My First Sunbeam Alpine

[Jay Laifman]

My first car was a '67 Alpine that my dad and I bought for $100 with a blown head gasket. That was 35 years ago - and I still have the car.

I'm a big fan of wire wheels. I will point out that your chrome wheels are not stock and perhaps new and worth some money. The three prong knock offs you have are also not stock. The Alpine knock offs pointed in. One year had octagon knock offs that need a wrench. I'd stick with the ones you have.

As to the roll bar, keep in mind that they call them "show bars" for a reason. I have one, no doubt about it. But, unless it has a bar going forward into the passenger foot well and a bar going back into the trunk, it isn't something you should necessarily feel is adding great protection.

I second the comment to keep the Weber. Mine has dual side draft Webers now. But, that is another story. So is the story about my son who races a TAG/PRD Tony Kart. My younger son may be thinking about a kart. I don't know about getting it to California. But, send me a message about what you are selling.

Oh one more thing. Though my car now has all the go fast stuff I couldn't afford in high school (the Webers, the Holbay head, the Holbay cam, and other stuff), I have to say the #1 thing that made the greatest improvement to the car was adding the overdrive transmission. So, put that on your list for a one day thing to do.

Jay

 

[AlpineWrench]

Issues...I think I need some local help

I had parked the car to check the oil Wednesday afternoon. Got back in to start the car and it would not. Thinking I had floaded it, I left the car till the following morning. I got dropped off at the car and tried again to start it...no luck. An elderly gentleman stopped and offered to help. I thought the ignition might be the problem and swapped someplug wires around...which didn't help. I got the cartowed back home and my Dad and I attacked it today.We looked at several things. The Crane electronic ignition appears to work as my dad was holding a plug wire in his hands when I tried to start the car and he about went through the roof of the shop. We pulled the plugs, cleaned and gapped them to .63mm. We checked the continuity of the plug and coil wires, all good. The fuel is getting to the carbs. I don't know anything about the Crane electronic ignition. It basically refused to fire using starter fluid, with the only combustion coming from exhaust backfires (2),but nothing else. That was when my Dad noticed that the distributor was actually loose in it's socket. I must have moved it with my arm when checking the oil the other day.We looked in the manual for how to set the timing using the TDC for #1 on the crank,and making sure the slot in the top of the oil pump is set correctly. Truth is...I am lost. The car went from running great to not running. I am not sure what the old guy did while trying to help...but the car doesn't want to start and it has fuel and spark...so it must be timing. Something is way out of whack. Is there anyone in the Denver/Boulder area that would be willing to show me how to get the timing set back correctly? I am trying to become more knowledgeable about the car...but I feel I have hit a brick wall that might be a simple fix for someone else. The Crane type ignition is not referenced in the manual,and it may be the problem too.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Gitnrusty]

...Hi wrench.......Bummer .
...I hope youve got the problem solved by now.
Its probably too late to say this now but since the dist.was loose and the car had been running previously the first thing to do was carefully rotate the dist. by hand while cranking the engine with the key on. When it gets back to where it should be its gonna start. Backfire is good in one regard because it proves that you are getting spark (allbeit at the wrong time).
...Also, when troubleshooting,Try to avoid randomly changing things that the car could have not possibly have scrambled by itself since the last drive. (like changing plug wires around). I say this not to critisize but to pass along lessons learned the hard way. Last lesson after ing. and carb. adjustments on the jeep because " it seems to be running rough ". Had to be towed back to civilisation during that lesson !
..Anyway ..Hope youve got it fixed.

 

[Derek]

again I hope you have this in hand, but here is my experience, I have Crane XR 700 in my SV..it's great, however there is no "spec" to get this set you just have to guess, (trust me on this one I did the leg work) this said the Alpine is very forgiving to initial timing, it will run with some crazy values. I've done this with a rebuild and having to pull the dizzy. If you pulled the diz make certain that you have it set back the correct way, set it close to what "looks" right and go, it will be close and the car will start. Adjust and go on until you get a stable and readable setting.

