The (Never ending) Restoration story - MkIII M30177

[Gilb]

Great story!

I might take a trip up your way in my Mk III if the weather stays nice...

[Gilbern74]

Thanks guys! - Gilb, Mike, Grahame - any Gilbern 'nuts' always welcome to come visit if in the Peterborough area.


My paint-stripper arrived today - ordered 12 litres of 'Removall 620' from Cirrus in Devon - so will post the results as I'll be starting with a tester on the boot lid at the weekend.

I realise from my previous posts I haven't yet mentioned anything about the engine. Well that's been a pain because I simply haven't been able to decide what I want from it, and each time I do find some engine setup I like, it's too damn expensive!!!
So the block is still sitting on my garage floor. It's been completely dismantled and like most of the car, the individual parts are stored on shelves and in boxes awaiting their fate!

In the absense of my paint stripper (hadn't arrived before the weekend) I decided to get cracking on any job I could... this was to be the completion of the restoration of the 42 DCNF carbs I had sitting on my bench. This was the job I was doing 2 years ago when I 'downed tools' and the bits were still sitting there!
I had picked up a set of 42 DCNF's and manifold off eBay a couple of years ago for what I thought was a bargain £500ish. However, on arrival the carbs were in a right mess, and the manifold wasn't the standard triple-carb one that you get from Burtons/Ric Wood. It was a different type - a Tecalemit-Jackson manifold - which was produced for fuel injection set-ups, and 2 of the carbs were set very close together as in the pics below.
I could have used the manifold, but decided against it. I gave it a clean and put it back on eBay - managed to get £300 back on it - leaving me with 3 carbs cosing a net £200. Not bad.

The carbs on the Tecalemit-Jackson manifold. See how the 2 carbs to the left are so close together - to fit, the end one has to have the choke/starter mechanism left off. Apparently not a problem for performance, but I didn't like it so it had to go!


Grubby!


So I stripped all 3 carbs down, logging/photographing the location of each part. Using diagrams from the Haynes manual or pdf documents found online I found the names and references for all the parts that needed replacing (there were quite a few!) and sourced replacements from a couple of carb specialists, who were anything but cheap. At the same time I checked the setup of the jet sizes that I might require once ready for the V6 Essex engine. Information I gathered from the internet gave me a set of jets suited to the Essex so I ordered replacement jets, tubes and venturi's at the same time. Here's what I have in there at the moment:

Choke 34mm
Aux vent 3.5mm
Main jet 1.35
Air correction 1.75mm
Idle jet 0.55mm
Emulsion tube F25
Pump jet 0.45mm

Whether they're correct or not can only be determined by the final engine setup, so I won't know until I get the engine back together... give it a couple of years then!

There were a number of bits that were well and truly stuck solid and had to be prised or drilled out. I was careful not to damage the carb bodies here but those parts were obviously replaced.

Dismantling carbs:







I cleaned each and every part that I had dismantled, as well as the carb bodies, until everything was as shiny as it could be (The tool for the job here was my Dremel! I ordered a large quantity of small wire brush bits in assorted sizes that could get into every small nook and cranny of the carbs. Worked a treat!).

Using a can of compressed air (meant for cleaning inside my computer) I sprayed through the carb body internal chambers and tubes to check they were clear. But I got to the third and final carb and found that one of the internal tubes was blocked and there was no way of shifting it! Now I could have drilled out the inspection holes and cleaned through that way, but I wasn't sure if I might damage them further. So instead I left a squirt of penetrating oil in there to see if that would do the trick. It didn't..........

....and that's where I left the job (in frustration!). For 2 years I've been in and out my garage, and every so often I would see that little carb sitting there on my workbench and toodle over to it and give the tube another squirt of penetrating oil...
...until last weekend! As I got re-started on the work in hand after 2 years, I gave the carb another squirt and popped a pipe-cleaner down the hole as usual. This time I heard a 'gurgle' as the fluid got through and came out in the float chamber. Yaaaaay!

I started re-assembling each carb. Using the diagrams and photos I had before to check that I was putting everything back in the right place.

