Spyder restoration - long time coming

[peteracs]

Hi Eric

Thanks for the input, I will order up a lower temp one and see how it goes.

I have now done 700+ miles which have thrown up the issues noted before, but today was the get it very wet day. As most of you in England will have experienced today was a rather wet one, so decided it was time to test out a real world driving and sitting in the rain and see how the car coped. I was somewhat dreading this as there are numerous ways water can get into the car on a Spider and hence lead to the rotten floor etc commonly found. The issues found during the day were actually very little given the amount of rain. The seal I have on the doors meets in the top rear corner, but is not sealed as per original and a small amount of water came in via that small gap, but only withete heaviest rain and not during driving. The car was parked on a slight slope and a small amount of water came in the very front corner of the rear hood where my hood does not fit that well and was on the higher side. I could not see any other water ingress even during the 1.5 hour drive home. I will have a better look around the carpet tomorrow to assess if I have missed any more. The boot appears perfectly dry, again will take out the mat and just double check tomorrow.

One small job I have started on is the clock. This is an analogue type with an electric motor driven. I thought it would work ok when first powered up, but it randomly just stops after maybe a day or so. Moving the hands starts it off again. I took it off the dash and opened it up. The motor assembly comprises of the motor attached to a small circuit board which has two electrolytic capacitors amongst other items on it. Electrolytics have a history of failing after long periods of time, so I have ordered replacements and will apply a little oil to the moving parts and then leave it testing to see how long it runs for.

Peter

[Neil-yaj396]

At least you don't have the digital clock. I bought a second hand one years ago and have never got round to testing or fitting it, which involves digging out the radio then the fiddly retaining plate/heater control cover.....

[peteracs]

Hi Neil

Still not that simple with this one as access is via the front screw on panel, but mainly via the speaker opening on top of the dash which is very awkward, already dropped a washer which will only be found if the dash ever gets removed again...!

The two caps on the circuit board have now been replaced and tried to drop a spot of oil on each of the gears via one of the dentist tools, dipping it in 3 in 1 oil and tapping against each cog. Now have left it balanced just outside the dash and running to see if it survives for more than a few days. Already sounds a little quieter, so fingers crossed.

Peter

[peteracs]

Hi All

A few weeks in France, so just back and full result as the clock has kept time for the best part of 5 weeks which it would not last more tha a few days before. If anyone has one of the older electro mechanical clocks which either does not move or fails after a time, then worth trying this as the caps are cheap. Happy to help if you need it.

Next job is to try fixing the two weeps on the petrol tank.

Peter

[peteracs]

Hi

Bit of an update, some a bit late but here we go.

I dropped the petrol tank down after draining it and had a vague idea where there was a small weep on the tank in two places. However I could not establish exactly where, so I cleaned the general area of the two places I had seen some residue and then applied the ‘Petrol Putty’ I had bought. Then applied some paint and Waxoyl. Tank back in and will wait to see if that has solved the issue.

Final prep for the NEC show was to apply some ceramic coating which sort of went ok, though buffing it up was a bit of a chore. Has it made a difference, yes, feels smoother, though not had the opportunity to put the hose pipe on it to see how well the water runs off it!

A few other small jobs were also done, one was the two Sun blinds were too loose and would descend during a journey, thankfully a simple job to tighten the clamp screw.

So on to the NEC this last Thursday. All went well until I was in a slow queue for the assembly car park and the temp started to rise and steam appeared! I pulled out the queue and parked up thinking I may have another pin hole leak, but it turned out to be the fuse for the radiator fan had blown. It was a 16A one (not sure what the suggested rating is at present) so replaced with a 40A which is all I had available. Top up of water and back in the queue, all was well.

The return journey from the NEC was my first in darkness and hence the first to assess the lights. It turns out they are most acceptable on both dipped and main beam, so happy with mods I made to the dipped ones via the relay. The only issue on the way back is an annoying fuse bad connection for the door and internal light which also powers the clock. It happened before, so am going to check the fuse holder clips for tarnishing etc.

Peter

[Neil-yaj396]

Glad that your journeys went well Peter and sorry that I couldn't make the show. Must be really satisfying to get your car out, about, seen and admired.

[smithymc]

Indeed Peter- great work all round. Well done.

