Like the Revision Log, this journal reads newest-oldest. Pick the tomato above for pictures.

For past history, see and

My Alpine Journal: The First Season My Alpine Journal: Teardown to Bodywork

which run in chronological order.

1999.05.14		Warren has the OD finally refurbished. It took 3 trips to the lining shop to get it right, and then they bent the clutch cup so back aain with the one from the Parts Car. The OD is mounted on a bench lathe with a spare gearbox shaft to drive it. A half-circle of plastic closes off the OD below the shaft, allowing the unit to run oiled. A spare speedometer reads the speed, which at the lathe's fastest setting is 60mph. A battery-charger provides current and control for the actuator. All you can really see inside are the pistons moving when the unit is engaged. Pictures forthcoming.
1999.04.28		The Tomato, alas, will not be making the trek to SUNI III. Perhaps I was fooling myself into thinking everything would come together magically with enough determination and hard work (and perhaps just plain delusion), but The Taxman set things straightly in the opposite direction. The "bummer" part is over, and now the whole project reverts back to a science project, of sorts, from what was frankly becoming a chore. Lying underside the other day I contemplated the work needed to continue with the standards I have informally set for this car, and then I thought about how to cut corners and "get back to it later" and then in the back of my mind realized that it was sincerely a longshot in the next 6 weeks. Now, we can continue to "do it right" all the way through. Pan is on, sort of. I broke one bolt, and there's one hole stripped. D-OH! A missing oil-drain plug was installed, and the engine front bits are making their way back on. Bruno is modifying the timing cover to accept a proper oil seal. And, guess what? I found the original balancer pulley, in a box of "old" (like gaskets and ball-joints replaced) stuff. The old pulley may be better than the one graciously sent to me by "herbeam". It had its central tube drilled out and replaced, presumably with better metal. Looks like I'll have to make a gasket for the oil-filter stand too: the one in the conversion set is not correct, or there wasn't one. Series II head and conversion sets are apparently not available, so Series V sets are supplied, which are "close." There will be a number of gaskets left over, and some that might need "work" or fabrication. So far the "re-fab" list is: Pan, Filter Base and Valve Cover. Warren is coming along well with the overdrive, and now that I have less rush, and thereby more time, we can document it better, maybe even make a video. The new clutch material works fine, but there's a vibration, and Warren hates vibration, so it's back to the lining shop for balancing. As an example of "things that just don't work like they should," Nisonger Automotive still hasn't sent my gauge seals, despite a call every couple weeks since March 1, a lost order, and them moving "and the place is a mess around here." Where's there's ointment there are flies, I suppose. Boy, I sure miss having a hoist. All the while lying under a car perched 6-12" above me I have faintly in the back of my mind the sound of a large SPLAT! Not to mention the cool drafts wafting around, and the inevitable phone-ring or need to whiz that arises just as you settle comfortably to work.
