Progess on the 77X

carl

True Classic
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Thought I would start a posting on this car that I got a month ago.

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Yanked the motor to clean up the engine bay and the motor.

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Motor is cleaned up with oil pan removed to check for condition of bottom end. Pan was clean on the inside and bearings good. Installed new timing belt and tensioner. The car had AC added and I had all parts needed to delete this including crank pulley, timing plate, proper non AC alternator and water pump.

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This is the header that's going on it in place of the stock exhaust.

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Stripped the interior to check for condition of the floor and to remove the nasty carpet and padding. Floor is in great shape and the seats slid out without any major wresting.
Ordered a clutch kit and when it comes I can reassemble the motor and trans and install back in the car. I had already spent quality time cleaning the engine bay. This is a sympathetic resto so I do not plan to repaint the engine bay, it's in pretty good shape as is. Managed to get all four rubber brake lines loose from the hard lines so that was great news. I will be installing SS flex lines.
 
So carl.... this car should be showing up in FS&W pretty soon??? ;):cool::p:D
 
Looking good.

Funny story. When I was doing some similar cleaning and checking of a newly acquired X, I put the same plastic cap over the vent fitting to keep debris out...just like you did here:
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After going through things, changing fluids, normal serving, etc, I started it for the first time. Made sure the oil pressure came up properly and just let it idle for a couple minutes to watch the temp while it warmed up. Seemed like it was running smoothly so I opened the throttle a little, and suddenly I heard a rather loud "POP". Oh shat, what just broke? Shut it down and started looking for the damage. Found out I'd forgotten to remove that plastic cap and as the RPM came up there was enough internal pressure to blow the cap off....'pop'. Relief. :oops:
 
Jim, what a cheap shot! You join the ranks of my questionable local friends and my highly questionable friends on MIRA. Actually I hope to get my spider on the BAT auction this month (this will be the second time I have sold this car).

Yes, Jeff, that plug comes in handy on Fiat motors when cleaning them up. Hopefully I'll remember to remove it. Lots of blue painter's tape notes all over the car! I have to repair the stripped coolant pipe drain up front but think I will just JB Weld in the bolt that goes in it.....and I have a painter's tape note to that effect on the front fender.
 
I bought some painter's tape at the local Ace hardware for the explicit purpose of making notes on Fiats and found it had the manufacturer's name all over it.....useless for my purposes!

More on progress, I cleaned up and rejected the 34 DATR 35 that was on it. I googled the numbers and it's off some Citroen model and the jetting was way too lean for my purposes but fortunately had the jets I needed. Cleaned up the genuine 1974 intake manifold and sealed up the one vac and one coolant port. Clutch kit arrived today so that means I turned a corner and can actually start putting things back on the car.
 
We now move on to the clutch. New rear seal from MWB showed up yesterday (always buy two or more individual seals or gaskets, you never know if you will screw up the first one installing it and worst case you now have a spare).
The original clutch in the car actually looked good but if you have everything apart why not play it smart and use a new clutch kit. I never drove the car so had no first hand experience in it's function.
Hopefully I did the install smart, actually remembered to index the flywheel so the timing mark (in red!) is not 180 degrees out.
Triple checked that I got the clutch plate in the right way (got it reversed once on a spider and was not a happy camper to have to pull the motor to install it correctly.)

Next step is to mate the trans to the motor, I usually employ a second pair of hands which will probably be my son, who has no interest in cars but is good at following my directions.

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Motor and trans mated and installed in the car. Header installed and intake manifold and carb installed. I have a stock muffler and plan to cut off the U-bend that would attach to the header and use that to attach a turbo muffler like I have on my Bertone.

You learn interesting things when you restore someone else's car. The carb linkage rod was only allow the carb to open 3/4 of the way. The shifter lollipop was separating so I ran two bolts through the sandwich to lock everything together. Poured in three quarts of Redline into the transmission and then watched it drip out both axle boots which were torn. I will say that the axle set up for the five speeds is much nicer with the flange mounts of the axles rather than having to undo the driver A-arm to pull out the damn tripodes on the four speeds. Was nice to be able to set the valves with the motor out of the car....much much easier than doing it with the motor installed. Will add new filter and oil in a few moments and hope I don't see GTX flowing out anywhere.

I noticed the rear strut upper mounts appear to be front mounts but for now I don't see how that would cause any problems......makes me wonder what's on the front struts!

Throttle cable seems to stick and I have a new cable that came with the car, I hope swapping cables is not the same pain in the ass as it was on my Bertone.
 
You appear to be getting there. :)

Front and rear upper strut mounts are the same I believe. Unless you are referring to something other than the mount that attaches to the body?

I also believe the throttle cable is the same PITA for all of them. But hope not for your sake...and mine. That's yet another job (of MANY) I need to do.
 
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Can't figure out how to get the text and pictures interspersed properly, rats.


