azzurro

Thanks mang, they were already at the top of my list, simply based on sensing the cable barry seeping out of their website: http://www.melbarcables.co.nz/

Swapped over the NOS keyed door handle after taking it apart and replacing the dried up 50? yo grease. Minor improvement given the sliding and rear doors dont have keys, but at least the cab can be 'secured' (it has sliding windows, lol) ********** Went down to Supercheap with my old hoses and rummaged up these out of their bins for cutting down to suit. Part numbers CALIBRE CH5225C and CH2010C for future reference. Could then install the refurbished radiator (cut down patrol 3 row core) which really does looks terrible in the photo tbh, but is tested good,, which also meant rerouting a lot of the control cables and wiring properly. Means the engine can run for more than a minute or so at a time. Temp guage even seemed to work, or at least moved a bit However, still need to sort out a fan. I deliberately replaced the original style water pump with its fixed pulley driven fan, with a significantly cheaper 'new' style water pump (Fiat 13/15/18/21/2300 or 125p) and take a lada pulley so belt is only running the pump, not the fan 100% of the time, for those sweet HP and NVH gainz. Does mean i need an electric fan, and add a temp sensor to run it. I previously had the radiator shop install a bung for a standard Fiat fan temp switch and so just need to find/buy a suitable 12" fan, and with only 40 mm of clearance to the engine, probably mount it as a pusher. Temp switch in the rad will be used to trigger the fan relay - i run the same setup in my other cars, and is the factory approach for later cars with electric rad fans. *********** My box of small bits showed up from LadaPower-Europe.com, which is a Belgian based sister site to Ladapower which is based in glorious Ukraine. The main bits i need for the Van are the special diff flange bolts and the big stack of tie rod end boots. The brake springs and shoe spacer kit are for the van too, but the ones in there are fine. Also got some quarter window rubbers and scrapers for the 125 and a few misc parts for the stash to make the shipping worthwhile. ********** Popped out all the steering linkages, that id previously cleaned and loosely installed and swapped over the old and busted boots for new hotness and some fresh grease. All the old boots are the same design so i suspect they are all factory. Other than the boots being split or near to it, and the grease under them being a bit dry they all have a smooth action and are tight (but not too tight), so pretty happy with that, the boots were about $4 each landed with is significantly cheaper than 8 new tie rod ends (they are just standard RH thread fiat/lada style so not particularly expensive or hard to get, but still!) Then installed the diff using the shiney new diff flange bolts (I had to cut all the old ones off except 1) and filled the diff with oil. So now with a running engine, complete with 80% complete cooling system, and that engine now connected to the diff, and even working brakes, must time for a quick test drive??? Off the stands, top up the fuel tank, connect everything up and seemed to be going well, 1st, yep, reverse, uhuh, all 4 forward gears but I couldn't get reverse after the first time, and then the gear change got even worse. Unfortunately the fix i thought i had made to the control cable that controls the shift between the 1-2, 3-4 and reverse gates blew out so most of the columns up down movement is lost to the outer and the cable end at the gearbox is unable to move sufficiently. Ro-row As a reminder this is what it looked like before: Note the homemade cable support over the de-sheathed outer and blobs of braze shining though the muck An this is is after my refurb, i thought this super HD heat shrink might work better than the clamp? Well it looked better, but maybe should have reused the clamp fix as well, but suspect it would have blown out sooner that than later. The other issue i had at the time was i couldn't get the big nut undone, which means I couldn't remove the cable from the column, which may also be why the clamp fix was employed (bracketry alone would have taken some time to design and make!) rather than part replacement (tho to be fair i've been looking for one since i got the van and i'm pretty sure there is no mention of 'gear change cable 1100T' or similar on the history of the internet, so probably have always been NLA?). The difference is now I know its fucked, and i have a blow torch and a 36mm spanner, and im not fucking asking, so get off! I think the heat did most of the work, Nut was basically glued on with old black paint, but now have access to the gland nut thing that connects the cable to the column rod Managed to tidy it up enough to get it looking respectable, but the outer is missing some outer sheath and some inner windings and the previous repairs are pretty poor, so i think this is something ill have to send off somewhere to have remade. I understand these to be 'push/pull' or control cables, common on all sorts of machinery, planes and cars and there are companies who can make anything up if i send them something to copy and maybe reuse at least some of the parts from. Any one have any experience or recommendations of who to use or avoid, and an idea of what sort of price i should expect to pay for something like this? Im sure its not cheap thing to make, I'm more looking for places who can do a good job and wont be dicks about it

