Engine rebuilding ..

Well .. I'm almost getting sick of the sight of the inside of Fiat SOHC engines .. but alas, here i am putting my race car engine back together.

Block is now dummied up with the two centre pistons in, a new Felpro head gasket which has been re-fire ringed for the 88mm bore, head welded ready for reshaping, and all new valves.

Hopefully i should be ready to assemble the head early next week, and then check piston to valve clearance, and then start the re-assembly proccess.

We will get there soon !

On the flipside, the new brown car (1979 NZ New) nicknamed Milo is now finished .. with an early X19 1500cc standard engine, 128SL intake manifold, 34DMTR carb, and 128SL headers and a 2" free flow exhaust. It goes nicely for a daily driver.

Slow Progress

Im way too slow at updating this damn thing, sorry about that.

Last meeting out was a disaster .. i had previously split a hose, overheated my nice new engine, and blown a head gasket, so being a largely over-bored engine, i have to get head gaskets made.
I only run around 0.036" piston to head clearance on a 0.060" crushed head gasket.

I sent the head gasket out to my gasket maker, and he unfortunately destroyed it in the proccess of enlarging the fire rings, so he used his own material and made me a new gasket.
I measured the gasket, sure enough it was the same uncrushed thickness, but this came back to bite me.

I ran the car for 3 laps out at pukekohe, and as i came past the start/finish line i heard the engine pitch change and quickly killed it .. however, it was too late. I pulled number 4 sparkplug, and the damage was already obvious ..

We pulled the head off once i got home, and sure enough, all the exhaust valves had touched the pistons, the pistons had touched the head, and it had smashed an exhaust valve off and punched it right through the top of a piston.

It turns out that the new head gasket had crushed 0.020" MORE than the gasket i had supplied.
Absolutely gutting !!

I have since pulled the engine out and stripped it .. its hammered the big ends a little because of the pistons touching the head. I should get away with a light hone on number 4, a new piston, checking the conrod for straight, a light crank polish, welding the cylinder head and reshaping, and a new set of valves once again.

Its all a bit disheartening, but i guess thats motorsport. I guess the moral of the story is, if there is something you aren't going to do yourself, check it, double check it, triple check it, then STILL don't trust that the person has done there bit correctly.

Hopefully ill have the old girl running for the end of Feb.

New Project

Well .. exciting things happening with team "Engine Parts 128".

We have purchased a mint NZ new 1979 Fiat 128 Sedan which is almost completely rust free, and very straight.

Over the next year or so we are intending to have it acid dipped to be seem welded, and lightened, with thoughts of lexan windows, flared guards, a front spoiler, and a few extra additions.

I will keep you up to date with this as things happen, but keep an eye out for the white/blue car at the track as i will be still racing it competitively over the next year.

Brake enhancements.

Another big weekend on the car up at Lynchbuilt Performance - involved two early mornings, some cutting, welding, and more of the good stuff.

We started out by grinding the paint off the front panel, and welding a couple of tags on in crucial spots. Then, while tony heated it with a gas torch, i leaned on it with a bar and chain, and we pulled most of the front of the car back into place. With a few test fits of the radiator and bonnet, the front is pretty close to original.

We then cut away all the support for the new bonnet, making it approx half its original weight.

Who needs rigidity in a race car ? its only a cover to stop animals and small children from falling in right ?

After the front was about 90% finished (in need of some finishing bog) we started on brakes ..

fitting in a fully reco'd stainless sleeved Vauxhall Firenza master cylinder, brand new bundy tube, and a wilwood bias valve instead of the factory fiat item.

I also threw the old radiator cooling fan in the bin, and fitted an aftermarket one which is about half the depth to get more space in the engine bay to fit my new electric waterpump.

Theres still a bit more to do to finish it off - will post more pics when its done.

Engine runs !

A busy weekend last weekend was very eventful.

Over the last week i have acheived the following:

1) done a final assemble on the engine

2) degree'd the cam in

3) put the engine and gearbox in the car

4) fired the new engine up for the first time

5) been to the dyno and run it in under loading

6) done several power runs and changed timing and jetting

7) changed the master cylinder

8) done all preliminary checks ready for racing.

The car pulled 160bhp at the flywheel, and 155Nm of torque from 3500RPM through to redline on an absolutely flat torque curve.

We are now ready to run the new engine at the track and see how she goes. With a touch more compression, and the same spec carb's / cam / pistons / stroke etc etc it should all be very similar. I am really looking forward to driving it.

Heres a few new pics !

Oh and in the video - yes thats RUST coming out of the exhaust.

It had been sitting for 4 months after only ever being run on Avgas.

Getting Closer

Hey everyone,

Knuckled down and got most of the block assembled for my 128, then popped one piston into number 1 cylinder to get ready for a valve to piston / piston to head clearance check, and found that number 1 conrod has quite a big twist in it.

I've now got another steel conrod away being shot peened after i had it balanced.

All valves are now swirl polished, the sump has been cold tanked and completely cleaned, and i now have a piston back in number one cylinder to do the crucial checks before assembly.

Will keep you posted.

New Motor Almost Done

Hey guys, sorry about the late update on the car .. i've managed to get a nasty round of Sinusitis and been pretty slack.

However, i have been busy preparing my new block for next season (which is only a month away, so i better haul ass).

The new block is decked, honed, bored, final cleaned, and ready for assembly.

The cylinder head has been welded, skidded, had new seats put in, had a full new set of valves sized, and is ready for the valve heights to be set.

Ill keep you posted as it all goes together, but heres a few photos of the new engine being prepared.