Eventually they all put were back together (there was a lot of head-scratching involved as it had been so long since I'd touched them, and all the loose parts were mixed up now, so I had to do some detective work to sort them all out!). Apart from a couple of bits and pieces that I still need to get hold of they're ready to roll

All back together again


Ported and Polished:


Now on to the cylinder heads.
Back 2 years again and I had by then bought a new triple manifold for DCNF carbs from Ric Wood.
After months of 'umming' and 'arring' over my options for the heads or the engine as a whole, I opted to take them to Peter Burgess Engineering in Derby. He came with a lot of recommendations.
After leaving the carbs and manifold with PB for a week he gave the heads a full revamp: skimmed, big inlet valves with hardened seats for unleaded, new springs, screw in studs etc. They ported and polished the heads and manifold to match, so they are a perfect fit together. Sounds really great. And looks really, really great!! But fairly useless without an engine to run them on. So now they are all bubble-wrapped and cosy on a shelf

Almost finished Now I just need an engine


Now back to the engine:
A few months ago I saw the ideal solution. On eBay there appeared a large number of V6 Essex 3.4L engines (not conversions) from a seller who had a batch imported from South Africa. They were going for what I thought was quite a bargain considering the cost of getting a standard engine converted.
Alas, financial constraints at the time prevented me from bidding for any of them and they all got snapped up and the opportunity passed.
So I still have the engine sitting on my garage floor all cold, lonely, unloved and uncared for, with an increasingly 'rustic' look about it.
As one of the major expenses of this project I will have to take the plunge at some point and get something done with it. Maybe something will appear on eBay again. I keep looking...
But there's plenty of jobs to keep me going through this winter so it will have to stay 'on hold' until the spring at least....

If anyone has anything to add to the great engine debate then please feel free to express your opinions!

[Bitsa]

Hi,

I'm in a similar situation on engines - my Tecalemit manifold has the three injection bodies, mechanical pumps gubins widgets and thingies so seems a shame to split it up ... one day I may install it subject to a Lottery win

I've had my block bored out +60 using German 9.5:1 pistons, will run standard unleaded heads and a standard cam with a 40 Webber and Genie manifolds as I intend to go Classic Rallying and want to remain legal.

Gearbox will be an Overdrive four speed which probably won't take much more power than standard ...

One thing that looks really interesting is the South African Ford Essex fuel injection manifold that can be used with an aftermarket injection kit eg Emerald .. this would be a good route to go for a slightly modified car ...

Cheers

Chris

[trippdl]

Hello Jason - If you are interested in a little more displacement, I have a spare (new) Ford 4.0 engine up for grabs - I bought one of these from Ford SVO in Michigan a few years ago. It was dropped off the forklift, and damaged, and went to a rebuilder in Lincoln who disassembled it, then had a nervous breakdown and disappeared. I located and bought a second, new, engine; shortly after that, the father of the rebuilder called to say he had completed the job his son had started, so the second, new, engine was now excess to requirements.

The advantage to the 4.0 is that, according to one of the websites that list these things, it is about 75 pounds lighter than the Essex it replaced. It is, in effect, the 2.8 Cologne from the Granada, etc, which has been bored and stroked. Ford quotes it at 170hp, with 225 lb/ft of torque; the SVO-modified one is reputed to be 'about 200hp', with Yella Terra High Lift Roller Rockers, and some porting, etc, so there is 'capability for improvement' as they say. It is used in the US-spec Ranger and Explorer. It has been updated to use a crank-triggered ignition, so does not have a distributor sticking up on the back of the block, although the hole for dizzy mounting is still there, should you want it. It has the manual-transmission crankshaft, which can also be used for an autobox, whereas the other one has an automatic-only crank; since I am using an A4LD box, this is not an issue for me.

The engine has the upper and lower manifolds for the fuel injection setup, as well as the original exhaust manifolds (which I am replacing with tubular ones on the other engine for my installation), but will need some parts added, like the throttle body, injectors, auxilliary drives, etc. "Complete" engines from the US are not the same as 'plug-and-play'... I have been able to get the US accessory drive brackets sent over from the States, so that is not much of a drawback, really.

Also, I can probably do a bit better on the price than the South African engines you mentioned, so it becomes an even better bargain (does that mean it is more of a snip, or less? English idiom escapes me from time to time, even after 20 years of trying to learn English as spoken in England, lol).

Theoretically, at least, Steve the mechanic is going to hoist it into my Mark III for a test fit in the next week or so, and I'll have an idea of what other work I have to do.

Dave

[Gilbern74]

Thanks Dave.
That engine sounds inspiring but I'm not sure if I want to go down the route away from the V6 Essex that I have.
I've got so many bits n pieces and plans with the Essex engine that I'd prefer to stick by that for the time being.

Besides, I'm not really that technically minded and like to stick to what I know at the moment!

