Category: Uncategorized

Blocking and crisp lines.

Back down on the ground. A quick check looking over everything at the intended height.

A second coat of epoxy, followed by more sanding, and Glasurit 285 urethane primer. The home stretch, kind of.

Chipping away on the assembly of this Lancia Fulvia S3 engine. Which, now features a NOS cylinder block, NOS cylinder head, +.040″ pistons, new bearings, and much more.

Building blocks. Mating the crankcase and cylinder block. This is a late Fulvia engine, so it already features roll pins in the oil passages, a fix that helps remedy oil leaks between these two components.

Being a mid-1970s post Lancia/Fiat merger car, it utilizes a lot of Fiat-branded hardware. We replated most of the speciality hardware in silver or yellow zinc.

One of two Solex C35 carburetors sporting a freshly vapor-blasted body, new throttle shaft bushings, and more.

Waiting on half-moon valve cover gaskets, flywheel bolts, and a few more bits. TBC.

And, make a mess in the engine bay. This faulty radiator cap resulted in a constant stream out the overflow tube and top of the radiator. The crack was partially hidden behind the rubber seal. Sometimes it’s easy?

As delivered with some metal work addressed, and some more required.

Easy access from below to address some rust repair, and remove a few dents and dings.

All epoxy primed with some light filler work underway.

Ready for block sanding.

And sections of the interior…

White for the inside.

A few coats of Glasurit 285 for the final prime.

Keeping it fresh on the bottom.

Two-tone base and clear for the top.

Ready to be picked up. Our favorite part!

Excited to see this one go back together quickly in the owner’s hands!

We recently took on a Jaguar E-Type with a problematic head gasket, experiencing normal faulty head gasket symptoms – white smoke and an over-pressurized cooling system. Overall, the car wears an older restoration, and comes equipped with a number of modifications, including power from a later-model XK engine punched out to 4.5-liters with forged pistons, hotter cams, and more.

Upon disassembly, it became apparent some questionable repairs were undertaken at some point in the past. Note the threaded insert.

So… earlier Jaguar engines utilized shorter head studs. Beginning with the 4.2-liter engines, longer studs were added, and threaded into the (stronger) base of the cooling jacket, while the shorter studs remained on the four front and rearmost studs. The problem with these long stud engines begins when corrosion in the cooling system occurs, which is almost inevitable in any older vehicle. This particular XK block had two broken studs, that had rusted to such a point, they lost their integrity. The engine builder’s fix, was to leave the remnants in the block, and add two shorter studs to the deck. Not a kosher fix, in my opinion.

Conveniently, Jaguar placed. a freeze plug at the base of each stud. Through this hole, we were able to file/grind the old stud flat and center punch it for drilling. The drill bits for this application are 12″ long, and we use a specially made drill guide (not pictured) to keep the drilling perpendicular.

All drilled out.

Extended Heli-Coil tapping and insertion tools are unavailable. So we make them.

Going in.

And, the new Heli-Coil.

All new ARP studs installed.

It turns out the heater block plug for later XK engines utilizes a British Leyland thread, and a suitable replacement is unavailable. We ended up making one out of chunk a of 6061 aluminum.

The modified head was resurfaced and received six new exhaust valves before reassembly.

Valve clearances were set on the work bench. So the head is ready to be torqued down before we double check the cam timing.

We also made a few changes to the Weber induction system, including a new fuel line with braided German hose and T-fitting borrowed from an Alfa 2600, as well as redesigned throttle return springs. More to follow on this project.

We recently encountered a Lancia Fulvia that left the owner stranded after refusing to shift into any gear, whatsoever. The culprit was a seized pilot bearing. Which, as it turns out makes separating the gearbox from the engine – no easy feat. Removal involved sliding the gearbox back approximately 1/2″ to gain access to the bolts securing the pressure plate to the flywheel. From there, with a little brute force, we were able to pull the pilot bearing through the sheetmetal lock ring/retainer on the flywheel. 

Ideally, you should never have to remove a clutch disc, pilot bearing, and pressure plate as one assembly. The pilot bearing, in this instance, welded its self onto the main transmission shaft.

The inner section of the lock ring keeps the pilot bearing in the flywheel, and the flared edge on the center hole should not be there.

The original flywheel was cleaned up and resurfaced before being reinstalled with a new clutch assembly, pilot and throwout bearings, and a lock plate. We’re glad to the report the car shifted lovely after this service.

This 911SC was acquired by one of our customers earlier this summer, and may present like a relatively stock narrow-body G-series 911. However, it packs some extra punch, in the form of a turbo setup. The modifications were undertaken by the previous owner, with lots of input from the Pelican Parts forum and whatever was available in their garage. It’s a great concept, though it lacks in a few areas, and is in the shop for some tidying up.

Mechanicals aside, we decided to start with a fresh set of RSR-style 16″ reconditioned Fuchs for some inspiration.

Then we started revamping the turbocharger installation, piece by piece, beginning with the turbo oil return system. Unlike the factory 930 setup – which utilizes its own oil scavenge pump and plumbing, this turbo conversion utilizes a simplified oil return system that returns the turbocharger’s oil to the crankcase and primary scavenge pump. Starting with this large chunk of aluminum, we began turning a new sump plate.

The old sump plate is shown on the right. It was a little rough, and too much of a liability to have dangling beneath the car. The new sump plate is shown on the right awaiting some countersunk mounting holes, and final machining.

The new 5/8″ turbocharger oil return line, made from stainless steel, flared on one end, and tucked up as far underneath as possible.

A new ducktail from Gary Stratton. Ready to be wet sanded and polished before reassembly. Much more to follow on this project including a 930 intercooler install and a Motronic intake manifold swap.

A single-family-owned Rover made a trip down from Cape Cod earlier this summer, where it has been a faithful beach cruiser for many decades. The owner’s were tasked with refreshing the mechanicals, and asked me for an assist with metal and paint. 

Corrosion has taken a toll on parts of the body. So, we started by re-skinning the barn door.

A new rear threshold was required, along with some patches on each rear body panel, followed by some light filler work.

We capped all of this off with a new rear bumper, and then this rig was back to Cape Cod for many more summers.

As we wrap up the engine work on the Series 1 E-Type project in the shop, we began to clean up a few details at the customer request. 

The heater assembly was inoperable and looking a bit tired. Subsequently, we tore it all apart, media-blasted the housing, and powdercoated it before install a new motor, fan, screen, and Negative Earth badge.

New oversize wheels from MWS

Repaired and refinished subframes were installed, followed by much more!

Looking pretty tidy.