[peteracs]

Hi Neil, Mark

Thanks, yes nice experience, hopefully repeated with the HPE in a few years time…..

Peter

[peteracs]

Back to reality after the show and one job I wanted to do was check the valve gaps. So off with the cam covers, out with the feeler gauges (imperial ones I have had for years) and checked them all. Results are in thou

Exhaust
1   16
2   17
3   18
4   19

Inlet
1   15
2.  15
3.  12
4   17

So not too bad, but do need improving as most are out of spec. I have always thought the engine did not give a smooth delivery which may be explained by the varying gaps.

Now I need to sort out the valve tappet tool which I have had for a while, but needs a bit of tweaking to work acceptably. Once sorted I can check the shim sizes and sort out the replacement sizes required.

Peter

[Nigel]

This is a task I haven't done on my car yet.

According to Haynes, only 2 are out of spec. What figures are you using Peter?

In any case I would adjust towards the wide side.

Sorry to miss you at the show, I was there on Saturday.

Regards, Nigel

[peteracs]

Hi Nigel

Sorry I missed you, cannot cope with 3 days on the stand!

As to out of spec ones, my reading of Haynes the gaps should be (in thou as I am using imperial feeler gauges and micrometer)

Exhaust Expected 18.8 +- 1.2
Inlet Expected 16.5 +- 1.2

So the out of spec are exhaust cyls 1 & 2, inlet 1, 2 & 3

Having never tried adjusting these gaps before I had a play with a spare cylinder head. I have the tool, albeit not the highest quality one I think. It took me a fair time to work out how you use it and had to tweak it to fit snugly. Also getting the shim out of the bucket was also an interesting task which required some thought as the shim covered in oil is effective held in with suction and you need to break that to get it loose. Finally removing the shim proved interesting as very slippy to get hold of until I realised that a magnetic stick works well.

I did remove one of the exhaust shims today and had arranged all the spare shims I had in order. Of course the one I needed was not one I had, so will have to be ordered after I have checked the other 4 that are out of spec.

Peter

[WestonE]

Hi Peter

a Fine flat head screwdriver and a magnet on a stick tool will help with the shims. As does a syringe to remove some oil to a handy clean jam jar.

Enjoy

Eric
PS when not under pressure you can rotate the buckets to get the slot facing you. Having brand new 3.50 and 4.00 reference shims and digital vernier to check shim thickness helps. Never re-use scored shims and inspect the cam lobe the shim came from for wear. 

[peteracs]

Hi Eric

Thanks for ideas. I did use a pair of tweezers to loosen and magnet on stick to remove. Interestingly a Fiat forum suggested factory technical to loosen shim was via a fine jet of compressed air.

Peter

[WestonE]

Hi Peter

I think Compressed Air would be messy frankly. I wonder if that was posted as a joke?

Eric

[peteracs]

Hi Eric

Definitely not a joke, more than one person mentioned using it to loosen the shim. Yes could be very messy, need to suck out oil and cover before trying it. Think I will stick with tweezers…..

I have a fair selection of shims with plenty of intermediate sizes from engines I have stripped.

Peter

[Nigel]

Hi Peter,
I can now see that you're using a mid-point between the given values as an 'expected'.

I took the values to be acceptable if a clearance is anywhere between the two figures.

Regards,
Nigel

[peteracs]

Hi Nigel

Not sure what figures you are referring to in the

“Anywhere between the two figures”?

Peter

[peteracs]

For the first time in a long while had a full day working on the betas. I finally worked out a system to remove and replace the valve shims quickly. It involves a valve shim tool, without it forget trying to do it as will probably end in tears, a pair of tweezers (or small blade which is used to loosen the shim) and two magnets on a stick. Usually one magnet is enough, but did have to use two on a couple of them to get them out of the bucket.

End result after measuring the ones I have as spares and the ones I have removed is that I have ordered two new ones which should give me the correct spec for all valves, so not an expensive end result.

That was the morning, the afternoon I spent on the HPE, see HPE thread!

Peter

[Nigel]

Hi Peter,
Here's the page from my Haynes, you'll see that your figures are
almost exactly a median of these.

[peteracs]

Hi Nigel

Yes, that was the info I was working from.

Peter