[Gilbern74]

Well I have finally bought an engine

As mentioned previously, some time ago there were some 3.4L V6 engines available imported brand new from South Africa. I got in touch with the supplier as he was advertising for the last batch of engines coming over and managed to bag one of the last.
(Apparently this was a clearance of old 3.4 stock which had been sitting in crates in Fords S.A plant for a decade or two, and they really look in tip-top condition!)
I'll get some photos out when the engine arrives next month.

Not only does this mean I get an engine at last, I can now clear some shelves of the multitude of engine bits lying around eBay beckons!

I will have the flywheel lightened a touch and get it all balanced before putting it in the car.
I'll also need to upgrade the camshaft. I had previously intended on having a V63 or equivalent on the 3.0 V6 for it's low-mid torque, so I'm not sure if that type would still be suitable on the 3.4 or if I should just got for a midrange cam.... I guess I won't know until it's running but I may just buy and put the V63 type cam in to see how it goes.
I'll have the timing wheels changed too.
Hope this power-plant doesn't sound like a death-wish waiting to happen. Just as well I have new disc brakes in place.

On the subject of brakes.....
Last weekend I also managed to get the pedal box back in, and finished restoring the brake and clutch master cylinders. Whether they are still up to the job remains to be seen. Whilst they look nice and shiney now, with all the seals replaced, they may still be that old that they leak, in which case I'll replace them with something more modern.

Brake and Clutch cylinders after fitting and clutch pipe connection to bulkhead:



Likewise with the brake servo (I couldn't restore it as it's a sealed unit), I bought a new-ish replacement off eBay some years ago and will get that in place (though I don't think there was ever anything wrong with the old servo unit, but it was rather rusty looking. That'll go on eBay as well soon)
The brake system should be complete once I've got the engine firewall sound/heat shields back in place and I can run the pipes over it (see my other post on Sound Deadening)


Back to the bodywork.... I have removed nearly all the top coats of paint and primer from the car. Just the door frames left to do. This is my initial run round the car and I've been impressed with the paint remover I've been using - really helped speed the job up.
But there's several places that still need going over again as some persistent paint remains.
Then it's the monotonous yet necessary task of going over and over with the sanding blocks. But as it's a means to an end I'll persevere... I only have a few hours max each weekend (normally when the football's on so I can listen to that on the radio in the garage!) to get any work done and that's likely to be the same through the winter.

Nearly bare:




Onwards and upwards!

[trippdl]

Hello Jason - I had some dealings with a firm called Past Parts, I think they're in Bury St Edmunds, who resleeved a clutch slave cylinder for me; either in their advertising, or in a conversation, they mentioned something about being able to rebuild the remote servos. I never followed the reference up, since at the time, I had good brakes on everything. It might be worth an email to see what they can do with servos, since I suspect that a fully rebuilt one might be a very good thing to keep on a shelf in the garage, just in case...

In my situation, it is a moot point - you don't need brakes if the damn car never gets to turn a wheel....
Dave

[Gilbern74]

Dave, I looked up Past Parts. They sound like a good co. to have in mind for any classic items that need servicing.
I wonder how much they would charge though..? I might put them to the test with my old servo, but as I have a decent one ready to go in I'll leave it for now.

You're right, who needs brakes! What's wrong with slowing down using gears

[Gilbern74]

If you are interested in a little more displacement, I have a spare (new) Ford 4.0 engine up for grabs - I bought one of these from Ford SVO in Michigan a few years ago. It was dropped off the forklift, and damaged, and went to a rebuilder in Lincoln who disassembled it, then had a nervous breakdown and disappeared. I located and bought a second, new, engine; shortly after that, the father of the rebuilder called to say he had completed the job his son had started, so the second, new, engine was now excess to requirements.....
Dave

Dave, I take it that's your engine on eBay then

[trippdl]

Yup, that's the very one.

Steve's hoping to do a test fit of the one with the auto trans crank into the Mark III in the next week or so, to see if the bonnet needs to be clearanced. Did a rough guesstimate, and don't think it will need much, if any extra space, but if it does, I'll cut the bonnet and raise the centre, a la Tony Hayward's; if you look at the photo of the start of the Border Reivers, his is the light metallic green one.

The 4.0 is about 75 lbs lighter than the Essex, but if I include the power steering and A/C,it should still be (marginally) lighter. Phil has done a couple of Cologne installs, and Lionel Oddy has a 2.9 in his Mark III. If you were going to put it in a Gilbern, those cast manifolds would have to go...

