Shitbox Rally 2012 - Mario II

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Added one thing to pack for SBR 2012, Chalk, large quantities, fluorescent colours, for the drawing of obscene pictures on Mario II.

Yes, I wondered if that might have been the case, which is one of the reasons why that's not our chosen colour scheme.  That had been an idea, and that was just a preliminary photoshop to see how it would look.  Sucked you in anyway....

Actual progress on the cosmetics below, we've just got to polish and apply stickers now.  Also attached a couple of pics of the almost finished sister Alfetta of team Two Amigos, they're coming along very nicely.

Mario II is pretty much ready mechanically.  We've fixed or checked everything important, the only slight concern is the leaky piston rings on cyl 2.  We accidentally cooked him last week when a plug for the fan fell off without us realising, so we did a compression test as a precaution, which is when we discovered the rings problem (the smoke he was blowing was also a clue).  We'll be packing plenty of plugs, and oil.

The fact that he decided to only drive on 3 cylinders when I took him to the supermarket tonight is of slight concern also.....  Was getting dark so didn't have a chance to have a good look for the problem, will have a decent examination tomorrow.  Worryingly he didn't want to idle as well as he has been recently, until warm anyway, and then the aforementioned 'running on 3' problem surfaced, but only under load, he revved fine when in neutral.  At this stage I'm thinking either fuel pressure, or dodgy plug leads, but please, any suggestions or experience with a similar problem most welcome.

Hoping it's nothing too serious, we're not really geared up for an engine transplant this close to the event.  Other than that, we're planning on taking him for a couple of decent drives just to check everything is in order.  The event is only 2 and a half weeks away, so I can feel the excitement building!!!

[MD]

we did a compression test as a precaution

So what are the compression figures for all 4 cylinders?

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Phew, it was just a fouled plug on cylinder 3, so that eases our minds slightly.  Still blowing a lot of smoke though, and we've been advised to 'not let it idle for too long'!!  I don't need much excuse to give an engine a good hard flogging every time I use it.

My pet theory is that a bit of oil is blowing through the breather, and since cylinder 3 is right next to it, it's copping a bit more oil than it would ideally like.  There was a bit of oil underneath the breather inlet into the filter housing, but not shitloads.   Just a theory, and I know bugger all about these things, so....

Evan is taking it for a decent drive tonight, so we'll see how that works out, and I'll probably take it for a decent flogging on Saturday.

So what are the compression figures for all 4 cylinders?

Sorry mate, don't know.  Our tame mechanic did it for us as a favour, in his spare time, so I was sat in the seat pressing the brake pedal and cranking the starter while he did it.  He knows the figures would mean nothing to me so he didn't even bother.  All I heard was "yep, hmmm, yep, yep".  And then "do you want to re-build the engine before you go?".  Me - "hells no'.  Tame mechanic - "take lots of plugs and oil..."

[MD]

Well other than obviously clearance issues due to wear, oil control rings that are all carboned up from too much city driving, worn valve guides and hardened valve stem seals all will give rise to oil burning from blow-by. Sustained heat from continuous driving with the occasional (and progressive high revs)will burn off some of this carbon but dont expect miracles.If you give an old engine that has upper cylinder caked up with carbon some serious big revs thinking it will get rid of the problem, it may do the opposite. This is because the inertia of the piston travelling at hihger velocities than usual will cause it to touch areas a little higher than usual and can break rings if making contact with this build up and once that happens,shit happens.

So the lesson is progressive build up of revs over time and not in one big go would be my suggestion.

[Evan Bottcher]

It was billowing smoke earlier today, but that settled down after a bit of a drive.  Perhaps it was a stuck ring, or it might actually have been a bunch of fuel dumped in the exhaust when the plug was fouled, and burned off?  Seemed fine this evening anyway.

Unlike the cooling system, which is not doing it's job.  Sheldon and I just back from taking Mario II for what was meant to be another good test drive, but he overheated pretty quickly and we had to nurse him home.  This involved stopping regularly and drinking beer.

