A black '69 124 Spider AS

[djape1977]

you're looking at full engine rebuild minus the new piston sleeves but that still remains the open question untill you remove the pistons. you must dissasemble everything and clean it.

you'll need full engine gaskets and o-rings set, piston rings, crank bearings, water pump, timing belt and tensioner, preferably new valves, get the head professionally rebuilt...

you should be able to get everything you need locally, but don't look online, you'll just end up paying more

[Weelan]

Hey RCSquadraCorse, thought I recognized the car when I saw it on Instagram, then you mentioned the thread and I knew I'd seen it. Even commented some. haha. I've been off the site for a bit, but I'm getting ready to put my engine back in in a month probably. So I'll probably be more active again soon.

Have you tried Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders? I don't know if you have access to it in Europe, but if not I've heard diesel or auto transmission fluid can help free cylinders too. Or maybe PB blaster. Just let the fluid set on top of the pistons for a day or so and see if it frees up.

If you want to clean up the piston heads real quick, carb cleaner ripped through my carbon buildup. spray on, wipe off. Worked great.

[RCSquadraCorse]

you're looking at full engine rebuild minus the new piston sleeves but that still remains the open question untill you remove the pistons. you must dissasemble everything and clean it.

you'll need full engine gaskets and o-rings set, piston rings, crank bearings, water pump, timing belt and tensioner, preferably new valves, get the head professionally rebuilt...

you should be able to get everything you need locally, but don't look online, you'll just end up paying more

Hmm... that sounds expensive! Lol!
Really, I was already thinking about dismantling and clean everything. Still have to see if I can get that piston #4 moving. Do you think I can use a flat piece of wood and a hammer to try to move it? Or I'm just going to do damages on the cylinder wall?
As for the parts I think I will find everything here or in Milan, I will probably ask you more about the parts needed once I will have everything off from the engine.
I will also look for a good shop to rebuild the head and get a quote on the job, because if it will be too much expensive, including all the new parts needed, I think I will just look for another engine. What do you think about it?

Hey RCSquadraCorse, thought I recognized the car when I saw it on Instagram, then you mentioned the thread and I knew I'd seen it. Even commented some. haha. I've been off the site for a bit, but I'm getting ready to put my engine back in in a month probably. So I'll probably be more active again soon.

Have you tried Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders? I don't know if you have access to it in Europe, but if not I've heard diesel or auto transmission fluid can help free cylinders too. Or maybe PB blaster. Just let the fluid set on top of the pistons for a day or so and see if it frees up.

If you want to clean up the piston heads real quick, carb cleaner ripped through my carbon buildup. spray on, wipe off. Worked great.

Hey Weelan, nice to talk to you again.
I really look forward to see your engine, the mods sound tasty!
I don't have that product here in Italy but I'm already using WD40 mixed with oil. 3 pistons already drained the fluids, but piston #4 is still a no no. Tomorrow morning I will try with some diesel and hopefully it will be better.
Yeah, piston heads are easy to clean with WD40 too, just trying to make the pistons moving ATM... lol!

Thanks to both of you for the suggestions and the help

[djape1977]

remove the crankshaft and then use a piece of hardwood (oak or something like that) and a big hammer. if it doesn't move, get a bigger hammer

[RCSquadraCorse]

That's what we're talking about! Lol!
Thanks for the heads up!

[fiatfactory]

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[RCSquadraCorse]

Grazie mille Steve, glad you like it!
The bodywork is ok, it has some bubble and minor scratches on the paint but that doesn't bother me ATM also because the car won't be a garage queen. I will think about a respray in a few years maybe!
I will try to get a copy of the factory workshop manual even if it seems to be impossible to find it... I've already looked for it before buying the manual that I know have
As for the tools, I'm buying everything needed during the process. Unfortunately tools are sooo expensive here compared to the US! However I'm trying my best and I want to learn a lot from this restoration!
BTW I'm lucky to live in a beautiful Country but unfortunately here we have a lot of problems lately... economy, politics and so on... oh well, you cannot have everything I guess!
I live in Milan but the car is stored 1 hour away from the Garda Lake where there is my mum's farm. Plenty of space here while in Milan the prices for the garages are absolutely crazy!