I was very tempted to keep this (new) engine and sell the modified one, but decided that the manual trans crank would make the new engine more saleable than the first one. A note - 'If I had known then what I know now' - the 4.0, in its native (US spec) habitat, uses relatively low compression pistons; this suited Jeff (at SVO) since he had a 16psi boost supercharger on it, but when I told him what kind of octane rating was normal over here, he said that if he'd known that, he would have sent me some high compression pistons for it. He figured it had 200 hp as it sits (Ford quotes 171 HP, 225 lb/ft standard), so I think there's plenty of power, but higher compression pistons would equate to better economy. Having said that, it would need to be a LOT of extra mpg to get me to take the engine apart again. It got lost two years the first time, I might never live to see it come back if I tried to do it again...

If any GOC Members are interested, PM me, and I'll pull it off ebay.

[Gilbern74]

Well after being computer-less for 3 weeks due to a blown motherboard and having found and installed a replacement I can finally post a brief update! It's a nuisance in our digital age to have a load of photos on the digital camera and nowhere to load/store them, and I missed my vast mp3 collection all of which is on the pc! But I found I can live without the thing quite easily

Whilst there's no news to get too excited about I did make a start using the sound deadening and glassfibre supplies that I ordered a few weeks ago. The preliminary results are encouraging! Although, the colder weather has put pay to any lengthy work in the garage. Brrrr.
In fact I've had little more than 2 or 3 hours each weekend. Which doesn't bode well for a speedy restoration.

With the impending arrival of my new engine (coming this Friday, YAY!!) I have the incentive to make its new home a comfortable as possible. So I've been concentrating on the engine bay.

I dug out the old padded vinyl engine bay surround/soundproofing that still had 30 year old oil embedded in it and gave it a few good scrubs and polishes ready to go back in the bay. It came out looking very good!

But before that could go on I wanted to put a layer of the sound-deadening on first. This stuff is 3 to 4 mm thick with a sticky butyl backing and foil front, just give an extra layer that would reduce the resonance of the engine so I could hear some music when it's done!! Its easily cut with a Stanley knife, very easy to stick on and using a heat gun additionally helps the adhesion. This will also go in the roof, footwells, back seats and boot eventually.
(Note: This stuff is sound-deadening, not sound-proofing. Deadening lowers certain frequencies of sound using added mass, but does not absorb them like felt or foam does.)

So my first effort put it along the n/s and o/s engine bay:


I also found a hole that needs closing off!



Now when it came to the firewall of the engine bay, I still had to fit the vent flow cover (...thingy) that attaches to the firewall and allows air flow through to the heater before I could add any sound-deadening.
When I went to rivet the old cover back on it wouldn't fit, much to my horror!. I tried heating it up with a heat gun and manhandling the grp into a shape that would go on, but it was never snug and always sprang back to its original shape .
So I could either use the GRP stuff I bought to 'fill in the gaps' and make this cover fit, but since the cover was too small it seemed easier to use the old one as a mould and create a completely new piece over the top of it which would be slightly bigger......................

So inspired was I that I had thought of this solution myself (being technically deficient in these things), I had to sit down for a while before setting out to conquer this challenge.

Starting with the old cover laid on a piece of cardboard, I covered it in the resin-proof tape I'd bought. I layed the tape further around the edges as I needed it a little higher and wider so I could get it flush with the firewall.



Once the tape was on and to the shape/size I liked, I began using the mat and resin. My first attempt. Ever!
I had ordered 1kg rolls of 300gsm, 450gsm and 600gsm mat and 3 sq/m of tissue mat, 5ltrs of resin and various pots/tubs, brushed and a roller. It's not until you get hold of this stuff that you realise how thick it really is and what you can use it for. Handling the mat (with latex gloves of course!) gave me a few ideas for other constructions further down the line.
I started with some 450gsm mat. I had to guess the quantity of resin I needed (having not used it before) and added 3% hardener (as it was a tad cold this included an extra 1% to assist the resin setting).

Placing the mat over the cover mould I used a resin brush to smear and dab the resin in until the mat was saturated . To my imense pleasure and relief this was ever so easy!!




Once set (no longer tacky to touch) I did another layer using 300gsm.
I allowed this to set again, and then added a final layer of tissue mat to make the surface smoother.