Tomorrow I'll pull the radiator and give it a flush, see how blocked it is.  Also I'll read about how to properly bleed the cooling system - I'm used to Sud/33s where they are pretty much self bleeding.

This is going to be an interesting rally :-D

[Neil Choi]

Evan

Bleeding the Alfetta cooling system is easy, near the thermostat is a 13 mm brass bleeder, loosen that carefully and bleeds the system, also at the rear of the motor, undo the heater hose to bleed as well.  5 min and you are done.

But check your thermostat, also.

[MD]

Evan,

Flushing the radiator may or may not produce any major improvement as inevitably cars of this age have too many blocked tubes in the core. This means removing the top an bottom tanks, cleaning out the deposition and resoldering the original tanks. Once reinstalled, be sure to add 33% ethyglycol to your coolant and check the cap for correct pressure. I think a trip to the radiator works is looming.

If you can get a garage to do a pressure hold measurement on the cooling system before you do all this, it may help diagnose if there are head gasket leakages as well.

[Evan Bottcher]

Thanks Neil, MD,

Tested the thermostat this morning and it was stuck closed, so replaced with a new one.  That sorted most of the problem - car holding a good 80 degrees in stop/start traffic and on the highway.  But still not happy with the radiator as the fan won't cool it down easily, so that's off to the radiator shop to be sorted.  Just as good ol' MD predicted

No expense spared on the cooling system... !

cheers,
Evan.

[MD]

Sticking thermostats will do it for sure but I am glad you didn't elect to save some bucks and leave it out. The reason is that the hotter the engine below boiling point, the more efficient the combustion process and so more power is delivered and better fuel economy. People who take them out and leave them out are making a serious mistake. "Cold" engine running also accelerates the engine wear not that you guys give a rats about that in this situation but the fuel economy returns will more than pay for you thermostat outlays. Good call.

A few other things that affect engine getting hot that you may care to look into if it is still happening later.

Fuel mixture. Is it too lean?
Fan belt. Is it slipping?
Incorrect engine timing

This is also a good opportunity to check the water pump seal and bearing, suspect heater hoses that may blow and of course condition of the top hose.


I know you guys know all this but it doesnt hurt to get a poke in the ribbs to remind you to do it so you can clear your concscience and say but we checked that !@!

[Evan Bottcher]

Stickers are fun.

[alfagtv58]

So...Sheldon....how did Mario go this weekend?

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Well, Phil, it was a bit of a mixed weekend for Mario II, thanks for asking.

I drove him out to Evan's country estate, about 130km away, and he ran like a dream.  No overheating, no fouled plugs, stereo goes pretty loud etc.  Same for the drive back, except that about 50km out of Melbourne, 110km/h in the fast lane, he suddenly lost power.  He would idle, but very roughly, not take any revs, and spit back through the carbs.

I looked under the bonnet for the problem, but soon ran out of talent, so the RACV was summoned.  Turned out the distributor was completely rooted, which I was actually pretty relieved about, 'cos that's easily fixed.  So, after 4 hours on the side of the highway, Mario had to go back to Melbourne on the back of a truck.  Slightly undignified for an Alfa, but I'm glad it happened now rather than in two weeks time.

[Evan Bottcher]

So...Sheldon....how did Mario go this weekend?

Smart ass!

I was looking at that photo thinking geez that looks nice for a shitbox.  And he's also practicing for his secondary role as a beer holder! 

[alfagtv58]

Hehe.  Like you guys I'm glad it happened now too. The car looks great in the flesh btw, if I had room I would be tempted to bid for it at auction and drive it back from fnq.

Shame you can't see the cock and balls I drew into the dust on the bonnet in that photo.  At least I was the first one in before Stu gets to it with his chalk....

[alfagtv58]

Oh yeah, let me know if you want that sump guard. Ill gladly donate it if you think you will use it.  I can drop it off to you, you can come and pick it up or we can meet halfway at....oh I don't know....somewhere that serves beer.