SAAB V4 ENGINE REBUILD--PART 4

 First--my apologies for less than wonderful photos. A BLACK engine is not the greatest for award-winning photography...This is the completed Ford/Saab V4 high performance engine, ready to go to the owner, to "wake up" a Saab 96. It will produce 110-115 horsepower--quite a step up from the original 73...
The car in the background is my '37 FIAT Topolino, "MR T".

 Front view. Note the timing cover--modified to give room for a radiator with electric fans. Behind the cover are special timing gears--steel gears for crankshaft and balance shaft, aluminum gear for the camshaft. The cam itself is a regrind to Iskenderian F4 specs. Atop the engine is a Weber 32/36 DGV-5A carburetor and air cleaner.

Right front corner.  The new oil filter and water pump are visible. Not visible--big valve cylinder heads and fully balanced crankshaft and associated parts.  I reconditioned and lightened the rocker arms as well. Note the engine lift [in red], an item I built 40+ years ago.  Good tools last a very long time...

Arse end. Note the reconditioned distributor and high performance Magnecore plug wires. Note also the light flywheel and matched pressure plate. The blue paint indicates the balance-match [pressure plate to flywheel] point. The bits of green tape seen here and there are to cover coolant pipes, etc, as the engine is to be shipped to it's owner in another state. I send along a compete listing of all the parts and all the work done on these engines [9 pages long on this one...] plus a short "manual" on doing the necessary re-torques and adjustments as the engine is driven in the owner's car.

SAAV V4 ENGINE REBUILD--PART 3

 This is a lightened flywheel on the V4 engine. Note that quite a lot of material has been removed around the OUTER part of the flywheel. I used NEW flywheel bolts because these bolts are torqued to 50 ft/lb, which is a "stretch" or "yeild" condition that Ford specified. No locking washers are used. Note the yellow paint between two of the bolt heads. This shows the mounting location for the flywheel, on the crankshaft, since this is a fully balanced engine. The balancer also put peen marks at this point. I add the paint so the next "wrench" who gets into this engine may notice that the engine has been balanced, and will, hopefully, reinstall the flywheel at that same location on the crankshaft.

 I use a transmission clutch [input] shaft to center the clutch disc in the flywheel. I also use a witches' brew to put a thin coat of lubricant into the pilot bushing.  My brew is 60% AMSOIL 75/90 transmission oil, 15% STP, and 25% molybdenum disulfide assembly lube. Mixed thoroughly.

 The pressure plate is balanced to the flywheel. The paint--and peen marks--show the correct location for the pressure plate mounting on the flywheel. It is good to know that the release bearing pressure surface of the pressure plate--the flat plate where the inpu

REBUILDING SAAB V4 ENGINE--PART TWO

 Here are the four piston & connecting rod assemblies. The new pistons are 0.031" oversize. At this point all four have been in the engine [without piston rings] so the bearing clearances could be checked with plastigage. The bearing clearances averaged 0.00175". The original connecting rod bolts and nuts have been replaced with new high strength Ford V8 parts. The six small bolts in the photo are not part of the piston/rod assembly.   

 This is by far the best way to install piston rings, using an inexpensive piston ring expander pliers.  You always need to read the instructions that come with the rings. There is usually a peen mark on some of the piston rings that indicates that side of the ring must be installed UP [toward the top of the piston]. I arrange the piston ring end gaps so they are 120 degrees apart when in place on the piston.

 The piston/rod assembly is ready for installation in the engine block. A ring compressor tool is in place, and has compressed the piston rings.  The yellow items on the connecting rods are flexible plastic protectors, to keep guide the rod over the crankshaft journal and prevent the rod bolts from damaging the journal.

 Not a great photo, but it shows the piston being inserted into the block [top left]. I use a small hammer with a wooden handle to tap the piston/rod assembly into place in the block. Note that pistons have a notch in thier crown, indicating that the piston must be installed with the notch pointing to the FRONT of the block.

In this photo, all the rod caps are in place and torqued to 25 ft/lb. I use a bit of Loktite on each of the bolts as a bit of added insurance that a nut will NOT come loose. Note that a new oil pump has been installed [with a NEW oil pump drive shaft] and that the oil pick up strainer is completely clean. I squirt as much engine oil into the new oil pump as it will hold before I bolt it in place. Note the "1.7" on the second crankshaft counterweight from the front, indicating that it is a 1700 crankshaft. At this point, the lower end of the engine is "buttoned up" and ready for the oil pan to be installed.

