Seeing as how Brit-car traffic has gone down since college graduations...
I don't feel too bad about a longish progress report:
Another car returns to life at the SLCFWSC
The shop got another good workout during the last couple of weeks.I've
got this '64 Sprite that Tilly bought me for my birthday 6 years ago, for
the grand sum of $100. (I've got a jar of aluminium fragments that I scraped
out of the pan, which are almost identifiable as a piston. The 1098 block was
trash.) I made an aborted attempt to get a later 1098 running in it 2 years
ago, only to lose out to a wasted crankshaft. The arrival of the PA, ongoing
rebuild of our house, and the last year of building the shop facilitated
deposit of a good layer of dust on the car at the far reaches of my friends'
long barn. With the shop up and running, the new 'BGT (Elmo) on the road,
and the PA awaiting arrival of generator bearings, I decided to try again.
Larry-up-the-road had a '69 1275 that he said runs good...
So begins the first week of hard wrench flogging:
Mon- I went up and got the engine, removed top end. Looks good, 'cept a
couple of valve seats which have suffered from moisture while in storage.
Also grabbed the transmission, to solve the shot-syncros in the old one.
Tues- Pulled the pan, checked bearings, smooth, good clearances.
Wed- Called all 2 auto-machine shops in the Ithaca phone book. First one said
3 1/2 weeks wait, just to grind valve seats in a bare head! The second said
3-4 days, which would still probably miss being ready before the 3 day
weekend. :-( A couple more calls to those who know, and I got the name of
a country shop about 3 miles from home, who said they could have it ready
by tomorrow afternoon! Why haven't I heard of them before? Buzzed that head
right up there at lunchtime. Ordered clutch & flywheel locking tabs from
Moss next-day-air...
Thurs- Picked up the head, not perfect, but for $10, hey! Gen. clean-up of
pieces parts. Oh sh--, the pilot bushing is junk! Wait, where's that bum
crank with the new bushing in it?
Fri- Took the bum crank to my friends non-auto machine shop, (Yea, you can
do some engine type stuff, but the setups can be a killer. Proper engine
machines & tooling makes things easy.) to acquire an exact fitting dowel
to remove the pilot bushing with no damage. {Hydraulic method- pack with
grease, insert dowel, hit with hammer, the pressure on the grease pushes
the bushing back out towards you.} Went home, lapped valves, assembled head.
Saturday- Beat on trailer, go retrieve car, putter with misc. bits.
Sunday- Assemble engine, pull old trans, install new trans, Drop-in engine,
(new engine crane works nicely.), go to picnic, come home and connect a
few things.
Monday (Memorial day) finish connecting engine, adjust valves & stuff,
insert fluids, fire, tune & drive! Idle weird. No syncros in new tranny. :-(
Runs pretty well, after various fiddling, but does better at higher RPM's.
(?) Noise from engine- Valve guides? Maybe an exhaust leak?
Tues- Well, I just wasn't sure about the rough idle & noises, and I had
another head gasket in stock, so.. Off came the head again. Looks like
possible blow-by between 2 & 3, ah-hah! Disassemble head, inspect. Valves
look good, but #4 Ex. feels a bit gritty.
Wed.- Took the head up to the N-A machine shop, and set it up on the
precision surface grinder. A-series heads are just small enough to
fit. :-) You can increment as little as .00005 (yes, really- 1/2 of a
ten-thousandth!) on this beast, a lot more accurate than automotive
surfacers. It was warped a bit- .005 low in the center. It's now within
0.0001 :-). Went to my second job to make $$ to pay for these silly LBC's.
Thurs.- Replaced questionable exhaust valve with one I forgot was in stock,
Reassembled head.
Fri- Raise car on lift :-), pull pan, recheck bearings & stuff, looks good.
Thank you air rachet, too! Install head. Swap in better distributer, replace
old gas, connect stuff. Fire up (much better) & drive.
Sat- Install Bonnet, Tweak, get inspection, wash (!), drive.
Sunday- Go to Victor car show in 'BGT. Nice weather, gobs of neat cars.
(lots of Jags, but no E-Type roadsters :-( ) How's this- a Spitfire with
a Capri V6, and a Datsun independent rear end! Quite a pile of work.
MG's, A-H's, Loti, TR's, BMW bubbles, Fiats, Ferrarri's, Lambo's, DeTomaso's,
Delorean, Rolls, AC Bristol, Tigers, Mercedes (including a Gull Wing, and
a Gull Wing chassis and drive train!) Porsche, Volvo, ... more. (& USA stuff)
Whew. So "Speedy" Sprite is alive at last. Quite a different beast than an
MGB. I'd say it's pretty similar to my MG PA. Lots of revs, small, stiff-ish,
and low top speed. Great fun, a nice musical exaust note, but a bit cramped.
There's still a lot of work to do- It runs pretty hot- that may be due to
A) water only B) Loose fanbelt (needs new one) or C) old style radiator.
(Which would mean finding a good x-flow :-( ) I hope it's A & B.
There's a radius arm bushing on one side of the rear end anyhow...
Shocks need more help. There is no front anti-sway bar. It's still got a small
diameter exaust system from the early 1098. Then there's things like tires,
and a Roll Bar. Come winter I might replace the rockers & rear arch panels,
and a coat of bright yellow w/black trim.
Next, it's time to play musical cars with MGB engines. Get the PA
running again. There's a long lusted after project car I've had my eye on for
a few years. Work on the house and barn. Kim is almost a year old and hasn't
had a ride in a ragtop yet. There's no rest for the affected at the
S. Lansing Centre, too much to do! But at least there's Brit cars to drive
again. :-) :-) :-) :-)
________
/___ _ \ Roger Garnett (garnett@tcgould.TN.CORNELL.EDU)
/| || \ \ Agricultural Economics | The All New:
| |___|| _ | 3 Warren Hall | South Lansing Centre For
| | \ | | | Cornell University | Wayward Sports Cars
\| \ |__/ / Ithaca, N.Y. 14853 | (607) 533-7735
\________/ (607) 255-2522 | SAFETY FAST!
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