[RCSquadraCorse]

Last time I was stuck with this: a silly intake manifold that didn't want to come off of the head


Luckily enough, today THOR popped up in my mancave and lent me his hammer ---> Victory!


As djape said, if it doesn't work with the hammer, get a bigger hammer! Lol! Well said man!


Now ask me why it was that stuck into the head...


As you can see in the pic above, the hole on the right was completely filled with crap and this is how it should be instead:


Crap on the manifold side:


I think the machine shop will have fun with this one! Lol!


While piston #4 after 24+ hours still has a pool of disel on it, that means that is completely stuck...


Will try to dismantle the rest of the engine to get that piston out with the usual "impact force". I'm becoming good at this!
Just one question though:
On the manual I see that it should get a special tool and slide hammer puller to remove the pilot bearing from the cranckshaft... is there any other way to do it without that special tool?

[djape1977]

yes but you'll destroy the bearing in the process.

in 90% of engines i've worked on, pilot bearing was ok,just needed to be washed and re-greased. you probably don't need to remove it, just remove the dust cover from beating, wash it several times with degreaser (brake cleaner spray works excellent) and put in new grease. if you have any experience with bearings of any kind, you'll be able to tell if it's ok or not after greasing.

[RCSquadraCorse]

Engine is fully dismantled now. I'll go back to Milan in a couple of days and I will bring with me head and block to be machined.
Now, photos time.

Thermostat looks really nasty! Small rocks of oxyd both outside and inside the housing and the result is a snapped bolt into the head...:



Oil pump. It does looks good but there is a proper way to clean and open all the small holes on it?


Aux shaft bearings look good too and since they are in decent conditions I left them on the block:



Removed the rear inspection place aaaaaand... woah, litterally a block of crap came off from there! Just have a look at what's left in it:


How nice is my small block completely dismantled :


As for the stuck piston #4, this is how the cylinder looks:


And this is the piston itself (I guess I now have 4 new ashtrays... Lol!):



Last but not least... one of the lobes on the exhaust cam shaft (cyl #1) is COMPLETELY worn! How come?!? Valve shim is worn too of course but this means only one thing... more $$$ to spend...:

[fiatfactory]

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[RCSquadraCorse]

The piston is ruined at the bottom, so I think i will go for the overbore route in any case. Engine will be a lot more fresh with new pistons so it's all good. Just have to find the oversize parts I need and a good machine shop that will do the job and clean thoroughly both head and block. Since I'm already spending a good amount of cash, 200 Euro won't make any difference.

[djape1977]

get yourself a pair of cams from newer fiats, with wider lobes. from 1585cc, 1756 or 1995. anything from 1974 fiat 132, tru 124 spiders, 131, ritmo, regata etc, pretty much anything with twincam engine will do. those cams are longer lasting, in fact i'm yet to see a damaged one.

[hamlet]

I know this is a lot to take on, but man if you follow through this car will truly be yours. It's a truly classic car and an overbore + oversize pistons will be fun, and if you can handle this stuff you can handle anything. Don't give up!

[RCSquadraCorse]

get yourself a pair of cams from newer fiats, with wider lobes. from 1585cc, 1756 or 1995. anything from 1974 fiat 132, tru 124 spiders, 131, ritmo, regata etc, pretty much anything with twincam engine will do. those cams are longer lasting, in fact i'm yet to see a damaged one.

You're an endless and priceless resource man, thanks for the info. I will send you a PM soon about some parts.

I know this is a lot to take on, but man if you follow through this car will truly be yours. It's a truly classic car and an overbore + oversize pistons will be fun, and if you can handle this stuff you can handle anything. Don't give up!

Yeah, this restoration is definitely getting huge considering my first impressions/hopes. It's all good tho, I'm learning a lot of stuff thanks also to some great chaps that are helping me here on the forum and I'm really enjoying it. Moreover considering what I'm going to do it will be basically completely renewed from a mechanical POV (engine, transmission, suspensions and brakes). I do really care about this car and even if it will still take a lot of time before hitting the road again I know that the satisfaction will be 2 or 3 times bigger after all the work I'm doing by myself. Thanks for giving me more confidence man, I appreciate it