It's been about a month, so we're well overdue for another update. The shop that is building my new engine needed a couple bits off the old one for balancing, including the crank pulley. Unfortunately, my old block is still in the car and it quickly became clear that removing the crank pulley was going to be tricky. There's really no room for an impact gun between the side of the block and engine bay. After failed attempts with a two-foot breaker bar, I called on a somewhat local forum member, Dean, who just so happened to have the pulley I needed on one of his spare engines. Dean lives closer to my mechanic than I do and graciously volunteered to not just loan me the pulley, but run it over to the shop for me. Thanks again, Dean -- lunch is on me when I get down to visit!
The engine will probably be finished in May or early June, so I've gotten started on rebuilding the brake and clutch hydraulics. When I got the car, the clutch pedal was on the floor and the brake pedal gave no resistance. The clutch slave cylinder was blown out and the brake calipers were also frozen, making pushing the car around a real burden. Basically, a full rebuild is needed.
I've been periodically spraying the connection between the front brake hard lines and flexible hoses with PB Blaster since nearly every car I've worked on in the past has been a challenge to get those two lines separated. Must have worked, as these were the easiest hoses to get off that I've experienced -- took just a few minutes each and the hard line nuts were not rounded in the least.
Removing the pistons from the front calipers went nowhere near as easily at first. I started off using compressed air, but even 60 psi wasn't making them budge. I got nervous about cranking up the pressure further than that, so Plan B was to use a grease gun to pump grease into the calipers through the hose port. This worked extremely well, and 20 minutes later both pistons were free. The seals were pretty toasted. Given the effort the pistons took to remove, I was worried about the condition they'd be in, but they look pretty good after the judicious use of brake cleaner, metal polish and some very fine steel wool. The caliper bores look pretty good too, but I need to finish thoroughly cleaning them, especially after packing them full of grease. I also need to clean up the sliding wedges and other hardware.
I have rebuild kits from Midwest-Bayless for both front and rear brakes, as well as new stainless braided hoses to install all around. My goal is to finish the fronts this weekend, then start on the rears. The final (and probably most difficult) part will be replacing the brake and clutch master cylinders with new spares from MWB. If I don't complete that job by the time the engine is finished, I may be tempted to save my back and let my mechanic have all the fun. We'll see.
Also, I ordered a set of 15x7 Ronal A1 replicas from Centerline Alfa when they had them on sale and they arrived the other day. The wheels look great and are a decent weight for the size -- they're made by a Swiss company called Maxilite which also does Fuchs replicas for Porsches, among other historic wheel designs. They're also TuV certified, so they should be safer than the original Ronals which I've heard have a tendency to fail under extreme use. A set of Dunlop Direzza DZ102 tires will be used. These tires appealed to me for three reasons: 1) they're fairly inexpensive for an ultra-high performance summer tire 2) I could get them in a staggered 195/50 front and 205/50 rear, to help preserve steering feel and 3) they're an older design with a little less grip than the best tires in this segment (like BF Goodrich Sport Comp 2) which means they'll look a little more aggressive than stock while still allowing the car to move around a little on the road. Massive grip is fun on the track, but I like to be able to get a little more movement on the street.
A few photos below...