Four States of Separation Part I (Post # 58)

Now that The Alfatross is spread across 4 states from Massachusetts to Arizona, it's time for an update.   One of the things I learned along the way is that if you are restoring your car yourself (which was my original intent) YOU are in control of what gets done and when.  After it became apparent that The Alfatross is the kind of car that needs the attention of professional restorers I gave up that kind of control. The first element that I farmed out to professionals was the engine, delivered to DeWayne Samuels in Phoenix, AZ in April, 2012.  The second element was the chassis and body, which I delivered to Tim Marinos of Vintage Autocraft in Lebanon, TN, back in November, 2013. In January of this year I shipped the interior elements to Derrick Dunbar at Paul Russell & Co in Massachuttes. Meanwhile, I continue to work on the "little jobs" here in New Mexico. 

Massachusetts

Not much to report here.  The Alfatross' interior is in the capable hands of trimmer Derrick Dunbar at Paul Russell and Company.  Problem is, those hands are already full preparing interiors for cars bound for Pebble Beach that are a lot farther along than The Alfatross.  Another thing I learned along the way is that in the world of professional restorers of collector cars, the closer your car is to completion (and hence an appearance at one of the Big Three concours in the US), the more likely it is to receive attention.  So how do you get to the head of the line?

Even without having the rest of the car, there is a lot Derrick can do.  Locating exact matches for the different types of material used in the interior is perhaps the most tedious job of all, but you can't start sewing until you have the right material--or feel you have found the closest match possible.  Derrick says this is the hardest part of the job.

Tennessee

Tim Marinos and his guys have been going at The Alfatross for about 5 months now.  The steel chassis needed a lot more work than I thought.  The worst corrosion was on the top of the platform in front of the rear wheels that the rear seat cushion sit on. A leak around one of the windows allowed moisture to accumulate there during those years when the car was not regularly garaged--and we all know what standing water does to unprotected steel over time! 

The complicated floor pan supporting the rear seat  on the driver's side had to be replicated and bead-rolled to match the surrounding contours.  Tim Marinos.

The area mentioned above after welding in place and faring in to match the surrounding panels.  Tim Marinos.

Here you can see the panels mentioned above being prepped for epoxy primer.  Work has yet to begin on the aluminum body.  Tim Marinos.

The Alfatross chassis being primed with epoxy in the paint booth following repair of rust damage.  Tim Marinos. 

The aluminum skin that forms the body of course will not need this kind of work.  But it still won't be easy to restore.  Work on the skin can't begin until the steel skeleton is straight and strong! 

I'll continue with progress reports on the "little jobs" in New Mexico and the engine in Arizona in the next post.  This one is already too long!  

The "Little Jobs" (Post # 57)

The circles indicate the locations of the fasteners that secured
the leather straps for the tool roll to the top of the rear axle
hump in the trunk.

All Alfa 1900s came with a set of tools in a canvas roll and a jack in a bag of the same material. Canvas bags and rolls wear out quickly, and the tools that used to come as standard issue with cars are often pressed into service elsewhere and quickly become separated from their rightful place.  The Alfatross had its jack and a nearly complete tool set when I got it, but no roll or bag. 

The Alfatross' original, but fragmentary straps with buckles, rivets and fasteners.

Parts of the leather straps that secured the tool roll to the rear axle hump were still there, but in poor condition.  Fortunately, the surviving parts retained the buckles and holes of various sizes showing how they were attached.  This may seem like minor details, and I notice that none of the 1900 Zagatos I have had the privilege of inspecting had their tools, tool rolls, or even straps, so maybe it isn't that important to most people--but it is to me! 

The tool roll on the left and jack bag on the right.

The first step was to figure out what the original tool roll and jack bag looked like.  The factory Alfa 1900 manual shows detailed images of both of them so I thought this is going to be easy.  Then I mentioned my quest to Peter Marshall and to Jason Wenig of The Creative Workshop and both of them responded with photos of original tools, tool rolls and bags--and that's when things started to get complicated.  In reality, there appears to be more than one type of tool roll.  As these photos of original rolls show, there is a "long" one and a "short" one.  The long one looks more like the illustration in the manual.  Perhaps it is longer to accommodate the hammer?

