Wheel Hub Center Caps - Sparco

When we purchased the car we found 2 out of the 4 hub caps in the trunk, see blog:

http://monteverdisierra.blogspot.com/2018/03/weekend-tear-down-part-i.html

I didn't recognize these as they are for US wheels. My first thinking was the printed "S" was a reference to Sierra. Potentially they could have been custom made for Monteverdi, who knows.
As I'm now working on the car again I found them in the trunk. For another project I'm having a car radio bezel 3D printed. So I figured these hub caps can be printed in 3D as well. And then chrome plated.

When doing some further checks I found out by surprise these hub caps are available on Ebay. These belong to the brand "Sparco" (https://www.sparco-official.com/en/).

Additionally I checked my archive and found 4 Sierra's with the same hub caps. Note some Sierra's where equipped with different rimms (mostly wolf racing - and all of these had different hub caps). The ones listed below are the same rimms as used on our Sierra (although some of these are chromed). And yes, it's not very visible. But I had the pictures enlarged so I can say for sure they are all the same. So it's very likely these are the correct hub caps for our Sierra.

The other hub caps I saw on the Sierra looks similar but instead had the Monteverdi crown on it. This particular rimm example was only used on the first two "prototypes" In fact, this is our car. But apparently the rimms have been replaced at a later stage. But it clearly shows the Monteverdi crown.

This car is the Sierra convertible

This is a normal Sierra

This is the Sierra Stationwagon:

And a normal Sierra:

New produced Sparco vintage hub cap:

Tools - fuel line + thermostat removal

I'm still awaiting some parts but meanwhile I ordered some tools and they arrived earlier this week:

I'm so glad I ordered these tools (inch format), now it was very easy to dismantle the fuel hose without causing any damage or whatsoever:

And the entire fuelhose removed:

It looks like this pipe was also originally blue, just like the engine color. I quite like that color. I need to look up the color code so I can have some parts painted accordingly.

I'm also happy with the large size screw sockets so I can fit the big ratchet and use more force to unscrew them. And now it went easy:

And with the thermostat removed. I cleaned the whole system with water untill clear water came out. I rinsed it with about 10 liters, no dirt came out. Good.

And the thermostat and it's housing (which I had to remove with a soft hammer as it was severely stuck).

 And a little cleaning:

When doing some further checks I noticed some more hidden walnuts underneath the aircopump:

Let's see if the ordered parts will arrive this week so I can mount next weekend the new fuelpump and see if it starts up!

New igntion lock + vacuum system checks

Some new parts we already purchased last year:

https://monteverdisierra.blogspot.com/2018/05/new-parts.html

As Jos was over last week he brought the ignition lock with him. So today I mounted it and also cleaned the dials. Looks quite nice now. Should have taken more photo's before doing this. But here is the end result, 2 photo's, one without flashlight and one with flashlight:

So now I can start the car properly once I'm ready with the engine.

As for the engine I had a further look regarding the vacuum system items. If this car does start up again (fingers crossed) I'm pretty sure it will not run smooth due to this nasty vacuum system. There are so many components, it looks overly complex to me. So I need to study this is a little more.

I had already noticed this sensor on the radiator which seems to have 2 broken off vacuum pipes. I saw on another engine online that it should have some kind of adapter connected to it - not sure though. Luckily many parts are stamped with the number on it.

Here another vacuum sensor:

And another one

And another one

 And more vacuum hoses and sensors

And more sensors

Also the airfilter is having many items

 It does have this extra valve mounted as well:

 With an extra air hose and I wonder where that should be mounted on?

 This looks like another item which is part of the vacuum system as it does have a vacuum hose connected. Not sure what it does and if it's suppose to be this naked.

that's it for today.

Scale model 1:43 by HAV - Monteverdi Sierra

I spotted this scalemodel for sale on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.nl/itm/382759897669

I considered it ugly and expensive but notified Jos though. He claimed he didn't buy it but it's sold now nevertheless ...

More dismantling : radiator and fuelpump

So yesterday I removed the radiator. Last time I noticed and mentioned these two lines going to the bottom of the radiator. I was wondering what purpose it served. With help of the repair manual, see blog:
https://monteverdisierra.blogspot.com/2018/04/chrysler-aspen-volare-1976-80-repair.html

I found out these are cooling pipes for the automatic gearbox! This repair manual is very useful and provided me much insight about various items and the engine.

So when removing the lower hose quite a lot of coolant came out, more then I anticipated. And the coolant looked good as well, no sign of contamination.

 The airco condensor looked pretty good as well:

And of course our rodents stuffed the place with more nut shells:

The radiator also looks to be in very good condition:

A special tappet mounted:

In order to access the fuel pump I had to partly disasemble the alternator. It's still fixed and connected but lifted up and strapped with a tyrewrap. When removing the first gasline hose I was very surprised to see some gas came out (very smelly)

For a moment I thought they had spreayed the screws blue (just like the engine) but of course this was likely locktight glue :-)

And with the fuel pump removed:

It's still in working order. As a result I squirted my shirt with gas when pumping the lever. I didn't expected this much gas was still in there after 30 years! And it was very smelly, yuck. I wonder if this old gas still works - I doubt it.

Since the fuelpump is working I'm wondering if there is a need to have it replaced. I was expecting it to be seized, polluted/gummed, seals deterioated, etc. But likely the gas in it preserved everything nicely. Then again, for 12 USD you have a brand new one.

The following link provides a good insight on the functioning of the fuel pump:

https://www.aa1car.com/library/fuel_pump_mechanical.htm

I guess it's best to get a new one in and avoid potential future hassle.

Unfortunately I couldn't get the thermostat housing off. I need to buy some other tooling. Same for the fuel line going into the carburettor. I need to buy matching English sized wrenches. I do have some but not these specifics …