I found this bird seed INSIDE cylinder #1. How did it get there? No idea, when the blower came off I put a plastic cover over the intake, so I guess at some point the spark plug must have been out and bird seed got spilled on top of the motor by the previous owner? File under: REALLY STRANGE!!
Here's a shot with the oil pan removed. Note the unusual oil pump. The 131 has both a circular pickup, and a unique footprint to the block. This will create a challenge in the final build, as I'lll have to weld a beta pickup onto the 131 pickup-to-pump flange.
This is the oil pan used on the 131. It has a black enamelled interior, and a drum-shaped baffle surrounds the oil pickup. Look at the differences between the 131 volumetrico and beta 2L pumps. Note that in addition to the volumetrico pump being physically larger, it also incorporates a seperate spacer plate in the pump body. I dont remember if a regular volumex has this.
If you try to put a Beta block in a Scorpion, you'll find that the boss on the exhaust side of cylinder #1 is too long for the Scorpion's engine mount to sit flat on it. The blocks are very soft though, so it's easy to cut off 7/8" and then drill the hole a bit deeper and tap it for the engine mount bolt (Betas have a dowel in this location).
Smoothing the block inside helps oil flow and it gets rid of casting lines and sprue that can shed metal bits into the interior of the engine. The stock blocks have quite a bit of contaminants and inclusions in them. The inside will be coated with Glyptal. Outside, the block is also smoothed. This is mainly for cosmetics, it'll make the block clean easier and finish paint better by removing some of the heavy surface texture. The front of the block in a Scorpion (the intake side) can bevcome an oily, dirty mess. The back side can be left alone, as that side tends to stay cleaner and is relatively accessible if it needs a scrubbing.
I had to make this crazy contraption for the electric water pump. The whole cooling system is getting changed around, and the new Davies Craig pump will feed the block through where the water pump pulley used to be. The second picture shows it test fit to the engine, which is necessary to make sure it has the correct geometry to clear the Scorpion frame rail.
The volumetrico uses engine oil rather than its own reservoir the way that a stock volumex does. The oil is extracted by a scavenge pump that is built into the tail end of the supercharger. Of course, this oil needs to drain somewhere. Lancia used the vestigal mechanical fuel pump mount to provide a passage for the superchjarger oil drain tiube (pictured). Now the front side of the engine starts to go together. Note that the distributor hold down becomes buried under the blower and blower mounting bracket. If you get a leak here, it's not so easy to fix.
Here are some Kent adjustable timing pulleys I refinished. I have about 2/3 of the parts done and ready for final assembly, but the hardest part by far has been the infamous lower supercharger bracket.