^ This! Make the bolt size same as the wheel nuts Speaking of...not seeing any sik nasty rim updates!

can you even find genuine oversize 1608 pistons? I guess thats why they are spendy May be worth exploring other more common alternatives, i think there are much more common Mazda and Honda piston alternatives with very similar dimensions and details that have been used commonly before - the pistons in my 1500cc van engine for eg whcih have the same bore and dims (will have to check my notes for the details). that should save you a few bucks to spend on underfloor neons, 22's and some mad ICE

Yeah, i was pretty worried it was going to be terminal, but glad to figure out it was just an assembly error. I managed to convince my chief pedal pumper that i didnt make the van squirt brake fluid on her on purpose and definitely, under no circumstances, never ever, will that happen again*. *on porpoise So yeah, shes a goodun XOXO

Adding brake fluid went ok, only had to remake 1 flare. Got the mrs to work the pedal we started bleeding ok front went great, but couldnt get any pressure in the rear circuit then noticed the rear reservoir was overflowing and the front was low even tho we aren't bleeding that circuit. Any leaks? No. Weird. Drained a bit off and left the top off this time and tried again, still not really clamping the rear brakes i told the pedal master to give it a good push and it squirted the boss lady and her favourite t-shirt with brake fluid (they are mounted behind the drivers seat). She did not like that! Anyway after much enforced alone time head scratching and pondering figured the rear circuit maybe wasn't sealing the pressure off from the inlet port i pulled the master out and did some research. This is the master cylinder diagram i have in my parts book, which is mostly fine but its for the 217C model ('59 to to about '64) so not everything matches what's actually installed in my late model/runout '66+ NZ assembled 217D. The part number on the master is shared with these bad boys: Ferrari 330GT Serie 1 (the Serie 2 has single headlights and is much prettier, but also has a different master cylinder) Lamborghini Jarama, yes please! Lamborghini Espada, which is probably my favourite, and would be my dream car for driving a rusty dusty example while renovating a rundown italian villa on the coast while using that fat booty as a station wagon/farm truck Aaaaaanyway, because these cars share parts, they are avaliable should one have the appropriate amount of liquidity in euros, but also seems the owners & parts retailers are really into publishing diagrams and stuff, which is useful for people who have a far more modest budget for restoring fine italian automobiles, so i was able to track this down. Note the slots in the pistons and long inlet fittings. My cylinder is pretty much half of both my 1100T book (front piston) and the Ferrari/Lamborghini diagram (rear piston) I also had a closer look at the pics i took while taking it apart And putting it back together: Comparing all that, and having a play with it on the bench i eventually figured out that a/ it was originally missing the rearmost sealing ring, b/ the rear piston was also facing the wrong way c/ I replicated both of these errors This install would also mean pressure from the front cylinder pushing on the rear would just backfeed the rear reservoir as it would never be sealed off. This may also explain why one of the rear brakes was disassembled, and i guessing someone may have put a kit in the master or disassembled it previously and was chasing why the rear brakes didn't work after? Maybe why it seems to be otherwise good nick and low milage, as it was just parked up after a failed but presumably fairly expensive brake job? Anyway, added the missing seal and put the piston in correctly, reinstalled everything, refilled the juice, and NOW everything is bled up nice, with no unpleasant squirts for the driver. Adjusted the handbrake too. A small test roll between the special safety logs shows she stops on a dime now

