'67.5 SPL311 1600 Roadster Restoration: Let the fun begin!

[bmccarthy67]

If you travel north on I-95 anytime and have a veh that could transport it, you are welcome to pick up my rotisserie and door brace bars (Savannah, GA). Since you're pulling the body it will allow you to spin it and do the underside. It's purpose built for Roadster pick up points (you can see on my Dec 19 resto page). It just sits in a shed out back and when done I'll store again for future Roadster folks. Anyway, available if you need it.

v/r
Buddy

[Florida Roadster]

If you travel north on I-95 anytime and have a veh that could transport it, you are welcome to pick up my rotisserie and door brace bars (Savannah, GA). Since you're pulling the body it will allow you to spin it and do the underside. It's purpose built for Roadster pick up points (you can see on my Dec 19 resto page). It just sits in a shed out back and when done I'll store again for future Roadster folks. Anyway, available if you need it.

v/r
Buddy

Buddy, thank you for the kind offer, I may take you up on it. I don't have a van, might have to rent a trailer. Does the rotisserie break down into pieces at all? Let me see how things go over the next few months. Maybe a vacation to Savannah is in order. It's been a while since I've been up that way, used to do motorcycle track days at Roebling Road. I'll check out your resto page, thanks! Jeff

[bmccarthy67]

it does break down...two triangles off the engine stands, a back and front bracket that bolt to pick up points on body and a long bar to connect front and rear braces (plus the two small door frame brackets when removing doors). Again, it's here if you need it...Roebling is great and we have Hutchinson Island that also sponsors vintage races!

v/r
Buddy

[Florida Roadster]

Getting prepared for body cart v2. Bought new caster wheels, a few new 4"x4" posts, and re-cut some of the old wood from body cart v1.

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[Florida Roadster]

Removed the dash and labeled all the wires. Love the simplicity of this car. Reminds me of when I was a kid working on cars.

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[Florida Roadster]

Removed the head to inspect the internal condition of the engine. Only broke 2 head bolts and 1 water pump bolt. I guess that's good??? The 5 bolts on the intake/exhaust side of the engine were hella tight, rusted, seized, and "fused" to the head for lack of a better word. The opposite side head bolts were all clean, free, and came right out. Is this the norm for these engines? Push rods were straight, no broken valve springs, valves, combustion chambers, piston tops, and cylinder walls don't look terrible. What do the experts here think? It seemed like there was more oil and carbon on the rear cylinder.

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[Gregs672000]

Hard to tell. Looks tired but not like it saw any major problems. Probably needs a full rebuild, but only measurements and more inspection will tell you if you need pistons, valves and guides. On a U20 you need to watch for the valve seats being pounded into the head (the valve will recede further and further) but I don't know if that happens with the R.

[Florida Roadster]

Hard to tell. Looks tired but not like it saw any major problems. Probably needs a full rebuild, but only measurements and more inspection will tell you if you need pistons, valves and guides. On a U20 you need to watch for the valve seats being pounded into the head (the valve will recede further and further) but I don't know if that happens with the R.

Thank you, yes it will be getting a full rebuild. It seems to me that it "ran when last parked". I haven't been able note any major damage or problems anywhere. Should be a good base to start the rebuild with. Still reading and learning all the ins and outs of these motors. More power would be nice, but I want a driver, I don't ever want to worry about reliability. Jeff

[unklpat]

The head looks pretty tired, you can see several recessed valves. Cyl #4 is in the best shape, look at how recessed Cyl #1 and #2 are. Only my opinion, but you can MIC how far the stems protrude from the head. Do not skimp on the head, there are better seats, guides, and valves available now. The worst thing that can happen is dropping a valve seat. Ask me how I know. Actually, the worst thing that can happen, is having to pull your motor/trans 1 year after rebuilding your trans. Pat

[Florida Roadster]

The head looks pretty tired, you can see several recessed valves. Cyl #4 is in the best shape, look at how recessed Cyl #1 and #2 are. Only my opinion, but you can MIC how far the stems protrude from the head. Do not skimp on the head, there are better seats, guides, and valves available now. The worst thing that can happen is dropping a valve seat. Ask me how I know. Actually, the worst thing that can happen, is having to pull your motor/trans 1 year after rebuilding your trans. Pat

Thanks for the advice. Sorry you had to pull your motor. Jeff

[RustBucket]

The intake/exhaust side always seems to be the hard side to come out. Maybe they get cooked by the exhaust or something. Going to be fun getting those broken bolts/studs out.
Rustbucket

[Florida Roadster]

The intake/exhaust side always seems to be the hard side to come out. Maybe they get cooked by the exhaust or something. Going to be fun getting those broken bolts/studs out.
Rustbucket

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It's going to take a bigger hammer. (most likely going to have to break out the heat)

[Gregs672000]

Regarding more power... as has been demonstrated, a stroked R can produce very healthy U20 power +, but of course that comes at a cost. You already have better induction via the Webers, but an engine is a system and restrictions elsewhere will minimize their effect. An engine is an air pump... more air/fuel in and out the better. Consider spending money on some cyclinder head port work by someone who knows what they are doing, match the cam to the improved flow (keep duration reasonable, add some lift, keeping in mind that you don't want an engine that's a dog below 4000 rpm), make sure the ignition system is solid, meaning EI or 123 dizzy. The 123 has the advantage of being able to adjust your timing curve anywhere you want. Research has shown that ignition timing is very important for power, much more so than getting the air/fuel ratios perfect. I don't know if anyone has messed with their timing curves on a stockish engine on a dyno to see what improvement can be had over the stock curve, but on my motor it's life or death (high compression). Adding displacement via stroking is great too, but a much more involved and expensive effort that really needs some head etc work to produce its best power. Setting up the Webers correctly will help the car be more responsive and pleasant to drive, so a wideband is very helpful as is selecting the correct main choke sizes.

[Florida Roadster]

The intake/exhaust side always seems to be the hard side to come out. Maybe they get cooked by the exhaust or something. Going to be fun getting those broken bolts/studs out.
Rustbucket

I was able to remove the broken water pump bolt and front head bolt with applied heat from a torch. The rear broken bolt is too short to grab hold of so I'm going to have to weld a nut onto it to remove. The good news is that is slightly loose and does spin, I just can't get any leverage on it.

[Florida Roadster]

Regarding more power... as has been demonstrated, a stroked R can produce very healthy U20 power +, but of course that comes at a cost. You already have better induction via the Webers, but an engine is a system and restrictions elsewhere will minimize their effect. An engine is an air pump... more air/fuel in and out the better. Consider spending money on some cyclinder head port work by someone who knows what they are doing, match the cam to the improved flow (keep duration reasonable, add some lift, keeping in mind that you don't want an engine that's a dog below 4000 rpm), make sure the ignition system is solid, meaning EI or 123 dizzy. The 123 has the advantage of being able to adjust your timing curve anywhere you want. Research has shown that ignition timing is very important for power, much more so than getting the air/fuel ratios perfect. I don't know if anyone has messed with their timing curves on a stockish engine on a dyno to see what improvement can be had over the stock curve, but on my motor it's life or death (high compression). Adding displacement via stroking is great too, but a much more involved and expensive effort that really needs some head etc work to produce its best power. Setting up the Webers correctly will help the car be more responsive and pleasant to drive, so a wideband is very helpful as is selecting the correct main choke sizes.

Thanks for the advice, I'm definitely going to build a stroker, keeping the matching numbers engine. I have a brand new ignition system that came with the car. I don't know the brand though, is there a way to tell from the pictures below? With a wideband AFR do you have to weld a bung for 02 sensor in the exhaust? Jeff

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