Been clanking along on the 77 so this is an update. Unlike Huey who is trying to make his Bertone brand new, this has always been more of a sympathetic restoration. Once I got the engine and trans back in the car the previous owners father (a good friend of mine) said he thinks the flywheel is lightened, too late to check that now. New tripode axle boots installed and the Redline fluid now stays in the trans and not on the garage floor. Also repaired the stripped coolant pipe drain bolt and filled the cooling system with water and nothing leaks out.

Engine bay is now rather complete with the ignition components installed, throttle linkage set up including new cable and rear sheath.

Interior still smells like a barn so thought maybe some rodent nests or droppings were behind the dash so out came the dash. Of course with the interior out and the age/condition of the master cylinders unknown, it makes sense to replace them now. Was very happy to get all three brake and the clutch flare nuts loose without drama....happy fathers day to me!

Last week installed new e-brake cables, such a delight. Since X brakes are not the greatest at best since they are not boosted, I decided to replace everything, so I have four rebuilt calipers, new SS flex hoses, new pads, new rotors and had the caliper brackets bead blasted and painted with Rustoleum. As soon as the rotors show up I'll install all this. While waiting, I'll remove the pedal assembly and order new MCs for the brakes and clutch.

Pulled up the rear trunk floor and found the structural floor is fairly rotten with rust but enough of it's there to just treat with phosphoric acid and hit with Rustoleum (I'm not a POR 15 acolyte). Then I'll put the removable floor back on with maybe some insulation in between.
 
Can't figure out how to get the text and pictures interspersed properly, rats.
Here is a tip: wherever the blinking 'cursor' is on the page (i.e. within your text), that's where the pic will be placed when you click on the box to post the image. Hope that made sense, my terminology may not be exact.

Couple thoughts:
Considering you are replacing pretty much the entire hydraulic system, think about the clutch slave cylinder (and hose) also. It's the only component I don't recall you mentioning as being new and will make all hydraulics 100% new and worry free (at least for awhile). They are cheap compared to all the other hydraulic [arts.

The chemicals from rodents' waste are difficult to get rid of, which is why it stinks even after the physical remains have been removed. Try something that kills germs/bacteria on all surfaces (alcohol, bleach, etc), and use it liberally.

That rear trunk floor always seems to be a hidden rust bucket. One of my X's was virtually rust free except for there. Be sure to use insulation that can stand the heat of the exhaust and won't absorb water.

Nice progress.
 
I guess I was too focused on the cabin to mention the clutch slave, plus access is a non-issue for that piece. In all probability it and the hose will get replaced. The supply hoses from the reservoirs (which are in good shape) will also be replaced.
 
Rebuild kits for the slave cylinder are cheap and easy to replace. I would have just added that to the MC order and replaced when and if needed. I did mine just last week and the o-rings were cracking as I pried them out of their grooves.
 
The problem is the car sat for a very long time allowing for rust in places you wouldn't really expect so I don't mind installing a new unit.

This morning I removed the reservoirs which were in great shape, pulled out the original fabric coated hoses and will replace with the clear tubing made for brake fluid. Have had these on the stripper Bertone for more than a year and they work fine with no sweating....and they allow you to see if there are any air bubble in them.
 
Slave cylinders typically respond well to rebuilding (better than masters), provided they are not rusted inside as you say. Due to brake fluid attracting water that is a common problem. If it is good inside then a seal kit is fine, otherwise these can be found new inexpensive.
 
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Been awhile but I, ahem, had some work to do on a crunched Bertone. Ready for some serious work. Bought a new battery (24F)and got car set up for initial power up. I have never put electrical power to the car so wanted to move slowly. Hooked up the gauge pod, installed a battery cut off switch (on right end of dash), removed all but the A fuse, removed the plugs. Turned on the master switch and no smoke, so far so good! Turned the ignition key to ignition position and the alternator light came on and the electric fuel pump started making a ton of noise. No electrical fires! Unplugged the fuel pump (no gas so I don't want to run it dry). Hit the start position and the motor spun like a mad man....no smoke! Did about five starts trying to get oil pressure on the gauge (oil light sender not installed yet) but no go. Did a compression check... on a motor that has not spun in about 10 years and got 130/130.165/135. Not sure that tells me anything but it's a baseline of sorts. I did note the oil gauge showing some twitching so that's good. Ordered an oil pressure light sender and sending unit splitter from MWB so I can use both the gauge and light from the 77 gauge panel.
Next step, I guess is to provide a test gas tank and actually fire up this turkey.

The 77 gauge panel has the mask and was so dark I could barely see things. I installed a front panel from a Bertone so I could at least see the gauges and idiot lights. I could install a later gauge cluster but watching the volt meter would probably drive me crazy instead of the oil pressure gauge.

Next news report when I have something to report.
 
It can be a bit nerve racking to put electrical power to an old vehicle for the first time. Especially when things have been modified and heavily worked on. When that's the case I use a smaller battery first; like a little Lithium Ion power supply or a small motorcycle battery or even a 9-volt (like radio battery). That way if there is a problem it does not have enough amperage to damage things. Then when everything looks good I connect a full size car battery to further test things.
 
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