1999.04.25		Back to Henry's place now. Painted front cross-member with Tremclad.
1999.04.20		Rear-view mirror is re-silvered. Pan gasket set was incorrect so I'll have to cut one.
1999.04.13		Oil pump reinstalled. BTW, pistons, rods and big ends were balanced: 645g, 686G and 490g respectively.
1999.04.13		Pistons are in. The hardest part was getting someone to show me how. After that, it was no more than a half-hour job. The trickiest part, aside from everything being oily, is driving the oil-seal rings into the bore, as they are sprung steel and thin enough to expand under the piston compressor if it's not held tightly on the block deck. As a bonus, the balancer pulley nut from the Parts Car, which we needed to test the crank turning, fits just fine and is in good shape. These notes are rough, but they capture the important parts. Maybe someday I'll write them up more. rub bores hard with clean white towel and check for dirt - clean oil bores thoroughly separate rods and caps boots on rod bolts clean all bearing surfaces and bearings align crank so cylinder is at BDC (can be done in pairs) put bearings on red-lube bearing surfaces and crank journals holding piston from the back so that rings push out, oil ring grooves well; do other side; oil piston faces (not tops) align ring gaps away from main thrust surface (side with oil jet on rod) holding piston with 2 fingers inside, slip wide-open compressor over rings to top of pin hole; make compressor tension band lie across ring area tighten compressor, keeping piston roughly centred insert piston skirt into bore, twisting if necessary to ease in set compressor flush with block; tap down any compressor misalignment: it should create a perfect cylinder and should ride the block deck completely around its circumference tighten compressor again tap piston into bore; the largest resistance will be felt from the oil rings; watch that the compressor is flush and a ring hasn't escaped under it; if so, pull out and try again check rod end approaching crank for straightness tap piston home onto crank check for scraping on bore walls flip block attach cap and finger-tighten test crank for easy movement (harder as more pistons in) torque bolts to 24ft-lb; check side clearance and re-test   After all pistons are in and tested, turn crank a few more times and re-check bores for scratching Heater blower is done. Front and rear lights are done. This marks the last of the "small pieces in boxes" phase. There are a few bits here and there but most of what's left to do, except the wiring harness, is in Henry's garage. So we go back to "dirty hands" work, on a concrete floor, and can tidy up the office a little (though not enough quite yet).
1999.04.10		Things seem to be going i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y and the Tomato at SUNI does not look guaranteed. Amazing variations in levels of service and timeliness all-round. People take on work and then just don't do it, like they're afraid to say 'no' but are really holding out for something better. Or so it seems. If I hadn't taken the damned thing apart I'd be driving it today and feeling much different I'm sure. Or maybe I'd be swearing at something else keeping me from driving it, and thinking about taking it apart. Actually got something noteworthy accomplished today. Painted all substantial plastics: dash, blower shroud, glovebox trim and steering column cowls. After many consultations and advisements I went with mar-hyde Black Satin Automotive Trim Coating. Scuffed everything with a ScotchBrite grey pad, washed with solvent and applied 3 coats for the trim and cowls, 4 for the dash, 2 for the shroud. The results are quite decent. The satin finish made the process easier, with no worries about maintaining a shine all over, and the satin camouflages various imperfections that weren't worth filling/sanding. We'll see what we say tomorrow...
1999.04.06		Pistons on their rods. A drop of oil in each piston oil hole and lube the pin bore and rod bore. With the piston arrow-mark facing you, the lower rod oil hole should point leftward. Gently press the pin back in from the bottom, keeping the gap between bore ends clear. Put the rod in place and press the pin through it. It may be necessary to rock the rod gently to ease the pin through. Circlip edges should be sharp on one side and rounded on the other. The rounded side should face the pin so that the sharp side can seat against the outer side of the groove in the pin passage.
1999.04.05		Chose a seal for the timing cover: Federal Mogul 450400 (1.750" ID x 2.250" OD x 0.359" deep), because it's the smallest one with that ID and a spring. Now it's Bruno's turn. Tested rings for all pistons and all (but scraper rings) had a minimum of .012" gap clearance. Sweated bullets pulling them off the pistons and back on, fearing a dreaded 'snap' but all went well and it even got easier, not that 4 cylinders gives one much practice. The trick for removal, in the absence of a ring spreader, is to lift one end of the ring up onto the top of the piston, then turn the whole ring in the direction of the other end and swivel the ring off. The 2nd ring needs to be "walked" up to the 1st ring groove, then off from there. When in doubt, STOP and if necessary put the ring back in its slot. Swipe the corners of the ring ends twice with a file, especially the outer corners facing the bore. Oil scraper rings are spring steel and much easier - a lot less fear of the dreadful snap. Re-fitting is easier: just spread the ring enough to slip it over the piston top. A stiff feeler gauge may be useful but should be unnecessary.
