Hello from WI

[bdhudson]

Just joined today. Purchased a 1966 1600 about four years ago in very rough condition. So far resortation work on it has been sporatic, most of that seeming to be more backwards than forward. Found the frame was damaged as well as one of the front coil springs. Obtained a replacement frame (1969) but had to take the engine, trans, and rear axle with it (no front susp). Moved the original front susp to the 69 frame and Tim (another WI member) donated a set of front coil springs. The frame and suspension was finished end of this past summer so now its on to repairing the body and the engine.

My shed is not heated so work on it is not a winter thing however a couple of weeks ago we had temps in the high 30s and that is enough to work for a while so I started cleaning up the original engine. A bit of (1966) engine history--it had sat for some 10 years but did not take too much to get it running at it seemed to run faily well. Someone in its past had installed a non-smog alum head. However when I removed the intake and exhaust and was cleaning the block I found the block appears to have been cracked and welded up. There are weld lines just under the freeze plugs and extending up between the middle and rear plug.

The weld appears not to leak coolant but I think I will use the 69 block and move the 66 front pulley and water pump to the 69 block--at least I think they will transfer. But then....I noticed while hand turning the 69 crank all did not seem correct on the valves and their up and downs. The valves seemed to be 90 degrees or so off. The intake was opening on the piston's up stroke while the exhaust opened on a down stroke?!! The timing markes on the cam and crank sprockets lined up. It took two beers and a couple of hours of pondering to guess the key in the camshaft must have falled out when the sprocket was installed, probably fell un-noticed into the oil pan and although the marks stay lined up the cam has moved and maybe continues to do so. There were signs of recent seal-a-gasket on the front cover to indicate the possibility someone worked on it.

My next move is to drop the oil pan and see if there is a key laying in there. Even though I am dying to find out that will have to wait for a warmer day as it is now -2 degrees. If I find the key then plan to re-install it and see if the compression is OK. Anyone know if a 1600 is an interference (valve to piston) engine?

That about sums up my roadster history. With luck the body repairs will be done and the car in primer by the end of the coming summer. Cannot predict future status on the engine until warmer temps allow for more investigation.

I really like this roadster but I did forget one of the first rules of restoration--what you can see that needs work is only, AT BEST, one third of what you will find that needs work. Even so I have actually got more attached to it, it has kind of become like the little Xmas tree in the old Charlie Brown cartoon. Thanks for letting me ramble on, I have nothing else to do on a Sunday with the temp at -2.

[Nissanman]

-2
I had a day indoors yesterday because it was +38degC!

Welcome to the Forum and say hello to Tim for me, we communicate on email now and then.

If the relationship between the crank and cam has been compromised, I would NOT be rotating the engine AT ALL until everything is re-timed.

[Mattk]

Welcome to the forum. I lived in MKE for ten years and I gotta say I don't miss the winters... But now that I'm in Dallas I do miss the summers...oh well

Youll find the forum a great resource of all things roadster and Tim is a great resource as well, got my flat dash from him when I was visiting last summer

Post some Picts and enjoy your new addition

Matthew

PS. GO PACK GO

[tjp]

Hey Brian! Great to see you on this site finally!! And it was my pleasure to donate the springs. I hope I can help you out some more. Part availability in this state has grown my leaps and bounds so check local before you ship from out of state.
talk to ya
tim

[bdhudson]

OK, I joined two days ago and get to show my ignorance right off.

I cannot seem to figure out how to add PICs of my project to this introduuction. When I first typed out my intro I tried copying and pasting a couple of PICs but that did not work so I just went ahead and submitted it without.

However Jeremy from Calgary sent in an itroduction shortly after I did had and his looks great with PICs nicely in place.

Any ideas out there what I am missing?

[S Allen]

Here is a blurb about posting pictures. If you still need help--ask I will assist further.
http://www.311s.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.ph ... 084#p38084
I removed the size restraints on the Photo Gallery so uploading should be easy.

Steve

[notoptoy]

First welcome! Second, when you use the FULL EDITOR, and use the reply button, down BELOW the submit button is another dialog box. Use this to select the picture file you want, and make sure to click "ADD FILE" before submitting. If you want you can preview to see how it looks. You can add multiple files, just keep adding the files.

EDIT: Steve beat me too it!

[Gregs672000]

It will be very interesting to see what you find in relation to cam and crank timing. Post pics when and if you can. If the cam is rotating without restriction, ANY engine will eventually become an "interference" engine!

[bdhudson]

Thanks to all for helping with the picture attachment. Here are a few pics of my currenty frigid restoration project.

The first two are of the 1600 as purchased.

img 001.JPG

img 002.JPG

The next two are of the completed frame and suspension

img 003.JPG

img 004.JPG

the last pic is of the surprise welding job found on the 1966 engine block.

img 005.jpg

Thanks again everyone. Hopefully more to come as soon as the temps get above the freezing mark.

[bdhudson]

Well I could not wait any longer so I went out to the shed yesterday and dropped the oil pan. No cam key found. I do not know where the key went but it is not in the camshaft slot where it should be nor in the oil pan where it would seem is its most likely resting place if it fell out while someone was sliding the cam sprocket on. That left removing the head to see if the valves had contacted the pistons.

After taking a break and warming up (could only work about an hour before the fingers get a bit numb) I removed the head and yes the exhaust valves appear to have just touched the pistons. They have left a small curved mark in the carbon deposits on the pistons. The valves appear to be sitting flat in their seats but if they are bent it would not be much and I do not know if it would be visable. In any case this head does have a couple of other issues. It has a broken stud on the water inlet and a coolant fitting just above the temp sensor is crushed into an oval shape from what appears to have been a vise grip attempt to remove it.

So after warming up a second time I removed the head from the 66 motor (the one with the welded block). The 66 head looks to be in good shape and has no obvious problems. Current thinking is to take the 66 head to the machine shop next week and have them go over it and grind the valves. Then I think I will use only the 69s block assembly and take the rest (head, intake, carbs, front crank pulley, water pump, distributor, etc) from the 66 motor and install onto the 69 block. But all that will need to wait for the warmer temps of spring--whenever that is. Once work starts up again I will post the progress on the "Member Rides" section.

Thanks to everyone for their feedback and if anyone knows of any problems with moving items from the engish thread 66 motor onto the metric thread 69 block please let me know. I did try setting a metric head bolt thru the 66 head and it goes thru and seems to be a good fit. I have also put the 66 front pulley on the 69 crank and it appears to fit well. Have not tried the water pump yet. Thanks again everyone.