Thank you Rodger - I think.

[RyanG]

I wanted to thank Rodger for the extremely affordable (free) 1500 FI Nguni and 5spd transmission he donated for me to play with. I’ve just started taking it apart, one of my favorite things to do, taking apart car stuff. Anyway, here are a few images of the power unit.

Its very dirty and the water passages are full of rusty sludge. But, the crank turns freely, the head gasket looked good, no frothy goo in the oil and the head and block deck seem pretty flat. Also, the cylinder walls are smooth without any obvious gouges or catastrophic issues. Even better all of the nuts and bolts have come loose easily

Like everyone else I want to build a bit of a hot street motor so I will be researching and asking questions about how to go about it. The next steps I suppose are to finish getting things cleaned up and then double checking the condition of the head and block. I also need to rebuild a transmission. My current 5spd in my car is getting a bit notchy. I now have two spare 5spds and would like to tackle a rebuild. Time to start cleaning

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Those pictures give me PTSD. That's exactly what every used Fiat engine looks like and brings up thoughts of all the work needed just to clean them....before even being able to work on it.

 

[RyanG]

Ha! The good news is I kind of like the cleaning process. I find it therapeutic. I know how to clean so it’s calming. The hard part is deciding how to put it back together. So many decisions and that’s when my ignorance really shines!

 

[myronx19]

@RyanG - oooo, I like your workshop!

 

[Jonohhh]

Oh wow, that tiny port is the coolant inlet? That thing has no idea what's coming for it in my build.

The before and after on that engine is gonna be great!

 

[Dr.Jeff]

The good news is I kind of like the cleaning process. I find it therapeutic.

I can supply you with a lifetime of therapy.

 

[RyanG]

Got a little therapy in today. Started cleaning up the block. I’m surprised how easily all the fasteners are coming loose. Almost looks like some of the components on the block are fairly new? Maybe aluminum covered in grease just holds up well. Anyway you can see that it looks pretty good compared to the pictures I posted earlier before I started cleaning.

here is what the water jacket looked like before

that’s after I’d scraped a bunch of stuff out. And then after flushing with water

I’ve sealed things up a bit and filled the jacket with white vinegar to see if I can get a bit more of the rust out. I also may get some wire brushes to see if I can get down in the cracks. But it’s not looking too bad. I should probably take it somewhere to get hot tanked or whatever they do to get it really clean.

 

[Jefco]

Aluminum dissolves in the hot tank, it goes in the cold tank; plan to replace the aux shaft bearings, they go away in there.