An (extremely) Long and (frustratingly) Winding Road
by
Robert Mieyal
This is the story of the limited restoration of #0742, a 1975 Cosworth Vega. It started
sometime in 2010, after my retirement from teaching, with my search for a 1964 Ford
Fairlane, my favorite car from my mostly misspent youth. Not able to find one in the
northern regions of Ohio’s rustbelt (what a surprise), I did come across a 64 Falcon (similar)
for just $2K which was in running condition, actually very good running condition, but
needed moderate body work as you could see the ground through the trunk, a malady not
uncommon to those cars even circa 1970 or so.
So, I asked my trusted friend and Honda mechanic, John, to accompany me to evaluate
this vehicle that was in a garage in a nearby town. After evaluation, we agreed about its
condition and the various challenges of restoration to near-new condition.
But on the way home, and right here is where it all starts, John mentions to me that his
father has an old Vega – a Cosworth Vega - in his barn, under cover, stored for the past
twenty-two years. [Here’s where I should have said, “Yeah, so what?” and bought the
Falcon!] Instead, I said that it sounded interesting and we should go see it.
From his father’s somewhat copious notes regarding his tenure with the car, which he
purchased November 18, 1985, it appeared that he regarded and cared for it well, but by
some time in 1989, at 69,900 miles, he barned the car due to what he thought was a head
gasket leak. (Based on John’s memory and dad’s notes.)
John said he didn’t think it really had a head gasket leak and that his father had diagnosed
it incorrectly and that it was still in solid condition and would be “easy” to get running and
restored. Upon viewing the car, it was indeed solid.
LOOKED SOLID AT FIRST
It did have one dented fender from where something fell on the car in the barn who knows
when.
DENTED FENDER
It had an intact interior with a couple changes and additions.
DIRTY INTERIOR
Any rust on the exterior was due only to stone chips behind the tires. "Wow," I thought
(ignorantly), "this wouldn’t be too hard!"
So, in January of 2011 I purchased the car for just $200 less than he had paid for it in
1985. Damned inflation? Nope. John’s dad thought the car was a rare classic and should be
worth far more. I hope that some day it will be.
Well, we dragged it into the sunlight and snow
READY FOR TRAILER
READY FOR TRAILER
READY FOR TRAILER
and onto a trailer on the morning of January 10, 2011. (A day that should live in infamy.)
The car was taken to John’s business shop, a motorcycle, snowmobile, jet ski, etc. repair
shop, at which he had a car lift that was not in use.
CAR ON LIFT
I made a deal with John regarding labor payment for the repairs and rehabs that he could do,
and I would have a warm place to clean it up, rustproof it, and help make it a driver. Believe
it or not, we had the engine running that evening, but we disregarded the whitish exhaust that
wasn’t very evident at first start-up but that increased over all the months of initial repairs
punctuated by occasional warm-ups. Maybe the long storage period required further breakin, we thought. We were wrong.
By this time I had corresponded with Mark Rock, CV Guru, without whom this endeavor
would not have been possible. His help with parts, advice, encouragement, and probably
prayers, kept me able to continue the winding road to this very day. One piece of sound
advice from Mark was not to be concerned about the paint at this point, just get it up and
running. Unfortunately, (and forever to be despised), a friend of John’s was showing him
how to REMOVE old lacquer paint from the hood by scraping it off with a razor blade! I
wasn’t there at the time. But this stupidity caused the untimely work of sanding the car to
bare metal for repainting.
BARE METAL
Maybe it was a disguised blessing, but it sure made later engine removals/installations much
more tedious.
By November of 2011, brakes and lines had been completely replaced. As well we
replaced or restored the shocks, starter, water pump, clutch, pressure plate, battery, radiator,
radiator hoses, trans seal, pan gasket and main seal. A rusted area around the battery box and
the damaged fender were repaired.
RUSTED OUT CORE SUPPORT
AFTER FLOOR BELOW BATTERY TRAY REMOVED
Also, the whole car had been primed,
PRIMED
repainted,
striped, and put back together.
Additionally, the interior was cleaned and treated.
