Reintroducing my E

[Scott Clarke]

I thought I'd post some photos of my 1970 E now that it is back together and mostly finished (for the time being). Your comments and observations are welcomed. A little history:

The car has come back to life following a long rehabilitative process. It spent six years in my garage following the failure of the gearbox’s input shaft. I purchased it in 2001 from an owner that wasn’t quite up to the task of dealing with it. The owner had completed a moderate quality re-spray in the original burgundy, and had Gus Phister rebuilt the MFI pump. The car was complete and numbers matching, but suffered from things like worn out pedal bushings and throttle linkage bushings. I discovered that, due to the throttle linkage bushings that had rotted to the point of complete absence, the owner had never experienced more than half throttle! No wonder he preferred his Alfa.

I had just a few months with the car prior to the input shaft failure. I removed the gearbox in order to find the source of the problem. When considering the engine and gearbox sitting on the garage floor, I allowed those infamous words that have launched thousands of expensive and protracted projects to escape my lips: “As long as I’m in there, I might as well…….”

[Scott Clarke]

When I pulled the motor I decided to replace the engine compartment sound pad. When I removed the pad I was horrified to discover the rust in the panel you see removed in the photo. The fix involved procuring a used but rust free panel from a donor car, preparing the panel by drilling out all of the spot welds (an amazing number of them!) at its perimeter, and removing the rusted panel in the same fashion. This was a lot of work, but it would now be difficult to determine that the panel was not original. I hired a body shop to weld in the panel I prepared and fitted, as I can not claim welding as one of my skills.

[Scott Clarke]

The replacement of the panel led to stripping the engine compartment to bare metal to insure that no other rust was lurking unseen. Fortunately, absolute none was found, and I was able to refinish the compartment with the correct Wurth SKS followed by several coats of satin black paint. I also had to paint the engine compartment jambs and latch panel, a job I completed in my driveway with decent results.

I decided that I needed to rebuild the motor, and that it would be nice to have a little more power. After consultation with Jeff Gamroth, I elected to purchase a 7R case (storing the original) and build a 2.5 short stroke. I was able to reuse my 2.2 rods and crank, and purchased 90mm cylinders that were reconditioned by EBS. I also purchased JE pistons from them. I sent the heads to Walt Watson for porting to S spec. The MFI throttle bodies went to Matt Blast for rebuilding and enlarging to S spec. The stacks I enlarged myself to ’69 S spec. I modified PMO air cleaner assemblies for use with the MFI, including adaptation of the cold start mechanism. The motor retains its E cams and E MFI pump specs. I did all of the assembly myself. I decided that the increase in displacement and power warranted the installation of a front oil cooler. I put together a system using used components, including hard lines from which I successfully removed significant crimps. I now have 500 miles on the motor. It revs very nicely, and I am anxious to see what it will do once past my temporary 5000 RPM limit.

[Scott Clarke]

I had to strip the interior in order to search for rust that may have resulted from the same leak that ruined the rear deck. I was able to treat and repaint some surface rust found in the interior. Following primer and paint, I installed sound deadening mat, an AppBiz RS perlon carpet set, and in a rare deviation from period-correct detailing, a black headliner. I found a pair of Scheel 501S seats (a little tatty) that I fabricated mounts for.

The luggage compartment was a mess, with a layer of old contact cement over most of the painted surfaces. I removed all of the undercoating from the lower half of the compartment, and most of the paint from the upper half. I applied more SKS to the lower half, and a coat of satin black to the whole thing. I stripped the gas tank to bare metal and refinished with primer and grey SKS.

[Scott Clarke]

Of course, there is much more that I did, and more I plan to do in the future. I'd be happy to add anything anyone is curious about. Thanks to everyone that helped along the way, both knowingly and unwittingly (and there were MANY of you!).
-Scott

[joegt3cup]

GREAT story, GREAT results and a GREAT CAR !!!

[berettafan]

flesh out the details, include a few more pics and put that writeup in Excellence!

[Rich Lambert]

Congratulations on a beautiful car...nice work!

[X-Faktory]

Scott,
That really turned out nice. Did you refurb the suspension, brakes , etc? Stock torsion bars and sway(s) or...??

regards,

al

PS: my 71E resto is about 3-6 months behind yours in terms of completion.

[kenikh]

When is the coming out party?