An example of a "long" tool roll with eight slots for tools and constricting bands that meet in the center, just like the illustration in the 1900 shop manual.  This particular kit is missing the valve adjustment tools and the cam cover wrench, but it has the mysterious tiny hammer--what are you supposed to do with that?  Jason Wenig.

The shorter tool roll doesn't have the constricting bands and appears to have
other internal and external difference as well.  Jason Wenig.

So this is a typical "little job," starting with research and communication and moving on to restoration for some elements and fabrication for others.  I knew that The Creative Workshop's restoration of a 1955 Alfa 1900CSS Ghia-Aigle last year included replication of an authentic tool roll and jack bag so I asked them to to make a set for me using their patterns.   

The Alfatross' tools in the "shorter" roll fabricated by The Creative Workshop.  

The raw leather strips after narrowing and before dying.

It's easy when you have the right tools!  

From the surviving original straps I was able to get width and thickness (2.3-2.6 mm) dimensions, but not overall length. I sourced 3/4 in. leather strips from the local Tandy Leather dealer but had to reduce their width to 18 mm and dye them to match the originals.  I noticed that there is a faint but definite decorative groove near one side of each of the original straps, so I duplicated it on the new straps using a handy-dandy grooving tool I picked up at Tandy.

The original straps give the spacing between the tie-down holes, but not
the overall length or where the tongue hole sequence should start or the
shape of the end of the strap that fits through the buckle.

The rest of the process was just a matter of duplicating the spacing of the buckle tongue slot, rivet, tie-down screw and tongue holes.  I detached the original buckles, cleaned them up, and secured them to the new straps with copper rivets.  

From the buckle rivet to the first tie-down hole on the original straps was 105 mm, with 92 mm between the first and second holes.  Stuffed with tools, the roll was 340 mm in circumference.  Because I don't have the entire length of either strap from buckle to tip, I had to guess at their overall length, where the first of the tongue holes should be placed, and how many there should be.  

The tool roll, stuffed with tools and one of the finished hold-down straps.

So much for the "small job" of restoring a part of The Alfatross that will seldom be seen by anyone--unless I have to change a tire or make a roadside repair!

If Tires Could Talk . . . . (Post # 56)

One of the Michelin X tires on The Alfatross when I bought it in 1969 was made in Italy.  It is not "original," but it is more than 45 years old!  

At at local neighborhood get-together a few weeks ago I told a neighbor I am still working on The Alfatross. He asked how it was going. I told him some guys in Arizona are doing the engine, some guys in Tennessee are doing the chassis and body, and a guy in Massachusetts is doing the interior.  He looked puzzled and said "Well hell, what are you doing then? I had to shake my head.  If you've never disassembled a car down to its nuts and bolts you don't realize how many parts and sub-systems there are, even in a simple 1950s era vehicle.  The big-ticket tasks with a restoration like this one may be the engine, body, and interior, but I'm starting to think that the "little jobs" that I'm doing now take just as much labor.  

I drew up a list of 25 categories of "sub-assemblies" ranging from getting the horns working to disassembling the transmission.  Typically, these jobs entail several stages like disassembly, testing, cleaning, making new parts, reassembly, and refinishing.  More about that in a later post.  But by way of example I want to devote this post to one of those sub-categories: 

Tires and Tubes

The Alfatross is not going anywhere until the wheels go on.  The wheels are finished, but not yet shod in tubes and tires.  Last week I got the tubes and tires out of storage to clean them up and look them over.  I have 5 tubes, but only four tires.   I remember that I bought tubes and tires for the car about 10 years after I bought it.  The spare was in such bad condition that I pitched it.  Going through my records I even found the receipt for 2 tubes and 3 tires in 1979 costing $184.93!  This was in preparation for towing The Alfatross on its own wheels 1,000+ miles from North Carolina to Texas behind my VW bus.    

The receipt for 3 tires and 2 tubes from the middle of August, 1979

I never bothered to look carefully at the tubes and tires before, and I guess always assumed that I would just put them back on the wheels.  What I discovered after cleaning and close inspection led me to change my mind about putting 35 year-old tires and 45+ year-old tubes back on those freshly refinished Borranis!    













