1964 Amazon 122S restoration project
 

I bought this last year as a non-running project. It's been stored at a relative's house while I finished off my hefty 240 GLT project (Thread here!)

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It's a '64 122S. The bodywork is exceptionally straight and rust free, but the underside and engine bay need a fair amount of welding.

The car is a South African import. It was brought to the UK in the mid 70's I believe. As such there's a few extra details such as the different seats and flying boot handle trim.

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The interior is pretty decent, with an intact headling, good seats, door cards and dash. The dashpad is, predictably, scrap.

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It has a B18A single carb engine which is seized as the #4 spark plug has been left out.

A day or so after I bought this car another one came up a few miles away for low scrap value, but it had a working twin carb B18, an overdrive box, a good interior and pretty much everything else in it worked. I bought that and stripped it down as a donor car.

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I stripped it clean.

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And off it went.

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So the project has sat in storage for about 6 months while I got the 240 back on the road. I managed to get a nice clean MOT for it in December.

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With the 240 now back on the road, I got the Amazon moved to my place this weekend so that I could start work on it.

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Stay tuned for a major weldathon, engine rebuild, etc!

All the best.

Nice to have a donor so good. Will look forward to seeing this thread!👍😎

Looking forward to this project too! :thumbs_up:

Wonderful!

A 240 and a 122 is a really good combination :-)

Alan

Nice project! Best of luck with it.

Best of luck with your rebuild. I’m coming to the final stages of a massive 544 restoration on a budget. Sadly total originality when replacing parts has proved very expensive so I had no choice but to compromise. My car was extremely rusty and the interior seating and panels scrap. I didn’t buy any replacement body parts but fabricated everything from sheet steel. Seats from a Ford Ka and all interior panels from hardboard covered in leatherette. Quite pleased with results so far. Of course if money’s no object then.........

There's nothing wrong with that approach at all. As these cars age, or disappear altogether, orginality becomes expensive and increasingly time consuming. I think it's better to have a car back on the road in whatever form than being banger raced or scrapped, or just left to rot because the parts are unobtainable.

Repair panels are OK but sometimes they can actually make the job more difficult, as often they have to be modified before they can fit. The only repair panels I find essential are full sills as it can be difficult to get the profile exactly right, especially if it's a combination of bends and curves.

On my 240 project it was often the case of just making do with what was available. For example I seam welded the inner and outer rear arches together instead of spot welding them at the flange. In theory the seam welded fix might actually be better, as spot welded double skins are rust magnets.

Do you have a thread for your 544?

I may as well start at the front and work my way back, its as good a strategy as any.

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The engine had been left with the spark plug out of the #4 cylinder with predictable effects. I took the head off and filled #4 with ATF around 6 months ago. When I collected the car I'd hope the ATF would have drained down a bit but no joy whatsoever, which isn't a good sign.

I filled the bores with diesel again.

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48 hours later

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So that's going to require more than a bit of lube to put right. Good thing I have a spare engine. So the plan is to completely forget about this minor issue for now..

Next job is to start pulling panels off and stripping down the engine bay. The wiring is pretty rubbish, and all of the hydraulic lines are rotten through, so everything is coming out.

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Next job is to go pick up the engine crane, and then lift the engine and box out.

Until then, a walk round to see what's going on.

I love the patina on this car, I actually really want to keep it like this.

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There's plenty of holes, thankfully quite localised.

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This is the worst bit of the car, the NS chassis rail. I'll make a new one.

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The outer sills aren't too bad. The inners are a horror show, and have been patched up with bathroom sealant.

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Boot floor is theoretical.

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Here's the best bit though! A bit of plywood, bathroom sealant, and wood screws that screw into fresh air.

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All in, it's not horrendous. The best part is there's no bodywork to do, as the exterior panels are all very sound.

So the next job will be getting that engine and box out, and then attacking the engine bay to get it back to metal.

