Thermostat holder

One last bit to remove from the engine. The thermostat holder. Only one nut and washer involved and both covered in oil so pretty easy.Just need a clean and paint before refitting.

Gear box with axels

I collected my gearbox/ rear axels from their current resting place. Not going to be taking the gear box apart or removing the axels. Just clean and replace the rear axel boots and any seals.Fortunately I had loosened the 36mm hub nut whilst it was still connected to the car.

Once removed the brake drums just needed a light tapping around the circumference before they were free.
Next the four bolts holding the hub cover and the cover itself.
This left the rest of the brake housing which now just slid off.
I have left the axel hub bearings covered by plastic bags to stop any rusting. Then I transported it all to my house in the boot of my car.

The first clean...

Today's first job was to remove the oil cooler. This was pretty rusty but the internals (what I could see) looked ok. So just a clean and back on it will go. It looked to me like a non original cooler as the holes looked larger than I expected and the rubber seals where smaller in the block than out. Allowing the fitting of a 10mm oil cooler.
I started to clean the alloy of the engine. Not sure if I want to paint it at this stage. It will soon become covered ion oil again once it hits the road and I don't was to spend my life cleaning! As you can see from this picture the alloy of the engine meets the rusty metal of the cylinders.
The fuel pump next. Just two bolts that where covered in oil held this in place.
The distributer similarly had one nut and this clamp securing it.
The area around where the fuel pump and distributor attached to the engine block was pretty grim. But I suppose its like a pig in shit. Engine in oil/grease.
When I had finished it looked like this.I have taken any pictures of the underside yet but I can assure you it was covered well with dirt and grease.

I must confess, I had a little help.
I bought this extra large toothbrush to help fight the grime and it worked pretty well. The only down side is the 4 AA batteries it takes had almost gone by the end of the day. On the bright side I reckon the little motor won't but up with this work for much longer. So it will be back to the shop for a refund! We'll see.

The slush fund went up again today with 27.17 added.

Removing Ancillary Items

First the air cleaner was removed.
A bracket is released with the aid of flat head screwdriver.










Then the coil, which is held on the fan shroud by two bolts.












Not sure what this little electrical item is. One end is connected to the coil and the other is grounded by means of the fixing bolt.

Two other electrical connections are present. One goes to the air cut-off valve, the second to the choke.







Next the carburetor is removed. I was going to release one of the clips holding the fuel line from the fuel pump but this one just seemed to come out.










As the accelerator cable has already been removed when the engine was taken out of the car there wasn't much else keeping the carburetor from being removed.

Just the connection the the vacuum pump.













And these two 13mm nuts.



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The some more tinware with a few stubborn bolts. I guess, at least it makes it an easy decision to replace the fitting or not!
















Fortunately some of the tinware was covered in oil from the engine which made removing a breeze.











This is the left side of two pieces.

















The thermostat has a retaining bolt that needs to be removed first. Then the thermostat is rotated counter-clockwise so that it unscrews from the push arm.










Next the fan belt had to be taken off. These nut and washers held it on.












Once the fan belt was removed I returned everything to the generator just to keep it safe.
















Last couple of things for now was the fan shroud which just had two screws holding it in place. Unfortunately one of them misbehaved as can bee seen here. It was not great trouble to remove but some careful tlc of the shroud was required.









These particular bits of tinware sit on top of the engine in the position shown here.

A couple of small bits of tinware also existed below this but having spent there life covered in oil where no problem.

And then it was time for dinner....

Fan shroud dismantle

So I needed to dismantle the fan shroud and remove the rust.

I started with removing the flaps that control the amount of air flow.


Not many of the screws survived (four on each flap device). Most of them needed to be drilled out.
This means a little more work later as the de-headed screws need to be removed. But at least they're out!
Then the generator with the attached fan was next. The book state four screws hold this in place but I only removed 2. Not sure if I have removed the others previously. The cover which can be seen below on the generator, was rusted to the shroud and had to be prized free.
The fan itself was straight forward. Once one end of the generator was in a vice and the 36mm socket was attached.Now my pile of things to have rust removed is a little bigger.

Now the exhaust/ heat exchangers have been removed stripping the engine can begin.


First some tinware needs to be removed. The screws and nuts don't move easily. I have left them to soak in penetrating oil and will attack another day.


The money has begun to flow out of my pocket. Just a few bits for the removal of rust.

Removing exhaust system

The engine has been removed sometime ago from the car. It is time to clean it, renew seals/gaskets, check clearances, remove rust and paint! Not much then. I start by removing the exhaust and heat exchangers.First remove the clamps connecting the silencer to the heat exchaners. This is held in place by nuts and bolts seen below.

Also remove the silencer-to-cylinder head flange. The silencer is then free to be removed.

The heat exchangers just have two nuts holding each exchanger to the engine. These where difficult to remove. As with all these jobs,the most accessible nut is removed without a problem. Removing the lower nut is hampered by the pipe it secures. The first was removed with some difficulty and the second was removed by hack saw! This left four bolts sticking out the engine (two broken). Hopefully these can be removed and replaced.

The engine was now ready to be stripped down further.

In the Begining...

There once was a blue beetle called Felicity. She met a man who promised to take care of her forever. After some fun times together, Felicity was found to have some serious rusting problems. The man decided to strip Felicity completely and rebuild all the necessary areas with loving care. With much enthusiasm he set about his task. Unfortunately, once in pieces, other things took over that mans life.

A couple of years went by and Felicity remained alone and undercover.

In the year 2010, the man made a resolution to get Felicity back on the road. He was determind that she would be back to working condition for her 40th birthday, on 1st of August 2011.

And so, their journey together began again...