The day my "onboro ALFA" would revive

I did the adjustment for the idling. The oil pressure was increased and it seemed good. The engine was running at 600rpm stably.  No problem so far!

One week passed and a long-awaited weekend came. I changed the engine oil , Put the oil from the sparkplug holes and rotate the crank by hand , Tighten the idle adjust screws to the end and return 1 turn , At last I turned on the ignition praying the moment of the engine starting.  After hearing the sound that the electric fuel pump sending the fuel , I pushed the gas pedal a few times then turned on the key … VROOOOOOOOM!!!!! The engine started with the first ignition!!!!! ☺︎☺︎☺︎ The engine revived for the first time in 10 years!  YES!!  I did it!!! I haven ’ t done the accurate adjustment , but the idling was stable and it seemed good. Tomorrow I would do the adjustment for the idling and throttle synchronization ♪

Despite the WEBER was already assembled , I was busy recently and could not find the time. But today I could manage to find a time and installed the WEBER on the engine! I also wanted to try the engine start.  But I found that the cam cover was dirty and for some reason I began to remove the cam cover to clean it.  As the result it became dark and I withheld to start the engine at night. I became very hungry so we enjoyed a barbecue with “ Shichirin ” for our dinner. (“ Shichirin ” is a small portable stove for cooking with charcoal made by clay. )  

On Saturday I had to go office and Sunday was the athletic festival of my kids ’ school.  Therefore , the progress of my work was little.    From today evening I started to assemble the second WEBER. As I got used to it a little , the assembly of the second WEBER was faster. The mission for the WEBER overhaul was completed.  Remaining task was to install the WEBER on the engine and to start the engine.  I hoped it would go well…

I ’ ve assembled one WEBER finally!  I felt that the WEBER was really cool. It became much cleaner than before. The taste of wine at this night was really good!!!

Finally the cleaning of the WEBER was completed almost.  It was still not shiny , but much cleaner than the previous horrible condition.    I also cleaned the screws and jets.  The hole of the main jet was clogged with the deteriorated gasoline.  Now I understood that the reason why engine couldn ’ t run.  I used a thin brass wire to clean the hole. At night I had a call from Mini shop that the ordered acceleration pump rod was prepared. Tomorrow morning I would go to the shop to pick up the part and assemble the WEBER!

Again it was continuation of the WEBER overhaul. I tried the engine conditioner to melt the sticking accelerator pump.  Based on the structural drawing on the manual and the fact that the acceleration pump rod could be moved slightly , I guessed the piston was sticking. I sprayed the engine conditioner a lot , which was normally used to melt the carbon inside the cylinder , on the accelerator pump piston and rod , then went for a walk with my dog.  After 2 hours walk I tried to remove them.  I expected success this time , but it failed… So I changed my strategy.  I inserted the screw driver in the upper part of the acceleration pump and pulled up it carefully using the screw driver as lever.  It removed! ?  But actually only the rod was removed because the hook shape at the top was deformed…oh my god!  The piston was still sticking.  I ’ ve got desperate and put the radio pliers in the WEBER.  I grabbed the piston with pliers a...

Finally I have started the disassembly of the WEBER.  I was a bit nervous in front of the removed WEBER , some goods for the overhaul ( I got them at 100Yen store and DIY hardware store ) and my treasury genuine workshop manual.  At first I started to disassemble the WEBER for #3 and #4 cylinders , which seemed to be bad condition because of the sticking acceleration pump. According to the instruction in the workshop manual , I removed the top cover , idling jets , main jets , inlet valves and acceleration pump retainer valve.   So far there was no problem.  However , the acceleration pump jet was sticking.  I couldn ’ t remove it… I decided to do it later.  I removed the choke jets , inspection screws , idling mixture screws and choke systems.  Finally I came to the sticking acceleration pump.  I removed the spring plate and pulled the pump….…but the sticking pump didn ’ t move!!! I gave up today. ...

Yesterday, the removal of the WEBER was interrupted by the sticking nuts. Today morning, I went to the DIY hardware store near my house thinking how I could remove the WEBER. When I arrived at the store, “junk tool sale” was held at the store timely.   I got the combination wrench set with the special price 498JPY (about $4.5).  It seemed thinner and better than what I had used.  And I also got the disc grinder to make the special tool from my old tools because I thought I would struggle to loosen the nuts. However, contrary to my expectation, I could loosen the nuts easily by new 498JPY combination wrench.   Great!  There was no turn for the disc grinder I bought…okay I wanted it before.   So, I could remove the WEBER finally. After the removal I found that different size of nuts were used.   2 pieces of 12mm nuts and 2 pieces of 13mm nuts were used in the WEBER for #1 and #2 cylinders.  And all 12mm nuts were used for the other...