1999.04.03		Doing a front-seal mod on the timing cover. Have had a bit of an expedition deciding on the Right Thing for the timing-chain oiler. The original was crimped, and therefore doing not much oiling. Probably because the balancer pulley once galled on the timing cover and the cover leaked a lot through the larger opening. So now we search out a seal with a 1¾" ID and the smallest OD possible. Neither of the two chain oilers had a ball-and-spring valve, so we have to get one. The paint spray accumulated on the plastic lenses of the rear lights comes off nicely with a little gentle scraping and rubbing with Brasso.
1999.03.31		Back to the engine again. Bottom end is on and torqued. Harness wire with arrived with no tape, so searching out a local alternative. Likely will go with Russell Wrap-It.
1999.03.24		Additional wire has finally arrived, so now we're back to the harness. In the meantime lots of didly pieces treated: emergency-brake handle, hi-beam switch, blower motor and shroud. All but the switch were blasted, etch-primed and sprayed with chassis/rollbar (supposedly hard) gloss black. Slow, tedious work with lots of steps. Let's hope it all holds ups for a decade or so. Still waiting for thrust washers, a new starter ring and balancer pulley (used). Nisonger Automotive lost my gauge-seal order, so placed it again.
1999.03.16		Got the block and parts cleaned, camshaft and crank in, but now waiting for some .005 thrust washers.
1999.03.15		Heater core is cleaned, repaired and free-flowing. Tomorrow I go into Bruno's and start re-assembling my engine. Still can't find my original balancer pulley. Grrrr...
1999.03.14		Painted blower pieces except plastic shell, dash-vent covers, wiper mount and various other dash bits. The licence-plate lamp, while it fits and works, is not correct. Warren is having trouble with the overdrive. Its mechanical bits work fine, but the clutch slips. Maybe the lining is not shedding oil well enough, or is too hard. The gearbox, however, works as well as it could, and now my gearshift knob matches the box's shift pattern (the prior box was a late-Series all-synchro).
1999.03.08		While I wait for wire, I'm reworking the harness to fit to the gauges better. Even though the LHD dash is mirrored, the harness isn't exactly, so things like the signal indicator lamps must be crossed. Mods along the way haven't helped.
1999.03.06		Blasted and etch-primed the rest of whatever metal covers or brackets were left for the dash, wipers and blower. All gauges are prepped and awaiting seals. Got a lawnmower throttle cable to replace the broken one on the heater switch.
1999.03.03		Mirror can be re-silvered for $65 with the next batch at Decorator Mirrors in 8-10 wks. Started gauges, Oil first. They were all in good working order, but their ring-glass seals are dry. Ordered new rubber from Nisonger Automotive. The red plastic cover for the turn signal flasher in the tachometer is cracked. The oil pressure indicator arm has small spots of break-though rust (?). I have spares of Water, Oil and Speedo. A mystery, however. My speedo is not correct. It has lights for ignition and turn indicator, as does my tachometer. No Main Beam indicator on either gauge. The speedo from the Parts Car does have a Main Beam light, on the right. Both speedos have the same Smiths part number. Consulting the Motor Trader article (see Bibliography), the only one I have with a picture of the dash, I see that the RHD dash had speedo on the left and tach on the right, which would put the turn indicators on the outside. This is opposite to as-found. I am betting these gauges are NOT meant to be reversed for LHD, but that does not explain the as-found speedo's missing label. The drill is: Clean outer surface and Inspect. Watch for holes in the case, and keep dirt and cleaning fluids away. Clean glass-to-chrome bezel. If the gauge works and it looks clean inside, you're done. Not for me, my gauges all had dust and film on the backside of the glass, and dusty or wet-stained edges on the faces. They all needed new seals too. Remove chrome bezel. This may be very easy or quite difficult. There is NO need to bend the bezel tabs up (much) if they clear the lip on the gauge body reasonably and aren't gummed up. As designed, the bezel is held to the glass by the tabs and the force of a rubber seal between it and the glass. The bezel should twist and pull off after you release whatever else is holding it in place. You may need to gently push the bezel away from the gauge body to break any seals that may have been applied or accumulated. If the bezel does not fit flush to the glass you may be able to put the gauge face down on a soft surface and apply gentle pressure to flex the rubber seal and break it away from some of its adhesion areas. You may need to dig