The 2 "new" tubes were a mis-matched Michelin 165-380 15EF13 and a Michelin 165-400 17E, both made in Italy.  The "original" tubes were a Michelin 165-400 4E made in Italy, and 2 (also mis-matched) Pirelli 155-15 29A15s made in Spain! Two of the "original" tubes were patched, making me wonder what condition the ones I replaced were in!

Although the tread on the Michelin X tires was in pretty good condition, the sidewalls and tread bands were hard and stiff, and there were tears in the rim bead.  Three of them were stamped "MADE IN FRANCE" and the fourth was stamped "MADE IN ITALY."  




In any case I needed a fifth tire so I ordered one  from Lucas Classic tires.  I was concerned about matching the other tires so I asked the salesman if that was going to be a problem.  He said "same molds."  




I guess it was asking too much to expect that the new tire would match the ones that were 45+ years old.  When it arrived the molded identification information was dramatically different--and it was stamped "MADE IN SERBIA"! The good news is that it is a better-made tire with an 87S speed rating.

A conversation with my colleagues at the Car Table meeting this week convinced me that I will have to purchase 3 more new tires and 5 new tubes to make The Alfatross road-worthy.  But the oldest, Italian-made tire could conceivably be kept as the spare for nostalgia's sake.  

Yeah, I know, it's just a tire.  But I'm sure that if it could talk, it would have some pretty good stories about where it came from, what roads it traveled, and what adventures it had before in rolled into my driveway!

Derrick Digs In (Post # 55)

One of the front seats, after almost 60 years of use and
neglect.

I packed The Alfatross' interior elements off to Derrick Dunbar at Paul Russell and Co. back in December.  Shortly thereafter he called to let me know that he examined the different materials used and is looking for matching materials to replace those that are no longer serviceable.  This, he said, is really the hardest part of the job.  The fact that the upholstery is spartan and all the materials are vinyl instead of leather or something more exotic doesn't make it any easier (or less expensive!).

The driver's door panel.

The blue vinyl used on the door panels, quarter panels, and parts of the front seats probably won't be hard to match. Nor will the black vinyl fiberglass-filled firewall insulation pads.  But the unusual blue "faux suede" used on the front seat backs and seat is unlike anything he has seen before.  He thinks it is a kind of rubber material rather than vinyl, and that it may be of German manufacture.  My biggest concern was finding a source for the "fluted" and "filled" blue vinyl used for the headliner and deck behind the rear seat. Derrick said he thought it might be in good enough shape to re-install, but that is a decision we will make later.  Even if the headliner and deck cover are in good shape the color might be inconsistent with the new vinyl.  I sure hope we can match it because I don't think anyone has made material like that in half a century!  

The carpeting is going to be one of the easiest decisions because there is nothing to match--it had already been replaced with recycled household carpet when I bought the car, so I have no idea what the original was like.

A cross-section of one of the front seats reveals the use of several different kinds of "stuffing."

If decisions about upholstery weren't enough to worry about, there's details like the type of "stuffing" to use inside the seats, the stitching patterns, the types of thread and adhesives that hold things together, the snaps that hold the carpet down, and the locations of holes for the attachment of interior panels--it's complicated.

This swatch of the blue "faux rubber suede," taken from a protected location shows how vibrant it was when new.  

In this case, restoring the seats means restoring the innards as well.  

Anatomy of a Zagato sport seat (viewed from the back, lying on its side).  Derrick digs deeper . . . and it looked so simple on the outside!  It has to get worse before it can get better.

At this point Derrick is still sourcing materials. Research is one of the most time-consuming (and expensive!) elements in the restoration of an interior. Derrick says that as more restorations are being performed, original materials are getting harder to find.  If a shop has the last known cache of a certain kind of original material, they won't sell it to a competitor--you have to bring the car to them!  The good news is Derrick has done other Zagato-bodied Italian cars from this period so he's not starting from scratch . . . and THAT'S why he's the go-to guy for The Alfatross!

