Cylinder head is beyond reliable repair :(

Turned out that the 2002 121 cylinder head had too many faults and one was a crack that compromised the entire idea of safely using it :(


So I've started to look for alternatives cause i really don't want to put it all together and then do it again.

It took me many years to get to the maturity level on which i can wait and plan as opposed to just do something half way and regret the final outcomes.















Amazingly enough i've found a brand new e21 1.8 head at a "reasonable" price:

Internals are interchangeable only the valves are bigger. 

1972 2002 M10 Engine with 4 speed manual sourced.

M10 2002 engine with 4 speed manual gear and small Solex carb.

I had a very rare opportunity (only 100 of the 02 series were sold here)  to buy a 2002 engine for my 1802 from the same guy that sold me both 1802 cars (1974, 1975, Chamonix and Amazongrun).

It was sitting in his yard and of course untouched for years. It came off from a working car with the front bridge and lacked some accessories that maybe he sold during the years.

Not being aware of the great exchangeability of the E10/M10 with the later platforms,  i considered that this is my only chance to convert my 3 speed automatic 1802 to a real manual (4 speed) 2002.

So the saga began...

We cleaned it and took it apart hoping for the best which turned out to be much less than best but better than worst.

m10 engine block cleaning

I am so sorry i missed the part when all the dirt was coming out.

Engine and gear removal

So we took down the engine, gear and front bridge, after removal the front bridge goes back to the car so it can be moved around on the wheels.

Engine condition

The previous owner said the engine head was remade and then it had some problem and it was never fixed since. That was some 15 years ago...

Looks dirty but complete beside the radiator cap which should be replaced with an aluminum one anyway  :

Now lets go further and find out what was the problem that stopped it for so many years



Some clogged "arteries" but that's probably because of the long time the cooling fluid sat in the system:

 

Ok, engine and gear goes out...

Another look



Everything looks fine up here but as it turns out after head removal, one exhaust valve had a broken lip. beside that we measured the bearings and found out the this engine was overalled in the past, meaning it's 0.25 ands we go now 0.5 away from standard.

The tail light issue resolved

So few days ago the rare tail lights arrived, found them on eBay at a reasonable price (compared to other crazy listings)

After a long wait and hope ...it finally happened

This is almost classic barn find beside the fact it was in deep hibernation " for who knows how many years in a home garage and not a real barn.

Finally after more than 6 months of negotiations and waiting,  a final tense meeting in which for long minutes i thought it will not happen and that i'll have to give up... it did :) 



The seller was so pissed off that he sold the cars, that didn't want to look for the missing tail light ...  he just wanted us to go away immediately.


Claudio helped to make this happen :)



Here the white one (Chamonix) is on it's way to Promotors (Garage) .