My order from ze germans showed up: Mostly brake parts, rear brake cylinders and shoes and some front brake soft lines, a door handle and some rear light lenses as they were cheap too (bonus new kitteh pic - one of two!) Finally could button up the rear brakes which i had left like this: Mostly new hotness, i have more small hardware coming from Ladapower-Europe.com (they run a parallel site as the ladapower.com main site is in Ukraine ) so im not sure when that will turn up. The shoes and mechanism is shared with Lada rears, but the plate, drum, cylinder and handbrake are Fiat 1100T or 1200 Cabrio Cleanup up the drums Done! Front brakes are already assembled, so i just need to chuck the new lines on, right? Err, no, new ones take a bubble flare vs original double flare The ends are also different length necessitating a different pipe nut So that was good fun cutting off my freshly made flares and nuts and redoing them with the lines installed on the van rather than in the vice! When i got the master cylinder resleeved and the brake line a also bought more line nuts, but they didnt work on the original fittings, but were perfect for the new lines, so not wasted afterall. Once that was all plumed in, i installed the old rear soft line (need to get a HEL one made up eventually) so time to put some brake fluid in and try bleed these suckers.

That would be cool! Kinda is working as a tacho at the mo with the gbox free-wheeling. Pretty happy with how the engine sounds/runs for sure. I suspect the carb may be a bit dicky under load tho. Well see. Starter, not sure about type, but its not working so good. The 'solenoid' has a lever in it (electro magnet?) that pushes the teeth on the starter motor shaft forward onto the flywheel. That part also has a clutch/ratchet in it. Im wondering if the magnet is weak, poor electricalconnection internally making the magnet weak, or maybe some mechanical issue (or a little bit of all three) is stopping it engaging reliably. Im gonna push on with other stuff for now (my brake stuff arrived!) as it works well enough for the odd motivational crank up. I have a lead on a spare engine that will hopefully include a starter too so ill swap it out then. Still waiting for a ladapower order which has the special driveshaft bolts in it which is on its way but delayed for obvious reasons

Got some more gas, and gave it some jandal!

Mrs mentioned it was pretty rowdy when it ran. Time for exhaust. No surprise its noisy, this was the 2ft of curly blunderbus it had. It had a hole in the elbow of the second bend, so not much got reused From the original manifold (that happened to be 44mm) its about 1/3rd 44mm universal bend left over from the 2300 exhaust, into 1/3 maybe 50mm stainless straight through that was on the Croma Turbo and 1/3rd another bit of scrap bend that also happened to be 50mm from the stash. Even managed to reuse the hangers, so zero (extra) dollars spent on the exhaust. Turned out so nice i polished the muffler and put some silver paint on the rest. Tucked up pretty good Side exit like a dragster/old exhaust. Factory would be over the diff and out the back corner, but dont have enough material and i quite like how it looks. No test blast yet as i used the last of the gas for the mower, but i dont think it will be too much quieter than before

Bit more wombling. Previous starting setup was basically jumper leads and hotwires so wanted to get it wired to run off the key. Done a lot of work already, so i knew everything worked individually but not necessarily all together. Plugged in all the engine bay loom, hooked up the starter and put the alternator in. Chased a few odd faults (back feeding with the key off) to the extent of pulling the dash (nope) and disconnecting things one by one (nope?) and seems to be working now. Ive installed a relay for the headlights and tidied a lot of wiring, this was the state of the (po replaced) flasher unit Looking pretty snazzy under here now Tidied up the horn i got from the Invergargill 127, even the bolt holes lined up worked before and after but now just gets hot. Probably should have just sent it.

