Berlinetta restoration

[Cameron F]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

once i have rebuilt the exhaust system in its entirety I will set up the mixture etc. the car has electronic ignition so just a timing check will suffice, then check the valve clearances - love doing that on pintos! - then a gunsons mixture adjustment and all will be well. the engine runs too well for me to suspect ring issues and no blue smoke - well fingers crossed!

[Alan c]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

plugs suggest underlying problem (oil scraper ring on piston gone, valeve stem seal, carb set up, porting?)

[cameronfurnival]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

Exhausting!
The lovely 4-2-1 exhaust was causing me some grief, it just isn't right! This car was obviously built to a pretty good spec yet the solution to teh exhaust fouling the steering column was to bang a great dent in it.
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I screwed it to the bench so it wouldn't wriggle about and cut out the bent bit - then I popped off to Demon Tweeks for a 90 mandrel bend which I welded into the gap. It all seemed fine so a coat of paint later and loads of room for the steering I was well pleased.
A new gasket set and here we go...
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Whilst I was there I popped in a new set of plugs. Number 1 was a lovely biscuity colour but No 4 was very sooty. Heres the bit of exhaust removed and Nos 1 &4 plugs.

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[Cameron F]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

starting on the rear light pods now. All the paint is off and the mammoth task of levelling everything up is beginning. Still its a nice day... here's the original and new lights for comparison.

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[Cameron F]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

Such a lovely day...so I got one of the kids outside with the promise of a few shillings if they wanted to help get the old paint off the rear tub. I had repaired and rehung the OS door so now have a pair of correctly swinging and shutting doors; one I stripped with the strypit discs but someone wanted extra pocket money - so I poured a nice cold drink and sat under the fan whilst my slave got on with the job...

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Once the 2K silver is off (it comes off in strips doing it with a hot air stripper) the celly will sand back nicely. Enjoy the sunshine!

[Cameron F]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

I thought as much Peter - not sure whether I will leave it alone or shorten it.
Michael, I have just popped out and taken a quick piccie of the plumbing arrangements so you can see how mine fits together, as for the expansion bottle I have no idea - it looks Fordish but has no FoMoCo marking. I will have an investigate.

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[Michael Turpin]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

Checking back on my build the loop also allows the disconnection of the union leaving some "give" in the pipe for maintenance etc

[greyV8pete]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

Resto looking brill! I reckon the pigtail in the brake line is to "loose" about 9" of brake line allowing a much longer than needed one to be used off the shelf without the need to cut and flare. Have done it myself! Peter.

[Michael Turpin]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

I think the loop in the brake pipe is to allow for expansion/contraction between the two end termination.
I noticed your expansion tank can you remember what it came from, I have the identical one and can't remember what it came off, 20+ years ago you could crawl all over a scrap yard taking bits from a variety of old cars and not really caring what it came from. As a matter of interest where do the pipes go to ? Mine - the lower one goes to the top of the radiator and the top is used to pressure fill the system as there isn't a radiator cap on the radiator.
The restoration seems to be coming on well

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[Cameron F]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

Its about time I updated this thread. I'm still stripping the old paint off...using whatever method I can for each panel. Its very time consuming - and that's something I have been in short supply of. However, I just have one door left to strip, the rear tub and the scuttle panel (which you can see I have started in one of the pics below.
I had a rare day off and so decided to do something more interesting than paint stripping so I replaced the cam belt - easy enough on the pinto, a 30 minute job. The old cambelt looked completely ok but I didn't know when it had been last replaced so did it for peace of mind.
I also looked at the electric fan on the front of the rad, whilst there has been no indication of overheating again I didn't want to find myself in that position so I upgraded it - I got a new 12" curved blade fan from Demon Tweeks for a very paltry sum.
So here's some pictures.

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new fan
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Here you can see how the stripping is going. Its rarely the case you would need to strip right back but in this case there were signs of poor adhesion so I thought it best. Please note that isn't a bottle of paintstripper on there!
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I cleaned up the bulkhead and heater unit. The washer bottle was going in the bin till I saw they cost £60 on ebay! So a quick run through the dishwasher (along with the expansion tank) and then created a new bracket (it was originally glued onto the ally bulkhead) with a period retainer band (hoover belt) some new tubing and it looks a lot tidier.

PS in the first pic you can see a brake pipe on the cross member with a neat curl in it. Is that a design feature?

[cameronfurnival]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

THanks ALan, notrivnuts they are totally closed at the top - Ben was right they are interscrews - look fairly pricey so I will salvage as many as possible

[Alan B Gloucester]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

If you look on eBay at rivnuts you'll find them on there. I have used these on my berli for mounting my seat belt anchoring some five years ago and there are still as strong as ever. Also there is a utube video to show a cheap method on how to fit them.
Cheers and merry Christmas.
Alan.

[b_caswell]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

Just remember reading the original article written by Peter Hare

[cameronfurnival]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

Ben, you never cease to amaze me with the stuff you know! Thanks ever so much and have a great Christmas!

[b_caswell]

Re: Berlinetta doors cracking and splitting - any fixes?

They are called "Internuts" or google Interrscrews they use them in the marine industry

http://www.interscrew.co.uk/marine-interscrew/marine-un-slotted-interscrews?zenid=d7cc6efibdpcr77mhm6pj219q2

see Roadster tech tips part 1 Pages 13-14.