I was asked to restore an engine compartment. Mangusta 8MA1182. The car came to me with the paint and body already done. Working around the fresh paint was inconvenient but possible. This car gets driven often in the UK and on the continent, it has been with its current owner since 1985.
Scruffy engine compartment.Engine was rebuilt a few years ago but leaked oil from everywhere.Notice the unnecessary non-original bracket added to support the back of the tranny. I removed it and welded up the holes.De Tomaso plastered everything with thick underseal!This car has uprated springs and shocks. Much higher springs rates than original but still rides nicely.Battery tray.The 302 is a great little engine. Lots of work to get it out.Entire rear chassis area back to bare metal.This car, chassis no 1182, is all nicely gas welded. I have seen other 'Geese that were factory MIG welded and quite scruffy. I dont know if they changed to MIG or did both simultaneously?I tried to create a slightly mottled finish to the chassis paint. I didn't want it smooth nor did I want it plastered with underseal like original. I made new heat shields and replaced the sound-deadening felt. All rubber hoses replaced and most of the coolant pipes replaced with stainless.I was surprised to find a thermostat behind that water pipe. The last 'Goose I worked on had no place for one.This jack shaft is a time consuming part to restore. Originally the shaft is oil blackened. I chose to paint it as I feel it will stay nice for longer. The bearings were in good condition so I did not remove the shaft from the housing.I would like to have taken it apart for painting but it would not be possible to reassemble without the bearing scraping the paint off the shaft as it went back together. I painted the shaft and also the ally casting. I shot the silver and then applied a clear coat with lots of matting agent in it. I found this makes it look like a new casting because there is no shine. I later had some other ally parts vapour blasted and it was hard to tell which was bare ally and which was painted.I replaced the original rusty thermostat housing with a Scott Drake housing. I then found a water hose with a bend in it instead.I stripped the engine block back to bare metal and repainted it.Many hours spent trying to make it oil tight.AC pump.Magnetic clutch stripped off AC pump for replating plus various other parts.AC fan.I like to have parts zinc plated with a yellow passivate over the top to give it that factory fresh look.I made these brackets for holding the AC and induction pipes. I copied the originals from Jonathan Root's car but added the flared edge on the small ones.It's important to make the AC pump look new because it's the most visual part of the entire engine compartment when it's all back together.Original Bosch alternator restored.AC fan. Replated motor case. I had to paint the fan to make it look new. I used my clear coat matting agent trick here to good effect. It does not look painted.FIM Bologna expansion tank repainted. The bracket to the right was too big. I had to shorten the legs by approximately 25mm. This is the second 'Goose I have done this to.The ZF was unusually oil tight. I spent a long time sealing every orifice with rubber and silicone before having it vapour blasted. The devices I made to seal the box are not visible in this picture, I forgot to take that picture.Vapour blasting (also known as aqua blasting) for those not familiar is a wet blasting technique that uses tiny round glass balls suspended in high pressure water. It's like a sandblasting cabinet but with a windscreen wiper on the inside. Because the abrasive is round it has a peening effect rather than an abrasive effect so it makes the ally very bright like a new casting.I repainted the rear casting and replaced the fasteners and input seal.McLeod hydraulic throwout bearing. This car has run this type of set up for the last 15 years and to everyone's amazement has never failed! While I had it all apart I decided it was probably time it was replaced. The kit that came out did not have a makers name on it but I think it may have been an early McLeod.Getting the drivetrain back into the 'Goose without damaging the new paint takes time. I installed engine, then bell housing, then transaxle.I have no idea how others do this but I decided it would be nice to be able to drop the engine in with the chain block so that it sits on the chassis rails and then push the car over the pit to access the engine mounts. I made these padded chassis rail protector plates and adjustable ears that bolt to the heads. I managed to get it all together without chipping any paint so it must be a good idea!Lovely hollow aluminium rear uprights. The Pantera took a step backwards after these beauties.Jack - difficult to restore something that cannot be taken apart. It's got to come apart!The screw shaft is machine pinched after assembly. I ground this down to remove the shaft.I then welded up the