SAAB V4 ENGINE REBUILD---PART 1

 You are looking down into the block of an overbored 1.7 litre Ford/Saab V4 engine that I'm rebuilding in my shop. You can see new balance shaft bearings, a new steel timing gear, and the fully balanced crankshaft. You can't see it because of its small size, but "BB3415" is stamped into the crankshaft. That indicates that the balance shop--Bert Beck Custom Engines--has recorded this crankshaft as the 3415th crankshaft they have balanced over the years. By now, they know what they're about! 

 These are the main bearing caps and their retaining bolts. All the parts have been meticulously cleaned. New main bearings are installed and the clearances checked with Plastigage. Average bearing clearances are 0.00175"---I make a "map" of all engine clearances a part of my records, and give the customer a copy as well.

The main bearing caps are installed and torqued to factory spec [72 ft/lb]. You can't see it here, but I install the rear main bearing seal as I install the rear cap. That assures a proper "fit" of the seal, with no chance of damaging the seal when it is fitted.  You can see from the photos that the engine is VERY clean. That's the way I want it when I rebuild an engine.

MY FIAT TOPOLINO HEATER SYSTEM

 These three  critters are parts to make demisting/defrosting possible in MR T, my '37 FIAT "EuroRod". Top pair are the air outlet nozzles at the base of the windshield. Bottom is the fitting that slips into the stock Fiat 124 Spider heater box.

 This is the heater box, mounted inside the cabin. At the extreme top is the defrost air fixture, fitted into the heater box.

 This photo, taken from outside the car looking down through the [not yet installed] windshield, shows the two defroster delivery nozzles bolted in, at the base of the windshield.  The orange knobs cover the windshield wiper arm actuators. The wiper motor and linkage are stock Fiat 124 Spider, narrowed slightly.

The drawing shows the whole heater/defroster system. Outside air comes into the system when the cowl door on the right side of the car is opened [extreme lower right]. Just inboard is a second door, which lets an adjustable amount of fresh air in on the passenger's legs. If the outside door is closed, this door [when open] lets air inside the cabin to recirculate through the heater.
Air is directed to the top of the stock heater box, where it passes over the heater core and either out the bottom, into the cabin, or up to the defroster tubes, or both, depending upon the position of the slide controls on the front of the heater control panel.
A bit of fabrication was required, but that's part of the fun. I was determined to have an effective heater/defroster system in this little mouse, so there it is.

BMW Switch Reconditioning

 Back to bikes!  This is the BMW headlamp pod with the reconditioned combination speedometer/tachometer unit that you saw in an earlier blog. This concerns reconditioning the handlebar switches, seen on the left and right in the photo above.

 Here is a close-up of the headlamp assembly with the combination gauge and the right switch. Of the switches, the one on the left switches on the stop lamp when the front brake is applied. The right switch controls the left/right direction signals and engine start.

 This is a close-up of the two switches for the right handlebar.

The drawing shows the component parts of the LEFT handlebar switch which controls high & low headlight beams and the horn. As the rider moves the thumb control the rotating contact plate decides which beam is "ON". When the button is pushed "IN", the horn sounds. Quite a lot of "stuff" in a very small switch body.

Other than a broken wire, the only thing wrong with this switch was 40+ years of built up corrosion between the brass parts. After I cleaned it all up and repaired the broken wire...VOILA!  Good for another 40 years! 

Subaru, Saab and Great Designers

 Meet "Mr. B", my '87 Subaru Brat 2-4 wheel drive pickup. The other day the muffler [located just behind the rear axle] decided it was tired and got REAL loud. I replaced the rear section of pipe and the muffler and while I was at it, added a Monza dual outlet pipe tip. Hot ziggety!

 There you see the exhaust tip in all its exhausting glory. So what's the big deal, here, and what's the connection with Saab, you ask?  And what is this "Great Designer" business, anyhow?  The Subaru connection to Saab was Saab's 9-2, the badge engineered Subaru WRX wagon that Saab sold for a year or so. An excellent car, but not one the Saab snobs liked because it wasn't built in Trollhattan. Now for the designer part.