Some parts finally showed. Clutch slave, fuel pump and some engine mounts. Ive been hanging out for the engine mounts so i can get this thing back in the van, the old mounts are split in half. Clutch slave is a Lada and X1/9 fitment, and a bit cheaper and more common than the 1500/2300 one. Only difference is the mounting tabs need about 4mm trimmed off them to snug it up against the gearbox a bit more, so hit the brand new parts with a slitting disc Chucked the fuel pump on as well, and timed it up with my special tool Ap.503027, which is needed because there are no factory timing marks on these engines, other than TDC. Good one FIAT. Tried to fire it up in its cradle on the ground but just wouldn't crank fast enough off the jump pack and jumper leads and the starter got pretty hot too. Check out that sweet exhaust A couple weeks later... Ol' mate @EURON8 was in town for the weekend and popped over and gave me a hand to bung it in the hole No photos of during as it was pretty sketchy, - pull out the dizzy so it doesn't get smashed, but forget to set engine to tdc while it easy to access (there is no external crank nut) - jack the front of the van up high enough to slide the engine on its cradle on the creeper under the chassis rail (at least 750mm which is pretty dang high) - once kind lined up yoink the creeper out from under the engine - drop the van back down step by step while sliding/kicking the engine on its cradle forward under the hole as far forward as it will go and centered. - set van on the wood chopping block under the master cylinder box, so the legs of the engine crane can go under the cross member (where it would normally be jacked) - lift engine up into hole with engine crane through drivers door, with only the normal amount of fresh paint scratching - line up the rear transmission mount and then install the fount handed mounts the right way round, - set engine to tdc using a crain wrench on the crank pully, install the dizzy to roundabouts 10 deg btdc, set up a fuel squirty bottle and lash up a temp battery set up to see if we can get it to run. - fiddle with timing and checking spark etc, swap wires,, fix carb leaks etc cranking on and off with a few back fires and pops till starter motor gets real hot. - have lunch - Swap dizzy 180 deg, fires straight up, idles long enough to dial in the timing with the timing light and then runs out of gas in the bowl. Unfortunately it seems the issue is the starter is pretty weak, and got pretty hot again, and the solenoid isnt the best and will 'clutch off' just as the engine seems to cough, so couldnt get it to pop off again, but it did run for about 20 seconds, twice. Starter definitely needs to come out for a check, when i cleaned it up, i just pulled it apart cleaned it and put new brushes in but i think it may need new field winding's or something. Anyway, the first time this thing has made any noise of its own for at least 20 years i would say and it ran well when it ran. Sounded good, and feels really good to be getting closer to nearly driving this old bus. Serendipitously, a fellow Fiat tickler from Chch texted me the other day saying a mate of his has just bought a 125p Ute (!) and will be dropping the good running 1500 out of that to twin cam it, and did i want the engine? Well, yes, yes i do, especially the starter motor (given the twin cam swap will need at a min the bell housing and starter from the engine donor car as its on the opposite side to these earlier engines), so ill probably take my 125p twin cam swapped ute up aloing with my special engine cradle and grab it at some stage. Meanwhile buttoned a few more things up, now has a working gear linkage and plumbed and bled the clutch. Update: charged the battery i was using and the jumper pack overnight, and it fired up after about 20 seconds of cranking and idled till it ran out of gas. Wooooo!

Been waiting on parts for a while so progress has sort of stalled. Still scratching away at it here and there. Cleaned up and installed the front brakes, The shoes still have plenty of meat on them, but ive swapped them around from left to right so the old leading shoe which were slightly more worn are now the trailing shoe on the other side. All the bits and bobs are original and in excellent condition, apart from brand new brake cylinders which were pretty cheap. (+ shipping, lol) Bit of a faff to adjust, as the big slotted screw things are cammed adjustment bolts for the bottom pivot point, that can rotate 360deg (so will push the pivot point up, down left or right) with tiny teeth on the outside that the silver plate fits over and lock them, then from the back there are two cammed adjusters closer to the cylinder to set the backstop, and so there is heaps of adjustment, but you cant see what any of them are doing. Have finally found and ordered some front flex lines coming to connect the cylinders with the hard lines, along with some rear brake shoes and cylinders, but the the single rear flex (body to diff) are NLA. Ill probably end up getting one made up and re use the old on in the meantime. All the steering is back in as well, 8 tie rod ends as well as the steering box to really ensure tight, precise steering, to take advantage of the thick sway bars front and rear. Ive ordered some tie rod caps as they are all perished but the joints seem good. They are fiat/lada innner tie rod ends so pretty easy to find, and about $25 each, but i dont really want to splash out on 8 right now. Made an engine cradle thing so i could get the engine off the stand and install the flywheel and box and button up the front crank nut (to 140Nm). The engine tilts to the side a wee bit in the van as you can tell from the sump angle so it was a bit more complex than i thought. The saw cut bit at the back is actually precision machined for this specific application. Clutch bits were degreased a while ago, but got 'rebuilt' with the stripper disc before putting the box on. Original (?) clutch has plenty of meat left and there is no discernible wear on the clamping plate or flywheel. Mostly back together and nearly ready to go back in the hole. Turns out cant install (or remove) the starter with the generator in the way.