You’ll be happy to know one good thing about the Amazon is the panels and repair panels are decent. Much better than the 240 quality. Inner wings, floor pressings (the good ones), inner and outer arches and sills etc are all excellent quality.

Started stripping the engine bay down.

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Some interesting and quality repairs from the past involving tin foil, bathroom sealant and body filler.

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Slow going but making sure it's done right.

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Next up, engine came out.

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Whoops.. timing cover is loose / has no gasket!

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The gearbox on these is so compact!

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This engine will either be for spares, or I might fix and sell it. So I decided to strip it down to see what I have.

Flywheel and RMS off.

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Timing cover, sump and oil pickup off.

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Mains and big ends out.

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Crank and 3 pistons retrieved.

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#4 does not want to come out!

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I've left it taking a bath in diesel / ATF on the underside. I will probably have to resort to fire, though.

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On the plus side :

Bores look excellent.

Mains and big end shells look like they have done hardly any miles at all.

Pistons look great.

If I can get #4 out, it may be as simple as a quick hone, new piston rings, possibly new shells, gaskets, a quick going over the head, then I have a spare usable engine.

I still intend on using the twin carb spare engine I have for obvious reasons.

Minimum cost rebuild and keep would be my idea. 6” piece of 3x2 and a tap will reveal what you’ve got to work with. It won’t eat much mate!:teeth_smile:

This is a fascinating thread: good words and pictures plus an interesting storyline.

Alan

Unfortunately, no joy at all even with a sledgehammer.

Nothing to lose now. Next step is to light a barbecue in the cylinder.

Wow! It’s stuck then. Bugger!😯

Have you tried freezing it? :thinking:

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Freeze the piston from the con-rod side and let it shrink the piston out - or at least that's what you hope for! :thumbs_up:

That's also a good idea.

I may as well start with the tools I have available, so I'll do a shallow 50:50 ATF and petrol mix with a rag wick, and light it.

Seems to be the go-to solution for a lot of people, so fingers crossed.

Please post a photo :-)

Alan

That may well work too, i'd go synthetic ATF if you have it, give it a goods shake with the petrol before letting it soak in and lighting it. :thumbs_up:



.......... or better still, a video! :thumbs_up: Not that i'm a pyromaniac or anything but there's something about watching "thermal therapy" on a stuck-in-bore piston! :thumbs_up:

Not too familiar with this !

So , get the bores hot, turn the block over and quench the piston to cool it?

Then over again and SMACK it?:teeth_smile:

I think the idea has several parts.

The piston and block will expand and then contract at different rates causing the surfaces to seperate.

The inclusion of ATF and a wick stops the petrol from being explosive, rather a slower burn.

The ATF will boil and encourage it to seep down the cylinder walls.

Shocking with a freeze spray is one idea, but not commonly done as it can encourage cracking / warping of parts. Still, if I have no success it's another thing to try.

If nothing else it will be good fun.

... the Towering Inferno - I can't wait!!!!!!

:-)

Very true - hence my suggestion of spraying it on the underside of the piston or the con-rod side. That way all warping/cracking should be confined to the piston which is easier and cheaper to replace than a block. All that said, at the moment the block and piston siezed in it are effectively scrap or a strange looking paperweight so whatever you manage to achieve however you do it is likely to be a bonus. :thumbs_up:

I suppose if all else fails, you could have the reluctant piston machined out as part of a rebore then drop the twin carb head/manifold etc on top which might give you a few extra cc and retain the original engine number while converting to B20B (or B18B depending on size), all depends how far and which way you want to go on the oily bits.

Red-block coffee table ! :tongwink:

Might have to see about strengthening the foundations on the house..

Suggestion: prior to setting it on fire, use a mix of ATF and acetone, which creeps better than diesel or gasoline. Seal the top of the bore to prevent evaporation and let it sit for a few days. Might require a few top ups. Good luck.

