My First Fiat - Parts car

[launieg]

If the engine were running, I'd suggest listening with the pump belt on and then off (to detect a change in noise). The way you have it, you could either remove it (assuming you have the gaskets) and look at it carefully, or simply rotate it by hand and feel for play or noise. EDIT: with all that rust, including on the pump shaft, I retract my statement that it might be quite new

When I said the auxiliary shaft at 1 pm position, that is when the crank is at TDC and the camshafts in the correct relative positions. Check all that out on other threads, if you like,but I can see you have the camshafts already set up for TDC. I only mention the aux shaft thing because I read a couple of threads recently where the owner had the camshafts and crankshaft correctly aligned, but had not put the aux shaft in the correct position.

[launieg]

Now that I've stuck my neck out, I'd better also mention that it is easy to wonder if you have turned a camshaft (or two) one notch out when the belt is off, so I further suggest that you use that white stuff to first mark their positions precisely, relative to something nearby, instead of relying strictly on the pointers. You can also look at their positions on the back side of the pulleys of course. I had certainly moved mine a notch out while putting on the belt, and was glad for my paint marks. Made me feel more confident, if nothing else.

Okay, enough lecturing, maybe I need a disclaimer instead

[stefhahn]

Jaime,

a friend of mine (we were sharing the garage to fix our spiders) had a car - rustwise - very similar to yours. He is a professional blacksmith, knows how to weld (all methods), has go the tools and gets away with lots of work.

His car had a fine drivetrain and a nice leather interior - but floors rusted to streetmaps (you could see the light through) and doors/panels similar but not as bad as the ones on your car.

What he did was taking the shell of another car that got sold in pieces for parts putting the drivetrain and interior into the empty shell. Actually these shells are typically rather cheap. Looking at previous comments I would consider buying a rustfree shell from a parts car out of one of the desert states - even this might look expensive in the first place it will get you to the cheaper route in your project.

ciao,
Stefan

[wachuko]

...When I said the auxiliary shaft at 1 pm position, that is when the crank is at TDC and the camshafts in the correct relative positions. Check all that out on other threads, if you like,but I can see you have the camshafts already set up for TDC. I only mention the aux shaft thing because I read a couple of threads recently where the owner had the camshafts and crankshaft correctly aligned, but had not put the aux shaft in the correct position.

I understood the suggestion, no worries. Also had the cheat sheet on changing the timebelt. Everything seems to be aligned correctly. I will make marks with some of that white liquid paper as a precaution, good point.

[wachuko]

Jaime,

a friend of mine (we were sharing the garage to fix our spiders) had a car - rustwise - very similar to yours. He is a professional blacksmith, knows how to weld (all methods), has go the tools and gets away with lots of work.

His car had a fine drivetrain and a nice leather interior - but floors rusted to streetmaps (you could see the light through) and doors/panels similar but not as bad as the ones on your car.

What he did was taking the shell of another car that got sold in pieces for parts putting the drivetrain and interior into the empty shell. Actually these shells are typically rather cheap. Looking at previous comments I would consider buying a rustfree shell from a parts car out of one of the desert states - even this might look expensive in the first place it will get you to the cheaper route in your project.

ciao,
Stefan

Stefan,

I am still looking, if one of the two cars that I am waiting on looks like a better option I will go with that. But just killing time by doing this exercise, plus, if found cheap, these are parts worth storing away anyway. I found two door shells for sale locally for 50.00 (red107 is also checking to see what Don has on doors and a hood), those panels I got were 100.00 for all three, 150.00 for the two rear quarter panels (+shipping, ouch ).

I will not get crazy, if $ wise is not worth it I will continue with the original plan.

[wachuko]

Timing belt replaced:



Could not do much else because I ran out of hose clamps, duh!!!! Now... if I can remember how that thermostat and hoses went back in....

[wachuko]

hummmm... looks like the incorrect thermostat...

IAP list this one as the correct unit...




Just to fire up the car I am going to install the old hoses for now... I will order the correct thermostat to use with the new stock hoses I bought.