damage with the MIG.I turned down the weld on the lathe.I then drilled the shaft for a roll pin and stainless washer. When the weight of the car is on the jack the pressure is in the other direction not against the roll pin. I had the shaft plated.Looks better!The carpet that covers the petrol tank has a vinyl piece sewn around the filler cap. I cut and bound new carpets but didn't even attempt to sew this round piece because my sewing machine does not have a giant throat depth so I would have to roll up the carpet to reach in far enough and would end up with a big mess just like original!I decided it would be better to make the surround out of steel and cover it in vinyl. I made a jig to beat the steel over so that it would be a press fit over the filler cap surround.Steel bezel beaten to the correct shape.Vinyl glued to steel.Vinyl glued to carpet.Finished carpet. Will be held in place with velcro.The original FIM Bologna expansion tank cap was long gone. I found this rusty one on eBay and had it replated.I took the guts out of a modern generic radiator cap and transferred them into the old FIM cap.I had to make a tool to re-clinch the brass bit.Punch used to re-clinch.I turned a new rivet on the lathe out of copper.Expensive radiator cap!I found it very hard to find an exact copy of the original induction pipes. I bought this type and removed the white binding from the outside. It looked much better and didn't fall apart.I do this to all the cars. De Tomaso sun visors always flop down. The chrome pin spins in the plastic housing so tightening the screw makes no difference. I drill through the shaft (1.6mm) and tap a nail in with Loctite.I made these knobs on the lathe out of ally and painted them to replace missing ones. One for the seat and the other for the heater flap.I added an extra bulb to the indicator lamp. This will be used as a 'side light' for UK regulations. I also added a little chrome tape to brighten it up a bit.Engine covers. I removed the ribs and repainted them. I also welded up some rub damage on the aluminium.This car had slop in the steering. Most of it was in the Rose/Heim joints that screw into the end of the steering rack. Unfortunately M12 x 1.0 size does not exist any more, M12 x 1.25 no problem, but not M12 x 1.0. I looked and looked but found nothing. I also looked into the old Renault racks that donated it but they never had the Rose/Heim joint as far as I can tell. I had no choice but to press the bearing out and find another. This was not straight forward because the Rose/Heim joint body formed the outer casing of the bearing so it self-destructed when I pressed it out and left two ribs that prevented me from pressing a new bearing in.New bearing bought from McGill Motorsport.I managed to mount the housing in the chuck and turn off the ribs and machine it to the right size for the new bearing.New bearing pressed in. The internal size and width of the bearing was identical to the original so the misalignment spacers fitted perfectly.How the hell does everyone else install Rose/Heim joint boots? I made a tool with hooks!Bonnet latch wear.Welded up.I referred to Jonathan Root's car to find out what the original stickers look like. This is Jonathan Root's AC dryer with its barely legible paper sticker.I had it recreated by my friend with a sign shop. It says: 'Diavia, Auto Air Conditioners, Diavia SPA, Molinella, Bo, Italy'. I Googled this but they are long gone. It was hard to tell the exact colour of the original sticker so I guessed. The gold could in fact be white? I intend to have some more of these stickers printed and sell them on eBay.This should sit lower with the bracket half covering the sticker.Vitaloni Californian mirrors are still my favourite but look very cheap these days. I am sure they must be having them made in China? The plastic used to have a nice mottled satin finish, now they look shiny and cheap so I had to paint them.Painted mirrors.I made a wedge for the passenger side as this is a LHD (left hand drive) car. Without this you can't get enough adjustment.Wedge and bracket mounted on door.Cutting and binding carpets takes time.I had the air cleaner housing powder coated in a finish very close to crackle black.I made some stainless straps to clamp the induction pipes to the housing. Originally they had none but it looks unfinished without.These gullwing safety latches are not original but the owner wanted to keep them so I had them replated.All carpets are removable. I had to make the thin ally trim at the top of the inner piece as it was missing.Slightly over-restored just the way I like it!I love the zinc/passivate plating.I had the Bosch sticker reproduced for the alternator. Unfortunately it's printed in the wrong colours!The Lucas screen jet bottles have now been reproduced. Fan doesn't look painted!I covered the rear light reflectors with some aluminium foil tape, makes them look bright. Reverse engraved number plates added. 10-inch rear wheels! The end.