re fuel pump stuff, i run a cheapo electric fuel pump/Facet on all my Fiats, no problems to report, they have mechanical diaphragm pumps factory and replacement ones are trash and when they fail they leak fuel right onto the oil pump and into the sump. The two twin cams (ute and sedan) are solely electric, but the Wagon i still run the mechanical and just have it as an inline primer to save cranking the poor old starter for 5 minutes, and only when its been sitting for a while and the fuel lines have drained back into the tank or whatever. Once the tictictic tone changes to toctoctoc its made pressure, and good to go. Its just one of the cheap generic ones ( the sub $20 trademe canister style ) and once its running just turn it off and the mechanical one seems to suck though it fine. Buy two at a time, just in case and leave it in the onboard spares collection, and then the one you install will never fail. The cube facet ones are probably more reliable but also more expensive. I understand they are pushers rather than pullers so best to mount them low if you can, idelaly by the tank, and you want low pressure for the needle valve to keep working, i think they are 2-6ish psi which is fine for carbs.

not able to assist but that looks boss. without any 'but i want it' goggles on, that looks pretty rusty , which is a concern as these are notorious rust boxes as im sure you will know if you have the yearn. Also, just flippin buy it already, and three wheel no-wof no-reg no-worries yolo through any traffic stops and down any palm lined boulevards, please and thank you

No advice to give, other than it looks sweet especially nice colour and the tow bar shroud should save you at least 0.01 l/km on those long summer drives. those rims look like base model ford escort rims (4x108?) so chuck some turbos on there asap, oh and giz that single fin!

@tortron i have a 'popup' sunroof i cut out of a parts 125 in my lock up in auckland if you are down for some grot period 80's mods? FREE!

Nice work. I like how your yard has a 'cobblers shoes' vibe

Went on a bit of a mission to Invercargill, to amongst other things, pick over this very crusty '76ish 127. Dude was very accommodating and showed me a couple of his other cars (Holdens), which were very nice, and he will be a good source of possible parts/info for a **possible future project**. these run a 900cc transverse mounted four pot, and are fwd, so totally unrelated to the van, but i thought there may be few bits worth grabbing. And so it was. A few interior bits, like rear vision mirror and visors for the van, the wipers are nice OEM supplier branded and will replace the mismatched aftermarket pair on the 125, horn for the van, a small radiator overflow tank for the van (none from factory, just weekly top-ups!), washer bag, and a single throat air filter housing (van one is missing) and a few other odds and sods. Like this pair of pretty good condition seats - mounts have the same basic dimensions and could bolt on with some mods, but are about 50mm higher, so that may rule them out unfortunately And took the fuel tank and filler as well - i think this will work just fine to get us rolling And the Air filter fits perfectly on the engine/carb, but it wont fit in the narrow van engine bay in that location, but will give me something to play with that will look and work better than a mad pod filter yo In other news, while loading the (other) van to head off for new years, a guy who lives around the corner and walks his dogs past our place, said "been meaning to catch you to say hello and ask about that Fiat Van in the driveway, where did you get it?". Turns out it his old work van! He was the workshop manager at Wiley's Garage in Tapanui (under Mr Falconer, RIP) , and he reckoned he put the Firestone mudflaps on in the very early '70s. Van was eventually replaced with a Holden 1 ton, which was an upgrade, but he said he took it all over southland and it was a pretty flash rig at the time!. Not fast tho! Anyway, took the scenic way back from Invercargill to pap a shot. Been thinking about what to do with the exterior, so a subtle Kylie's Garage Ltd logo in the font/style of the building might be the go

Bolting more stuff on, Suspension all back together, didnt need a spring compressor, just jacked up the lower arm till the top kingpin nut poked through, so thats good news for easy future altitude adjustment. Fiat parts bin allows new top quality russian poly bushes for the front swaybar, for picking up a few extra 10ths around Bathurst. Also got the steering box and gear shift in as well, got a helper for a couple of weeks Front half of the gear linkage in, the rod takes a totally bonkers path though the middle of the master cylinder box to a shaft to the other (ie LHD) side where the rear rod takes over. Fiat first gen Panda linkage bushes and clips are a perfect replacement and will also suit the 2300, and also very cheap so i bought enough for both vehicles Compared to the madness going on under the floor, the interior is pretty clean. Pedals back on and first time they are not at floor level. Ill clean up the accelerator pedal and mount it to the floor repair panel so it can be driven easily in the meantime. Dash and column back together, and with a seat, thats pretty much the entire interior, lol