The Devil's in the Details (Post # 54)

One of the problems associated with restoring an "Italian Exotic" like The Alfatross is there are so few of them that most restorers have never see one in the flesh. When I delivered my car to Tim Marinos of Vintage Autocraft for chassis and bodywork I supplied him with a catalog of photos of The Alfatross before and during dis-assembly as well as photos of other 1900 Zagatos I had collected over the years.  The catalog was helpful, but his job would have been far easier had brought him the run-down, but intact vehicle instead so he could see what it's supposed to look like when reassembled.  

About a month ago Tim called with a suggestion:  could I arrange for him to see one of The Alfatross' brethren that recently moved from Florida to Chicago--no. 01915?  Seeing an intact close relative of The Alfatross would be a great help with the restoration, he said.  And if it could be arranged, Derrick Dunbar of Paul Russell and Co also wanted to come along to study the details of the interior.  What a great idea!  I don't know why I didn't think of it myself.  Maybe we could all go together?

So I contacted the owner, Joe Hayes of Hayes Properties, Inc., with the request and he graciously agreed to make his car available for inspection. It took some doing, but we set up a date that worked for all four of us plus the owner of the shop where 01915 was getting some minor body work.  This car is particularly well-suited for detailed study because it has never been restored and therefore is more original and authentic than some of the other examples around.  

01915 at Radnor Hunt in 2003, making its "barn find" debut after many years in storage.

The parking permit and  inspection sticker for 1961-2 are still in place on
the windshield!

The first time I saw this car was in 2003 when it made its debut at the Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance.  Like The Alfatross, it was laid up decades ago--just another used car at the bottom of its value curve.  But unlike The Alfatross, the owner did virtually nothing with it or to it over the years. Shortly before the Radnor event, it surfaced.  The story on the street was that it sold three times in one weekend!

The car we came to see:  Joe Hayes' Alfa 1900C SSZ chassis no. 01915.  Note the license number.

. . . and here it is 59 years ago competing in the 1955 Mille Miglia, the world's most famous road race.   Note the license number

Last Saturday we converged on M and V Auto Body located about 3 miles from O'Hare where we were met by Joe Hayes and Vince Delmedico, the proprietor. It was good to see 01915 again after 11 years.  The previous owner and I helped each other over the years by loaning parts for replication and exchanging information. He decided to keep his car in original condition and Joe has continued along those lines, resisting the ever-present temptation to restore it.  

The interior of 01915 is very different from that of The Alfatross. but there
are a lot of similarities, particularly with respect to the materials used.

I was fascinated to see Derrick and Tim focus on the details that are most important to them and go to work. Obviously, this was not their first rodeo!  Between the two of them they shot hundreds of photos and made pages of sketches of shapes, locations, and critical dimensions.    

Derrick spent a lot of time sketching, measuring, and photographing the
carpets, which are undoubtedly original.  

Derrick's main interest was what he could learn that would help him restore The Alfatross' interior.  01915's front seats are the more sumptuous "grand touring" style rather than The Alfatross' Spartan light-weight race seats and there are differences in the shape of the dash and placement of the shift lever, but the types of materials used for the upholstery are very similar.  Perhaps most importantly, 01915 has its floor and firewall coverings intact whereas The Alfatross lost its carpets long ago.  He noted where the snaps were positioned on the carpets, how the piping was connected, the type of stitching used, the grain texture in the vinyl firewall insulating pads.

Derrick inspecting one of the interior firewall insulation pads.  The Alfatross has these pads too, but they seemed  so haphazardly made that I thought they were "after market."  Derrick pointed to the type of cotton thread used in the stitching and the fiberglass insulation material  sandwiched inside as proof of originality.

Tim's main concerns had to do with the chassis and body details.  What kind of weatherstripping was used around the doors and windows?  How did the bottoms of the doors seal?  What is the diameter of the screws that secure the trim around the windshield?  When we got the car up on the lift I remembered that the area around The Alfatross' clutch and brake linkage was originally covered with an aluminum panel.  Sure enough, part of that panel was present on 01915 and we could see fastener holes indicating where the rest of it had been.  It wouldn't surprise me to learn that this panel is missing or modified on a lot of cars because it must be removed to work on the transmission, the brakes, and the shift and clutch linkages.  Unfortunately, it is very fussy to remove and re-install.