The Brat was designed by Alex Sarantos Tremulis, who also designed the '48 Tucker, added the chrome front fender exhaust pipes on the supercharged Cord, designed the '40 Chrysler Thunderbolt, a number of Ford show cars, and the world's fastest motorcycle, the streamlined, Triumph powered Gyronaut [ 245.667 mph at Bonneville] and managed to get a full sized motor home to 97.6 mph on Muroc dry lake in Southern California.

I was privileged to meet Alex several times at Art Center College of Design when I was an instructor there. He never stopped thinking, dreaming and designing and his knowledge of aerodynamics was amazing. At that time he owned three Tuckers and always drove one when he visited our school.

I've owned several "designer cars" but Mr. B is probably the coolest of all of 'em. 

SAAB Distributor Test Machine

 As promised, here is the SUN distributor test machine, with a Bosch/Saab V4 distributor installed for testing. When the machine is running, an arrow appears on the large black INNER ring below the distributor. Just outboard of that is another black ring with degrees etched into its surface. As distributor RPM increases [by turning the knob at the bottom, below the black rings] the arrow moves anti-clockwise, indicating degrees of advance for that RPM. The top meter on the right measures the RPM. I plot the RPM for each degree of advance, in order to see the mechanical advance curve.  

A typical advance curve--taken right from my distributor reconditioning records book--is shown in RED above, plotted over a set of minimum/maximum curves, as shown for that particular distributor, in the Saab V4 Service Manual.

When the actual plotted curve [RED] is NOT within the factory spec's, I have to disassemble the distributor and change one [or both] of the wee springs in the advance mechanism. Depending upon the distributor type, there may or may not be an additional mechanical adjustment that I can make.  Remember---there are at least a dozen different Bosch distributors used by Saab in their V4 model run from 1967 to 1980.
Without plotting the mechanical advance curve, using the SUN machine, you have no idea what the distributor is doing and I guarantee you--if the curve is significantly outside the minimum/maximums, the engine will run poorly, no matter what tune-up and/or repair you have done to it.

The bottom curve is a plot of the vacuum advance, also done on the SUN machine, or with a special machine I built for the purpose. Again, Saab shows the ideal minimum/maximums for that curve. The RED plot shows the curve of the vacuum advance unit I used for this particular recondition job.  One thing to note:  if the vacuum advance does not work, the engine will run like crap even if you have the timing and carburetion set perfectly.  How is YOUR V4 engine running?

One thing I have found out over the years of reconditioning distributors---the SUN machine never lies.    

DISTRIBUTOR RECONDITIONING

 It all comes together! Above--seven reconditioned Saab V4 Bosch distributors. In the center, the last one, still in one of my holding fixtures. Each distributor has been re-bushed, and all new parts installed, including the vacuum control units.

Here are the seven reconditioned distributors. Depending upon the customer's needs, they may be delivered with points and condenser installed, or a solid state Pertronix unit, if that's what the customer wants. All will have a new rotor and new distributor cap.  If the customer wants a new spark plug wire set, he/she can get that too.  
Next step--I'll put each one on the SUN distributor machine and set the mechanical advance curve. The vacuum advance curves have already been plotted on the tech sheet for that distributor. I give the customer a copy of the tech sheet, which shows the advance curves and all the parts that were used for the rebuild.

The next blog--the mysteries of the SUN machine...heh heh heh.....

SAAB V4 DISTRIBUTORS--A REVIEW

 

 This photo shows a wide variety of Bosch distributors and distributor parts--ALL of which were supplied to Saab for their V4 engines. There were at least a dozen DIFFERENT Bosch distributors used on the Saab V4 engine, and while some parts are interchangeable, many are NOT. On the left is a really nasty Bosch/V4 distributor--typical of the way they look when I receive them. Moving to the right, there are 7 different drive gears. To the right of that the MAIN distributor parts---body, main shaft, top shaft. Then, a vacuum control unit [one of a dozen different ones used], a points plate [one of four used], a condensor [one of 10 different ones used], a set of points [one of two used], and a rotor [one of 6 used].The box holds half a dozen different top shafts, then several different movable points plates, and one of two different distributor caps. Finally, there are three different distributor assemblies and two different vacuum control units. I've reconditioned close to 500 Bosch distributors, and I still--occasionally--run onto something I have not seen before!