Yay 2022. Putting stuff back on. First up, hydraulic lines. Usually the first thing installed at the factory for the same reason im doing them first, its much easier with everything out the way. Also the reason for painting the driver side wheel well and master cylinder mount even tho there is still a big hole in the floor and rust in all the doors. I had picked up plated cunifer line, 6m of 1/4" (for feed from the reservoirs and the clutch line) and 26m of 3/16" for all the brake lines. This is the brake and clutch master cylinder, where 6 lines, 4x 1/4" (3 inlets and one clutch outlet) and 2x 3/16" (Front and rear brake circuit outlets, which both split off L & R elsewhere): Woops, wrong photo! Here it is: Basic process was use the original lines as a template to start with (leaving them a bit long both ends) fit up on the van a million times and finally cut to length and flare. Then cut off the flare, put the line nut on, and flare again... This is the front brakes, single line from the master then splitting at the T to the right (short) and left (long) Feed lines from the reservoirs: Getting closer... Now has - New Clutch Master - resleeved Brake Master, - all new plated cunifer lines - refurbished OEM line nuts (I got new nuts but they are a bit different and didnt clamp the lines in the fittings, so i couldnt use them) Still need to clamp these all down but pretty happy: Other New brake related bits from the fiat parts bin, -pressure switch for the brake lights (if the OEM one does not work) and - clips for the reservoirs: Reservoirs all fitted up too. Will put a bubble flare on the feed lines to make a better seal i think. This all ended up taking waaaaaay longer than i thought, and im not quite done yet, but at least its all laid in and plumbed up and i can start putting the suspension back in.

Vajazzled the gubby underparts. Engine Bay: Stage 1: Get sick of catching sandpaper and fingers in brackets and tabs. Wax and grease remover spayed everywhere (i wish i liked paint prep better, cause stuff would turn out better, but, well, i just don't) Stage 2: Get primer mostly where its supposed to go. Lying on my back painting up mostly. Stage 3: Top Coat. Very happy with the colour Radiator Tunnel/body smuggling area: Similar scenario as above, but i did my *first welding* on this thing and let in a piece that i cut out with the floor, as it carries a couple of brackets. Had a few more rounds of hole filling and grinding after this shot. And a bit of a waft over the cargo barrier/battery area - the three brackets are carry the clutch and brake fluid reservoirs which made the whole area pretty rusty And the in the wheel wells, concentrating on the suspension mounts and brake/clutch pedal and master cylinder mount area. This photo from before i got into the master cylinder mount area, shows what nice clean metal was hiding under the grubby rust on the frame rails. Painted. Stoked to get to this stage by the end of the 2021. 2022 will be all about putting things back on.

Doin it right! Getting out and about with the fam, Grandad would be stoked. Dont be afraid of reliability or saftey mods (points and 50yo nos lucas condensers? Get in the bin!) as most are reversable, in the imaginary scenario that some maniac-barry wanted to reverse them. I would imagine that aside from electrics/ignition it is pretty reliable, robust and designed to be repaired. If it helps with the primary directive of 'using it on the regular with the family', then you're doing it right.

