Resurrecting Jalpa #359

Pics came back this morning of the cylinder heads after clean up. They are in the process of grinding out any bad spots to weld them up. Should get a quote back soon and will post the before and after pics once some welding is done. They are working on the "bad" cylinder head first, and so far it wouldn't appear that they are even phased by it. Doing awesome work.

Great update.

Kerplop when do you expect to have it all finished? Also are you doing a ground up restoration? New paint etc?

 

Need more updateds, photos, etc.

Hey man! Glad to see this coming along! Thanks for sharing your method of using the media and walnut for cleaning parts. I never knew that was possible!

 

I hope do my own restoration on a Countach, (even a decent condition one), in the near future! This has to be so exciting!

Kerplop when do you expect to have it all finished? Also are you doing a ground up restoration? New paint etc?

 

Need more updateds, photos, etc.

 

Most of the paint is fine, actually. There are some spots on the doors and along the sides of the doors where the paint has been rubbed off over time (not sure what's up with that) and a few spots that need to be touched up where the car appears to have been either keyed in the past, or something scratched it, but very very small parts. Shouldn't be all that bad to touch it up. Aside from that the paint is fine. I cleaned it up with a good buffing job and was thoroughly impressed how well it cleaned up.

 

Anything I'm finding with rust is getting media blasted, or walnut media or powder coated.

 

As to ETA, IF, and it's a huge IF on the heads, if the heads get finished before winter hits, I hope to have the engine back together this winter. However, that's the giant "IF", regardless, so long as the heads continue to be a smooth process in repairs, and as long as they deck them and turn out well, the engine should be coming up along soon. My machinist refuses to do the block till he knows the heads can be repaired the way he wants them (and I don't blame him).

 

I am hoping by this summer I can have the first start. However, as I have learned with restoring a Lamborghini, parts are not always easy to find, things are not always finished on time, and things crop up unexpectedly. So I am trying to be patient and allow it to progress the way I want it so I'm not rushing anything.

 

Either way, very happy

Hey man! Glad to see this coming along! Thanks for sharing your method of using the media and walnut for cleaning parts. I never knew that was possible!

 

I hope do my own restoration on a Countach, (even a decent condition one), in the near future! This has to be so exciting!

 

I am SUPER excited. Life is good and things are going at a decent pace lately so each time more gets done, the car feels that much closer to being on the road .

Most of the paint is fine, actually. There are some spots on the doors and along the sides of the doors where the paint has been rubbed off over time (not sure what's up with that) and a few spots that need to be touched up where the car appears to have been either keyed in the past, or something scratched it, but very very small parts. Shouldn't be all that bad to touch it up. Aside from that the paint is fine. I cleaned it up with a good buffing job and was thoroughly impressed how well it cleaned up.

 

Anything I'm finding with rust is getting media blasted, or walnut media or powder coated.

 

As to ETA, IF, and it's a huge IF on the heads, if the heads get finished before winter hits, I hope to have the engine back together this winter. However, that's the giant "IF", regardless, so long as the heads continue to be a smooth process in repairs, and as long as they deck them and turn out well, the engine should be coming up along soon. My machinist refuses to do the block till he knows the heads can be repaired the way he wants them (and I don't blame him).

 

I am hoping by this summer I can have the first start. However, as I have learned with restoring a Lamborghini, parts are not always easy to find, things are not always finished on time, and things crop up unexpectedly. So I am trying to be patient and allow it to progress the way I want it so I'm not rushing anything.

 

Either way, very happy

 

Good that the paint could be rescued, take your time on the rest, you are doing a good job! I love following your progress.

Alright, some updates:

 

- Thus far the welding on the heads sounds good, still waiting to hear back on the final green light with a quote on the head repairs. Should know this week.

- Steering column rebuild is going well. Will include before and after pictures. The new bearings are NOS and are smooth as butter.

- Was able to hunt down a wiper switch and turn signal switch (turn signal switch was a cross referenced equivalent)

 

Will snag some pics here this week and post some before and after of the column rebuild. Seems that the bearings on the column were sticky as hell and pretty rough. Gonna feel like a brand new Jalpa.