out whatever you can from the cutaways in the body where the tabs will end up. A rubber sheet (like a jar-lid gripper) will be handy for holding the gauge face while you turn it. Apply maximum twist in one direction, then the other. Repeat some of the items above and go back to twisting. Unless your bezel is hopelessly bonded to the gauge body, it will loosen and twist. When it does, expect a lot of yellow dust. Keep twisting until the bezel twists in either direction freely. Then, while holding the gauge face-up (see below), align the bezel tabs with the cutouts in the gauge body and lift (or rock) it off. Watch that the glass does not come up temporarily and then fall off. WARNING: The smaller gauges have a 2-piece face: a back plate has the indicator markings with the needle threaded though a hole, and a front plate covers the base of the needle. It is possible that the gauge face may just fall off, bending the arm (1/3 for me). Each plate has a bent tab that's supposed to keep it connected to the next piece (needle cover to indicator face to gauge body) but there's only one and the whole thing may actually be in good shape and not stuck together. Clean the components. If the glass stays on the gauge, leave it there as a shield while you clean the outer rim of the gauge. Unless the bezel seal is good, chip and scrape out the remnants and clean the reset of the bezel. Clean the gauge face with a small paintbrush, the outer rim of the gauge face and body with a toothbrush or (gently) a wire brush. If there's no rust or bad moisture stains, you're done. My gauges had some stains and a little rust on the outermost edge of the face pieces and the body rim. Repair the cosmetic components. Only parts of the gauge face plates and gauge body lip needed a little repair, from water stains and rust on the outermost edges. I wanted to halt whatever damage was going on and provide a good surface for a new seal. I lightly sanded the areas and then applied 2-3 thin coats of satin-finish Varathane. They're at the extreme periphery of the face, and not likely to be noticed. Repair the functional components. Fortunately, I didn't need this step, because I don't know anything about how to repair the important parts. Gearbox and OD are now assembled and being tested.
1999.02.28		Heater control valve does not seal on Off. Replaced with one from Parts Car. Am running out of small bits to deal with, which must surely be a good sign.
1999.02.26		The harness awaits a supply of striped wire. Nobody has it. Everyone who does, sends out plain wire to be striped, at 2x the cost, with a minimum order of 100' rolls. British Wiring now has the order, doubled up for safety (to be double-checked with the factory): colour   strands   M   for 1999.02.26    14    4    OD Relay - S:Gearbox 1999.02.26    28    4         " 1999.02.26    14    6    OD Relay - S:OD 1999.02.26    28    2    Lighter 1999.02.26    14    3    SL: Bonnet 1999.02.26    14    3         " 1999.02.26    44    3    Ammeter This isn't a concours car, nor will it ever be, but I figure it's worth the wait to get it right, and will save me some head-scratching in the future. In the meantime, we go onto other things, like the rest of the devices and gauges.
1999.02.23		The heater blower motor is a little stiff, like the brushes are too tight, and there appears to be a dead spot, wherein the motor won't start if it comes to rest at that spot. The one from the Parts Car is looser, but has a longer body (½") and a metal vane cage that's bent slightly. They both run, but the older one is definitely better, so it goes in. It also had a screen for the intake hole that ought to be compatible. Cleaned the other dash doodads: ignition switch, screen-spray pump and momentary switch that used to be used for the horn.
1999.02.18		Have diagrammed and labelled and prepared the cr*p out of the harness. It's just a RHD harness bent back half-way under the dash, with some old hacks, but otherwise pretty normal. Now that I understand what "normal" is. After much deliberation, I'm going to the effort to strip the whole harness, insert wiring for the OD, Bonnet Light and maybe some shutoff/security switches, and then re-wrap it. The heater blower never worked because its switch, cable and wiring were broken. Heater switches fail because the plastic "ball" that separates the contacts of the in-out switch splits into its two component pieces and the bottom falls away. The Tomato switch suffered that fate. The Parts Car yielded a fine switch that I reinforced with a bit of glue. A little wire and connector work and the switch is reborn. BTW, the switch can be set for pull-ON, push-ON and NULL operation just by moving the detent ball. Now to find some wire for the pull cable: it snapped, probably because it was binding in its sheath.
