Fiat 132GL
After changing to the distributor-less system the car was pretty reliable. The only thing I noticed in the following months was that it would consume spark plugs a little more regularly than it used to. Number four always appeared a little discoloured. See the photos below; left is a plug from number one. Right is a plug from number four.
I had changed a stage hotter in plugs in an appempt to prevent this fouling. It kind of worked, but not very well. The car kept consuming plugs. The plugs above are NGK BP5ES from memory.
For what it's worth, many people with older cars have problems with the current fuel in New Zealand. It causes fouling quite badly so it is quite common to run slightly hotter plugs than in a country where decent fuel is available.
After some time without any body repairs that dreaded rust started to appear. So I took the car in for work. I'm amazed how a new car gets repaired in a day or two, but as soon as the car is old, the panel-beater gives it lower priority. Anyway, after being passed over for a few weeks, the car is finally ready. So I'm driving home and the temperature rises above where it usually sits. I stop and check the water level in the radiator. Oh no, there is no water... This reminds me of another story (there are so many) about a colleague of mine who had his car worked on. When he picked up the car he noticed that the temperature went up higher than normal. He stopped to have a look under the hood and noticed the radiator was missing. Yes, the garage had removed it and not replaced it. Good 'ol NZ eh.
My car still had its radiator, just no water. So had the water been drained or had it disappeared by another means? Well, in the days that followed I kept a close eye on the water level. It appeared to be disappearing. Oh no, head gasket? The oil looked fine though.
Of course this happens when your mechanic takes a three month leave to go to Europe. So it's off to another mechanic, in fact the guys who service my 911. As it turns out they pressurise the system and water blasts out number four spark plug hole. Oh dear.
They remove the head and find a leak between the water jacket and the inlet of number four. Number four. That explains it. Looking at the rather clean valve on number four it's possible to see I've been running with water injection (unintended in this case).
Since the leak is in a low-pressure section I decide to have it welded up. The head will then be skimmed to make sure it's flat again. All the Abarth gasket bits (130TC) and new bolts are ready. Just have to wait on the engineering shop now.
I took some photos of the car without its head. It really does look poorly.
While the head is off awaiting work I decide to have hardened valve seats installed. There is a bit of a story behind this. A few years ago the government stopped the sale of leaded petrol in New Zealand. This of course was a bad thing for classic cars that rely on the lead for lubrication. As a band-aid, most garages started selling a fuel additive called Valvemaster. This is added to the fuel tank each time you fill up. It's a hassle of course to do this. The price of Valvemaster has also been rising steadily. I've paid NZ$2 (about 1 Euro) per Valvemaster at some garages. One shot does 20L of fuel. The alternative is to replace the exhaust valve seats with hardened versions that mean the car can run on unleaded fuel without any additive. Less hassle that's for sure. Since the head is off the car it makes sense to do it now.
Here is a photo of the carbs as they lie on the bench at Autothority.
We're about to start week five since the car was taken in. I'm trying to remember what it was like to drive. I think first gear is left and forward...?
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