 

Also:

 

- Pulled the cover off of the transmission with the new gaskets to button it back up. Whoever did the gasket last did it wrong and did not line the gasket up, causing it to not seal properly on one edge, which is where I suspect the initial transmission leak is.

- The bearings look to be in superb shape in the transmission. Going to pull the lower cover off as well and replace that gasket as well with the gasket set I bought from a member on here.

A huge update and the best news I've been waiting for. Pics came back today of the welding repairs on the heads which look GREAT. They are working on grinding and working down the welding material to make them look new.

 

But the machine shop gave the green light. The consensus I've been waiting for:

 

 

Still going to hold back on posting the pics until I have the "After pics" for you all to see what I've been dealing with.

This.

then

continuing the realization

then emotion takes over

then accepting victory

A huge update and the best news I've been waiting for. Pics came back today of the welding repairs on the heads which look GREAT. They are working on grinding and working down the welding material to make them look new.

 

But the machine shop gave the green light. The consensus I've been waiting for:

 

 

Still going to hold back on posting the pics until I have the "After pics" for you all to see what I've been dealing with.

 

 

Keep it going. My favourite thread on this site. I am working on a much less ambitious rebuild/restoration of my Ford.

Whiteout: Those gifs had me rolling but seriously, exactly how I feel right now.

 

Kinsella: I'm glad you're enjoying the thread It feels good to continue to make progress.

then accepting victory

SLAYED ME!

 

 

 

Kerplop congrats buddy. VERY EXCITED for you!

That's great news! Plenty of time until spring!!

Congrats man, that's great news. Cant wait until the end of this when we finally get to see the finished product after all the hard work and all the steps in between!

Awesome!

Congrats man!

 

Played guinea pig on ordering a turn signal stalk, ended up ordering from a Holden parts place which turned out, after much research and cross referencing, to be the same size mostly.

 

Either way is a 100% FIT.

 

Austin/Morris 1100 Mk II & 1300 Indicator Column Mounted for vintage & classic cars

 

Now, it is worth mentioning, it is not marked like the other turn signal stalk, so it doesn't have the paint mark for the horn and lights. However, the wiring is the same, the switches are the same and the function is the same. It is ever so slightly (and I mean probably less than half an inch) smaller in length on the end. Regardless, the diameter (roughly 30mm) is an exact fit.

 

Getting my stuff powdercoated and will post pics later. Took me about a week and a half total for shipping and for it to go through customs. Very happy with the product.

The factory sold all of their vintage parts several years ago, but has re entered that business recently. I doubt it though. I'm curious what they really have....Even if they do your best bet would be to look for the Weber 42dcnf elsewhere. It will be cheaper & it's not a Lamborghini specific part.

 

I get excited every time I see updates in this thread.

Played guinea pig on ordering a turn signal stalk, ended up ordering from a Holden parts place which turned out, after much research and cross referencing, to be the same size mostly.

 

Either way is a 100% FIT.

 

Austin/Morris 1100 Mk II & 1300 Indicator Column Mounted for vintage & classic cars

 

Now, it is worth mentioning, it is not marked like the other turn signal stalk, so it doesn't have the paint mark for the horn and lights. However, the wiring is the same, the switches are the same and the function is the same. It is ever so slightly (and I mean probably less than half an inch) smaller in length on the end. Regardless, the diameter (roughly 30mm) is an exact fit.

 

Getting my stuff powdercoated and will post pics later. Took me about a week and a half total for shipping and for it to go through customs. Very happy with the product.

 

Can you make a spacer to make up the difference, or is it just really negligible? Seems negligible to me.

Can you make a spacer to make up the difference, or is it just really negligible? Seems negligible to me.

 

Spacer for the difference in length? I don't think so. It's the actual switch part of the stalk. I'll post a picture later so you can see what I mean. The length difference is honestly not that big of a deal for me.