 Here are two Bosch V4 distributors with MAJOR differences. The top unit is what I call a "notch body" distributor. Note the extended casting on the side, near the top of the distributor body. This requires a vacuum control unit with its mount configured for that notch body. The distributor body below it is a "round body" type. Note that the vacuum control unit is assembled with a round mount.  

 Inside, the fun is just beginning. On the left is a very early internal shaft assembly, on the right one of the later shaft assemblies. Because of the orientation of the rotor notch in the top part relative to the 4 lobes that open the points, these will NOT interchange.  To further the fun, the later assembly [on the right] has four different lobe-to-notch arrangements and they will NOT interchange, either.  In reconditioning these distributors, it is essential to know what parts are compatible. If you don't, you will probably get the thing all back together again and it simply will not work.  Fun stuff, eh?

 This shows the parts of the internal shafts. On the left, starting at the top, the lower shaft. On either side are the two mechanical advance weights, with their control springs just below them. At the bottom, the top shaft, with the four lobes that open the points, and the notch for the rotor.  On the right, the assembled shaft. I control--and can tailor--the mechanical advance curve of the distributor, by changing the advance SPRINGS. I plot the actual curve by running the distributor on the SUN distributor machine, noting the degrees of advance at various readings through the useable RPM range. Sometimes a lot of springs get changed before I'm satisfied with the curve.

Virtually ALL the distributors I receive must have a bushing installed at the bottom of the distributor body. I use a special tool to hold the distributor body so I can drill it in the lathe for the brass bushing. In this picture the bushing has been installed and this setup is for reaming the bushing to the correct inside diameter. This is a fairly delicate process, to get JUST the right I.D. for the shaft, plus just the right clearance. Well....after bushing close to 500 distributors, I DO have that process figured out.
What makes YOUR V4 distributor a candidate for reconditioning? Uneven idle, poor performance, excess fuel consumption, hard starting are a few symptoms. Remember---these gesparkers are 40+ years old! Many Saab V4 owners are amazed at how much better their 40+ year old Saab runs with just a properly reconditioned distributor installed. How's yours running?

SAAB V4 ENGINE--REALLY SCREWED UP!

 

You are looking at a very screwed up Saab/Ford V4 engine block. I took this one apart to do a complete overhaul. The piston in the photo IS at top dead center. I rigged the dial indicator to measure how far the crown of the piston is below "deck height" [top surface of the block]. The drill is to get a starting point, so I set the dial indicator at some number greater than the estimated depth of the piston below deck height. I also know the thickness of the steel strap.

 Next is to remove the strap and take a measurent at the piston crown.  I subtract this measurement [plus the amount of the strap thickness] from the first reading. The result was 0.247".  This is a 1698cc V4. We all know [don't we?] that the pistons in the stock 1698cc V4 do not come up to deck height BUT they certainly are not a quarter inch below it! ZOUNDS! Some metally challenged mechanic really did a number on this little engine.

But wait! There's more! It's hard to see in this photo but the cylinder walls are a mess. There is about six jillion tiny hammer marks, all evenly spaced in that shiny area above the piston. What the hell caused that? I am not sure. Perhaps a worn out boring bar [the engine was bored .5mm (0.020") oversize] or an equally worn out hone of some sort.  So what does this have to do with the deck height problem?   Well, sports fans, when I got the sucker all apart I find that the super smart "wrench" who did this work managed to fit [new] pistons for a 1698cc engine onto a 1498cc crankshaft, resulting in the 0.247" under deck height measurement.
This same genius had the crankshaft turned 0.010" undersize on the main bearing journals, and 0.020" undersize on the connecting rod journals, BUT then installed bearings that were ALL 0.010" oversize. That sucker must have rattled quite a lot had had about as much power as an old two stroke Saab with one plug wire pulled off! 

Proving once again that these little V4's are pretty special and require some special knowedge--like factory manuals and 40+ years of Saab experience-- in order to rebuild them correctly. A hack mechanic who once overhauled a Chevy pickup engine has absolutely no business getting within a city block of a Saab V4. This particular rocket scientist managed to make the Saab owner pay TWICE to get his engine overhauled correctly.

