the oldest shipwreck found in the Americas.

All the basic objectives and procedures are the same whether you are excavating a shipwreck site or restoring an old car.  In both cases you are dealing with thousands of individual "partifacts" made of different materials in different stages of deterioration that have to be put back together again. 

A few line items from my spreadsheet designed to keep track the Alfatross' "partifacts":

The Alfatross is made up of more than a thousand individual parts, each one of which has its own special identity and task to perform. Because each piece has to be cleaned, inspected, repaired, checked to make sure it works properly, and refinished, they all go in different directions for various types of treatment before being finally reunited and reassembled. Not surprisingly, no one can remember how all 1,000 pieces go back together, so if you don't use some kind of tracking system things can get out of control in a hurry.



What is it?  Where did it come from?  How do we know where
it goes after it is cleaned, inspected and checked?

Take this simple screw, for example. It is one of about 100 parts that make up the double wishbone left front suspension. I wouldn't remember that now because I took it apart about 10 years ago IF it weren't for the fact that I put every part in a Ziploc bag and labelled where it came from.

The next step was to photograph the artifact--oops, I mean part--on background paper printed with a grid of 1-inch squares to give some idea of scale.



The Alfatross' left front leg.  The screw above goes into the
middle of the spindle (cylindrical shape the axle is attached to)

So now we can actually start to work with the part because we have a record of its identity and where it came from. This one needs degreasing, so the first stop is a nice relaxing solvent bath in the heated, sonic degreaser.

. . . Followed by 24 hours in a vibratory tumbler filled with abrasive pyramids to take off corrosion and whatever else shouldn't be there. . .

. . . Followed by manual scrubbing with Scotchbrite pads under running water to get the abrasive off . . .

. . . Followed by another tour of duty in another vibratory tumbler, this time filled with corn cob granules, to give it a good as new shine (usually).




This old laboratory sonic cleaner cleaned a lot of  marine artifacts
before it took on a grease-heavy diet of filthy Alfatross parts.

Vibratory tumblers one, two, and three (wish I had about 3 more)!

Of course it would take forever to treat each part separately--but if you mix them together to speed up the process won't their identities get mixed up too? No, because the labelled bags and photo IDs follow each piece through the entire process.

Maintaining the spreadsheet takes a lot of time because when you move a part from one stage in the restoration process to the next, you have to update its status on the spreadsheet.  But I've had plenty of practice here, too.  Each artifact in one of our shipwreck sites has its own entry in a tracking system, and that information follows its conservation/restoration progress through to completion.  The artifact database stays with the actual artifact collection forever so that it can be consulted if problems arise in the future.

If this sounds like a lot of work, pity the poor marine archaeologist who might have to do the same things for hundreds of thousands of objects from a shipwreck! 







Where There's Smoke There's Wire (Post # 28)

For safety as well as aesthetic and functional reasons there are certain systems that almost invariably need replacement during an old car restoration.  In my last post I featured one of those systems: the five Plexiglas windows.  Rubber brake lines are another example, along with weatherstripping and various rubber and plastic seals.

As early as 1970, after wisps of smoke curled out from under the dash when I switched on the heater fan, I realized that the Alfatross' wiring might need improvement.  Later, during disassembly, it was apparent that the best course of action would be to replace the whole wiring harness.



Rats' nest or wiring harness?  Note the disintegrating insulation around the
component in the upper left corner 

Easier said than done (as usual).  There are a lot of wires in a car, even one like the Alfatross that was built almost 60 years ago.  The good news is that the wiring harness, the electrical circuits it represents, and the components it connects are moronically simple, compared to modern electronics.  The bad news is that they don't make components--or even wires--like these any more.  Time to call in the experts!

I put out a request for help in 1981 through Peter Marshall's Alfa Romeo 1900 Register and made contact with Hans Josefsson in Uppsala, Sweden.  Mr. Josefsson owned one of the Alfatross' siblings and was in the process of restoring it.  He must have been an engineer because he dissected the wiring circuits and produced a series of 9 beautiful schematics comprising the entire electrical system: instruments, starting and charging, service (wipers, heater fan, electric fuel pump), lighting, signalling, and braking!



The "Light Functions" schematic drawn by Hans Josefsson, one of 9 such
drawings covering the entire electrical system.

The layout for the dashboard electrical switches and components for 1900C SS Zagatos, taken from Josefsson's car. 

Armed with Josefsson's schematics I began the process of removing the wiring harness intact.  It would have been easier just to cut it and pull it out in pieces, but I needed it as intact as possible so I could reconstruct it.   

Removing the original wiring harness intact while labeling each of the connections was tedious, but absolutely necessary.

 Somewhere along the way I heard about an outfit called "YNZ: Yesterdays Parts"  (http://www.ynzyesterdaysparts.com/).  They supply exact replicas of original wiring harnesses and systems using identical parts and materials.  After 43 years of experience they amassed a catalog of wiring patterns for all sorts of vehicles--but not one for the Alfatross!  I sent them my original intact (but a bit tangled) harness and a check for $1,428 and in due course back came the new harness with labelled terminals along with a two-page list of circuits and clear drawings showing which wires attach to which terminals on which fuse blocks, switches, and relays.  

I asked Gene, the proprietor, to send me some photos of his shop so I could see how they make a new harness from an old one. All you need is the original to work from, a table as big as a car, about 200 nails, a whole lot of solder, and a thousand different types and gauges of wire with an equal number of terminals. 



That writhing mass of wires all over the top of the workbench is a harness for a '67 Lambo beginning to take shape. Notice how the wires are routed using nail "goalposts" to group them.



We're still a long way away from being ready to install the YNZ harness, so it's too soon to sing its praises, but I will say that it was a pleasure to work with Gene at YNZ and I will be surprised if it doesn't perform as advertised.  Their products carry a 100% refund guarantee up to 60 days after purchase.  No question, this is probably a task best entrusted to professionals!