ELBOW GREASED INTERIOR
It looked excellent for a ’75. But the exhaust was starting to smell more and more like
coolant and its whitish color could not be denied. Because that whitish exhaust did not
dissipate over time, we knew we had a problem.
ENGINE OUT We knew we had to remove the engine. So John and I pulled the engine
and transmission early in the morning on Thanksgiving Day, 2011. Upon disassembly, John
determined that although the head gasket didn’t appear to be damaged, there had to be a
problem with it as coolant was definitely mixing with the fuel at combustion.
Unfortunately for me, at this point in time John’s business was busy and he would not be
able to work on the engine further in the foreseeable future. His first recommendation for a
reputable engine and machine shop was not acceptable as they were busy and would not be
able to start the project for about six months. (I should have waited!) John then
recommended a more local shop (which will remain unnamed) to rebuild the engine to likenew condition, or even better. The cylinder walls were badly scored
SCORED CYLINDER
and the exhaust valves were in need of replacement,
EXHAUST VALVE
and there also existed this hot-rodder’s desire for other “logical” improvements.
Over the period of the next eleven months this “unnamed shop” worked on (mostly put
off working on) the engine. But, because of extreme patience on my part, much was
eventually accomplished: cylinder sleeves, pistons, mill and recondition head, connecting
rods, crank, valves (new), etc, etc, etc….
ENGINE IN The engine was reassembled and eventually reinstalled at the “unnamed
shop,” though [spoiler alert!] the clutch plate was put in backward, the shifter linkage was
left off, and the fuel injection system was never completed. Therefore, John and I removed
the car from the unnamed shop to finish the incomplete work ourselves.
Now it’s January of 2013, two years after removal from the barn, when I predicted this
wouldn’t be too hard.
So, we fired her up and she ran beautifully, except that the exhaust had the whitish color
and a smell of coolant. Not a good sign. Even worse, just as before, it didn’t go away. It
wouldn’t heal itself. Communication with the mechanic/machinist/owner at the “unnamed
shop” proved fruitless, as he had no idea of why that would happen since he insisted he had
done every aspect of his job perfectly. [St. Peter will be the judge of that!] But he did offer
to tear it down to determine the malfunction.
ENGINE OUT John and I immediately removed the engine and returned it to
“unnamed shop.” After several weeks of waiting, the only action taken there was to mount
the engine on a stand and drain the crankcase oil. Impatient, John and I showed up one
morning with tools and disassembled the engine ourselves. Close inspection revealed no
obvious gasket failure. Only after a discussion regarding pressure checking of the head,
which was determined initially to be unnecessary by the machinist/mechanic/owner who
rebuilt the engine at the “unnamed shop,” did we insist on at least filling the channels of the
head with water and checking for cracks. And what do you know? Stop reading and take a
guess. The date is February 16, 2013.
Did you guess “porosity leak?” Water was seeping right through the wall of the
aluminum head in the #2 exhaust port. Interior corrosion had damaged the wall. It makes
perfect sense now. John’s father had barned the car because of what he thought was a head
gasket failure, but we had not been able to find any evidence of a gasket failure when we
initially disassembled the engine. Porosity leakage solved the mystery.
Reasonable men would now be searching for a replacement head. But no, not us.
“Unnamed shop” mechanic/machinist/owner claimed that his magic elixir, a ceramic
coating, would save this head and make it sealed and better than new. I decided to agree in
order to keep the engine “numbers-matching.” Do you think this was a good decision? Note
your answer!
In about two more weeks, and after several coats of ceramic elixir, cured under air
pressure, presumably permanently sealing any porosity issue within the head, I picked up
another gasket set from my trusty supplier and the engine was eventually reassembled in part
by “unnamed shop” and then completed by my trusted mechanic, John.
ENGINE LOOKING GOOD
ENGINE BACK IN
John didn't waste any time. In March of 2013, he once again installed the engine, careful
not to scratch my new paint.
We fired her up and she ran great…until she started overheating. Stop reading again and
predict how this could possibly happen.
Yep, the ceramic coating failed, turned to goo, clogged the ports, ruined the radiator,
made me cry, caused harsh and foul words to be uttered aloud, etc.