Tim and Derrick examining the floor panel of the trunk.  The Devil is in the details!

After pouring over the car for hours, we agreed that we had what we came for.  Joe offered to treat us to a late lunch down town before returning us to the airport, and by the way--would we like to see his car collection?  Car collection?  You mean you have other cars, too?  It turns out that Joe is a very discerning collector.  One of his properties is dedicated to indoor event space and the outer perimeter of this basketball stadium size room is lined with to-die-for, museum quality cars. As soon as we entered we knew that lunch was going to have to wait!  Tim would have been happy to stay in that room all weekend.

Derrick, Tim and Joe examine the way the windshield, body, and molding are sealed with "dumdum"--a tarry black weather-sealing substance commonly used in the '50s.

Special thanks to Joe Hayes, proud owner of 01915, for making his car available for us to learn from.  Thanks also to Vince Delmedico of M and V Auto Body and Sales for opening up on a Saturday, moving the cars in his shop around so we could get 01915 up on his lift to look at the undercarriage, and putting up with us in general.  If there is anything we can do to help you guys, just let us know!

Engine Part IV: Train Spotting (Post # 53)

VALVE trains, that is.  

In previous posts I mentioned that the Alfatross' beating heart, its engine, is being restored in Phoenix under the direction of DeWayne Samuels, aided by various vendors of parts and services.  The reassembly is taking place at Standard Machine in Phoenix under the supervision of proprietor Roger Lorton. 

When I  first looked under the hood of The Alfatross what I saw was a little weenie 4-cylinder engine disguising what I perceived at the time to be its inadequacies under an enormous air cleaner on the right side and and equally enormous shroud ducting air over the tubular exhausts.  

The enormous air filter and plenum chamber atop the Solexes covers the top of the engine on the right side.

Now that I have offended all you thousands of Alfa aficionados out there watching this blog, let me go on to apologize for my ignorance.  I now know it is not the simple, unsophisticated lump I took it for 45 years ago, and the proof of that is the following treatise on the kind of diagnosis and surgery it is taking to restore it to health and vigor.    

The following is DeWayne's diagnosis of what appears to be less than perfect with the valve train and what he is doing to correct it.  These engine guys have a wide variety of tools and treatments they can bring to bear, and I think they have used just about all of them except the one advertised below:

A tool no car guy should be without.

Cylinder Head

The valve train has a lot of individual components.  DeWayne's diagnosis divides them into cylinder head and timing chest components.  Those in the cylinder head are the valves, valve adjusters, cam followers, springs, valve guides, and camshafts.  DeWayne says:

Valve train issues include oiling problems resulting in accelerated wear damaging both camshafts and cam journals in the cylinder head, valve adjusters, cam followers, valves and guides.  Don sourced new intake valves, but the exhaust valves are excessively worn on the stems and unusable due to repeated or excessive face grinding which depleted the face margin to zero.  Exhaust valves are on order from Europe.

Original intake valves (left) and exhaust valves.  Note how the margins of the exhaust valves are too thin for reuse.

All the cam followers have been reconditioned by hard chroming the faces and creating the proper taper with Blanchard grinding to promote valve rotation. For an added measure they have been treated with a DLC (diamond like carbon) extreme pressure coating.

Replacement guides were sourced but found unacceptable as they are only offered in a standard O.D.  Because the receiving bores for the guides vary in diameter, we opted to machine custom guides from manganese bronze to offer the correct press fit for the proper dynamic tension within the bore of the cylinder head. Later the guides will be reamed and honed on the I.D. for the correct oil clearance for the valve stems.   

Alfa Romeo 1900 valves are a thing of wonder, as in "I wonder why they did that?" 

Timing Chest Components

DeWayne continues:  

Both timing chains are to be replaced as a time/maintenance service. Wear in the assembly is evidenced by the markings on each roller and the position of the chain tensioner being towards it’s outermost settings; additionally the upper chain has experienced side loading from the cams “walking” due to thrust wear issues and the tensioner bearing /shaft wear allowing side movement. Original new old stock chain sets were sourced for installation. 