VDO CLOCK--MYSTERY

 I need some help here, gang. I received this clock yesterday--for reconditioning--and I have NO IDEA what vehicle it came out of. The owner provided no phone number or email address. Do YOU recognize the critter?The outside diameter of the outer ring is 3.744" and the outer ring is brass color.

 The clock has two mount tabs, as you can see, and the auto-rewind section is the common VDO-Kienzle unit. Build date stamped on the auto-rewind section is 5-73.

Side view of the Mystery Clock. It is a VDO unit so that means it probably came from a European vehicle circa 1973. If you know what it might have come from, please let me know. Jack Ashcraft--phone 541-499-0246  or email me at jacksonashcraft@gmail.com

BMW MOTORCYCLE IGNITION & LIGHTING SWITCH PLATE

 Holy switchplates, Batman! This is a clear cut case of the good, the bad and the ugly! These are igntion & lighting switch plates from a 72 Bimmer Bike. On the left, the charred remains of the original. On the right, a new switch plate--possibly the only new one in captivity--which set the Bimmer owner back something on the order of $175.00! Yikes!

 View of the BOTTOM of the two plates. Obviously, there is work to be done on Old Nasty [left] which is dead as a door nail here.

 Top view of the two plates. Old Nasty [left] hung in there for 40 years so I reckon the owner can't whine too much about it giving up on him. But it's time to lop off the cremated wires and give the sucker the sheep dip [clock cleaner and rinse] treatment!

HA! There IS life after death! New wires and ready to go for another 40 years! I recondition a TON of switches--for cars and bikes--as well as making auto clocks and cable driven speedometers and tachometers work like new. MOST old dead ones can be revived--good stuff, Mate! 

BMW MOTORCYCLE--MOTOMETER SPEEDOMETER/TACHOMETER

 Something a bit different.....this is a Motometer speedometer/tachometer from a '72 BMW motorcycle. The Motometer weenies managed to stuff a cable driven speedo AND a cable driven tach into one case. Turns out that the main input shaft housing for both the speedo and the tach are essentially the same, except for different size threads for the drive cables. The item just behind the tach face is the input SHAFT. Just behind it is the input HOUSING.

 This shows the vertical shaft assembly--the gubbins that operates the odometer in the speedo section--which is omitted for the tach. Typical of such 40 year old instruments, the grease was hard as a brick bat. As always, I took the sucker completely apart, cleaned, lubed and adjusted it, and for the speedometer section, calibrated it for speed vs miles.

The whole schmere...well, the major players, anyhow...are shown here. The small cylinders just behind the speedometer assembly are the tubes for four warning lights. Everything in this photo has been reconditioned. All that was left was zinging it back together.  Interesting little instrument!  Don't be hesitant to contact me if you have a cable driven speedo or tach that needs help---I'll take a look at it and see if I can give it some new life!

SAAB V4 TRANSMISSION DIP STICK

 SAAB, in their infinite wisdom, made the transmission for the 95/96/97 models VERY unhandy when it came to checking the transmission oil level. The drill is to remove the check plug [see drawing above] and if oil runs out, the oil level is good.  If no oil runs out, take out the fill plug and add oil until it does run out, then replace the check plug.  Some Saab owners don't even know where the check plug IS, and has even less inclination to go through this drill.  So a dip stick is a real good idea, and can prove to be a transmission saver since the owner MIGHT actually check the transmission oil level on occasion.

 I built a construction fixture [red item at the bottom in the photo above and top red item in the photo below] that exactly matched an original SAAB trans dip stick, so when the stock of dip sticks have been sold, I whip out the fixture, and make up some more of them.

This photo shows seven [of a dozen] freshly completed dip sticks plus the original Saab dip stick [red, top next to the fixture]. I add the "MIN" and "MAX" notches, as per the original. Now, y'see, all you have to do is remove the fill plug with a 3/8" drive extension, dip the dip stick into the trans, pull it out, read the oil level, add if necessary, put the fill plug back into the transmission case, wipe off the dip stick, and if you're  a neatnick, you didn't even get oil on your hands. PLUS, your transmission stays properly oiled and happy. By the way--SAAB used to offer these dip sticks through their dealers. Since that is no longer an option to the vintage Saab owner, I thought it would be a good idea if I made the little buggers available.  Good stuff, huh?