“Gosh,” unnamed shop said. “That’s odd. This stuff has always worked before.” Well,
not this time. HEAD AND CAM CARRIER OUT
I was able to find a used head that Mark had among his barn-of-parts and took it and the
ruined head to “unnamed shop” where I was told he would give me a deal on transferring the
parts from the ruined head to the replacement. (What a guy!)
The mechanic accomplished the transfers in a couple weeks and we were ready to continue
the quest.
HEAD AND CAM CARRIER IN
With another set of gaskets, the replacement head,
a rebuilt radiator, a lot of flushing and cleaning, and a bunch more money, John and I
accomplished the reinstallation.
HEAD BACK ON
CAM CARRIER ON
Noteworthy, I had switched to the Evans “waterless” coolant to protect the aluminum.
Expensive, but maybe worth it; but also maybe it had reacted with the ceramic coating.
Experts say no, but who knows? This work occurred during April 2013.
We fired her up, full of hope that all of our troubles were behind us. And they were, for
about three seconds. As I stood beside the engine I heard a loud “snap,” followed
immediately by heavy thunking sounds. I shouted to cut the engine. Another blow to the
gut.
Well, there was nothing to do but take it apart—again. When we removed the cam cover,
we saw that one of the shims had cracked into several pieces that were thrown out of the
lifter bucket. As a result, the lifter bucket in which it had rested was now destroyed.
“Someone” [to be judged by St. Peter] had misaligned the shim, causing it to immediately
break—the snap that I heard--into tiny pieces that flew everywhere, causing the bucket to
take a licking and keep on ticking (a reference to an ancient Timex commercial for you
youngsters reading this).
VALVETRAIN REPAIRED
If it had not been for the trashed lifter bucket we could have simply replaced the shim, as
miraculously the cam lobe wasn’t damaged, but naturally we weren’t that lucky. As you will
already know if you have had your engine apart, there are only two ways to get a lifter bucket
out. You can remove the cam carrier and it will fall out the bottom. Or, you can remove the
camshaft and pull it out from the top.
Since we didn’t want to disturb the fragile cam carrier gasket and risk another oil leak,
we decided to leave the motor in the car and just remove the camshaft. We removed the
front of the engine, the radiator, and the hood so that the repair/replace could be
accomplished under the hood without removal of the cam carrier from the head. Thanks to
Mark for the loan of his handy-dandy tools (technically the “camshaft rotator” and the “valve
tappet holder”), about 60 shims that he kept in a jar filled with motor oil, and another lifter
bucket (technically “tappet”).
John was able to install the lifter bucket and slip in a shim of the proper thickness and
button everything back up. That accomplished, we held our breath and fired her up, fearing
another bang or more white smoke. To our shock it ran fine and clean. We gradually started
to relax and breathe normally. Finally, we replaced the hood, after modifying one of the
hinges so that the next time it might need to be removed it would be easier.
At this point, it was just over 28 months since we rescued CV #0742 from a barn in
Spencer, Ohio. With great joy and relief (and a ton of $$$ from my savings accounts) on
May 9, 2013, I drove to the local muffler shop, owned and operated by two of my former
elementary school students, and had a fine-sounding Magnaflow Muffler installed.
Now, I’m finally a cool guy driving a cool classic car…though my friends have opined that it
would take more than a cool car to make me cool. But I’m pretty happy, until I notice that
the engine leaks some oil.
“Unnamed shop” mechanic says it can’t be his fault as he did everything perfectly. [St.
Peter will rule on this one, too.] The leakage remained a source of sad and ever increasing
frustration for some time. John once again disassembled the top end and repaired some of
the leaks, as there were several. Enough leakage remained that no one is completely happy
about it, but extremely tired by now we decide to let it go for the summer and vow that
“some day” we’ll take it apart and do it again. Little did I know that some day would soon
arrive.
During the summer I showed the car at several events and it was well received. It was
always the only Cosworth Vega, or Vega of any sort, at the event. Everyone seemed to have
a Vega story in his or her lives. Though most stories did not end well, they seemed to
remember the days and travails fondly. I even had one gentleman make me a pretty decent
offer for the car before he said hello. It was a fun summer. I carried cardboard to protect the
driveways of people I liked.