1999.02.09		Brought back a 10lb lump of old harnesses from Rod's place, in search of usable striped wire. Impossible to get from anywhere it seems. His Great Big Shed has a Series II that at one time had been sand-blasted and left outside to become a rough mess. And lots of other forlorn rarities, the names of which escape me at the moment.
1999.02.08		Have spent the better part of the week diagramming the harness (see Guides: Electrical System) and trying to figure out A) how it's supposed to work, and B) how I can make it work that way again. The interior end has been traumatized the most over the years, with just a nest of wires above the steering column, and some sublime patching and bridging done to "just make things work." They pretty much did, through the addition of a 3rd fuse, surgery on the wiper leads, and sometime back a radio. Exposed wires are largely in good shape, except for the gauge ground string that was made of 16ga wire and looks to be a bit melted. There does not appear to be any allowance for an overdrive switch nor a lighter. Switches work, but were wired more than necessary. Up front, leads to the Coil and Distributor have been patched and a couple Fuse Box whites are a little worn. Discovering (A) above has been a real hunt, trying to match up the tangled mess that I have and what I recorded (or didn't) about it as I took it apart with three slightly-different schematics. The SII harness is the last to pass through the firewall in only one place, and this makes it a little more contorted. Still not out of the wires yet - now it's time to rebuild the nest into a trunk and proper stalks, correct what's wrong: switches, gauge grounds, wipers, coil/distributor and add what's missing (wiring for options): lighter, bonnet light, overdrive switch, clock, fog lights (and switch), reverse light
1999.02.03		Harness is cleaned and labelled. Still a few things that seem out of sorts.
1999.01.24		Small chromes are done. Not much need for re-chroming - everything is in pretty good shape. Scrubbed everything with Soft Scrub, then some chrome polish. Treated a few rusty spots. Now on to making sense of the wiring harness. I labelled it on removal, but it's also been butchered a little by the PO. The common ground for instruments is worn bare and nearly through in a few spots, too small a gauge of wire.
1999.01.24		Finally finished those damned wheels. I'll go on record right now: I'm An Idiot. Warren said "you shouldn't bead-blast them, they might be too soft." I said "I'll try and see." They were, and now sport a shiny, though satin finish. My only consolation is that the finish may somewhat obscure the nicks and other imperfections I wasn't in a mood to cut down. They are, after all, optional. Next winter I may try to refinish them completely. For now, onto something more-directly applicable (and cleaner to work on): the remaining small chrome.
1999.01.18		Spent a fair few hours updating the site to resolve a lot of outstanding To-Dos so I can leave it for a while. Realized how little I did over the summer and hope I don't suffer for it before SUNI III. Still polishing the wheels, now by hand with Auto-Sol.
1999.01.01		Finally finished cleaning all the small parts that weren't left on whatever they were meant to hold. Three small boxes of film canisters, jam jars (from my Dad's collection) and baggies. Now back through to paint them, in the background, as I move onto chrome bits. Started refinishing the aluminum wheels I got from TW. Cleaned the caps with Soft-Scrub and a toothbrush, then chrome polish; painted the inset with flat Varathane. Got a scanner for Xmas. Now I can use up some of that spare disk space I had lying around.