[launieg]

jaime, there are several thermostat bodies. That one you show from IAP could be correct. Once you get it, the main thing is to get the orientation right. Check for threads on this. POs sometimes have them installed incorrectly.

[wachuko]

jaime, there are several thermostat bodies. That one you show from IAP could be correct. Once you get it, the main thing is to get the orientation right. Check for threads on this. POs sometimes have them installed incorrectly.

Thank you, you were right... PO had installed it wrong. Found a thread with the link to IAP install suggestions:

http://www.international-auto.com/fiat- ... in-cam.cfm

[azygoustoyou]

Hi Wachuko,
Did you replace the water pump? Might want to do that before the new belt makes it go. Make sure you check the bolts on it too. They rust over time and could break when tightening.

[wachuko]

Hi Wachuko,
Did you replace the water pump? Might want to do that before the new belt makes it go. Make sure you check the bolts on it too. They rust over time and could break when tightening.

No. Using the old one. I was able to turn it freely by hand, the car had coolant and it was in good condition. Hoping that it is good, if not, I will go back in and replace it. At this time I just want to finish to fire up the engine. No big deal taking everything back out to replace.

A few more photos. The center caps arrived. Got those from Mark (http://allisonsautomotive.com/)



Only waiting on the air filter cover to dry from the paint to install the airflow meter back. Also installed one of those coolant flush kit (the T), to make it easy to bleed the cooling system (thank you all for the tip).







Looking now at that photo, I need to take out that intake hose and clean it with a toothbrush and some degreaser...

[wachuko]

Everything ready in the engine bay...



Fuel line hose replaced:

But one of the pipes was rusted out and there was not enough good metal to seal it... plan to run a fuel rubber hose all the way to the front and bypass that pipe...





Put some 6 galons of fuel in the tank... only to find that there is a pin size hole right above the middle seam of the tank I will get some fuel epoxy tomorrow to patch it up.

Got out three fire extinguishers... one in front, one in the back, and one inside with me...

Hooked up the battery.... and after what felt like an eternity the car started. Good thing I had it on the lift as the transmission is stuck in gear... the clutch pedal disengages the clutch, but the transmission will not go out of gear. I thought it was an issue with the release bearing but since the clutch disengages when I press the pedal I am not sure if the problem is still in the clutch side or inside the transmission...

I let the car warm up slowly, no high revs, temperature rose, fan came on, I can see the pressure gauge moving (I need to ask what is the normal behavior for the gauge as I saw it go from 0 to 4... some times at idle it would go to 0... last thing I want is to damage the engine... but as soon as I rev it it climbed back to 4...

Turned off the car, grabbed my camera and shot a short video... pardon the light. It was late (neighbors do not appreciate me revving a car at midnight), I wanted to get the video to share. The car was fully warmed up (fan came one, so that is working), that is why I felt comfortable revving it... maybe overdid it as looking now at the video I went above redline a couple of times. Tomorrow I will open the garage door and record another one. Oh, and the horn works!!!

[yt]my5KEgBRqZA[/yt]

In case embedded video does not work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my5KEgBRqZA

During the video, the alternator light stayed on (did not do that during the warm up...) so either the alternator went south on the second test or there is a problem with the wiring to the alternator... Oxigen sensor light was on all the time...

Feels great hearing that engine come to live. Now I need to get the transmission out and check to see what the heck is preventing it from shifting.

Thank you to everyone that helped me get to this milestone. Drivetrain is next.

[launieg]

Congrats!!! Yay!! You did a lot in short time. Ignore the O2 sensor. Of no importance. Check the threads.

Once again, good work. Hope you sort out the clutch/tranny issue.

(I have not watched your video - will do so in the morning.)

[kilrwail]

Good job getting this far! Your oil pressure gauge's behaviour is normal and it's notoriously unreliable, or at least innaccurate. A mechanical gauge would be a good idea.

[Europa]

Good job Wachuko. That's gotta be a good feeling.

The oil pressure gauge on my '83 hovers around 4 bar when the engine is cold and running. It drops back to close to zero when warmed up and idling. The needle will swing a bit when the engine is revved.

Ps. I am still on a quest to follow up with my neighbor about his parked '81 Spider. I'll try again today.