B20 awoken after 46 years

[DavidLaver]

Does the dad or son know anyone else with an Aurelia - or something prewar?  If they had someone unconnected with anyone doing the work, but who understood these things...

David

[Dilambdaman]

Kevin.

Given my experiences with the white metal bearings in the Dilambda engine my advice would be to proceed with extreme caution. If the owner insists on your fitting the engine as is then having changed the oil, remove the spark plugs, disconnect the live feed to the coil and spin the engine until you have pressure registered on the gauge. It is vital to have plenty of oil on the white metal bearings before firing the engine up as I know to my cost!

Robin.

[Kevin MacBride]

Well, after much consultation, the car finally arrived to my workshop today. I now have 50 % of the B20's in Ireland at my home. Did a little work on it today, got the gear (column) linkages connected up, and the dash fitted.

[DavidLaver]

...and a better picture of the Clan please!!

[rogerelias]

I wondered what it was, i thought it was one of red things that begin with a F

[Kevin MacBride]

This is the Clan, part owned by myself and a friend. A racing project yet to be started. So far all I've done is the cage. Its the Alfa boxer engined version as opposed to the Imp engined models. This particular car was never built, but was used as a promotional 'shell'. The cars were briefly built in Northern Ireland before the company went bust.

[HF_Dave]

Well Kevin I was impeessed with the B20. Fantastic paint work, But not only that the origionality of the fittings, very impressive. I was thinking about the engine ( little else to think about) I reckon it's a bit tight, you should be able to turn the pully by hand with no resistance. I remember working on an old Vauxhall engine with my Dad back in the 70s White metal bearings ect. He put the bearings wrong way round and the crank would'ent turn. He took them out and reversed them and the engine turned fine.

[Kevin MacBride]

Is there a knack to setting up the column gearlever to a 'central position'. The linkage had been removed from the car years ago. I've gotton everything back in place, but cannot manage to select gear properly.
My own car has a floor shift, so I've nothing to go on.

[HF_Dave]

Have you tried the lump hammer ? 

[HF_Dave]

Reunited with it's family 

1953 Aurelia B20
1963 Flaminia Coupe Superleggera
1973 HF 2000 Coupe
1954 Aurilia B20
Clan (Yoke) very distant relation to an Alfa... ahem..

[fay66]

Reunited with it's family 

1953 Aurelia B20
1963 Flaminia Coupe Superleggera
1973 HF 2000 Coupe
1954 Aurilia B20
Clan (Yoke) very distant relation to an Alfa... ahem..

I'm Speechless

Brian
8227

[Kevin MacBride]

Its a pity the interior of my workshop doesn't match the quality of the cars. I've buckets of white emulsion lying around for years, plus sheets of interior roof cladding...I never get a chance to finish it as much as I'd like. I've even got a waste oil burner for the winter evenings...

[DavidLaver]

With a couple of white cars in now's the time to the garage white while nobody will notice drips.

David

[Kevin MacBride]

Started work refitting and 'fettling' tonight. A pal told me long ago, to start at one corner and work your way around the car. So I started on the left front. Fitted the headlamp and indicator lamps. (Car has already been re-wired). We decided to fit modern headlamps with halogen bulbs. The original Carellos are still with the car, and in exceptional condition, no corrosion, and good clear glass and shiny reflectors. Worth preserving. The man who did the re-wiring fitted wires for both the modern and the original lamps so they can easily be switched without interfering with the connectors.
With the car on axle stands I was able to get a good look underneath....I was stunned, not a hint of corrosion anywhere, apart from a few jack marks on the sills, the underneath could be from a car a few years old. On removing the drum, the shoes and cylinders were clean, with very little wear. Apart from the brake hose having perished the assembly looks new. I have as yet to strip the cylinders, but they are operating freely.
The oil change sticker is dated April '61 at 17,000 km, it now reads 23,000.

[Kevin MacBride]

Well, finished the front brakes. Cleaned cylinders, new seals and hoses...job done. The cylinders were not too bad, just dirty, so hopefully they will be ok. The master cylinder, however was a different matter. Full of a semi solid varnish like old brake fluid, it needed a few days soaking before it was clean. The brake/suspension resovoir is really bad. The brake plunger is stuck in the 'down' position. I cannot move it. I've dismantled the suspension section easily enough, but I need to pull the brake plunger up, in order to remove the puller knob, and then in turn the lid of the resovoir. If anyone has any suggestions, they will be appreciated.
At this stage, I felt I was spending a huge amount of time, and getting nowhere. Working a few hours each evening is not ideal, 'specially with 2 overactive kiddies looking for attention.
I decided to take a day off work, and fit the engine. My biggest fear was the fact that its never been run, and the only oil its ever seen was during assembly (40 odd years ago). So...what I did was this. Firstly squirted some oil thru the spark plug holes. Then poured some down each pushrod tube. I removed the top of the oil filter housing, poured a litre or so into the cylinder, then using an old type syringe type greasegun, forced another few litres through the small hole which feeds the crank oilways. Every so often I'd turn the crank by hand, eventually oil escaped through the crankcase to the oil feed pipe to the dash clock. I had the engine on the bench, with a pressure guage connected to this outlet.
Eventually I connected a battery, and with a friend holding it steady, turned it over on the starter. Withen a few seconds, I had a decent oil pressure reading.
We then fitted it to the car, with new mounting rubbers.
A huge leap forward, so hopefully the end will not be too far away.