The next day I was able to prise the new cover from the original mould:


After playing around with fitting the new cover I needed to cut off an inch from the top and a few bits around the sides and I added a drain plug in the bottom of it (used a rubber tapered cable grommet).
I also had to make allowances for the windscreen wiper cable tubing that runs through the top of the cover (just under the vent). To check alignment of the tube I fitted the wiper wheel-boxes in. I got the tube, drilled holes for it in the sides of the cover, and fitted another rubber cable grommet on each side to accomodate the tube. All was set for the cover to be fitted on.

I put some sealant around the cover edge that would be in contact with the firewall, riveted the cover on and then added some grp 300gsm over the edges to make a proper seal and finish.


Praise the Lord! I seem to have succeeded
But... I had to make a couple of very minor alterations - after checking that the steel tubing section (that has the bonnet catch bracket on it which bolts to the bulkhead and around this cover) would fit, I had to cut away a (very small) section of the cover to allow that piece to fit snug against the bulkhead for bolting on. Then I noticed that on the n/s edge the new cover would be up against the steel tube and I needed to allow for the sound deadening & vinyl to fit around this. All solved by grinding away a little of the cover and sealing again with small pieces of mat grp'd into place and of the shape necessary.

Next job...finish attaching the sound deadening, glue on the vinyl surround, attach all the bits that can be bolted on around the engine bay. Oh and my NEW ENGINE WILL BE ARRIVING !!!

[Gilbern74]

WOOOOOOW My engine has finally arrived

Just had the call from the guy who's delivered it. It's now sitting on my drive in a crate sent all the way from S.A!
Can't wait to get back to have a sneak peek at the 3.4L beasty
What's more he's said that instead of the short-ish engine I paid him for, it's come complete with sump , heads and rockers too! (Although I have my own heads ready for it anyway, doesn't hurt to have some spare - more shelf-fillers!)

Will have to wait for photo's as my home PC has crashed yet again, but this is a major step in my restoration.
Just need to arrange for an engine builder to get some kg's off the flywheel and get it balanced, then get all the ancilliaries on it before I get it in the car


WOOOOOOW once more

Edit: and here she is.........ooh, a box....

[Gilbern74]

Wel quite a few weeks have passed including Christmas and New Year, all being too chilly for me, and as I'm not living there I haven't ventured into the garage at all.
With this weeks snow and ice there was even less incentive to do anything so it is all still on hold.

I just realised I have some more photos to add.
First of all here is the completion of my engine bay preparation!!

Having fabricated the vent/flow/cover/thingym'jig and rivited it in place, sanded down any rough edges and made some minor alterations so that the engine catch bracket could fit on, I was ready to finish putting on the sound deadening and vinyl surrounds.....



Completed adding soundproofing layer:


Followed by the original vinyl surround...


[...and then bolted the bonnet catch bracket back on too



I'll have to wait to see whether I can still use the bonnet catch in its original location - but I doubt it....once I get the engine in with the triple-carbs I don't think there will be clearance for the catch over the carbs. So I'll have to engineer an alternative

[Gilbern74]

So....on to the arrival of my shiny new 3.4l engine!!
I undid the crate and got my first glimpse and feel of the precious new heart of the car. Ho wnice not to have to chisel away old oil and dirt to get to all the bits



Took a cover off to get a look at the rocker gear....



The heads will be removed and replaced with my mighty large valve heads that I had machined off the 3.0L engine. Apparently the only difference to the 3.4L heads will be a oil and water hole that extends from the block on each side that will have to be tapped and plugged.

I will be taking the block to a local engine shop who will lighten the flywheel (off the 3.0L) and balance the bottom end for me. I'll get it back so I can add the high pressure oil pump, distributer and anything else I have lying around that needs to go on....Then I can get the engine and gearbox in the car finally!!
I'll then get the heads on and sort out everything to fit correctly. There's bound to be loads of bits left over so I may be doing this a few times!

One more thing.... thanks to Richard (GGenie69) who put me on to the Roller Rockers available in down under in Oz.
I got myself a set off a Holden 6 (1.5, 3/8) which cost A$220 (c.£105). (ps the postage cost me nothing - sent through a 'contact' )

A fair saving on the Yella Terra from Burtons. Ok, they may not be the same race quality, but I'm not racing...


Looking good!

[Greybags]

I just love that engine ..

Is it possible to actually lust after a beautiful bit of engineering ...

When you start it, you will have to record the sound on something and we will have to figure out a way to get the sounds to match the pics on here ..

Looking very good indeed...

Grahame