I don't know about you, but I'm always kind of envious when I see that Alfa engine with all the smooth polished aluminum trim. Likewise the XKE cam covers. I've always thought that the Fiat twincam could be cleaned up with a little effort, but I've always been too busy to go to the trouble of disassembling the engine long enough to get the job done.

With a "price" car like the spider, some corners had to be cut, I'm sure, but the beautiful little Lamperdi head deserves better. Here is an outline of cleaning up Red's engine bay by polishing some of the rough castings. I'll let you decide if it was worth the time and effort. Cost is only chump change and a lot of time.

It all began with the purchase of Kris's 76. The previous owner had polished the cam covers. They looked real nice and I thought that more could be done, so I acquired a set of covers from a fellow MIRA poster, and they sat about a year waiting for an opportunity to arise.

Polishing the Pieces
Red had undergone a rebuild in 87 and has about 20,000 miles on the engine since then. The head casting was bead blasted and had a nice overall finish to it. I targeted the shroud, the camcovers, the norice, and the two IDF airhorns for the polishing project. The Fiat castings were not too rough to polish, but where the bead blaster had hit the cam covers required some serious grinding.

I used the following material to do this project:

1/4 inch drill motor RotoZip tool with flex shaft 3M wide composite wheel - coarse 3M wide composite wheel - fine

3M metal polishing pad - fine Dremel wirebrush tools Dremel polishing buffs Harbor Freight 4" polishing kit

Total cost for materials was about $35 and most of that was for the dremel fine wire wheels and the 3M pads. The porous castings required quite a bit of work with the 3M wheels and pad. I kept working until I had a smooth satin finish. I used the Dremel wire brushes for the corners and hard to reach places. After the 3M wheels, I moved to the 3M fine pad and then smoothed out the finish with some 320 emery paper wet followed by some 400 paper. Final finish was with the 4" wheel and white rouge using the dremel for the nooks and crannies. Time was over four days, and I spent about 20 hours total including the hose modification. The polishing result is a direct consequence of the amount of time you devote to the project.

To top off the effor, I removed the exhaust manifold and ground it to a smooth burnished cast iron grey color all over. I then applied a coat of VHT black ceramic coating from an aerosol can. After reassembly, I cured the VHT paint as per the instructions and am hoping for a durable rust proof exhaust coating. The VHT paint is the "improved" 1500 degree version and seems to be ok. I know that others have had little sucess with this material. The car has about 500 miles on it when these pictures were taken and both the polishing and paint seem to be holding up well.After carefully masking the engine room and head, I sprayed the engine with grey engine paint.

Single Outlet Radiator Conversion
I've been wanting to convert Red's radiator plumbing from the external thermostat four hose setup to the simpler in head two hose configuration found on the earlier and 73 cars. It is a cleaner look and much less complicated. All that was necessary to do the conversion was an early model "norice" or nose piece for the head, a Chevette or fiat thermostat, and, of course, the two hoses.Before I could begin polishing the timing belt cover, the hoses had to be disconnected from the cylinder head, so it was a perfect time to do both jobs.

I began work by pulling off the "T" connector at the engine and then carefully loosening the hose fittings on the water pump, and the radiator top and bottom hoses. On the hoses that were stuck, I used a large flat bladed screwdriver to gently work the hoses loose. After some careful prying, he whole thing, including the external thermostat, came off in one large octopus looking piece.

After removing the hoses it was a simple matter to replace the water outlet with the early single outlet version. Four bolts later the norice was off and I set about removing the cam shroud. On the 1608 this is a cast aluminum piece. I then went down to the barn where Green has bee sleeping the past couple of years, and took off the norice from the 1592 cc engine on Green and brought it back to the garage. It was a simple matter to polish out the new piece and replace it on the head. A couple of ideas here would be appropriate to share. When installing the thermostat, a gasket goes both under and over the t-stat. I also like to drill a couple of 1/8" holes in the surround around the t-stat flange to help bleed air from the system. I also like to use anti-sieze compound on the threads of the bolts to aid in future disassembly.

There has been some interest lately in doing this conversion. If you have a 2L engine and are considering this mod, Mike Greer of the Roamin Chariots and Mirafiori has the following information: As promised here is the Gates hose that can easily be modified to fit the 2L conversion lower hose. Gates number 21897. Cut about 11 inches off the hose from the label end, that's the part you don't use. The remaining hose is almost identical to the standard Fiat lower hose for the 1592 only a bit longer. There is enough curve in this hose to go around the alternator if mounted on the right side or an ac unit. The hose should curve out away from the water pump when fitted properly. Thanks Mike.

Parts for this conversion are readily available from all of the normal Fiat vendors You will need the standard Fiat theremostat (you will also need TWO gaskets, one on top and one below the thermostat. You will also need some sort of head pipe. .You have some options here. If you can't locate a early model pipe, the standard one can be taken to the grinding wheel and the flange cut/ground off. It can then be ground round to fit the 73' upper hose. Many have found that modifying the T fitting by cutting off the passenger side, welding it shut, and using the stock 2L T to Radiator hose. This is a good solution as it makes it easier to remove the upper hose later. The stock pipe buries the hose clamps under the aluminum belt cover.

One interesting piece that I've run across during this project was a neckpipe with built in theremostat that I'm assuming was off of a OHV 124 engine. The piece fit, but looked like it would restrict water flow so I didn't use it. If you run across one of these and know what it is for, email me and let me know if it worked for you.

Overall the effect is extremely pleasing. The engine runs cool with the double hose conversion, and now some other parts of the engine are crying for attention. The fun never ends!!!