Dropped the head off at Rods Engine Services on the recommendation of @nzstato and very happy with ol' mate Rodney's work. Turned into a bit of a mare but Rodney sorted me out, all for a very reasonable price. Sidesharn follows: The first head i dropped off in November was the car one, as they both looked like poop, the van head had some corrosion around the exhaust ports, and the car one didnt. Rod sucked his teeth, and took the head, as well as a set of nos valves and new valve stems, and would see what he could do with the seats, i said no real rush but i would like to get it before xmas. he didnt get onto it until mid-December, and unfortunately it turned out the car head was cracked between the valves on 2 of the cylinders. DANG Not only is it cracked, the surface inside the chambers looks porous and banged up. "Nevermind!" I said to Rod, i said, "i have another head that might work, or might be just as shit?, we will see!", so dropped the Van head back off the next day, and on initial look he thought this one would be much better. Got it back only a week later (i think he felt bad about having the cracked for so long and then ringing me with bad news after about 3 seconds of looking at it!, lol) . Cam back with a very lightest tickles of a skim (close to the edge of the inlet valves even without any skimming), and he supplied supply and fitted new valve seats, and also fit my supplied new valve guides. He also resurfaced the NOS valves i left with him to remove the 'nos' surface patina rust). He also installed them, along with holden o-rings valve stem guides whcih i wasn't expecting as id left the old manky springs and collets etc and had a clean set on the bench waiting, but im not swapping them around now! All for a very reasonable sum. Very high recommendations for Rods Engine Services in Fox St, Dunedin, A+ would give head again. Check out how smooth the casting in the chambers is compared to the car one above! Side sharn ends. TLTR:, 'spare' head was total crap, original head from the van that i thought was poop actually turned out to be a minter! This is the exhaust port corrosion that made me initially chose the other head as the first/best candidate. There was a matching 'outie' of rust on the exhaust manifold which must have been galvanically corroding while it was sitting in mouse piss wet? Its all inside the gasket tho, so its not really an issue anyway. I did a very light 'porting' tho really more of a slight smoothing as the exhaust manifold is a good match to the head already and seems to be made from tool steel and on only had one spare belt for the belt sander, sooo. So, took the jumbo rubbish bag off the already assembled block to jam this back together and gave the gasket surfaces a good wipe down with wax and grease remover Plonk! Plus new water pump and thermostat. Water pump takes a late model Fiat 1500 water pump pulley ( as also used on lada ) rather than the heavy fixed fan, ill run an electric one, probably set up as a pusher (not much room in the bay, but lots in the radiator tunnel) Then installed the Valve gear (the van set was better starting point after sitting both in the Exoff for the last week) so I installed that after selecting the best of the adjustment nuts, tappets and pushrods from from the two sets (plus a couple of NOS bits i already had collected as 2300 spares). then the inlet and exhaust valves are all adjusted to 0.2mm, which on this engine you have to do when a cylinders valves are 'balanced' (which is about 9deg BTDC on the opposite cylinder) which is basically how you can be 'certain' the cam shaft lobes are pointing directly away the tappets or on the base circle, which can be tricky to find otherwise as these engines dont have many useful timing marks In fact the FSM book uses a special tool (whcih is just degree wheel) mounted to the flywheel, suggesting proper valve adjustment is an engine out job!). Got that all done, then install the inlet manifold with rebuilt Solex BIC (i noticed the throttle shaft play is really quite bad tho) and the special 4:1 van exhaust manifold (that kicks the exhaust out a hole in the side of the engine bay into the drivers wheel well!) Dizzy and the sweet purple solid core wires i got cheap with some other odd fiat stuff from ebay, They have been run on the ute before i switched to electronic ignition And checking out all the hoses and stuff to see what i needed and what i dont and can go in the bin or storage. The car inlet manifold is for a twin downdraft carb, so there is also room for some pretty solid performance gains over the single pumper and skinny runners, and but fitment is likely to be an issue (have found that the Weber DCD of which i have 3 in various states in the stash looks like the best candidate width wise so that may happen sooner than the exhaust, but ill worry about that much later. The car exhaust manifold is a 4:2 setup with long secondaries in the exhaust pipes, compared to the 4:1 into pea shooter of the van one and would be significantly less restrictive, but it kicks the exhaust forwards towards the generator, and im not sure there is room to scoot the pipes between the engine/generator and the chassis rails. These vans were originally designed in the early 1950s for a post war design 1100cc engine, but by the mid 1960s they were shoe honing these alloy head 1500cc big boys in which are almost half as big again in displacement, and probably more than half as big externally and so its all a pretty tight squeeze as it is Need a few bits and pieces like a 11A0955 drive belt, and various hoses, but its basically ready to sling back in the hole, but the hole needs a bit more work first.