Some day arrived on September 17, 2013, after I had driven the CV to Cleveland to
baby-sit my first grandchild. At the end of a fun day, I “zoomed” on to the local Interstate
heading toward my girlfriend’s house. The clutch felt funny, but I ignored it. By the time I
was on the local roads, I couldn’t ignore it any longer. The clutch pedal fell to the floor.
I pushed my CV to a side street where I was able to crawl under and find the threaded
clutch fork pivot stud protruding from the back of the bell housing--it had somehow worked
its way almost completely back. I was able, with only my gloved hand, to screw the stud
forward to the point that the clutch worked again, but I couldn’t lock it in place as the locking
nut was missing.
With that temporary fix in place, I decided to return to John’s shop for a permanent
repair. I made it to within about a mile of his shop before the stud worked its way back
again. This time I was dead in the water because, as we later learned, the threads in the bell
housing had stripped, and that prevented me from screwing the stud forward. John brought a
trailer and we took CV 0742 to his shop.
When we removed the bellhousing, we also discovered that the bolt was bent.
How that happened we'll never know.
ENGINE OUT The next morning when I arrived to help, the trans was already on the
floor and the engine was ready to pull. John had unilaterally decided to fix the oil leaks as
well once and for all. To accomplish this feat, the engine had to be disassembled yet again.
This time at John’s shop with only John working on it.
After yet another set of gaskets, and some RTV, and a replacement bell housing, (thanks
again, Mark), and a new clutch return spring, the motor was repaired of leaks, reassembled,
sealed, and reinstalled.
ENGINE IN (And still in.) The date was December 2; with the first real test-drive
December 6, 2013. Success.
As of January 14, 2014, it runs fine, it doesn’t leak, it looks great, and while I’m cold,
I’m not sure I’m cool yet. But I am seeing a sunny, dry day here in Medina, Ohio and I
decide I am going to take CV 0742 for a well-deserved run in the country.
And I did!
I entered #0742 in the Classic Auto Collection car show at the Cleveland Auto Show in
early March of 2014.
I didn't win any prizes, but I sure got a lot of appreciative comments.
But the car is now back in John's shop. He is not happy with the sewing machine sounds
coming from the valvetrain, so he is going to tighten up the clearances. So, since we are
expecting more snow, I said, with only a bit of trepidation, "Go for it!"
From barn removal, in January of 2011, to hopefully real completion in January of 2014,
is only three years. I realize most restorations take much longer and much more money than
I spent, which was still a lot. But my experience, I naively thought, wouldn’t be that hard.
My actual words are indelibly etched on my brain. " Wow, this wouldn’t be too hard!"
Well, although it was much harder than I thought, it has been rewarding: I learned a
great deal about the CV and about cars in general. I also enhanced my patience and my
perseverance, thanks to all of the adversity. And thanks to Mark Rock for teaching me the
Serenity Prayer. I needed it many times.
So, I have no regrets…not even the bad decisions, because they helped me learn patience,
perseverance, and that Serenity Prayer.
Thanks John Seymour at Medina Power Sports for your expertise and patience. Thanks
Kevin at KMS Paint and Body for a nice paint job, rock guard, and help with some final body
assembly and striping. Thanks again Mark Rock for your patience, help, and parts. And
even thanks to the unnamed guy at the unnamed shop, as his machine work is appreciated (as
well as handsomely remunerated) and hopefully (there’s a word I hate to use) lasting!
You might wonder about the costs of my restoration. My original intention was to turn
the car into a driver that I would be proud to show. I never had any desire to make it BarrettJackson Auction-worthy. I just wanted a nice classic car. Therefore, I did as much as I could
myself and I traded some labor for some labor. Parts, tires, battery, etc. cost whatever parts
cost. Unfortunately, gaskets, coolant, oil, shop costs etc. were paid for several times over,
which added to the total bill. It might be most fair to deduct the double-costs and estimate
the restoration, but I didn’t, so…. take a guess.
$20.5K.
Worth it? Depends on how cool you think I am now.