1998.12.19		Have been cleaning and repainting small parts, working my way through bolts, fittings, mounts, etc. one jar or bag or canister at a time. Varsol, Paint-stripper, wire-brushing and acid baths work pretty easily on anything that won't be replaced (lockwashers at a minimum). Nothing is tragically corroded. Tested thermostat - OK (84°C), right on spec (wax). The earth is frozen in these parts, now for a couple months. Even with Henry's garage sort-of insulated and heated, in these temperatures (-20°C daytime high) it takes about 2 hours for the air to be warmed, and who knows how long for anything of substantial metal to be handled in any meaningful way. So, I work on the many smaller things that are only so noticeable when you have to start putting them all back - these I can all handle in the comfy warm confines of my office (which is conveniently located in a 1-bedroom apartment close to home). With luck and diligence, anything that fits through a standard door can be ready (out of the bag or box) to be bolted onto whatever currently-frozen metal awaits it. Finally got a decent SLR 35mm camera, with a great 80:200 lens and tripod. Still shopping for a scanner, so you can see all this.
1998.12.16		Brushed and painted intake manifold, water pump, rad reservoir mount and oil filter base.
1998.12.11		Cleaned Fuel Pump, Distributor Mount and various other pieces to be re-attached to the block. Disassembled starter for inspection, and now I have to look up how to get it back together again. :| Boiled and brushed block-mounted bolts and studs.
1998.12.08		Primed and Painted block: high-heat black, at Bruno's. Engine to be assembled Real Soon Now. Gearbox is on its way, via Warren. Sealed Henry's garage doors and some holes in the ceiling. Once it gets warm, it's warm enough, but let's hope this winter approximates last year's gentility. Boo La Niña! Made yet another Master ToDo List, this one for the home stretch. Fortunately none of it is really scary anymore, just hours. Many.
1998.11.08		Warren has the OD back together and is now ready for the gearbox. I haven't done much except finish off parts-painting, and collect several miscellaneous things for the future: 4 Aluminum wheels, used 2 sun visors, used 1 overdrive stalk switch, NOS a replacement master cylinder elbow joint thingy, used some ad literature and magazine ads Have to get the emotional flywheel back up to speed and get on with finishing this thing for real. The first order of business is to get Henry's garage fitted out for the winter, mostly covering cracks around the wonky doors and covering a few ceiling holes. The last of the really grubby jobs awaits: finishing the undercarriage. The floorpans and backs of the sills need to be cleaned, welds ground, and the whole thing etch-primed and seam-sealed, then rust-proofed. Then there's some brake work: replacing a cracked master cylinder tube, replacing at least one snapped bleed nipple and flushing the system.
1998.07.31		Painting things, most hung from the ceiling in my garage:       1998.07.31: Black High-Heat       1998.07.31: Black/Red/Silver High-Heat       1998.07.31: White Very-High-Heat       1998.07.31: Black Rollbar/Chassis Engine is still working its way through rebuild. Crank was magnafluxed (no problems) and balanced. Just awaiting machining. Block is up next for painting. Camshaft has had a Formula Ford grind, a mild one that should be OK for normal use, and help some when loaded for the highway. Ports have been cleaned up a little, and (lightly) cut according to the Series II Special Tuning Handbook. Gearbox/OD is apart, with some parts out for machining: cone clutches are being resurfaced, needed new pins for planetary gears. The whole setup was in pretty good shape, but the previous owner let the oil run low and the weakest parts wore quickly, enough to replace now. Otherwise, looking over the gearbox gears, it's very lightly used. Some time back, sold the 1725 engine I bought, for a 50% profit.
1998.06.19		Various little things going on. Carbs are done. Getting ready to paint engine parts in advance of getting the rebuilt motor back. Gearbox/OD over at Warren's to be rebuilt. Our dollar is sinking like a stone. :( Business is so busy that all I can do is watch the (sunny) days go by as the Tomato sits, slowly creeping its way to readiness.
1998.06.06		Carbs rebuilt. Well, #2 needs cleaning and reassembly yet (ran out of daylight at 10pm), but done enough for this entry. Tried to top up rear shocks (off car) but only one has a filler cap. Engine is awaiting crankshaft balancing. Settled in to Henry's place. No hoist or compressor anymore, but a decent amount of room, a large workbench, a few amenities, and Henry.

3.5. My Alpine Journal JOY/CVP/YSEV/0.31 - November 7, 1999