Derek

 

[AlpineWrench]

How are you supposed to turn the crank over? Is it a tool, or is it just a screwdriver? We are trying to get to top dead center...

 

[Ken Ellis]

If you have a little room, you can put it in gear (4th is good) and move the car back and forth. This allows easy small adjustments of engine rotation. (Key out, of course.)

You can also get the appropriate socket for your crank pulley, and use a long extension thru the bodywork, out to below the bumper, and use a socket handle to rotate the engine. (Using hole where starter crank is inserted.)

There have been a few energetic threads on exactly what constitutes TDC, which you can search for if you need to. You should be able to get really close just by following the workshop manual directions.

Good luck!

 

[puff4]

You can also get the appropriate socket for your crank pulley...

The correct size is 1-5/16. See my previous posting for more info:

http://www.sunbeamalpine.org/forum/showpost.php?p=92348&postcount=13

 

[Ken Ellis]

Thanks for the link. I was going to put a size, but:
A -- wasn't sure I remembered it, and
B -- I have two different sizes across 4 engines...

I ended up sourcing from either NAPA or Tractor Supply.

 

[Jay Laifman]

Socket for the crank pulley? My Alpines have all had a slotted attachment that allows for the long crank tool originally mounted in the trunk behind the spare to go through the hole above the license plate and easily rotate by hand. It would take one larger deep-reach socket to make it around that slotted attachment.

But, I'd agree, rocking in 4th is also a good way.

 

[Alpine 1789]

The correct size is 1-5/16.

1-5/16" equals 33.3375mm. Both Autozone and Advance Auto have 34 mm axle nut sockets available through their tool loaner programs. These are long enough to use on the crankshaft nuts and the extra .6625mm is not enough to keep the socket from solidly gripping the nut.

 

[RootesRich]

If you can wait until next weekend (Aug 17-18) I can come up and give you a hand. I can't make it this weekend as my wife is out of town and I'm on full time Dad duty with two very small boys.

I suspect you've got a convoluted mess on your hands; the very least is plug wires running to the wrong cylinders (hence the backfiring with starting fluid).

If you don't have the WSM, let me know via PM or e-mail and I can send you the respective section on ignition and timing. If I were you, I've verify the plug leads are connected to the correct spark plugs. Then, following the procedure in the WSM, set the static timing. Verify you have a spark by grounding the #1 plug against the tappet cover and crank the engine. Assuming you haven't lost compression, with fuel and a spark, the engine should start.

BTW, if you don't/ can't turn the engine over with the crank bolt, put the car in 4th gear and with the handbrake off, roll the car forward. This will turn the engine over.

 

[Gitnrusty]

...Hi wrench.......Bummer .
...I hope youve got the problem solved by now.
Its probably too late to say this now but since the dist.was loose and the car had been running previously the first thing to do was carefully rotate the dist. by hand while cranking the engine with the key on. When it gets back to where it should be its gonna start. Backfire is good in one regard because it proves that you are getting spark (allbeit at the wrong time).
...Also, when troubleshooting,Try to avoid randomly changing things that the car could have not possibly have scrambled by itself since the last drive. (like changing plug wires around). I say this not to critisize but to pass along lessons learned the hard way. Last lesson after ing. and carb. adjustments on the jeep because " it seems to be running rough ". Had to be towed back to civilisation during that lesson !
..Anyway ..Hope youve got it fixed.

Hello again Wrench.
After reading some of the other answers I feel that I should clarify my suggestion. When I said "cranking the enginge with the key on" my intent was someone would sit in the car WITH TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL AND BRAKE APPLIED and used the key to spin the engine while a second person moved the distributor until it got to the correct position and the engine started.
Sorry if this was unclear! I sure wouldnt want to get anyone run over while using the hand crank through the grille.
Of course lots of comedy movies used used this seneraio in the 20s and 30s.
....Happy sunbeaming...