I have tried to start the overhaul of WEBER carbs.   At first I removed the WEBER carbs from the engine based on the workshop manual. I removed the air cleaner box , choke cable , throttle linkage and fuel hoses … so far it was fine. Then , I tried to remove the WEBER carbs.  However , the removal work was interrupted soon.   The fixing nuts of the WEBER carbs couldn ’ t be loosen because the clearance between nuts and WEBER carbs was small. By the way , I read the articles that the wrench was grinded to make it thinner in order to remove the WEBER carbs on some magazines.  Or the offset wrench may be necessary…well , what should I do ?

I connected the fuel hoses to the WEBER carburetors and turned on the ignition.  The fuel pump started to make the operation sound.  But it didn ’ t stop.  I thought it was strange and checked the engine room , then , I found that the gasoline was overflowing from the WEBER carbs!!!  ( There is no photo because I was in a panic…I ’ m sorry. ) I guessed that the floats of the WEBER carbs were sticking.  I removed the top cover of the WEBER and took out the floats to clean.  Yes , the floats were sticking as I guessed.  I cleaned them and adjusted the float level , then , the overflowing was stopped. However , the engine didn't start despite adjusting the float level.  The first firing came , but it didn ’ t continue.  After I checked several points I found: the fire on the sparkplug was okay the engine started if gasoline was sprayed from the inlet port of the WEBER the engine started if choke was operated and idle at 5...

Although the gas was refilled , the gas didn ’ t come to the carburetors.  The electric fuel pump was working , but it still did blank beating.  I replaced the pump soon after I bought this car…but it was about 20 years ago!  So , I decided to replace the electric fuel pump to new one , and to change the location of the pump from the engine room to the trunk room ( because for the electric fuel pump to push the fuel is better than to pull the fuel ) . I bought the Mitsuba electric fuel pump , fuel hoses and a fuel filter by auction and installed them in the trunk room.   ( The wiring is tentative.  But I am ashamed because the trunk room is so dirty… ) However , even the new fuel pump was working well , the fuel didn ’ t come.  I guessed that the inlet of the fuel sender unit in the tank was sticking.  I remove the unit from the tank and found the rusty unit and its inlet was perfectly blocked by the rust ( I forgot to take the pictu...

From holidays in May 2007 I started my operation to revive my "onboro ALFA". First of all I tried to remove the rotten gas that was left for 10 years in the fuel tank , but it was not easy. I thought I could remove it from the drain bolt at the bottom of tank.  But the bolt was sticking and it could not be loosen. Then , I tried to remove gas from the fuel hose by activating electric fuel pump , but the fuel pump only did blank beating and the fuel didn ’ t come. After thinking for a while , I went to buy a hand pump for kerosene stove and a long vinyl hose to suck the gas from a fuel filler port.  AS a result of efforts for more than an hour with a cheap hand pump , finally I extracted 20L of horrible brown liquid and a lot of rust pieces from the tank. I filled the tank with new gas…but of course the inside of tank is still very rusty.  It was just the beginning of my long way...

In 1988 , just before I got married , I bought the Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV ( 1969 ) that I had been longing long time since I was a student.  From that time I have owned my Alfa Romeo for 30 years. After marriage until I got 2nd daughter , my Alfa Romeo played a very active role as a main family car for us.  Despite the air conditioner was not equipped , we often did long drive of 1 , 800km on return way to our home town , and also traveled with our 3 family members to lots of places. However , according to the increase of family members , such as having second and third kids , the places of the activity for Alfa Romeo were gradually decreased.  On occasion that we moved to Germany for my job from 1998 to 2002 , my Alfa Romeo hibernated for about 10 years in my friend's warehouse. After returning from Germany we had our own house in 2004 and built a garage for my Alfa Romeo by self-build one year later.   Then , finally my Alfa Romeo could com...

Hello , I am Takeshi.  I am living in Hiroshima , Japan with my wife and dog , and own 1969 Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV. ( I also own 1989 Renault 5 and 2007 Mazda 5. ) Over the 3 years from 2007 to 2010 , I repaired my Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV , which had been sleeping in a barn for 10 years , and recorded the progress of the repair on my blog written in Japanese.  Now I am thinking I would like to introduce my blog in English. I don ’ t even know why I think I want to translate my past blog to English.  Probably I myself wish to look back at the story of myself and my “ onboro ALFA ” again , and want to make a little more people know. By the way ,  I call my Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV "onboro ALFA".  The  “ onboro ”  is a Japanese word ,  it is similar to shabby in English I guess. My  “ onboro ALFA ”  that returned on the road in 2010 is singing the "Alfa sound" on the winding road today ,  and will always be on my si...