Front view of the engine showing the two timing chains, upper and lower, the tensioner for the
upper chain, intermediate gear set.

The intermediate gear set requires replacement of the bushings and restoring the pivot shaft by hard chroming and bringing back to original size. An overlying issue that prompted accelerated wear was discovered in cleaning: the oiling supply orifice was not fully drilled through, resulting in an extremely limited oil supply. Opening the circuit and hand detailing before and after hard chroming has corrected the problem.

The tensioner assembly also required restoration as the chain gear was worn by the improper alignment running due to the damage of the bearing and pivot shaft. The pivot shaft has been given the same service as the intermediate shaft. We still need to source a replacement bearing and tensioner gear to complete the assembly.

Whew!  That's a lot of replacement and repair for an engine that has only 110,561.4 km (about 66,000 miles) on it.  To what extent it is the result of poor maintenance and neglect? Or could it suggest a racing history--something that has so far eluded us?

Thanks, DeWayne and Roger!

Casting Part II (Post # 52)

I'm back to making rubber parts again.  This time the challenge is the four bump stops (rubber travel limiters to keep The Alfatross' front suspension from travelling down too far) in the front suspension, two on each side mounted to the upper A-arms.  

Here's one of the bump stops in place in the front suspension
before removal.  Dessicated, cracked, and compressed, the
rubber parts were in need of replacement.

After removing the bump stops it was easy to see that they weren't up to the task of keeping the car from topping out anymore.  Maybe there is a secret stash of bump stops for 1955 Alfa Romeo 1900s somewhere, but I doubt it.  I didn't even bother to ask around.  Besides, I liked the idea of refurbishing the originals and continuing to use them.  

The steel and aluminum parts cleaned up easily, and the rubber tips had already peeled off two of them.  Evidently, supporting the chassis on jack stands for years may have been good for the tires, but it let the suspension compress the bump stops until they lost their original shape. 

All of the rubber tips are in such bad condition that it is impossible to tell
what the original profile was like, so I'm just guessing.  The old rubber peeled
off the steel shaft easily.  

I knew I could replace the rubber tips of the bump stops using a two-part RTV rubber compound called Flexane, but there were a couple of obstacles.  I didn't have an un-deformed original from which to get the proper shape, and I didn't know exactly how hard to make the rubber. I decided to just reproduce the existing shape without trying to make it longer or more pointed.  Flexane can be combined with a third additive called "Flex-add" to make the product more flexible and "rubbery," but the only way to achieve the right hardness is by trial and error.

The first set of experiments was devoted to getting the right proportions of the three Flexane components using one-ounce condiment cups for testing.  I allowed several days for each cup to cure before subjecting them to toughness and hardness tests--including smashing them with a heavy hammer!  I finally came up with a combination that I thought would work.  

The only way to achieve the right hardness was by trial and error.  As you can see from the numerous test cups, there was a lot of error!   

Next I tried making molds in clay in which to form the rubber tips, but couldn't get a symmetrical shape. Because I had four of these to make I thought it might be cost-effective to make an aluminum mold.  Only problem was that I don't have a lathe or machining equipment . . . but I know somebody who does!   

Harold Williams is a fellow Car Table Guy (more about the Car Table in a later post).  He is also an avid builder of radio controlled vehicles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crHlnNX_HF0&feature=youtu.be), which means that he has the means, motive, and opportunity to machine all kinds of small parts out of aluminum. The mold I was looking for was just a simple cup, really, and I know he would have preferred something more challenging. But he did it anyway.

Making the mold in Harold Williams' shop.  All he asked in return was dibs on the first ride
in The Alfatross when it's finished!

Making the cast was easy.  I put a separator film inside the mold, mixed the Flexane formula, filled the mold, put the steel shaft in contact with the surface of the Flexane, and clamped it in place making sure it was vertical and stable. 

The finished mold and the first bump stop product.

Original bump stop (left) with the first example
made  with the new mold.  

Now all I have to do is make 3 more . . . and go on to the next rubber casting project.  This one was easy, given the shape of the part.  But there are some real challenges ahead.  It's a good thing Harold likes challenges . . . .