I am not quite 'getting' the heat / fire solution to piston removal. The aluminum piston has a higher coefficient of expansion than the iron block, so heat is just going to make for a potentially tighter fit. The sticking problem is caused by rusting of the rings to the bore, not sticking of the piston to the bore. If the plan was that heat would create a thermal shock that would fracture the bond, it is going to be pretty hard to get a really rapid temperature increase on the iron block in order to generate a thermal shock like you can do when you take a torch to a rusted manifold nut. Ditto with freezing, although a little liquid nitrogen or a dry ice mix might do the trick if the thermal shock doesn't crack the block.

I had the same issue on my B20E after it had been stored for about 15 years with no cover on the intake and exhaust. The cylinders with open valves breathe in atmospheric air due to ambient temperature changes and when the air has a high moisture content you have the inevitable condensation and rusting. For removal, I used a 4x4 piece of wood post (3.5"x3.5" actual with the corners trimmed to firm fit in the bore) and a 15 lb sledge hammer. I wrapped the connecting rod in a heavy towel wrapped with tape to keep it in place and protect it from damage when the piston popped out. I mounted the engine vertically on some wood blocks so that I was pounding down on the 4x4 and there was enough clearance below the engine to allow the piston and connecting rod to be ejected out the bottom safely. I think two hits did it and with the 15 lb sledge I did not have to hit really hard. In my case the rusting of the rings on the bore was bad enough that it required a 0.030 overbore. Depending on the severity of the rusting, there is a real risk that one of the rings may fracture and the end scratch the bore on the way out.

I did read of one person who claimed that by drilling the piston full of holes they were able to weaken it enough to facilitate removal. I can't vouch for that. It might be doable if the piston is stuck near the top of the bore. Much more difficult if the piston is very far down the bore.

142 Guy;

Big thanks to you for pointing out the inconsistency with science of this "fire and brimstone technique"...usually it's Derek or me! ...for frozen-in-place-pistons, the best technique is still, and will continue to be, to soak-in penetrating lubes for as long as you have time, and when you can't wait any longer, impact persuasion with a block of wood just as you describe...it rarely fails, and the risk for collateral damage is small!

Cheers

Thing is, it has been sitting for 6 months with a mixture of ATF and a thinner (I can't remember which one I used). Hitting it with a sledgehammer so far hasn't been able to budge it.

May as well try everything before I resort to splitting the piston. If it doesn't come out, I'm unlikely to spend any money boring out to sort any damage, given I have a non seized engine with a better head.

I bought the car in the knowledge I'd probably be binning the engine, so there's absolutely nothing to lose at this point.

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As much as I was really looking forward to a barbecue, I decided it wouldn't be a loss to go out and buy a bigger sledgehammer. Oh well!

Excellent news! :thumbs_up:

As a big fan and advocate of the synthetic ATF/acetone 50/50 mix or "WMP" (Weapon of Mass Penetration) as i've called it for 7-8 years now, i was surprised it hadn't already shifted it. Nice to see all that was needed was a larger persuader to shift it! :thumbs_up:

It’ll want a wipe before putting back, otherwise mint!:teeth_smile:

Nah, a wee squirt of wd40 and it'll be fine. The rust will burn off :teeth_smile:

What’s the bore like bud?

I gave it a rub down with a scourer and it looks pretty good. The factory honing marks are fairly undisturbed. There's slight discoloration where the rings have been sitting for a long time but that's it. I reckon a hone is all that's needed.

Excellent!:teeth_smile:

Wonderful, well done.

Alan

Hope that wasn’t a good jumper until you went and had a play with the greasy engine. 😀

The English materials scientist J. E. Gordon wrote an entertaining (at least for an engineer) book titled 'The New Science of Strong Materials'. It had a chapter subtitled (tongue in cheek) 'When all else fails use bigger nails'. To paraphrase Mr. Gordon, when all else fails use a bigger sledge. In this case, much safer than combustible liquids and less environmental impact. If the cylinder bore can be rehabilitated with just a touch up from a hone, it wasn't really stuck. You just were not persuading it with enough enthusiasm.

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Looking great! Nice to know that there are more amazons in the area!