Monteverdi Sierra press photo

I purchased this genuine press photo on Ebay

Monteverdi - Renaissance einer Legende

A small German article but with a very nice photo reportage of the museum. So just for the records:

https://www.blick.ch/auto/news_n_trends/monteverdi-renaissance-einer-legende-id2745782.html

Gas tank arrival

Jos visited the Netherlands and he brought along the gas tank. I guess some new parts are required, seals and floater unit. But I have no idea when I will find the time to get this installed. Coming weekends I'm packed ... oh well, I was never in a hurry with this project.

Maybe I first need to look into breaks so I can make an attempt to move/drive the car ... that will be another huge undertaking.

Amazing discoveries: Monteverdi Sierra + Convertible photo's

One of the sources I scavenge for information regarding items of interest is Facebook. Quite a few remarkable groups around with sometimes even more remarkable individuals on it. I guess I fit in nicely.

As such I also ended up on this page called Theo's classic cars friends. And today someone posted this unique brochure with a supporting letter in German from Peter Monteverdi. When he was a young boy he wrote them a letter and in return he got this brochure:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/515497172255683/permalink/678436449295087/

I do happen to understand a little German so I read the letter does have two color photo's about the Monteverdi Sierra enclosed. But the posting does show the Monteverdi Safari brochure instead.

As such I questioned this and after a little push these two got released:

The first one is known and used for publication. The second one however is new to me. Just did a reverse lookup but nothing is found. What  a great unique picture!

The letter is dated 4th April 1979. It was my understanding the convertible was made in 1979 but juding on the photo it's more likely autumn 1978. Difficult to asses the color of the Sierra, it looks greenish but that seems to be caused by the reflection.

Many thanks for sharing Alex, much appreciated!

Dodge Aspen Owners Manual

No time for the car today. But I did receive the Original Dodge owners manual which I ordered. Thought it might come in handy.

New belts + build up + coolant (leakage)

After last weeks success I purchased the required belts for the alternator, fan and power steering. This appeared to be quite a task as there were quite a few belt options available, for the slant-6 engine, V8 engine, with or without airco, 60A or 100A alternator and potential different size poulies used (5,2 or 5.8 Liter engine). Sigh!

But it seems like I got the right ones:

In order to fit them I had to adjust the alternator and tension it accordingly. This went pretty much ok and yes there are 2 fitted:

 The powersteering/fan belt was however a different game. In order to fit this one the tensioner bolt had to be losened up. This was another mission impossible. I used brute force and the iron bar I used last time came in handy. However this had hardly any effect. I definately did not want to damage this one. This bolt is also used to hold/tight the waterpump. I wonder if they have been using locktite on this bolt. Although I was able to make a very small movement I did not want cause any potential damage. So I left it.

 Instead I have been hitting the tensioner iron with a screwdriver and a small crowbar:

This took quite a bit of force and time but it slowly moved to the end and I was able to fit the poulie and belt. Still I sense there is too much tension on the belt but I have no further room to adjust it.

Then mounting the fan (and shroud) again. I only now noticed the strange fan blades setup, looks like one spoke is out of order?

All mounted up:

And filling up with coolant, to my surprise it seems to leak at the bottom of the radiator ????  When I had it removed it still had coolant and wasn't leaking. And when it was out I had checked it as well and all looked good (as far as I can tell).

 I had no further time to have this further inspected. And I also noticed another leakage but couldn't not spot the location - Hopefully it's not at the waterpump. Typical it leaks all spontaneous without running the engine. I was aiming to start the engine and check the powersteering functionality

Prior to this I also wanted to have the oil and filter renewed (just in case the oil is detoriated / moist and potentially cause engine damage). Something I will do in any case, I can run the engine briefly to check some functionality - in case coolant leakage is severe.

Oldtimer in Obwalden 2019

Spotted on Twitter. This is a known one. VIN 9161


https://twitter.com/LienhardRacing/status/1137724106604982273

1987 #Monteverdi Sierra
O-iO #OiO #OiOSarnen 20. Oldtimer in Obwalden 2019 pic.twitter.com/5dMDVu3o3g

— Lienhard Racing 🏁 (@LienhardRacing) 9 juni 2019