Sanding, Buffing, and The Engine Comes Out.
March 2012
Mar 3th: I completed color sanding the paint to 2000 grain last weekend. Here's how it looked: orange peel gone, but dull:
Then I started buffing a few test areas. At first I was very excited to see the reflection emerge, but as it got shinier I found that it wasn't the mirror finish I had hoped for.
A closer look (here on the right front fender) shows the surface is still a bit wavy. This is the reflection of a ceiling lamp. I want it to be clear and sharp, like you were looking in a mirror.
I simply haven't sanded it enough. :-( More sanding to come. I consider this excellent training for the Miura.
In preparation for getting it back on the road again, I wanted to check the engine, flush out all the fluids, change all rubber seals, change the belts, and clean it up. The engine hasn't run in about 20 years so it needs to be resuscitated carefully. I was very anxious as the car was raised up over the engine and Erik Rathmann of Rathmann Autoworks opened it up.
I was excited that Erik reported the engine is in excellent shape! The cams are perfect and a bore scope showed the pistons and cylinders have no signs of rust. He was able to easily turn the engine over by hand. Here is one of the two cams. (Remember, this is SOHC, not DOHC.) The reason the lobes appear to have some texture is because Erik coated them with clear assembly lube. A couple of valve gaps are a bit out, so he's going to change the shims.
Also, although the engine is pretty dirty from years of sitting and sanding dust, I think it will be easy to clean. When the engine was rebuilt all of the sheet metal had been powder coated semi-gloss black. Here I just wiped off part of the head shield and it looks great.
While it's out, I'm going to detail the engine to make it shine again. I have the carburetors at home, and I'm going to make sure they are completely clean inside and out. Until the engine is done and back in the car, more sanding will have to wait since the car will stay up on the rack. Maybe I'll sand the doors. I'll also clean up the engine bay. I can't wait to get it finished now!