Vignale spyder #504 restoration

The original owner of this car was Joe Lubin from Los Angeles, CA. Joe owned TAP Equipment which provided aftermarket parts for Caterpillar trucks.

Joe also was was an avid racer and owned a Birdcage, amongst other cars. Joe passed away in November 2003 and I am trying to located a close family member that might be able to provide old photos. I was told he had two sons ... Joe Jr. and Dave.

Can anyone provide information as to their whereabouts?

Ivan

 

I was finally able to figure out a way to make the hoses for the remote oil filter. With that out of the way the fan was installed and the radiator will go in next.

Slowly the engine compartment is filling up ....

Ivan
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Thanks Mark for your nice comments. Here is a tip ...

Modern belts and hoses have markings usually in white or yellow with the part number, manufacturers name, place of manufacture, etc. A belt that reads "Gates 2032 - Made in Mexico" sure does not look original, yet I see these in many restored cars. To solve this problem you can use lacquer thinner to remove some of the markings. For markings that do not want to be erased, just use black vinyl dye (I use the same dye I use for leather) and make the markings disappear.

Ivan

 

I am concerned with the amount of time it will take the engine to build up oil pressure when I first start it. Especially considering the large size of the oil hoses to the remote oil filter and the fact that this engine dose not have a scavenger pump.

Before hooking up the big oil hoses I took a funnel and filled the oil filter canister with oil.

One trick I learned from Kyle Fleming was to pre-oil an engine that has been sitting for a long time, or like this one, just rebuilt. This is done by removing the external oil line that runs from the block to the head on the left side of the engine. Hook up a rubber hose to an extra banjo fitting and connect this to the block. Place a funnel high above the head and slowly put oil. Gravity will do the rest. If the valve covers are removed you will eventually see oil coming out of cam bearings indicating that the oil lines are full. For this engine I did not want to mess up the new cam cover gaskets therefore I did not remove the cam covers and put around 3 liters of oil, which should be plenty.

Next step will be to remove the spark plugs and spin the engine without any load. Hopefully I will see the oil gauge register pressure.

Ivan
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After the pre-oil was completed the next step was to spin the engine without load (spark plugs removed) until oil pressure was measured at the gauge. I am happy to report that after several spins the pressure went up to about 45 psi just spinning with the starter. I was also able to test that the spark on both of the ignition circuits is working. With that test out of the way the next step was to install the radiator, cooling hoses, thermostat, heater valve and shut off valves.

Question: Table 8, #63 shows a shut off valve for the coolant that flows through the intake manifold. It is the same type of valve that is used to shut off coolant going to the heater. In which situations would I want the intake manifold valve open versus having it closed?

Ivan
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Bart,

By opening the valve, hot liquid is permitted to flow through the intake manifold. If you do not want heat then you close the valve. It works the same way as the heater.

Other cars (ex: Jaguar e-type) have intake manifolds that are heated with the engine coolant, and no shut off mechanism is provided. Therefore is it possible that pre-heating is desirable even if it is not freezing?

Ivan

 

This is table 8 of the 3500GT parts manual, the shut off valve in question is on the top right (#63)

Ivan
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A red Vignale spyder pulling a red Ghibli spyder! Great photo.

Ivan

 

I purchased the Quicksilver exhaust and I am having some problems determining how it installs on the car, especially where it connects to the manifolds. My car has the later style transverse rear muffler.

According to the parts manual the flexible pipes are very close to the manifolds. If I recall from other cars the flexible pipes were lower closer to the long muffler that runs along the left side of the car. My car does not have a place to hang the long side muffler. None is shown on the later style exhaust although it is shown for the earlier style. It seems this is a lot of weight to not be supported.

I would appreciate if someone can post photos of their exhaust. I am especially interested in the area between the manifolds and the center muffler, and how the center muffler is supported. While you are at it show me the rear

Ivan
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